Transmission Communications (Trans:Com) is an independent record label based in Brisbane, Australia. The label focusses on production and performance of music within the spectrum of electronic influence; including techno, industrial, synth-pop, experimental, and all manner of crossovers. The label was the first its kind north of Sydney.
Trans:Com is not a major, it is not a large company, it’s a business run by individuals with a passion for electronic music. The label was formed in 1994 to activate and support a completely new sector of music production and performance in a city previously known only for its quirky guitar-pop, grunge, and rock output. Since that time Brisbane has also developed into a new center for electronic-music culture in the country.
Trans:Com has released several critically acclaimed compilations of Australian electronic music along with several individual projects, provided the platform for numerous bands and artists to commence their careers, marshalled the development of Brisbane as the new Australian centre for electronic music production and performance, and supported the ideology and design ethics of independence, art and alternative media.
If you have a killer demo, or are simply fooling around with your stack of analogue keyboards, samplers, bits of wire, and associated equipment, we’d love to hear (from) you, but note that our primary focus is on supporting local artists and musicians. To give you an idea of what excites us, here are a couple of Spotify playlists for you to enjoy: before 2000 and after 2000.
For information on (or for) Transmission Communications, snail-mail to Post Office Box 6291, Fairfield Gardens, Queensland 4103, Australia
Email us to get in touch.
Trans:Com Timeline
1993
- Label formed.
- Call for demos – poster distributed.
1994
- Evidence CD compilation released.
- Evidence launch at Zanzibar club. Sphere, The UN and Blood Party live.
- Electronica showcase event at The Dome club. Sphere, Blood Party, Ande Foster and 8E38 live. Electronica cassette giveaway.
1995
- Cyberia CD compilation released.
- 2-night Cyberia event at the Institute of Modern Art. Tycho Brahe, Glitch, Blood Party, Pure Bunk, Ande Foster, Stormboy, Now:Zero, Pure (Andy Bagley), Low Key Operations and 8E38 live. Nude Productions performance art.
- First Trans:Com website online.
- Permanent event at The Orient with Popscene. The Isle, Tycho Brahe and Sphere live.
- Blood Party Rock n Roll Psychology cassette released.
1996
- Abstraction CD compilation released.
- Abstraction launch at Grand Orbit club. VISI, Ostia, Dharma Buffer, Glitch, Tycho Brahe, Jandy Rainbow live. Lowkey+Nude performance art.
- Tycho Brahe Promotional cassette released.
- Velleity Paralysis & Catatonia video clips produced.
- Lowkey+Nude Promotional cassette released.
- Tycho Brahe Absolution cassette EP released.
1997
- Lowkey+Nude Empiricism 7 CD released.
- Empiricism 7 launch at Institute of Modern Art. Lowkey+Nude and VISI live.
- Lowkey+Nude Rufige video clip produced and promo single released.
- Mail order service introduced for Australian independent electronic music; Trans:Com, Clan Analogue, Opus Collective, Dorobo, etc.
- All Electric Kitchen Elementary Urban Sanity CD released.
- Sphere Promotional cassette released.
- House Guests Stealth & Intervention CD released.
1998
- Pure Bunk Promotional cassette released.
- Pure Bunk Man-Dog Bites CD (and limited edition including Whyitzer) released.
- Man-Dog Bites launch at The Chelsea club. Dharma Buffer and Pure Bunk live.
- Pure Bunk Cellulicious 12″ single released.
- Vinyl Injuries event (Cellulicious launch) at The Zoo club. Taiyo, An Zu, Lowkey+Nude and Pure Bunk live.
1999
- Trans:Com supports Adapt’99 music/media event. Adapting: Artists Of Adapt’99 cassette released. Adapted: Proceedings Of Adapt’99 CD/CDROM produced.
2001
- 101 event at Brisbane Powerhouse. Alieonix, Hammerhead, Megaphonik and Lowkey+Nude live. ABC Radio National live simulcast.
…hiatus…
2004
- Tycho Brahe Dreams of Dying video clip produced..
2006
- Silhouette Series (4x) events at Brisbane Powerhouse. The Isle, Taiyo, Andy Bagley, Victor Xray, Ponyloaf, Tycho Brahe, Loveless, Replikant, My Ninja Lover, Dizzygotheca, Lawrence English and Dharma Buffer live. Pulse Radio internet radio broadcasts.
- Pure Bunk reform for last ever performance to support Nitzer Ebb at The Arena. Video collage produced – used later as a clip for Eugene vs. Influenzor.
- Trans:Com signs to Apple iTunes.
2007
- Victor Xray Dark Arts Of Dub EP released.
- Sphere Wonderland and Sometimes Hysteria albums released.
- Upgrade / Next Level festival at QUT Creative Industries. Dizzygotheca, Tycho Brahe, Victor Xray, Ponyloaf, My Ninja Lover, Boxcar and Severed Heads live. Upgrade digital sampler released. Inception/Evolution video produced.
- Lowkey+Nude Empiricism 7 digital reissue with extras.
- All Electric Kitchen Elementary Urban Sanity digital reissue.
2008
- Pure Bunk Man-Dog Bites digital reissue.
- Pure Bunk Cellulicious (Versions) digital reissue with extras.
- Pure Bunk Whyitzer digital reissue.
- Alieonix Vu Va Seii EP released.
2009
- Projekt Inertia Shine Like A Star EP released.
- Evidence and Abstraction compilations digitally reissued.
- Taiyo Music Depository digital release.
- Projekt Inertia Someone Like You EP released.
2010
- Cyberia compilation digital reissue.
- Projekt Inertia Lemonade single released.
- Ande Foster Deep In The Techno Den album released.
- Projekt Inertia Bangkok single released.
- Projekt Inertia Fall Away Like Rain single released.
2011
- The Isle La Femme Exotique single released.
2012
- Dogmachine Futuristic Urban Cult digital reissue.
- Blood Party Rock & Roll Psychology (Redux) reissued with extras.
- Work commences on BNE.
2013
- Projekt Inertia We Believe In Now triple disc album released.
- The Isle Moment EP released.
2014
- BNE – The Definitive Archive book+USB published.
- BNE Event at Brisbane Powerhouse: The Megamen, Vision Four 5, Soma Rasa and Boxcar live, with DJ Jen-E.
2016
- Cyan Vow Play It Like A Machine album released.
2018
- We curate the first ever annual Brisbane Indie Record Label Market.
2019
- Second annual Brisbane Indie Record Label Market, and also a market stall at BigSound’19.
2020
- Complete label back catalogue reissued digitally on BandCamp.
- The BNE Archive re-release program commences, with long-unavailable album reissues from: The Kilgore Trout Combustion, Ande Foster, Jandy Rainbow, and Victor Xray.
2021
- Alieonix Invader single and Invaderemixes released.
- BNE Archive Phase 2, including re-issues from: Stormboy, Jandy Rainbow, and Vision Four 5.
Artists
The following bands and artists have collaborated with, recorded for, performed at, and/or contributed to releases, compilations, events, and/or projects with Trans:Com. Support them as they have supported us.
8E38, AapogeE, Aeroplastic Voice, Airborne Toxic Event, alanrock, Alieonix, All Electric Kitchen, Alphanaut, Alternate Parallel Reality, Ande Foster, Andrew Tuttle, Anonymeye, Arundel, Ash in October, Atomic Beat Squad, Atomic Disease, Base-X, BeXta, Benedict Roff-Marsh, Bfffth, Biffplex, Blood Party, Blunt Instrument, Boxcar, Brainbeau, Browning Mummery, Carl Heaton, Ching, Clout, Column 3-57, Crash Machine, Crib Sex, D-Ko, Dan Hack, Dance Theatre, Daniel Hack, Dataparty, David Corazza, Deepvivid, Dharma Buffer, Diaspora, Discount Adult Zone, Dizzygotheca, Dobie Gillis Experience, Dogmachine, Dot.AY, Dream Circle, Dust Storm Jogger, Edwin Morrow, Eggo & Hot Pocket, Electropulse, Elroy 4.0, Eugene Carchesio, Face Invada, FiShHeaD, First World, Genshen, Get the Girl, Glitch, Gridlock, Hans Freymadl, He Dark Age, Helium 3, Hot2Go, House Guests, Hunz, Hydatid, illuminati inc, In-Sync, Inertia / Projekt Inertia, Integer, Irena Xero, Ironing Music, ismISM, Jandy Rainbow, Jen-E, John Watermann, John-e Xero, Kettle, Kilgore Trout Combustion, Kunt, Lawrence English, Leighton Craig, Loveless, Low Key Operations, LowKey+Nude, Matt Mawson, Mega Drive Cartridge, Mekanoid, Michelle Xen, Mirko, Molliger, Monster Zoku Onsomb, Morgan Geist (as Ghee), Murray Antill / Stormboy, My Cerulean Heart, My Ninja Lover, nAM-sHUB oF eNKI, Neon Cactus, Now:Zero / Victor Xray Audio System, Odd Harmonic, Operon, Ostia, Parade, Paramour, Pepe Lara, Peter Macpherson, Pinkenba, Ponyloaf, Poota, Pork, Pure Bunk, Re:Enactment, Reality Pixie, Replikant, Retarded Mouse, Rose Carrousel, Ryddum Animal, Scozbor, Sek-Shun 426, Severed Heads, Sexing The Cherry, Silent Shadow, Soma Rasa, SonnenSystem, Soundhive, Sphere, Spook, Squelch, Statler and Waldorf, Stormboy, Superfluid, T-Rage, Tainted Violets, Taiyo, Team Plastique, Terry Murphy, The Bind, The Isle, The Megamen, The Village Elephant, Tim Gruchy, Tycho Brahe, VISI, Vario Air, Vectrex, Velleity, Vertigo, Victor Xray, Visi, Vision Four 5, X in O, Xero, Zephyr Timbre, Zippy