Biography

This album is a collection of songs written over a period of eleven months in two different studios, in two different locations in Australia. The basis of the album began in Clare SA (Greenhaven Mobile Cottage Recordings) and the tracks were edited and remixed in Sydney NSW. The final vocals and mixes were also done in Sydney.

The founder members of Nattai, Billy, Trish and Lindsay have continued to collaborate on their musical tracks, even after the live performances ended in the early 90's. Not entirely satisfied with their earlier releases, controlled by engineers and independent studios, Lindsay Askew (Clubdred Studio Sydney NSW) decided to further develop his interest in recording and producing, which has led to many amazing tracks, some of which, have featured on local radio, with a myriad of artists clambering for his input into their creative works. (Lindsay is AKA Lindsay Carlos Santana Askew - brilliant guitarist, not that he would ever admit to it!!!!)

Geoff Oaks, a well respected player, fine musician and incredibly funny man has continued to support Nattai's music by adding his amazing sax lines to the never ending list of new songs.

Alec Tundervary (DJ Rapt) has had quite a bit of input into this latest release with some great remixes of the original tracks and the odd vocal harmony thrown in for good measure.

Digeridoo player, guitarist and singer song writer Scott Harrow lent his amazing talent to the track Diji Man. He is currently on a spiritual journey in Byron Bay.

Billy and Trish like to perform live locally for community events and Michael (Trish's husband) bass player extraordinaire supports their 25 year partnership in musical escapades.

Originally from Cardiff Wales, Billy started his musical career as a roady with many of the 60's bands touring the UK. He didn't discover he had a talent for singing and harmonica until he partnered with "Ruscoe" in Torquay in the early 80's as the Jack Daniels Duo. Trish joined them shortly after when they became the JD Trio.

Trish had been singing in a local Devon folk group called Rumpus, who released "Songs From The South Hams Coastline" and also the trio Aqua Track which featured Lord George Villiers on guitar.

Billy and Trish moved to Adelaide Australia in the late 80's and continued their journey with bands named The Light Factory, Karoubra, The Jack Daniels Band, Tigerbay, The Liquidators, The Riot Squad and eventually Nattai.

The name Nattai was originally derived from an anagram of their daughter Natasha's name but it soon became known that it was also an aboriginal name meaning water. Billy checked with the local Aboriginal Elders in Sydney that it was okay to use the name and they gave it their blessing.

After nearly 3 decades of performing Billy and Trish continue to amuse delight and inspire audiences of all ages and hope to continue till the day they drop!

Their earlier releases have been compiled into a double CD collectors album, soon to be released for posterity and although they have not previously been picked up by the major record labels, the band will make use of modern technology to continue to write, record and update their releases in the future.

Enjoy this collection of songs for what it is, honest, truthful music which is equally as good live as it is in its recorded state.
Thanks for listening. x

A SLIGHTLY MORE DETAILED BIOGRAPHY
Nattai in it's current line up is a trio. Trish is the keyboard player and vocalist, Michael is the bass player and Billy Fenton is the lead vocalist and harmonica player. Using backing tracks, the band perform a range of original reggae, soul and blues songs, with a smattering of classic covers.

Billy and Trish are the founder members of Nattai and have been performing together in a number of different bands and line ups for the past 25 years. Trish (born in London) and Billy (born in Cardiff) met in Torquay in the UK, where they created a unique sound in music and started performing live at many seaside venues around the South Hams. They won the first ever English Riviera Song Competition in 1987 and had the opportunity to do some major support gigs with the likes of the 3 Degrees, Burning Spear, comedians Jim Davidson, Cannon & Ball and UK Squeeze. They had what seemed to be a blossoming and promising career ahead of them.

In October 1988 due to a family illness Trish & Billy were encouraged to move to Australia. They arrived in Adelaide and quickly set about playing in as many venues as possible in duo, trio and eventually full band set ups. Starting as Karubra, then the Idea Factory, then the Jack Daniels Trio which evolved into the Jack Daniels Band it was soon a fervent wish to tour. In 1990 the Jack Daniels Band headed for Sydney.

During the transition from Adelaide to Sydney Swift & Moore encouraged the band to change their name which they did!!!!! A new name and a new line up created Tiger Bay. This tight 5 piece rocked the reggae far more than the JD band ever did and they soon became favourites in the South and also on the North shore playing many gigs at Palm Beach, Coasters and off shore on the ferry boats. Tiger Bay toured through NSW and apart from the larger gigs chose to play in a lot of the smaller venues, building quite a following.

In 1992 the line up changed again and The Liquidators was born. This was a fusion of hard rock, reggae and soul and as the reggae was more rootsie and the rock was fierce, it caught the attention of Teddy Vassel who ran the Reggae shows and night clubs in Sydney. Local black reggae artists - Kalabash & Na-Oum raced for the position of support to the Liquidators and soon The Liquidators were given the supports for overseas visiting artists such as Tippa Iri, Peter Hunningale, General Saint, Sylvia Tella and Don Campbell.

Internal conflict caused the band to fold and in 1993 Billy & Trish were approached to join an existing band called the Riot Squad. Over the next 12 months of performing, the disillusioned founder members of this cover band Lindsay and Rob Askew, convinced that B & T had more to offer with their original music, encouraged the ending of Riot Squad and the beginning of Nattai. Comfortable in this new band Billy & Trish were given the opportunity to expand their original repertoire and soon were in the Studio. Over the next 5 years 3 CD's were independantly released, one of which was released in Malaysia via Valentine Sound Productions and hundreds of venues were played across Australasia and back in the UK.

In 1998 Billy & Trish moved back to Adelaide to follow an opportunity to diversify and form part of an international record label. In 2000 B & T built their own Studio in Glenelg East and began to create the Studiophonix stable of artists. Ill health struck and the studio closed.

2007 the re-emergence of Nattai in it's new millenium line up, introducing Michael Ellerbeck, a steadfast solid player who is truly supportive and understanding of the history and depth of Billy & Tricia's journey with music. Playing simply and purely for the fun and for the people, Nattai are really enjoying their vintage music and as a result so too are the audiences.