Dom Mariani - Popsided Guitar 1984-2004:

Rippled Soul, issued in August '98 (it was preceded by two 1997 compilations, the American-only best-of Dig It The Most, on Greg Shaw's Bomp! label, and the Citadel rarities set Garage Sale), reflected a group in transition. "The band was changing. The album was also recorded over another lengthy period and I guess it sounds a little patchy in places. It was great to have Julian in the lineup; his bass playing is quite distinctive on that album."

Yet with the clarity afforded by hindsight, it's obvious now that DM3 had just about run its course. Bassist Matthews left following an overseas tour, prompting another hiatus for the band. 1999 saw Dom and Bartolone back in the studio making the Just Like Nancy EP, the group's recorded swan song. Replacing Matthews with Mark Jenkins and adding Jeff Baker on guitar, DM3 toured Europe in November but split up after returning home. Dom briefly revived the name in 2001 for a short Italian tour, and to commemorate the overseas trek a second DM3 rarities set, Italian Style! Garage Sale Vol. 2, was released on the bands 1 2 3 Red Light label. But by this point Dom was already thinking about a project that had been gestating for some time.

Backtrack momentarily to 1986. That's when surf quartet The Stonefish, featuring Dom, guitarist Greg Hitchcock, bassist Velo Zupanovich and drummer Dave Shaw, surfaced long enough to record one-off EP - titled, appropriately enough, From 20,000 Fathoms.

"It was just this instrumental guitar thing I'd always had a passion for," says Dom, noting that as early as the Gostarts he'd flirted with surf-styled instrumentals, among them the song 'Guitar Radiation' which he revived for the Stonefish. Likewise, the Stems had featured a handful of instros in their repertoire, and a similar sonic thread occasionally ran through DM3 as well, most notably a Link Wray-esque Road To Rome outtake called 'Rome'.

So with the demise of DM3, Dom along with drummer Robbie Scorer (who'd earlier played drums on the Someloves album) and bassist/organist Stuart Loasby conspired to create an all-instrumental record under the appropriately surf-y monicker Majestic Kelp. The resulting Underwater Casino bubbled to the surface courtesy Head Records in June of 2003.