Mary Jane Kelly

Mary Jane Kelly are an Australian melodic hardcore band based out of Wollongong, New South Wales. The band's current line-up consists of vocalist Justin Bortignon, guitarist Matt Velozo, bassist Steve Blomberg and drummer Jamal Salem. The band was formed in early 2005, Matt Velozo and Justin Bortignon met while attending Wollongong High School of the Performing Arts. Bortignon and Salem were in a band together, while Matt was playing in another band. Justin, Jamal and Matt all left their respective bands in order to form Mary Jane Kelly; taking their name from the final victim of serial killer Jack the Ripper. The band's line-up was completed by original bassist Sam Kost. A demo, entitled Marionettes, was released in 2007. After signing with Trial and Error Records, the band released their debut EP, Our Streets Turn White, in October 2008. The following month, the band were selected as a part of Triple J's Next Crop, a collection of Australian bands and artists to look out for as selected by Triple J staff. The band would go on to tour extensively, supporting bands such as Bring Me The Horizon, I Killed the Prom Queen, A Wilhelm Scream, The Ghost Inside, Parkway Drive and The Abandonment; as well as performing a handful of headlining dates. In 2009, Kost departed the band due to work commitments. He was replaced by former Rex Banner bassist Brendan Dive; and the band recorded and released their debut album, Like There's No Tomorrow, in 2010. The band would tour in support of the album with acts like House vs. Hurricane and Fear Before. The band also performed a show in April 2011 alongside Oh Sleeper and The Chariot in Wollongong before undertaking an extensive hiatus. This was mainly due to Velozo discovering tumours on the nerve sheet in his arm, undergoing successful surgery that meant he was unable to play guitar for close to two years. The band announced their return in 2013, playing their first show in over two years in Wollongong in support of Frenzal Rhomb. The band would then announced plans for new material; as well as the release of a remastered version of Like There's No Tomorrow. In July 2014, the band announced that Dive had left the band; being replaced by Steve Blomberg. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.