Switched On: The Exploding Universe of Ed Kuepper

Ladies and Gentlemen it’s time; introducing The Exploding Universe of Ed Kuepper, the first live band experience of Ed Kuepper’s solo material since 2009.

Featuring Ed’s legendary sparring partner Mark Dawson on drums, Sunnyboys bassist Peter Oxley plus celebrated pianist Alister Spence and brass maestro Eamon Dilworth, The Exploding Universe will tackle the best of Kuepper’s recent vinyl reissues Electrical Storm and the classic Honey Steel’s Gold this September. 

The reissues are the result of a deal Kuepper has struck with Melbourne based Remote Control records who have licensed the rights to all his post-Saints catalogue; Laughing Clowns, The Aints, 15 + studio solo albums and more which will see a select run of limited edition vinyl plus Kuepper’s long overdue catalogue addition to the digital realm.

"Friends, as you know, I've been full of happy announcements recently but announcing the shows I'll be doing with this bunch of nifty musical dudes is one of my happiest. We're going to be delving [as they say in rehearsals] into both the Honey Steel's Gold and Electrical Storm albums, including some of the deeper cuts hardly heard since back in the day.  We're also going to be hammering thru a fine selection of the many chart topping hits that have become associated with me." – Ed Kuepper

Electrical Storm of course, was Kuepper’s first solo outing having spent the previous ten years spearheading two of Australia’s most pioneering and productive bands; The Saints and Laughing Clowns.

But with success largely eluding both those outfits Kuepper was resigned to retirement. Recently married though, and on his honeymoon he took an acoustic guitar and surprised even himself writing an album’s worth of material including some of his most enduring tracks Electrical Storm, Car Headlights and Master Of Twin Servants.

It was the beginning of a whole new phase for Kuepper that saw him become a leading drawcard across Australia’s burgeoning pub-scene of the 1980s and taking him ultimately to 1992’s ARIA-award winning Honey Steel’s Gold, an album that peaked at no.28 on the mainstream charts and which features his most well-known solo tracks Everything I’ve Got (Belongs to You) and The Way I Made You Feel. In 2010 Honey Steel’s Gold was even listed at no.50 in the book 100 Best Australian Albums joining an earlier work (I’m) Stranded by The Saints.

But the time of The Exploding Universe of Ed Kuepper is now. Joined by some of Australia’s most creative musicians The Exploding Universe aims to both recreate and expand on the original forms and presents something totally unique. As the title says, it is The Exploding Universe of Ed Kuepper. Lord be praised.

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Supporting Ed Kuepper is Australian guitarist and storyteller Darren "D.C" Cross (Gerling, Jep and Dep).

Cross’ music is inspired by the 1960’s and 1970’s mainstays of American and British acoustic guitar (John Fahey, Roy Harper, Leo Kottke, Elizabeth Cotton, Nick Drake, Bert Jansch) but he is consciously forging his own musical identity within an Australian landscape.

Cross has been creating music for the last 25 years, from Gerling to Jep and Dep, and has written songs with Kool Keith, Kylie Minogue. He played shows with artists ranging from Beastie Boys, Beck, and Happy Monday to Johnny Marr, Courtney Barnett, Ryley Walker, Smog, Will Oldham to recently Ed Kuepper and Jim White, Mess-esque, Marissa Anderson, Lost Ragas and the Apartments.
Last 2023 he completed a 2 month tour of France, Germany and the Netherlands, his fourth tour of Europe.

Cross is fiercely independent, totally devoted, loves telling a story and is always threatening to conquer up something magical with the guitar.

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Switched On flicks the switch on an iconic venue and activates the Hall in a new light. A sonic shift to contemporary music and a whole new dimension in listening.