Ben Ely

Ben plays in Regurgitator as a founding member and bass/vocalist - he also releases so many solo and collaborative recordings it is difficult to keep a track of... as well as soundtracks for dance and performance projects as well as paints regularly holding one person exhibitions. Regurgitator formed in Brisbane late 1993 by core members Quan Yeomans and Ben Ely, along with drummer Martin Lee, playing their first show March 1994 for Friends of the Earth. Current drummer, Peter Kostic joined late ‘99. They have released numerous EPs and albums that they have recorded in dubiously idiosyncratic scenarios: TU-PLANG (1996) in the jungle outskirts of Bangkok; the pixel obsessed 80s jolt of UNIT (1997) in a condemned Fortitude Valley warehouse; …ART (1999) in a sun soaked Byron Bay beachside house; EDUARDO & RODRIGUEZ WAGE WAR ON T-WRECKS (2001) amidst the red brick backstreet of (Gang of Four) Andy Gill’s London studio; MISHMASH(2004) in a glass panopticon installed in Melbourne's Federation Square as part of the disruptive Band in a Bubble pastiche of reality shows; LOVE & PARANOIA (2007) in a bullet riddled studio in Rio de Janeiro under the looming rock arms of Corcovado; SUPERHAPPYFUNTIMESFRIENDS (2011) in a Melbourne shopfront; and DIRTY POP FANTASY (2013) in a Hong Kong skyscraper apartment; and more recent meta-virus album #9 HEADROXX (2018) that was fabricated over the internet. In the past 28 plus years they have toured all over Australia, NZ, Japan, UK, Europe, USA, Asia, Middle East along with many festival inclusions including the Big Day Out, Clokenflap, Reading, Fuji Rock, Groovin’ the Moo, The Falls, Meredith etc. Always drawn to the odd they collaborated with dance choreographer Gavin Webber on the live music/dance project ‘Rock Show’; worked with the Handspan Puppet theatre on Raised by Wolves for the Melbourne Fringe; performed a self-written live soundtrack to Japanese film AKIRA at the Sydney Opera House; reproduced the debut Velvet Underground album inconjunction with Chinese collaborator Mindy Meng Wang; a cinema release of the one-off UNIT20 performance; and the riotous kid fun of the POGOGO SHOW… Still touring and flooring it… more than ever they find themselves extending the vitality of their live performances, continuing to infuse them with exuberance, mania and their mashedup motion of rock, punk, electro, funk, pop, hiphop... wherever the tune goes vibes.