MUSIC

DAVE HOUSTON'S new song BACK TO COUNTRY out soon. It is about the profound last day he spent with his dog Lilla, waiting for the vet to come around. On that day, when Lilla shut her eyes for the last time and a little bird sang directly to Dave, the penny truly dropped: that we are all interconnected, that the laws of nature are how the world rolls, that a tree is Country, that we are a tree, that we are Country, and that when we die, we go back to Country.

He has released two solo albums and a punk EP, as well as recordings with The Bongo Brothers, House of Tunes, Pine Gap Cowboys, recordings with Richie Castro in Thailand and Spoonbill in Melbourne. He is currently making a third solo album called ME vs ME

Dave currently records with the international collaboration TORANARAMA
Mexico/Melbourne/Byron Bay — with long-time co-collaborator Bryson 'Glory B' Mulholland, who lives in East Mexico, and the prolific and extremely tall Murray “Muz Dog” Johnstone who lives in Melbourne.

For this project Dave lives in a 7 million dollar property that he has bought solo from his music royalties. As such he extremely happy all the time and lives with his 8th wife and his 6 kids to 5 different women.

mulhollanddrivemusic.bandcamp.com/album/mulholland-drive

https://murrayjohnstone.bandcamp.com/album/note-to-self-mini-album

mulhollanddrivemusic.bandcamp.com/album/mulholland-drive

DAVE HOUSTON DISCOGRAPHY

FRONTIER is a politically incisive, cranking album of rock-ballad grunt and soul. Like a white Warumpi, Houston delivers a fierce call to arms, confronting Frontier Wars, Indigenous survival, white denialism and the outsiders of Australian history. Produced by Christian Pyle at SS Prawn & Spanner Studios, the record moves from murdered Indigenous peoples and buried histories to bushrangers, depression and inner torment. It is ambitious, uncomfortable and urgent, with songs that kick like protest and ache like confession. A powerful album dedicated to the defenders, activists and survivors of Australia’s Frontier Wars — 1778 to present. Bravo Comrade Dave.

THE BEGINNING IS AT THE END is a mellow, road-worn album circling themes close to Dave Houston’s heart. Across nine tracks of folked-up psyche rock, it swerves like an old Holden through desert heat, moving between the angst of the travelling songwriter and the troubles of a heaving continent. It feels like a digestible banquet of global misgivings: personal, political, restless and observant. Rather than roaring, the album leans into reflection, carrying the voice of a travelling bard taking stock of country, distance, disquiet and belonging. It is intimate, dusty, searching and quietly unsettled, without losing its rough bite.

ALTERNATIVE HOLSTER is a short, sharp EP of Hüsker Dü-style punk rock, loaded with lyrical brimstone and political bite. “Troops Moving North,” featuring Robby Thorpe spoken word with the poem “Australia’s a crime scene,” is about the 2007 John Howard NT Intervention, when he suspended the Racial Discrimination Act — that my dad helped write — to send the Australian Army into Black communities. With a sidelong wink to Irish punks Stiff Little Fingers, “Shoot a Redneck” snarls with class rage and anti-racist provocation, while “America” takes aim at empire, spectacle and collapse. Lean, abrasive, wired and furious.

IT IS WHAT IT IS is a family-flavoured album by House of Tunes, bringing together Marjorie (mum) Dave, Nick and Chris Houston with Dominic Hein and Banu Senay. The record explains itself: a generous mix of musical styles, instruments, musicians, political concerns, social commentary and languages. It carries the feel of people gathered in a room, passing songs, ideas and histories between each other. Rather than chasing one neat genre, it leans into its own messy abundance: family, friendship, politics, culture and sound all sitting together, because sometimes it simply is what it is.

VIDEO CLIPS

ALBUM REVIEWS

FRONTIER REVIEW

Dave Houston's 'Frontier' kicks some long overdue politically incisive and cranking good goals. Like a white Warumpi he and his rebellious cohort have assembled a better than garageband grunt with soul, a terrific display of rock ballad fusion, a call to arms for like minded thinkers and a poke in the guts to the gutless gubbas still out there ruling the roost. A true tour de force, like a zenith in a multi-coloured career, who else could fit 'Belanglo' and 'unconscious bias' in their lyrics...Bravo Comrade Dave! BRAVO! Mick Talevski, ZEAL MAGAZINE

FRONTIER (2020) Dave Houston, factotum of the Full-On Theatre company releases his second album of deeply personal and political songs, thematically intertwined as only the personal and political can be. It’s a big, ambitious record, produced and directed by Christian Pyle, at the SS Prawn & Spanner Studios.

Houston has the traditional owners of this country foremost in his aesthetic and their stories resonate through the heart of this album. That theme spins off into a broader exploration of the outsider in society - be they bushrangers, mass murderers or the outliers of Houston’s own artistic psyche, we’re confronted with characters that are not always comfortable to share a headset with.

‘How Would You Be’ responds to the Black Lives Matter movement, as experienced in Australia through the eyes of murdered Indigenous peoples. ‘Our History’ deals with the difficult task of establishing true Indigenous stories against the contemporary backdrop of right-wing white denialism.

As a kind of psychic backbone to the album, ’Cowboy’ is Houston’s ode to personal struggles with his inner torments. The temptation to suit up and ride away into the sunset is enabled by an urgent, overdriven ride through the psychic wilderness. ‘While I’m Waiting’, is a meditative brooder of a song with a menacing backbeat that x-rays the internal architecture of depression.

His Name was Martin’, grinds through a jungle of riffage, as it tells the wild tale of bushranger Martin Cash. Frontier won’t escape comparisons to Goanna Bands ‘Spirit of Place’, but Houston’s songs ventilate a contemporary Indigenous perspective that only firsthand experience can bring. His songwriting chops, allied with Pyle’s distinctive musical direction have created a set of powerful songs dedicated to the defenders, activists and survivors of Australia’s Frontier Wars - 1778 to present. Written by Mick Daley