CYBOTRON

AUSTRALIA'S ELECTRONIC BAND

The performing Cybotron with keyboard Wiz Geoff

Green on left, and Ian MacFarlane on the right, 1980.

. . . and gifted drummer Greg Farrington made three.

Cybotron was Australia's first and foremost electronic band. It featured Steve Maxwell von Braund and Geoff Green and released two albums and at least one single. For the last album, a live drummer--Colin Butcher--was added.

Using early equipment like ARP and Roland SH-1, SH-2, and SH-5 synthesizers--notorious then for their oscillator instability--the band created monumental soundscapes that thrill even today.

Click for 50 second .wav music clip of Cybotron's 'Colossus' (browse elsewhere while file loads).

These albums, like Ian MacFarlane's solo albums later, sold best in Europe and to some extent the US. Local sales were OK, but much eclipsed by the international interest in Cybotron.

D I S C O G R A P H Y:

CYBOTRON Clear Light of Jupiter Records: CLOJ 782: 1976

CYBOTRON Re-released by Champagne Records: Cass: CLC 782

Side 1: Arrakis; Mumbo Jumbo; Gods of Norse

Side2: Parameters of Consciousness; Sonic Overide (Gliding, The Riddle, Answer)

(Geoff Green, Steve Maxwell Von Braund & Gil Matthews (drums on 'Gods of Norse')

All selections composed and arranged by Cyboton

Produced by Steve Maxwell Von Braund and Geoff Green for Clear Light of Jupiter

Recording engineer: Gil Matthews

Recorded at Armstrong Studios, Melbourne

Cover painting: Peter Ellis

Inside photograph: Brian Carr

Typography and Cybotron Logo by Mark Cambridge

All selections published by Clear Light of Jupiter Music

Rarer than hens' teeth, this cassette is one of only ten

left for sale in Australia. Price on application.

COLOSSUS Champagne Records: CHA 7004: 1980

Side1: Collossus; Eclipse

Side2: Medusa, Raga in Asia Minor

(Geoff Green, Colin Butcher, Steve Braund)

All music composed and arranged by Cybotron

Produced by Cybotron and engineered by Gil Matthews

Executive Producer: Jeremy Fiebiger

All compositions published by Champagne Music

Album design: Jeff Orr

Cover illustration: Linda Orr

Photography: Ken Wright

Recorded at: Richmond Recorders and Armstrong Studios

Mixed at Armstrong Studios

Personal Manager: Jack Colville

Thanks to: Billy Hyde and Drum World for Timpanis and Gongs

PARADOX cassette distributed by 'Live' Cybotron: 1981-2

Side 1: Paradox

Side2: Dead Horse Road

Engineered & produced by Ian MacFarlane

For one reason and another, the band split in the late 1970s which was when Geoff Green and Ian MacFarlane teamed up to perform live. They did not rely on the old Cybotron 'standards' but explored new directions. Ian MacFarlane added strings and 'human' voices from his synthesizer banks -- a far cry from the hard-driving electronic rock of the previous Cybotron. The result was a moody fusion mix of rhythms, musical styles and experimental explorations of Sound.

Drummer Greg Farrington from Queensland added a whimsical element. He could provide pounding rock, but was capable of the most exquisite 'quiet' passages. His one fault (Geoff and Ian agreed) was his other love, the Oboe, which Greg soon wanted to somehow include in every number!

Greg Farrington with that darn whistle and Ian MacFarlane in rehearsal.

Cybotron added a light and smoke show to its performances and, on several occasions, one or two dancers. These were very modern, new features that only heightened the excitement of the gigs. Unfortunately, one of the dancers, 'Crazy Greg', was prone to taking off his clothes which offended some blushing audiences. Luckily, his unpredictable, impromptu cavortings--which he blamed entirely on the irresistable rhythms of Cybotron--occurred rarely.

The performing Cybotron's most memorable performance together (without Greg Farrington's Oboe) was at the launch of 3-PBS-FM at the Prince of Wales Hotel in St Kilda in the early 80s. Although there were a multitude of better known acts and bands, the Cybotron performance stood out for its sheer musical audacity and mixture of cerebral rhythms. Ian MacFarlane had just imported a set of electronic drums which he mounted on his timbales and percussion kit. When all this was added to Greg Farrington's drumming, new possibilties in electronic rock emerged. A short stunned silence preceded rapturous applause and loud demands for more . . .

Click here to hear the audience reaction.(Tip: browse elsewhere while .wav file loads).

Ian MacFarlane (shown here) with Geoff Green, live at

Marijuana House in Melbourne. Progressive as he was,

Ian was surprised by (and in) the unisex toilets provided

in the remarkable venue. Unisex toilets, unlike Cyboton's

and Ian MacFarlane's records sales, never took off.

This new Cybotron combination (everyone later agreed) should have been recorded while the 'electricity' was there. Wouldn't you know it, the band drifted apart before that could happen. Daniel Janecka, the mysterious but outspoken European refugee and entrpreneur, who produced Cybotron's and Ian MacFarlane's albums, remained uncharacteristically quiet in the background while everything was being sorted out. Naturally, he was blamed for 'missing out' on the new recording opportunity.

So, all that is left now is a few 'live' cassettes of unreleasible quality.

Steve Maxwell von Braund was said all the while to be working on new solo albums with other musicians. The question arose, who had the rights to the Cybotron name. In an immediate sense, it didn't really matter anymore (everyone agreed) with room for a live Cybotron (Geoff Green, Ian MacFarlane and Greg Farrington) and a 'recording' Cybotron with Steve Maxwell von Braund and his musicians. Von Braund's brilliant and acclaimed album Implosion resulted. This was a special time in early Australian music history with a coterie of gifted artists like Julian Browning (Armada and A Fantasy of Horses), all the members of Cybotron and Ian MacFarlane mixing together and reaching for the Universe.

Cybotron, perhaps as it was always meant to be, and as Daniel Janecka and Jeremy Fiebiger probably had always intended, remains embodied only in the original albums from the 1970s and early 1980s. Certainly, numbers like 'Ride to Infinity' by Cybotron, a single released in the early 1980s, today still retain the purest, radiant electronic rock forms Australia has produced.

AVAILABLE FOR SALE HERE

CYBOTRON RECORDINGS

Vinyl 12" LP records of Colossus

These are very rare collector's

items in first-class condition and

unplayed. There is only a handful

of these rarities left.

Price $US 65

(incl. postage and packing)

Pay with Paymate Express

CASSETTES OF 'COLOSSUS'

Price $US 25

(including postage and packing)

These unplayed extremely rare

cassettes are in very short supply.

(Pricing under review).

EXTREMELY RARE SINGLES

Collossus/Ride to Infinity

Champagne Records CHS 605.

These 45 RPM 7" vinyl singles

are originals from 1978, in their

original wrappers and unplayed.

'Ride to Infinity' was only

released as the B side of this

single, and is otherwise

unavailable. Would be ideal for

collectors or jukeboxes.

Price $Aus 25

(includes postage and packing)

Pay with Paymate Express

Email us if you have purchase