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, The Scientists,The Surrealists in addition
to his own solo & band projects, the Paradox, 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.
The Lurid Yellow Mist's bass-man-cum-baritone-guitar-nut
Stu D (aka Stu Thomas) has just finished the recording of his 2nd
album, "ESCAPE FROM ALGEBRA". Release date TBA.
It is the first album with his current group, THE STU THOMAS PARADOX,
following on from Stu's debut solo LP "Devil & Daughter".
ST says of the new album: "I see "ESCAPE..." as an "automatic"
album. A lot of the decisions were left to themselves, guided by unseen
forces, in much the same way as automatic writing/drawing was achieved
in days long gone (much of that was actually attributed to the spirits).
This approach was applied to the playing itself, the recording, mixing,
artwork, and even down to the songlist (it's in alphabetical order).
Automatism is a freeing agent. It allows certain crucial decisions to
suddenly be givens, therefore freeing up the artist's mind to relax into
their best, most receptive creative state.
The Dadaists knew this concept.
Similarly, the body ticks along without us needing to think of making
the next heartbeat, taking the next breath. The mind is not engaged in
these matters and goes about it's own affairs.
Having said that, that resulting music is the most pristine pop-rock I
have ever achieved on record. Honestly, there are at least 9 singles there,
all of different flavours. The band played great, like mercenaries, and
I hope it gets to a wide range of ears."
The Stu Thomas Paradox is the latest vehicle for the songs of ST.
A hot-shot bunch of sharp-shooters: Stu sings, plays guitar, baritone
guitar, handles production & artwork). Billy Miller (guitar, voc)
is an Australian classic (The Ferrets mainman and one-time Dave Graney
sideman).
His son Ed Miller on bass & BV's is a rising star, already a veteran
live player. And, Phil Collings is a drums expert, master of any and all
styles simultaneously.
Stu also performs solo as The Stu Thomas Paradox (or as a duo with
Phil).
Hear it at www.myspace.com/thestuthomasparadox
