Violetine

Formed in Melbourne, Australia during 1995, originally under the name of Violet. The band members decided the name did not fit their style of music. They chose Verona as a replacement, only to discover a Perth band with the same name, so Violetine came into being. After building up a strong live following on the Melbourne pub scene, Violetine signed to Mushroom Records’ in-house Bark label.

The band’s first CD EP, 'Violetine', came out on January 29th 1996, to be followed by the CD single, 'Gutless Feeling' (July 29th 1996). Produced by Paul McKercher (You Am I, Spiderbait), the next CD single, 'Red' (January 20th 1997), displayed the band’s ready grasp of buoyant guitar pop, backed with a melodic punk edge and tight vocal harmonies. By the time 'Red' appeared, original drummer Steve Leicester had left the band, to be replaced by fill-in drummer Glenn Maynard (ex-Have A Nice Day). Maynard lasted a matter of weeks (he went off to join Pollyanna), and Damian Pratt took his place.

Violetine toured Australia as support to US visitors Everclear in April 1998. The CD single, 'You Know' (October 13th 1997) and the CD EP 'Birmingham' (featuring the track 'Any Day') issued on August 24th 1998, were lifted from the band’s upcoming, debut album. Also produced by McKercher, the album 'Small Speaker Joyland' came out on September 14th 1998. It was fine release, but failed to push the band into the mainstream.

At the end of 1998, Violetine left Bark/Mushroom in order to sign a new deal with Epic/Sony. The band’s first release on Epic, 'Any Day' (April 1999), featured a remix by Kevin 'Caveman' Shirley in the US. Epic also reissued 'Small Speaker Joyland' in Australia (January 11th 1999, containing remixed audio), but once again the album slipped through unnoticed save for a cult following. The next CD single, 'Crush' (October 18th 1999), had been recorded in Seattle, and was a taster for the band’s unreleased second album.