Sparkadia

Sparkadia is the project of alternative pop musician Alexander Burnett. Originally a band, Sparkadia formed in Sydney, Australia, in 2004. It became Burnett's solo project in 2009.

History

Sparkadia formed in Sydney in 2004 and were originally known as The Spark. The brainchild of Alexander Burnett (vocals, guitar) and Dave Hall (drums), the band became a reality with the addition of Nick Rabone (bass) and Josephine Ayling (keyboards, guitar, vocals) in 2006.

They first came into prominence in Australia with their debut EP titled Things Behind the Sun.^[1] The EP was released by Australian indie label, Boundary Sounds on 20 February 2007; with the lead single "Morning Light" being the No. 1 most downloaded track off Australian national broadcasters Triple J's website with 32,000 downloads in two months. This was followed by extensive Australian touring and led to signing with UK indie label Ark Recordings.^[2]

With a line-up change in 2008 with Tiffany Preece replacing Ayling, Sparkadia released their debut studio album, Postcards, on 31 May 2008.,^[3] peaking at No. 23 on the ARIA albums chart.^[4] The album was recorded with producer Ben Hillier^[5] (Blur, Depeche Mode, Doves, Elbow) at 'The Pool' in Miloco Studios, London.

The debut single off the album Animals was The Guardian's single of the week^[3] and received rotation on BBC Radio One. This was followed by the release of the singles "Too Much to Do", "Jealousy" and re-release of "Morning Light".

Subsequent single "Too Much to Do" was B listed by Radio 2, played by everyone from Colin Murray to Terry Wogan, and earned accolades from Mojo, Q4 Music and The Guardian. All four singles received significant airplay on Australian radio station Triple J^[6] and their sleeper hit Jealousy was ranked 79th in the Triple J Hottest 100 of 2008.^[6]

Their cover of “This Boy’s in Love”^[7] by The Presets for Triple J’s Like a Version made it onto Volume 5 of 2009 and subsequently appeared in their ‘best of’ anthology released in 2013.^[8]

After taking some time out, Preece, Hall and Rabone left the group for various reasons and Burnett relocated to London.^[9] Over there he met a kindred spirit in Mark Tieku and began work^[10] on the second record that would become The Great Impression.

Released on 31 March 2011, the album peaked at No. 8 on the ARIA albums chart.^[11] The lead single single "Talking Like I'm Falling Down Stairs" went on to be ranked 24th in the Triple J Hottest 100 of 2010.^[12] Subsequent singles "China" and "Mary" also went on to earn the 56th and 47th place in the Triple J Hottest 100 of 2011.^[13]

Following the "The Great Impression" and "Mary" tours and Splendour In The Grass in 2011, Burnett was part of the Nick Cave "Straight to You^[14]" concert series organised by Triple J.^[15] He performed on many of the songs including his own rendition of the Boys Next Door, "Shivers^[16]" and the duet of "Where the Wild Roses Grow^[16]" with Lanie Lane. The subsequent live recording/DVD went onto win an ARIA in the 2012 awards.^[17]

In late 2012, 'Space & Time', off their debut record was featured on the sears campaign, Connecting Flights.^[18]

Burnett is currently working on the third Sparkadia album

Collaborations

Burnett has featured on:

"Songs of Summer^[19]" from the 2013 Gossling album, "Harvest of Gold"
"On N On", from the 2013, A.Chal album, Ballroom Riots
"The Tide" by Dreamtrak (2013)
"The Big Sleep", from the 2012 Urthboy album, Smokey's Haunt ^[20]
"Faithful", from the 2011 Phrase album, Babylon

Burnett has also recently co-written:

"Only Me" (feat. VCS) by Elizabeth Rose (2014)
"It Belongs to Us" & "The Gullible Few" by Dan Sultan (2014)
"Under Your Skin" by Dan Sultan (2013)^[21]
"Waterfall" from the movie 'Plot for Peace' (2013)
"I Didn't Believe" by Flight Facilities feat. Elizabeth Rose (2013)^[22]
"Act Your Age" by Bliss n Eso (2013)
"Running in the Rain" by Bobby Flynn (2013)
"Naive Bravado" by Urthboy (2012)
"Battles" by Hudson Taylor (2012)
"2 Hearts" by Digitalism (2011)^[23]
"Act Yr Age" & "Shock" by Blue Juice (2011)^[24]

Touring

The band has toured across Australia, UK and Europe several times over the past few years with pockets of fan bases in Britain and Germany outside of the native Australia. Over the years the band has performed with many diverse artists such as:

• Death Cab for Cutie
• Elbow
• Tegan & Sara
• The Thrills
• Jimmy Eat World
• Vampire Weekend
• The Temper Trap
• Pet Shop Boys
• The Feeling
• Modest Mouse
• Hot Hot Heat
• Ben Lee

In 2007 Sparkadia supported Elbow on their tour of Australia following the release of their EP Things Behind the Sun. This was followed by a tour of the UK which included supporting Irish band The Thrills, whom they were to support again the following year in Australia.

In 2008 after returning to Australia for Pyramid Rock Festival over NYE, Sparkadia travelled back overseas to tour with Jimmy Eat World around Europe. This was followed by shows with Vampire Weekend, as well as their own headline shows across the UK and Europe. Festivals appearances at that time include Glastonbury, T in the Park, V Festival^[25] and Oxegen Festival.^[26] Returning to Australia, Sparkadia supported Faker on their "Are You Magnetic?" tour across Australia, before heading out on their own headline tour.

In 2009 Sparkadia toured Australia as part of the Big Day Out, before embarking on a string of sold out shows across Australia before amicably parting ways as a four piece.

After travelling around the US and Europe, Alexander Burnett finished working on the second album in London with Mark Tieku (Florence and the Machine); playing multiple instruments on the recording. The album came out in out early 2011, with the first single off the album "Talking Like I'm Falling Down Stairs" released in September 2010, coinciding with the Little Red Midnight Remember tour which Sparkadia opened for.

Current members

Alexander Burnett - Lead vocals, guitar, keyboards

Touring band

Edwin "Eddie" Montgomery – Keyboards, backing vocals
Henry Eastham – Lead guitar, backing vocals
Dave Hall – Drums
Bluey May – Bass, chimes, backing vocals

Departed members

In 2008, Ayling moved overseas and was replaced with Tiffany Preece. Ayling is now based in Madrid, Spain, and performs in the three-piece band, Boat Beam.^[27]

Following the national 2009 Big Day Out tour, it was announced that Preece was leaving the band to have a baby.^[28] In April 2009, Hall left the band to pursue other interests, followed by Rabone, who left to concentrate on his work with the Brutal Poodles; Rabone continues to play live for some Australian shows.

Discography

EPs

• 2007: Things Behind the Sun

Studio albums

• 2008: Postcards No. 23 AUS
• 2011: The Great Impression^[29] No. 8 AUS

Singles

• 2007: "Animals"
• 2008: "Too Much to Do"
• 2008: "Jealousy" No. 79 AUS, No. 79 Triple J Hottest 100, 2008
• 2008: "Morning Light"
• 2010: "Talking Like I'm Falling Down Stairs" No. 59 AUS, No. 24 Triple J Hottest 100, 2010
• 2011: "China" No. 66 AUS,^[30] No. 56 Triple J Hottest 100, 2011
• 2011: "Mary" No. 47 Triple J Hottest 100, 2011
• 2011: "Love Less Love"

References

External links

• Official website