"Oh right, that's a bit unfortunate I reckon but that crops up every now and then."
Webster's bass player Steve Clarke laughs when I suggest Newcastle punters would associate the band's name with the television series from a few years back. He acknowledges that the band Webster are virtual unknowns in this area of the country but, with their debut gig in town occuring Friday night, says he's looking forward to the challenge of playing to a new crowd.
"Even if there's twenty people there you know, that's twenty people that you wouldn't have played to if you hadn't left home sort of thing. So I don't have any great expectations but if it's good well that's great. You know if a handful of people like it then it's successful. I mean we can play every week in Brisbane to the same crowd and still enjoy it but you don't get anywhere really in the long run."
The Webster story began a few years ago when Sog (vocals/guitar) and Rick Forsyth (drums/vocals) moved to Brisbane after finishing school in Toowoomba and decided to get a band together. They stumbled across Steve and guitarist Paul McGarry and, as Steve acknowledges, "the rest is history."
From their early beginnings Webster's direction was focused. This Queensland four piece embarked on the relentless pursuit of melody and the perfect song. They forged to the front of the Brisbane scene in no time and it wasn't long before Velvet Urge were releasing the band's debut EP, recordings which were only earmarked as demos. While the self titled EP didn't set the world on fire, it did gain regular airplay on Triple J and helped establish a name for the band further afield.
On the strength of their debut release, Webster have supported such acts as You Am I, Ammonia, Custard and Powderfinger just to name a few. The band also went back into the studio last year to record a new EP with sought after producer/engineer Lachlan 'Magoo' Goold. What they came out with was seven power pop tunes in the form of Nugget, songs which local label Emily Records found too good to refuse. They signed the band and added them to their roster which includes Chopper Division, Turtlebox, and Fat amongst others.
"We see it really more as a tool to get us on the road," Steve says when I ask him of the band's hopes for the new disc, "you know get us down south and get us gigs in the centres and regional places as well. You know we could gig forever in Brisbane but it takes a couple of releases to get the word around so to speak."
Webster will be joining local bands No Reason and Sandpaper at the Cambridge Hotel on Friday night, March 8 for what promises to be a great night. Nugget contains tight punchy pop songs and signals the start of what could be a great year for Webster. The band are well known for their true-to-form live performances and promise a "melodic sing-a-long kind of thing, I'm getting laughed at here in the background, uh I don't know, just good fun, yeah."
(Concrete Press: 5 March, 1996.)