Apricot Rail

One day, after his star sign promised a ‘dynamic’ afternoon, Ambrose Nock (guitar) decided it was the right time to form a band known as Apricot Rail. He was soon joined by Jack Quirk (guitar), Matthew Saville (drums) and Daniel Burt (bass). The premise of the band was simple: music based on unique guitar tunings, the use of natural harmonics, and very open ideas about other instruments, electronica and song structure.

One day, after his star sign promised a ‘dynamic’ afternoon, Ambrose Nock (guitar) decided it was the right time to form a band known as Apricot Rail. He was soon joined by Jack Quirk (guitar), Matthew Saville (drums) and Daniel Burt (bass). The premise of the band was simple: music based on unique guitar tunings, the use of natural harmonics, and very open ideas about other instruments, electronica and song structure. After a debut gig at the Hyde Park Hotel in March 2008 with four members and as many songs, the band soon added a fifth in Mayuka Juber (clarinet/flute), redefining the balance of guitars with the addition of beautiful woodwind melodies. The band’s debut recording was a DIY affair, with members heading off to a rural property near Yorkrakine, 220km north-east of Perth in WA’s Central Wheatbelt.

In the following months, the resulting demo got regular rotation on Perth’s RTRFM, and though unreleased, was rated by the station’s Homegrown presenter Chris Wheeldon as his second-favourite local outing of 2008. In the second half of the year, Apricot Rail chalked up some serious gig mileage, along the way supporting the likes of Holly Throsby, Charge Group and Adam Said Galore and finding refuge among Perth’s emerging post-rock/experimental scene. In November 2008 the band headed into Kingdom studios under the guidance of Simon Struthers (Umpire, Adam Said Galore, Mukaizake) where the band recorded their soon to be released self-titled debut long player. Australian fans got a chance to taste some of the new album’s sublime wares when the Apricot Rail track ‘If You Can’t Join Them, Beat Them’ was released on the prestigious Spunk Singles Club compilation album along with the likes of Leader Cheetah, The Dead Sea and The Middle East. The band was also recently nominated for Favourite Newcomer in the 2009 Western Australian Music Industry Awards.

Apricot Rail have been likened to bands such as Bluetile Lounge, Mum, Sandpit, Braving the Seabed, Mogwai & Tortoise. Apricot Rail are: Jack Quirk – Guitar, Glock, Trumpet, Electronica, Voice Daniel Burt – Bass guitar, Saxophone Matt Saville – Drum Kit/Percussion Mayuka Juber – Clarinet, Flute, Keyboard, Melodica, Voice Ambrose Nock – Guitar, Glock, Keyboard User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License and may also be available under the GNU FDL..