Bulb was a project I did with Cameron Miller just after we completed Algorhythm. Cameron was a good friend and essentially a fourth member of Boxcar. We met Cameron very early on (Vertigo era) when he was in a band with Brett Mitchell (later in Boxcar) called (i think) Helium. There were very few people in Brisbane making electronic music at the time and they had a Casio sampler and drum machine (woo!). Eventually we all ended up in Sydney by the time Algorhythm was started.

Bulb had only one official release - on Thunk/Think Records' Environments ambient compilation..

In fact, we did a number of tracks, and had an EP or album in mind..Volition put us in the studio with engineer Adrian Bolland - I'll be sharing those other tracks soon. We did one live-to-air on radio JJJ of the two tracks on Environments - more in the shape that we wrote them - and even supported Boxcar once.

It's fair to say this was electronica inspired by Orbital - amongst many other artists.
I haven't seen Cameron in many years, he was always brimming with sometimes ridiculous / sometimes brilliant ideas - i hope he's well and happy..we had a lot of fun together.

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Blink and a week goes by around here!

I'm planning to release special versions of our two lp's from the 90's. Hopefully for sale in the shop by May depending on how much editing I'm going to have to do. They'll each feature unreleased tracks, dub mixes, demos and remixes we did at the time of the sessions.

It's a weird feeling having so much of your past suddenly at your fingertips, released from digital tape bondage...

Here's Eat Lead, from Vertigo X, taken from the very first session we did for Vertigo.

and Happyjack from Algorhythm X This track is from late in the Algorhythm sessions in '93. We played this one live a couple of times with a percussionist - which was great fun...wish we'd got to record him!



I've already posted What Are You So Dubby About? on Soundcloud which will be included...probably.

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Hello. We're baaaaaack!

We have a new website, but not without some blood, sweat and fist waving at the screen!

OK, lots of fist waving at the screen.

Everything has had a refit. Our entire discography can be browsed and listened to in the music section. More importantly, the blog is front and center, mainly because it's time to move seriously forward. In January I finally completed transferring all our demos and masters from old formats to an easily accessible and organized system. This is big. That means, lots of old unreleased stuff to share, but also a new platform to share my ideas and new music - which is gathering pace.

Some of the sections will be updated over the coming weeks (mainly videos). If you have anything you would like to see included, or discover any problems with the site, please drop me a mail.

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Well hello again...

I actually have a stack of stuff to post here when I get a little bit more time, but just quickly..

You might like to hear some work I did with a former collaborator who has posted a tune we wrote
and produced together on Soundcloud -  Loutopya, aka, DJ Louise (working DJ and former 2SER radio host)

You can probably hear the Boxcar connection, but also we were both also heavily into Leftfield and Orbital at the time (hey still are!) Lou has a great ear for funky house and progressive electronic beats and melodies and is always brimming with cool ideas.

Hop In is from a series of tracks we did together around '96 (I think) which almost got released by a major label (long story)

..Anyhow I'm so glad she's able to start sharing them now.

Back shortly with a flurry of new posts..i need to clear some dusty cupboards!

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This magazine I found in my archives dates back to 1984, when a baby faced Numan still had real hair and Kraftwerk carted the veritable kitchen sink onstage to perform. This introduction to electronic music was one issue of a longer 'History of Rock' series and actually makes a pretty decent primer of early electronic music for the uninitiated and a bit of a curiosity for fans of the era. It features Herbie Hancock, YMO, Vangelis, The Human League, Kraftwerk, Numan, Devo, Duran Duran and OMD and includes a special section on Moog synthesizers..

Download PDF (26MB)

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Superhighway To Hell by box-car Hello...oh yes, it's a long, long time between drinks here! But there have been wheels still turning...albeit slowly in the boxcar studio. People who have purchased from the store or signed up for membership have probably wondered : 'Hey where are the free goodes you promised!?'

This is the first of many tracks from the vault which will be available, starting tomorrow to you dear faithful friends...(when the emails go out)

A rarity from the vault; originally recorded by Boxcar for an album of AC/DC reinterpretations (1995/1996) For some reason (possibly relating to rights) the album was never released despite most of the bands having already mixed their contributions...
This is the alternate club mix...which turned out to be our favorite. We're making it available with all the other versions (it's a 4 track EP), free on boxcar.com.au to anyone who signs up for membership or buys anything from the store (ie everyone!)
There will be a special post here soon regarding a side project I did known as Bulb.

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While this blog is primarily intended for posting new boxcar developments, it'll also be home to some various ramblings and goodies from my archives.. Back in the 'good ole' days', somewhere between the 'hand cranked era' and the 'spaghetti of midi' era this is the kind of thing that got plonked on the front of music making magazines. I found five of these cassettes as I was digitizing and cleaning up.

I'll post them all eventually, in no particular order. If you've ever wondered what the Eurythmics jamming with Chris & Cosey sounds like - wonder no more.

Side A

Side B


Download Both with pdf contents booklet here

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As a long time Devo fan (many fond memories pogo-ing to Duty Now For the Future), I could not resist entering the Beatport Devo remix competition. I like the new album a lot and they were certainly smart to haul in some production talent (i think one of the Dust Bros was involved).

So I thought I'd have a go at one of the new tunes. So Devo = yay...Beatport itself, on the other hand, is a large skanky trough of DJ whoredom. I went into this with little pretense of 'winning' (the prizes were rubbish) But it quickly became apparent that Beatport is primarily a marketing tool...and frankly not much else. The 'winners' are those who can generate enough 'social networking' and 'plays' by registered users. And anyone who has abundant time for online social networking should always be viewed suspiciously. So even less surprise that the winner of the competition had broken the very rules they laid out , much less delivered what sounded like a broken washing machine with the vocal laid over the top. Yes sour grapes, but fuckit, I'm even being generous in this case. I'm afraid it will take more than the patronige of Deadmau5 (who admittedly produces some fine stompy electronic music) to convince me Beatport is anything but total rubbish...no doubt there's plenty who trod the same path already feel the same.

So I got to tinker with some Devo, and there's probably very few other artists I would submit myself to such pointless humilation for (mentally compiling shortlist) I'll notch the experience up to devolution, eh spuds?

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Well this is kinda old news, but not if you haven't already heard it right?

I agreed to remix Clan Analogue act, Valley Forge. I really like the material on their album. No idea why it's not out still. But IMHO it certainly deserves a decent release.

Boxcar were never particularly 'favored' with the 'bung it in distortion and a filter Richard James bootlicking set' that the Clan once used to represent. Although my pedigree is every bit as Cabaret Voltaire 'old fart' as theirs, clearly anything too 'pop' is a no no (surely even that's old now?)

Anyhow, I actually liked their music and it must have struck a chord with Pete from Single Gun Theory, as he's got a remix of another track on the EP. From what I heard, the boxcar remix got some play on FBI. Either way, I was happy with it...and that's all that matters these days.A bit about how it was made; The other versions (which can be heard on iTunes) have some live bass guitar, which i really enjoyed doing..  Sonic Charge's Microtonic is in use, as is Lennar Digital's Sylenth1 and some heapin' helpings of Ohmforce's terrific echo Ohmboyz.

The EP can be purchased on iTunes here

To buy a CD and for more info, the Valley Forge website is here

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