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Special Brew
Genre: Roots, Punk
Region: Perth, WA
Members: Magnus D. Magnus, Lead vocs & general mayem, Sid Hennessy - Bass & vocs, Marcus III - Sax, Desman D'Rekka - Trumpet & noises, BB Mann - Trom & triangle, Endz Endersby - Guitar, Graeme Foxy Fox - Drums & hitting things, Pez DuSpencoir - keys
Sounds Like: cat empire, Bad Manners, Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra
Influences: Dub, Ska, Reggae

From the start, we wanted to capture the energy and heat of Jamaica and the fantastic Two Tone bands of the UK. Influenced by the bands Madness and The Specials Special Brew played its first gig on Black Friday 1989 at the notorious Perth pub 'The old Melbourne'.

The Brew (occasionally known as The Skanksters, Frank Nitty & the Skanksters, and even The Ant Hill Mob) became a central part of the Perth ska scene for the next 6 years. It also played at the biggest ska and reggae events in this town over the years - the 'Bob Marley Outernational Day' , 'Power Pop Explosion' to name a couple we still remember vividly. The ‘Power’ gig was so popular it was recorded in the UK for the album 'Power Pop Explosion'. Other original songs have appeared on other Ska Compilations from time to time.
All the in pubs around town regularly hosted the madness and the sounds of Special Brew. 'Club Blue Beat' , Willoughbys, The Melbourne, the Underground, the Ozone Bar, the Shenton Park Hotel. Sadly, many of these great places have changed or gone, but for those that were there, the memories remain.
Band commitments forced a break in ‘95, but just as Ska never dies, so Special Brew could never really become history. In 2002 with a new 8-piece line up, original member and creator Endz was rejoined by BB (Brian) on Trombone and Desman D'Rekka (Shane to his creditors) on Trumpet. Add Sid on Bass, Mark III on Sax, Foxy on Drums, Pez on keys, and Magnus on lead vocals.

Over the last few years, a very busy live schedule. Though we still love playing classic ska, reggae and punk covers, we mostly do our own music, and have just released our first album in many years - "In my Defence". You can hear a couple of songs from this very site.

Check us out at on myspace or www.thespecialbrew.biz, where we try and keep the local ska community ammused and informed - in that order.

Long Live Ska!

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This project is supported by the Australia Council, the Australian Government’s arts funding and advisory body, through its Music Board Section.