The Idea of North

*WEB JOURNAL #5 - October 2004* Photo Series: Assorted
Where to begin? After probably the busiest nine months in The Idea of North’s history we are powering towards Christmas at an alarming speed. It’s hard to believe it’s already October. It would take up most of this website’s memory space to inform you in detail about what’s happened this year, so this will be a tour through the highlights.
FEBRUARY We had a great time on a tour of North Queensland for Musica Viva’s ‘Countrywide’ program. The four of us, our sound engineer David, a Tarago and our combined CD collection toured Grafton, Ballina, Cairns, Townsville, Rockhampton and of all places, Mt. Isa. Only two of the six venues were equipped with air conditioning, which in February was a struggle to do without, but we lived. I think each of us drank our entire bodyweight in water each day throughout the tour. It was fantastic for our voices though; the humidity was a balm to our throats - we traded temperature comfort for vocal comfort. MARCH The month of March saw us polishing off our fourth CD, Evidence. After six months in the studio with our fantastic studio engineer David Hemming, (yes - our live sound engineer and studio engineer both go by the name of David, or affectionately, Live Dave and Studio Dave) we finally got the recording to the final final final mix. It’s amazing how long it can take to reach a consensus sometimes, especially when suffering from studioitis. Occasionally we’d throw up our collective hands and fire up the barbie in David’s backyard, relieving our stress with snags and Cascade. We found that to be much more productive than arguing over which reverb setting to use for a particular note. Our other March highlight was our first trip to Taiwan, performing in huge concert halls and having flocks of giggling girls surround Nick and Andrew after our performances. More of a highlight for them than for Trish and me! It was fun to be treated like pop stars though.	Sound Check at Chiang-Kai-Shek Memorial Hall, Taipei
APRIL Wedding month! One of my best friends and one of Nick’s cousins each booked The Idea of North as their chosen ceremony entertainment, so two weekends apart we made a trip to Adelaide and attended a couple of beautiful weddings. We always feel very privileged to do what we do, but overlooking the rolling hills covered in lush vines with a glass of Petaluma in one hand and a freshly shucked oyster in the other, it really tends to hit home just how lucky we are. Also in April we had a visit from the A Cappella group we toured with in Slovakia. Close Harmony Friends are an eight piece group who do a great blend of traditional Slovakian folk songs and funky modern arrangements. We had a great time sharing the bill with them on a NSW tour, and look forward to returning to Slovakia this November and sharing the stage once again.
Cheezy grins...even cheezier $8 sunnies (Nick), soaking up the Colorado winter		The third April highlight was the Australian Gospel Music Festival in Toowoomba. It was a huge event, featuring Guy Sebastian, Paulini, and a host of other gospel stars. Unfortunately we weren’t in the same show as the Idol crew, but caught Paulini’s set the night before ours which was great to see. The festival concert was another one of those perspective-encouraging events, with between ten and fifteen thousand people cheering us on. It was a great experience to be introduced to so many new people and to have them respond so enthusiastically. What a buzz! And finally in April we left for the States via Japan, performing once again in the smallest venue in the world in Tokyo. ‘Tasaku Live House’ holds 62 at a pinch; the stage and sound desk taking up as much room as the audience space! Last time we were there we had a cocktail named after us, and sure enough, it was the first thing we were offered upon arrival. It was a short stay though; 24 hours after arriving we were on the plane to the States…
MAY This particular USA tour was primarily to host the finals of the Harmony Sweepstakes; the A Cappella competition we were fortunate enough to win last year. Apart from that engagement we sang at an Anzac Day service in Washington Cathedral (the sixth largest cathedral in the world) and at the Australian Ambassador’s residence in D.C. afterwards (eating lamingtons and anzac biscuits in the States was an experience). We also had a great performance at the Kennedy Center which hosts 365 free concerts a year. The event was webcast live, and our audience was large and responsive. We also premiered a new stage outfit, thereby proclaimed as the Kennedy Center clothes combo (“What shall we wear tonight? Kennedys?”).
We also performed for a church in Colorado and did a couple of interesting gigs in New York City. The first was at the aptly named Bitter End club in Greenwich Village. The odds really were stacked against us when we arrived to find that not only were we not allowed a sound check as the band before us went overtime, but that Dave wasn’t even allowed to change the EQ on the sound desk! And we were following a scream-your-lungs-out-into-the-mic rock band. Needless to say it wasn’t the most comfortable of performance experiences, but we really cut our teeth on the NYC music scene. We think we’re definitely initiated now. The other New York gig was like cheese as compared to the chalk of the Bitter End. A US group called Toxic Audio currently have their own off-Broadway show entitled ‘Loudmouth’, and they invited us to do a support set for them. It was a little unorthodox however, as the set we did was after their show! But most people in the audience stayed around and were very appreciative of the Aussies strutting their stuff. Toxic Audio joined us for the last song which was great fun, just an open jam on what I think was a blues, but it didn’t really matter! The show itself was fantastic; completely sung, not an ounce of dialogue, and extremely original and entertaining. If anyone is in New York and has the opportunity to catch the show, we thoroughly recommend it.	Paying our dues at New York's legendary rock club, The Bitter End
Our primary reason for being in New York was to begin our study with the New York Voices (we were the recipients of an overseas study grant given to us by the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust), a fantastic four piece vocal jazz group who we greatly admire. We had a couple of sessions with them, concentrating on our group sound. They were extremely helpful, encouraging and enthusiastic, and it was a pleasure to be tutored by such good musicians who understood our plight so well. Our repertoire contains one of their arrangements, so to demonstrate their interpretation they got us to sing it with them. That was a thrill! At one point Trish was in heaven, because their soprano Kim wasn’t able to be at the session, and they invited her to be their soprano while they sang that particular arrangement for us. (PHOTO) Almost made me wish I was a soprano! Almost.
Trish sits in with Darmon, Lauren & Peter of The New York Voices		On Saturday the 8th of May we hosted the Harmony Sweepstakes finals in San Rafael. It was an indescribable relief to attend the competition as non-competitors. It was so much fun talking to all of the groups and gearing ourselves up for the hosting duties. I felt like we were at the A Cappella Oscars, appearing in pairs to introduce each contender with a witty remark (some wittier than others). There were some excellent groups there this year, including one from Minneapolis with an Aussie guy in it! We also had some friends from Palo Alto come up to see the show, who thought it appropriate to put in four votes for us in the audience favourite award, even though we weren’t contenders. The final highlight of our US tour occurred the following day. Gene Puerling, master arranger and member of the renowned vocal groups The Hi-Los and Singers Unlimited, granted us an audience at his home near San Rafael. To put this in perspective, it would be like a swimmer meeting Dawn Fraser, or an actor meeting Cary Grant. In short, it was a big deal, and we were jumping out of our skins with enthusiasm (otherwise known as nerves).
Of course, as luck would have it, our rental car chose the journey to his house to give us a flat tyre, which the boys changed with speed worthy of pit stop mechanics. Upon arrival we sat and chatted to Gene over coffee (bombarded him with questions is more accurate) for awhile before singing some of our arrangements for him. He made some comments and got us to try some techniques to expand our tone and improve our blend. He also invited us to sing through an arrangement of his that hasn’t been recorded for years. It was quite surreal sitting at his piano, sight-reading his chart, with him coaching us through it. Can you believe though, in all our excitement, we forgot to get a group photo with him? Oh well, we’ll have to go back and see him again.
The final May highlight was the launch of our latest CD, ‘Evidence’. May was a huge month for us! We spent the remainder of May as well as June and July touring Australia in support of the album, out now on ABC Jazz. Our itinerary was fairly erratic due to when each venue was available, but we managed to get around all of the capital cities except for Darwin and had a fantastic response from all audiences. Thanks to all of you who came to our CD launches and who have purchased our CDs; it was our most successful national tour to date. JUNE & JULY Evidence tour! Also in July we headed back to the States to continue our study tour. It was a combination of solo study and group tuition, each of us spending time with our nominated tutors on such studies as vocal technique, solo training, arranging techniques, improvisation, group sound and business study. It was bizarre ‘going back to school’ for a few weeks, setting out each morning armed with manuscript paper, pens and pencils, a minidisk recorder, notes on previous sessions, our own charts, lunchboxes …	Nick & Andrew's smash repairs...
Between us we saw about ten different tutors, some individually, some in pairs and some as a group. We have now accumulated a ton of knowledge that is gradually being implemented, and I’m sure will continue to affect what we do and how we do it for years to come. There were some striking similarities in comments of different tutors to us as a group that have really made us look at and listen to ourselves with new ears. AUGUST After such an intensive time over the previous six months we chose August to have our annual holiday. Trish and Nick flitted off to Thailand and other parts of Asia with their spouses, I went to Germany and travelled around Europe with my partner, and Andrew took his wife and daughter to his home town of Wollongong. It was a great, and much-needed break.
Dazed & confused in Taiwan...
SEPTEMBER September saw us reforming after our holidays and enjoying some local gigs in Sydney, Wollongong and Canberra. After so much travel it was an indescribably relaxing month. We also introduced our new in-ear monitoring system (a little earpiece that replaces the need for those huge black foldback speakers that obscure the view of the ladies’ high heeled shoes) and are now in the process of fine-tuning and getting comfortable with them. It does somewhat destroy the line of a dress, having the little black box sticking out, but it does make us feel like pop stars, and makes us much more confident in our delivery of a performance. Come along and hear the difference… THE REST OF THE YEAR We’re now working our way through a very busy October, with performances in and around Sydney and Melbourne, and looking more and more forward to a 3-week tour of Europe, and then 2 weeks in Japan & Malaysia coming up in December.
More in 2005! Naomi.

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