Damian Cowell

Damian Joseph Cowell^[1], also known by his former stage names Humphrey B. Flaubert and DC Root, is an Australian musician who is best known as the frontman for TISM, Root!, The DC3 and Damian Cowell's Disco Machine.

Damian Cowell
Also known as	Humphrey B. Flaubert DC Root
Born	Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Genres	Alternative rock
Instrument(s)	Vocals, drums, drum machine, keyboards
Years active	1970s–present
Labels	Elvis, Musicland, Phonogram, Shock, FMR, Madman, Meek Joe, Museum of Old and New Art

History

Cowell was born and schooled in Melbourne. His musical output began in the 1970s, when he played in various high school bands. In the early 1980s, he was part of a little-known group called I Can Run, featuring future TISM bandmate Eugene Cester. In December 1982, TISM formed and Cowell adopted the pseudonym "Humphrey B. Flaubert", a play on Australian children's television character Humphrey B. Bear and French author Gustave Flaubert. The group enjoyed underground success in the late 1980s and reached the ARIA top 10 in 1995 with their album Machiavelli and the Four Seasons.

TISM remained largely anonymous throughout their career. Cowell publicly acknowledged his involvement in TISM via the debut single of his band the DC3 – a song titled "I Was The Guy In TISM".^[2]

Post-TISM

Cowell returned to the stage in 2007 under the moniker DC Root, fronting a band called ROOT!^[3] During this period Cowell was commissioned by David Walsh to create a soundtrack for his Museum of Old and New Art. The soundtrack was titled Vs Art.

In 2010, ROOT! disbanded and quickly re-formed as The DC3.^[4][5]

Even though much of Cowell's work uses programmed drums, he has played live drums at times, most notably during some songs in TISM's performance at Homebake 1998.

The line-up of his current band, Damian Cowell's Disco Machine, consists of:^{[citation needed]}

• Gordon Blake – guitar
• Andy Hazel – bass
• Gary Walker – drums
• Will Hindmarsh – keyboards
• Emily Jarrett – backing vocals, dancing, violin
• Bek Chapman – backing vocals, dancing
• Tony Martin – additional vocals (recurring guest)

Album discography

TISM

• Great Truckin' Songs of the Renaissance (1988)
• Hot Dogma (1990)
• Machiavelli and the Four Seasons (1995)
• www.tism.wanker.com (1998)
• De RigueurMortis (2001)
• The White Albun (2004)
• Death to Art (2024)

Root!

• Root Supposed He Was Out of the Question... (2007)
• Surface Paradise (2009)

Damian Cowell

• Vs Art (2010)
• Damian Cowell (2023) - post-TISM career retrospective

The DC3

• The Future Sound of Nostalgia (2011)
• May Contain Traces of Nut (2013)

Damian Cowell's Disco Machine

• Damian Cowell's Disco Machine (2015)^[6]
• Get Yer Dag On! (2017)^[2][7]
• Only The Shit You Love (2021)

References

1. "Damian Cowell – MusicBrainz".
2. Stafford, Andrew (16 February 2017). "Damian Cowell: Get Yer Dag On review – TISM frontman lampoons us again, and pines for Waleed Aly". the Guardian. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
3. Root: a musical celebration of our beloved national verb
4. The DC3 / Ponyloaf
5. An Interview With Damian Cowell
6. Dwyer, Michael (12 February 2015). "The mirror ball imperative". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
7. Dwyer, Michael (3 January 2017). "A tale of two dags: TISM's Damian Cowell and Tony Martin continue the satire with new album". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 17 March 2018.