The Onyas

The Onyas
OriginBrisbane, Queensland, Australia
GenrePunk rock
WorksDiscography
Years active1991 (1991)-present
Labels
Spinoffs
Members
  • John McKeering
  • Richard Stanley
  • Jordan Stanley
Past members
  • Anton Bladwell
  • José Bernardo "Joseber" Tolosa

The Onyas are an Australian punk rock band that formed in 1991 in Brisbane. The members are John "Mad Macka" McKeering (vocals, guitar) and the brothers Richard "Stanners" Stanley (bass guitar) and Jordan "Jaws" Stanley (drums). They have undertaken five international tours, three to Europe (1996, 1997 and 1998) and two to the United States (1997 and 2000). They issued two studio albums, Get Shitfaced with the Onyas (1996) and Six! (1998).

History

The Onyas were formed in April 1991 in the Brisbane suburbs of Boondall and Fig Tree Pocket, Queensland. Founding members were John "Mad Macka" McKeering on lead vocals and guitar and the brothers Richard "Stanners" Stanley on bass guitar and Jordan "Jaws" Stanley on drums. McKeering had met Richard in 1989 when they were swapping music tapes. Richard and "Jaws" grew up in Brisbane's western suburbs, where they "hung out at Indooroopilly Shoppingtown and went skating at the Jindalee bowl". Both were heavily influenced at a young age by the American group Kiss.

The Onyas' first performance was at the 1991 Queensland Rock Awards. The group released a seven-track extended play, Brack, in 1991 on cassette tape with McKeering on guitar and vocals, Richard on bass (vocals on one track) and "Jaws" on drums and Stuart Price on vocals (on another track). Their next EP was a split album with three tracks each by themselves and Big Bongin' Baby, which appeared in December 1993. After three years of performing at local venues they were signed by Bruce Milne of Melbourne-based Au Go Go Records. The label issued their single "Beer Gut" in 1994. The group undertook their first tour of Europe in early 1996 with Melbourne punk rockers Cosmic Psychos. On 19 October 1996 the Queenslanders supported the Sex Pistols on their Filthy Lucre Tour, at the Festival Hall, Melbourne.

The Onyas' debut album, Get Shitfaced with the Onyas, was issued by Au Go Go Records in February 1997. Vicious Kitten Magazine's Denis Gray felt "[it] is the most punishing slab of punk you'll hear all year." The Barman of i94-Bar reviewed its 2006 re-issue and found that they were a band "Desperate to be heard, a band desperate not to be stuck in the relatively small pond of Brisbane's often strangulated scene any longer." In 1999 the group relocated to Melbourne where they established a warehouse as their base. In July 1999 Richard founded Dropkick Records with Bruce Milne and his brother James, which issued the group's compilation album, Heterospective (April 2000).

By 2000, the Onyas had undertaken five international tours with three to Europe (1996, 1997 and 1998) and two to the United States (1997 and 2000). Australian musicologist Ian McFarlane observed "[they] played fast, stupid, 'couldn't-give-a-shit' punk rock... [and] issued three albums of rough-hewn punk rock". "Jaws" joined the Casanovas in January 2004 replacing Patrick Boyce on drums. In 2006 McKeering also joined Cosmic Psychos on guitar, after the death of that group's Robert John "Rocket" Watts. Richard formed Ooga Boogas with Leon Stackpole (The Sailors), Per Byström (Cloudberry Jam) and Mikey Young (Eddy Current Suppression Ring), and started Aarght Records with all members of that band. Thereafter the Onyas seldom performed: "roughly once per year". Richard reflected, in 2012, "we all went off and joined or started other bands... The Onyas is a distant embarrassment for all of us." In 2016 the Onyas celebrated their 25th anniversary with a concert on 1 April at The Tote, Melbourne.

Members

Current members

Previous members

Discography

Albums

Compilation albums

Extended plays

Split extended plays

  • [untitled] (by The Onyas / Big Bongin' Baby) (December 1993)  – Destroyer (009)
  • Pissin' & Peckin' with the Onyas (by The Onyas / the Rockford Files) (1995) – Knuckledrag (URK01)

Singles

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Whammo Browse: Onyas". Worldwide Home of Australasian Music and More Online (WHAMMO). 2001. Archived from the original on 6 April 2001. Retrieved 18 October 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 McFarlane, Ian (2000). "Encyclopedia entry for 'The Onyas'". Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop. St Leonards, NSW: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1-86508-072-1. Archived from the original on 9 August 2004. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
  3. ↑ Condon, Dan (19 December 2012). "London, Paris, Mustang Bar". themusic.com.au. Retrieved 18 August 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
    • "The Onyas" 1st version: Emery, Patrick (30 March 2016). "The Onyas". Beat Magazine. Archived from the original on 19 August 2023. Retrieved 19 October 2023. The Onyas' first release was a seven-song collection of demos released in 1991, titled Bracks CS.
    • "The Onyas" 2nd version: Emery, Patrick. "The Onyas". Beat Magazine. Archived from the original on 8 April 2016. Retrieved 19 October 2023. N.B.: has different introduction.
  5. 1 2 3 Onyas (Musical group) (1991), Brack, Mick at Uibrafeel, retrieved 17 October 2023, Title: Brack / The Onyas. Contents: Side one: Pretty Dark, Origin, Mags on My Van, T.A.B., Docks of Melbourne. Side 2: Ekka, Oh Juel, Rig-Bee.
  6. 1 2 Onyas (Musical group); Big Bongin Baby (Musical group, performer) (1994), [untitled compilation], Destroyer, retrieved 17 October 2023
  7. 1 2
  8. 1 2 Gray, Denis (1997). "The Onyas". Vicious Kitten Magazine (5). Archived from the original on 19 August 2023. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
  9. ↑ The Barman (12 June 2017). "Get Shitfaced with the Onyas & Six! - The Onyas (Swashbuckling Hobo)". I-94 Bar. Archived from the original on 18 October 2023. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
  10. 1 2 Onyas (Musical group) (2000), Heterospective, Dropkick, retrieved 17 October 2023
  11. ↑ Johannknecht, Norbert. "Interview". Ox-Fanzine (in German). Solingen, Germany. Archived from the original on 19 August 2023. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
  12. ↑ "Foo Fighters and Chick Corea to Perform Together". Undercover News. Paul Cashmere, Ros O'Gorman. 30 January 2004. Archived from the original on 17 May 2005. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
  13. 1 2 Condon, Dan (19 December 2012). "'London, Paris, Mustang Bar' ♫ Interviews: The Onyas Richard Stanley". Time Off (theMusic.com.au). Archived from the original on 19 February 2013. Retrieved 19 October 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  14. 1 2 3 "The Onyas". grunnenrocks.nl. Archived from the original on 29 May 2023. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
  15. ↑ Onyas (Musical group); Rockford Files (Musical group, performer) (1995), Pissin' & Peckin' with the Onyas, Knuckledrag, retrieved 17 October 2023
  16. ↑ Onyas (Musical group) (1994). "Beer Gut" : "Run Amok!". Brisbane, Qld: Au-go-go. Retrieved 17 October 2023.

Further reading