Stu Thomas was born in Canberra and brought up in Perth. He played in
bands from an early age, beginning as 2nd trumpet in the Xavier Swing
College Band. He picked up guitar, and then bass by ear, & decided
music was what he wanted to do for good. Stu formed bands & played
gigs until he was finally run out of town for not wanting to play covers.
He fell upon Melbourne in 1990, leading a trio called Organism which played
a yet-to-be-classified style of intense guitar music. Organism managed
to survive a year living together, were touted by JJJ & released a
tape, then broke up.
Stu then moved thru a ridiculously large succession of bands as a bass
player &/or singer until finally getting the call to join Kim Salmon
& The Surrealists in '95. He became an international touring star,
when they hit Europe & USA in '96(and played Australia end-to-end
too).
Once back on Australian soil, he formed The
Brass Bed, the trashy brass outfit. As their ringmaster, he led them
from the rock stages to live cinema soundtracking to gallery events, via
a number of independent record releases.
Stu's bass playing was soon sought after & he played live & on
record with many other bands, including Luxedo, Spencer P Jones' Last
Gasp, Barb Waters, Dan Brodie & The Broken Arrows, Red Lantern...whilst
continuing to work with Kim Salmon in The Business, The
Scientists & Kim's "Earnest" band.
In 2003, Stu released the "Resonance" EP, his first solo record,
followed by the full-length CD "Devil
and Daughter" in 2004.
He sculpted a new live band, Stu & the Celestials, in which
he sings & plays electric classical guitar. His group tip their hats
to low singers, atmosphere, and movie music. Lee Hazelwood, Lee Marvin,
Serge Gainsborg, Leonard Cohen, et al.. being their signposts.
Currently Stu plays bass &/or trumpet in such groups as: Dave Graney
& The Lurid Yellow Mist, Billy Miller, The Soldiers, The Scientists,
in addition to his own solo & band projects, The Celestials and Brass
Bed.
Stu is a fan of film, being particularly fond of Film Noir, the French
New Wave & bleak Sci-Fi. He makes Super 8 films & reveres his
old car, vinyl records, gladstone bags, Tenessee Williams & Miles
Davis.
The following communique was received directly from Stuart Thomas
, AKA Stu D.
Hi Dave, I guess you could mention the formation of my new band : The
Stu Thomas Paradox, featuring Bill & Ed Miller & John Annas.
A
supergroup, if you will. Our debut was on the 10th July to houseful of
screamin fans in Fitzroy.
Also, The Brass Bed are releasing something else in the
immediate future, most likely an EP, then a full-blown 50min DVD, which
is out now.
Then there's my move to palatial surrounds in a secret island
hideaway....