THE BRASS BED
By Holly Shorland
Stuart Thomas, the man responsible for the funky, driving bass lines in the Surrealists has emerged with his own band, The Brass Bed, and an ep called (low key). The Brass Bed is a drum-and-bass outfit that combines a wide range of instruments, prominently trombone and trumpet, with a down and dirty "rock steady" rhythm section, creating a fresh take on funk and r'n'b.
The Brass Bed has come into existence out of many years of collaboration with drummer Delaney Davidson. Thomas says that while he has been working on these songs for a few years, it took him a while to have faith in it and realise "there was something there". Perth-born Thomas has been in a number of bands, including Doghouse (where he met Davidson), Freakpower, the Von Trapp Family Crisis and Crumpet, but it was only recently that he felt right about releasing his own stuff. Working
with the likes of Kim Salmon "helped to build up some sort of reputation, and I had the finances
to do it all of a sudden so I went for it."
The musical connection with Davidson is a strong one, and Thomas obviously gets great pleasure from their creative experimentation. Both play a wide variety of instruments. "For a time we weren't playing our instruments, drum and bass, we'd get songs from a banjo part or something...We can spit out all kinds of things in an hour. There's a chemistry." Recorded on 4 track at Thomas' home, (low key) has a warm and cosy feel to it, and was clearly a labour of love for everyone involved.
"It's supposed to be not high production, but still we're going for some sort of quality...I like to get it sounding nice for people." The sound lends itself well to vinyl and Thomas says (low key) has had a limited release on vinyl - only twenty copies exist. "I really love vinyl. I like collectible items. I’m a bit of a collector myself."
The absence of guitar in any recognisable form makes a lot more space in the sound for the brass to come in and do some special stuff and the whole thing is pretty adventurous and cool. Thomas says, "Everyone is bored with that overdriven guitar sound now - I like it. I like the guitar myself...but we like to use it more as an atmospheric sound."
Through their r'n'b and funk connection, and being bass-orientated, The Brass Bed could be viewed as a reply to the guitar-based r’n’b and funk antics of Jon Spencer. Thomas says of Spencer, "Sometimes I feel as excited as that guy but it's hard to whip up into that mode without a crowd, especially....He's trying to be alternative, which is pretty easy to do in Melbourne. A new idea sticks out as mile."
Live, The Brass Bed features Thomas (vocals and bass), Davidson (drums), Brian May (trumpet) and Tatiana Pajo (trombone). They have done some shows as a three piece, and Thomas appears to have enjoyed this opportunity to be a bit more experimental with his sound. "People came up and said, 'There's just so much space, it's amazing, at times you're wondering if it's going to keep going.
And I said 'Yeah, it's okay, we wrote them like that.'"
Thomas plans to release an album in the near future, and hopes also to put out another rare vinyl release. He is proud of what (low key) has achieved, and says, "It covers the range: it's dark, it's happy, it's all kinds of things, and it's funky at the end, too."
See The Brass Bed: October 5 - The Punters
Club, 10 - The Truffula Tree, 25 - The
Esplanade Hotel (Front Bar).