Jet

Jet biography

Jet were an Australian rock band formed in 2001 while attending St Bede's College Mentone in Melbourne. The band consisted of lead guitarist Cameron Muncey, bassist Mark Wilson, and brothers Nic and Chris Cester on vocals/rhythm guitar and drums respectively. The group sold 6.5 million records worldwide, with their debut album Get Born, released in 2003, accounting for about 3.5 million of that figure. The band's last album, Shaka Rock, was released on 19 August 2009. The band announced their 'discontinuation as a group' on 26 March 2012.

History

Formation and Dirty Sweet (2001-2002)

Brothers Nic Cester and Chris Cester grew up in Dingley Village, a suburb just out of Melbourne, Victoria,and attended St Bedes College Mentone, listening to their father's classic rock records from the 1960s and 1970s such as The Who, AC/DC, The Easybeats, Faces, The Loved Ones and particularly The Rolling Stones, The Beatles and John Lennon.

However, according to Nic, it was Australian band You Am I who had the biggest influence on Jet's developing musical tastes:"Hi Fi Way was the most important album of my generation ... I think everyone our age, who played guitar, played You Am I songs for the first time in front of their school assembly ... That was the record that made you realise you could be in an Australian band, you didn't have to be a grunge band and you didn't have to be influenced by American bands. It changed everything."

The brothers decided to form a band with Cameron Muncey, Nic's friend from school and with whom he had previously been in a band, and with bassist Doug Armstrong whom Nic and Chris met whilst working together at their father's spice factory. During 2001 an old high school friend of Chris' joined the band on keyboard, and it was at this time that the band took their current name. They wanted a short name so when it shows up on festival advertisements, it's large and bold in print. "Radio Song", from their album Get Born, was written about the troubles that the band had getting recognition at this time. Jet got their big break when seminal Melbourne Punk rock band The Specimens took Jet under their wing and put them on as an opening act at The Duke of Windsor. This is where Dave Powell first saw the band perform and went on to sign them to his management firm Majorbox.

The new band met Mark Wilson one night in 2002 at a concert and, despite already having a bass player, asked him to play with them. Wilson was then the bassist in a band called The CA$inos, so he initially declined. However, a few days later he called the band and said he would like to join them instead.

In 2002 the band, consisting of its current members, released the Dirty Sweet EP, which drew its name from the T.Rex song "Bang a Gong (Get It On)". While the band only pressed 1,000 copies, there was such a demand that they pressed 1,000 more. The timing of this record coincided with the breakthrough of The Vines, meaning that international interest in Australian rock bands was high. NME obtained a copy of the single from Dirty Sweet, "Take It or Leave It", and praised it. Elektra Records offered the band a contract and re-released Dirty Sweet in 2003.

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