David McCormack

A prolific and quirky icon of Australian indie pop, David McCormack is best known for fronting Brisbane band Custard throughout the '90s, a significant enough group to have its own dedicated fanzine called Cuszine International. As well as innumerable side projects with the lifespan of exotic butterflies, he spent the time following Custard's breakup performing as a member of the Titanics and later as a solo performer with a backing band called the Polaroids. His famous stage persona is self-deprecating, scruffily charming, and both boyish and world-weary. McCormack's first band, formed in 1985, was called Who's Gerald? Rumor has it they were named after Gerald Casale of Devo, an obvious influence on their discordant pop music and the shouted slogans of their choruses. The lineup of Who's Gerald? included Paul Medew, who would go on to join McCormack as a member of several of his other bands. In 1990, the year after Who's Gerald? dissolved, McCormack formed Custard -- called Custard Gun in their earliest appearances -- and they had a solid ten-year run lurking at the edges of the alternative rock explosion. McCormack claimed in interviews that they were a singles band, restricted by the need to fill a CD with songs. Despite that, they released five albums including their best-of, Goodbye Cruel World, and supported Frank Black, the Presidents of the United States of America, and Crowded House at their 1996 farewell concert. During his time with Custard, McCormack maintained numerous side projects with various friends of his. These included Adults Today, whose song "Music Is Crap" was later recorded as a single by Custard; Computor, an electronic act; COW, which stood for Country or Western; Calf, an acoustic side project of COW that was therefore a side project of a side...