Def FX

Def FX were formed in 1990 in Sydney with the line-up of Martyn Basha on bass guitar, Blake Gardner on lead guitar (both ex-Bezerk), Fiona Horne on lead vocals (ex-Mothers) and Sean Lowry on record player with a padlock on it, sequencers and samples (ex-King Prawn).[1] According to Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, their "intention from the outset was to mix energetic dance beats with hardcore grungy rock." & electronic dance music."[1] Larry Van Kriedt was a "hidden fifth member" on saxophone and sequencers (ex-AC/DC, Non Stop Dancers); he "also co-wrote much of the band's early material."[1]

Def FX's debut release was a four-track extended play, Water, in June 1991 via Phantom Records.[1] It featured the song, "Surfers of the Mind", which Joanna Palmer of Tharunka described as "a violent whirlpool of high-voltage house metal where [Horne] puts her larynx through a militant aerobic workout, while the cool delivery of [Lowry]'s 21st century gospel raps around her."[2] The track appeared on national radio station, Triple J's listeners' poll for 1991.[3] They toured Australia,[1] and promoted it with the band's first music video. Water was produced by Nick Mainsbridge. At the ARIA Music Awards of 1992 the EP was nominated for Best Independent Release and Producer of the Year.[4][5]

They followed with a second EP, Surge, in November, which included the track, "Under the Blue".[1] A third EP, Blink (June 1992), included the track, "Sex/Game/Sucker".[1] Gardner was replaced on guitar by Dave Stein late in 1992.[1] Lowry summarised the group's attitude to signing with a major label, "It was always important to stay independent long enough to set the parameters of the band, so that anyone who came on board would be clear what the band was like and how it should be marketed."[6]

Their first album, Light Speed Collision, was released in November 1992 in a vinyl-only format via Phantom Records; it appeared in CD format through EMI in the following February. The album included guest vocals by New Zealand pop singer, Margaret Urlich. For its United States version, on RCA/BMG in June 1993, the band used the name, Definition FX, to avoid confusion with a US band, Das EFX. They reordered the tracks and added material from two of their EPs.[7] Lowry explained to Nic Haygarth of The Canberra Times that "People get the misconception that because we're a technology-based band we do a lot of our work and development of songs in the studio, but I suppose what we do there is attempt to transfer the live show to record, and we might put up a very rough mock-up of a song and start playing it."[7]

The second album, Baptism, released in 1993, is a compilation of three Australian-released EPs Water, Surge and Blink as well as a 12-inch single, "Surfers of the Mind". Baptism featured the track, "Make Your Stash", which is apparently so rare that Horne had no idea of its existence when presented it for autographing by a dedicated Def FX fan. The single was rather atypical of Def FX, in that it had no cover art and no B-sides, which had characterised their EPs. The band usually preferred to make each release, be it album or EP, a conceptual work that made full use of the compact disc format that had recently come into commercial prominence. At the ARIA Music Awards of 1993 Blink was nominated for Best Independent Release.[8]

Three more EPs followed No Time for Nowhere (March 1993), Space Time Disco (June) and Post Moronic (September 1994). At the end of 1993 Basha had departed and his duties on bass guitar were taken up by Van Kriedt. Post Moronic appeared on the ARIA Singles Chart in the top 50.[9] One of its tracks, "Masses Like Asses", was listed on the Triple J Hottest 100, 1994.[3]

Ritual Eternal (1995), their third album, is more experimental: including tracks without standard guitars and others with Charlie McMahon on didgeridoo (ex-Gondwanaland Project), who also joined Def FX on tour.[1] It was recorded and produced almost entirely by Lowry, following the cancellation of their contract with EMI, and was issued via independent label Cicada Music and distributed by MDS.[1] McFarlane felt the CD was "over-ambitious".[1] Ritual Eternal introduced their new bass guitarist, Peter Tasker, who was forced out of the band months later and replaced by Sean Fonti (ex-Massappeal, Caligula).[1] At the ARIA Music Awards of 1995 they were nominated for Best Independent Release for their third album.[10]

In October 1995 they issued the EP, Psychoactive Summer, which also reached the top 50 on the ARIA Charts.[1][9] It was followed by their fourth album, Majick, in mid-year, which peaked at No. 21 on the ARIA Albums Chart.[1][9] It provided four singles. The band dissolved in May of that year with the split announced by Horne on ABC-TV's Saturday morning youth variety show, Recovery.

• Fiona Horne's official website
• Fiona Horne interview at WickedInfo.com