Brigitte Handley & The Dark Shadows

Tales of vampyric love, alienation, self-empowerment and individual expression…

Brigitte's songs are voiced with a deep, dark-edged sword, full of a presence and attitude that is not to be crossed. Ranging from a full-force rockin' attack, dripping down to a rich, sombre low delivered with a solemn vow of determination. The sharp lipstick twang of the Danelectro slung low, kicks with a grating bite and shimmers into a silvery vibrato moon.

Imagine Gene Vincent married Marlene Dietrich with a twist of Tim Burton, Dave Vanian and the Sisters of Mercy…

Despite being a child of the 80's, Brigitte Handley developed a passion for rock 'n' roll and the 1950's from her earliest years. The evolution into high school translated her devotion to Eddie Cochran and Gene Vincent into fronting her own band.

As soon as she could muster the dollars, Brigitte made the pilgrimage to the USA where she represented Australia at the opening of the 'Rockabilly Hall of Fame' in Jackson, Tennessee. There she met and played alongside some of her rock 'n' roll heroes of the 1950's. An inspired road trip took Brigitte to Las Vegas and LA where she played some shows and jammed with a bunch of 80s neo-rockabilly, punk and psychobilly cats who would influence and encourage her in the next part of her journey to developing her individual rockin' style.

Back in Australia, Brigitte concentrated on her writing, her mind set on heading back to the States. She scrimped her way to New York and played a handful of shows before heading back to LA where she formed a band with ex 'Rockats', '13 Cats' guitarist Danny B Harvey. They played a string of shows then hit the studio to lay down some tracks. These recordings were later released as the 'Stand Your Ground' EP through Revel Yell Records in Japan in. This provided Brigitte with a calling card of the harder edged neo-rockabilly/psychobilly songs she had written. It also introduced her music to the UK, Europe, Scandinavia, USA, Canada and Japan.

Brigitte's visa and money had run out so she flew back to Oz again and formed the 'Riff Randalls'. After a few tours around NSW and Victoria, the band dissolved and Brigitte took a break from live shows to concentrate on her song writing. As passionate as Brigitte is about the 50's and all things 'billy' she knew it was time to work on creating a new sound rather than re-creating a sound from the past. The aim, being to keep that raw energy and attitude that so inspired her love of that style.

It was around this time that Brigitte met Carly Chalker, a like-minded rockin' gal with leopard skin creepers and a bass guitar. The two girls joined forces and played a few shows while they searched for a lead guitarist and drummer. After a couple of failed attempts, Brigitte decided to ditch the idea of finding a suitable lead guitarist and play it herself. She got herself a louder amp and cranked up the Dano and hasn't looked back. While still on the lookout for a new drummer while playing several low-key gigs, Brigitte and Carly met Nerida Wu at one of these gigs in mid 2006. They played a few shows together and Nerida became a full-time member of The Dark Shadows early 2007 – The quest for a drummer had been solved.

Brigitte Handley & The Dark Shadows have been playing a string of rockin' shows across the main venues in Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane, including their recent support of Melbourne's psychobilly legends 'The Fireballs' at the Metro Theatre and international supports for Slim Jim Phantom (USA - Stray Cats Drummer), Japanese garage rockers 'The 50 Kaitenz', and Germany's 'Shark Soup'. They have also teamed up with local and interstate bands including 'Mach Pelican', 'The Wrath', 'The Porkers' and 'Mz Ann Thropik. Their live shows prove that they are just as dynamic onstage as they are on their recordings.

Brigitte Handley's new EP, 'Identity' has been released through Revel Yell Music, Japan and distributed through Raucous (UK, Europe) and Collector's Choice (USA). The EP contains 5 rockin' tracks and bonus 'Alien Movies' film clip, which has just featured on RAGE (ABC TV) as well as Asylum TV (Channel 31)! The title track from the EP, 'Identity' has also been included on the soundtrack for Australian film "48 Shades". Brigitte Handley & The Dark Shadows have just returned from a rockin' Gold Coast & Brisbane tour and are now busy promoting the independent release of their EP in Australia through MGM distribution.

Brigitte Handley & The Dark Shadows

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