After releasing two digital singles “Drone” and “Tape Hiss”, high-energy collective Cousin Betty release a debut EP, “LEFT” via Golden Robot Records on March 26.
Cousin Betty is the brainchild of Australia’s Damien Stofka a guitarist/songwriter, who has created riffs and written songs for Molten Universe, Death Mattel, LITTER and various other projects for the last 15 years.
During the strictest period of the pandemic lockdown, Damien began communicating with other artists and was inspired to try and make something more consistent of his vision. A friend from Canada, equally bored and in want of inspiration, asked Damien for some of the files from his old sessions to re-mix and produce.
The tones and richness of these efforts were the motivation Damien needed. As the restriction lifted on local travel, he took some recording equipment to frontman Matt Downey’s house. There, while their six-year-olds entertained themselves on computer games, Matt, his partner Katie Jane and Damien finished five songs in a few hours.
Less interested in a standard line-up and the logistics required to be in a functioning band and also inspired by the “Desert Sessions”, Stofka has shared stages with Psychotic Turnbuckles, the late Doc Neeson and The Lime Spiders, also recording with the latter band’s members.
While the recordings have featured several musicians, the core live line-up is now Downey (Death Mattel) and rhythm sections comprised of Pat Walker (Ohms, Methusela), Tony Bambach (Lime Spiders, Aberration), Tom Corben (Lime Spiders) and Chris Drane (Cash Savage, Cherrywood) with contributions from Ged Corben (Lime Spiders, The Cruel Sea).
