May 27th has significant importance to me. It was the date that 3 years ago to the day, I turned a childhood dream, into a vivid and complex story of courage, tears, elation, friendship, belief and loss. It was a personal quest the foundations of which were laid long before I arrived in Australia I 2000.
Nobody in my direct family is even remotely musical. Fans of music, not makers of it you could say. Maybe that's why I was encourage from an early age to drown out the silence of the family home with the nervous and often timid playing of a brand new piano. A form of therapy and escapism from my parents divorce which swirled around me every minute of those years.
The longer I played and the more regularly I took lessons, I found a strange comfort in playing music. It has and to this day, always will be an extremely personal and expressive medium for me. With music, I can communicate, with words they often escape of fail me.
I don't profress to being even remotely talented, but as an individual I've always worn my heart on my sleeve and my music personifies that. My father once said to me (as I protested about taking lessons) that if you can play an instrument, you will always have a friend. That still holds true to this day. I've had many friends, but none more personal and understanding as melody and sound. I always wanted to share my music with an audience, in a subconscious way way I wanted it to be justified as credible I guess.
The actual reality of performing to an audience is both daunting, challenging and incredibly stressful. But when it comes to dreams and ambitions, the build up and bad parts are often edited out. Reality, such as it is, has a way of bringing you back down to earth.
May 27th, 3 years ago wasn't the first time I'd played in front of an audience. It was however, the first time in my life where I felt an energy, a release, a unity, a voice, a prescene and a magic like no other. It felt like a world where everything made sense just for the briefest moment in time.
It's that loss, which today I mourn and reflect on with a sense of pride for what we achieved and an aching feeling of loss for what we let slip so cheaply.
Some of the most recognised bands have all contained a collection of startling different individuals who fused all their life experiences into a unique equation. Janes Addiction, Metallica, Gun N Roses, Queen, Nirvana, The Beatles and U2 – were all comprised of leaders, innovators, the one that held it all together, or the shy yet immeasurably talented member.
Whilst comparing the success we had as the
{STRANGE} to the dizzying heights of those artists would be utterly ridiculous, we did share that gene. A group of individuals, with polar opposite interests, leading totally separate lives working together to create something which vastly surpassed their own individual talents. The sum, greater than its parts. The culmination of working tirelessly, to create and add new meaning to our lives, was ultimately the flaw that undid it all.
Our differences created the band and breathed life into its music, those same differences corroded, damaged and eventually warped that which we worked so hard to build, until none of us recognised it anymore.
(Paradoxically, we never allowed ourselves to be recognised onstage either.)
If you witness our live shows or one of the 30,000 people that have listened to us here on MySpace, I want you to know that behind those masks, behind that music, were 4 people who played every note like it was their last, who spared nothing and who, in the end gave so much, that they couldn't give any more.
The first show is a time in a bands career where you're supposed to be nervous, you're supposed sound awful, you're supposed to screw up.
We didn't. That's was the difference between us and millions of other aritsts.
Magic & chemistry can't be faked or duplicated.
I want to leave you with some of the messages, comments and e-mails we received after that first ever show.
"Last night was, by far, one of the best live shows I've seen ever. Actions really do speak louder than words."
"The band's performance, i always knew just how talented the boys were each in thier individual ways and i knew how tight they were as a band so i got what i expected except it was in real and not just what i thought they would be like in my head. From the mouth of my friend Robert "WOW" (thats the 1st thing he said when the band finished and i turned around to ask him what he thought...he said it even before i asked him anything...and all i said was "YEAH..." With a huge grin on my face...a Huge grin on my face that i couldnt get rid of."
"I can't even begin to express how impressed I was. I've been a few bands first gigs before, and most of the time, they don't reach their potential. When's the next gig? I might go through withdrawals, even this early in the game."
"Woohooooo what a fucking awesome night. You guys kicked absolute ass and your music took me to another place, and THAT is exactly what I look for in a band. If you can do that, then I KNOW ure GOOD!!!"
"Oh sweet Jesus, that was an orgasmic gig, in more ways than one... the playing was tight, the boys looked hot, and the show was generally amazing. I was so impressed... as Sushi said, I stood there with a huge grin on my face for the entire duration of the show (which, incidentally, seemed to be over before it began... more more more required!)"
"The band, whose performance was outstanding, mindblowing to be honest."
"Well done guys, your show was amazing, you're all very talented and your practise and hard work really has paid off. I think a great impression has been left on all who attended!"
"Fantastic debut guys, I along with everyone else in that room was very impressed. Very tight sound and performance, executed with a very proffesional attitude. I enjoyed the visuals, which added a nice touch."
"I found it refreshing to hear something a little different, there aren't too many bands at this level that manage to do that."
"Last night was, by far, one of the best live shows I've seen ever."Sincerely,
Devo