Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Australian Sensation Missy Higgins



I was so ecstatic when I received the email from this very talented artist. I first heard her music while on meebo.com and I was instantly hooked. My ears opened like the heavens when I heard this authentic music, so I had to contact Warner Bros. in hopes that I would get a response. Well, I did and this is the official bio that was sent to me. Make sure you tune in to my live broadcast on U-N-U Radio at 7pm central tonight to listen to the hit track, " The Wrong Girl!"

Passionate and sincere, Australian singer-songwriter Missy Higgins is a welcome relief in a music landscape littered with disposable pop. The 23-year-old Melbourne native has enjoyed phenomenal success in her homeland, and a growing fanbase in the U.S., in spite of — or perhaps because she shuns the usual synthetic packaging and tabloid tackiness. Instead she's adopted a more timeless approach, relying on her undeniable songs and unforgettable live performances to forge a genuine connection with her audience.

Higgins’ new album, On A Clear Night, retains the irresistible melodies and piercing lyrics of her critically lauded debut The Sound of White, which was Australia’s best-selling album of 2005. However this time around, the tracks benefit from the empathetic production of Mitchell Froom, who is known for his work with Paul McCartney, Elvis Costello, and Crowded House. The quiet strength of the new songs reflects Higgins’ newfound confidence and changing worldview. A major star in Australia, she has grown up in public and On A Clear Night is the diary she's kept along the way.

"The album hopefully reflects where I'm at right now," Higgins says. "I feel a lot clearer about who I am and what I want to be doing with my music. I've moved on from the confusion and self-doubt I felt when I was just starting out. That's the main difference between the old songs and the new ones."

It's certainly been quite a journey. Higgins began her music career singing standards with her older brother's band when she was just 13. She was thrust into the limelight in 2001 when she won a national songwriting competition run by an influential national alternative radio network while still in high school. Instead of capitalizing on the moment, she chose to backpack around Europe before returning home and releasing an eponymous EP that topped the indie charts in late 2003. Airplay on influential Los Angeles tastemaker station KCRW led to a Stateside deal with Warner Bros Records. The following year, she released the Scar EP in Australia, which entered the that country’s charts at Number One, followed by the best-selling Sound of White, which was released internationally later that year. Higgins made repeated trips to the US and UK, opening for the likes of Ray Lamontagne, The Finn Brothers, and Howie Day. By the end of 2005, she had racked up more than 200 gigs culminating in a memorable series of huge outdoor concerts around Australia.

Fortunately Higgins likes to write songs while she's on the road, so while touring behind The Sound Of White, she penned many of the tunes that would comprise On A Clear Night, and gradually honed them through live performances. The pissed-off "Peachy" was among the first to work its way into Higgins’ set. The equally energetic (and only slightly less feisty) "100 Round The Bends" also became a fan favorite through repeated live airings.

"Unlike nearly all the songs on the first album, both of those songs were written on guitar, which is the only instrument I've got with me in the hotel room or on the bus,” Higgins says. “So the songs I write that way tend to be a bit more 'up' while playing the piano usually inspires slow songs. Maybe that's why there's a bit more energy on this album compared to the last one — I didn't spend as much time sitting around at home playing the piano." The new disc still features some beautiful keyboard-driven ballads, such as "Sugarcane" and "Where I Stood," but this time they're evenly balanced by the more uptempo tracks.

Recording for On A Clear Night commenced at Mitchell Froom's home studio in Los Angeles in early September 2006. Over the next three months, tracking proceeded with a stellar lineup of L.A, musicians including in-demand studio drummer Matt Chamberlain (Tori Amos, Fiona Apple) and former touring compadre Neil Finn, who was roped in to provide some extra guitars on "Peachy" and backing vocals on the rustic "Going North.”

The opening track, "Where I Stood," showcases both the tasteful restraint and the lyrical maturity that are the album's trademarks, while the sass and swagger of Higgins’ personal favorite track — "The Wrong Girl" — is clearly the work of a more self-confident songwriter. Missy credits her producer with helping her realize her ambitions for these pivotal songs.

"Working with Mitchell was such an empowering experience,” she says. “He's made so many great singer/songwriter-style records, and is full of all these brilliant ideas, but he never tried to impose anything on me. He just let me take my time and we let the songs unfold the way they wanted to. The result, I think, is a record with a real depth to it.”

The first single, "Steer," is, in many ways, the album's statement of intent. An infectious and uplifting piece about seizing control of your life, it sums up the disc’s outlook. A line from its chorus led to the title of On A Clear Night. "It was inspired by a realization I had one night on the beach, looking up at this amazingly clear sky above me,” Higgins recalls. “It dawned on me how small we are, how short life is, and how ridiculous it therefore is to spend any of it feeling unfulfilled. I felt so liberated to have finally figured that out, and the song 'Steer' just kind of fell out of that moment."

This sense that 'anything's possible' isn't confined to the lyrics; it also extends to the musical departures on the album. "Going North" has a surprisingly country twang to it, "Warm Whispers" employs some unusual structures and atmospheric loops, there's an acoustic string band treatment of "Angela", and the haunting "Secret" is written around just three notes played on one string of the guitar. They're the kind of subtle and surprising twists that sustain listener interest over the course of the album.

"I wanted this album to seem really simple when you first listen to it but then the more you play it, the more you discover,” Higgins says. “There are lots of little instrumental textures and things that you only notice after a few spins so hopefully people will feel like it's one of those albums that's worth playing a few times."

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

The Start


Info Courtesy of Wiki with the permission of the Start.

In January 2003, AFI invited theSTART to open up for them. Jeff Jaeger left the band in February and they brought in Sarah Saturday to play bass. theSTART continued to jump on tours, including Vaux, The Used and Coheed and Cambria. In May, Sarah and Brian were fired from the band because of conflicts. Having had a tour with Alkaline Trio still planned in June, theSTART borrowed friends Todd O'Keefe and Justin Rocherolle from The Green And Yellow TV to fill in.

Erick Sanger met theSTART when his previous band, Kissing Chaos, had played a show with them in Texas. He told Aimee he loved theSTART and would like to be in the band if they ever needed him. Bringing along friend Billy Brimblecom, Jr. to play drums, the lineup was finalized in July 2003. That summer they opened tours for Ozma, Onelinedrawing, and Taproot.

Nitro Records had been watching theSTART since they played with AFI. theSTART were signed in October 2003 and the Death Via Satellite EP was re-released with new artwork. They then joined the first Girlz Garage tour along with Lennon Murphy, Brassy and Lillix.

theSTART began to record their second full-length album Initiation in February 2004. In March, they embarked on another UK tour, this time with The Offspring. They continued to tour with The Offspring for North America, opening beside The (International) Noise Conspiracy and Auf Der Maur. They embarked on a co-headlining tour with The AKAs throughout July.On August 24, Initiation was released on Nitro Records.

Unfortunately it seems with good must come bad, as drummer Billy Brimblecom, Jr. announced the same day that he would be leaving the band. TheSTART took a month off then resumed headlining tours with new drummer Frank Zummo. For a few shows, Adrian Young of No Doubt filled in for drums.

In February 2005, Goldfinger asked theSTART to be on their animal rights tour, as both bands have vegetarian and vegan members. In the next few months, theSTART had another co-headlining tour, this time with Showbread.

In July, they were very excited to begin a tour with Head Automatica but less than halfway through it, Daryl Palumbo (Head Automatica singer) got sick and was hopitalized. The rest of the tour was cancelled. So theSTART jumped on the Team Sleep tour for the rest of the month. Frank Zummo left the band to focus on his project Street Drum Corps and Ed Davis was brought in on drums.

In August, Garbage invited theSTART to be the only opener on their last North American tour. March of 2006 had theSTART joining The Birthday Massacre for a month long tour. They continued on touring until the summer when longtime bassist Erick Sanger was unexpectedly let go. Drummer Ed Davis also departed to join Juliette and the Licks.

They brought in friends Lance Webber (ex-The Art Of Safecracking) on bass and Colin Strahm (of The Johns) on drums. They resumed playing when they were invited to open for such bands as Rancid, The Living End, and Metal Skool later in the year. The band was once again without a label as they had parted ways with Nitro Records. Though on Halloween 2006, they announced their signing with Metropolis Records and began work on their new album.

Aimee and Jamie wrote and recorded the new songs entirely by themselves this time. The band began playing again in March, until Echo was asked by the Teddybears to do vocals on their tour in April, which included a stop at the Coachella festival. When she returned, they hit the road with Front Line Assembly. Drummer Frank Zummo had returned for a stint replacing Colin Strahm.

The new record Ciao, Baby was released on June 5th, 2007. They played the whole cd live at the record release show at Safari Sam's on June 14th. Singer/drummer Chelsea Davis of Digital Black joined the band on drums as they prepared to tour in support of the album.

In July of 2007, the band released on their Myspace page a cover of the song "Cities in Dust" by Siouxsie & the Banshees, one of the band's life-long musical inspirations. The song was intended to be featured in promotion on the third Resident Evil film.

Ciao, Baby track "Blood On My Hands" was released as a digital only single on October 16, 2007 and featured a remixed version of the song by Chris Vrenna of Nine Inch Nails. theSTART are spending the end of 2007 opening shows for She Wants Revenge. Ironically, founding drummer of theSTART and ex-Human Waste Project member, Scott Ellis, plays drums for She Wants Revenge, making it the first time the three founding members of theSTART have toured together since 2002.

Now after my long Wiki intro, I can give my opinion on this awesome band. Remember peeps, that I listen to all the tunes first and 90 percent of the time, I've been in contact with the artist and they've approved me putting their info on the site. All of them have been gracious enough to send me some mp3s of their wonderful creations. I was totally shocked and pleasantly surprised that the Start messaged me back. I couldn't believe it, you know how some bands are to hot that they don't feel a need to be on some little site like Crazy Indie Girl.

I first heard their music while watching the L Word season 5 episode 5 and I had to find out the goods on the music that was filling my ears. There are tons of fan
websites and one in particular lists all the artists and track that are played on the show. There it was, " Ciao Baby" and " Surrender"! Please make sure you take time out to check out the links as well as listen to their album. It's so worth it! Also, make sure you check out my new radio station, UNUradio to hear all the tracks from the artists on my site.