Def FX

Def FX are an Australian industrial-dance-rock group, formed in Sydney. The core of the group was Sean Lowry (also a visual artist & writer), Fiona Horne (vocalist and lyrics) and Martyn Basha (bassist and co-writer).

Top 50 ARIA hit "Psychoactive Summer" is exemplary of Def FX's music, combining elements of electronica and heavy-metal instrumentations and grunge vocals. Their music throughout their career can be described as a fusion of elements of psychedelia, industrial, grunge, electronica, and heavy metal, and in their early days, even reggae and disco. In fluctating degrees their sound has similarities to that of Pink Floyd, Skinny Puppy, Cliff Burton-era Metallica, Soundgarden, Jesus Jones, The Prodigy, INXS, Garbage, Rammstein, 1990s Wollongong grunge band Tumbleweed, Marilyn Manson, and Evanescence.

History

With guitarist Blake Gardner, bassist Martyn Basha, and Larry Van Kriedt on saxophone and programming respectively, the band released their first EP Water in 1990. The release featured the song "Surfers of the Mind", the band's first music video. Their first album Light Speed Collision was released in 1992 (first as a vinyl-only release on the Phantom Records label, followed by CD in 1992 through EMI) and featured a cover both parodying and paying tribute to that of Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon, with the title track also decidedly Floydesque. The album also featured supplementary vocals by New Zealand singer Margaret Urlich. For its release in the United States the band were forced to use the artist name "Definition FX" to avoid any confusion with US band Das EFX.