Tripod (band)

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Tripod is an Australian musical comedy act specialising in improv, parody and satire. As its name suggests, the band is a trio consisting of Scod (Scott Edgar), Yon (Simon Hall) and Gatesy (Steven Gates). The trio cover a wide variety of performance styles from soft ballads to hard rock, performing these songs with only the aid of Scod (and at times Gatesy) playing his guitar. They are represented by Token Artists who also represent other Australian talent, such as Wil Anderson and Merrick and Rosso.

The band are regular performers at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, and featured in Network Ten's sketch comedy television show skitHOUSE. Gatesy was also part of his side project band called Kind of Pluto until their break-up in 2003. From 2002 to 2004 they appeared on the Triple J breakfast show hosted by Wil Anderson and Adam Spencer each week to participate in a Song in an Hour challenge, where songs were composed in an hour using elements suggested by listeners. Two CDs containing some of the finest examples of these sessions have been released, each including recordings taken from live Song-In-An-Hour challenges featured in Tripod's Pod August Nights concerts. In late 2005, they moved to Fox FM where they could be heard on Peter Helliar's weekly Friday morning show, Pete's Show.

Tripod's songs are spread across a number of different styles. At times they use humorous sounds, such as "Yon and his Flute" from the Open Slather album, but the real magic comes from the lyrics of their songs and the chemistry between the three men. The lyrics are often satirical, or use off-beat humour.

In 2005, Tripod performed the show "Lady Robots v1.1" at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival: a musical/comedy type stage-show telling the story of three men, hurled into space where they come across a planet populated only by Lady Robots. This is slightly changed version to the original Lady Robots first previewed at the 2002 Adelaide Fringe, then performed at the MICF of the same year. Both versions of Lady Robots have toured Australia since 2002 but a live recording, such as with the 2001 release of "Tosswinkle the Pirate", seems unlikely at this stage. Tripod began touring their latest show "Tripod are Self Saucing" in 2004, continuing into the 2006 MICF.

Tripod's first DVD release was a live recording of their show "POD August Nights" and is regarded as a showcase of "the Best of Tripod". The DVD includes numerous special features, including a music video for one of their songs, 'Gonna Make You Happy Tonight' that featured on their album, "Middleborough Rd.". A DVD version of their show, "Tosswinkle the Pirate" has recently been released following the original 2001 VHS release. Tripod notably reference Star Wars in many of their songs, and also frequently mention robots. They were also honoured with an reference in the Star Wars novel Force Heretic II. On Page 233 of the paperback version, the names Yon, Gaitzi and Scod were used, as well as the name Tripod.

[edit] Discography

Box Set (1997, out of production)
Open Slather (April 2000)
Open Slather Special Christmas Edition feat. Tripod Live April 2000 (November 2000, out of production)
Tripod tells the tale of the Adventures of Tosswinkle the Pirate (Not Very Well) (VHS) (2001)
About An Hour of Song-In-An-Hour (2002)
About An Hour of Song-In-An-Hour ... Again (2003)
Fegh Maha (2004)
Middleborough Rd (2004)
Pod August Night (DVD) (2006)
Tripod tells the tale of the Adventures of Tosswinkle the Pirate (Not Very Well) (DVD) (2006)