With influences from KISS, Motorhead, Misfits, Danzig, Black Sabbath, Frank Zappa, Alice Cooper, Cream, Darkthrone, Immortal, Death, Slayer and Death Rock bands and horror comics such as Tales From The Crypt, PSYCHONAUT began its existence during the year of 1997 A.D. in Perth, Western Australia.
MK I Line Up: Guitar operator MARK DE VATTIMO (Voyager), bass pounder STEVE VELLA and drummer THEO ONGEREZOS started long night drunken jams and eventually smashed together some songs. These included DARKLORD, CONFUSION? VERTIGO!, OLD BLOOD RIVERS and STEAMROLLER. Around 1998 , Steve Hidden (ex Allegiance) came and went after sveral months of rehearsals. The lyrical content was drawn from movies and characterizations. This came about from the band's distaste at constantley hearing 'paint-by-numbers' rock and metal. Three years later after much procrastination and many electrically charged shows, PSYCHONAUT entered Pet Rock Studios (Perth W.A) to lay down slabs of rock for their first recording. Recorded by Leighton (M.I.A.) Hughes in the wee hours of the night, the original tapes laid dormant for another year. This was due to fact that the band was not entirely happy with the overall sound. The drumming was somewhat erratic in places making it hard for overdubs and synching of other instruments such as the session background synths played by VOYAGER front man Daniel Estrin. Transfer from Analog tape to digital also presented a new problem - tape stretching! Due to more procrastination, the tapes were shelved until..
Sovereign Studios boss and owner (Sir) Aidan 'Pathogen' Barton was brought on board to wrestle with these long forgotten, dust collecting musical statements. The tapes were transferred from analog machinery into the world of digital via Barton's recording gear. Many late sessions with De Vattimo occurred until the pair was finally convinced the album was finished. Any mistakes in the recording process were fixed or changed, including some of the original vocals that were recorded and extra guitar work. The album was due!
MK II Line Up: During 2002 Ongerezos decided to leave the group due to 'compatibility' reasons and a replacement was found immediately: SEBASTIAN GIORGI. He had been wasting his drumming talents with a couple of local hack bands and relished the opportunity to play for the mighty PSYCHONAUT. His contribution has been powerful as the engine of the PSYCHONAUT attack!
'Masters of Procrastination' is an apt title for the first official PSYCHONAUT album. Eight tracks of menacing guitar work, screeching vocals, rumbling bass and caveman drumming penned by De Vattimo with contributions from Vella. With PSYCHONAUT live shows now becoming very popular due to the frenetic energy and instrument molesting, the album was enthusiastically received and the official album launch in January 2004 was a major success.
The MASTERS OF PROCRASTINATION album also contains De Vattimo created videos for the tracks STEAMROLLER, CONFUSION? VERTIGO!, as well as live footage for PLANET OF THE APES and ROSEMARYS BABY (from the forthcoming second album 'The Sounds of Horror)
MK III Line Up: Due to the album having many guitar parts, the search was on for a second guitarist to beef out the live sound. SIMONE DOW had completed her 'apprenticeship' in one of Perth's now defunct Thrash bands SCOURGE and was chosen out of those who applied and was officially given the job in may 2005. Her addition to the group has proved to be invaluable and she has stooged her way into the PSYCHONAUT hall of fame as well being chosen to play for Australian Prog/Power rockers Voyager (DVS Records - www.voyager-australia.com) as part ot the TWINS OF DOOM guitar team with Mark De Vattimo. During Xmas of 2005, STEVE VELLA decided to pursue other adventures with other bands and still remains part of the 'spirit' of the original PSYCHONAUT - best wishes! His input and contributions to PSYCHONAUT have been many and time spent with the band is well appreciated. Without his bass mauling, PSYCHONAUT would sound as what they do today.
MK IV Line Up: The final addition to the Psychonaut mafia is ALEX CANION - bass player extraordinaire. 'Stolen' from local band Seraphim, he brings a true 70's bass style to the group while effortlessly melding Metal and Rock together with influences ranging from Jaco Pastorius, Les Claypool to Billy Sheehan and Eric Langlois (Cryptopsy). Joining the band at an age of just 17, Canion is constantly at odds with venue security but fits the death rock jigsaw of PSYCHONAUT. Work on the new album 'The Sounds of Horror... and other noises' is currently underway and will be released late 2006.
As time leaks away, PSYCHONAUT continue to impress with their high voltage juggernaut live shows. The last how ever many years paying their dues in the smoky joints and support slots for bands such as ALARUM, CONTRIVE, FRANKENBOK, SUBTRUCK and DREADNAUGHT around West Australia has given them their own fresh heavy rock sound and turned this band into the tight machine the fans love to call their own. The new face of power rock!
Website: http://www.psychonaut-au.com
Email: evilelvis@psychonaut-au.com
Releases: Masters of Procrastination