When we talk about late 80’s Australian melodic rock, there are a few ‘go to’ bands from that era. Think Roxus, Southern Sons/The State, DeMont, BB Steal, Dragon, at a pinch Noiseworks. Guaranteed one name that won’t be among them is Sydney based Wildland. There’s not a lot out there on this band, they must’ve been good enough because they landed a ‘big fish’ deal with CBS Australia, and released their one-off album ‘In This Lifetime’ back in 1990.
What we do know about the band members: well the rhythm section of were previously in the 1989 version of The Party Boys, a well known Aussie band featuring a who’s who of Australian rock n roll, plus invited guests such as The Eagles Joe Walsh, and Status Quo’s Alan Lancaster. Singer Noel Zammit and guitarist Jeff Lenham had played in various spin-off bands related to longtime blues/jazz outfit Beachhead, while Keefe West Jnr has played with numerous top international artists as a guitarist. The album, over the last few years as it has become better known among collectors and file share seekers, has been labelled as a poppy AOR set of tunes.
Members
Dorian West (bass) Adrian Cannon (drums) Noel Zammit (vocals) Jeff Lenham Keefe (guitar) Keefe West Jnr (guitar)
When the Australia Band Wildland filmed a music video for their title song Wildland something unnerving and creepy was discovered while the video was being edited.
In 1990, the band had spent the day filming this video in the remote ghost town of Glen Davis in New South Wales.
From 1939 to 1952 the National Oil Proprietary Limited extracted oil in the area. The facility was not the safest. Long work hours led to fatigue and faulty equipment that was salvaged caused many workmen’s deaths.
The day of the shoot the weather was rainy and bleak but members of the band, crew and the cameraman who filmed the video all stated that the atmosphere at this location had an otherworldly or eerie feel to it.
Despite the fact this ghost town was deserted except for them what the music video shows is a ghostly figure leaning against a concrete pillar.
It appears to be faceless. It wears a dark overcoat and a hat and at one point on the video it seems as if its head is detached from the rest of its body.
After this strange sight was discovered the band and crew meticulously accounted for the whereabouts of everyone while this scene was shot. After viewing the video–no one could identify this mysterious figure.
None of them saw this figure during the shoot.
The town’s historian, who lived there as a child, thinks this ghost may be a miner who was killed. His body was washed downstream to the spot where the figure appears on the film.
Another possibility is this figure is the spirit of a priest who committed suicide near the deserted machine shop where the video was filmed. Could the dark clothes seen on the figure be the dark robes of a priest?
The following video tells this story. The local historian is highlighted as well as an interview with the cameraman who shot the video. There are clear shots of the ghostly figure.