Montana was formed in Sydney in 1998 by Paul Scott, Ken Stewart, Steve Melville and Michelle Margherita. They began playing at friend’s parties and around the Sydney inner-city indie circuit, sharing the bill with Mr Blonde, The John Reed Club, Youth Group and 78 Saab.

Within a few months they had booked time at Damien Gerard Studios to begin work with legendary in-house engineer Russell Pilling, the tracks recorded including the debut single ‘Koolest Band’, formed part of their debut EP.

Koolest Band received significant airplay on independent stations across Australia and national broadcaster JJJ put the song on high rotation. Interest from US labels resulted in the band playing shows in Los Angeles, including a spot at the Whiskey a Go Go and at SXSW.

Following the release of Koolest Band EP and another year of constant gigging in Australia and the US, the three piece (Michelle Margherita, Steve Melville and Paul Scott) felt confident enough in the studio to stretch out sonically. Tracks for the follow up were recorded at Velvet Sounds studio under Pitt Street in the heart of Sydney.

There were many talented people involved in the recording of the Nearer EP, but special mention must be made of Tony Wall and Adrian Grigorieff who tracked most of the songs and the late, great Craig Porteils who mixed them. The EP sold out its first pressing in less than a week, causing a few headaches for their small indie label Velvet Lounge and debuted at number 9 in the indie charts.

Stream the EP

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