Southend are one of the pioneers of the Australian dance music scene.

Yes, we were named after the 2nd division (at the time) football team, but only because we were into football, and we were from Down Under - geddit?

The band met by chance in 1991 when Stuart McCarthy, Steve Younan and I were camping overnight for Depeche Mode tickets. Vocalist Melinda Page joined the group in 1992, and after a series of gigs, we were signed to seminal Sydney label Volition Records, the home of Severed Heads, Boxcar and Itch-e & Scratch-e.

Our first release consisted of two tracks on High - Australia’s first-ever homegrown dance music compilation.

In 1993, our debut Fanatical EP was released to glowing reviews. With a dedicated following in the warehouse rave scene, and several 12” releases later, in 1994 we scored a National ARIA Top 10 hit single with The Winner Is… a first for an electronic act in rock-centric Australia.

Our follow-up single If You Believe also cracked the national Top 50 singles chart both here and in Europe after being signed internationally to Muzik Research.

I left the band in 1995 to pursue a solo career.