Tall Tales and True


Tall Tales and True were a three piece band from Sydney formed in the early 1980s by Perth born musician, Matthew de la Hunty.

Biography

Matthew de la Hunty travelled to Sydney in 1983 and formed a group with Paul Miskin and Willie McCracken. This unnamed outfit played only one gig at French's Tavern. Dave Rashleigh was asked by Miskin to join in 1984 to replace McCracken and they then became Tall Tales and True. The band became a regular attraction on the inner-city circuit. Engineer/producer Nick Mainsbridge worked with the band on its debut, mini-album Tall Tales & True, which produced the single "Wasted Life"/"Good Heart Gone Bad". Tall Tales & True issued two four-track 12-inch EPs on Survival, Up Our Street and You've Got Your Troubles, before coming to the attention of fledgling independent label rooArt.
Tall Tales and True contributed a remixed version of "You've Got Your Troubles" to rooArt's inaugural Youngblood compilation, alongside material from The Trilobites, Martha's Vineyard, Crash Politics, Hipslingers, The Hummingbirds, Violet Town and others. That led to a full recording contract which resulted in the Shiver album. Again produced by Nick Mainsbridge, the album highlighted the dramatic sweep of the band's songwriting and de la Hunty's earnest vocal delivery. Shiver produced the singles "Trust" and "Hold on". Both singles peaked within the ARIA top 70. "Trust" received significant airplay on national youth broadcaster Triple J reaching No. 93 on the Hottest 100 for 1990 and No. 51 in 1991. The 12-inch version of "Trust" added a third track "Loser's Corner", while the "Hold On" 12-inch added "Dark Messenger" and "Lullaby # 1".
In 1989 the band flew to Canada for a three-month tour, which they expanded to a nine-month world tour. The band initially based themselves in Toronto with violinist Simon Alcorn who'd been performing and recording with them. After Canada they went south to the United States, where Alcorn left and was replaced by Robert McComb. The band then moved to the United Kingdom and toured parts of England and Scotland. Tall Tales and True next released the EP Superstition Highway. Rob McComb contributed electric guitar to the blustering title track. The band later added Vanessa Lucas on violin and bass guitar when Rob McComb left. They embarked on the Trilogy tour with rooArt labelmates The Hummingbirds and Canadian band The Pursuit of Happiness. Dave Goesch played lead guitar during this period. Tall Tales and True issued two new singles, "Lifeboat" and "Summer of Love", the second of which reached No. 51 on the national chart. Both tracks were subsequently included on the band's second album, Revenge. Their Lifeboat single earned ARIA nominations for Engineer Of The Year and Best Video. Revenge featured tracks uniquely and stylistically recorded, arranged and produced with their favourite producer Nick Mainsbridge in Sydney. The album gave rise to two more singles, "Watching the Wind Blow" and "Looking for a Place", after which the band slipped from view for another two years.
Recorded in a Sydney warehouse in mid-1994 with Mainsbridge, the album Tilt featured the band revisiting its garage-band roots with a noisy, ragged edge to proceedings. Tilt produced two CD EPs, "You Sleep I'll Drive" and "Moonshine". Tilt was the very first Australian album to be recorded and edited completely with computers in a digital format. Their former supportive label rooArt completely stopped supporting the band and various radio stations who'd also previously supported them stopped playing the band at this stage of their career. During one particular tour with The Jackson Code they realised it might be the time to stop. Tall Tales and True played their final show at The Annandale Hotel in 1995.
Following the break-up of Tall Tales and True, Dave Rashleigh went on to be a member of The Jackson Code, and later Sydney based outfit WEMO.
Paul Miskin formed the band Angel Gear in 1997 which included Dave Rashleigh on drums. They continued to record with Nick Mainsbridge and released Friends In Low Places in 2003 on Mainsbridge's Beat – Route label. He has played bass and toured with Plug Uglies, Margaret Urlich, The Jackson Code and Jodi Phillis. He now writes for and performs with city/country outfits Grandaddy Low and The Richest Men In Town.
Matthew de la Hunty returned to Perth, and released his debut solo album in 1999, Scissors, Paper, Rock, which followed on from the Tall Tales and True sound, but was more acoustic based and rough-edged. This was followed by a second album Welcome To My Rock And Roll World in 2001. He has also undertaken production/remix work for other artists, alongside continuing to record his own material, and lecturing in song writing and production. He formed The Smokin’ Eldorados in 2009 with Rod Radalj, performing mainly on lead guitar in the loud, largely improvised rock sound that evolved. His current band Zombie Western Baby is a return to the vocal/guitar sound reminiscent of Tall Tales and True. In Berlin May 2013 he was musical director and performer in the premiere of the dance theatre work "Good Little Soldier".

Members

Albums