Philadelphia Grand Jury are an Australian trio from Sydney. The band's current line-up consists of Joel "MC Bad Genius" Beeson on bass, keyboard and guitar, Simon "Berkfinger" Berckelman on vocals and guitar and Dan "Dan W. Sweat" Williams on drums. They play a mix of indie, punk and soul.
Biography
Beeson originally formed a band called Johnson in 2001 with his friend Berckelman, before creating the indie band label Motherlovin' Records in 2004. Subsequent bands included Malcolm X & the Black Auditorium and Berkfinger and The Sweats, the latter combining to form Philadelphia Grand Jury in early 2008. In May 2009, the band signed a joint venture deal with Boomtown Records to release their records, on their own label, Normal People Making Hits, with distribution through Shock Records. In June 2009, the band released "Going to the Casino " as a 7" vinylEP. The EP was self-recorded, produced and released. "Going to the Casino" received significant airplay on Triple J and featured on the television mini-series , also appearing on the soundtrack album. The band's debut album, Hope Is for Hopers, was released on 25 September 2009, reaching No. 34 on the ARIA Albums Chart. Williams departed from the group in September 2009. Williams' position was temporarily filled by Ivan Lisyak, aka 'Emergency Ivan,' before a permanent replacement – American session musician, Calvin Welch – joined the band. At the fourth annual AIR Awards, held on 22 November 2009, Philadelphia Grand Jury won an award for 'Best Independent Single or EP' with their single Going to the Casino. A music video "The Good News" was filmed in North Sydney and at Parsley Bay, Rowe Street-Bondi Junction & Lighthouse Reserve-Vaucluse. It was released in November 2009. The song ranked at number 57 in the Triple J Hottest 100 of that year. In October 2010, the band announced that Welch had left the band, as the 'rigours of the road have proved too arduous for the 55-year-old drummer.' Welch's replacement was Berlin-based/Brisbane-born Sullivan "Susie Dreamboat" Patten, who performed with the band on their tour of the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia. Patten finished touring with the band in January 2011. In March 2011, news surfaced that the band had abandoned work on the follow up to Hope is for Hopers. When FasterLouder sought a follow-up, they were met with the following statement in regards to the band's current status. On 2 November 2011 the band posted on their Facebook page that the band had broken up. Following the split, Beeson moved onto production and remix work under the moniker of Boyhood, while Berckelman relocated to Berlin and began working on a solo project entitled Feelings. Feelings released their debut album, "Be Kind Unwind," in October 2013. In 2013, Berckelman assembled Beeson and Williams to join him on tour in Australia under the Feelings moniker. The three playing together for the first time in nearly four years immediately sparked rumours of a Philadelphia Grand Jury reunion, which were confirmed with a midnight performance by the band at the 2013 BIGSOUND Festival in Brisbane. The band then announced a tour for December 2013, incorporating songs for both Feelings and Philadelphia Grand Jury across two sets. In late 2014, it was revealed the band would be heading to Berlin in 2015 to record new material. The sessions resulted in the band's second studio album, which had the working title of Ulterior Motif. A new single, "Crashing and Burning, Pt. II," was released in August 2015. The album, now titled Summer of Doom, was released in October 2015.
