The origins of Australia's most popular ska band Area 7 lie in the Madness tribute band Mad Not Madness, which in 1993 began to create a stir in the nascent grunge-dominated Melbourne live scene. The band featured Raph Segal (vocals), Dan Morrison (drums), Dugald "Doogs" McNaughtan (keyboards), Charles "Chucky T" Thompson (guitar), Brock ? (bass), Peter ? (saxaphone) and Ivan Downey (toaster/dancer/MC), with sometime contributions from trumpet player Toby Dargaville.

This "tribute band", which included the costumes and all the on-stage excitement of the real thing, was a breath of fresh air in a stale, guitar-rock dominated music scene, and an important grounding for what was to follow. After a year or so, Dugald and Chuck decided they were ready to write and play their own songs, and with a set that included originals and a number of Madness and Two-Tone-era ska tracks, assembled a new band - Area 7, named after a line in "Dawning of a New Era" from The Specials’ seminal self-titled album. In 1994 they recruited Walter Eskdale from the burgeoning scooter/ska scene to sing, as well as Rohan "Rozza" Pacey, an old friend of Dugald and Toby's to play bass. The departure of Pete had left a hole in the brass section as well, which was ably filled some months later by Alistair "Big Al" Shepherd, who had played with Walter in various ska bands in the latter part of the 1980s. The addition some months later of Toby as a permanent fixture rounded out the band's now well-established sound.

In 1995 things started to move again, as the band decided to capitalise on its bank of original compositions and live experience, as well as some stolen late night studio time at Melbourne's Platinum Records with renowned producer Kalju Tonuma (who would resurface many years later), to record a 9 track demo featuring the track "No Logic (Cains Lament)". This EP is now an extreme rarity, particularly as the masters for the original and only pressing had to be stolen from the studios in the middle of the night due to non-payment!

Meanwhile, things were not working out between Walter and the rest of the band, so after his abrupt departure in early 1996, they decided to hook up with John "Stevo" Stevens (gigging at the time with established but slowly disintergrating Melbourne rockabilly band Yeah Yeah!) who quickly became the face and onstage personality of the band. This second phase of Area 7 saw a series of increasingly high-profile gigs as the popularity of the band spread, culminating in their first official studio release in 1997, the 7-track EP "Road Rage" on local indie label Care Factor. This CD quickly became an Australian ska classic with the eponymous single "Road Rage" finally earning the Sevens some radio play on Melbourne's 3PBS, in the midst of a changing musical environment becoming increasingly pre-disposed towards pop-ska and pop-punk.

The next year was the real breakthrough time for the band. With the Melbourne punk/ska scene buoyed by the runaway success of good friends The Living End, 1998 saw the release of the "No Logic!" EP on Mushroom Records' sub-label Rapido, which had enjoyed huge success with the Living End's classic "Prisoner of Society" EP. Finally, national radio was paying attention to the groundswell of interest in ska/punk and Area 7 became its unwitting spearhead - Triple J picked up and put on high rotation the newly-recorded No Logic which went on to enjoy considerable success in the station's then-unique Net 50 chart show. A tour with The Living End to promote their new single "Save the Day" also brought the band to a wider national audience, as well as a growing number of appearances on national TV shows such as the ABC's Recovery and Channel 9's Hey Hey it's Saturday.

By this stage Area-7 had supported some quite high-profile bands, such as NOFX and Boston's breakthrough third-wave ska band The Mighty Mighty Bosstones. They were winning over fans everywhere, and preparing to release some of the biggest singles of their career in rapid succession. The first of these at the start of January 1999 was "Bitter Words", which saw the band invited to play the important Australian music festival circuit, including the Big Day Out, The Falls, Warped '99, Pushover and Offshore. Bitter Words was a hit with the alt-rock/punk-struck teen Triple J crowd, rating highly in the Net 50 and on Super Request, and winning the band new supporters throughout the media such as Rove McManus and Channel V's Leah Thompson.

Following the success of Bitter Words, and signing to the newly-formed Zomba Records Australia, the release of "Second Class Citizen" saw the band finally break the Top 40; the song went on to be featured in an AFL/Nike television advertising campaign starring popular AFL players. The rest of the year was huge for Area 7, seeing them tour the country extensively promoting the single with a range of ska, swing and punk bands lending support, and playing the Homebake festival in Sydney and Queensland. Around the same time, California's Reel Big Fish had blown up in the United States – in them, Area 7 found their musical soulmates, touring with the band and label mates 22 Jacks on the now legendary "Kids Don't Like It" tour. An appearance at the Livid Festival, added to the bill by popular demand saw an unprecedented 12,000-strong crowd pack the Loudmouth stage drawing huge crowds away from the main stages; the band finished the same day at the Glenworth Valley festival in NSW, following directly on from the Foo Fighters who watched approvingly from the wings!

February 2000 saw the next single "Start Making Sense" released, in the lead-up to what was possibly the band's finest hour, their debut album "Bitter & Twisted". With Start Making Sense the band again cracked the Top 40, an unprecedented effort for an ostensibly "unmarketable" band playing decidedly non-commercial music. The video clip for this song featured Skyhooks guitarist Red Symons, a fan of the band who they called in to perform a cameo. When the album debuted to much fanfare, propelled by the singles Second Class Citizen, Bitter Words, Let Me Down and Start Making Sense, it hit number 6 on the National ARIA Albums chart, spending 6 weeks in the top 30. The release was followed by a national tour supporting one of Australia's favourite bands - Jebediah; the tour was a highlight for both bands with huge shows selling out all over the country.

During the early part of 2000, Area 7 were awarded one of the highest honours Australian bands can strive for, namely being asked to guest program their favourite videos for the ABC's RAGE Program. At this time the band also played Triple J's Live at the Wireless for the first time (a previous appearance on Richard Kingsmill's Oz Music Show had been pre-recorded) and appeared everywhere on national TV and radio. Triple M radio finally picked up on this "new" Aussie band, making them Aussie Band of the Month,and putting them on night rotation with a re-launched Bitter Words, the film clip for which featured actors from the popular Australian soap Neighbours. During the middle months of 2000 the band set out on their largest headlining national tour to date, playing everywhere from Hobart to Darwin with all-girl rockers Skulker as their main support. The highlights of this tour were undoubtedly a sell-out 1,200-strong crowd at the Metro Theatre in Sydney and several rapturously-greeted home-town shows.

Critical response to the album was mixed, but there was no mistaking the fact that Australian audiences loved it - the record went on to sell in excess of 50,000 copies, earning both gold record status and an ARIA Award nomination for Best Rock Release. The year 2001 began with the news that Second Class Citizen was to appear on Triple J's Hottest 100 CD after placing number 49, with other tracks from the album appearing on a number of other mainstream and indie compilations. Bitter & Twisted was also released in Germany after a lot of interest from alternative radio programs in Europe and the US.

After taking a break, Area 7 geared up to begin writing the follow-up to Bitter & Twisted, going into pre-production and spending several months bunkered down in Melbourne's Sing Sing Studios with old friend Kalju Tonuma. The resulting sophomore album, Say It To My Face, was a more mature extension of the musical ground covered by Bitter & Twisted, with writing contributions from Stevo and a brief to extend the Area 7 sound further. First singles Leave Me Alone and Individuality performed strongly, the latter reaching the coveted number one slot on JJJ's Net 50 and receiving widespread commercial and non-commercial radio play, even being picked up by Nickleodeon television in the US. 2002 saw the permanent introduction to the lineup of trombone player Paul West who had contributed to the album recording, and the band also scored a co-headlining spot on the huge Vans Warped Tour with giant acts such as Pennywise, an indication of their heightened profile. Around this time the band released what is probably their most popular and successful song to date - Nobody Likes A Bogan. The song became another anthem for disaffected Australians and was championed by both Triple J and Triple M across the country, selling copies by the truck-load.

At this stage the band began to focus on "cleaning house", departing amicably from their contract with Zomba Records and signing a publishing deal with Australia's largest indie label Shock Records, presaging a return to the "rootsy" focus of the early days. Phase Three of Area 7’s history saw several other changes; the band also parted ways with long time manager and friend Chris O'Brien, a partnership which saw the band and Chris' Solitaire Management and Touring grow and prosper together over the years. The diagnosis of Rohan Pacey in mid-2002 with tendonitis forced him to quit, sending the band into hibernation, to re-emerge some months later to play warm-up shows with Reel Big Fish and Millencolin. These shows featured a succession of celebrity bass players, including Alex from Bugdust and Grant from punk legends Bodyjar, before bass prodigy and one-time Area 7 fan Chris Meighen stepped into the breach. Not long after, long-time trumpet player Toby departed for a quieter life in Queensland, leading to the recruitment of Matt Sanders from disbanded Melbourne ska act Slyboots to take his place.

The year 2003 has already kicked off with the news that "Nobody Likes A Bogan" received a respectable 65 placing in JJJ's Hottest 100 Songs of 2002, and the band has already co-headlined the massive Globe World Skateboarding Championship Cup. Stay tuned for new material, and keep an eye out as the band is set to travel the land once again, bringing the Area 7 sound to the masses.