The Stems are a garage punk band formed in Perth, Western Australia in late 1983. They were founded by Dom Mariani in late 1983. The Stems are heavily influenced by 1960s garage rock and 1970s power pop. The band initially broke up in August 1987 and reformed in 2003, releasing a new album in 2007. Although the group disbanded in October 2009, as of 2013 The Stems are an ongoing live concern. History 1983: Formation The Stems formed in late 1983 when vocalist/guitarist Dom Mariani, formerly in The Go-Starts, was introduced to Richard Lane. Lane had seen Mariani in the final few gigs of The Go-Starts and had asked him for guitar lessons which developed into the decision was made to form The Stems. A friend, Gary Chambers, was recruited to join on drums, and bass guitarist John Shuttleworth was poached from the Pink Armadillos. In March 1984, the band had their debut gig at the Old Civic Theater in Perth, which was in support of The Saints and The Triffids. Their sound was influenced by 1960s garage acts ranging from the Electric Prunes, The Standells, and The Chocolate Watch Band to The Easybeats. A local Saturday night residency at the Wizbah venue saw throwback covers with a growing list of original songs which developed a cult following for the band. Shuttleworth decided to leave, so a final gig for the band was arranged which drew a large crowd. The success of this gig and freshly written songs caused the band to recruit a new bass player, school friend Julian Matthews. The Stems played at local venues such as The Wizbah, The Old Melbourne and The Shenton Park Hotel on a regular basis, the group built up a substantial following in Perth, at a time otherwise dominated by cover bands. 1984-1985:Love Will Grow – Rosebud Volume 1 Late in 1984, they recorded three songs at Shelter Studios in Perth: "She's A Monster", "Make You Mine" and a version of "Tears Me in Two." The original plan was for this to be a self-released single with one track as the A-side and the other two as B-sides. A friend of the band who wanted to help manage them told them he would take the tapes to the east coast and shop them around to the independent labels there. There was quite a bit of interest expressed by a number of labels,