Ball Park Music


Ball Park Music is a five-piece indie rock/pop band based in Brisbane, Australia, made up of frontman Sam Cromack, Jennifer Boyce, Paul Furness, and twins Dean Hanson and Daniel Hanson.
Their 2011 single "It's Nice to Be Alive" was featured in the 2014 film Blended and the fifth season of Gossip Girl.

Origins

Ball Park Music was originally the name given to Sam Cromack's solo work. The band all met while they were studying music together at the Queensland University of Technology.

Career

Early years (2008–2009)

Ball Park Music independently released their debut EP Rolling on the Floor, Laughing Ourselves to Sleep in April 2009. The EP was quickly championed by triple j presenter Stephanie Hughes who gave an early version of "All I Want Is You" and "Black Skies" their first national airplay. Richard Kingsmill said "Rufus Wainwright called. He wants his song back. So he should. This is a pretty good one." about their song "Black Skies" and gave it four out of five stars.

''Conquer the Town, Easy as Cake'', "iFly" and early success (2009–2010)

In 2010, Ball Park Music released their second EP Conquer the Town, Easy as Cake. The EP spawned their first Triple J hit in "iFly" which immediately was added to high rotation and gained a five star rating from Richard Kingsmill Another song "Western Whirl" was nominated for both Best Alternative and The Courier Mail People's Choice Awards at the 2010 Q Song Awards.
In October 2010 the band embarked on their first Australian tour in October with Hungry Kids of Hungary and Big Scary and released a brand new single "Sad Rude Future Dude" which was placed on rotation by triple j.
In November 2010, they were named as a triple j New Crop artist - "one of the 20 best new bands in Australia" - and was also offered a slot at the triple j Ausmusic Month Party in Brisbane where they collaborated with Custard's David McCormack on a cover of Custard's hit song "Apartment". Following this, the band was announced as the Queensland winner of a triple j Unearthed competition and won the chance to play at Big Day Out 2011 on the Gold Coast. Additionally, the band played several festivals in summer of 2010/11 including Falls Festival, South Bound, Sunset Sounds and Good Vibrations.

''Happiness and Surrounding Suburbs'' (2011)

In January 2011, they released their debut album "Happiness and Surrounding Suburbs. When they released the single entitled "Rich People Are Stupid" as an iTunes exclusive and the song was immediately added to high rotation on triple j. They toured in April with Eagle and the Worm and We Say Bamboulee for The Super Commuter Tour.
On 24 June 2011, Ball Park Music signed to Sydney label Stop Start Music to release their debut album Happiness and Surrounding Suburbs. It was released in Australia and New Zealand through Stop Start/EMI Australia on 9 September and debuted on the Australian ARIA Album Chart the following week at No. 36.
Another single called "It's Nice to Be Alive" was issued and was once again supported by triple j. The video for the song achieved a Channel Ripe Clip of the Week, beating out competition from The Kooks's "Junk of the Heart" and Kanye West/Jay-Z's "Otis". "It's Nice to Be Alive" was featured in the film Blended.
Ball Park Music embarked on a four-date headline tour with Adelaide rock outfit City Riots on the How I Met Ball Park Music Tour which was followed by another headline tour to launch their debut album in October with Northeast Party House and The Jungle Giants. Immediately following that, they embarked as main support for Boy & Bear on their "Moonfire Tour".
In November, Ball Park Music were named the Unearthed Artist of the Year at triple j's J Awards. They were also nominated for the 2011 J Award but were beaten by Gotye and his album Making Mirrors.
In December it was announced that Happiness and Surrounding Suburbs was voted No. 10 in Triple J's Top 10 Albums of 2014 and No. 2 in The AU Reviews album poll. The third single, "Literally Baby", was serviced to radio and TV, and it quickly achieved rotation on Nova Brisbane and Channel V|Channel . To finish off the year, the band played Peats Ridge Festival, Pyramid Rock and No Years on New Year's Eve in Brisbane.

''Museum'' (2012)

Ball Park Music began 2012 by announcing The 180° Tour; "their most ambitious tour yet". They were initially to play 14 dates with supports Nantes and Cub Scouts but added more shows in Brisbane, Sydney, Adelaide and Melbourne due to popular demand. The band was also added to the 2012 Groovin' the Moo line-up as well as Splendour In The Grass.
On 23 March 2012, Ball Park Music were invited to do Triple J's Like a Version, where they performed their single "All I Want Is You" followed by a cover of the Flaming Lips song "Do You Realize??". This was also filmed for triple j tv at the time.
On 20 July 2012, it was announced that the band would release new music in the form of a single called "Surrender" leading into their set at Splendour in the Grass. In a radio interview on Triple J with Zan Rowe, Cromack revealed that band were working on a new album, and they'd be releasing something "soon enough".
In August, Ball Park Music announced their second album, Museum and a headline tour with Loon Lake in support. In a press release, Sam Cromack said he was "inspired by the swift turn around in which the likes of The Beatles would deliver new records every six to 12 months" and issued the band a challenge to release another album in 12 months.
Museum was released in Australia on 5 October and it was named Triple J's Feature Album the following week. The station selected to play nine of the album's 12 songs.

''Puddinghead'' (2014)

The band released their third LP Puddinghead 4 April 2014 under the label Stop Start/Inertia. "Puddinghead" is one of the most commercially successful in the band's history. It was toured twice nationally with one international tour to Europe and was one of the most highly played albums on Triple J in 2014, thanks to popular singles "She Only Loves Me When I'm There" and "Trippin' the Light Fantastic".

''Every Night the Same Dream'' (2016)

2016 album Every Night the Same Dream was released 19 August again under the label Stop Start/Inertia. A change to their sound resulted in an album with more of a Psychedelic rock feel, that was acclaimed by fans and critics and was toured nationally to sold out theatres across Australia.

''Good Mood'' (2018)

Their album Good Mood was released on 16 February 2018. Ball Park Music subsequently embarked on a national tour in February and March being supported by Ali Barter and Hatchie. This was followed by a national tour in which they partnered with San Cisco, Ruby Fields and Tia Gostelow. The single "Exactly How You Are" enjoyed success on Triple J's Hottest 100 for 2017 coming in at #18, and the album track "Hands Off My Body" was added to the official NBA 2K19 soundtrack curated by Travis Scott. Ball Park Music also released a limited edition 'Pizza Box' Boxed Set of vinyl LP's that contained their album catalogue from 2011's "Happiness and Surrounding Suburbs" to 2018's "Good Mood ". At the ARIA Music Awards of 2018, the album was nominated for three awards; Producer of the Year, Engineer of the Year and Best Cover Art

Other projects

Sam Cromack now records his solo work under the moniker My Own Pet Radio and has released three solo albums, Suburban Lemon Shops and the Bruxer in My Bed, Unidentified Flying Collection of Songs and Goodlum.
Jennifer Boyce records solo work under the moniker Little Planes Land.

Band members

Former members

Studio albums

Extended plays

Singles

Music videos

Concert tours

;Headlining
;Joint tours
;Opening act