OCHRE

Ochre biography
Founded in Brisbane, Australia in 1996 - Disbanded in 2003

Australian act OCHRE slowly grew together in the second half of the 1990's. Kim Benzie (guitars) and his friend Aaron (vocals) formed the original nuclues of the band in 1996, Andy Dauth (drums) joined in 1997 and when Stewart Hill (bass) hooked up with them in 1999 Ochre was officially a band. They relocated to Brisbane in early 2000, and when Aaron left to join a religious cult soon after they continued on as a three piece, with Benzie taking on the vocal duties in addition to the guitar.

Pretty soon Ochre started getting regular gigs, and word started to spread. Demand for a physical release started to grow, and in early 2001 this lead to the release of the EP Awakenings. Around that time Anna Walkenhorst (keyboards) joined, and a further line-up took place when Dauth left, replaced by Tony McCall.

For the rest of the year Ochre were gigging heavily, and continued doing so well into 2002. A second EP, Horizon, was released in August, which was promoted for the next year or so. In 2003 Ochre suddenly disappeared from the scene, and following a drawn out process eventually broke up in 2005. Benzie and Hill would later resurface in Australian band DEAD LETTER CIRCUS.