Damian Cowell, That Guy From TISM, Has A New Project - Noise11.com
Damian Cowell

Damian Cowell

Damian Cowell, That Guy From TISM, Has A New Project

by Paul Cashmere on November 17, 2020

in News

Damian Cowell, the artist formerly known as the drummer from TISM, is working on an adventurous new project that includes a double concept album and a web series and he has taken to Pozible to fund it.

Cowell was a member of TISM and has operated his own projects ROOT!, The DC3 and Damian Cowell’s Disco Machine. This new one will most likely be released as the later.

Damian Cowell will use his Pozible funding to develop a web series around a double concept album. “It is a double concept album which when you think about this modern era of byte-size chunks of music being consumed on playlists on streaming services, it is quite irrelevant of me to come out with a concept album,” Damian tells Noise11.com. “I had to find some way of telling the story that I could afford to do that suited it. I came up with the idea of it being like a comic book. Inside the frames the people come alive like the paintings in Harry Potter. It is a YouTube series so each episode of the YouTube series is a song and it builds up to tell this ridiculous story.

The project has a name. “Its called ‘Only The Shit You Love’ and it’s a love story set in a dystopia which is rather hauntingly exactly like the world we live in,” he says. “‘Only The Shit You Love’ applies to life as we know it because of the way our experiences are being curated for us by megarich corporations. The songs we like, the clips we choose, the shows we watch, the news that we get, the opinions we read, if you want to take that sinister world view is all being curated behind the scenes according to our tastes”.

After just a few days of the crowdfunding exercise Damian has raised $17,210 of the $20,000 projected budget.

https://www.pozible.com/profile/damian-cowell

Here is the Damian Cowell bio:

TISM wore masks and performed under pseudonyms.

But the rest is more interesting: 20 years, 7 albums, 2 ARIAs, at least one lawsuit, top 10, TV Week, Big Day Out, programming Rage, being called ‘Scum’ by Nico, quoting James Joyce to bogans and James Hird to intellectuals, doing radio interviews with a motor mower, performing two songs simultaneously from both ends of a venue, talking to the rock press via megaphones and 50 metres of string, making the guy from Rolling Stone wear a wetsuit, becoming a recurring question in TV quiz shows – if you want the boring version, check out Wikipedia.

Deciding his youthful good looks had gone, Damian Cowell ‘came out’ in public in 2007. He released two albums as the front-man of ROOT!

In 2011 he was commissioned by David Walsh to create a soundtrack for his Museum of Old and New Art (MONA). The soundtrack was titled Vs Art. It is only available in MONA. He released two albums as front-man of The DC3. In 2013 he combined music and surreal monologues to present ‘The Ringtone Cycle’ at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and ‘Modern Unconsciousness’ at the Melbourne Fringe Festival, to rave reviews.

His writing has featured in a range of publications from The Age to The Kings Tribune. The ABC has commissioned him as an ‘arts commentator’.

Noise11.com

Follow Noise11 on Social Media

NEW: Noise11 on YouTube SUBSCRIBE

Noise11 on Instagram

You’ll discover music news first following Noise11 on Twitter

Comment on the news of the day, join Noise11 on Facebook

Related Posts

Salt N Pepa Facebook profile
Salt-N-Pepa Double Down: “Time to Fight for Our Rights” in Copyright Clash with Universal

Salt-N-Pepa are, taking on Universal Music Group in a battle over copyright ownership that could reshape how legacy artists control their music. Cheryl “Salt” James and Sandra “Pepa” Denton launched their lawsuit earlier this year, accusing Universal of unlawfully blocking their attempts to exercise termination rights, provisions in U.S. copyright law that allow artists to reclaim their work 35 years after handing it over in early contracts. Salt-N-Pepa say they followed every legal step, yet Universal refused their claim.

7 hours ago
Missy Elliott, music news, noise11.com
Missy Elliott Averts Copyright Trial at the Last Minute in Pennsylvania Federal Court

In a dramatic turn, rapper, songwriter, and trailblazing producer Missy Elliott narrowly avoided heading to trial in a long-running copyright dispute, reportedly settling the case mere minutes before a jury was due to be selected in a Pennsylvania federal courtroom.

1 day ago
Rai Thistlethwayte The Fabulous Caprettos by Mary Boukouvalas
Sammy Hagar’s New Live Album Features Rai Thistlethwayte of Thirsty Merc

Sammy Hagar has always had a reputation for surrounding himself with powerhouse players, but his upcoming live album, Sammy Hagar & The Best Of All Worlds Band – The Residency (out October 10, 2025 via Big Machine Rock), brings a distinctly Australian twist. On keyboards, vocals and guitar is Rai Thistlethwayte, best known at home for fronting Thirsty Merc and more recently as a member of The Fabulous Caprettos. For Australian fans, the inclusion of Thistlethwayte in Hagar’s latest chapter is a striking reminder of how far the Sydney-born musician’s career has travelled.

2 days ago
Ugly Kid Joe Menace To Sobriety
Ugly Kid Joe Celebrate 30 Years of Menace To Sobriety With Deluxe Vinyl Reissue

In 1995, Ugly Kid Joe released Menace To Sobriety, their second full-length album. A heavier, darker, and more muscular outing than their blockbuster debut America’s Least Wanted, Menace was hailed by Kerrang! as “the album of the year.” Yet, in the United States, the record received little to no label support, leaving frontman Whitfield Crane to famously declare that their label was quietly backing away.

5 days ago
Five
Five Are Back – Keep On Movin’ 2026 Tour Set to Ignite Australia and NZ

After a 25-year hiatus, one of the UK’s most adored pop-rocket launches—Five—are back in full force. Sean, Ritchie, Scott, Abz and J Brown will reunite for the Keep On Movin’ 2026 Tour, roaring into Perth, Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne—and even Auckland—next May.

5 days ago
Ed Kuepper and Jim White
Ed Kuepper and Jim White Announce First U.S. Shows With Mick Harvey

Ed Kuepper, twice inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame as a founding member of both The Saints and Laughing Clowns, will finally bring his acclaimed collaboration with Dirty Three drummer Jim White to the United States for the first time this November. The pair will perform in Los Angeles on November 4 and New York on November 17, with support from none other than Mick Harvey of The Birthday Party and The Bad Seeds.

6 days ago
Skunkhour 2025
Skunkhour To Celebrate 30 Years Of ‘Up To Our Necks In It’ With National Tour

Skunkhour will mark three decades since the release of one of Australia’s most enduring funk-rock singles with the Up To Our Necks In It national tour this October and November. The tour celebrates the 1995 breakthrough hit Up To Our Necks In It, a track that helped Skunkhour break from the Sydney underground into national recognition.

6 days ago