67 Special is a rock band based in Melbourne, Australia. The band was formed in 2001, and went on to release two EPs and two full-length albums.
History
In 1994, Ash Santilla and Gavin Campbell met at high school in their hometown of Benalla, Victoria, and became good friends sharing their passion for rock music. Their first band was called Naybious, named after Gavin's sister Lauren's one-eyed doll. Lead vocalist Santilla and lead guitarist Campbell met multi-instrumentalist Louis Macklin at a school camp, and he became the band's keyboardist and percussionist. Progress of the band stalled for some time, until 2001 when Santilla and Campbell found each other again in Melbourne and began writing again. Soon, drummer Ben Dexter joined after coming to know the group through his brother, and bass guitarist Bryan Dochstader joined the group after noticing the group unloading gear in a supermarket car-park and asking them, "Do you guys need a bass player?" The band couldn't decide on a name for several months until Dexter rang Santilla and asked him, "What's the model of your car?" "HR," Santilla replied. "What year?" "'67." "67 Special?" "Yeah." 67 Special signed with Festival Mushroom Records in 2003 and released the "Hey There Bomb" EP, "Boys and Girls" EP and their debut album "The World Can Wait". After Festival Mushroom Records was sold the band were picked up by Mushroom Records, Warner Music Australia in 2006 and released their second album "The Devil May Care" in 2007.
Live performances
Performing live is an integral part of the 67 Special; in an interview, Campbell has stated "live is what it's all about for us," Santilla added, "We've built this band on a regime of playing live and wanting to be known as a good live band." During 2004 and 2005, the band toured extensively including shows with Dallas Crane, Grinspoon, The Black Keys, Stereophonics and The Casanovas and have performed at the Australian Open, on Rove Live and at the Meredith, Rock-It, Falls Festival and Peaches and Creammusic festivals. In mid September 2005, 67 Special began their "The World Can Wait" national tour to promote their first full-length album of the same name, The World Can Wait. The tour brought them to all corners of Australia. Recording of their follow-up album, "The Devil May Care" with producer Jacquire King took place in September 2006. The album was released in August 2007, with the first single, "Killer Bees" being released in February 2007. The band toured nationally with The Exploders to support the release of Killer Bees, and again for the release of the album. They've supported Jet in Brisbane for 2 nights and toured with Dallas Crane down the east coast in mid-2007
