1989–1994: Early years In 1989, Janet English on bass guitar and lead vocals,
Mark Maher (better known as Kram) on lead vocals and drums, and Damian Whitty (or "Whitt") on guitar, began performing together. All grew up in the small town of Finley in southern New South Wales where Kram and his
second cousin Whitty
jammed together as schoolboys. With English on board, early rehearsals were held in sheds or barns, Kram later recalled: "we were shithouse! We were so bad ... I mean Janet had never played a note of music in her life". Kram taught English to play bass. In 1990, the trio moved to
Melbourne, where Kram was studying at the
Victorian College of the Arts School of Music. Fellow alternative rockers
The Meanies were an early influence and helped the band get gigs and a recording contract. A seven-track EP titled ''P'tang Yang Kipper Bang Uh!
(named after the 1982 Michael Apted telemovie, P'tang, Yang, Kipperbang'') followed in January 1992, displaying the
thrash-like hardcore punk of their early live gigs. During 1992 they supported United States groups
Rollins Band and
Beastie Boys on their tour of Australia. 'Šašava glava' (written as Шашава Глава) means 'crazy head' in
Serbian or possibly 'dickhead'. The album included all the tracks from ''P'tang Yang Kipper Bang Uh!'' and featured the songs "Old Man Sam", in which the film clip featured Kram's brother Adam doing donuts in his car and Kram's Grandpa, and a cover of English comedians
The Goodies' song "Run". with singles "
Monty" (September) and "Jesus" receiving extensive airplay on radio station
Triple J. Spiderbait played to predominantly under-18 audiences. Their third album,
Ivy and the Big Apples, was issued in October 1996 and reached number 3, Their next single, "
Buy Me a Pony", received extensive airplay on
Triple J, resulting in listeners voting it as their favourite song in the
Hottest 100 of 1996 – making Spiderbait the first Australian group to achieve this. At the
ARIA Music Awards of 1997 the group received seven nominations, but with
Savage Garden dominating the ceremony and winning ten awards, Spiderbait only captured the 'Best Alternative Release' category for
Ivy and the Big Apples. In early 1998, English and her then-boyfriend
Quan Yeomans (of
Regurgitator) formed a side-project,
Happyland (originally called The Shits), which released their only album,
Welcome to Happyland, on Polydor in September. English provided cover art work and 3-D animated videos for Regurgitator releases. By 2000 the couple and Happyland had split. Also in 1998, Kram and Richie Lewis of
Tumbleweed formed a side-project,
Hot Rollers – so named as both member's mothers were hairdressers. Their only album,
The Hot Rollers, was issued in July through Polydor. Despite good airplay for the
Grand Slam singles "Stevie" (May) and "
Glokenpop" (January 2000), neither charted in the top 50. Their 2001
dance-influenced album
The Flight of Wally Funk was less successful than their previous three albums, although it reached the Top 40. The songs had been written and demoed at Whitty's home in North Melbourne with English and Kram cycling in from nearby suburbs. By the end of the year, "Black Betty" received 2× Platinum certification. In the US, it reached the top 40 on
Billboard Mainstream Rock Singles Chart. The film clip featured a hot rod similar to the car on the cover of the
ZZ Top album
Eliminator. The song also made the soundtrack to the
Electronic Arts video games
Need for Speed: Underground 2 and
Need for Speed: Underground Rivals for the PSP.
Tonight Alright was released in March 2004 and debuted at number 14 on the ARIA Albums Chart.
Interscope Records signed the band in 2004 to distribute
Tonight Alright in the US and UK. At the
ARIA Music Awards of 2004, Kram performed as part of the super-group
The Wrights, which also featured members of
Powderfinger,
The Living End, You Am I,
Jet,
Grinspoon, and
Dallas Crane.
2005–2012: On hiatus and touring In March 2005, English gave birth to a daughter. In September, Spiderbait released a compilation album,
Greatest Hits, In October 2005, Spiderbait performed at
Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, as part of the Coca-Cola Live'n'Local Tour '05. In November 2006, the band performed at the "
Queensland Council of Unions"-organized Rock the Vote! concert in
Brisbane. The band recorded a cover of "
Ghost Riders in the Sky" as the main theme for the film
Ghost Rider (2007), starring
Nicolas Cage. A small excerpt is played during the film, and then in its entirety as the first song when the credits roll. The band's song "
Glokenpop" is featured in the 2009 game
LittleBigPlanet for the
PlayStation Portable. Kram released his debut solo album,
Mix Tape, in March 2009. In 2010,
Magnapop's album
Chase Park featured a cover of Spiderbait's song "Jesus" from
The Unfinished Spanish Galleon of Finley Lake. In December of that year, they supported
Guns N' Roses at a Sydney gig. The band recorded a cover of "Rock-a-Bye Your Bear" for the compilation
ReWiggled - A Tribute to the Wiggles.
2013–2021: End of hiatus and self-titled album In an interview with Triple J in February 2013, Kram announced that Spiderbait were in the studio, working on their first album in seven years, saying "We're doing a new record and we're about halfway through. We're just writing demos at the moment and it's coming along well. We're back in our Motorhead and Metallica metal phase—I'm all double kick at the moment." The self-titled album,
Spiderbait, was released on 15 November 2013. The band played a gig on the same day, for the opening night of the Jam Gallery, a new music venue in
Bondi Junction.
2022-present: Sounds in the Key of J and touring 2025 On 11 March 2022, the band released "My Car's a UFO", their first new song in nine years. The track was initially recorded for
The Flight of Wally Funk and served as the lead single from the band's third compilation album,
Sounds in the Key of J—which collects every Spiderbait song that Janet English sings lead vocals on. The compilation was released on 8 April 2022, with a supporting tour that followed that July. On 17 June 2023, Spiderbait performed their first show in the U.S. in over 25 years in New York City at the Aussie BBQ Festival. Other acts that were there were
Amy Shark and
Budjerah. In December 2023, Spiderbait performed at
Good Things, alongside other bands like
Limp Bizkit,
Devo,
Fall Out Boy and more. On 15 May 2024, Spiderbait announced that they would tour Australia from August to October of that year to celebrate the 20th anniversary of
Black Betty, with opening acts like
Polish Club,
Adalita,
Private Function,
Abbe May and local bands. On 20 September 2024, the band released
Bunch of Bettys, an extended play full of different recordings of
Black Betty, such as
Live Betty (recorded at
the Tivoli in Brisbane on 31 March 2017),
Demo Betty,
4-Track Betty,
Barn Betty,
Fuzzy Betty,
Acoustic Betty and the original cover from Tonight Alright. On that same day, the band's concert in Melbourne at the
Forum Theatre was filmed in its entirety, but is yet to be released. ==Discography==