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Live8 Report
September, 2005

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Feb/Mar 2005

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Nov 19, 2004

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Oct. 23, 2004

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Sept. 18, 2004

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August 2004

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July 2004

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June 19, 2002

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June 2002

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March 2002

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March 2002

Article - Puma Beat

Oct. 16, 2000

Review - NME
November 1999

Brothers In Arms (unpublished excerpt)
Tracks Magazine
February/March 2005
http://lizaghorbani.com/

DRIVESHAFT

EARLY DAYS: Like every teenage boy in Madchester in the early 90s, Liam Pace harbored rock star dreams that, suddenly, didn't seem so unattainable. Like every little brother idolizing his elder, Charlie Pace was sure to follow in embarrassingly close pursuit. "I had absolutely no choice. It was either start a band or get him removed surgically," says Liam. "Mum was such a pushover, buying him a piano. Then later, a guitar as well, just because I had one. I secretly sabotaged his guitar loads of times before I finally let him play. Like, the time I unwound all the strings so they'd hit him in the face. His nose was never the same."

INFLUENCES: "Our Dad was a butcher; practical to the extreme, always telling us, 'You need a trade!'", Liam remembers.  "But Charlie and I were more about The Beatles than butchery. When we finally got signed, Charlie wanted our first album cover to be an homage to The Beatles' original artwork for 'Yesterday and Today'.  That idea crashed and burned fairly quickly."

HIGH POINT: The band shot headfirst out of the starting gates in 1999, with their eponymous debut album, off which the nonsensical rock-candy anthem, '(You All) Everybody' scored them fast and fierce attention. In the turn of a few weeks, their audience swelled from communal to global.

THE HARDER THEY FALL: The less-likely lead, Charlie quickly found himself in the shadows of Liam's more salable image. "It's otherworldly, what that does to your mind, you know? So many people are screaming your name. It makes you feel like a giant, and everyone else, even your brother and mates are just tiny people under your feet. Ugly shite, really." An explosive cocktail of fame, jealousy and drugs stirred up tensions and pressures that, ultimately, shook them apart. In 2002, dismally disappointing sales for the their second album, Oil Change, told them the party was over. While Charlie struggled with heroin addiction, Liam fled to Australia, escaping the rocky rubble and finding a new life in fatherhood.

PHOENIX RISING: With Pente, an ominously murky yet promising EP, Charlie attempted to reemerge sans brother. Although initially a beacon of hope to the remaining, loyal DriveSHAFT fans, the flame was doused immediately, the solo release ignored by an industry that had already gone looking for new supernovas.

THE UNFORESEEN: Rumors of a DriveSHAFT reunion remained strong until silenced on September 22, 2004. Charlie, 27 at the time, was on board Oceanic Flight 815 when it went missing over the Pacific Ocean. Liam, however, holds firm to the belief that his brother is not another statistic of rock tragedy.  "We've all just got to keep the faith. It's what Charlie would do."