Molten Duke Ranch

The Year Was 1998. Ice Storms Ravaged Parts Of North America As A Result Of El Nino. The Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge In Japan Linking Shikoku With Honshu And Costing Cost About US$3.8 Billion Opened To Traffic Becoming The Largest Suspension Bridge In The World. And In The Bedroom Of A Grand Victorian Mansion In The Leafy Suburb Of Armadale In Melbourne's Inner East Three Young Men In The Prime Of Their Lives Started A Band. Nick Sheard And David Hamilton Both Hailing From Melbourne's Exclusive Finishing School St Michael's Were Long Time Pals Who Bonded Over Creedence Covers And West Coast Cooler On School Band Camp. Member Number Three Jules Huitfeldt A Product Of The Even More Exclusive Trinity College Located In An Even Leafier And More Privileged Suburb Of Melbourne's Inner East Met David At The Swinburne School. Both Were Studying Business Marketing And Harbouring Dreams Of A Rewarding Career In Middle Management. The Lineup Was Rounded Out In More Ways Than One By Robert Webb. His Long Running Black Metal Band Corrosion Had Recently Parted Ways And As Such He Was Looking For A Brand New Sound And Some Much Needed New Friends. See The Thing Is Robert Was From The Remote Redneck Enclave Of Omeo In Victoria's North East And As A Result Had Underdeveloped Social Skills. He'd Drifted Through Three Years Of An Arts Degree At Melbourne Uni Without So Much As Shared Coffee Break At The Student Union. The Plucky Young Lads From The East Bought Robert's Embellished Tale Of Moderate Success In The Digs Of Melbourne And Agreed To Let Him Play. They Bonded Over Some More West Coat Coolers Fu Manchu's 'The Action Is Go' Nebula's 'To The Centre' And Brant Bjork's 'Jalamanta'. And The Rest As They Say Is History. Over The Following Two Years They Did What Bands Do. 'Competed' In Battles Of The Bands Played Some Good Shows And Bad Shows Recorded A Demo And Started To Conjure Delusions Of Grandeur. Round About The Two Year Mark They Started To Pick Up Some Good Local Supports Of Then Favourites Such As Dern Rutlidge Warped Legends Of Motorsport And The Meanies. There Was Even Talk Of Them Appearing On A Compilation Put Out By Then Fledging Label High Beam Records. Thinking That What They Needed Was A 'killer' Record They Went Into The Studio To Lay Down Some 'tracks'. The Realisation That They Were Not Quite As Good As They Thought Was A Bitter Pill For The MDR Lads To Swallow. Egos And Tempers Flared Long Silences Followed And Finally Molten Duke Ranch Mk 1 Came To An Untimely End. Four Years Passed. David Became CEO Of One Australia's Leading Hirers Of Carpet Shampooing Units. Nick Pursued A Career As A Right Wing Economist In The US And Sweden Jules Sowed His Royal Oats In Japan And Sweden And Robert Met A Beautiful Spanglish Rose In Japan Of All Places. In Any Case With The Exception Of Nick They Found Themselves Back In Melbourne Town. After A Night Of You Guessed It Too Many West Coast Coolers Too Many Spins Of 'Jalamanta' And Too Many 'remember When We...S’ They Decided To Give It Another Shot And That They Did For Another Couple Of Years Becoming Firmly Ensconced In The Hearts Of Australian Stoners Appearing On Two Of The Successful Devil’s Kitchen Festivals Recording A Stunning But Largely Unappreciated EP Before Delivering A Rousing Finale At The Briefly Defunct Tote Hotel In Collingwood In Front Of A Rabid Crowd Of Their Peers. It’s 2010. Three Years Have Passed Since The Duke’s Last Ride. David Trudged Through The Wilds Of South America Before Meeting And Marrying Juli The Love Of His Life In Colombia. Robert And Julian Spent A Couple Of Years Trying To Play Music With ‘serious Artistic Intent’ Firstly In Disgracelands And Then In Fetlocks. Both Folded Following The Departure Of Band Members Abroad Or To Form Other Projects. Nick A Long-Time 70s Space Oscillating Synth Player And Collaborator From Both Outfits Now Finds Himself Within The Warm Embrace Of MDR. Everyone’s Old And Coupled Up Now. Robert’s Even Become An Outer-Suburban Dad Who Traded Boozin’ And Going To Gigs For A Couch And HBO Series On DVD. Still Being All Rock N Roll N Stuff Was Never Really The Point. A High School Teacher Two Mid-Rung Although Now Somewhat Higher Up The Ladder Marketeers And Now An Engineer Who Does Stuff With Solar Panels Or Schematics Or Something No One’s Really Sure Despite His Attempts To Explain Were Never Gunna Set The World Record For Cool. The Jams However My Friends Are Sweeter Than Ever. And That’s All That Matters Really… read less