BAND HISTORY

Once upon a time, there were three boys who lived in Shepparton, by the names of Adam Donovan, Glenn Richards, and David Williams. In fact, Adam and David were separated by no more than a back fence, and have continued this trend by now sharing a house in Melbourne. However, that's not the whole story.

Augie March began in February 1996 when Adam, Glenn and Dave met up at the Punters Club in Melbourne. Glenn had just begun writing lyrics, and they decided to create a band. After they asked Edmond join, they even had a bass guitarist. The name Augie March, a Saul Bellows character, was suggested and accepted. The first songs they performed were actually the first songs that Glenn wrote. Soon, they had a record company, having signed with Ra Records (You Am I, Mark of Cain). Eventually, after working with Victor Van Vugt (Beth Orton, Nick Cave), they even had a debut EP, Thanks For The Memes, released in January 1998, with Century Son finding some airplay and being made into a video clip. Future Seal, the last track from that EP, has become a crowd favourite, still requested at every gig, though played rarely.

Later in 1998, they began recording their second EP, Waltz, with Richard Pleasance. Meanwhile, Grant Lee Phillips heard a pre-release version, and immediately invited the guys to tour with them around Australia. Waltz was released February 1999, and is gradually making its way into many homes and CD players. The first track, Asleep In Perfection, has had extensive airplay on Triple J, and the fans are gathering. Augie March spent most of 1999  touring - they supported Something For Kate on their recent tour (with Paul Dempsey one of their foremost fans), as well as doing their own thang in a tour down the East Coast, not to mention support for acts including Died Pretty, The Whitlams, and Alex Lloyd, and tour spots at the Big Day Out and Meredith Festival.

The first half of 2000 has been spent mainly recording the new album, which is titled Sunset Studies (also one of the songs which appears on the album).  In July, the new single, The Hole In Your Roof, was launched with great success in Sydney and Melbourne.

The album was released late 2000 to critical acclaim and as an increasing number of discerning listeners picked up on the beauty which is Augie, the band found their shows selling out, and themselves in demand by the media and punters. As they went a-touring again in the second half of 2000 in Sydney and Melbourne particularly, Rob Dawson became the fifth member of the band. Rob 'Awesome' Dawson, a long-time friend of Glenn's, had worked sporadically with the band since their first EP Thanks For The Memes (remember the scuba piano?) and contributed to a large portion of Sunset Studies, including a major role on There Is No Such Place, which quickly became a fan favourite with its deceptive simplicity and slowly flowing piano arpeggios underlaying Glenn's sweet and melancholy vocals.

However, even as Augie found itself on a roll with a series of festival and pub gigs, tragedy struck at the beginning of 2001.  Rob was killed in an accident just after New Year's. The band chose the 'climbing back on the horse' option, and after a short break, quickly resumed their touring, with gigs at the Big Day Out and the Victorian Arts Centre. 'There Is No Such Place' was since announced as the next single of the album; the video clip is a visual tribute to Rob, with footage taken from band and fan footage of Rob taken at various gigs, and the single will also be dedicated to Rob.

The band are currently touring around Australia with a tight and polished set, having sold out shows in Queensland, Victoria and Perth (where an extra show has been added due to demand) already. It remains to be seen what is next...


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