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What is an electronic neo Rock band?


Based in Australia, Frank Xavier, Manuel Sharrad and Jamie Stevens are Infusion and they are rocking the globe with their huge sound which is a mix of many Rock sub genres melted together to create a heavy sounding music monster. With the difficulties of creating new sound these days, it is amazing to hear a danceable rock album with innovation and freshness. Sexy pop appeal and an evergreen substance and character. Infusion did it. The trio have tunes and mixes on labels such as Marine Parade and Audio Therapy and that was just a warm up for something bigger. They have now released "6 feet above yesterday" their second LP om BMG records. Premier Sydney newspaper The Sydney Morning Herald described Infusion as "Australia's best live act".

They played at this year's Roskilde Festival (where they were the only Australian act on the schedule) and Creamfields UK, or Glastonbury 2004. Creamfields in Argentina and guest gigs at top UK clubs including Renaissance and Fabric, and a endless touring schedule that sees the trio regularly tripping through Europe, the US and Asia.

I had the chance to meet the three guys in November in the German City Wuppertal where they performed their world clubbing tour.


After your stunning success in Australia with music awards, a high press acclaim and a major deal for your second Album, you opened your first own 12" label Polaroid Recordings. Why did you do that?

I've always been a fan of buying and collecting vinyl even though we¹re not DJs. There is still something about music just for clubs that I find exciting. As we¹ve been travelling around the world, we get given a lot of very cool music and have always wanted other people in clubs to hear it. So, because of the way we have structured our record deal, we own our vinyl releases and decided perhaps the best thing to do would be to set up our own vinyl label.

What about the name Polaroid Recordings?

I called it Polaroid Recording because I felt it reflected the way in which this music on vinyl has a beautiful transience; music that reflects clubs at that moment of that year. The tracks are like snapshots of rhythms and sound textures to be displayed for small amount of time in clubs as opposed to albums that we try to create to be almost timeless.

Do you have an artist roster for Polaroid Recordings aside from Infusion, Josh Wink and Adam Freeland?

We have just signed a brilliant track from Germany by a producer called Frank Beckers and will be remixed by a great house producer from New Zealand, Greg Churchill who releases on Underwater Records. We're also going to look at the fantastic producers on our own doorstep in Australia. We have re-mixes of our own music coming out by Switch, Kiki, Evil9 and KingUnique.

Who is doing all the administration works behind your new label, while you have this global schedule?

It is our manager (Danielle) and my project. It will get rather hectic but I do like to keep very busy and enjoy being able to branch out a little.

Do you really work as a band together? Should this mean it is about democratic decisions, or who is the band leader, if there is any?

We do work very democratically. The tracks we write together will mostly be started by just one of us, worked on to a point then presented to the rest of the band. After that, it usually takes so many twists and turns that sometimes it¹s hard to hear the original idea. Other times we¹ll build on the idea with elements that we¹re all happy with and it more often that not comes out sounding like none of us could have created on our own. We certainly make better tracks working democratically than on our own. The only time one of us will work on a track alone without the other¹s involvement is when we do remixes- the remixes are mostly just done by myself. Our only band leader is Danielle, our manager!

What about your Audio Therapy and Marine Parade engagement now, when you run your own platform? Can we still also expect records from you on these labels?

Now that we are signed to BMG, all our output is owned by them so we can no longer give our music to Audio Therapy or Marine Parade. We will still do re-mixes for them and we are of course still very good friends!"

What are guys like you dreaming of when they are sleeping? Any dreams about what you expect or want to achieve in your life as musicians?

I can't speak for the rest of the band because they are not with me while I write this but I often dream of producing tracks and one can dream amazing sounds and music but is difficult to remember in the morning! I have nightmares about gigs that go badly and turning up late or playing to an empty room, all that kind of stuff. Frank told me the other day he had a dream about making a really cool track, the best he¹s ever written but couldn¹t remember anything about it. That¹s a shame."

What is the main difference of producing your music today and the days when nobody knew anything about you?

You feel a bit more pressure about making something that people will like. It¹s not something that you should think about but when you know people are now taking notice, there is a bit more pressure. However, since all of us began writing music, we have always maintained a standard in our minds and have never released anything that is "just ok" to our ears. For us, we have to be 110% happy with it. Basically, what I am trying to say is, even though there is a little more pressure from knowing more people are listening, we have always put pressure on ourselves to produce the highest quality and most interesting music that we can make. It is a very nice feeling, though, to know that when we work very hard at something, these days it won¹t go unnoticed. We are in a very lucky position.

What kind of bands or producers are you really inspired by?

Anyone who produces music that pushes the boundaries a little and inspires the imagination. We have always loved bands and producers who make music that is hard to put into a category- the music that sits between the cracks. A lot of more "traditional" bands like Radiohead, Elbow, The Flaming Lips, Interpol all have a great balance of emotion, atmosphere and energy and they are the kinds of band we love. The electronic producers we like are the ones that either have an interesting energy or attitude in their sound or a great emotional content. The music can either make you want to jump up and down and make you want to scream or it can make you feel like crying- It just has to be great music that makes you feel. That is the music that is the most inspiring.

Could you please inform me about the musical background of each of you and how you came together as a band?

I began writing music on a Commodore 64 when I was a kid but was never classically trained and slowly built a small bedroom setup from 87-93. Manuel learnt piano and a few other instruments for a very long time and comes from a very musical family. Frank had a little music training (saxophone, piano, drums) but also had a small studio before we ever met. Myself and Manuel went through high school (in Wollongong, a city 2 hours south of Sydney) together and began writing music after school and on weekends. When we finished high school, Manuel and I went to University and I made a lot of my own music and released a couple of tracks through a collective in Sydney called Clan Analogue. Through them I met a lot of people who were making electronic music and that was cool. After meeting them, I spoke to Manuel about the idea of jamming live with studio equipment in front of crowds because I thought it would be a really fun thing to do in about 94 and then we met Frank. Frank was doing an electrical engineering course in Sydney at the time and we got to talking about electronic music when I met him in a music shop. He was into the same kind of music as us (Depeche Mode, Electro, Dutch and German house and techno producers) so I asked if he'd like to write music with us and whether he'd enjoy playing live like we had done for a previous 2 years. He agreed and we've been together ever since!"

Right now the Australian club Infusion is on an 8-month world tour from Russia to Asia to South America and back home. So watch out for Infusion and when they will hit your town very soon, do not miss it!



 

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Interview by Martin Viefhaus for Dtect Magazine and Frederikflanger.com