The Paradise Motel

The Paradise Motel are an Australian band originally active from 1995 to 2000, who reconvened in 2008. Current band members (2008-) Charles Bickford (guitar, organ), Matthew Aulich (guitar, organ), Merida Sussex (vocals), BJ Austin (guitar, organ), Esme MacDonald (bass), Campbell Shaw (violin), Andy Hazel (drums) - replaced Damien Hill following Hill's death in December 2008. The band formed in Hobart, Tasmania but then, soon after Bickford, Aulich, and Bailey in 1995 moved to Melbourne.They found their new lead singer, Merida Sussex, working in the St Kilda Public Library.

Current band members (2008-)
Charles Bickford (guitar, organ), Matthew Aulich (guitar, organ), Merida Sussex (vocals), BJ Austin (guitar, organ), Esme MacDonald (bass), Campbell Shaw (violin), Andy Hazel (drums) - replaced Damien Hill following Hill's death in December 2008.

The band formed in Hobart, Tasmania but then, soon after Bickford, Aulich, and Bailey in 1995 moved to Melbourne.They found their new lead singer, Merida Sussex, working in the St Kilda Public Library. They were soon signed by Mushroom Records, and released an EP, Left Over Life To Kill. This was soon followed by a remix EP, titled Some Deaths Take Forever, consisting of experimental remixes of tracks and outtakes from the original produced by the band themselves; 2,000 hand-numbered copies were produced.

In 1997, The Paradise Motel released their first full-length album, Still Life. Several singles followed, as did a second album, Flight Paths, whose sound was somewhat more mainstream and less sparse than the early work. The band then relocated to London, though did not record again, and broke up in 2000.

The Paradise Motel's instrumentation featured two guitars (acoustic and electric), bass, drums and a Hammond organ, and occasional accompaniment from a string quartet. Their aesthetic was one of sparseness and melancholia, punctuated by bursts of manic loudness; or, as they once said in an interview, "the violence and the silence". Their lyrical subject matter often veered towards the melancholy and macabre, which resulted in comparisons to Nick Cave and Mazzy Star, as did Sussex's vocal style. Much of the Paradise Motel's songwriting came from Charles Bickford, whilst Matt Aulich was responsible for the string and instrumental arrangements in some of their tracks.

After they disbanded in 2000, Aulich, Sussex, Austin and O'Shannassy remained in the UK - Aulich played guitar for indie band Drugstore for a period before returning to Australia and marrying, he has one child. Sussex concentrated on forming Candy and managing a record label. She remains in the UK. Mark Austin furthered his studies in architecture and married Gina Morris (ex-NME journalist and briefly a member of Stereolab) in 2002, they have settled in Melbourne. Austin plays in a number of local Melbourne bands, as does Bailey. Tim O'Shannassy completed a PhD in music and literature in London, and taught at a number of colleges in New York.

Bickford lived in Melbourne for a period, before returning to the UK. He married Lauren Zoric in 2004. In 2005 he appeared as the resident expert on a weekly itv program about antiques, The Golden Lot. Zoric and Bickford returned to Melbourne in 2007.

The band reformed in 2008. The album ISHY VAN, recorded in that year, remains unreleased.

The band debuted its fourth album (though third released), Australian Ghost Story, at Melbourne's The Toff in Town in March 2009.

Former band members: (1995-2000) - Matt Bailey (bass), Tim O'Shannassy (drums), and (2008) - Damien Hill (drums).

The band's web presence can be found at http://www.the-paradise-motel.com/.