CHALK 

Originally formed by four young university students in 1991 Chalk were led by singer/guitarist James Klimt. They were heavily involved with the cities’ flourishing noisy guitar pop scene. In 1992, the band’s line-up featured Steve Swart (bass), Matthew Clark (guitar/vocals) and James Lees (drums). That same year the band released their independent debut cassette EP Vancouver and helped to form a collective of 12 bands under the name Spark who set about promoting shows, screen printing posters and working towards producing and releasing a compilation album, also called, Spark. Earning favourable reviews from the local music press, Chalk began touring nationally, as well as enjoying support slots for Clouds, Hoodoo Gurus, Falling Joys, Hunters & Collectors and future label mates Died Pretty. They released the mini-album Minnesota in 1993, they signed with iconic Sydney-based label Citadel Records and followed this with the more sombre EP Iris in 1994. The band lived together in a vast Queenslander in East Brisbane, dubbed Chalk Manor. The Vulture Street traffic noise was so intense that the band could rehearse at full volume at any time of the day or night. Musically, they experimented with different sounds, adding a string section and sending their songs out for remix treatments, most notably by Sydney electronic act Vision Four 5. The Immortality EP was released in late 1994, they played the Livid Festival that same year and supported Radiohead at The Roxy in Fortitude Valley.

Another EP, Burlesque, arrived in 1995 and they scored a spot on the famed Alternative Nation bill. The band performed its last show with the ‘classic line up’ in March 1996 at The Zoo. A slightly different line-up of Chalk continued, but other projects soon took over the band. After splitting they reunited in 2014 with their original line-up to perform at the SPARK21 celebration at The Zoo. With the addition of Denvar’s Dave Gilbert, the band have re-grouped and have cut their debut album, The Quiet City.