Tex Ward

The journey taken by Tex to arrive at this point in his musical journey has been long, turbulent and interesting.
More than a decade of collaboration and performance in a series of bands has helped to create the sound he ascribes to now as a solo artist. It is a style hard to define, these songs resist the urge to be pigeonholed into one genre - lyrically mature and complemented by melodies that lean on one occasion to pop, on another to rock or even a slight country tone. They follow a mood or a circumstance, these songs are Tex's heart on his sleeve.

The journey began at the end of the 1980’s with the formation of ‘The Spills’, an original band dedicated to the performance of the original songs written by Tex. This was followed by several reinventions; with each change in members and each new name, Tex was gaining more experiences to channel into his music and lyrics, and furthering his craft.

1996 saw a move to the country – Kalgoorlie, a booming mining town, lured people with the promise of easy money. Tex was worked the pub scene as part of a hybrid original/cover band. Performing cover songs did give him the opportunity to indulge in some of his favourite musical influences – such as The Pixies, The Stems, Radio Birdman, Smashing Pumpkins and Hoodoo Gurus – as well as the standard pop/grunge/alternate favourites of the times.

Tex stuck his toe in and made a little ripple in international waters in 1999, travelling to Hong Kong to perform some acoustic gigs while playing a bit of cricket. Although the performances were satisfying, the product of this visit was the creation of some new songs that had the ability to reach out to people.

On returning to Perth, Tex reunited with some former band mates to perform as Swede at the 2000 Big Day Out festival. Swede played on the Essential stage alongside other local bands such as Wax Tadpole and Eskimo Joe.
X-Press magazine described the band as ‘playing REM-esque rock songs, and doing it well enough to impress’.

After the Big Day Out, Swede reformed as a 3 piece punk/pop outfit – New Fourth Army. N4A recorded several demos and performed at various venues around Perth, teaming up with other local bands such as The Critics and Dragwire, featuring ex-Beaverloop front man, Leon Ewing.

The break up of New Fourth Army saw the establishment of Tex as a solo artist. This journey has been the inspiration for many songs which form the collection of work that Tex has created in the years since.
While he has not let go of the rock/pop vibe of his band days, Tex has moved towards a more personal, acoustic, storytelling style of performance.

In the last few years, Tex has returned to Hong Kong, performing on local radio and releasing the EP Mabel’s Daughter – a tribute to his mum. He also released a song for the Phuket International Cricket Sixes organisers to promote the game, resulting in nomination for the ICC 'Best Spirit of Cricket Initiative' Award.

Tex's songs have been heard locally on Groove FM, and currently has two projects in the pipeline - an LP of original works, and a compilation of his favourite jazz standards, another lifelong passion.

Tex plans to be out performing these songs in the near future, so stay tuned!