Powderfinger hopes success at home will spread to U.S.
By Daily Bruin Staff
May 9, 2001 9:00 p.m.
 Universal Records The Australian rock group
Powderfinger is making its way in America.
By Whitney Smith
Daily Bruin Contributor
Powderfinger has decided that the U.S. market is its
“kinda scene.”
After releasing four albums in its native Australia,
Powderfinger, a band that takes its name from the Neil Diamond
song, has broadened its horizons through the American release of
“Odyssey Number Five.”
Although Powderfinger remains relatively unknown in America, it
has flirted with the U.S. market before.
The band was first introduced to America on the “Mission:
Impossible 2″ soundtrack with the song “My Kind of
Scene,” which also appears on “Odyssey Number
Five.”
Being featured on the soundtrack exposed Powderfinger’s
music to many new fans.
“We were pleased with the impact,” said lead
vocalist Bernard Fanning in a phone interview while visiting Los
Angeles. He reported an increase in posts on Web site message
boards from interested listeners in America after the release of
the “Mission: Impossible 2″ soundtrack.
Powderfinger also gained exposure when it toured the West Coast
briefly with Coldplay. The bands met at Big Day Out, a music
festival down under, and Coldplay invited Powderfinger to open for
its tour. The exposure paid off, Fanning said, noticing a good
reception from returning fans at a Los Angeles concert sponsored by
KROQ in late March.
Powderfinger formed in 1989 when bassist John Collins, guitarist
and early vocalist Ian Huag and the original drummer, Steven
Bishop, were in high school.
After meeting present lead singer Fanning in a cooking class,
Huag relinquished vocal responsibility. Jon Coghill eventually
replaced Bishop on drums, and, in 1992, the membership was
finalized with the addition of Darren Middleton on guitar.Â
Powderfinger discovered Middleton while he was playing atop a table
in an Australian biker bar with a band called The Pirates.
Powderfinger’s early releases include a self-titled EP
that attracted the attention of Polydor Records. It has since
released four LPs, most recently “Odyssey Number
Five.”
Fanning said the newest release is more atmospheric and not as
aggressively rock ‘n’ roll as its past albums
“Parable for Wooden Ears,” “Double
Allergic” and “Internationalist.”
A style change was clearly not necessary, however. Both
“Double Allergic” and “Internationalist”
are multiplatinum in Australia and the band has won numerous awards
based on the merit of these early albums. It was awarded Album
of the Year, Best Rock Album and Song of the Year at the 1999
Australian Record Industry Awards.
“Odyssey Number Five,” which was released down under
in September of last year, has attracted its share of attention as
well. In addition to going five times platinum, the contribution
was named Best Album; the first single, “My Happiness,”
was named Best Single; and Powderfinger was named Band of the Year
by Australian readers in Rolling Stone’s 2000 Music
Awards.
Despite the magnitude of its success in Australia, few rock fans
in the U.S. are familiar with Powderfinger. Four albums strong, the
band is determined to prove to the world that it is no fluke.
“I think that success in any music market in the world has
as much to do with luck and good management as it has to do with
the songs themselves. However, good songs will almost always come
through in the end,” Middleton said.
Powderfinger believes it will continue to attract fans because
it doesn’t capitalize on trends in pop culture that are sure
to die out. Rather, the band aspires to make music that will
sound good for a long time.
“The music that we make is the kind of music that we love
to make,” Middleton said. “We have, until this point,
chosen to work harder on the subtleties in our songs, while
sticking with the more traditional style of writing.”
The band hopes “Odyssey Number Five” is the album
that will show Americans what they have been missing.
“We sat down and wrote an album rather than putting
together a collection of songs,” Fanning said. “We
wanted the songs to flow from one to the other seamlessly, so that
fans will be able to listen to it all the way through and not want
to skip any tracks.”
Success for Powderfinger in the U.S., however, may be
bittersweet for fans at home in Australia.
“If it starts to really happen over here, we can’t
tour as much in Australia,” Fanning said.
Kerry Thoonen, who maintains a Powderfinger fan Web site, agrees
that it would be nice if Australian fans could keep the
Powderfellas all to themselves, but she’s willing to share in
the band’s interest.
“It would be great to see the guys break over there, for
they really want to take their music overseas,” Thoonen said.
“It’s great to see them getting noticed over
there.”
