Plush (band)

Infobox musical artist
Name = Plush


Img_capt = Ben Peters, Rory Eliot and Emelio Gassibe
Img_size = 400
Background = group_or_band
Origin = Cape Town, South Africa flagicon|RSA
Genre = Alternative rock, Acoustic rock
Years_active = 2000–2008
Label = Plush music, Sheer
Associated_acts = Rory Eliot and The Reason
Current_members = Rory Eliot, Vocals & Guitar Emelio Gassibe, Bass Ben Peters, Drums
Past_members = Chas Smit on lead guitar, Dale Orchard, Dez Lewis, Sean Brannigan

Plush is an acoustic rock band based in Cape Town, South Africa. They have released three studio albums.

Members

Rory Eliot is lead singer and rhythm guitarist. He was born in Durban in 1980. He began singing at age 8, got his first guitar at 15 and then combined music and words to create his first song "Far Beyond", which is featured on their debut album. He studied dramatic art in Johannesburg at AFDA.

Emelio Gassibe plays bass. He is married and has a daughter.

Ben Peters is a drummer. He studied aromatherapy before following his musical calling. He was born in Cape Town in 1983 and has lived there his whole life. Both he and Gassibe play in another South African band, jacSharp.

Career

Performing together since 1996, Plush turned professional in 2000 and in 2002 won the National Battle of the Bands competition, against over 500 bands from across the country. The name "Plush" was given to them by Natal south coast fans who thought their performance was "plush", a slang word meaning awesome. fn|(3)

Plush first flickered on the national South African music map back in 2003. The song "Tainted" reached number 1 on TuksFM, and "Today" and "My Baby" received regular radio play, the latter getting airtime on MTV.

Together they were described as "so unbelievably tight that they sound as though they are one masterful musician, playing two guitars, with four arms and one almighty voice". fn|(1)

Death of Chas Smit

Smit was killed by a drunk driver when attempting to cross a street in Pietermaritzburg in September 2005.

Eliot was quoted by the Daily News as saying, "He was like a brother to me. I am not sure what the future holds for me, or for the band. I will have to think about it and what Chas would have wanted." fn|(2) Soon after, the Plush website announced that the band would not be continuing.

Memorial services took place in Pietermaritzburg, Cape Town and London.

Comeback

Engulfed by grief, Eliot took a six month sabbatical before returning as a solo artist, determined to fulfill a promise he’d made to Smit that they would make it. Soon Peters and Gassibe joined the newly-reformed Plush.

The group released their first single in two years, "When Grace Grew Tall" in early 2007 after and they went on their first Gauteng tour since Chas' tragedy. "When Grace Grew Tall" went to number 1 on 5fm’s Hi5@5, where it remained for four weeks.

The national effort went global in August 2007 when the band embarked on a tour of the United Kingdom in August 2007. Focusing primarily on London, the band played nine shows in 10 days.

Discography

"All That Is Should Be" (released 9 March 2004)
* "Trouble"
* "Today"
* "Like Planes"
* "Erla"
* "Fits of Life"
* "Tainted"
* "Iris"
* "Damn the Fire"
* "Tata Jozi Tata"
* "Far Beyond"
* "My Baby"
* "Jet Life"

"A Few Blinding Views" (released 5 August 2005, Us Productions)
* "Today"
* "What I'm thinking about"
* "Wishing Well"
* "Able"
* "Postcard"
* "Impressive Sun"
* "Ta ta, Jozi, ta ta"
* "I wonder of you"
* "My Baby"
* "Love away the days"
* "Halo" (live)
* "Sky Fire" (live, unplugged)

"A Few Blinding Views" was produced by the Grammy nominated composer, drummer, arranger and producer, Cedric Samson and was engineered by Nic Els and mastered by George Marino at Sterling Sound in New York.

The recording features Dominic Peters (bass & keyboards), Sean ou-Tim (drums & bass), Cedric Samson (drums and percussion) Waldo Alexander (violin), Eddie Mclean (cello), Simon Bates (sax), Ross McDonald (trombone) and Lee Thompson (trumpet) with Rory Eliot (lead vocal & rhythm guitar) and Chas Smit (lead guitar & backing vocal).

"Rage On" (released 29 November 2007)
* "When Grace Grew Tall"
* "Freedom Town"
* "Lucky Fish"
* "All For the Better"
* "Warfare"
* "These Days"
* "Hope"
* "Right Here"
* "Seeking"
* "Last Breath"
* "Rage On"

"Rage On" was produced by Rory Eliot and was engineered and mastered by John Lindemann at JSL Productions in Johannesburg.

The recording features Dominic Peters (keyboard & piano), Justin Taylor (guitars), Josie Piers (backing vocals on selected tracks) and Dale Orchard (bass guitar) with Rory Eliot (lead vocals & guitar), Emelio Gassibe (lead bass guitar) and Ben Peters (drums and percussion). Track 10, "Last breath", was performed and recorded by Chas Smit before his death.

References

fnb|(1) [http://www.zazone.com/review.asp?rid=49 zaZone review for All That Is Should Be launch] - includes photos

fnb|(2) [http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=vn20050919085744315C697148 Driver charged after Plush muso's death]

fnb|(3) [http://www.zazone.com/interview.asp?id=24 zaZone interview with Plush]

External links

* [http://www.plush.us Official Plush website]