A More Detailed History Of
Jason Lives as The Voorhees in 1997
Jason Lives began to form around June 1996. After been in various bands
that went nowhere, Ross and Luke who went to the same school but had never
really associated together, began talking at a gig and decided to form a
band together. They got some songs written and after a few practices without
a drummer, they called on Daniel (an old friend of Luke’s who had also been
in a few bands with him a few years back) to fill in the position. Originally
they were called Generator after a Bad Religion album, but later changed
their name to the Voorhees, after Jason and Pamela from the Friday the 13th
movies. They then had a few practices, before doing some gigs in Warragul
and Inverloch (with another band called Squeegee), which varied in their
success.
The Voorhees first demo ‘Sprihc Nomed’ was recorded in December
1996 by Danny Collins, who often did PA at the gigs. After recording it the
first time, the master tape got chewed up and it had to be re-recorded a few
weeks later. The demo launch which was on the 25th of July 1997, also
featured Swizzle Bucket, Squeegee and Ballistic, and was a big success,
attracting a large crowd and indicating that the Warragul music scene was
not quite dead.
After the demo launch, they began doing more gigs around
Warragul and Taralgon, and used some of the money from the
demo launch to buy a four track recorder. More gigs followed in 1998
including gigs with Warped, The Martians and The Onyas, and during the
Easter holidays, the Voorhees recorded their second demo, 'The Doug
Conspiracy' in a friend’s
garage and Luke’s bedroom, using the four track recorder. The demo launch
was on the 7th of August in Warragul and was quite a success.
Jason Lives in 2003
The Voorhees split up mid 1999 and Luke and Daniel went on to form Squeeze the Juice with a friend Joe. In December 2002 Ross and Luke decided to reform the band, but as Daniel was busy they were joined by Brendan Doyle on drums. Eventually he departed and Daniel returned. Due to there being another band named Voorhees they had to change their name and became Jason Lives. 2003 was a slow year for the band due to various other commitments. However they did manage to get their debut EP 'Life' recorded in July, which due to the various other commitments and certain problems, did not see the light of day until January 2004. Throughout 2004 Jason Lives began to build a following with live shows around Melbourne and Warragul, articles and reviews in publications such as Kerrang and Buzz, and some small radio and TV appearances.
Jason Lives in 2005
Things were going well for the band until late 2004 when Daniel left the band due to work commitments. Ross and Luke took time off from the band while looking for a new drummer. In late January of 2005 that new drummer arrived in the form of Dave, a friend's brother. Throughout 2005 Jason Lives took it easy and did a few shows around the Warragul and Neerim South area before recording their second EP '13' towards the end of the year, which was released in 2006. Over the next 2 years the band continued doing shows and were part of the Punk Kills tour. They also contributed songs to the Punk Kills and Punkocalypse compilations CDs
Jason Lives 2009
In 2008 Dave, having never really been into the whole punk thing, decided to leave the band to focus on playing music more metal. After taking a few months off the band began looking for a new drummer before recruiting their old pal Gav who had played in bands along side Jason Lives back in the Voorhees days. Due to other commitments 2009 was a quiet year for the band, however they found time to build their own home studio and begin working on tracks for their next CD. Now in 2010, work continues on what will be their first full length album which should see the light of day about mid year.
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