Tripod (band)
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| Tripod | |
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 Tripod after Brisbane show at the Tivoli. 1st December 2007. |
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
| Genres | Acoustic rock Comedy rock |
| Years active | 1997–present |
| Associated acts | Kind of Pluto, Scott Edgar and the Universe & 7cm of Alex Lamberton |
| Website | www.3pod.com.au |
| Members | |
| Scod (Lead guitar, vocals) Gatesy (Rhythm guitar, vocals) Yon (vocals, miscellaneous instruments (trumpet, harmonica) |
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Tripod is an Australian musical comedy act, specialising in improv, parody and satire. As its name suggests, the band is a trio; it comprises Scod (Scott Edgar), Yon (Simon Hall) and Gatesy (Steven Gates). The trio cover a wide variety of performance styles, from soft ballads to hard rock, performing these songs with only the aid of Scod (and, at times, Gatesy) playing acoustic guitar.
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[edit] History
Tripod formed when the three members were attending University of Melbourne. During their shows, they have made passing references to their history of busking in Melbourne malls. The band got their first break appearing on Hey Hey It's Saturday's "Red Faces" contest, where they performed a parodic medley of Oasis hits that demonstrated similarities between the songs.
The band gained further fame performing in the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, and making various radio appearances. On the Triple J drive-time show Merrick and Rosso, they had a weekly spot where they were challenged to write a song in an hour, with the topic and style chosen by the hosts. This format was continued from 2002–2004, when they appeared on the Triple J breakfast show with Wil Anderson and Adam Spencer, with the Song in an Hour Challenge. Two CDs containing some of the finest examples of these sessions have been released, each including recordings taken from live Song-In-An-Hour challenges featured in Tripod's Pod August Nights concerts. In late 2005, they moved to Fox FM where they could be heard on Peter Helliar's weekly Friday morning show, Pete's Show. Recently they performed at the Microsoft CES Keynote.
In 2005, Tripod performed the show "Lady Robots v1.1" at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival: a musical/comedy type stage-show telling the story of three men, hurled into space where they come across a planet populated only by Lady Robots. This is a slightly different version than the original Lady Robots first previewed at the 2002 Adelaide Fringe, then performed at the MICF of the same year. Both versions of Lady Robots have toured Australia since 2002. Tripod began touring their latest show "Tripod are Self Saucing" in 2004, continuing into the 2006 MICF.
The band are regular performers at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, and featured in Network Ten's sketch comedy television show skitHOUSE.
Tripod's first DVD release was a live recording of their show "POD August Nights" and is regarded as a showcase of "the Best of Tripod". The DVD includes numerous special features, including a music video for one of their songs, "Gonna Make You Happy Tonight" that was featured on their album, "Middleborough Rd.".
A DVD version of their show, "Tosswinkle the Pirate" has recently been released following the original 2001 VHS release, as well as a live recording of one of their live shows at the 2006 Melbourne International Comedy Festival, titled "Songs from Self Saucing."
Tripod were core cast performers on the ABC program The Sideshow, and performed a number of their songs on the show, including "Gonna Make You Happy Tonight", "Krap Karate", and "Snapshots".
Tripod performed during Microsoft's keynote address at the 2009 Consumer Electronics Show.
On January 30, 2010 Tripod held the world premiere of their comic musical Tripod versus the Dragon at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art in North Adams, Massachusetts, United States. Elana Stone co-starred in the production in the role of "The Dungeon Master/Dragon". The production is based on the Dungeons and Dragons role-playing game.[1] Tripod went on to perform this show at the Adelaide Fringe Festival, Melbourne International Comedy Festival, Sydney Comedy Festival, and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival of 2010. They also released a "bootleg" CD of songs from the musical.
[edit] Style
Tripod's songs are spread across a number of different styles. At times they use humorous sounds, such as "Yon and his Flute" from the Open Slather album, but their particular brand of humour stems from the lyrics of their songs and the comedic timing between the three men, often including scripted bickering on stage. The lyrics are often satirical, or use off-beat humour. Topics have included movie-style martial arts, stalking, interesting Shakespearean-era words, and counterterrorism.
Tripod are self-professed geeks, and also reference video games and Star Wars in many of their songs. They were also honoured with a reference in the Star Wars novel Force Heretic II. On Page 223 of the paperback version, the names Yon, Gaitzi and Scod were used, as well as the name Tripod. Their canonical standing is still being disputed.[citation needed]
[edit] Discography
- Box Set (1997, out of production)
- Open Slather (April 2000)
- Open Slather Special Christmas Edition feat. Tripod Live April 2000 (November 2000, out of production)
- Tripod tells the tale of the Adventures of Tosswinkle the Pirate (Not Very Well) (2001) (VHS)
- About An Hour of Song-In-An-Hour (2002)
- About An Hour of Song-In-An-Hour ... Again (2003)
- Fegh Maha (2004)
- Middleborough Rd (2004)
- Pod August Night (2006) (DVD)
- Tripod tells the tale of the Adventures of Tosswinkle the Pirate (Not Very Well) (2006) (DVD)
- Perfectly Good Songs (Mini Album) (2006)
- Songs from Self Saucing (2006)
- For The Love of God!: A Tripod Christmas Album (2008)
- Live At Woodford (2009) (DVD)
- Tripod Versus The Dragon (2010)
[edit] Awards
- The album Middleborough Rd won the award for Best Comedy Release at the 2005 ARIA Awards.[2]
[edit] References
Tripod received 15 Grammy Award nominations in 2010 but lost out on all. Although they said stated they were unhappy not to win one award, band member Yon later said in an interview with TV Week, "but that's the way the things happened and that's the way the story ended and that's the way i guess, yeah, (pause) you love it"
