Dom Mariani

Dom Mariani is one of Australia's heroes of underground rock, an estimable guitarist with a taste for power pop and a rock & roller's heart. He has been in a number of celebrated Australian bands -- most notably the Stems, DM3, and Datura4 -- while nurturing a number of side projects along the way, as well as a slowly but steadily growing solo career. Making his solo debut in 2003 with Underwater Casino from his surf-influenced combo Dom Mariani & the Majestic Kelp, he began recording entirely under his own name with 2004's sweet but impassioned Homespun Blues & Greens, followed by 2010's thoughtful, engaging Rewind & Play and 2025's mature, pleasing Apple of Life. The son of an Italian family who expatriated to Australia, Domenic Desio Mariani was born in Fremantle in Western Australia on July 27, 1958. Mariani became a music fan at an early age, and after learning how to play guitar, at 14 he joined his first band, Impact, who covered the Beatles, the Bee Gees, and Creedence Clearwater Revival. In the early '80s, he was in a rock band called the Gostarts, but shortly after they issued a ten-song demo cassette, the group fell apart, and he wanted to start a band that embraced his interests in vintage garage rock, power pop, and psychedelic sounds. Teaming with Richard Lane on guitar and keys, John Shuttleworth on bass, and Gary Chambers on drums, he formed the Stems, who played their first gig in March 1984, opening for the Saints and the Triffids. Before long, Shuttleworth dropped out and Julian Matthews took over on bass. They struck a deal with Citadel Records and released their first single in May 1985, "Make You Mine." The record did well on Australia's independent charts, and the follow-up, "Tears Me in Two" b/w "Can't Resist," fared even better. In 1986, after David Shaw replaced Gary Chambers as the group's drummer, they began work on their debut album. 1987's At First Sight Violets Are Blue was an immediate critical and commercial success, but friction between Mariani and Lane and the pressures of success reached a breaking point, and the Stems played their final show in August 1987. (The band would stage reunion shows in 1997 and 2003, recorded a reunion album, Heads Up, in 2007, and played festival dates in 2013 and 2014.) Mariani moved on from the Stems, cutting an EP with the Stonefish, an instrumental act influenced by classic surf music, 1987's From 20,000 Fathoms. The Stonefish proved to be a one-off, and Mariani next formed the Someloves with Darryl Mather of the Lime Spiders. Their debut album, 1989's Something or Other, was partly produced by American power pop guru Mitch Easter, and was greeted with rave reviews, but Mather approached it as a studio project, and his reluctance to tour helped put paid to the group, though the other members would tour under the name Orange. In 1992, Mariani launched a new band, DM3, who added a greater energy to his classic pop songwriting. Joined by lead guitarist Ian Campbell, Toni Italiano on bass, and Pascal Bartolone on drums, the group pleased Mariani's fans with their debut LP, 1994's One Time Two Times Three Red Light. Power pop fans embraced Mariani's latest combo, and 1996's Road to Rome was another critical favorite. In 1997, Julian Matthews replaced bassist Toni Italiano, just as Bomp Records was giving North Americans a taste of their music with the compilation Dig It the Most. 1998's Rippled Soul would prove to be their last studio album, though in 2013 they issued Live (Roskilde Festival 1994), recorded during their slot at the storied festival in Denmark.In 2002, Mariani joined the Stoneage Hearts, and appeared on their 2004 LP Guilty as Sin before moving on. Dom Mariani & the Majestic Kelp, another surf-influenced instrumental project, made their debut in 2003 with Underwater Casino; the combo issued two more albums, 2006's Music to Chase Cars By, and 2013's Turn Up the Sun. Mariani's first proper solo album, Homespun Blues & Green, appeared in 2004. In 2005 he compiled and issued Popsided Guitar: Anthology 1984-2004, which skimmed highlights from his recordings with the Stems, the Someloves, DM3, the Stoneage Hearts and the Majestic Kelp. (Another career-spanning anthology, Shell Collection [Outtakes and Rarities], turned up the following year.) Nick Sheppard, guitarist with the U.K. punk band the Cortinas and the post-Mick Jones edition of the Clash, became Mariani's next collaborator in the DomNicks, who played a mix of garage rock and hard R&B. They delivered an EP, Hey Rock 'N' Roller, in 2009, with a full-length album, Super Real, appearing in 2012. Meanwhile, the second Dom Mariani set, Rewind and Play, came out in 2010. Wanting to move away from power pop toward a more rock-oriented sound, in 2011 Mariani introduced a new band, Datura4. With roots in hard rock, boogie, and blues, the lineup included guitarist Greg Hitchcock (You Am I, the New Christs), bassist Stuart Loasby (who appeared on DM3's Rippled Soul), and drummer Warren Hall (the Drones). It wasn't until 2015 that they introduced their first full-length, 2015's Demon Blues, but their sophomore release, Hairy Mountain, followed only a year later. Greg Hitchcock left the lineup before they cut LP number three, 2019's Blessed Is the Boogie, and keyboard player Bob Patient came on board. The same lineup returned for 2020's West Coast Highway Cosmic and 2022's Neanderthal Jam, and Alive Records compiled a sampler of their best work to date, Invisible Hits, in 2023. In 2025, Mariani checked in with his third solo album, Apple of Life, which eased back on Datura4's harder rock textures in favor of the power pop classicism of his work with the Stems and DM3.
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