FOR those familiar with the oeuvre of Custard, it will be a surprise to see the band's former frontman Dave McCormack at next weekend's Apollo Bay Music Festival.
McCormack will be fronting his relatively new act The Millionaires, playing countrified covers and originals with members of The Cruel Sea and Karma County.
It seems a long way from such 1990s Aussie alt-classics as Apartment, Music Is Crap and Girls Like That, but McCormack has always been a musical chameleon.
While still in Custard, he always had various side-projects on the go, such as little-known country outfit COW, an electro project called Computor and a short-lived group called Miami.
He's also done film scores, most notably for Alex Proyas' Garage Days.
It's a varied career to date, but when asked of his favourite albums, McCormack leans heavily on the era when he enjoyed the most success (the 1990s), as well as some heroes from his hometown of Brisbane.
The Fauves - The Young Need Discipline (1994)
"THIS was their first album with a major label (Polydor) and it's an absolute classic but I think it's been deleted now and you can't buy it. I still listen to it to this day. They've got so many great songs and so many great albums. In the mid-`90s there was no one better. Custard used to tour with them and when you tour with a band you usually just say nice things about their set, but I couldn't get enough of The Fauves. There's some great songs on this - Dwarf On Dwarf, The Driver Is You and there's a song called Trevor. This takes me back 14 years.''
Weez er - Pinkerton (1996)
"THEY were a real power-pop band. When the first album came out, that got played to death, then (Custard) got asked to do the Australian tour with Weezer when Pinkerton came out. I remember the band seemed tired of each other. I first heard Pinkerton on Triple J. The first song, Tired Of Sex, is excellent, and El Scorcho is a great song with a great video. I'm going to have to go back and listen to this again.''
T he Go-Betweens - Liberty Belle And The Black Diamond Express (1986)
"The Go-Betweens were living in London at the time but I thought of them as my band because I was from Brisbane and they were Brisbane. We all felt this sense of ownership because they were over there doing so well. Songs like Spring Rain and Head Full Of Steam are perfect examples of what they did - songs in a pop format that are still quite angular and with great lyrics. I love all their albums, but this is the one I really love.''
Ween - Chocolate And Cheese (1994)
"I LISTENED to this so much. There's lots of cool drum machines and guitars on there. It sounds like it was all recorded on a four-track or something. And it's got a great cover - it's incredibly sexy. They do so many different styles, it blows me away. The first time I heard the first track (Take Me Away) I thought `wow'. And What Deaner Was Talkin' About is a great song with a beautiful melody.''
Gentle Ben And His Sensitive Side - The Beginning Of The End (2004)
"THEY'RE like a punk-rock'n'roll circus. They've got classic songs and quite a bit of airplay. They're all into that Melbourne (music) mafia, Bad Seeds kind of thing... though they're a Brisbane band. (Frontman) Ben Corbett is a great performer. My brother (Dylan) plays (guitar) with them so maybe there's a bit of bias there.''
*Check out April 24's Offbeat to read more about McCormack's new band The Millionaires and their gig at the Apollo Bay Music Festival.