The Fauves 13th album Tropical Strength is a killer. All killer. TROPICAL STRENGTH. REcorded in Bali. Dave Graney and Clare Moore saw them playing songs from it on a triple bill with Brisbanes finest , Custard and The  Stress Of Leisure at a hall in a paddock outside Sale in regional Victoria in late 2024. The album never stops giving, in songs, sounds, arrangements, production and lyrics.
Dave Graney and Clare Moore journeyed to the Fauves compound on the Mornington Peninsula which is by the bay but very much on the far flung outer reaches of Melbourne. A good 90 minutes drive from the city. They all talked of their shared experiences of working within differing wings of Universal Records in Australia in the 90s, lyrics, war stories, production, recording in Bali as well as 90s Melbourne,  how bands stay together and how they form and split as well as life, death, the futility of existence and Bin Night. 

There is more text and context with accompanying video links and images at our substack, Players Please https://open.substack.com/pub/davegraney/p/tropical-strength-the-fauves?r=3mhrci&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false

Dave Graney and Clare Moore talk with Andrew Cox and Phil Leonard from the Fauves

Ben Mellonie has played guitar in a variety of bands in Melbourne, Australia.

He sometimes writes about himself in the third person.

He writes the odd tune and occasionally takes them out live.

Podcast interviews with fellow players  mainly by Dave Graney. Players Please. 
Rock band.Dave Graney (vox/gtr) and Clare Moore(drums/vibes/keys)  were in the Moodists-post punk Melbourne band.Then Dave Graney and the Coral Snakes. 

Graney and Moore have been involved in making of roughly 30 albums. Also about 7 digital releases, four or five albums as part of other peoples bands, several compilations, two solo albums from Clare Moore as well as her side projects The Dames and The Routines. Four feature film soundtracks. Dave Graney released a book about his music life in 2011, "1001 australian nights" and a more personal book (more focused on all the jobs the took to be a musician) in 2018 called WORKSHY. A second book of lyrics spanning the years 1980-2023 called THERE HE GOES WITH HIS EYE OUT came out in 2023. 
2024 sees an album come out on Classic Jewel case Compact Disc called (strangely)(emotional).