#Ecstatic Dance Brisbane

[garethcohenau]

Discover the Freedom of Ecstatic Dance in Brisbane

In the heart of Brisbane, a growing movement is taking shape—Ecstatic Dance in Brisbane, an experience where people come together to celebrate movement, self-expression, and freedom. This isn’t just any dance; it’s a journey where music, rhythm, and community meet to create an unstructured yet powerful form of expression.

What Is Ecstatic Dance?

Ecstatic Dance is all about letting go of inhibitions and allowing your body to move without any specific steps or patterns. Unlike conventional dance, there are no rules or judgments—just pure movement. Participants dance barefoot, guided by a wide variety of music genres, ranging from ambient beats to tribal rhythms, all designed to take you on an inner journey. It’s about freedom, mindfulness, and connecting with your authentic self through the power of music.

The Benefits of Ecstatic Dance

Emotional Release: Ecstatic Dance offers a safe space to let go of stress, anxiety, and emotional tension. Moving freely to music allows participants to express feelings they may not even be conscious of.

Physical Exercise: It’s a fun and creative way to get moving! You can dance at your own pace, making it a great cardio workout while also improving flexibility and coordination.

Mind-Body Connection: With no steps to follow, you’re fully present, attuning to your body’s natural rhythms. This creates a deeper connection between your mind and body, helping you feel grounded and centered.

Community Spirit: Ecstatic dance in Brisbane draws together a supportive and inclusive community. It's an opportunity to meet like-minded individuals and share a space where everyone is free to be themselves.

Ecstatic Dance in Brisbane: Where to Go?

Brisbane offers a vibrant Ecstatic Dance community, with various weekly gatherings and special events happening around the city. From urban studios to outdoor venues, these events provide a safe, welcoming environment for dancers of all levels.

Some events are themed, incorporating live DJs, drumming circles, or even sound healing to deepen the experience. The music varies, creating an eclectic mix that encourages exploration—whether it's slow meditative beats or high-energy rhythms, there’s something for everyone.

Embrace the Ecstatic Dance Journey

For those seeking more than just a workout, ecstatic dance provides a holistic experience—one that nurtures the body, mind, and spirit. It’s a celebration of life, where movement is the language, and the only expectation is to show up authentically.

If you’re ready to break free from structured routines and explore a new way to connect with yourself and others, Ecstatic Dance might be exactly what you need. Step into a space where movement flows naturally, and let the music carry you. No dance experience is required—just an open heart and a willingness to let go.

Join the ecstatic dance community and embark on a transformative journey through rhythm, movement, and freedom. Visit us for more details.

[wonniesmile]

❥ ellie’s first step into ‘i-land’

⤷ ellie had just finished her entrance test, making it into i-land. hopefully, she doesn’t get kicked out.

⤷ word count: 1.4k+

⤷ warning: this is all purely fictional, none of the arguments and conflicts within this series is a true reflection of the trainees. everything you read is made up from my pea-sized brain.

after a teary-eyed goodbye to the grounders, ellie and the i-landers go through the egg contraption. her mouth gapes open in awe, realizing just how high tech this building was. ellie follows the applicants into the egg, squeezing into the very back corner. 

“hi, i’m sunoo.” a boy introduces himself, “i’m ellie!” she replies. she recognizes him, “you guys performed crown, right? you were really awesome up there!” sunoo smiles, oh god her heart, he’s adorable. his cheeks bubble up to show his whisker dimples and she smiles.

the egg finally stops, gaining an amazing reaction from the rest of the applicants. she gets on her tip toes to get a better view of the inside of the building. giving up, she slouches and waits for everyone to leave the contraption. “wanna be friends?” sunoo asks from beside her, she happily accepts and they giggle. 

“oh my god...no this isn’t real...holy moly.” she examines the room they had just stepped into. 12 chairs were placed in a semi circle in front of the egg and right behind it was the coolest dance room she has ever set her eyes upon. banners decorated the top of the glass wall leading into the dance room. there were pillars set up around the room and steps leading down to the chairs. “how much money did they spend on this, my god!” she exclaims and sunoo replies, “probably billions...” he too was amazed at the sight of the room. 

suddenly, a booming voice echoes, yet again, throughout the space, “from now on, we will start the next stage to match the capacity of the i-land. decide 4 people to eliminate by your own vote.” a bunch of “no ways!” scattered around the room, everyone in pure shock at what the next step was. “the vote for elimination will start in two hours.” ellie puts her face in her hands, worrying about what could happen. the egg lights up with the timer and she gasps. “sunoo, what do i do?” sunoo pats her head to reassure her, “it’ll be fine.” she takes off her bag and sets it down in front of a chair, following along at what the others were doing. “shall we look around the first floor first?” a trainee by the name of jay asks, everyone agrees and they start their tour.

throughout the tour, ellie was way too excited at the sight of all the new rooms to even think about the elimination process, she has got to start speaking to people sooner or later. thank god she had sunoo.

“i think we should sit down and talk.” choi seon suggests. the 17 applicants, including ellie, take seats on the contemporary couch decorating the living space. sunoo pulls her to an empty seat next to jay, while pulling up a chair for himself. seon takes the lead, explaining to everyone that by the end, they HAVE to pick 12 out of the 17 trainees sitting in this room. everyone agrees with his statements and ellie nods her head. she gets lost in her thoughts, ‘so all i have to do is pick someone based on their performance and attitude...ok got it.’ on paper, it seems easy, but ellie knows that experiencing it will be a lot harder than she thinks.

“i would like to introduce you to jake sim.” sunoo pulls ellie towards him and she waves at the boy in front of her, “jake meet ellie, ellie meet jake.” jake waves back awkwardly. “i thought you two would get along well since ellie is also from australia.” jake’s eyes light up. “seriously?!” ellie nods her head, “g’day!” ellie says in her thick aussie accent, jake whispers a little ‘wah!’ and gets excited. “where from australia are you from?” he asks, “i was born in brisbane but moved to quebec, canada at the age of like 10.” jake nods his head to show he understood, “but the aussie accent stayed!” he giggles, “i can see that, i’m from brisbane as well!” ellie claps, feeling ecstatic after meeting her second friend of the day. “so, when’d you move here?” ellie asks, “2019! i passed a global audition and here i am, better than ever.” he says. ellie giggles at his response, “i also moved here early 2019!” her smile seemed to have reached her eyes. sunoo looks at the two of them adoringly...and cluelessly, not understanding a single word being spoken at the moment, “i knew you two would get along!” he says, clapping.

the three of them went on to converse for a few more minutes before sunoo left to go talk to some other people and jake left to go use the restroom. feeling uncomfortable with being alone, she walks over to the kitchen, where ta-ki and ni-ki were both showing off their dance moves, “i want to practice now” she overhears ta-ki say in japanese. ni-ki notices ellie watching the two from afar and he mentions her to come over, “ta-ki, she speaks japanese.” he ‘whispers’ to the boy. “hello!” ellie says, while bowing, “my name’s ellie!” she slaps herself mentally, ‘too much’ she told herself. “ah, ellie.” ta-ki says, cautiously, “yep, that’s me!” ellie replies, “are you also japanese?” ta-ki asks, “um...i actually learned the language myself after watching animes...” she awkwardly laughs, “wah! you’re so good!” ta-ki sticks both his thumbs out at you. ellie thanks him. a silence fills the air and ellie plays with her fingers, “well...i’m getting a bit hungry, so im gonna go get a bite to eat!” she tells the two, hoping to ease the awkwardness.

time passed and ellie felt more and more nervous. the timer got closer and closer to 0...what is she gonna do? sunoo and jake have both been by her side, feeling more comfortable with them, who the hell was she going to vote off?

“ellie, please head to the voting room.” the voice announces, her knees felt weak, here goes nothing.

a heavy air surrounded the voting room, it almost felt like she was suffocating. the monitor in front of her seemed to mock her. the 17 applicants (including herself) faced directly in front of her. “4 people...4 people is all i need to pick.” she says to herself. carefully her fingers tap a trainee’s profile, “i’m so sorry.” it was seon, “i’m so sorry, i’m so sorry, i’m so sorry.” now all she needed to do was pick the remaining 3, “god, i can’t do this.” she leans against the screen, contemplating her next decisions. (i’ll leave the other 3 trainees she chooses up to your interpretation ;) )

rubbing her hands together, she exhales the biggest breath, “that was harder than the entrance test...” she laughs at her response, “i’m so sorry.” she says one last time, before exiting the room.”

“the first dropout received 10 votes.” the booming voice seemed to haunt her more than ever. looking down at her lap, she bites her lips in worry. “kim sunoo.” her heart drops to her feet. no, this can’t be happening. she quickly looks to her side, sunoo’s lips forming a pout as he runs a hand through his hair, “sunoo...” ellie grabs his hand and he looks back at her, “i’ll be fine.” squeezing her hand for reassurance, ellie looks back down onto her lap.

“the second dropout received 9 votes.” ellie squeezes her eyes shut, “noh sungchul.” she looks around, not really familiar with the applicant’s face. “the third dropout received 9 votes, ta-ki.” ellie’s eyes go wide, he was the last trainee she would’ve thought of. “the fourth dropout received 6 votes, ej.” ellie releases a breath. “those who got eliminated, please move to the ground now.” ellie quickly looks up at sunoo, “yes, i get it.” he says with a smile on his face. ellie’s vision gets blurry as she watches him, “please come back.” she says as he pulls her in for a hug, “i will, you know i will.” sunoo lets go and looks into her eyes, “make new friends! bye bye!” he waves. ellie watches as he steps onto the egg. she waves her farewells, looking up to stop the tears from falling (it was a successful tactic btw). she smiles at sunoo and he mirrors it, “bye bye!” she mouths and sunoo waves as the contraption closes. here we go again...

[savagegardenforever]

   Australian music act Savage Garden will always be revered as a commercial tour de force that launched Australian pop music to the stratosphere in 1996, propelled by a series of chart-topping hits from their debut, self titled album followed by their 1999 sophomore release, Affirmation. While tracks like Truly Madly Deeply and I Knew I Loved You would attain significant success breaking through to international markets, there was far more to this group than a seemingly uncanny ability to create pop hits. Darren Hayes and Daniel Jones would be the creative force behind Savage Garden, instrumental in writing and producing their own material, first out of a family home in suburban Brisbane and then a recording studio in Sydney. A shared devotion and love of music and performing would bring the pair together, and a unique collaborative dynamic would lead to the creation of truly eclectic and exciting material.

    Hayes would discover a love and passion for music from childhood, crediting Prince’s iconic Purple Rain soundtrack as pivotal in shaping his fascination with music, “I remember I got a walkman for Christmas and I got Purple Rain by Prince and it just changed my life and listening to the stereo mix and it did something to me that music still does to me now. It physically stops me from being able to concentrate.”

     Jones similarly, had been immersed in music from an early age and between this constant exposure and his competitive nature, he would learn to play a variety of instruments as he notes, “I was brought up in a household where in one room there was a drum kit and in another room there was a guitar rig and another room there was a bass so I had older brothers in music so I’d walk in and sort of I’d be a little threatened by my brother playing drums better than I would so I’d go in and I’d practice when he wasn’t there. Then I’d go into the guitar and play guitar and so this was at the age of about 10, even earlier on the keyboard so I guess I’ve always known that I would do music and I survived on it throughout my late teens in pub bands and things like that so it was just a matter of time before I found something that I could really sit with and go okay, I’m going to work this as hard as I can.”

    As would be reflected in the sonic eclecticism of Savage Garden’s catalogue, both Hayes and Jones would be influenced by contrasting styles growing up. Darren cited the importance and influence of pop music, “I’d have to say that I definitely was a pop fan because I grew up, you know, I was born in 1972 and I watched the whole pop thing happen. I think that the album that changed my life wasn’t The Beatles, it was Prince’s Purple Rain m y’know, Duran Duran. “Pretty in Pink” was one of my favourite teen films, so yeah, I was living and breathing the whole Flu-Row experience, I guess.”

    Jones would find himself immersed in different genres, that would lead to this fusion in style evident in the group’s work. He further elaborates, “Pop definitely not all the time for me. I went through a phase of ska and punk, “oi!” music for a while there when I was a teenager, but what that did is open up a lot of various types of influences throughout my music.”

     While Darren would exude a natural and playful confidence as the un-official front-man during the duo’s electric live performances, he discussed how attending Michael Jackson’s Bad Tour in Brisbane would greatly influence his aspirations to be a performer, “It was Brisbane, 1987 and by a crazy stroke of luck I ended up front row for ‘The Bad Tour’ and I witnessed him at the absolute Olympian peak of his prowess. He would move one finger and the entire arena would scream. I looked around that room and I knew I was going to do that some day. I wanted to lift the energy of a room when I walked into it and I wanted to take people away from the sadness of life and into a dream world. That night, I stopped being a fan and I observed him as a student. He’s still my hero.”

   Hayes would continue to nurture this element of his personality growing up as he notes, “I was at university I did a lot of moonlighting in theatre productions and different plays. I was expected to be a doctor or lawyer but I left university one month before the end of my course. My parents were livid, my father thought that I was completely mad, but now he’s our biggest fan.”

    While Hayes and Jones had clear aspirations to work in the music industry as performers, they would not meet until 1993 via an ad posted by Jones looking for a singer in his band. Darren elaborates, “Daniel was in a band called Red Edge in Brisbane, they had a lot of interest from a record company but they were looking for a new singer. I saw their advert in the Aussie NME saying ‘Serious singer wanted.’ The pair would first speak over the phone with Hayes eventually auditioning in person for the position. He recollected on the experience further, “It was the first audition I ever went to. Um… when I spoke to him (Daniel) on the phone, I clicked, and even after the audition, I remember leaving his house, I went to a restaurant with a friend of mine and I actually said to her, “I think that I’m gonna be really successful. Like I can feel it in my bones. Just from meeting this person.”

    Darren would be successful in joining the band, however, it was clear that there was chemistry between both Hayes and Jones that would form a deviating musical output. Daniel elaborates, “I instantly thought it would be interesting to work with him. I liked his personality and his input towards the songs and I thought he had a really nice voice. After being in different bands for about a year, we decided to write a couple of songs together on our own. That’s how Savage Garden started.” By 1994, Hayes and Jones had parted from Red Eye and began writing material as a duo tentatively titled, Crush. The writing and recording of these early tracks were done at Jones’ suburban home prior to the pair’s signing with a record label. Daniel recollects, “Darren would come round to my house everyday and we’d try and write songs. They were some of the best times I’ve ever had ‘coz it was a real challenge. We even soundproofed my bedroom with a load of mattresses so it felt like a proper recording studio!”

     Hayes’ and Jones’ collaborative relationship was based on a healthy competitive nature. This was combined with a clear admiration and appreciation for each other’s particular strengths in the process of song writing and composing. Darren elaborates, “I mean, Daniel doesn’t do lyrics. He wouldn’t even touch melodies- not his thing. Likewise I’m not interested in spending a day behind a keyboard working out the EQ on a drum kit. We have to work round each other a lot, But I think it helps make what we do much, much better.” Daniel shared a similar sentiment, “I’m his instrument! He would say, “Let’s try that!” and hum something and I would put it into musical terms. For most of the time though, I’ll conic up with music first. Darren is perhaps more the lyric man. I do what Darren can’t do and Darren does what I can’t do.”

     The competition between the pair of who could create the more impressive piece of music would also be a significant factor in fostering the exciting material that would come from their collaboration. Darren elaborates, “I think it’s with fondness that we remember writing songs and recording songs because it’s never a struggle. It’s never a battle. It’s just “here, I’ve done this”… and it… it’s a little game almost. We try to top each other. Daniel will write a piece of music and it’s like, oh my God, it threatens me because it’s better than anything we’ve done so I’ll go “Okay” and I’ll have to go away. And I come up with something that’s better than than ever, and then, so I might come up with a song lyrically that just blows him out of the water and the melody’s really quick and he’ll go, “Well, have a go at this.” And then he’ll pull Carry On Dancing out of the hat and just show me that.”

   One of the earliest tracks written and recorded by the pair at Jones’ home-turned recording studio is the ecstatic, A Thousand Words, which would appear on the group’s debut album a few years later. The track begins with eerie synths before launching into a funky mix of loose guitar riffs, a subtle bass line and stabbing keys embellished by a subtle guitar line. Hayes recollected on the origin of the track, The first track Daniel and I wrote and finished together was A Thousand Words. And it was funny, I remember sitting in his front room and we said, “Let’s… we’re gonna do this, let’s write some songs” and he said “What do you want to do?” And I said, “I’ve been working on this song” and I pulled out the chords to Right On Time by… uh… that band, whatever that was (Daniel: Nightclubs… ) really simple house song and y’know and sang this different melody over the top, thinking I could fudge it, and Daniel said, “Eh, well, you know, we could go that way, but a zillion bands have, y’know, what do you actually want to do?” We started talking about music and I was really into Achtung Baby by U2 at the time and, I don’t know, Daniel was a big fan of INXS and Seal, I guess. But he pulled out a chord progression, which is the chord progression in this song and I pulled out a like a Manchester kind of beat to go over the top of it, and it became… it filled the room. I remember thinking, “Wow, this is the most full, you know, piece of music I’ve ever heard in my life.” And when I look back now, Daniel probably thought it was really simple, but for me, it was the most musical thing I’d ever seen or heard.”

    While the pair’s compositions would continue to develop and evolve, A Thousand Words is a demonstration of the clear talent and sophistication in Jones’ musical ability, creating a vibrant and interesting sonic landscape with pop sensibilities. The composition would also be an indication of the fusion of various genres and sounds that would continue to be evident throughout the band’s catalogue. Between the funk elements evident in the percussion, contrasted with the prominent guitar riff reminiscent of rock, with pop chord progressions, it’s clear that the pair’s genre-crossing inspirations would be evident in their music.

   On top of this composition, Hayes’ details the breakdown of a relationship with the lyrics, using his exceptional ability as a songwriter to paint vivid, visual images:

We stumble in a tangled web Decaying friendships almost dead And hide behind a mask of lies We twist and turn and we avoid All hope and salvage now devoid I see the truth behind your eyes

    Darren elaborates on the writing of the track, “One of the two songs about conflict in relationships. This track is a very personal snapshot of a real life argument and a play on linguistics and twisted meanings. The rhythm section of Terapie Richmond and Alex Hewitson take the track beyond its original Manchester feel and make it alive, grunting and believable.”

    The exciting result of the developing song was vital in instilling confidence in the pair and encouraged them to continue to create music as Jones notes, “We were so confident after that, that we just decided to come back to each other’s house every day. And really that’s all this band has been. It’s just a decision for both of us to keep coming back every day and keep doing it.” In a retrospective interview after the release of Savage Garden’s debut album, Daniel discussed the recording of the track further and the special distinction it holds on the album, “A Thousand Words is a song… that was… it was the virgin song. It was the first song that happened. I still think you can see Darren and I learning about each other in listening to that song. It’s.. that was sitting there sort of like looking up at Darren and looking up at Daniel and the songs can say different things to each of us. But I think it’s great that it’s on our first record because it means a lot in that way.”

    As the pair continued to write and record in suburban Brisbane, a reflective night at a local bar would lead Jones to compose what would become one of the most important and iconic tracks in Savage Garden’s catalogue. He elaborates, “Like a lot of Australians I was up the pub on a Friday night, I was maybe eighteen or nineteen… I’m like “you know what, I don’t belong in this pub”… I walked home…I got home and I started composing what ultimately became the whole To The Moon And Back. From the start of the intro, to the guitars, to the chorus, to the little melodies in there, the orchestral piano string ending. I remember going, “this is going to be my ticket that’s gonna stop me from having to go back to that pub and drink.”

   Daniel would present an early composition to Darren as he developed lyrics to accompany this atmospheric instrumental. Hayes elaborates, “This was one of the first songs Daniel and I wrote together. It was a beautiful, space-like instrumental that Daniel had been working on for quite a while. He showed it to me and I took it away to work on the melody and lyrics. The song came together very quickly. We recorded the song and included it on our first demo tape.”

   The lyrics would resonate with Daniel in particular as he noted a parallel in his own emotional state with Darren’s lyrical inspiration, “It’s a strange metaphor for me but that song saved me, as well as when Darren contribute his lyrical story to it. It floored me even more so because it was a very personal subject for him about a friend of his, that probably wasn’t that dissimilar to me in the sense that they were lost.”

    By 1995, Crush had been renamed Savage Garden as an ode to a passage in the novel, The Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice to which Hayes was a big fan of the author. The pair had recorded enough material to produce a demo tape that they began dispersing to various record labels to no success. It’s estimated that Hayes and Jones sent out approximately 150 copies with all but one rejection. John Wordruff who previously had success managing Australian groups, Icehouse and The Angels was excited by the material he had heard. This early incarnation of To The Moon And Back had the record buff particularly excited, as he noted, “It was pretty much as it ended up on the album. Obviously a bit rougher but it came from a home studio but the same vocal, same arrangement. Much as we were in the middle of the grunge era, and I managed rock bands, it was pretty undeniable.”

   Beyond the material however, Wordruff was confident in a partnership after meeting Hayes and Jones as he recollects, “I thought they were brilliant. I thought the discussions we had together was some of the most honest and frank — albeit somewhat naïve from their perspective that I ever had with a new artist. That was what got me even more so than the music. I was still debating that with myself, because the closest thing to a pop band that I had ever looked after before was Icehouse.” John would become the pair’s manager and presented the demo tape to two major record labels, both of which passed. This disappointment would not last, however, as Wordruff was able to negotiate a contract with label Roadshow/Warner music and after the success of the pair’s first single, I Want You, Hayes and Jones entered the studio to work on Savage Garden’s debut album. The pair were finally seeing traction as they went from Jones’ Brisbane home to a recording studio in Sydney.

   While the pair had up until this time, written and arranged each aspect of their music on their own, Charles Fisher would be brought in to produce the album with Hayes and Jones. Fisher had previously produced various other Australian bands including Air Supply. Beyond producing the album with Hayes and Jones, Fisher would also provide mentorship to the pair who were only freshly immersed into the professional recording space. Charles recollected on when he first heard the pair’s demos, “When I first heard it, there was one song that I thought was magnificent, and that was a song called To The Moon And Back. It was so good, I thought anyone who could write that, could write They hadn’t done much recorded beyond the primitive demos they had done in their own home, so there was a lot of education involved in getting them to do what I thought needed to be done.”

   With a professional recording studio at their disposal and an experienced producer alongside them, Hayes and Jones began to record new material and develop the early demos they had recorded in Brisbane. It’s important to note that the pair had delivered demos that while primitive had featured the vital melodies and progressions that would be instrumental in completing the finished tracks. Fisher elaborated further, “The songs were there, the structure was there, we really just had to come up with a bit of a sound to the whole thing cos it was just Darren and Daniel. It was all very simplistic in the demo stage so we had to blow it up a little bit but the songs were there, and when you have the material, the rest is easy.”

   This sentiment is evident on a number of tracks, including the early demo of To The Moon And Back. The melody and chord progressions are clear and evident from this early incarnation, however some aspects of the instrumentation differ from the completed track. The subtle, but infectious bass-line and the light, airy synth lines during the verses remain intact, however, many of the futuristic keyboard sounds would be removed and replaced with multiple guitar riffs. The percussion would similarly be replaced with a more live and acoustic drum pattern. Jones’ sublime keyboard coda during the outro is also evident with dramatic synths eventually being replaced by the string arrangement that would be featured on the completed track. An acoustic Spanish style guitar solo would also be added into the bridge giving the track a more contemporary feel. A number of sound effects would also be filled throughout the track to compliment the imagery of the lyrics. Darren recollected on the re-recording of the song, “One thing we didn’t say about To The Moon And Back was the fact that it was incredibly hard to record because the demo was so…perfect. It was a really simple song and it had out of key singing in the demo had cheap keyboard sounds, but it was so believable. And that’s the reason why everyone hooked on that song. And recording To The Moon And Back, we really tried to jazz it up, change it, and make it this and make it that and we almost lost it. I think we only just got To The Moon And Back.”

    With the new-found budget and opportunities that came with this record deal, the duo were able to employ the Sydney Symphony Orchestra to record the string arrangement featured during the climatic finale of the track. Hayes elaborated on the outro further, “It I was a huge Bjork fan and I always love songs that kinda came back for a revamp so from a structural part of view, it was a much different song. At the same time, we were worried that it might be too serious, I could never tell if it would be a hit or not.” The sublime outro is a perfect intertwine of Jones exceptional keyboard skills present on the demo, contrasted with the dramatic tone of the heavy string arrangements.

   Coupled with this stellar composition, there was a maturity and sophistication to the lyrics that would separate Savage Garden from other contemporary pop acts. Hayes perfectly compliments the visceral composition with lyrics filled with various metaphors, creating a distinct and atmospheric visual imagery. Darren elaborates, “I guess it carried a weight to it and maybe a maturity that we didn’t really have at that time but were hoping to be.” Daniel similarly notes, “I wanted people to understand that yes this is a pop band, but it was an intellectual pop band… yes we have pop melodies, yes, we have pop progressions but we’re saying something lyrically here that’s a little more clever than “oh I want you.”

   The first track to be developed at the Sydney studio with Fisher as their new collaborator is the funky Violet. The pair brought with them a sparse, but compelling demo with the melody clearly established and propelled by an infectious synth and bass line. Prominent keys and a snare drum would give the song a catchiness and energy complimented by Hayes’ quirky lyrics, detailing the “disco in one’s mind.” The sessions took some time to get traction as Jones noted, “It was actually a really hard song to record cause it was our first one. Darren and I had just flown down to Sydney, just met with this producer called Charles Fisher, walked into the studio, and all looked at each other and said “Where do we start?” And one of us said “Violet.” (sighs) And about a month later, we actually got something happening on Violet. That’s how long it took before we actually got something moving in the studio.” While all the key elements were already evident in the pair’s demo, Fisher would begin to put his own touches on the track, polishing and adjusting certain elements of the composition. In particular, Charles would take the infectious bass line and add various effects to distort and compress the sound. As Jones notes, “Great idea from Charles of the bass line came out in the studio, um, just started distorting it, made it really fuzzy, funky, blues…this song’s got everything.” Hayes similarly recollected on how the song began to take shape with the irresistible bass line, “It moves and jumps now, and it’s fat and fuzzy and very funky and as soon as that happened, the whole song just came alive and then we were lucky enough to have Rex Goh and come in and play some fantastic guitar on the track.”

  Goh would add some bluesy guitar riffs to embellish the track further, adding to the sonic landscape and complimenting the metallic clang of the prominent snare drum. Jones discussed how Fisher’s advice would be instrumental in providing the pair with perspective when creating these vibrant compositions, “Charles’ motto would be “Less is more.” And it was a perfect motto to have, for Darren and I, because we like to feel things out. We liked as much as we can put down, we’ll put it down. Um..and we needed someone like Charles to go, “Okay, think about this, guys, why do you actually want to do this? You don’t have to if you do this.” And it was as simple as that. And we’d go, “Yeah, great idea.”

   There is an energy to Violet that while clearly evident on the demo would be magnified and heightened with the adding of various subtle but key instruments. Darren discussed further, “It reminds me of the energy that you hear in a Prince track or Need You Tonight by INXS. There’s just something about it. It has a sonic quality that just… it bubbles and pops.” The pair would spend a significant amount of time with Fisher developing the track from the demo to the completed product as Darren notes, “We actually shelved it halfway through and thought well, hang on. You know, spent copious amounts of time working on the rhythm loop and the bass line, just trying to make it work, and in the end the solution was really simple.”

   Other tracks would experience a more radical change in sound as they were being developed in the studio. One such example is the vibrant, Tears Of Pearls. The genesis of the song deviated from the usual collaborative process between Hayes and Jones, with Darren taking a role in the creation of the composition.

  Jones elaborates, “I remember feeling like I was writing a song that Darren would want to write. That happened for time to time with the pair of us. I’d give him some lyrical suggestions and say,“Look I really want to write a song about this or about that”, and I think Tears Of Pearls for me, was a song I was writing because he was asking me to write this type of song. Nearly literally, like kind of going “can you do this beat?…And I was literally carving it out in front of him going, “Is this what you mean?” The early demo would be more so reminiscent of electronic music compared to the completed track with a plethora of pulsing synths behind a deep computerised drumbeat. This initial mix would include a slightly different melody with a synth line appearing throughout that would eventually be dropped. The pair would return to Tears Of Pearls in their Sydney recording studio alongside Fisher to re-vamp the production. Hayes elaborates, “We were never really that keen on it, and it changed a lot during the recording process, and Charles Fisher did a wonderful job of producing. Just the little things in that track like there’s a string line which is in unison with my melody. There’s a glockenspiel in the chorus. It was all very Diana Ross and The Supremes, Motown kind of production values which we’d talked a little bit about. it’s nice. It’s a got a real Eastern feel to it now in the guitar solos and I think it’s quite exciting.”

    Many of the keyboard synths would be removed from this final mix and the drumbeat would be replaced with a pattern more reminiscent of dance music as opposed to electronic. Similarly, strings would once again be inserted throughout the track, most notably during the sublime bridge, swelling and dramatic while recalling elements of the string section in Upside Down by Diana Ross. A pulsing bass line would also be evident during the final mix alongside an organ solo. Fisher would also include eastern style guitar riffs into the track to give it a more exotic and fuller sound. Jones similarly recollected on the evolution of the track, “It sort of popped up in the recording process, and it was a few people’s favourites within their companies, and Charles and the people that we were dealing with. I just didn’t know where it had come from. It’d come out of nowhere. But I did like the change that it took in the recording session with the Eastern feel, the guitar riffs and the intros. It was sort of a technical thing, and one of the bottom E string was actually tuned to a D.. um… I think accidentally. And it was actually sounded a little sitar-y like, and it worked.”

    The influence of pop superstars and some of Hayes’ musical idols would be evident in the sound of Tears Of Pearls, with the artist attempting to create a track that could be performed live with theatricality. He describes further, “I always had an obsession with New-Wave and big pop stars and even though I didn’t listen to Duran Duran as a fan as a kid, when the 90’s happened, I started the 80’s obsession. I was a hipster retro-ist from the very beginning; I really missed the new wave era. I was into Michael, I wasn’t into Duran, I was into George Michael, I wasn’t into Morrisey So, I think there was definitely a camp theatrical nature to the whole movement that I didn’t experience and I mined very heavily I think as a style…I think Tears Of Pearls was a very definite and obvious attempt on our part to really be camp, be theatrical. Create this almost bourgeois sound.”

    The inclusion of string instruments in many of the pair’s compositions would become one of the defining sounds of a Savage Garden production. Mine would be one of the first tracks in which Jones would include string arrangements to replace what were originally synths on the pair’s early demo. This transition from prominent synths to the sweeping and swirling strings that would be evident in the final mix brings further intensity to the composition. Jones elaborates, “I really enjoyed working with the strings. It was one of the first songs that I had sort of thought about doing a string arrangement, in some of the string breakdowns and what not. And I really, thoroughly enjoyed it… I really enjoyed bringing out… emotion within the stringed instrument world.” Besides the strings, the various percussive elements are another integral element that conjures the atmospheric composition. Between the deep bass and various drum effects, the pair place a delay on the instruments to form a unique contrast and interplay. Hayes elaborates, “You Could Be Mine is, it’s a song that’s really, musically, all about delay. It started off with a bass line and a drumbeat, which delayed, and subsequently every instrument just had to be delayed too… Every instrument is cycling through a delay in its own time, creating a swirling continuous swell that culminates in the instruments finally locking together.” Hayes lyrics detail an obsessive desire for the unattainable; a common lyrical theme that would appear on a number of the pair’s tracks and perfectly compliments Jones’ dramatic composition.

   This element of a grand and theatrical sound would be evident on a number of tracks being worked on for the group’s debut album. Another such example is the kinetic, Carry On Dancing. The track is once again inspired by Hayes’ love with Anne Rices’ novel series, The Vampire Chronicles. Darren described the intended visual imagery of the track, “The scene is just before midnight … a full moon at a masquerade ball … avant-garde strings, timpani and even castanets create the gothic feel of the song, inspired by Anne Rice’s vampire chronicles. The feel is grandiose and theatrical.” Jones would fill the track with distinct synths that would carry the melody, while also recalling the dramatic tone of string arrangements. The prominence of keyboard throughout the track in conjunction with the clattering drum fills, would give the song a distinct electronic sound, noted by Hayes in the removed lyric, “It’s something more than a techno beat.” As the pair worked with Fisher in the studio, the track would see an expansion in sound as the synths were replaced with the luscious and sweeping string arrangements that would define the completed song. While there is a clear progression between the pair’s sparse demo and the vibrant mix created in the studio a year later, this isn’t so much an overhaul as an expansion and fulfilment of Jones’ creative vision with the resources of a professional studio. Daniel recollected on the evolution of the track, “Carry On Dancing…very grand, very avant-garde, very over-the-top. Expels a lot of Darren’s inner personality. I love the combination of strings and pianos. In the recording process, we managed to get some timpani samples and some castanets and what not, so we just tried to make this bigger than life.“ Darren similarly recollected on his thoughts hearing the completed mix, “I remember hearing the finished mix and it was bigger than I’d hoped it could get. It was just um it just feels so grandiose; I think that’s a good word for it. When I hear it, I see things like a masquerade ball in the 18th century and a werewolf or a vampire perhaps outside stalking the people inside.” Carry On Dancing would be an example of just how integral Hayes and Jones’ early demos would be in shaping the sound of what would become the grand completed tracks.

    The electric pop classic, I Want You which would become a breakout single for Savage Garden would go through an extensive development before it’s completion and release. Beginning as an early demo entitled Today…A Bad Day, the pair would extract key elements from this early version as they created what would become the classic track. Hayes elaborates, “I Want You had so many different incarnations. I think it was a demo called Today…A Bad Day and there was just something in the sound of that demo that was worth keeping.” While the basic elements of the song were developed and recorded in quick succession, the track would be put on hold before resurfacing later in the sessions. Darren recollects, “It just seemed to happen. I remember coming back the next day in the little room out in the front and sort of singing it. It was really quickly written, to be honest. I mean, we… I think I sang this song 2 days before we flew to Sydney to record the record. And we had it on TDK tape, just on a TDK tape. And it was the least produced or finished demo that we had for this record and was, in fact, almost shelved. It was.. we tentatively put it up for selection, and it was politely looked at but sort of sat by the wayside. But by the time we recorded about 8 tracks, I guess we just slipped it in and somehow it was assumed that we’d record this one and it, it seemed to turn out really well.”

    Hayes sings of waking from an erotic dream and the pursuit to replicate the feeling once again. He fills the lyrics with surreal metaphors and similes, intricate wordplay and eccentric thoughts behind the sound of a thumping beat. Darren elaborated on the writing process for the track, “It is a nonsensical song. It’s a song about a dream that I had and it’s a song that lyrically, really my voice is like a bass instrument in that song. It’s just stuttering along like a rhythm instrument and so the symbols will come first and the lyrics were something that I did pour through a thesaurus and I did look through my dictionary. I thought of as many colourful, fantastic adjectives and analogies that I could use to describe this thing.” Jones similarly recollects, “The original idea was very simple: to use the voice as a rhythm instrument — cramming in as many syllables as possible into one phrase.”

    Hayes’ unique vocal delivery evident during the verses would not only add to the compelling instrumental but also give the track a distinctive personality. Jones elaborated on this further, “It was easier for Darren to sing the faster the tempo because he didn’t have to hold his breath so long which was quite ironic because it’s already a very fast vocally song… The fact that he was pushing it to go faster cos it made it easier for him, it’s all part of the particular magic of that song.” In contrast to the verses, the chorus is particularly simple but effortlessly catchy. Darren elaborates on how it developed, “I guess that idea for that chorus, it was really a background vocal, there was no lyric… that became a chorus. I remember being very precious about lyrics and very overly detailed. One of the brilliant things that Daniel does is he sees the forest for the trees and he just said to me “What about something really simple? Why don’t you just have a simple chorus?’ and that’s where the lyric I Want You came from.” One of the most compelling aspects of this chorus are the luscious vocal harmonies that create a perfect interplay with Hayes’ lead vocals, adding warmth to the already vibrant vocals. Jones elaborates, “The recording process really bought the song alive. The simple vocal in the chorus became a bed of 12 voices. Six of Darren’s and six of session singers that we sank very low in the mix to give the chorus the thick layer of vocals that you hear.” Darren continues, “I’m really proud of just the production value and I love the blend of the vocals. There’s about 12 vocals in the chorus, all double-tracked and harmonised. And the vocal in the verse is so fast and so intricate and it always seems to fascinate people, and I like it.”

    The brilliant composition is just as eccentric and captivating as the lyrics, anchored by pounding bass, spacey synths, a clashing snare and a subtle but essential guitar riff. With Fisher at the helm as the track was nearing completion, it was clear that I Want You had great potential as a first single. Daniel recollected on hearing the completed mix in the studio, “When we played it in the studio in Melbourne after it had been mixed, we spent all day on the mix and they played it as loud as they could through the biggest system in the studio. It was that moment where you felt it and heard it and everything seemed to have all come together on that particular song. It was probably then, no one knew who we were at this point… I saw myself being able to perform to hundreds, thousands, if not tens of thousands of people at that particular time because of how powerful this song was from my point of view.” Not only would the track become one of Savage Garden’s most commercially successful songs and help launch them to stardom, but it’s also an example of how tracks would often evolve significantly during the creative process.

  Another such example with a more radical shift as the song evolved is the funk-rock track, Break Me Shake Me. Similarly to I Want You, the song developed from a earlier demo entitled Stepping Stone with the songs’ lyrical content being inspired by a fight between Hayes and a close friend. He elaborates, “Nat is my friend I met in grade 3. She was a Madonna fan, I was a Michael Jackson fan and then through high school she used to look like Madonna. I was obsessed with vogue-ing so naturally we were just very close friends. She’s always been there for me and like all good friends, boy have we had fights. And Break Me Shake Me is about one of our fights.” The track would be revised with the lyrics re-written as Darren’s relationship with Nat evolved and no longer became relevant to the conflict expressed on Stepping Stone.

  As Darren elaborates, “It was a song called Stepping Stone. And we reconciled after that song and we became friends and everything was fine, but the same sorts of things started to happen to our relationship and subsequently, the song had to be re- written. Because the first song didn’t describe the situation anymore. This is part two of that song. Um… and yeah, it’s schizophrenic. It really is quite crazy. I remember we started recording Stepping Stone and it just didn’t feel right and I started singing a different melody. I started singing the words “I never thought I’d change my opinion again” and Daniel said, “That’s a great melody,” and then we ended up re-writing the song.” It was clear as the track was beginning to take shape that the pair were expanding into a harder rock sound than what they had recorded previously.

    A combination of clear inspiration and unadulterated self-expression would be essential in developing the sound of the song. Jones elaborates, “Break Me Shake me was inspired by a combination of the guitarist Steve Stevens who was Billy Idol’s guitarist and Michael Jackson. And I think at that time in our lives when we were writing, I came from 80’s rock music so I was all about 80’s rock, big hair, big guitar… Darren was very, very much into the Michael Jackson super-stardom of the 80’s. And I think when Darren and I were our true selves, Michael Jackson would come out of him and some 80’s rock guitarists would come out of me and thus Break Me Shake Me came out of it.” He continues, “I think I remember writing the bass line and then I remember looking at Darren and he’s doing these finger snaps like Michael Jackson… and the song just started to create itself.”

   Between the irresistible bass line and finger snaps that open the track, and the slow build of various forms of percussion including tambourine, Break Me Shake Me is instantly captivating to the listener within the first couple of seconds. The verses are sparse, yet rich, with the composition perfectly complimenting Hayes’ sublime lead and background vocals as he sings with subtle conviction. All of this culminates to what is akin to a sonic explosion during the chorus with heavy guitar and thundering drums propelling Hayes’ intense vocal delivery. The combination of various contrasting guitar styles from the funky Prince-like guitar riff that enters during the second verse, to the hard-rock reminiscent riff that dominates the chorus, adds to this sparse yet layered composition.

  Rex Goh would once again lend his talents, performing the aggressive guitar solo featured during the bridge. Darren elaborates, “When Rex Goh played the solo we were jumping out of our skins. Even though it goes all over the place we felt that the solo was perfect. It was a single take and was so angry we just had to keep it.” The pair would revisit this guitar orientated rock sound on other tracks produced during these sessions such as Love Can Move You. Break Me Shake Me demonstrates that there would not be a single genre that would define the sound of Savage Garden as the pair would pursue their own artistic compass and influences, wherever it would take them.

   While eclecticism would be a integral aspect of the pair’s work as they bridged and combined a wealth of genres, Hayes would experiment with his own writing style and vocal effects on the magnificently camp, All Around Me. Being the principal lyricist, Darren would deviate from writing about his own personal experiences and look to Daniel for inspiration in writing this funky anomaly. He recollects, “Quirky, freaky, bizarre, fun. Initially it was my attempt, lyrically, to include an aspect of Daniel’s life in our music, Because I felt a bit selfish that I’d taken over certain themes and whatever, and Daniel has an obsession with Meg Ryan, but it’s a healthy one. He loves Meg Ryan very much. And in our little home studio there’s about 14 or 15 pictures of Meg…some of them wall-mounted. One of them from me as a gift to Daniel. And there’s a scene in a Meg Ryan film called “When a Man Loves a Woman” and she’s dancing. And she dances in a certain way and she says the words “stick-on tattoo.” And the way she says those words is the personality of this song. We wrote a song for Meg Ryan to dance to, and it’s all about being obsessed with Meg Ryan.”

  Once again Hayes conjures a striking visual imagery with the lyrics complimented by an instrumental recorded by Jones at their home studio. Beginning with a flurry of screeching synths and a variety of drum patterns, the track continues to build an infectious groove propelled by the bass until the bridge, in which Hayes performs a brilliantly quirky rap with his voice pitched up. Darren discussed the inspiration for the eccentric performance, “It’s like being an actor. It’s like performing. It’s doing to your voice what a costume can do to your voice in a stage play. To be honest, really, the only effected part of this song is the rap. And it’s actually the speed of the vocal and it was a mistake. I was stuffing around with the vary speed dial on the multi-track recorder, and I realized that you could change the pitch of your voice. So I um pitched it up a notch, basically. Like it’s pretty close to the normal pitch of my voice, so there’s a hell of a lot of play-acting happening in that rap. Um and when it came back, it sounded like chipmunks on steroids. And I really liked it, so we kept it.”

  Hayes would once again revisit this studio technique, on another track recorded during this era, the wonderful, I’ll Bet He Was Cool. As All Around Me continued to be fleshed out during the recording process, certain elements of the composition would be omitted or replaced, giving the track a greater polish and expansion with the inclusion of various instruments. One of the most notable contrasts is the replacement of the synth line carrying the melody with a funky loose guitar riff. The verses would be stripped back to just the infectious bass line, a slapping snare drum and Hayes’ exceptional vocal performance. The amalgamation of various genres and styles present on the track is a testament to the pair’s various influences. As Jones noted, “It’s a very bitty song. The song’s in bits and pieces, and it’s a little funky and a little disco and it’s…there’s hippie elements to the song as well. It’s like computerised hippies.”

  This is one of the elements that would make Savage Garden’s output unique in comparison to many of the Australian acts producing music at the time. This exploration into various contrasting genres mixed with a little camp would be evident on tracks like All Around Me. As Daniel elaborates, “They’re songs very strong in melody and I think that you can look at the date that we were born and the music that we grew up listening to and you can see similar structures. I think the ’80s were a time very much like the ’60s in which there is a real focus on melody and I think that’s what we see in our songs but I think more than anything if I could have a career like a band like INXS or U2 because they manage to metamorphosize and change and they’re always relevant but they’re not repeating themselves. I think what we’re doing, this is pop music and by that I mean we’re taking the sum of our influences within pop culture and we react to them and then we make something. We don’t reproduce the past, we react to it and I think that’s what a band like U2 does and that’s what I think Savage Garden would like to do.”

  One of the greatest assets of Savage Garden was Hayes’ exceptional and versatile vocal range. Between his sublime and cathartic falsetto and ability to provoke various emotions, it was clear that his exceptional song-writing skills were matched with indisputable vocal talent. This is demonstrated to full effect on the atmospheric ballad Universe. The song began as an instrumental demo developed by Jones based on a prominent guitar riff. He elaborates, “It actually started out… it sounded like Eric Clapton had met Joe Tetriani in a pub and said, “Let’s go home now and write a song.” When it first started, it was a guitar-based… groove. With some sort of, like a, lush sort of keyboards creeping in here and there.” As Hayes began writing lyrics for this early demo, the development of the track headed in a different direction as Darren’s love for RNB and Motown would have an influence on shaping the emerging song. He recalls, “Well, I heard it in a different way. I thought once again, like Moon And Back, I thought it was one of the strongest pieces of music that Daniel had written, at that stage; he’s since eclipsed himself. But at that stage, it really was, and I just had some ideas for a feel and the bass line subsequently changed. It became more Smokey Robinson, I guess. Um… to be honest, we’d been listening to That’s The Way Love Goes by Janet Jackson — I thought it was a fantastic, sexy slow groove and I really wanted to sing a sexy, slow song and that was Universe.”

 As evident in the instrumental, which fused a drum beat reminiscent of American slow-jam RNB with the spacey and stark synth line, the pair’s various contrasting influences would help shape the composition. Jones elaborates, “Universe was a little bit of a “we aren’t 100% sure who we are so lets have a go at writing this RNB like, sultry, sexual beautiful song that you’d want to make love to.” And I think it was a little bit of Darren’s RNB flavor that he has and then it was probably fused with my English big –sweep synthesizers and kind of ambient seductive feel. It was really a song that was a bit of an experiment because we were trying to figure out who Savage Garden were at the time because it was undiscovered.”

  The inspiration for Darren’s sublime and sensual vocal performance originated from the Motown artists he grew up listening to. Artists such as Diana Ross, Smokey Robinson and others would help shape Hayes’ vocal identity and the iconic falsetto that would become synonymous with the group. Hayes recollects, “When everyone else was listening to Duran Duran and Cyndi Lauper and new-wave pop, I was listening to Motown records. I was listening to Marvin Gaye, The Temptations, I was understanding who Smokey Robinson was. And I think that helped me develop a falsetto voice. A lot of the time I was imitating these artists and I couldn’t sing and I was a male and a lot of them were females or had high voices like Smokey Robinson, so I would just imitate them not understanding at all what I was doing and that was called falsetto…I just hit the notes, I didn’t understand how or why but that influence was ingrained in me and Universe was really the first time I let that stuff out. In my mind I guess I thought I was singing Sexual Healing or Tears Of A Clown or something. It was definitely an homage to or an unconscious release of those crooners that I listened to in the Motown era.”

  While Fisher would be brought in to polish the track during the album sessions, engineer Mike Pela who had previously worked with artists such as Sade and Maxwell would also contribute to mixing the track alongside Tears Of Pearls. Pela would bring an international influence, enhancing the RNB and soul elements of the track. Darren notes, “It was finished and recorded and mixed by Chris Lord-Alge, and we really liked it. We were really happy with it. When we went to America, the Americans had an idea for it and they really wanted to see if they could change it. Um…and it was given to Mike Pela, who’s done a lot of work with Sade, Fine Young Cannibals, and when he came back with the finished track, it sounded like a Smokey Robinson song. It was really, really ironic that it would go that way.” It’s not hard to see why a song like Universe could have appeared quite easily alongside the RNB landscape that dominated the 90’s. Between the drumbeat and the infectious bass line, coupled with guitar riff embellishments, the composition is warm and a perfect companion to Hayes’ seductive vocal performance.

  As the recording sessions were nearing completion and Savage Garden’s debut album was beginning to take shape, an impromptu trip to America would birth one of the key ballads that would feature on the record. The pair were originally planning to fly to London for the final mixing process however due to budget restrictions, this didn’t eventuate. As mixing was instead relocated to Australia, Hayes would use the money he had saved to take a trip to Los Angeles. A few days in Santa Monica would give Darren the inspiration to write the sublime ballad. Hayes recollects, “By the time we got to the end of the trip we were in Santa Monica for two days. Well I fell in love with it and I remember walking around the third street promenade and I went home and wrote these lyrics to this song.”

  The feeling of alienation and isolation that came from being immersed in a foreign country and environment would form a central theme to the developing lyrics. Darren elaborated on the lyrical inspiration further, “It really was written about Santa Monica, about feeling so out of place in a new city but seeking comfort behind the mask of a telephone. We were just getting into the Internet and we found it interesting how in cyberspace you are only as interesting as your mind. You can be anything you want to be. So sitting in a cafe in Santa Monica on day, this strange thought came into being.”

  While the verses detail an observational account of Santa Monica with references to coffee shops and skate boarders, Hayes also touches on the displacement of being an outsider as he contemplates and questions, “What am I doing here?” As evident on the lyrics featured in the chorus, he finds salvation in the fact that through cyberspace and Internet, he can control his own perception and image to seemingly fit into any situation.

Beauty so unavoidable Everywhere you turn It’s there I sit and wonder what am I doing here?

But on the telephone line I am anyone I am anything I want to be I could be a supermodel or Norman Mailer And you wouldn’t know the difference Or would you?

  Hayes discussed the meaning of the track further, “It’s funny because it, it’s, it really has captured for me just a sense of uncertainty we were feeling or I was feeling at the time of the record. It ties in… my American.. reaction and my experiences with America as a first-timer and for me, just hints at a little bit about the public mask that we’ve started to put on and how through the telephone or through my computer or on the internet I can hide behind something and I can be anything I want to be and you wouldn’t know the difference. And that’s that song.”

  As Darren returned to Australia, he would bring the idea to Jones and the pair would develop the track further. Hayes elaborates, “We had finished recording the record, and I was walking along, and the, the pace of my walk probably set the tempo of the song. And the chorus came straight away. The chorus, melody and the lyric was there, I sang into the tape deck and I went back to Daniel and said, “Look, I’ve got this song. I think it’s really, really good,” and played it. Um… but I… there was no verse progression at all. And so Daniel played a progression and I started singing over that and it just came really easily.

  The song would be recorded back in Australia and mixed by Daniel’s brother. The composition is warm yet also somewhat melancholic with an emphasis on keys and a subtle floating synth line present during the verses. The inclusion of various minor guitar riffs would add further depth to the composition. It was clear that the track was truly magical however it was not intended to be included on the final configuration of the album. This however, would change as the track listing was being finalised.

  Interestingly, Savage Garden’s most successful track to come from their debut album would be recorded as the last song during these sessions. The iconic ballad Truly Madly Deeply evolved from an earlier demo entitled Magical Kisses recorded by the pair years earlier. The track was faster in tempo, brighter in composition and featured a different chorus. While the prominent keys that would define the ballad were evident on this early version, they would be accompanied by an assortment of flourishing synths that would eventually be removed as the song evolved. There’s a significant contrast in tone between Magical Kisses and what would become Truly Madly Deeply; somewhat a reflection of the pair’s circumstances at the time. Hayes recollected, “It’s strange, this one, because before we recorded the record, it was a very different song. It was faster, it had a completely different chorus. And during the process of recording the record, I guess we changed a lot. We’d been relocated to Sydney. We were there for 8 months. It was the first time either of us had really left our families. Um… we were living in a one-bedroom apartment, on each other’s case every day. It was quite a stressful situation, and it was the last song that we recorded for the record. And I think, we talk about this now, even though it’s a love song and it’s based on a very personal experience, it’s still a song about being homesick for us actually, just about the people that you love.”

  While the pair saw potential in Magical Kisses, Jones had reservations about the heavy pop sound of the chorus. He elaborates, “One of those days when Darren and I relationship was being tested on a creative level. I remember kind of nearly begging with Darren to change the title of the song and to actually re-work and look at the chorus because for me at the time, it just didn’t sit right with the sound of what Savage Garden was becoming. We had this very pop song with a very pop chorus called Magical Kisses so it didn’t sit right for me and Darren, God bless him was understanding enough to re-work the chorus and he sat down and said, “what about this?”

  A trip to a Sydney café would give Hayes the inspiration to re-write the chorus as he elaborates, “I remember I wrote the chorus in I think it’s called Bayswater Brasserie on Bayswater Road, Sydney… um over a cappuccino and we actually had a keyboard and everything set up on in the hotel and I went back and we sort of sang the song. And it just seemed right. And suddenly this song was a much more credible, believable song than Magical Kisses had ever been, and it was because it was from the heart.” As Darren presented this new poetic chorus to Jones, it was clear that this was the element needed to elevate Magical Kisses to something truly extraordinary. Jones wouldn’t be the only one to be instantly receptive to this re-write as Hayes recollects, “I wrote the melody in my head because it was a completely different chorus previously. I went into the studio the next day; I was recording my own vocals. Charles was in another room and I said “I’ve got this idea for that song, let me just try something.” Recorded it and I think he said immediately, “that’s a number one single.”

  The composition would also see a significant overhaul, with the tempo being slowed down dramatically. Jones recollected on how this alteration occurred, “There was a day when Charles and I were just hanging around, not really doing much in the studio, and uh, we had this song, Tru — uh… Magical Kisses it was called and we wanted to play around with it a little bit. And we found a loop from some CD there and it was like really slow, and we were trying to put it to this track and it just wasn’t working. So we said, “Well, why don’t we slow the whole song down so it fits this loop?” And that was the way it sort of ended up getting, you know, half the speed that, that it started out with. And it was a bonus. It just came out of nowhere. A definite bonus.”

  By the time Magical Kisses had evolved into Truly Madly Deeply the composition would be noticeably sparser, with focus on the keys and a prominent acoustic drum loop. Hayes would also add incredibly luscious vocal harmonies during the chorus, adding warmth to the already whimsical lyrics. Both Darren and Daniel would cite the track as being one of the strongest produced during the final weeks of this ten-month long recording session, and thus it would be highly considered for a place on the impending album. Darren elaborates, “It was intended to be a very quiet, down-key finish to the record. And that’s how we tried to produce it. And during the recording process, it just showed itself as a much stronger track, and uh… when we looked at the finished record, we realized it was probably one of the strongest tracks on there.”

  If there’s one word to describe the body of work produced by the pair alongside Fisher, it’s eclecticism. The sheer scope of Jones’ musicality and Hayes’ lyrical depth on early demos and both album and non-album tracks alike, demonstrate clear ambition and no set of rules. Between the glitzy funk of Memories Are Designed To Fade and the harder rock sound of Love Can Move You, there’s an element of experimentation that exudes from these various efforts. Hayes would similarly explore lyrical themes relating to his struggle with sexual identity on the haunting B-Side to Truly Madly Deeply, This Side Of Me. Early demos such as Tell Me It’s Ok recall elements of Culture Club and In This Lifetime, industrial new-wave.

  Another track worked on during these sessions that remained unreleased for many years is the soaring ballad, She. The song would go through a number of radical compositional revamps during it’s development. While a 1994 demo version of the track was released on the greatest hits compilation Savage Garden: The Singles in 2015, another vastly different demo of the song exists. The 1994 mix is more akin to a ballad, sparse and featuring only Hayes’ sublime vocals, distant strings and a piano, however, this alternate mix features percussion, a prominent synth bass line and an increased tempo. This change in melody is coupled with the addition of background vocals. While the lyrics are almost identical, the tone of each version is vastly different due to this significant contrast in composition.

   Jones recollected on when the track was first written, “From memory I think we just sat down and literally wrote it together in my parents’ house in Brisbane. I remember my mother really liked the track, the innocence and raw beauty of it. It’s very pro-female song so I think a lot of girls will relate to how powerful it is for them. I think that was probably the biggest reason why my Mum really took to this particular song”. Hayes recollected on the lyrical inspiration for the track in a retrospective interview, “It’s a long time ago, but my recollection is I was writing about the relationship that I have, and continue to have, with the women in my life. From my Sister to my Mother and all the friends and the wonderful female relationships in my life. I know I’m indebted to these incredibly strong women who loved me and taught me what it was like to be strong and succeed in a world where you sometimes feel underestimated.”

  The pair had recorded a wealth of tracks during this almost year long recording session and enough songs to fill more than one standard album. While some would appear as B-Sides on already released singles like I Want You and To The Moon And Back, the task at hand was to create a cohesive album. Santa Monica, which had appeared as a B-Side on the To The Moon And Back single, would be considered to appear on the forth-coming album. Hayes elaborates, “Santa Monica was intended to be a B-side, and we actually pushed a recorded track off this record to put this one on.” The enthusiasm of the record label would be a deciding factor in including the track on the pair’s debut album, despite the fact that it had already been released on the single. Darren continues, “This track appeared as a bonus track on the “To The Moon & Back” single. When we released “Moon” we felt that the song had more potential than we had at first thought. Then when we went to America, the record company fell in love with the track.”

  As the track-list was decided, the final configuration of the album would include an eclectic and healthy blend of various different styles and genres. From the RNB reminiscent ballad Universe to the hard-rock explosion of Break Me Shake Me, the pair’s various different musical influences would be reflected in their debut effort. Fisher discussed his intention with the sound of Savage Garden’s eponymous debut album, “I wanted to just combine influences from the 70’s, the 80’s, the 90’s. I just wanted the entire sound to have so many different influences that it became undefinable (sic).”

  Fisher would also add some final touches to the completed mixes, adding various little elements to sweeten the compositions. Darren recollects, “Charles baby-sits the record when you leave. He spent two weeks tweaking it. We came back into the mix and there were little glockenspiels and there were string sections in there and just tiny little pad bits that he had added at the end. Um…which just… they were like the seasoning, you know, on the meal. It just really…touched it off really nicely.” Hayes discussed how instrumental Fisher was in also guiding the pair in producing and taking ownership of their work, “I think we went into this record waiting for people to just turn it into a great record. We had the songs. Tell me where to sing, tell Daniel what to play, we’ll do it. It was slow process, and what it did, it taught us to take responsibility. More than anything, I think Charles taught us to make it our record, without taking anything away from Charles. He made us sit down and make decisions and be responsible for what was on tape. Um…taught me a lot about the physical nature of recording, about using equipment, um introduced us to the sampler, suggests little… little sections in songs, which you don’t think are that important, but in the end, actually really top off the song.”

  The track listing would differ between the original Australian edition of the album and the various international versions. Promises would be another track that would originate from the demos recorded in 1995. The song would go through an evolution in sound and structure with Fisher suggesting to transform the outro into what would become the bridge. Hayes did not particularly favour the song and was hesitant in including the song on the international version of Savage Garden. However, due to pressure from the US label, the song would ultimately be included and All Around Me and Mine would be removed from the American release.

  Other songs would be reshuffled with the chart-topping hits I Want You and Truly Madly Deeply being moved to Side A on the international configuration. Hayes discussed his preference for the flow of the original order and how it exemplified the build up of strings that would feature on the album, ”I love the track listing of the Australian album. It’s actually different to the rest of the world. To me, it starts off with To The Moon And Back and we hear the strings and Carry On Dancing comes in at full force, and Pearls carries it along. It’s again, we hear the strings section.” Not only would the track listing differ but some songs would feature a different mix. Most notably, Truly Madly Deeply would undergo a change in sound with the acoustic drums being replaced with a more commercial dance-influenced beat. The distinct keys on the original track would be lowered and instead an organ would take prominence. The guitar riff would also be more evident during the chorus on this new mix. While the original ballad was certainly accessible and had all the elements to be a significant hit, this international version seems to be mixed for a greater commercial appeal.

  Savage Garden’s debut self-titled album would be released on the 4th of March 1997 in Australia and international territories the following year. To call the album a commercial success would be a vast understatement. Boosted by the success of singles, I Want You and To The Moon And Back, the album would stay at the peak of the Australian charts for 19 weeks. The success would not only be domestic, as the album would attain significant sales internationally. Truly Madly Deeply would top the single charts in the US and the pair would be launched into superstardom by the summer of 1998. Savage Garden would also attain unprecedented critical success in Australia, grasping 10 Aria Awards in 1997, a record that stands unbeaten today.

  While Savage Garden will always be regarded for their iconic hits that defined Australian and international pop music in the late 1990’s, their greatest work lies beyond the numerous chart toppers. The collaborative relationship between the pair, anchored by Hayes’ sublime lyricism and Jones’ talented musicality would be instrumental in creating the exciting material that would appear throughout their discography, reflected on both their debut album and their second and final album, Affirmation.

  I’m sure most artists say this, but my favourite songs are not the hits. I’m grateful for them, but I love songs like “Break Me Shake Me,” “Crash and Burn,” “Two Beds and a Coffee Machine” or “All Around Me.” [Those] are by far more my cup of tea. You can never tell which songs will be hits, but we made 95 percent uptempo electronic pop music, yet we’re most famous for those two ballads. — Darren Hayes

  I think that I could survive on song-writing and live performance only in all what happens within this business and that’s from videos, the photo-shoots, the press, whatever, I mean, if I could just have that hour up on stage and then a few hours during the day to write a song to get up on that stage, I’d be happy. That’s all I need. — Daniel Jones

[yvssanjay-blog]

A Series to Savour - Part II

And here I am again, trying to put together my euphoria of seeing Team India triumph in Australia against the oddest of odds. If you are here reading this, I assume you might have read the first part which covered the Adelaide debacle and the Melbourne revival. If not, you may read it now!

Coming back to where I left in the previous post, 2020 ended with an absolute bonkers of a turn around from India and guess what – 2021 started with 2 outstanding test matches, totally unexpected and other-worldly stuff, each of them classics in their own way. This would be long, but I hope you read on till the end - watching this series was an extraordinary experience!

Chapter 3: Grit and Survival

Alarm Time: 4:58AM. The cold January mornings cannot win against me now. Body and mind are in sync. Got to wake up and catch all the action, that is it! No two thoughts about not waking up! Series is level 1-1.

Toss: Another toss gone in favor of Australia. But the good news is, Rohit Sharma is available now to help Rahane. But wait, Umesh Yadav limped off in Melbourne. So, Saini is in too. And India have to deal with David Warner, Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith in SCG. Tough work ahead?

We started by sending back Warner early, rain stopped play, then resumed and the day ended with Labuschagne and Smith all set to torment us on day 2. But, almost shockingly, Labuschagne played a wrong shot and Jadeja got a wicket and that was what was required. Wickets kept falling at one end, Smith kept batting at the other end. He got to his century, and now, after 8-9 down, he started his ODI mode of batting. There is no way he is getting out, and then, a moment of magic! Out of nowhere, Jadeja swooped in from square leg, shot a bullet throw with one stump in sight, hit it and caught Smith short while attempting a 2nd run. Whoa! Mind blown! That throw there felt like an antidote to Guptill’s throw in WC2019 (if you remember!).

Alright, we have to bat now. Not an easy total to overcome, but India have started well. 50+ with no loss. A little drowsiness crept in due to lack of sleep, but Rohit didn’t allow me to doze off. He was out, and Gill was gone too! On Day 3, many impactful things happen. Rahane chops on, Hazlewood had an extraordinary fielding moment to runout Vihari, Pant was smashed on his elbow, Pujara got to his slowest 50 ever, Jadeja was smashed on his thumb – his bowling hand! Oh God! The list is never ending. That day just spelt doom for India. Pant wouldn’t keep and Jadeja wouldn’t bowl in the 3rd innings. There was no way India was going to come back into this test. Australia piled on the runs pretty quickly with Green going berserk and they declared with a 400+ target. Most importantly, India would have to bat out 132 overs.

Dream: India bat out the 132 overs. Pujara gets a fine hundred and India some how manage a draw! 

34 Overs were done with on Day 4, Gill and Rohit gave a decent start again, but both were gone before end of the day. On Day 5, Rahane was done with in the 2nd over itself. Now, 96 overs to play and 7 wickets in hand. Out strode Rishabh Pant, who did not keep all through the 3rd innings, with no protection to his hurt elbow. Now, Rishabh Pant is Rishabh Pant. I don’t know what goes in his mind. I am very clear what goes through Pujara’s though - just bat! But Pant, after a slow start, begins to target Lyon. Heart is pounding too quick to his hoicks down the ground. In between, Paine was dropping catches. But Pant would continue. The new ball is due in 2 overs. India needed close to 150 now with almost 50 overs to play. Pant in the 90s. Till then I was counting balls to bat out. But now, I started counting the runs to get. And then, all the luck Pant had, suddenly deserted him and Lyon’s ball flew off his edge and was caught in gully.

Switch modes! Count the balls again. Without Pant, India is not chasing this down. Suddenly Pujara smashes 3 4s off Cummins. Whoa! Has Pant rubbed his intent into Pujara now? No! Hazlewood cleans up Pujara. Vihari and Ashwin somehow manage things until Tea – Vihari already tore a hamstring and Ashwin had a horrible back pain. 36 overs to bat out!

Last session started with Ashwin being given out only to be overturned by DRS and Australia continued their short-ball barrage! Ashwin found it tough but hung on. Jadeja was padded up – I am not sure he can hold a bat with his left hand. I was standing close to the TV, watching every over – just the 6 balls – closely, take a walk during ad breaks, again come back to stand in front of the TV. Over by over, Vihari and Ashwin were continuing to block. 25 overs to go, 15 overs to go, 10 overs to go, 6 overs to go. God! This is nerve wracking stuff. One wicket here, and everything will cut loose. Vihari edges one off Starc, but Paine drops it again. I am dying! 1 over to go. And finally, the Aussies decide to shake hands.

Yes! India’s grit allowed them to grind it out on a Day 5 pitch in Australia against their best attack, survived 130+ overs with a one-legged no.6, a bad-back no.7 and a one-handed no.8 waiting. The most satisfying and heartwarming draw I have ever seen. I had a smile imagining the guy who was assigned the job of compiling the highlights package of that last session! We are going to Brisbane with the series level. Who would have expected that after that 36/9?

Chapter 4: Heroes & Hysteria

Alarm Time(s): Brisbane has a 5:30AM start but weather forced 5:00AM starts from Day 2 onwards. So the wake up time switched between 4:50AM and 5:20AM. Decider guys! Bring it on!!

Toss: Australia haven’t lost in Brisbane for 32 years, and they had the best start. Win the toss, and start batting. What about India? No Vihari & Jadeja (obviously!), no Ashwin (hmm, okay!), no Bumrah also (shocker!) and India play 3 debutants (yes, I’d call Thakur a debutant) and recall Agarwal.

India get Warner and Harris cheaply, but as a sweet surprise, Sundar, on his debut, gets Smith out cheaply as well. But Labuschagne bats on with Wade and he gets a 100, scores moves past 200. Looks like a routine Aussie dominated day, and again, India fight back. Natarajan, on his debut, sends back both Wade and Labuschagne. Another wicket and India would be in the driver’s seat but Paine and Green bat it out. Thakur has an excellent spell on Day 2 to get Paine and Cummins which was preceded by Sundar cleaning up Green. 4 runs and 3 wickets. Woohoo… an Australian collapse I thought. But the tail wagged. 50+ runs for the last 2 wickets. India start by losing Gill early and Rohit got out in an outrageous manner – as per Sunil Gavaskar – but he was done in by Lyon I felt. Again, it is up to Rahane and Pujara to bail us out on Day 3. Some excellent balls, some rash shots, some terrific catching and 2-point-something sessions later, India were 188/6. About 180 runs behind. The average experience of the remaining batsmen – 1.8 Tests!!

And then comes the partnership I enjoyed the most all through the series - Sundar & Thakur! Thakur pulls over square leg for a 6 to open his account, he plays some delectable drives, hardly plays a loose shot against the spinner – very controlled in his defense. Sundar on the other end was playing as if it was a net session – casually blocking, some wristy flicks and neat driving down the ground. Slowly the lead was coming down, and I was dancing inside. Is this for real? This has probably never happened before – a debutant no.7 and a 0.1-test experienced no.8 defying Australian fast bowlers in Gabba. Such assured was Thakur’s defense against Lyon, it was an extraordinary moment of triumph when he danced down the track and lofted him for 6 and he reached 50 – my hands automatically clapped, almost involuntarily. Sundar hits a no-look 6 over long on and he too reaches 50 a little later. His half-century celebration was, I felt, cute! What-a-knock young man! The score crosses 300 and India slowly cutting down the deficit. And then the Australian pace attack, in a space of 10 overs and 20-something runs, take all the 4 remaining wickets. The lead, what could’ve been 100-something is now a meagre 33. Relief!!!

Day 4, with Australia having 10 wickets, is supposedly going to be a long day for Indian bowlers. Warner and Harris are scoring briskly, 80-something for no-loss and again, India fight back! How many times are we turning it around – just WOW! In a span of 6 overs, Australia lost 4 wickets. But Smith was still there, with Green and the lead was over 200 in no time. The first instance of the pitch misbehaving – Smith gets a shooter, fends at it, Rahane grabs it. Siraj is ecstatic, so am I. An Indian fast bowler feasting at the Gabba! India in here with a chance to have a less-than 300 target. Lots of discussion about the weather – Australia is not declaring. They are batting on! Lead is now above 300. I am a little towards the rain gods now – this pitch is too much for India to bat out a draw. With 328 as target, after a magnificent 5-for from Siraj and Thakur’s 4-for, India to bat now. Just 2 overs and rain stops play, over to Day 5 now – 324 runs, 98.1 overs and 10 wickets!

Dream: India, instead of playing out for a draw, play positive cricket and conjure up a win. We win the series 2-1 and yes, India breach the Gabba Fortress. 

Surprisingly, the weather is clear. So back to counting overs now. 98 to go! Rohit goes early but Gill and Pujara (that man again!) somehow manage until lunch. Especially Pujara, is he really human? Kept taking blow after blow on his body but kept soldiering on! It didn’t feel like he was going to move, whatever is thrown at him. After lunch, Gill smashed a 6-4-4 in a Starc over and Pujara finished that over with another 4 – 20 runs in 1 over. Is India going for the win? This is really a dream chase! Lyon gets one to edge, and Gill is gone. Another batsman gone in the 90s in the 4th innings. The captain walks in! What is his plan here? Block, wait and then decide? No! Rahane was in super attacking mode – he hit a 6 of Lyon which was the peak Rahane I know. But the attacking intent costs him his wicket. India 3 down. 161 runs away. 43 overs to play. Pujara at one end! Surely India can draw this. I was really glued now. Tension!!

Out walks Rishabh Pant again, at no. 5. This is the same Pant who hit 97 in Sydney in almost similar situation. But, the same Pant who attacked Lyon at will in Sydney was very cautious and calm this time. He did try one or two big hits, one was a stumping chance missed, the other was a huge 6. But Pant did not want to get carried away. He wanted to probably take it into the last few overs. May be, turn it into a T20 chase? What composure - is he just 23? While Pant was grabbing all the attention, at the other end, Pujara got to 50 (this is now slower than his SCG 50). The new ball was taken. 22 overs remaining. 100 runs to get. India can actually win this. I can’t take it anymore! It has come to a zone where watching this game was dangerous for the weak hearted.

2nd ball with the new ball, Pujara is gone. Is that it? Is the new ball going to be the Australian ally? No! Pant reached his 50 of 100 balls with Agarwal at the other end, but Agarwal throws it away. 63 to get. 80 balls remaining. Sundar joins Pant. It is soon 50 to get of 48 balls. Sundar, out of nowhere, smashes a 6 and a 4 of Cummins. I am on my feet. I don’t know where I am. I have lost note of everything around me. I am only watching, I am just clapping, I am shouting as if the players can hear me, I can hear my heart pounding. 39 of 42. Pant cheekily sweeps one for 4, then smashes another 4, and then a ball hits the rough and runs for 4 byes. 15 of the over. 24 of 36. I am jumping. I am speechless. It is like I am in Gabba.

Another 9 run over now. And I am actually shivering (even typing these last few lines). 15 of 30 balls. Victory up for grabs! Pant on 76. In that 96th over, Sundar reverse sweeps and is bowled. What have you done boy? Why? Tension! Thakur walks in. 10 of 24. Pant pulls one for 4, I want to shout. I want to cry. Wait wait! Pant wants to hit a 6 and win it, flies of the edge, luckily in no man’s land. Heart is probably beating the fastest ever. Thakur is out. But they have crossed. Pant on strike, 3 to get. He drives, they run 2, are they coming back for 3, no the ball has run down and touched the ropes, India have won! India win!! I am out of of my mind. I was alone in the room. No one to hug. No one to share with. I wanted to run on the streets. I shot myself a selfie video with TV in the background. I have never experienced this, even after that Dhoni 6 in 2011. This is something else. My heart was swelling with pride, my mood was really high! I had patted myself on the back for putting aside every other thing and watch this incredible moment.

Wow! That was the highest high I have experienced watching the end of a test match. Few things will stay with me for a lifetime – the 20 run over which was orchestrated by Gill, the resilience of Pujara all through the series (that hit on his finger when he immediately left the bat, ouch!), that hook for 6 by Sundar off Cummins and that last punch down the ground by Pant – and along with these special moments, just trying to gather myself that India did all of this without a lot of their regulars. Take a bow Team India!! What is the life lesson learnt here – “Life will give you opportunities, you’ve got to grab them and turn them in your favor, deal with the obstacles and ultimately relish the challenge and achieve the unthinkable!”

[post-futurism]

Oh my god?!! Brmc were so incredible I'm

Friday, 23 March, 2018

Ok first of all, they let us in pretty early for a ‘soft’ opening... which i’ve never experienced before tbh but was really good because it was cold af waiting outside. 

So Stonefield started pretty early too. They were good, more rocky than i thought they’d be going by what kind of music i heard them play years ago. Pretty samey, though, not hugely unique. I liked that the drummer was the lead singer though, that’s always cool. 

So then BRMC came on and they played an almost identitcal set to the one in Brisbane - luckily someone uploaded the setlist on instagram because some drunk idiot crumpled up and ripped the setlist rob handed out at the end. I’ll write it at the bottom of this post. 

Overall it was a super excellent gig. Like, it had everything. Great showmanship (esp by Rob jumping around the stage), good lighting (sometimes haha), they played lots of energetic songs and actually, fortunately for me - not circus bazooka haha. i think Pete would have had fun playing that one. but mostly they played my favourites and did them so so well! 

The crowd throughout was pretty good too. It wasn’t until Spread Your Love, like the 4th last song, that they started to get really rowdy and do the death pit dancing thing. That’s when it got really pushy. A bald headed man picked a fight with an older lady and had to get escorted away. Rob was giving him the dirtiest look during it too, like he delayed the song to make sure the guy got removed. respect. 

also rob, as always, kept lifting his bass close to his chin and like slinging it down. he’s super reckless with it but he’ll never drop it for sure. he also kept doing this like lazy twisting feet dance thing, and i was so terrified he’d fall over haha. at one point he sat on top of the speakers - for ninth configuration. and occasionally he would do really sweet faces. love that boy. 

halfway through they took turns to go smoke too. pete and leah went first and left rob to play a cover of something, i’m not sure what it was exactly, but he sat down literally right in front of me!!! i got a video of the whole thing. and then he went to smoke and pete played Complicated Situation!!!! one of my favourites off Howl!! 

I think my highlight song of the night was Conscious Killer. Echo they played a little differently than what’s on CD and i think i actually prefer the cd version better because of the cello/strings section, but it was still good live. As always, Ain’t No Easy Way was excellent. I love how much Pete loves that song. And ninth configuration was really good too! i think it’s my second fave off Wrong Creatures. they also played White Palms which was !!! my actual favourite off their very first album!!! i’m so floored that they played a song from so long ago. i mean obviously spread your love is old too but white palms.... that’s not like a single really, but shows off the way Rob plays his bass so well so i was ecstatic to see it in action. 

yeah, the set was pretty fucking incredible. i was so impressed and shaken with Energies. extra little things during - Pete was super cute. very thin looking. Rob was cute as well. his little screwed up smile is adorable. and leah was a boss on drums but i do always find her a little intimidating haha. she did have cute interactions with the boys though, like, whenever rob would jump up on her little raised stage thing for her drumset, she would look really shocked, and when pete would go close, she would be more energetic in drumming. very amusing. 

Afterwards I was able to meet Pete at the back of the venue. He was so nice. and shorter than me lol but i think i need to not be surprised by that anymore haha. he kindly signed my Live in Paris cd (which, for any of u who don’t know how deeply obsessed i am with this band... is the only cd i have actually bought in like 13 years because i couldn’t find a torrent for it - brmc don’t need to know that though). so anyway, pete kindly signed that, and then he took it inside for leah and rob to sign as well. pete was really nice to talk to, i didn’t know wtf to say to him though, like, just thanks??? and that he’s awesome???! and yeah i got a photo with him and he put his hand on my back !! and shook my hand too and !!! his hands were so rough and just yeah. it was amazing to hear him actually talk in front of me rather than like, from interviews lol. 

anyway, i didn’t want to creep him out and felt uncomfortable hanging around to see if rob and leah would come out, not knowing what i would say to them either haha. so i left but maaaaan what a NIGHT! i keep looking at the photo of me and pete... still can hardly believe that it’s true. he totally looks like a ghost in it, it’s blurry af but idgaf. that moment in time is immortalised in the photo. and i’m just... so... !!!!!!!!!!!!!! like i bought the ticket to this show like 4 months ago??? and it had been 5 years since their last visit! so so incredible to see them again. omg. 

anyway. 

here’s what i’m 95% sure was the setlist. so long - it was a 2 hour set!! definitely not in the same order either i don’t think. i’m going off the brissy list

Spook

Little Thing Gone Wild

King of Bones

Beat The Devil’s Tattoo

Ain’t No Easy Way

Berlin

Conscious Killer

Haunt

Question of Faith

White Palms

Echo

Carried From The Start

Rob’s campfire song

Complicated Situation

Shuffle Your Feet

Love Burns

something?

something? (i think there might have only been 1 song inbetween here that i don’t remember rather than 2. unsure)

Spread Your Love

Six Barrel Shotgun

encore - Ninth Configuration

Punk Song

overall a really good range of songs. they didn’t play a single song off Spectre though which is kinda sad i guess becuase i love that album. but like, i’m not complaining, the set was incredible. first gig of the year!

[viralnewstime]

In the wake Four Tet’s remix of Tame Impala’s ‘Is It True’, Music Feeds found itself with a burning question. What other Tame Impala remixes were out there? And, of these, which could be counted amongst the very best? Having given the matter no small amount of consideration, here are our top eight picks.

1. ‘End of Line’ (Remixed by Tame Impala) – Daft Punk (2011)

One of Kevin Parker’s early career highlights arrived when on tour in Paris. Learning musical heroes Daft Punk had been in the audience during his concert he was ecstatic. Sharing the news backstage with Andrew VanWyngarden of MGMT, a slightly embarrassed Parker was informed one of the members of the iconic French duo (Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo sans robotic helmet) was standing right beside him. Nevertheless, Parker must have made a good impression as he was later invited to remix a track on Daft Punk’s Tron: Legacy Reconfigured. With the release of Daft Punk’s follow up to 2013’s Random Access Memories looming, an appearance by Tame Impala is heavily rumoured.

//

2. ‘Cause I’m A Man’ (HAIM Remix) – Tame Impala (2015)

Danielle Haim has been a Tame Impala fan since witnessing Kevin Parker and company in action on one of the band’s first international tours in 2009. “I was in Japan playing the summer sonic festival with Jenny Lewis as her guitar player,” Danielle wrote via Instagram after the release of HAIM’s standalone Currents remix in 2015. “On a day off of the festival, we played a sideshow at Astro Hall in Tokyo with a band from Australia I’d never heard of called Tame Impala. I remember standing in the crowd and not really understanding how this MASSIVE sound was coming off the stage with just four people playing. They were one of the best bands I had ever seen live. When I went back to my hotel, I downloaded their EP immediately — told my sisters to also — and since then we’ve seen their incredible shows all over the world at various festivals and loved every record. So needless to say, when we were asked to do this remix we jumped at the chance! But we’ve never really done a ‘remix’ before so we decided to put out our own spin on the song.”

3. ‘waves’ (Tame Impala Remix) – Miguel (2016)

The release of third Tame Impala album Currents in 2015 saw Kevin Parker cross over from the realm of indie rock to the world of mainstream pop. A string of high-profile collaborations followed in 2016, further cementing Tame Impala’s reputation. In January Rihanna released Tame Impala cover ‘Same Ol’ Mistakes’. A chart-topping collaboration with Lady Gaga titled ‘Perfect Illusion’ arrived in September. Sandwiched in between was a remix of ‘waves’ from pop star Miguel’s 2015 album Wildheart. A standout track from the Rogue Waves compilation, Parker’s reimagining has been streamed more than 71 million times on Spotify alone.

//

4. ‘Let It Happen’ (Soulwax Remix) – Tame Impala (2017)

One part rave anthem and another rock epic, Currents opener ‘Let It Happen’ made known to the world that the music of Tame Impala was ready to push away from genre boundaries. Belgian duo Soulwax’s remix, which appears in 2017 Currents bonus vinyl B-Sides and Remixes, toys with the mutant nature of the song, emphasizing its floor-filling funk-rhythms and trance-like feel with mesmerizing effect.

5. ‘Reality in Motion’ (GUM Remix) – Tame Impala (2017)

Jay Watson joined Tame Impala in 2007 and has been a friend of Kevin Parker’s since both were teens. He is the only person to ever receive a co-writing credit on a Tame Impala song, contributing to both Lonerism‘s ‘Apocalypse Dreams’ and ‘Elephant’ in 2012. Watson’s 2017 remix (under his GUM alias) of ‘Reality In Motion’ reflects he and Parker’s mutual affinity for drumming, vintage synths, and neo-disco sounds.

6. ‘Gotta Get A Grip’ (Kevin Parker Remix) – Mick Jagger (2017)

Following the separation of his parents at an early age, Kevin Parker had a difficult relationship with his father Jerry. Yet while they differed in many respects, their love for classic rock remained a common ground. While Jerry passed away from cancer before the release of first Tame Impala album InnerSpeaker in 2010, there are moments in his career Parker is confident would have made his father proud. Not least amongst them is receiving an invitation from Rolling Stone Mick Jagger to remix ‘Gotta Get A Grip’ in 2017. “Wanna tell you ’bout the time,” Parker sings of the experience on fourth Tame Impala album The Slow Rush‘s most emotionally charged songs ‘Posthumous Forgiveness’, “I had Mick Jagger on the phone. I thought of you when we spoke.”

7. ‘Guilty Conscience’ (Tame Impala Remix) – 070 Shake (2020)

Both Kevin Parker and Danielle Balbuena contributed music to Kanye West’s Ye album closer ‘Violent Crimes’ in 2018. Parker again worked with the 23-year-old New Jersey up-and-comer in August this year, this time delivering a spaced-out remix of ‘Guilty Conscience’ from 070 Shake’s debut album Modus Vivendi.

8. ‘The Slow Rush In An Imaginary Place’ – Tame Impala (2020)

This last entry arrives oddest of all. With the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic putting Tame Impala’s touring commitments on hold in 2020 Kevin Parker has taken a more imaginative approach to releasing music. First came a 17-minute dance mix of ‘One More Year’ for NTS Radio’s ‘Remote Utopias’ fundraising Livestream in March. Shortly after came a remix of The Slow Rush in its entirety. “I made something for all you isolators out there,” Parker wrote via Instagram at the time of this less-than-conventional releases. “I call it The Slow Rush In An Imaginary Place… Headphones required for a fully immersive effect. See you in there.” Overdubbing prerecorded sounds from a live audience while drenching songs in cavernous reverb, Parker’s tripped-out spin on The Slow Rush sits halfway between Tame Impala concert and aural hallucination.

–

Pending COVID-19 restrictions, Tame Impala’s rescheduled tour is currently set to commence at Auckland’s Spark Arena on Saturday 5 December and continue through Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth.

The post Tame Impala: 8 Essential Remixes appeared first on Music Feeds.

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[captainbabycollectiontimema-blog]

(2014) Sexy Tape

“Well, I, eh, I love dancing and, um, I’ve been really missing the guy that I’m seeing, his name is Christian. He's a shearer and a builder and travels a lot and lives far away so I um, I um... made a sexy video to send him”

This is the best entertainment this bored outback cop has seen in a long while I figure. He nods, eyes on fire, “Continue” he encourages, leaning closer in his swivel chair. I shift in my seat and tuck bedraggled hair behind an ear, there’s another officer floating around by the door trying to hear the conversation. I want the world to swallow me up.

“But I have an ex-boyfriend who I broke up with um, like 7 months ago? And I’ve changed my number and – obviously – moved away, far away. He’s up in Brisbane. Um, well, he keeps finding out my new numbers and calling and sending me letters to my new address – so he knows where I am … and he knows stuff, ya know? Like stuff he couldn’t possibly know. Anyway, I made this video – “

“Sexy dancing video?”

“Yes, um, the video… and because of the shitty signal out here, the only way I could send it was via Messenger”

“On Facebook?”

“Yes”

“Go on”

“Well, the next thing I know, um, the video had gone viral, like re-posted on my actual Facebook feed page”

He smacks his thigh and makes a hooting sound, “OOO-eee! How’d ya know?”

“Because my phone started pinging like crazy with friends contacting me asking me what the hell was going on and why was I posting a video of myself stripping on the internet”

He laughs so hard he doubles over in his chair and I let out a frustrated sigh.

  “Ok, Ok” He wipes the ecstatic tears from his eyes, “So, how is all this related and how can I help you’s today little lady? ?”

“Well, I didn’t post it!! I immediately tried to remove the video but suddenly I was locked out of my account and couldn’t access it. My password had been changed and I was unable to get back into my account. I had to report the video to Facebook to get it removed, but it was reposted straight away. It’s Greg. It has to be Greg - my ex-boyfriend who won’t leave me alone. We were living together but he got violent and I had to runaway... It finally makes sense. I was using his old computer when I was living with him and it broke…he must’ve got it fixed and my passwords were still stored on it so he’s had access to EVERYTHING for the last 7 months! My facebook, my emails, my bank accounts. Uh.” I feel sick.

The cop runs a search on Greg on his computer. 

“That’s him” I cringe at the mug shot on screen.

“Arrested for domestic violence and assault on a police officer” he studies Greg’s face. “Jeez he was punching above his weight with you gal!” and laughs a big fat belly howl which gives me no comfort whatsoever.

I muster a smile through gritted teeth.

“OK, we’ll send a couple of guys up in Brizzy to go and have a word and I’ll process a restraining order, though it won’t do much good you’s being in a different territory as it don’t work that way. You contacted the cyber-do-daddy police?”

“Yes, yes, and I’ve changed all my passwords but it doesn’t seem like there’s much anyone can or will do and I’m humiliated by him! So many people saw that video and I’m so ashamed” I restrain my chin from wobbling, “And I’m so scared he’ll come down here and I’m all alone on that station with no cell reception and -” My cheeks are burning and my eyes are welling up.

“Calm down, Shiela” he drawls at me impatiently.

“I took my fucking clothes off and danced naked and it was posted LIVE for all my family and friends to see!” I shriek with what little dignity I have left. 

He reaches over and pats my knee, “Well know, you’d better show me that sexy dancing video … for investigation purposes aye?” I stare open-mouthed at his audacity.

I love dancing.

Yuck.

[yogarhythmstribe]

LIONS GATE PORTAL AUG 2018 ~ Brisbane Tribe <3 IT. IS. TIME. WE. DANCED. ✨✨ I've been dreaming of coming up to connect with you musically for so long, so thanks to sister-goddess Petra Lane the stars have aligned to make it happen! ✨✨ Let us tune into the higher frequencies from the stars, to raise consciousness to journey deep as ONE TRIBE! The Cosmic energy is def amplified... ✨✨ OUR EVENING TOGETHER INCLUDES: - Flower essence grounding ritual - Andean shamanic Cacao Ceremony with Petra Lane - DJ R.I.A Rhythms In Action- An ecstatic, deep, transformational dance - Review of our year at this midway point & setting strong intentions for our powerful next cycle - Sound Healing Transmission with Sam Pemberton DRESS: Turquoise, White & Gold. Egyptian Goddess and Gods, Children of the Sun (if you feel!) ALREADY LOADS OF TIX SOLD - IT WILL SELL OUT!! Friday, August 10 at 7 PM - 10 PM | Jubilee Hall; 180 Jubilee Tce Bardon JOIN & SHARE & TIX: https://www.facebook.com/rhythmsinaction for dets 💗💗 (at Brisbane, Queensland, Australia)

[garethcohenau]

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