News Archive

10/11/2005 : I've finally put some new photos up on the site, so go and check them out if you like.  Thanks to Bethany Rowlands for taking the shots!!! 

Pool Room regulars may have noticed two different faces on stage this Saturday gone, so I'll just quickly explain who they are, and why they were there.

Firstly, Rob McPherson (ex-Freeeze) was filling-in on guitar for Mark because Mark had another bloody wedding to go to, and then there was Magesh (who has played with just about every touring act who has come to Australia) filling in for Mick on drums.  Mick had to take the night off because earlier in the week he had shot a nail gun through his finger.  Silly boy!!!

So we'd just like to thank Rob and Magesh for doing such a good job filling in on such short notice, THANKS GUYS!!!

Things should be back to normal this week unless Mick is enjoying those pain killers too much!!!

John

18/08/2005 : It's been ages since I've updated the site.  How bad am I?  I have been extremely busy of late, so you'll just have to forgive me........

Latest news of course is my engagement to the lovely Megan.  I popped the question on 31st July at a lovely little B&B in Phillip Island, and she said YES!!!  We're planning on tying the knot in early '06.  Thanks to everyone who has come up and congratulated us over the past few weeks.

Onto band news, Felix has ended it's 5 year residency at Prince Alfred's Hotel on Wednesdays.  It was a sad ending, but with new owners coming in and wanting to change things, the writing was on the wall.  This ends nearly 11 years of Dale playing at this venue with both Felix and his old band Plush (of which I was also a member for two years).  Oh well, at least we get to watch the new series of Footballer's Wives on Foxtel now.........

John

08/06/2005 : This week marks the return of Felix to Bar 8 in Bundoora on Thursdays!!!  After a 3 month absence from Bar 8, we are proud that we have been asked to return to the place where we had so much fun for almost a year and a half.  Mick of course played there with his last band Mojo, so he knows what is in store for him. 

Myself and the boys have been spending a lot of time updating the songlist, and new songs are being added weekly!!!  Any suggestions for new songs would be greatly appreciated, and you can request a song by emailing us at felixband@optushome.com.au.  Or just drop us a line to say hi............

The photo section of this site is still offline, but it will return soon with new band photos.  New mp3's will also be put up as soon as we finish recording and editing the band's new demo.

That's about all for now, so until next time......... ROCK ON DUDES!!!!

John

27/04/2005 : Hey there people...... we've got some big news to report at this time.  We have a new member in Felix now, so please allow me to introduce you to him.  His name is Michael Holden, he plays the drums really well, and he is an all-round nice guy!!!  Michael has played with the Pop Tarts, Curse of the Voodoo Surfgods and Mojo, and has played with original artists Cade for the past 3 years.  Along with Mick joining the band, we've got a ton of new songs we've added to the set list, so come on down and see us soon!!!

John

04/02/2005 : I read this fucked up quote on my desk calendar today from Donald Rumsfeld, who is Secretary of Defense of the United States of America, and generally the largest bullshit artist I've had the pleasure to never meet.  Here it is..............

"Reports that say something hasn't happened are always interesting to me, because as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know.  We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know.  But there are also unknown unknowns - the ones we don't know we don't know."

Now, if you understood that quote, you possibly didn't really understand it.  That is not to say that you couldn't understand it, because I understand that you understand that I know that you possibly understood it.  That is unless of course, you understood that I knew; or didn't understand be that as it may; that you didn't know that you or I understood it....... Understand?......  Unless of course you're of the undertanding that I didn't understand that no-one understood any of that; so at least we have come to the understanding that understanding any of that must require the highest level of understanding known to only those who really understand.......... Is that understood?

Vote 1 John Healy.


10/01/2005 : Felix return from holidays this Thursday 13th of January.  We'll be back at Bar 8 on Thursday, The Arcadia on Friday, and The Pool Room on Saturday as normal, and I for one can't wait to get back into it.  Mark is having an extra week off (lazy sod) so we'll have an as yet to be identified guitarist filling in for him on Thursday and Saturday. 

John

23/12/2004 :  Two more days 'til Christmas, and my true love has sent me SQUAT!!!  No turtle doves or partridges under my pear tree this year folks, but who cares.... it's CHRISTMAS TIME!!!! 

We'll be playing both Christmas Eve and New Years Eve at The Arcadia Hotel (cnr Punt & Toorak Rd's South Yarra) this year, so come on down and get smashed with us.  Christmas Eve will be a big beach party (sand included), so remember to dry your speedos out before you sit down!!!

Forgive us, but we are taking the following nights off over the coming weeks.
Saturday 25th December (Pool Room)
Thursday 6th January (Bar Eight)
Friday 7th January (Arcadia)
Saturday 8th January (Pool Room)
***We will return to Prince Alfred's Hotel in Late Jan/Early Feb '05***
Anyway, have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from all of us in Felix, and thanks for coming down to watch us play all this year!!!  We hope to see all of you in 2005!!!!



Love from, Dale Mark Aaron & John

ps : Happy Birthday to Aaron


28/10/2004 :  Make sure you get down to The Arcadia Hotel (cnr. Toorak Rd and Punt Rd South Yarra) this Monday 1st November for our extra special Cup Eve show.  There'll be lots of freebies including Champagne for the ladies, and if you get in early, you can get something off the BBQ.  Should be a top night........

Felix will soon be celebrating it's 4th birthday, so stay tuned for the details of our 4th birthday celebrations... it's a month away, so hopefully we will have decided what we're gonna do to celebrate this milestone in our collective careers............

On to other things, I think I know the reason why Kim Clijsters dumped Lleyton Hewitt...........................



......... at least that's what I heard.

Love, John.

ps : Send me an email please, I'm bored out of my skull.  mailto:felixband@optushome.com.au

01/10/2004 : Once again, sorry for the lack of updates to the site of late, but there's only so much typing I can endure these days.  I'm suffering from that "Carpal China Syndrome" thingy..........

We've had the last two Wednesday's off from P.A.'s, but we're back this coming Wednesday to burst some ear-drums, so get your butts back down there this week, or I'll nut ya!!!!

The Pool Room has just installed a new psycho over-the-top ball-tearing state-of-the-art sound system in the last two weeks, so come down on any given Saturday to hear us try to blow this one up!!!! 

Aaron won't be at The Pool Room this week cos' he's off to Canberra to attend a cousin's wedding.  Kayne Holden will be filling in on the skins this Saturday night.

And finally, just to quash some rumours that have been floating about lately.......... BAR 8 IS NOT SHUTTING DOWN!!!!!  We saw the article in the paper too, but we are reliably informed from Bec that everything is hunky-dory.

That's all......... 'til next time (whenever that may be)

Love, John

ps : Bon Voyage to Corinne and Carly.

12/08/2004 : It's long overdue, but here is the latest Felix update.  I know Dale tells you all every night to  "check us out @ http://felixband.itgo.com" for the latest news on the band.  Yet every time, you are greeted with the same news section you saw the last time you looked.  Annoying isn't it?!!!  Especially when there's bugger-all on here!!!

NOT THIS TIME!!!!!

Aaron has joined the originals band Tarko, and has been furiously rehearsing and sinking piss with them for the past two weeks.  Check them out at http://www.tarkomusic.com for previews of their songs.  (BTW, I had Taco's for dinner tonight).  Aaron and Tarko will be playing some gigs very soon, so we'll post the dates up here when they're confirmed.  Don't worry ladies, he's still playing with us every night!!!!

Mark has just bought himself a new truck, and has had his first experience of the bargains you can find on http://ebay.com.au.  For the technically aware of you out there, Mark has now got the same Boss TU-2 Tuner pedal (bought brand new for $130) that Dale and I use, so now we all are properly in tune!!!  By the way, if anyone knows how to fix the heater fan in a Holden Rodeo, email Mark at felixband@optushome.com.au , the poor bloke is freezing his ya-ya's off!!!

Dale has been busy recording and producing his own material in his home studio, and has had a special guest helping him out with the vocals.  Yes, the lovely Nat Allison (the hot chick who used to play guitar with Felix at the Pool Room) has been laying down some vocals for Dale. And judging from the rough mix we heard in Dale's car tonight, she's really made a HUGE difference to what we originally tried to do.  Nat can still be found at http://www.natallison.com, and is supposed to be cooking my dinner on Monday.

And finally, I (John) saw Fahrenheit 9/11 on Sunday night, and I urge everybody who hasn't seen it yet to go down and watch it. It's a great film, but I recommend you should turn away at the scene of the public beheading in Saudi Arabia. (It put me off my large Coke, popcorn and choc-top combo.....)  I also did a fill-in gig on Monday night at Pugg Mahone's in the city with Fuse , and I happened to see a few familiar faces in the crowd that I normally see at the Pool Room.  I apologise profusely for my appalling playing, but I only had a few hours to learn the set.

So..... that is the latest that has been happening (that is fit to print) with the boys from FELIX.  Stay tuned for more news soon.

Love John.......

28/06/2004 : Once again, the site has had some problems with photos and links not working. I think I've fixed it again, but I honestly have no idea what the hell I'm doing. I just type rubbish in here every now and then, and occasionally put the odd photo up. Beyond that, I'm completely mystified as to how I got this site up in the first place.

Anyway, fingers crossed that I've fixed this mongrel AGAIN!!!

Love John.......
17/06/2004 : Next week on Wednesday 23rd June at The Prince Alfred Hotel Carlton, is an extra special event.  The first annual SCHOOL DAZE PARTY kicks off..... which means everyone has to get dressed up in school uniform.  Here's the poster...........


There will be prizes galore given away all night, including a trip for two to the Northern Territory, t-shirts, caps, bum-bags, drinks etc. etc.......  There'll be a fashion parade upstairs where the best-dressed schoolies will be in the running for the big prize!!!!

Love John.......

02/06/2004 :  Shit, it's June already!!!  How did that happen?  It's been a while since I've updated the site, so I thought I'd better do something really big this time around.............. WE'VE FINALLY GOT SOME NEW PHOTOS ON THE SITE!!!
CLICK HERE TO SEE THEM!!!

Big thanks to Kat for taking those shots for us........ they turned out great dude!!!!

I just heard some great news..... Van Halen have reformed with Sammy Hagar, and are releasing a new album in July!!!  YAYEEE!!!  Plus, Millsy has just released his new single "Miss Vanity" which features two friends of ours in the film-clip, namely Dayne Lawless on the drums, and the original Haunted Craft himself Aaron Laguda on bass.  Check out the film-clip here http://www.millsy.com.au/multimedia/

That's all for tonight,

Love John

update : The new Photo page has been fixed, but just in case it doesn't work, check them out here at http://www.coverbands.com.au/Photos/default.asp?Show=0&BandID=96
14/04/2004 :  Well....... Dale, Mark, Aaron and myself survived yet another Easter long weekend without inflicting any long-term damage to our person's.  (Although Aaron did fall off a bar stool on Friday night... hahaha) 

This week, it's my turn to celebrate a birthday.  Tomorrow on Thursday 15th of April 2004, I (John Healy) turn 28 years of old.  So on behalf of Dale Mark and Aaron, I'd like to wish myself a very Happy Birthday, with many happy returns.   So far, I've been given two hilariously-printed T-shirts, and a new Queen-sized bed.  A way better haul than last year already!!!

John
30/03/2004 :  Happy Birthday to Mark (guitarist/gardener extraordinaire) today from the rest of us in the band!!!  Hopefully he's figured out how to plug in his present by now!!!  And hopefully it works too, cos' I can't remember where I "filed" the receipt for it. ;)

Speaking of presents, I bought myself a new bass and a new guitar this week.  Here's some pictures of them :




The guitar is an OLP Axis/Van Halen copy, and the bass guitar is an Ernie Ball Musicman Stingray 5 string.  You'll be seeing a lot more of these two beasts at gigs from here on in............ if you come that is........

John
15/02/2004 :  This month, Felix celebrate 3 full years of playing together!!!  Who knew we'd make it this far?!!!  Our first ever gig was at PA's in February 2001 (Aaron thinks it was on the 6th),  so to celebrate our birthday, we are gonna have a party at PA's Carlton on the 25th of February.  More details will be posted as they come to hand........

Tomorrow will be spent rehearsing even more new songs, so keep an ear out for some great new stuff over the coming weeks.  Speaking of that, I must get back to learning them now, so seeya later.

John Healy
30/12/2003 :  Well...... it's the end of yet another year already.  How long have we been doing this for.........?!!! Judging by the way I've been singing Shimmer lately, TOO BLOODY LONG!!!!

Seriously though, 2003 turned out to be a great year for Felix in the end.  Early on though, it looked kind of sketchy with Mark leaving, and then losing Thursdays at Daisey's (the best perve in town). 

We had to learn to play as a three-piece on Wednesdays at PA's and Friday's at The Arcadia, and although it was a little shaky at the start, Dale especially knuckled down on guitar duties and pulled it all together for us.  I don't know if he thought he was ready to be the only guitarist, but we knew he was, and he did great things on those nights.

Saturday's at The Pool Room required that we have 4 in the band, and after much coaxing from me, Nat Allison came along and saved the day.  She really had an impact on our playing from the start, and blew the audience away most nights with her amazing voice and guitar-shredding.  From all of us, we thank her for the time she spent playing with Felix, and all the crap she had to put up with playing with three silly boys. 

Then Mark came home...............  and frankly, we haven't looked back since.  Mark came back somewhat refreshed, and with some great new songs that we hadn't even thought of doing yet.  And since his return, we've picked up a new Thursday residency at Ricochet/Bar Eight, and we are back to 4-piece on Fridays.  ROCKIN'!!!!

Aaron has been working his butt off all year, practicing up to 4 hours a day some days!!!  He never ceases to amaze me with his determination to go "one better" all the time.  He's always first in/last out at gigs, writes up the set-lists, puts up the banner, and most importantly....... doles out our pay!!!!  Legend!!!!

I (being John), have had a great time this year.  Apart from blowing up two speaker cabs, losing my voice constantly, and watching my Fender amp catch fire that is.............  hehehehe.  As Kelsey Grammer said in that B-Grade movie "Down Periscope,"  "I LOVE THIS JOB!!!"...........................  or was that, "I'm getting too old for this shit." ? 

Most importantly, we've all made some really good friends at our gigs, so on a finishing note, we'd like to thank you all for coming to see us all year (too many of you to list), and we hope to see you again in the New Year.

Love,
John Healy, Aaron Leask, Mark van den Boom & Dale McMahon...........

ps : We're on holidays from the 4th of January - 14th of January.

10/12/2003 - Well, it's nearly Christmas time again, and I suppose I'd better tell you all what's going on with us.  Well, on Christmas Eve, we shall be playing at The Pool Room in Ferntree Gully, where I'm told that there is gonna be a H-U-G-E party for all the naughty little boys and girls who stay up late to catch Santa stealing the silverware.

Then on New Years Eve, Felix return to The Racecourse Hotel in Caulfield for a repeat performance of last years'  festivities.  Last year was great, this year's gonna ROCK!!!

We haven't had many entries for our "Design-a-new-Felix-Poster" competition yet, but many people have told us they are still working on it.  HURRY UP!!!  Entries close on Monday 15th December.

On a personal note now, we'd all like to wish Lauren hanks a Happy Birthday again.  Lauren sent in a photo from saturday night when she came out to celebrate her birthday by watching us!!!  Here it is.........


Well, that's about all for now..............................................

John

13/11/2003 : We rehearsed today!!!!!  Yes, the four of us actually got into the same room together and did something other than drink beer and take the piss out of John Butler (the dread-headed freak).  Four new songs in the set, and it took us all of 28 minutes (Aaron timed it) to do them in.  You've gotta love it when rehearsals go so quick, and without pain!!!

Thursday's at Ricochet is starting to build up, but we need to get more of you fine people down there to make some serious noise!!!  Our sound guy Joe (who f**ken rocks!!!) is pulling a great mix out front, but he's upset that not enough people are there to hear it.  Please, come on down on Thursdays to Ricochet (9:30pm - 445 Grimshaw St, Bundoora) and put the smile back on Joe's dial!!!!!  Of course, we'd love to see you there too!!!  DJ Evan McMahon (no relation to our Dale) will be spinning his highly polished shiny discs all night too!!!!

Oh yeah, I almost forgot......... Ricochet is changing it's name to.........BAR EIGHT.   I haven't seen the new logo, but I'm tipping that it has an 8 ball in it somewhere.

Also, we are getting some new posters made up for Felix soon, but we can't decide on what design we should go for.  The old one looks like this..........................

Pretty crappy eh? ( I designed it, so I KNOW how much it sucks!!!)
 

So......... I had this thought.  If anyone can make up a better design for the new Felix poster, and we actually use it,  I will personally fork out the dough/dosh/moula/green-stuff for a $100 gift voucher to JB HiFi.  We may even throw in a drink card just to make it that little bit sweeter!!!

Send your entries in .GIF or .JPG format to felixband@optushome.com.au and win yourself that gift voucher.

That's all for now................................................................

John Owen Healy esq.

28/10/2003 : Big thanks to Aaron Laguda (a.k.a. The Haunted Craft) for filling in for Mark at The Pool Room on the 11th of this month.  Aaron and I used to play together in Kartoon, so it was great to be on stage with the Haunted One yet again!!!  Check out Aaron's original material at http://www.aaronlaguda.com when you get a chance.  Meanwhile, Mark was off on a footy trip getting pissed, and is still recovering from it at last check.

Cup Eve is almost upon us, and Felix are proud to announce that they will be playing at Ricochet Nightclub in Grimshaw St, Bundoora that night.  And the following Thursday, we will be starting a new residency at Ricochet Nightclub in Grimshaw St, Bundoora.  (Yes, I know that it's the same place, but I thought I'd mention it twice just to be sure you got it.)

And just a quick thankyou to Lauren Hanks for taking photos for us for the last two Saturdays.  Below is just part of the fruits of her labour.

John


07/10/2003 : Last Wednesday, Felix took the night off from PA's to play at The Palladium Ballroom at Crown casino (or as I like to call it, Viva Lost Wages.....) to perform at Essendon FC's Crichton Medal Night.  This is the second year running we have done this gig, and it was just as much fun as it was last year!!!  Big thanks to Angela for looking after us, and congratulations to dual 2003 Crichton Medal winners James Hird & Scott Lucas.

Word has just come in of a new Thursday residency for Felix at Ricochet in Bundoora.  I'm not sure of the exact date we start there, but from memory it's on 23rd October.  When I know more details, I shall post them here in REALLY BIG LETTERS.

It has also been brought to my attention that our photo section "Sucks ASS" because the photos are horribly out of date.  So, if anyone out there wants to volunteer to be our photographer at our gigs for the next few weeks, that would be much appreciated.  I've found it's really hard to take photos while I'm trying to play at the same time.  Email us at felixband@optushome.com.auif you want the job, so I know when to bring the digital camera.  We'll shout you a couple of drinks for your trouble....

That's all for now........

John


22/09/2003 : Collingwood are in the Grand Final, and I am one happy little bass player!!!  Aaron's understandably upset that his beloved Essendon got knocked out, so don't mention it around him if you can.  And considering Mark and Dale barrack for Carlton and Richmond respectively, they're only talking about the Davis Cup.

Football is well and truly on all our minds this week though as Dale is off to the Brownlow on Monday night, plus we are playing at The Crown Palladium this Wednesday Night for Essendon FC's Crichton Medal night (ed:or is that next Wednesday Night?).

Plus, on Grand Final Eve, what better place to be than at The Arcadia which just happens to be up the road from the M.C.G.?!!!

Then on Saturday, you can head off to the Pool Room for their Grand Final BBQ at 12pm and watch the game on the big screens.  Then you can come back later on for a full on Grand Final Party featuring us and DJ Scotty.  Click on the links below for further details...........

So, all there is left to say now is.................

C'ARN THE PIES!!!!

John

13/09/2003 : Due to heavy commitments with her originals band "The Nat Allison Band", and her extensive solo acoustic work, Natalie has had to give up playing with Felix.  Nat will make the occasional fill-in appearance in the future, so keep an eye out for her.  Also, check out her website at http://www.natallison.com  to see where you can check out her band.

So who's taking her place?  Why it's Mark Van den Boom of course!!!!  We welcome Booma back with open arms and open stubbies.

Dale, Mark, Aaron & John.


06/08/2003 : We had a great party at Dale's joint on Sunday night to celebrate his 30th birthday.  We were all pretty shit-faced, but I seem to recall Dale doing a rendition of "Georgia on my mind" whilst reclining on the piano in a provocative manner, Aaron was juggling wine bottles unsuccessfully, Mark was doing Thailand-style ping-pong tricks with the meatballs, and I was sent outside to have a good think about myself.  Meanwhile on her holiday up in Noosa, Natalie was doing nudie runs in the Hotel Lobby telling everyone in ear-shot that, "I am the lizard queen!!!"

Then again, I have been known to embellish a little bit.  ;)

This week, Natalie returns from her trip to Sydney where she supported Marie Wilson at The Basement and Triselie's in Katoomba.  She's still in Noosa on a well-earned break, but she will be back this Saturday night for her triple vodka and Red Bull fueled performance at The Pool Room.

We've added a few new songs to the mix as well, so come down and watch us fumble our way through them.

Dale, Aaron, Nat & John


14/07/2003 : Regulars at the Pool Room may have noticed something different about Felix this Saturday just gone........ BOOMA WAS BACK!!!!  Yes, the original line-up of Felix took to the stage and played "Mr. Jones" for the first time in ages!!!  So.... where was Natalie?  Well, Natalie had to take the night off to attend her sister's wedding, so Mark stepped into the breach and was sorely reminded of why he left in the first place!!!! ;-)

Seriously though, you can still see Mark play with Dale and Aaron on Monday's at Pugg Mahone's in Hardware Lane, Melbourne CBD at 10pm, and Mark and Dale still do the acoustic show at The Redback in Nth Melbourne on Fridays 6pm.  Mark has also joined the ranks of well-known Melbourne covers' act Pump.  Check the gig guide for where Pump are playing if ya wanna see Booma in action.

PA's is set to go off this Wednesday with the return of the Melbourne Uni crowd after their well-earned holiday period.  John will blasting people out of the room with his new JBL speakers, and DJ Catch (or as we call him... SHWAAARRR) will be beat-mixing some wicked tunes on his new CDJ's.

Friday's at The Arcadia just seem to be getting bigger every week!!!!  Last week was just stoopid!!!  The Arc is looking great with the renovations (so) near completion.  DJ Catch (The SHWAAARRR) is also rumoured to be joining the Felix crew on Friday nights at the Arcadia this week.

This Saturday at The Pool Room, John and Natalie will be doing the acoustic show at 9:30pm before the full Felix experience plug-in and play your fav's at full volume!!!  Dale and Aaron will be off doing an originals gig with their new band "Easton Ellis" early on.  They forgot to tell me where the gig is, so I'll write it in here when I know the full details.

Natalie has some more originals gigs coming up.  Check the graphics below for her upcoming dates.  If you haven't seen her play her own stuff, then you are missing out on something special!!!  Trust me, I'm almost a doctor......

And word just in....... Alex Hell (lead singer of John's old band Kartoon, and current lead singer of Blista) and his lovely wife Sue are expecting their second child!!!!  WOOO HOOO!!!!  Congratulations to the Hell clan on the good news!!!

That's all for now until the update on the details of the Easton Ellis gig this Saturday.

Dale, Aaron, Nat & John


07/07/2003 : For fans of our Natalie, you can go and check out her band at The Evelyn in Brunswick St, Fitzroy this Wednesday 9th July at 10:30pm. Irwin Thomas will be opening the show at 9:30pm. It should be a good one, so get your arses down there.

And afterwards, you can all make your way down to PA's in Grattan St, Carlton to see the rest of Felix do their thang from 11pm onwards.

Dale, Aaron, Nat & John


29/06/2003 : Aaron Leask has made his triumphant return after his two week voyage to the USA, and we are glad to have him home safe and sound!!!!  Big thanks go out to Kane and Michael Holden for filling the big man's shoes whilst he was away.

This coming week at the Pool Room (Saturday 5th of July), is the WELCOME WINTER PARTY (sponsored by jägermeister).  There will be $5.00 jägermeister shots all night, plus cheap jägermeister cocktails. AND........... for every jägermeister drink purchased, go into the draw to win one of these two great prizes :

Main prize is a trip for TWO to Mount Hotham!!!!

Runners up prize is a Skydiving Session!!!!

HOW F***ING COOL IS THAT???!!!
(Very f***ing cool I hear you say)

So make sure you come on down to the Pool Room this Saturday night wearing your snow bunny gear.  Check out http://poolroom.com.au for more details.


16/06/2003 : As you may or may not have noticed, our drummer Aaron has been mysteriously replaced by two highly dubious characters calling themselves Michael Holden and Kane Holden.  No....... Aaron has not been placed in the Witness Protection Program, he's just gone on a two week holiday to the U.S. (lucky bugger).  Brothers Michael and Kane are sharing the fill-in drummer slot 'til his return on the 25th of June.

If any of you would like to see some online videos of us in action, checkout http://poolroom.com.au to see us in action at The Pool Room (funnily enough).  There's heaps of photos which are updated weekly, information on upcoming promos and giveaways.

Speaking of promos, The Arcadia is promoting a great new boutique beer called blowFLY. Paul (the manager at The Arc) gave Dale, Aaron and I a taste test last week, and it was given the three-thumbs up from us, and you all know how much we love beer (especially free beer!!!). The Arcadia is proud to be the first of many venues in Victoria to stock this fine beer, so come down and try it out for yourself while your watching us on Friday's.  We may even give away some freebies for you to try if you're lucky!!!

Dale, John, Nat, Michael, Kane, & Aaron (in exile)


28/05/2003 : This Thursday the 29th of May 2003, marks the end of an era. Felix will be playing their final Daisey's Ringwood gig after being there for 2 and a bit years!!!  It's been heaps of fun, but the time has come for us to move on to pastures new.  So come down to Daisey's on Thursday to say goodbye, and hopefully we will know by then where we are actually going to.  Otherwise we'll just be sitting on our collective butts on Thursday Nights drinking beer and watching the Footy Show!!!

Speaking of collective's(ed:nice segway Johnny), The Coverband Collective gig on Sunday Night was a roaring success!!!  The total raised at the end of the night was $1593.85.  Well done to all involved, it was the best night I've had out in ages.

Dale, Aaron, Nat & John.


18/05/2003 : Dear everybody who bothers to read this site anymore, a very special event is occurring on Sunday the 25th of May at The Pool Room!!!!!

5 BANDS FOR 5 DOLLARS is happening at The Pool Room (1134 Burwood Hwy, Ferntree Gully) in aid of the Make a Wish Foundation.  The 5 bands involved are Bedrock, Chump, Pean, Freeeze, and Felix (that's us if you didn't know.)  Doors open at 6pm, there will be $200 worth of drink giveaways, door prizes, a kissing booth with Steve from Pean, Aaron from Felix, Wayne from Chump, Noel from Freeeze, and the entire line-up from Bedrock (to be confirmed).  Plus many other wonderful and exciting shit that I can't remember right now!!!!!

Come one, come all, it's all for a good cause, so get your f'ing a's down to The Pool Room on Sunday 25th of May, 2003.  Doors open at 6pm.

Dale, Aaron, Nat & John.


11/02/2003 : Dale told me to update the site this week, or he'd punch me in the nuts.  Then he did punch me in the nuts just to remind me how painful a nut-punching can be!!! IT WORKED!!!!

Latest news in the Wonderful World of Felix is the latest addition to our line-up.  Regulars at The Pool Room may have noticed the lovely Nat Allison playing guitar and singing with us since late December.  We're proud to say that she is now part of the band!!!  Here's a picture of her shredding!!!

O-Week is fast approaching, so P.A.'s is gearing up for an onslaught of alcohol-fuelled mayhem on Wednesday nights again.  Felix have been warming up on Wednesdays since Jan 22 with some small "pre-uni" gigs just to blow the cobwebs away.

We've done some serious updating to our songlist as well with Nat joining the band, so expect to hear some great new stuff along with the best of our old stuff.  I've added the MP3 section to the site this year, and that will have heaps of music downloads for you to pick faults in.

That's all for now..............

Dale, Aaron, Nat & John.


27/11/2002 : It's been over two months since I have updated this section, so I thought I'd better post something here.  What can I say......... I'm lazy..... sue me!!!

Anyways, you all may have noticed the absence of Mark Van Den Boom on the geetar over the past month or so.  So have we!!!  Contrary to popular belief, the rumours about Mark being in re-hab (which funnily enough were started by us) are completely false!!!  Mark has in fact been building up his landscape-gardening business.  In his absence, we have been playing as a three-piece on every night, except for The Pool Room on Saturdays where we've had the Asian Invasion himself Mr. Ken Oath filling-in on the guitar.

Mark makes his triumphant return THIS SATURDAY 30TH NOVEMBER AT THE POOL ROOM!!! So come on down and see THE MAN strut his stuff.  I just hope he remembers to give me back my Clockwork Orange DVD, or there'll be BIG SMACKS!!!

That's all for now, seeya.........


11/09/2002 : How do you commemorate the loss of the 3000-odd lives lost in the September 11 attacks in the U.S.?  According to our TV networks, you re-run the footage all night, you show never before seen footage of the plane's hitting, and you send every network personality over to New York to stand at Ground Zero and talk to camera to intro the footage.  I am absolutely disgusted by this!!!!

The best way to show our respects was thought up by a young kid in New York.  Drive around with your headlights on during the day.  It's simple, and it's respectful.  I watched all this happen last year on CNN, and it upset me.  I don't want to see it again, and I'm sure the families of those who died there don't want it re-ran also.  I find this extremely voyeuristic, and really insensitive.

John


08/08/2002 : First off, I'd like to congratulate the Australian Government for pointing out to the rest of the world what a bunch of fucking redneck-racist arseholes we really are.  Mandatory Detention of Asylum Seekers/Refugees is the most archaic and racist policy ever devised.  After some careful research of the Australian Bureau of Statistics Website, it all becomes apparent how racist this policy truly is!!!!  Since 1989, only 13,000 people have arrived by boat, which in my book, is not the HUGE PROBLEM that arseholes like John Howard and Phillip Ruddock have made it out to be.  The White Australia policy is alive and well, and living in Canberra.  Over the same period of time, 5 times that amount of New Zealand and UK illegal immigrants have passed through our gates, and no-one seems to give a shit about them.  Just another case of good old-fashioned WOG-BASHING for political gain.  To para-phrase Derryn Hinch, SHAME AUSTRALIA, SHAME!!!!  Don't any of you ever forget the lies those pricks told us about the Tampa refugees.

On to things that have to do with the band, we have some sad news.  John has left our original project "Gamma Sky" to pursue his own THANG!!!  What his own thang is exactly, we haven't quite figured out yet, but we are assured he'll be sticking around to play bass and sing off-key in Felix.  Rumour has it that he is joining forces with Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr to start a new band called "The Beatles."  Another rumour has him joining Graham Ross and the Ground Force team installing water features, but this is all just speculation.

Time to go and watch my tape of the Panel now,.

Goodnight.

13/06/2002 : Much to the dismay of us all, Mirabai has been evicted from the house, and the guy from the Cottee's commercial remains.  Gretel fell on her bum when she entered the house, which made us laugh heartily, and according to the commercial I've just seen, Killing Heidi will be performing live in the house for Jessica's birthday.  POOR JESS!!!!

Back to the real world, we are still recording those three songs with that producer guy.  Unfortunately, Dale's throat has been really sore the last couple of weeks, so Mark and John have taken over the lead vocal duties until he is back to normal again. SO DON'T PICK ON HIM!!!! (Leave that up to us thank you very much).

Thanks to Skye for bringing those photos of us last night!!!  You have just won a lifetime of John chasing you around with a bunch of flowers begging you to marry him. (Poor Skye!!!!)

Also, thanks to Bianca for taking this new band photo you can see above.  Bianca has won a shopping spree, where she will be taking all of us shopping to buy some new clothes (for us, not her).

That's all for now.........................


05/06/2002 : Gamma Sky are playing at The Armadale Hotel this Saturday night (8th of June) at 10:00pm.  We are playing support to A Space Like Alice.  This means Felix will not be playing at The Pool Room this Saturday, but we will be at The Pool Room on Sunday night instead.

Recording of our three new songs "Losing Sleep" "Sucker Punch" and "7-11" is still going on.  As a matter of fact, Mark is doing the guitar parts right now, so I have to go now and pull faces at him.

Seeya.................

15/05/2002 : Well, The Pool Room was absolutely packed on Saturday night, which is exactly what we love to see.  After a three month absence, it was nice to be welcomed back so heartily!!!

This morning is the start of our recording sessions with producer Adrian Hannan.  We'll be spending all day today recording the basic tracks for the songs, and then we're off to PA's to play 'til 2am.  Dale is under strict orders not to sing too much, otherwise we will smack him on the bot-bot.  Once we have finished these sessions (which will be ongoing for the next four weeks), we will be heading off to Sydney (for the third time) on our nights off to have a little break, and maybe try and get a record deal.

Dale, Mark, John & Aaron..............


08/05/2002 : We haven't updated this in a few weeks, so here is the latest news.  It's a long one!!!

Felix make their triumphant return to The Pool Room this coming Saturday (11th May), so get your arses down there to hear us make some loudish noises.  Big thanks go out to Paul and Ken for having us back out there.

Onto some other business, our alter-ego Gamma Sky, start recording their long-awaited release next Wednesday with their new friend, Adrian Hannan as their producer.  Adrian has worked with Taxiride, Vanessa Amorosi, and lots of other people that I can't think of right now, plus some people I'm not allowed to mention by golly.  Now he's working with us. POOR BASTARD!!!  We have settled on recording three new songs in the rather short, yet expensive time we have with Mr Hannan.  The rest, we will record at our now infamous Park Street Recording Studios/Football Training Facilities.

Big thanks go out to everyone who came down to The Evelyn last Thursday for the Gamma Sky gig.  Sorry we couldn't hang around, but we had to get to another gig in Ringwood in Chuck Yeager-type speed as soon as we finished.

We'd also like to say hello to Sharna from Big Brother 1, whom we met last Friday at The Arcadia.  I'm not familiar with Aidan Quinn, but she reassured us that Dale is a dead-ringer for him, Mark is shifty, Aaron is a Pisces, and John is gay.   Well............ Dale looks like Justin Madden (according to John's mum), Mark handles our money (so obviously WE trust him), Aaron is a Sagittarius, and John is a very big fan of the "Debbie Does........" series of cinematic gems.  Sharna, you have twenty seconds to leave the house.  20-19-18-17.........GET OUT!!!

A few months ago, John Healy (our bass player) was awarded the prestigious award for "The Most Crap Thing To Happen To A Bass Player Award" by his political sparring-partner, Sean Lacey from Pean.  Not long after that, Sean's house got broken into, and all his stuff was stolen, including his financial records which were stored on a disc left in his computer.  This happened only a few weeks after he had chased some burglars out of his house when he returned to retrieve the earplugs he'd forgotten to take to rehearsal.  THAT IS A CRAP THING TO HAPPEN TO A BASS PLAYER!!!!!!  Even though someone urinated on John's car AGAIN last week at Daisey's,  he has to hand back the award to Sean, cos' getting burgalled is a very crap thing to happen to anyone.  So Sean, if you're out there (I know you haven't got a computer at the moment),  the re-count is in your favour!!!!!!

Check back here for more more unneccesary bold-captioning of words, political commentary, unfounded gossip and extremely bad use of the English language.

Dale, Mark, John & Aaron.


14/04/2002 : Tomorrow, on the 15th of April 2002,  John (that is me of course) turns the ripe old age of 26 (YIPPEEEE!!!!)  I am now officially uncool according to my nephew, and the fact that I have a nephew that is old enough to know the difference between cool and uncool, makes me feel even worse.  If only I'd taken that left turn at Alberkurke..........

I picked up my new bass guitar on Monday, and I want to show it off right now, so here's a picture I took of it.

Happy Birthday to me!!!!!

That's all I've got to say for now.

John


30/03/2002 : Well............ Gamma Sky rocked out the room upstairs at The Armadale last night.  We played one of our new songs called "Speed of Sound" first, then we let out with a barrage of top songs like Phonetics, Surefire Way, Spit You Out, One Of Your Scenes, (I'm going throught the whole set-list now), Scarred, Blue Letter Day, Staring At The Ceiling, and two other songs that I can't recall at the moment as I am getting sleepy.  Hats off to our manager Dylan Liddy for the spectacular light show, and Travis pulled a great mix at the sound desk as usual!!!

Thanks to everybody who came down on a night where they could've stayed at home and watched the Good Friday Appeal Concert on Channel 7.  Big thanks to Noel Tenney (drummer from Freeeze) who made an appearance on the night, plus some of our regulars like Bianca, Erin, Kathryn, Rebecca, Em, Lisa Lioness, Peta, James, Sophia, etc. etc. (sorry if we've forgot anyone), plus a whole bunch of other people who were getting right into it!!!  Thanks everybody!!!!!!!

Felix are playing at The Pool Room in Ferntree Gully this Sunday Night.  I'm led to believe that the aforementioned Noel Tenney, will be playing beforehand with one or two other people, so we are getting down there early.  I think Noel said they are on at 9:30-9:45pm, and we are on at the usual time of 11pm.  Be there, or be a four-sided object that has four equal right-angled sides.

On a personal note from me (John), I'd like to say a big hello to Wayne Chump from Chump(the band), for the kind words he wrote to me in response to that post about someone pooing on my car.  I've taken some of his advice onboard, and put it to good use already.  I urge anyone out there who knows the boys in Chump (or even if you don't), to get behind their campaign titled,  "Get Zak on Rove Live."  It's a worthy cause, and I urge you to Give That He May Dance.

Well, Catholic-guilt forced me not to eat meat all day, but it didn't stop me washing it all away with a few cleansing ales.  And as my last stubbie for the night dwindles away to the obscurity of the bottle-bin out the front, I bid you all a fond farewell, and goodnight.

Ciao Bella.


28/03/2002 : Last night was one of the biggest nights at PA's ever seen.  Dale and myself were remarking that it had been a while since we'd seen a line out the front since the old days when we played there in Plush.  It got so bad out there, that security informed us there were people offering $50 just to get in the door!!!!  If this ever happens again, just come around to the window where you can see us playing, flash a note (nothing under a lobster ($20)), and we'll let you in through the side, no questions asked!!!  Any student from the U.S. can pay double, they can afford it!!!

We had a special guest in the room last night.  After her stint as a Guest DJ on 100.3 NOVA FM last Wednesday, Ms. Eloise Sammarco made an appearance at PA's last night.  Apart from a lack of Gamma Sky material, the songs she played on NOVA were very cool.

Tonight at Daisey's, we unfortunately have to finish early because of that whole Good Friday thing, and The Arcadia is also cancelled on Friday because of the whole "Jesus died today" thing.  We are playing at The Armadale on Good Friday night though, because they have a liquor licence, so come on down.  We start at 9pm, and there is two other bands on.

On Easter Sunday Night, we are playing at The Pool Room in Ferntree Gully at 11pm.  We're all looking forward to playing there as we absolutely love playing at The Pool Room.

Also, on a personal note, good luck to Yahoo Serious in suing the search engine known as Yahoo!for unlawful use of his trademark.  As if Yahoo (the search engine) wished to cash-in on the so-called popularity of the first half of the guy who played Reckless Kelly's name.  And I thought "Worlds Funniest Natural Disasters" was the funniest thing I'd seen on telly.  PISSER!!!!

Goodnight!!!!!


27/03/2002 : Our much loved guitarist, Mr Mark Vandenboom, celebrates his 25th birthday this Saturday.  As we don't play on Saturday nights anymore, we will most likely be hitting the town and getting drunk, and possibly going to see some bands and stuff.

Gamma Sky are playing a gig at the Armadale this Friday at 9pm, but we will not be at The Arcadia this week due to Good Friday licensing laws.  Bummer!!!  But, we will be at The Pool Room in Ferntree Gully this Easter Sunday night, so come on down and share some eggs with us.

John bought his dream Bass Guitar on Friday.  It is a 1969 Hofner 500/1 violin-shaped bass, as used by Paul McCartney in The Beatles.  He should be picking it up in time for his birthday which is in the next couple of weeks.  Here is a picture of the bass though.

What a lovely piece of wood!!!

21/03/2002 : I'd like to preface this latest post with the best Wayne Carey joke I've heard all week :

Q. What's the difference between Skippy and Wayne Carey?

A: Skippy can root who he likes and still be a kangaroo!

Now I've got that off my chest, I'd like to inform everybody of a change to our originals gigs that are coming up.  The gig at the Evelyn on the 3rd of April, has been changed to the 25th of April (ANZAC DAY).  I can't remember the reason for the change of dates right now, but I'm sure it's a good one!!!

So, this means the Gamma Sky gig guide looks like this now :

Friday 29th March 2002 - The Armadale Hotel, High St Armadale, 9:15pm start
Thursday 25rd April 2002 - The Evelyn, Brunswick St Fitzroy, 9:00pm start

Anybody who bothered to read my post from last week (which I did receive a few emails about) thought that maybe I was thinking about leaving the band.  Well ...................... I'm not leaving the band!!!

I was very angry about the things that have occurred to myself and my belongings, and the overall lack of respect any band member receives these days. BUT, I love my job, I love my band, and this job kicks ass over unloading shipping containers and driving a forklift for a living!!! NO CONTEST!!!!  So here I stay.

The five songs we started recording last week should be finished next week.  Our manager (Dylan) has been patiently awaiting the arrival of these new songs to send off to some record companies (again), in the hope of securing a record deal before we punch him in the nuts!!!  His nuts are actually quite safe as he has set us up with a really cool production team to make us sound really good, and he has been busting the same nuts trying to get us motivated after our holiday period in January.

That's all for now, I'm going back to bed with this horrible cold I've got (again).  Seey'all.

LATE UPDATE : Big thanks go out to Sean Lacey from Pean for bringing my notorious rant from last week to the attention of his readers.  Some bad shit has happened to him of late as well, and I'm proud that he thinks I deserve the "Most crap thing to happen to a guy in a band" award, after the bad shit that has happened to him in the past few months.  For those who were brought here by Sean's link, read the post below, otherwise, I'm sending it back to the archive where it belongs.

John


16/03/2002 : ANYONE WHO IS EASILY OFFENDED BY SWEARING, OFFENSIVE BEHAVIOR, OR JUST GENERAL NASTINESS SHOULD NOT READ THIS LATEST POST FROM THE AUTHOR OF THE USUAL DRIVEL YOU SEE HERE!!!!!!!!
 

OK, now I've got that out of the way, I'd like to tell you all a tale about a guy in a band called Felix.  For the sake of the story, let's call him............ John.

Now......., after years of slogging away, playing bass to a bunch of ungrateful arseholes asking for Cold Chisel songs, or The Doors.  After 9 long years of being threatened with violence if I didn't convince the other guys in whatever band I was playing in at the time, that Pantera was OBVIOUSLY what everybody wanted to hear that night because, "I said so."  Or the favorite of every band member I know......, the guy who comes up during a song to say the following words, "Hey mate....... I used to be in a band.  Can you get me up to sing Khe Sanh?"  And when you politely say NO to this genius, he calls you a (and I quote), "Fucking C%#T!!!!  You guys are shit anyway!!!"  Well........... I'm here to say, that  I'VE HAD ENOUGH!!!!!

I have seen some fucked up shit in my time.  I have seen three whole clubs erupt in an all-in brawl, one of which was shut down forever.  I've seen couples having sex on the dance floor.  I've seen people pissing in the darkest corner of the club because they couldn't be bothered walking the extra couple of metres to the dunny.  I once saw a guy walk out of the pub, and he walked straight out onto the road and ended up with his leg trapped under the back wheel of a passing ute.  I've seen alot more shit that still gives me nightmares!!!!!

Now............to the actual point of this rant.  In the last 14 months that I have been in this band we call Felix, I have personally had the following happen to me :
 

And now the clincher............  This is what has ignited this whole out-pouring of pent-up aggression.

Some filthy little c%#t has thrown shit all over my car.  The jury is still out on whether it was of the animal or human variety, but as you can probably understand, I didn't wait around long to find out.  This of course led to me spending three-quarters-of-an-hour, cleaning my car from top to bottom at one of those all night car cleaning places. (At a cost of $20+ to me)

Whoever did this obviously thinks I deserve it, and hats off to you for thinking that way.  I obviously think that I don't deserve this, and I don't relish the thought of finding shit all over my car ever again.   Maybe it was a random act of kindness, you know, paying it forward like in that movie of a similar name?  Or maybe it was just random, I DON'T KNOW!!!!!?????

To summarize, I would like to say the following.  I put up with a hell of a lot of shit when I'm trying to do my job of playing bass and singing, but I'm not putting up with any of it anymore!!!!  I've had enough!!!  It used to be fun, but now it's just another (forgive the pun) SHITTY JOB.  I sometimes think I'd be better off removing asbestos from old buildings for a living rather than doing this.

Contrary to popular belief, this is not an easy job!!!  It's bloody hard!!!!!  You cop a lot of abuse and derision from everybody. You lose contact with your friends, the pay is lousy, and you hardly ever see daylight.  Not to mention the hearing loss, the bad habits you pick up along the way (like ciggys, booze, drugs etc.).  The food you actually have the time to eat, isn't fit for the consumption of a stray animal.  It's a never-ending life of long-hard nights, and waking up in strange-smelling rooms in faraway places.  Nobody respects you, and they feel quite justified in thinking that way.

The only things that keep me going, is the fact that I love playing music.  I love the fact that I can make a living out of doing it, and the fact that I have three other people to share the ride with.  If something happens to any one of us, we all feel it.  That is a comfort that you would not even begin to fathom in any other job.

Ask any member of a band what they think about playing, and they will tell you they love it.  After all, if you can still call it playing, and not WORKING, you'd have to love it.

John

(The views expressed in this post are not necessarily those of the entire band.  But I'll bet they're thinking along the same lines!!!!)

13/03/2002 : Recording of five new Gamma Sky songs started yesterday at the Park Street Studios.  This takes us up to 21 completed songs in our repertoire, plus numerous incomplete symphonies in-progress.

Upcoming Gamma Sky gigs :

Friday 29th March 2002 - The Armadale Hotel, High St Armadale, 9:15pm start
Wednesday 3rd April 2002 - The Evelyn, Brunswick St Fitzroy, 9:15pm start

Anyone wishing to join the Gamma Sky mailing list should email us at gammasky@hotmail.comor check out the website at www.gammasky.com for updates.

Felix (our alter-ego) are still going strong at all gigs, and there have been some new song additions to the set-listsuch as "Last Night" by The Strokes which features our illustrious drummer on lead vocals, plus many more.

That's all for now,

Dale, Mark, John & Aaron.


04/03/2002 : Not a hell of a lot to report this week, so I thought I'd tell a joke instead.

A man playing on a new golf course got confused as to what hole he was on.  He saw a lady playing ahead of him. He walked up to her and asked if she knew what hole he was playing. She replied, "I'm on the 7th hole, and you're a hole behind me, so you must be on the 6th hole." He thanked her and went back to his golf.

On the back nine, the same thing happened, and he approached the lady again with the same request. She said, "I'm on the 14th, you are a hole behind me, so you must be on the 13th." Once again he thanked her.

He finished his round and went into the club house and saw the lady sitting at the end of the bar.

He went up to her and said, "Let me buy you a drink to show my appreciation for your help." He started a conversation and asked her what kind of work she did.

She said she was in sales, and he said he was in sales also.

He asked what she sold.  She replied, "If I told you, you would only laugh."  "No, I wouldn't," he said.

She said, "I sell tampons."

With that he fell on the floor laughing so hard.

She said, "See, I knew you would laugh."

"That's not what I'm laughing at," he replied.  "I'm a toilet paper salesman, so I'm STILL one hole behind you!"


22/02/2002 : Well, all good things must come to an end as they say.  We have decided to lighten our workload a bit, so we're giving up our Saturday night gig at The Pool Room to make room for more originals' gigs.  It's a shame we have to leave, but we'd all just like to thank Ken and Paul for putting up with us making so much noise every Saturday.  Tomorrow night is the last gig, so come on down and see us off.

John will be there the week after filling-in for his old band Kartoon, who are a possible replacement for the Saturday residency at The Pool Room.  If they do get the residency, John will be playing with them whenever there aren't any Gamma Sky gigs on, so that'll be nice.

Speaking of originals' gigs, Gamma Sky have two dates coming up.  The first one is on Friday 29th March at The Armadale Hotel at 9:15pm.  The second is on Wednesday 3rd April at The Evelyn at 9:15pm also.  More details will be posted here and at  www.gammasky.com  when we know a bit more.


06/02/2002 : Gamma Sky are appearing at The Evelyn on Thursday 7th of February at 8:30pm.  That's tomorrow night!!!!  Come down and see our first originals gig for 2002, and hear some of our new material.

Aaron is heading off to Los Angeles on Saturday, and he's promised to bring some goodies back for us guys!!!  I put in an order for something, but we are doubtful he'll get back through customs with it.  He'll be gone for just over a week, so once again, we have two lovely people filling his shoes for the gigs he will miss.  These guys are Shannon Gibson from Fuse, and Mick Mills who is an old friend of ours.  Be nice to them, or I'll flatten ya's.

Felix will make their triumphant return to PA's in Carlton on Wednesday 13th of February.  We're all looking forward to being back, so we'll see you at the bar as usual.

Remember to check out http://www.gammasky.com for updates and news on Gamma Sky.


22/01/2002 : Aaron and Mark return from their holidays this week, and things will return to normal again (we hope).  Big thanks to Ken and Shannon for filling-in for the boys while they were away.  Aaron has already returned from the Gold Coast, and has subsequently been ringing everybody asking what has been going on in his absence.  Mark will return from Byron Bay on Saturday just in time (hopefully) to play at The Pool Room.

Dale and I went and saw Bluline Medic and Something For Kate play at The Prince of Wales in St Kilda last Wednesday, for what was supposed to be a secret gig.  We were lined up for an hour, and luckily there was a bottle shop along the line otherwise we were in serious risk of sobering up.  I ducked in and grabbed a six-pack of VB, and by the time we got to the door, they were all gone.  We caught up with some old friends there as well like Dave Kerrigan (Australian U2 Show) and Matt Ryan who used to play drums in Plush with Dale and I.  He tried to pants me for old time's sake, but my belt proved to be too stubborn for even his violent dakking action.  I'm glad he didn't as I wasn't quite sure whether I was wearing undies or not.

O-Week is fast approaching at Melbourne Uni, which can only mean one thing.  Felix are back at PA's again!!!!  I'm not quite sure when O-Week is, but I believe it's about two or three weeks away.  I'll post it here when somebody bothers to find out.

That's all for now, byeeee.


06/01/2002 : Welcome to 2002, the year of the death of BOY-BANDS!!!  (Or so we hope).  If I see another film-clip of five blokes prancing about and singing, "I love you girl, cos' you is my girl" type of crap, then I'll scream.  And the way they put their hands on their chests to show that they mean the words they are singing (the same words that some songwriter wrote out for them while he was sitting on the crapper), ooohhh baby baby, you is my baby, yeah!!!!

My mum bought me a digital camera for christmas, and consequently, I have been annoying the shit out of everyone (especially Mark) by taking tons of photos at gigs.  Some of these shots will be up on the photos page later on tonight if you want a look at them.

Felix (that's us) spent Christmas Eve and New Years Eve playing at the Mountain Inn on Mt. Macedon.  It was cold, and wet, but we had a great time up there on the mountain.  I was happy to find they had Guinness on tap, so pints were ordered over dinner.

Mark and Aaron will be taking a couple of weeks off this month to have a bit of rest and recuperation, so Ken (who has filled in for us before) will take over guitar duties for a fortnight, and Shannon Gibson from Fuse will be pounding the shit out of his kit with us for a few weeks also.  Be nice to them when you see them.

That's all for now.

22/12/2001 : I'd just like to say a big sarcastic thankyou to whoever double-booked the Espy on Thursday.  Lots of you showed up there wondering where the hell we were and we apologise profusely for that.  We were only told a few hours before we were due to go onstage that we weren't playing, so there was unfortunately nothing we could do about it. So once again, sorry, and thanks for your support.  Let's see if the same thing happens at The Evelyn on Australia Day.

I bumped into Louie from Crazy Haus on the way home from Daiseys on Thursday, and he told me to get my arse down to The Depot in Richmond on Sunday 23rd December at 3pm for their Christmas Fund Raiser for The Royal Melbourne Cancer Research Centre.  I suggest you all do the same as it's a really good cause, and will be a great day.  There'll be a free BBQ, Karaoke, special guests and Crazy Haus performing live afterwards, so bring your spare change along and help the boys raise some money for a very worthy charity.

Gamma Sky now has a website which is located at http://www.gammasky.com. It's still being built, but bookmark it anyway.

That's all for now, except to say Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from the Felix boys, and to remember to leave some food out for Santa.


07/12/2001 : We are playing an extra week at PA's due to popular demand.  So that means the last gig will be on the 12th of December now.  Considering we were meant to finish half-way through November, I definitely know this will be the last PA's gig for the year.  I know this because we have plans for the following Wednesday involving lobster dinners, champagne, beer, nachos, choice reds, and birthday / Xmas celebrations.  In other words, it's Aaron's birthday party, and we're taking the night off for our favorite drummer. (Our only drummer.)

If you didn't receive your email, you wouldn't know about the Gamma Sky gig at the Espy on the 20th of December, would you?  Well......now you know.  We'll be playing three brand new songs, plus a s#*t-load of our other stuff.  Unlike the last gig, we won't be pushed for time by fifteen-million other support acts, so we'll be onstage for a considerable amount longer.  The other band that is playing is called Fur Patrol.  I haven't actually heard them yet, but I'm told they are very good.  Not as good as Scandalous, but who is?

Thanks to Rebecca Walsh and Em Read for the latest photos of us on the site, and if they see this post on their around-the-country-tour, have fun girls, and stop hassling those hotel guys.  And thanks to Eloise Sammarcco for a.) Getting me off my arse to get the Gamma Sky site happening, b.) Massaging my back on Wednesday, c.) Not complaining about massaging my back on Wednesday.  THANX!!!

And on a personal note, I recommend you all go out and buy the latest 12th Man CD titled "The Final Dig?" as I have been pissing myself laughing listening to it since Monday.  It's M-A-R-V-E-L-L-O-U-S!!!! 

 28/11/2001 : OK.  It's been a while since I've updated the site, but I've been busy.  The latest news is that we're pulling record crowds at The Pool Room on Saturdays, Arcadia is going off again, Daisey's is going absolutely psychopathic with 1300+ people in the place, and PA's is still going strong even throughout the tough non-Uni weeks.  I've changed the look of the website again, and as we speak, I am purchasing the htttp://www.gammasky.com domain name so we have a whole new site for Gamma Sky.

Recording of our new stuff starts on Thursday this week, and even though I've said it before (numerous times), we will be releasing an EP in the New Year.  Punches have been thrown, general tauntings and teasings have been dished out, and overall abuse has gone through the band agreeing on a release of our stuff, and we all agreed that next year we'd start selling CD's.  Like I've said before, we have been dying to release something, but we just wanted to make sure you all heard us at our best.  So, look forward to the release of our first EP, and a long list of upcoming gigs throughout the big-brown-land in 2002.

We play our last gig for this year at PA's on December 5th, but we'll be back in February 2002 with a whole new list of songs.  Thanks to Ralph and all the crew at PA's for putting up with our shit this year, and we're all looking forward to another successful year at PA's in 2002.

If anybody's had a look at Pean's website recently, you'll have seen my name mentioned in Sean's Spiel a few times, and in the Pean Invaders top score list.  I'd just like to say a big thanks to Sean for having an email debate with me over the course of the election.  We threw facts, articles and all sorts of stuff at each other, but the result went in his favour on the day.  BUGGER!!!!  Check out Sean's Spiel at  http://peanband.com  for some great commentary on gigs and Posh Spice interviews.

That's all for now, so I'll see you all at a gig soon.

John11/11/2001 : It's been a very long two weeks and we are all very tired.  10 gigs in a row (minus one night off) and we're all stuffed!!!  We did a support gig with Bodyjar at the Denim lounge last Sunday (which I still haven't seen the video of)

30/10/2001 : I just received a phone call telling me that Gamma Sky, our illustrious originals band, is playing support to Bodyjar and Warped at The Denim Lounge in Ringwood, this Sunday 4th November at 8:00pm.  We will be playing some of our new unheard stuff at this gig, plus the best of what we have done so far, so make sure you get there to see us!!!
28/10/2001 : Well, after a long period without having an internet connection, I (John) am back online.  A lot of you have been asking why the site hasn't been updated in a while, and now I'm going to tell you why.  My previous internet service provider, ( Australia Internet Solutions) suddenly ceased all knowledge of my account with them, and after a shit load of phone calls to said company with promises that they would ring me back when the problem was fixed, I gave up.  At that precise moment, two young gentlemen came knocking at my door in short sleeved shirts and ties, with clipboards in hand.  I surreptitiously answered the door believing they were Mormons, (I'd just ran out of hash cookies too) only to find they were selling Optus Cable internet packages.  After a good hour of grilling these two gentlemen about bandwidth and hidden costs etc..... I signed up, and now I am downloading pictures of Cindy Crawford in the buff with great speed!!!!  In the words of Homer Simpson, "How can one insulated piece of wire bring so much happiness?!!!"  I'd like to thank Australia Internet Solutions for the 7 months of free internet access they gave me, as my account actually ran out in March.  HEHEHE!!!  So, I'm back, and I have a shit load of stuff to tell you all about.

As reported earlier, we planned to go to Sydney with our manager Dylan and hassle some record companies on October 7th.  Well.....we did go to Sydney, we flew on an empty Ansett A-320 with Joe Misiti's wife as our stewardess, and we had a blast!!!!  Mark and I finally got to see the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House, and this time, we stayed in 5 star comfort in Rushcutters Bay, but they stuffed up our reservations and only gave us two double beds!!!!  Then Dylan stepped in and sorted it out, so no-one had to share a bed in the end!!!!  PHEW!!!!!

While we were up there, we caught up with the guys from Last Days of April, and Donnie Dureau from Blueline Medic who were all playing at The Annandale.  Donnie is an old friend of mine, and is credited for teaching me how to play a D chord the wrong way around when we both started playing guitar together when we were 15.  Oh, and he also taught me how to play one of my favorite Beatles songs, "Dear Prudence" all those years ago which was bloody hard to learn looking back on it.

All in all, another top trip away with the boys, and we're all talking about doing a bus trip up there and taking along about thirty of you people to hang with us when we do some gigs up there.  So, if you're interested in coming, email us or just hassle Dale at a gig and we'll do it.

Well, it's time for me to go to bed, so I'll see you all later.

01/10/2001 : I just checked out the coverbands.com.au website, and it seems we were voted the NUMBER 1 coverband in September.  And, we are on top of the voting again for this month already!!!  There's no accounting for taste then is there? hehehe  Thanks to everyone who voted for us, and we'd like to thank the umpires and the ball boys.

I'll be sticking up a links section on this site soon to all the other bands we have friends in, and some bands that we just like.

30/09/2001 : Well.....what a week!!!!  I (John) finally sold my panelvan.  We also made the decision to bugger off to Sydney again on October 7th (my Dad's birthday R.I.P.) to just get away for a couple of days and have a bit of fun together.  We're driving up this time in the typical band vehicle (a Budget Rental Toyota Tarago) and we're staying in either Bondi or Rushcutter's Bay.  We've got a new passenger making the trip with us too.  After a lot of deliberation, lawyer's fees and expensive restaurant dining, we finally signed a management contract with Dylan Liddy of Rock Dog Management PTY LTD.  Dylan is making the trip with us to Sydney this time so he can make sure we don't damage anything this time.  Dylan will be handling all things Gamma Sky oriented, and will also be introducing us to some fine imported beers and Tofu dishes courtesy of his wife Sophia.  Welcome aboard Dylan!!!! (FINALLY)

This week has also seen the absolute shit-fight over first place on the coverbands.com.au website between ourselves and Ramjet in the Top 5 coverbands voting polls.  It's been back and forth all week, and today is the last day of voting, so we'll just have to see what happens.  By the way, thanks to Mark Milbourne and all involved with the coverbands.com.au for making us Band of the Week this week.

Well, like I said in the last post, the Gamma Sky site will be up soon (it's coming Eloise, I promise:) so this site will eventually be absorbed into the new Gamma Sky site as well.  I'm still debating on the merits of buying a domain name for Felix, but we'll see.

Peace, love and Mung Beans.

20/09/2001 : We had an absolutely huge night last night at PA's, the place was absolutely packed to the rafters.  Ralph even had nice things to say!!!!  We recorded yet another new song today which is untitled for the moment, but it has a really cool bass line in it if I can say so myself.  The Gamma Sky website will be online in the next couple of weeks (fingers crossed), and thank god I'm not doing it all myself this time.  My old friend Rohan Veal who owns and runs Adroit Web Design has agreed to help us out, which reminds me, I've gotta call him back now, so I'll seeya'll later.
17/09/2001 : Well......last night we played the support to Zed, Last Days of April, and Superjesus at Bourbon Street Nightclub, Highpoint.  We had a bigger crowd than we expected (approx 350), made up of a lot of familiar faces.  Some of you came a long way to see our little set, and we thank you all greatly.  We played two of our new songs "Fire and Brimstone" and "Throw Away Lines" along with 5 other songs of ours.  We are looking forward to the next lot of gigs which are in the pipeline as we speak.  We've also got a whole new batch of songs ready, some of which weren't quite ready to be played last night, but we've recorded them and you'll be hearing them at PA's in the coming weeks.

2/09/2001 : Tickets are now available for the Gamma Sky gig at Bourbon Street Highpoint.  We are supporting Zed and The Superjesus.  The gig is on Sunday 16th September, and tickets are $20.  Just come up and ask us at any one of our gigs, and we'll sort you out with some tickets.  We'll be playing some new songs too, which we think are our best work so far.  So don't miss this one!!!!
17/08/2001 : I've decided to stick a Gig Guide section in here now, cos' I forgot about that when I first built this site because you all knew where we were!!!  Now we don't even know where we are half the time, so this helps us as much as you.

I've also put a link to our site on the www.coverbands.com.au website (the link to which is just up there ^ ) so you can vote for us and make us look good to all the other guys in bands in Melbourne.  I think that is the reason that site exists as every band wants you to vote for them.  I say, "Just show up to our gigs and be naughty all night."  But that's just me I guess?!!!?  But vote for us anyway, OK!!! (My English teacher would kill me for opening two sentences with the word "BUT", let alone one, but I passed VCE anyway so derr Mr. Leslie)

06/08/2001 : We've had some good news this week.  Not only are we playing at The Evelyn on Saturday 25th of August, and we have scored a support with Zed and The Superjesus at Bourbon Street at Highpoint in late September.  We are all still debating whether to release an EP just yet, but please be patient with us.......we just want to get it right first time 'round, that's all .  We're working on some more new songs at the moment, so we're spoiled for choice in what songs to release.  Some of you already have the old versions of "Phonetics," "Scarred" and "Surefire Way" from when we put them online a few months ago, but we've been doing some serious Mozart-type tinkering with these tunes, and they are sounding f*%king s#*t hot, as opposed to f*%king s#*t-house.

Some people have brought it to my attention that they aren't receiving mail-outs from us, so if that is the case, just send us your email address again, and we'll fix it.

Dale also wishes to thank all those people who sent him Happy Birthday emails, (the bastard got more than me), and thanks you all for the support.

That's all for now, and remember, my panelvan is still for sale.

31/07/2001 : The Oblivia and Mavis' support gig on Thursday was a great success.  Thanks to everyone who rocked up, and thanks for cheering us on!!!  The next Gamma Sky gig will be at The Evelyn on Saturday August 25th.  Stay tuned for more details.

And on a personal note, my Nanna, Mary Healy passed away on Wednesday 25th July.  She was an absolute legend of a Nan, and I'm going to miss her heaps.


22/07/2001 : We would like to wish Dale a very happy birthday today.  We're going out to dinner to celebrate the occasion, and will surely consume lots of Mexican food and Margueritas.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY DALE!!!

15/07/2001 : We are currently rehearsing for our upcoming support gig at Wild Bill's Saloon in Moorabbin on Thursday 26th July.  The other acts on the bill are Oblivia and The Mavis's.  We have also been recording the new version of "Scarred", and a new song called "Crystal Clear", along with re-mixing "Surefire Way" for the upcoming release.  The six-song CD should be onsale at the Wild Bill's gig on the 26th of July, but we'll have to see how it's all going.

11/072001 : John's panelvan is for sale as of now.  Any reasonable offers considered.  It's a 1978 Green HX Holden Panelvan, 253 V8, Auto, LP Gas/Petrol, recently overhauled motor and tranny.  Did I mention it was green?  $3000 o.n.o.  NCY123.  Oh yeah, and does anyone know where I can get the windows in my Calais replaced cheap?  Some bastard broke into it in Williamstown, and the insurance doesn't cover it unfortunately.

That's all..............


10/07/2001 : Well.....we are back!!!  Sydney was possibly the best and most expensive trip in history, but we survived.  We arrived on Sunday afternoon, unpacked, showered shaved shampooed and shat, and hit every pub in George Street.  John bought one of those disposable cameras because he forgot to bring his Pentax, only to realise that Dale already had a camera.  We haven't got the photos back yet, but I'm sure they'll be suitably blurry and poorly posed.  Mark and John never did get to see the Harbour Bridge, although we did try to get there, but we got as far as Darling Harbour and decided to just turn around and go back to the hotel.  We had an "Absolutely Fabulous" dinner with Aaron's Aunty Di in Paddington, consuming over-priced pizza and over-sized bottles of Stolichnaya Vodka.  TOP NIGHT!!! Mark made the mistake of bringing his acoustic guitar to Sydney, and the subsequent renditions of Whitesnake and Poison songs at 3 in the morning nearly had us exited from our salubrious accomodations.

The real purpose for our trip was to oversee the mastering process of our humble little independent EP/Single at Studio 301 in the old Thorn EMI building in Castlereigh Street.  The man at the controls, Mr Steve Smart, has worked with the likes of Alex Lloyd, Midnight Oil, Alannis Morrissette, Dave Graney, Regurgitator and my personal favorite.........Scandalous!!!!  Steve weaved his magic over our songs, and cleaned it all up so you can't hear any of us farting in the background anymore.  John was pleased to find out this was not a non-smoking office, and was seen to duck out to the tea-room every couple of minutes.  The finished product turned out great, and there was much rejoicing in the hotel's bar later on.  Aaron disappeared to go and have dinner with yet another Aunty, so Dale, Mark and John amused themselves with the preview function for the Pay-Per-View Adult Movie channel whilst polishing off another slab of Victoria's finest.  The next thing we knew, we were back in Melbourne waiting an hour for our baggage, and then at PA's to play for you fine people.

Whilst in Sydney, we received a call from some manager-type-person telling us that we had scored a residency at the Arcadia in Toorak Road on Fridays.  We start this week, so come on down.  And don't forget the big Gamma Sky gig at Wild Bill's on Thursday 26th July.  Tickets are on sale now from any member of the band.  If you wish to purchase tickets, call John on 0425 794 459 for only $10.  Oblivia and The Mavis's are also on the bill, so it's a cheap night out folks.

Anyways, keep on checking this site for updates, and feel free to email us about anything.  I'm bored!!!


27/06/2001 : Recording for our first release has been completed this week.  It took us a while, but we finally got there.  All four of us are heading off to Sydney this weekend to get the CD mastered at the famous Studio 301.  The artwork has been completed as well (thanks Erin), so we should be selling the finished product in two weeks.  We have done the whole thing ourselves, and we are pretty darn proud of it.  Dale has absolutely worked his arse off recording and mixing it, along with writing the material.  If it wasn't for his patience and overall vision of what he wanted to hear, (plus the fact he has his own studio), we wouldn't have got anything done.  And as usual, his vocals were superb to say the least.  Mark also wrote one of the songs with Dale, and has added some beautiful guitar work to the whole project.  Mark has this uncanny knack for knowing exactly what to play to make the rest of us say, "SHIT YEAH!!!"  Aaron has also put his heart and lungs into the whole thing, absolutely agonising over every beat, even buying a new kit so it would sound even better.  He was also quite sick during the whole thing, and really did bust a lung getting everything done.  John smoked approximately three-and-a-half cartons of cigarettes, ate ten packs of Smint, and occasionally played bass when he remembered to bring it.  Overall, it sounds great, and we hope you enjoy it as much as Scandalus' new single.

To celebrate the release of our new EP, we are playing a huge gig at Wild Bill's Saloon in Moorabbin.  Oblivia and The Mavis's will be headlining the show which is set for the 26th of July.  Tickets are on sale from us for only $10.  If you want to book some tickets, phone John on 0425 794 459, email us at felixband@hotmail.com, or just ask us at one of our gigs.  This is going to be huge, and we hope to see you all there, or else.

As for all things Felix, we continue to play at PA's Carlton every Wednesday night, Daisy's Ringwood every Thursday night, Dale and Mark's early acoustic show at the Redback every Friday night followed by the full band at The Match this week.  John also plays an early acoustic show with Aaron Laguda (ex Kartoon) at The Perseverance Hotel in Brunswick St every Friday.  John has also been filling in for Fuse at Flaming Mo's in Bentleigh on Saturdays, but all good things must come to an end.  There are some Saturday nights coming up soon in Traralgon and Glen Iris, but I've forgotten the details of those gigs, so stay tuned.

I think that's about all for now, except to say thanks to all who came down to the Gamma Sky gig at 9th Ward on Sunday just gone.  The night was a great success, and we appreciate the support.

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