Ball Park Music

Origins

Ball Park Music was originally the name given to Sam Cromack's solo work. The band all met while they were studying music together at the Queensland University of Technology.

Early years (2008–2009)

Ball Park Music independently released their debut EP Rolling On The Floor, Laughing Ourselves To Sleep in April 2009. The EP was quickly championed by triple j presenter Stephanie Hughes who gave an early version of "All I Want Is You" and "Black Skies" their first national airplay. Richard Kingsmill said "Rufus Wainwright called. He wants his song back. So he should. This is a pretty good one." about their song "Black Skies" and gave it four out of five stars.

Conquer the Town, Easy As Cake, "iFly" and early success (2009–2010)

In 2010, Ball Park Music released their second EP Conquer The Town, Easy As Cake. The EP spawned their first triple j hit in "iFly" which immediately was added to high rotation and gained a five star rating from Richard Kingsmill Another song "Western Whirl" was nominated for both Best Alternative and The Courier Mail People's Choice Awards at the 2010 Q Song Awards.

In October 2010 the band embarked on their first Australian tour in October with Hungry Kids of Hungary and Big Scary and released a brand new single "Sad Rude Future Dude" which was placed on rotation by triple j.

In November 2010, they were named as a triple j New Crop artist - "one of the 20 best new bands in Australia" - and was also offered a slot at the triple j Ausmusic Month Party in Brisbane where they collaborated with Custard's David McCormack on a cover of Custard's hit song "Apartment". Following this, the band was announced as the Queensland winner of a triple j Unearthed competition and won the chance to play at Big Day Out 2011 on the Gold Coast. Additionally, the band played several festivals in summer of 2010/11 including Falls Festival, South Bound, Sunset Sounds and Good Vibrations.

Happiness and Surrounding Suburbs (2011)

In January 2011, released their debut album "Happiness and Surrounding Suburbs". They released single "Rich People Are Stupid" as an iTunes exclusive and the song was immediately added to high rotation on triple j. They toured in April with Eagle and the Worm and We Say Bamboulee for The Super Commuter Tour. Immediately following that, they embarked on another east coast jaunt with Sydney's Guineafowl.

On 24 June 2011, Ball Park Music signed to Sydney label Stop Start Music to release their debut album Happiness and Surrounding Suburbs. It was released in Australia and New Zealand through Stop Start/EMI on 9 September and debuted on the Australian ARIA Album Chart the following week at No. 36.

Another single called "It's Nice To Be Alive" was issued and was once again supported by triple j. The video for the song achieved a Channel [V] Ripe Clip of the Week, beating out competition from The Kooks's "Junk Of The Heart" and Kanye West/Jay-Z's "Otis". Ball Park Music embarked on a four-date headline tour with Adelaide rock outfit City Riots on the How I Met Ball Park Music Tour which was followed by another headline tour to launch their debut album in October with Northeast Party House and The Jungle Giants. Immediately following that, they embarked as main support for Boy & Bear on their "Moonfire Tour".

In November, Ball Park Music were named the Unearthed Artist of the Year at triple j's J Awards. They were also nominated for the 2011 J Award but were beaten by Gotye and his album "Making Mirrors".

In December it was announced that Happiness and Surrounding Suburbs was voted No. 10 in the Triple J listeners album poll and No. 2 according to The AU Review. The third single, "Literally Baby", was serviced to radio and TV, and it quickly achieved rotation on Nova Brisbane and Channel [V]. To finish off the year, the band played Peats Ridge Festival, Pyramid Rock and No Years on New Year's Eve in Brisbane.

Museum (2012)

Ball Park Music began 2012 by announcing The 180° Tour; "their most ambitious tour yet". They were initially to play 14 dates with supports Nantes and Cub Scouts but added more shows in Brisbane, Sydney, Adelaide and Melbourne due to popular demand. The band was also added to the 2012 Groovin' the Moo line-up as well as Splendour In The Grass.

On 23 March 2012, Ball Park Music were invited to do Triple J's Like a Version, where they performed their single "All I Want Is You" followed by a cover of the Flaming Lips song "Do You Realize??". This was also filmed for triple j tv at the time.

On 20 July 2012, it was announced that the band would release new music in the form of a single called "Surrender" leading into their set at Splendour in the Grass. In a radio interview on Triple J with Zan Rowe, Cromack revealed that band were working on a new album, and they'd be releasing something "soon enough".

In August, Ball Park Music announced their second album, Museum and a headline tour with Loon Lake in support. In a press release, Sam Cromack said he was "inspired by the swift turn around in which the likes of The Beatles would deliver new records every six to 12 months" and issued the band a challenge to release another album in 12 months.

Museum was released in Australia on 5 October and it was named Triple J's Feature Album the following week. The station selected to play nine of the album's 12 songs.

Other projects

Sam Cromack now records his solo work under the moniker My Own Pet Radio and has released three solo albums, Suburban Lemon Shops and the Bruxer in My Bed (2009), Unidentified Flying Collection of Songs (2010) and Goodlum (2015).

Jennifer Boyce records solo work under the moniker Little Planes Land.

Band members