The Necks

The Necks are an experimental jazz trio from Sydney, comprising Chris Abrahams on piano and Hammond organ, Tony Buck on drums, percussion and electric guitar, and Lloyd Swanton on bass guitar and double bass. The band, who are also well known in Europe, play improvisational pieces of up to an hour in length that explore the development and demise of repeating musical figures.

Live performance

Typically a live performance will begin very quietly with one of the musicians playing a simple figure. One by one, the other two will join with their own contributions—all three players independent yet intertwined. As the 'piece' builds through subtle micro-changes, the interaction of their instruments creates layers of harmonics and prismatic washes of sound that lead some to apply the genre label 'trance jazz'. Their live performances can be challenging for those expecting a conventional musical experience.

Soundtracks

Their soundtrack for The Boys (1998) was nominated for ARIA Best Soundtrack Album, AFI Best Musical Score and Australian Guild of Screen Composers Award. They have also recorded soundtracks for What's The Deal? (1997) and In the Mind of the Architect (three one-hour ABC-TV documentaries, 2000).