Ammonia was an alternative rock band from Australia which made a name for itself in the 1990s, producing a mixture of grunge and guitar pop (a sound they described as "pop-metal"). The group began in 1992, initially comprising guitarist Dave Johnstone (ex-Hideous Goldsteins), drummer Alan Balmont (ex-Dear Octopus, Cherrytones) and bass guitar player Phil Natt. This line-up performed under the name Fuzzswirl and, following the departure of Natt, they continued to perform with a variety of bass guitar players around their hometown of Perth. In 1993, when the bass guitarist Simon Hensworth joined the group, the name was changed to Ammonia. The band was considering the name "Glorious Noise Earthquake", but selected Ammonia for its simplicity after Hensworth stumbled across the word in a science textbook.
History
Early success
The band's early success was due mostly to their self-financed recordings and word of mouth. The trio released a self-titled cassette and developed a distinctive live sound, driven by Hensworth's overdriven and high volume bass guitar, complemented by Johnstone's infectious pop hooks. By 1994, the band had completed successful tours of Melbourne and Sydney, establishing a solid fan base, and had an album's worth of material recorded. The influential DJ Richard Kingsmill played "Incinerator" from these recordings to a national audience on the alternative radio station Triple J, sparking further interest in the band. Importantly, the band did not independently release these early recordings, as Ammonia was determined to sign with a major label. This was to ensure optimum exposure of their music and, given the isolation of the city, to avoid the pitfalls other independent bands from Perth had experienced.
In 1994, the band did a live recording for Triple J, who in turn added the track "Orange Juice" from the session to its regular play list. The continued airplay created great interest amongst a number of major record labels, which subsequently began courting the group. That summer, Ammonia was the first band to sign with Sony's Murmur label. (The second band to sign was the then unknown Newcastle group Silverchair.)
EPs and Mint 400
Ammonia's first release was the In a Box EP (1994), which was composed of the band's early recordings paired with the newly recorded title song. Again, the band was supported by Triple J, which played a number of songs from the EP, expanding the fan base around Australia, and ensuring another successful tour. In early 1995 a second EP was released, again with the band's self-produced recordings paired with a newly recorded title track. The Sleepwalking EP included the first official release of "Orange Juice" and, aided by continued touring, saw the band cross over from Triple J to commercial radio.
The band juggled live work with the sessions for its first album, Mint 400, which had ten new songs along with newly recorded versions of "In a Box" and "Sleepwalking". The album was produced by the American producer Kevin Shirley (Led Zeppelin, Iron Maiden, Slayer). Recorded in only ten days at Festival Studios in Sydney, the recording captured the band's live sound, avoiding excessive overdubs and studio manipulation. Mint 400 was an immediate hit in Australia, jumping into the national charts at number 15. When released as the album's first single, "Drugs" (written in five minutes during a rehearsal) emerged as an instant success, despite certain stations' refusal to play the song because of its title. The song peaked at number 12 on the Australian chart, and emerged in the top 20 of Triple J's Hottest 100. "There isn't really that much of a message," said Johnstone, ""Drugs" is about apathy towards drugs." The success of the single saw the band added to the main stage of the 1995/96 Big Day Out, traveling with the festival nationally.
In light of the success of the album at home, Epic released the album in America, and MTV put the $5,000 video for "Drugs" on high rotation, the cheapest video to ever do so. The band toured America, the UK and Europe throughout 1996, emerging with global record sales over 100,000. "Drugs" was the group's only charting single in the United States, reaching number 29 on the Billboard Modern Rock charts.
Eleventh Avenue
Returning to Australia, the band recorded and released a single, "Satin Only", which was largely unnoticed and later re-emerged as a hidden track on the band's second album. The band finished the year preparing music for an album which was to be recorded in New York with Dave Fridman (The Flaming Lips, Mogwai, Weezer).