Secret Salmon

Secret Salmon was an experimental free improvisation noise trio formed in Adelaide, South Australia on the 6th of March, 2015. Apart from the occasional loop that may have been created before a performance, their music was always composed on the spot using whatever instruments or objects they could find.

History[]

Season One (2015-2016)[]

Secret Salmon was founded by experimental musicians, Ray Martin Bryant, Rex Hunter S. Thompson, and Chuck D. B. Cooper after the recording of their first jam together. This recording became the first episode of their Secret Salmon podcast series, which is currently hosted on Mixcloud.

Season one started with the first episode airing on the 6th of March, 2015 and ended with the 22nd episode airing on the 15th of January, 2016. Originally there was supposed to be 23 episodes, but the recording that was to be episode 4 was lost, resulting in only 22 episodes. This is also the reason the 4th episode to be aired was titled episode 5.

Album Releases (2016-2018)[]

A number of recordings which were recorded between April and May, 2015, were released on April 5th, 2016 as an album titled Conspiracy. The album follows the same "train of consciousness" style as the Secret Salmon Podcast Series, and contains four tracks lasting around 20 minutes each.

Another album comprised of a collection of semi structured songs was released two weeks later on April 18th, 2016, called I, Spy. This album had a different approach to the first one, but just like Conspiracy it is completely improvised and was recorded in one take. The album consists of 10 somewhat structured beat driven and melodic songs that closely resemble rock or punk. The majority of the material on I, Spy was lifted from Season 1, Episode 21 of the Secret Salmon Podcast series. This particular episode was titled Here Come The Spiders From Mars, as a hat tip to David Bowie after an incident that occurred in the studio during the recording of the episode, involving millions of tiny spiders. The episode was recorded and aired on January 8th, 2016, but by the time the podcast episode was archived on the mixcloud site two days later, the hat tip to David Bowie became a dedication.

The next album released the following year was called Komputer Magick, which was yet another free improv album with a similar feel to that of the podcast and Conspiracy and was the last recording at the Salisbury Salmon house. The next day Rex Hunter S. Thompson moved to Port Adelaide and began to work on a rock opera, working off some previously recorded free improv material. Adding mostly guitar and bass riffs, he created a bunch of connecting songs out of the bare bones recording, which gave birth to their very first rock song, Would You Like Some Heroin? While the rock opera was still being created, the band recorded a single version of Would You Like Some Heroin? and released it late May of 2017 to promote the upcoming album, Lunch. Lunch was the name of the rock opera which revolves around drugs, particularly heroin, and seems to follow around a man from Heroinsmith. The concept was purposefully left loose to supposedly portray the fogginess of a drugged addled mind. Lunch was completed and released at the end of June and spawned a follow up demo quality rock album called, Songs in the Key of H.

Spin Off Bands[]

After releasing two rock based albums in a row, and with some considerable success with their single Would You Like Some Heroin? The band toyed with the idea of becoming a full time rock band. But they decided against it choosing to continue as an experimental band. Instead they hatched this idea to create a spin off band that would take care of the rock duties. Taking on different pseudonyms, Secret Salmon created, Michael Hutchence Scarf, which is a tongue in cheek reference to the darling of Oz Rock, Michael Hutchence "Scarfing" himself. Rex Hunter S. Thompson became Judge Cokenale (pronounced coca-nail), Ray Martin Bryant became Duke West, and Chuck D. B. Cooper became Baron Von Burgess. Their debut as Michael Hutchence Scarf was at an experimental music festival with fans there expecting to see Secret Salmon instead being informed that "Secret Salmon couldn't make it and they sent us in their place." The experimental music crowd were disappointed and the band could not have been happier. They played many live shows as MHS and wrote a bunch of rock material with intentions to record and release an album, but this never happened. The band did however release one album consisting of purely improvised rock songs that was only released due to not having anything for fans to buy. Secret Salmon continued to release improv experimental albums throughout the existence of MHS right up until the band's break up in 2019.

Just before the band broke up, they spoke about creating yet another spin off group called IDK (pronounced I Decay) which was to be a drone band. The album titled IDK was intended to be the first album but was shelved after the exit of Chuck D. B. Cooper. In 2020 IDK was released as a goodbye gift to the fans, and was later rereleased in 2022 on the Australian Federal Records label as IDK. IDK continues to this day as a project between Rex and Ray, while Michael Hutchence Scarf has been put on hiatus until they can find a permanent drummer.

Musical Influences[]

Secret Salmon is influenced by the sounds around them and varying musical genres and cultures.

Members[]

Ray Martin Bryant
Chuck D. B. Cooper
Rex Hunter S. Thompson

Episode Guide[]

Season One

Episode One aka. Secret Salmon
Salmon Season
The Secret Salmon Society
Episode 5
Zzaj Cinatas (Act 1: International Jazz Day)
Zzaj Cinatas (Act 2: Walpurgis Nacht)
Secret Simon Says "Shh!"
Case of the Stolen Dragnet
Fish Mistress Murder Mystery
The Cat That Lost Her Fish
Banned!
The Case of Missing Money
Vampire Space Goat Coast to Coast
The Case of the Murderous Clown Detective from Dimension X
Squid Squid
No Son of a Gregory Arn
The Homosexual One
Wildwood
The Sea Urchin, The Space Cowboy, and The Barnacles of Death
House of Salmon, Secret Cuckoos (Happy Birthday, Brother Dad)
Here Come The Spiders from Mars
Rock is Dead!

Discography[]

Conspiracy (2016)
I, Spy (2016)
Komputer Magick (2017)
The Fish That Has is Crunched and the Wound is Received [split with Harsh Noise Movement] (2017)
Lunch (2017)
Songs in the Key of H (2017)
Lady in the Longdrop (2017)
dRum Diaries (2017)
After The Hidden Fisherman's Ball (2017)
Brechtian Onanistic Rites in Three Dimensions (2018)
Sex Daddy (2018)
Secret Salmon and the Temple of the Bank of the Gods (2018)
IDK (2020)