Introducing… Electric Mary
Serving up classic rock ‘‘the way it used to taste’’, these Aussies already count David Coverdale and Iron Maiden’s Adrian Smith among their celebrity fans.
Peddling vintage rock to a country 30 times the size of the UK but with only a third of its population is not without its challenges, says Electric Mary singer Rusty Brown. ‘‘We have a great rock’n’roll scene over here,” he explains, “but the number of people we can get to is small, and flying is so expensive.”
Guitarist Irwin Thomas and singer Rusty Brown, both veterans of Melbourne’s rock scene, met back in 2003, but it took an inspirational visit to Hendrix’s legendary Electric Lady Studios in New York, and a meeting with studio manager Mary Campbell, to motivate the affable frontman to form the band. ‘‘Man, it was amazing’’ he enthuses, ‘‘I don’t want to sound like a wanker, but when you’re in the middle of that room with so much history, you’re completely humbled.’’ And the name? ‘‘Her email address was electricmary@ blah blah, and I thought, ‘What a great name.’’’
Electric Mary were recently described in Classic Rock as “Guns N’ Roses meets Free, add Aerosmith’s pizzazz and a pinch of Tom Morello’s staccato chops, all fronted by any iron-lunged singer from rock’s golden age, and you’re getting warm”. Brown’s summary of Electric Mary is: ‘‘It’s rock’n’roll the way it used to taste.’’ And it’s difficult to argue with him on that.
Citing venerable influences – “Bad Company, Foreigner, Rainbow, Queen, Dio, anyone with singers” – Brown reserves his highest praise for Coverdale-era Deep Purple: “As soon as I heard Burn, I was like, ‘There is never going to be anything better than this’. I still play that record every two weeks. And [Purple’s] Stormbringer. I fucking love it.”
Fandom, however, barely prepared them for when they supported Whitesnake on a recent tour down under. Brown: “We’re doing the gig, when I see Coverdale watching from the side of the stage. He walks in the dressing room afterwards and says in that voice of his: ‘Fucking great show, man.’ Mate, I shit my pants.”
Welcome celebrity patronage from other notable icons has further served to up the ante. “Iron Maiden’s Adrian Smith said to me: ‘If only we’d known about you guys before we came over, you’d be doing the gig,’” Brown recalls. And “Little Steven [of Springsteen’s E Street Band] found us online and bought our record. And when he came over we went to a nightclub.”
With the support slot on the Oz leg of Judas Priest’s upcoming tour in the bag, Electric Mary’s energies are now focused on Europe. “Our job now is to try and make our way over to you,’’ Brown says, ‘‘because that’s where we need to be.”
The Definition Of Insanity EP is available at www.myspace.com/electricmary
And Finally…
Another of Electric Mary’s celebrity fans is Australian tennis hero and part-time rocker Pat Cash. “A mate called me up and said: ‘Turn on your TV.’ There was Pat Cash on some news show, wearing our ‘Definition of Insanity’ T-shirt,” Brown recalls. “How cool is that?! We’ve met now, and he’s a great dude.”
Fuck me what a load of shite. They opened for priest in Oz and they were crap. Not their fault they replaced Max and Iggors band, but they were totaly unsuitabe for that bill and they fitted like a square peg in a round hole. Their style is uniquein the fact of they show their influences strongly in their songs.But not all of them in the same epic song. Stick to softer support slots because they were wayout of their league. Maeder were better but still not the right choice. Vanishing Point would have been a lot bettter, but you guys dont seem to know they exist. Get a feature on them in the mag because you guys do good work, but some things are questionable. How about a feature on the Aussie metal scene past and present:? But keep up the quality of the mag you are doing yourself and the metal fans proud.
Harsh Rob i thought both Maeder and Electric Mary did a great job under the cicumstances.
no one was going to come close to Priest.
hey rob. its called classic rock, not fuckwit metal! if you want a feature on some shitty metal crap. how about the new wave of ’southern metal’ then fuck off to metal hammer, or whatever other magazines make shit like that interesting.
electric mary are fucking awesome. i seen them in melb. they are a great rock n roll band from oz, and there is plenty of them out here…
check out the hell city glamours, for some new aussie rock…you will not be disapointed cr.
Hey Rob,
For your info. Electric Mary were asked to do that gig as Judas Priest wanted a ‘Classic Rock’ band and that is what they got…and a damn fine one at that!! If you’re into metal and your hobby is knocking bands I’m sure there are enough shitty ones out there in that genre to take your pick from…
Maybe make an appointment with a doctor and get your ears checked too! ‘crap’ and ‘Electric Mary’ shouldn’t be used in the same sentence!
And ‘way out of their league’?? That’s really funny!! Guess they were way out of their league when they opened for Whitesnake last year and will again be when they’re sharing a stage with Glenn Hughes later this year! Funny, David Coverdale didn’t think so and I doubt Glenn Hughes will either!
Oh, and by the way, I left after one Judas Priest song cause they weren’t my thing but I’m not about to find a story on Judas Priest and sledge them…x
Yeahhhhh I left after first Judas song too…they just weren’t in Mary’s league.
I loved Judas Priest back in the day, the ‘Sad Wings Of Destiny’ album especially, and have respect for what they’ve done in the past, KK Downing & GlennTipton were one of the best guitar duos in their prime, but Electric Mary, in my opinion blew Judas Priest away, even without gimmicks, leathers etc, i too stuck around for 1 song and felt sad to see a band like JP trying to re-capture what once was a mighty force in the ‘Metal’ world. Electric Mary and Maeder were both awesome, they both proved that they’re world class acts live, I think “Mary” is destined for greatness, their frontman Rusty has a unique blend of David Coverdale’s raunch and Paul Rodgers feel, let alone two of the best guitar players in the country (hands down), a thumping bass player, and a drummer with the chops of Ian Paice and the solid grunt of John Bonham. I think Rob’s comments were a bit harsh, i understand he wanted to see his beloved ‘Vanishing Point’ who are “in my opinion” absolutely SHIT! The days of singing about ‘Dragons,goblins,demons and all that mystical shit’ are over buddy, maybe you and your nerd mates, who are probably little hobbits with plastic swords can build youreselves a time machine and go back to a time where metal once ruled the world. Long Live “MARY”
ELECTRIC MARY SET TO SUPPORT WHITESNAKE IN EUROPE:
After impressing the guys from Whitesnake in their recent Australian tour support role, local rockers Electric Mary have picked up 2 more support slots with the ‘Snake in Europe. They are June 4th in Paris and June 7th in Brussels.
The band then has 3 solo shows in France:
June 9th: Paris – Espace B
June 10th: Verviers – Spirit Of 66 (Belgique)
June12th: Cergy Pontoise – Le Pacific Rock
WebLink: http://www.electricmary.com.
New album : Down To The Bone – out now
Cheers,
TB
I just saw Electric Mary last night with Alice Cooper in Sydney and they fuckin’ blew the roof off. I hope they go all the way because unlike alot of shit that’s being peddled these days, EM are the real deal.
Rock on guys.
fully agree Mark, E.M. played the best ive seen em, sound was awesome and venom was sensational as were all the guys, see ya at the gaelic club
I love this band, a great raw sound. Hope they come to Scotland want to see them live.
At last some people with an ear for real Classic Rock. I have just seen two of the finest Rock Bands in Concert in Brisbane.
Electric Mary, currently the best Australian Rock Band followed by all time greats Deep Purple. Both gave their all to an audience appreciative of good rock music. Deep Purple still touring after 40 tears in the business and the next BIG Aussie Band Electric Mary. Keep a watch out for them at a venue near you.
I just saw them support Deep Purple in Adelaide, and I’d have preferred to see them as the main act. They were mindlblowing (and that’s from someone who’d never heard of them before that night). Mr Thomas was stunning on guitar, heaps better than DP’s Steve Morse. And the singer’s charisma and stage presence was on a par with the best of them, and I’ve seen all the major British heavy metal bands in their late’70s/early ’80s heyday, plus luminaries such as Metallica’s James Hetfield. I need another fix of Electric Mary, and soon!
What an awesome band. I hope they are at High Voltage. I agree they really could have headlined when playing with Deep Purple. Deep Purple are one of my favourite bands and can rock…. I love em but after seeing Electric Mary I was blown away.
Judas Priest were okay but I felt disappointed by them. Sound was all over the place. Electric Mary didn’t get a full desk but I though they sounded better. If your a metal head then one finer power chords heavily distored might just sound good but even that seemed a little poor. Disappointing.
Electric Mary won me over. Freakin awesome.