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11 December 2013
Icehouse still warming By Kate Tarala Playing a show in Belmont made such an impact on Australian legends Icehouse that they’re coming back for more. The band, who had more than 30 top 40 singles including We Can Get Together, Electric Blue, Hey Little Girl, Crazy and the alternative national anthem to Australians everywhere, Great Southern Land, played Belmont 16s in 2011 to mark the release of their 30th anniversary edition greatest hits CD and DVD box set. They also played their debut album Flowers in full at Homebake the same year. Now they’ve announced three shows for 2014. ‘‘It was only a couple of years ago now that we started touring again,’’ frontman Iva Davies said. ‘‘One of the first shows we played was at Belmont Sailing Club and I have to admit it was a bit daunting on the night. ‘‘However, my fears were completely unfounded – the show sold out, the audience were fantastic and we had a ball ... So when I was asked which two clubs we’d like to play in preparation for a big outdoor show we’re playing on [WA’s] Rottnest Island, the choice was easy.’’ Icehouse play at Belmont 16s on March 19 with support from XXX. 7 December 2013 Talk about dedication! Mr. Gildea had a mishap earlier in the day on Wednesday and cut his finger. Still, he played his fingers off at the Melbourne DubHOUSE show! The proof is on the towel shown here after the gig! Hope your finger is healed for tonight's show in Sydney, Paul!
6 December 2013 From Tonedeaf: Icehouse, 4th December 2013 @ The Espy Tonedeaf provided a great photo gallery of 33 pictures from this DubHOUSE show! Here's one to get you started!
5 December 2013 From Noise411: DubHouse treats fans to new twist on Icehouse classics By Karen Black On Wednesday night the Gershwin Room at Melbourne’s renowned ESPY was full of delighted Icehouse fans as they were treated to some unique versions of familiar Icehouse classics done with a dubbed reggae twist.
As the show opened, percussion and vocalist Tony Kopa got the crowd into the spirit with a bit of Bob Marley classics including “Get up stand up” which very cleverly transitioned into “Great Southern Land”. From there they moved into the soulful “Love in Motion” followed by “Electric Blue” which had also had touch of Marley’s “You can be loved” (Say Something) through it. Unlike at most concerts where you can often tell which song the artist is about to sing as soon as you hear the familiar intro, the songs at this show started with a very different dubbed mix which eventually evolved into a familiar Icehouse song. You can tell that the band spent some serious time working out the right mix to go with each song while incorporating the familiar melody and lyrics. DubHouse even performed a rather upbeat version of the song “Icehouse” which I found to be quite interesting since it’s normally a rather darker, somber track but it seemed to work well. Lead singer Iva Davies even did a sweet tribute to the late Lou Reed by performing a bit of his classic “Walk on the Wild Side” which aptly went straight into their New York influenced song “Heartbreak Kid”. DubHouse even managed to incorporate a reggae version of the theme from”Rocky” while performing “Can’t Help Myself” which then segued into “Walls”. A bit of “Buffalo Soldier” then set the scene before going into a very different version of “Street Café” which smoothly transitioned back into Buffalo soldier. They winded things up with a song that Iva said was “one of his favourites” which was Desmond Dekker’s “Israelites” which brought the horn section (Glen Reither and Ben Gillespie) forefront which later transformed into “We can Get Together”. The band did have some unusual & rather funny moments on stage such as when Paul Gildea’s finger cut and a few lighting issues at the encore, but like true professionals- they (buffalo) soldiered on through it. Overall the band played brilliantly and gave their fans a real treat and a special night to remember indeed! DubHouse will be performing again this Saturday, Dec. 7th at Sydney’s Oxford Arts Factory. Set List: Encore: 3 December 2013
by John Standish Sally Warhaft is filling in for Jon Faine while he's on leave. Her co-host is the creator of Raymond J Bartholomeuz, Brian Nankervis, from SBS's RocKwiz. He's hitting the stage for Rockwhiz Salutes Vanda and Young at the Palais Theatre this Sunday (8th December, 2013). Their first guest is Icehouse frontman Iva Davies, who is performing a selection of his hits and some covers with a reggae twist as Icehouse goes DubHOUSE, at the Esplanade Hotel's Gershwin Room tomorrow night (Wednesday 4th December, 2013). If you prefer the songs in their original glory you will need to wait until early January, when Icehouse is back in Melbourne. Then they are joined by luthier and bow maker Paul Shields, who recently returned from his first trip overseas. He went to Kabul to teach stringing bows and instrument repair skills at the Afghan National Institute of Music (ANIM).
1 December 2013 From The Age: How I unwind: Icehouse's Iva Davies By Ed Gibbs Thirty years after Icehouse played the world's biggest stadiums with David Bowie - and conquered Europe and America in the process, frontman Iva Davies, 58, who lives on the Northern Beaches, is radically reinventing the band's classic hits as dub-reggae standards. The event, entitled Dubhouse, will see Icehouse favourites, including Great Southern Land, Electric Blue, Hey Little Girl and Crazy, transformed into Caribbean-flavoured grooves, alongside a clutch of covers and a few surprises. Why turn your hits into reggae songs, 30 years after the fact? It's party music. As soon as people hear reggae, they respond by a) dancing and b) smiling. We've been doing it - in very small ways - as far back as the Bowie tour in 1983. I remember [at a festival] watching Peter Tosh's band with the guitar at the back, going ''chukka chukka''. And I thought, I'd love to be that guy: all care and no responsibility. When I had that conversation with someone about it, they said, ''Well, why don't you do it?'' You've always performed your songs the same way? Pretty much. You have to remember, when we started out, we were a covers band. And one of my things was, "If we're going to do cover versions of classic songs, we'd better do them as faithfully as possible''. You don't muck with legendary songs, recordings, and performances. That was the ethic of the band and still is, to some extent. So this idea came out of nowhere, really. One of your biggest hits, Great Southern Land, became an anthem in the 1980s and defined an era of Australian history. How did that come about? We were on our first international tour, flying across Australia - which I'd never done before - and when I woke up two hours later, it was the same landscape. And it was only then that I had this lightbulb [moment], where I went, ''Oh my God, this place is huge''. I knew [writing the song] was a dangerous thing to do. I took the task of it very, very seriously. Being a conservative person, I'm kind of surprised I took on that challenge. But I've never really understood [the reaction to it], then or now. Your father was also an inspiration? Yes, every time we go through a bushfire season - my father was a forester for 42 years - [I think of] one of the comments he made to me: "Did you know that over half of the native flora of Australia has to be burnt in order to propagate?" That blew my mind. That's how necessary fire is. What a strange evolution that must have been, to have arrived at that point. Do you still write, or have anything about to be released? I don't. There are no leftovers, there's nothing in the vaults. I always got to the point where the job was to write an album: ''There are going to be 13 songs, they're all going to be used, here we go." That was my process. It doesn't occur to me to write a song. I'm not in that machine that's demanding an album every 12 or 18 months. I'm not someone who needs to vent. I'm not a diarist. How do you unwind? I have the great fortune to watch whales. I did surf, less so now. I use old long boards these days. Do you think music means as much to people today as it did in the 1980s? I know through my own children - my daughter's 20, my son is 17 - their generation are huge music fans. They've got the internet, iPods, smart phones - things we never had. I remember being my son's age: I had three LPs, which I'd saved up to buy. He has tens of thousands of songs. Do you have any of those old synths still kicking about at home? I have the original Prophet V, which I used on Great Southern Land, in storage. When I did the soundtrack for Master and Commander [in 2003], I used the software version. They're all plug-ins, little pieces of software that emulate exactly what that machine did. There are no boxes with keys on them any more. 28 November 2013 Iva Davies live By John Donegan Watch Icehouse frontman Iva Davies as he joins the 702 Sessions performing live on Richard Glover's Drive show. The evergreen musician performed the classic We Can Get Together in an acoustic solo performance. 27 November 2013 DubHOUSE performed "Electric Blue" on Today and "Hey Little Girl" on Mornings.
24 November 2013
Icehouse frontman Iva Davies will perform 'Great Southern Land' at Special Olympics By Anna Hitchings Former Epping Boys High School student and frontman of Aussie rock band Icehouse, Iva Davies, will perform his classic "Great Southern Land" at the opening ceremony of the inaugural Special Olympics Asia Pacific Games next month. Davies has been an ambassador for Special Olympics Australia for almost 10 years and has performed at charity fundraisers for several years with his children, Brynn and Evan. The ceremony will see Davies play alongside other Australian icons like Human Nature, Marcia Hines and Anthony Callea. There's a great line up of talent and I think it'll be huge," Davies said. Davies will be backed by the University of Newcastle choir and a big band, choreographed by musical director John Foreman. The ceremony will feature over 2000 local dancers, singers, acrobats, cheerleaders and artists, including many of the athletes themselves. Davies visited his old school last year and directed and performed "Great Southern Land" with several students at Sydney Town Hall. 22 November 2013 Listen to an interview with Iva Davies from Queensland radio station 96.5 Family Radio. His segment starts at 11:24 and goes for about ten minutes. Enjoy! 12 November 2013 Media Release: ICEHOUSE return to Queensland for two exclusive shows with Models as special guests “Ever since the early days of the band, back when we were Flowers, ICEHOUSE has had a great reception from Queensland audiences” enthuses ICEHOUSE frontman Iva Davies. “When we started touring again a couple of years ago I asked myself if that would still be the case. It turns out that whether the venue has been a winery or a theatre or a festival or at pubs and clubs, the answer has been, ‘Yes, they are!’ Everyone associated with the band is looking forward to getting back up there in January, and seeing our friends and fans at the shows.” ICEHOUSE’s catalogue of anthems, hits, musical experimentation and high level of musical dedication has made them a household name in Australia with an amazing eight top 10 albums and over thirty Top 40 singles including We Can Get Together, Electric Blue, Hey Little Girl, Crazy and the alternative national anthem to Australians everywhere, Great Southern Land. They have sales records equivalent to platinum albums locally and internationally. The re-releases of all the albums from the band’s catalogue of recordings plus the platinum-selling White Heat: 30 Hits compilation prompted Davies to return the band to live performances after a 16 year hiatus. The results in 2011 and 2012 were outstanding – sell-out shows, screaming fans, encore performances and a revitalized audience for this iconic band. In October 2012 ICEHOUSE sold out shows in South Eastern Queensland on their Primitive Colours tour and now they’ve been invited back again and as Davies’ comments above attest, the band are looking forward to it. Iva is also pleased that Models will be on the shows as the two bands shared similar beginnings. "We used to see one another all over the country as we developed our sound and they developed theirs. I'm looking forward to seeing and hearing Sean, Andrew, Mark and Barton perform those songs in this new era." So what will the fans see that is different? To that, Davies laughs and says, “We have such a lot of songs to choose from that we can move them around so that each show can be different. Our crew are preparing new visuals and we’ve got a few musical surprises to throw in to celebrate the 2014 Summer. It will be a lot of fun and we look forward to seeing everyone there.” ICEHOUSE with special guests Models Tickets also available from Oztix - 1300 762 545 Re Models: Kelly, Duffield, Price & Ferrie are back to showcase new material and play some old favourites. Models celebrate the musical adventurousness, sly humour and pioneering nature of the early Australian alternative music scene with a sound that is as fresh now as it was then. 2010 saw Models inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame after gaining notoriety in the early '80s with ground breaking mini album 'Cut Lunch', but it was their long player 'The Pleasure Of Your Company' featuring the hit 'I Hear Motion' which cracked it commercially for the band. Now, 25 years after the heady days of massive hits & platinum albums in the '80s, 2014 will see the band release a long awaited album of new material. In December, Models will be previewing new tracks from the album at the upcoming shows and will have a special, limited edition EP for sale at the gigs. This is the chance to see the band back in action, playing the tracks you know and love and some brand spanking new music to satisfy the most hard-core Model fans - it's been years in the making and you won't be disappointed! 8 November 2013 Listen to Iva Davies' interview on Mix 94.5! 8 November 2013 Media release:
Zaccaria are thrilled to announce the second installment of the Rotto Live concert series at Hotel Rottnest with Australian music legends ICEHOUSE performing Sunday March 23, 2014. Tickets go on sale 9am Tuesday November 12 through Ticketmaster. “Perth audiences are always fantastic,” enthuses ICEHOUSE frontman Iva Davies. “We’ve played indoor to hundreds and outdoor to thousands at different shows in WA since we started touring again a couple of years ago. Each time we’ve been there it has been electrifying for us to be up on stage with the audience so enthusiastic from the first note. And now we are getting to come back to do it again, this time at Rottnest Island, a place we’ve not played before.” ICEHOUSE’s catalogue of anthems, hits, musical experimentation and high level of musical dedication has made them a household name in Australia with an amazing eight top 10 albums and over thirty Top 40 singles including We Can Get Together, Electric Blue, Hey Little Girl, Crazy and the alternative national anthem to Australians everywhere, Great Southern Land. They have sales records equivalent to platinum albums locally and internationally. The re-releases of all the albums from the band’s catalogue of recordings plus the platinum-selling White Heat: 30 Hits compilation prompted Davies to return the band to live performances after a 16 year hiatus. The results from 2011 to 2013 have been outstanding – sell-out shows, screaming fans, encore performances and a revitalized audience for this iconic band. ICEHOUSE last played in Western Australia in April 2013 - so what will the fans see that is different? To that Davies laughs and says, “We have such a lot of songs to choose from that we can move them around so that each show can be different. Our crew are preparing new visuals and we’ve got a few musical surprises to throw in to celebrate the 2014 shows. It will be a lot of fun and we look forward to seeing everyone there.” ICEHOUSE About Rotto Live 8 November 2013 Announcement from Zaccaria Concerts: Sunday March 23, 2014 - Hotel Rottnest Zaccaria are thrilled to announce the second installment of the Rotto Live concert series at Hotel Rottnest with Australian music legends ICEHOUSE! ICEHOUSE last played in Western Australia in April 2013 - so what will the fans see that is different? To that Davies laughs and says, “We have such a lot of songs to choose from that we can move them around so that each show can be different. Our crew are preparing new visuals and we’ve got a few musical surprises to throw in to celebrate the 2014 shows. It will be a lot of fun and we look forward to seeing everyone there”. On Sale 9am Tuesday November 12th through Ticketmaster 29 October 2013 From the Sydney Morning Herald: Underestimating the raw energy of Lou Reed By Iva Davies as told to Peter Vincent
My background is as a trained classical musician but in my early 20s a girlfriend exposed me to a lot of music which was regarded by classical musicians at the time as naive, incompetent even, and it opened my appreciation to a vast array of music which didn't necessarily ride on its instrumental or vocal, or even poetic fluency. At first Reed's music seemed chaotic and I thought ''these people barely know how to play these instruments'', let alone become obsessive about the equipment they're using and the sound they're producing. But he was underestimated at that time (including by me) - that Velvet Underground record produced by Andy Warhol [Velvet Underground & Nico] is constantly cited as one of the most influential albums of all time, it had that extra factor that really is the essence of real rock and roll. They were a strange blend of intellectualism and raw energy and that was probably the thing that set them apart. I think what gave Reed more longevity than a lot of others was that beneath that New York attitude was this absolute commitment, almost fanatical, to constantly try to improve himself and produce better and better work. In 1995 I wrote a ballet for the Sydney Dance Company, Berlin, and the backbone of that soundtrack was seven cover versions from artists such as Bowie and XTC and Talking Heads, and the evening concluded with a cover version of the Velvet Underground's All Tomorrow's Parties. I didn't realise when I wrote the soundtrack that to clear the rights for a theatre work you have to get permission from the writer of the composition, which meant trying to get in contact with Reed. It proved to be incredibly difficult, to the point where I was virtually in tears at losing the ultimate moment of the ballet because we couldn't get an answer from anyone. In desperation Keith Welsh, the co-founder of Flowers, sent a cassette to New York and overnight I received a fax back, which reads: ''Regarding All Tomorrow's Parties, congratulations! I couldn't have loved it more! I'm flattered to have such talent interpreting my music.'' I have it framed in my house. Receiving it was an incredible shock because it came directly from a man with the most fearsome reputation among journalists who was also not renowned for his generosity of spirit - and yet it was such an incredibly generous set of words. My son, who is 17 and a huge fan of retro music, sent me a text message today telling me ''that fax will be worth its weight in gold now''. I replied saying ''it always was''. 28 October 2013
28 October 2013 Media Release:
21 October 2013 Media Release:
ICEHOUSE back for another season of exciting performances at The Palms “We had such a great time last January when we played at The Palms for several nights” enthuses ICEHOUSE frontman Iva Davies “The band was in great form after performing several shows throughout the year, the audiences were incredibly passionate and enthusiastic about our music and the venue was a really great way to present a more intimate show than we’d been playing elsewhere. And now they’ve asked us to come back to do it again, we couldn’t be happier!” ICEHOUSE’s catalogue of anthems, hits, musical experimentation and high level of musical dedication has made them a household name in Australia with an amazing eight top 10 albums and over thirty Top 40 singles including We Can Get Together, Electric Blue, Hey Little Girl, Crazy and the alternative national anthem to Australians everywhere, Great Southern Land. They have sales records equivalent to platinum albums locally and internationally. The re-releases of all the albums from the band’s catalogue of recordings plus the platinum-selling White Heat: 30 Hits compilation prompted Davies to return the band to live performances after a 16 year hiatus. The results in 2011 and 2012 were outstanding – sell-out shows, screaming fans, encore performances and a revitalized audience for this iconic band. In December 2012 ICEHOUSE sold out Melbourne’s Hamer Hall and were then invited to perform at the intimate The Palms Theatre at the Crown entertainment complex in Melbourne in January 2013. All these shows sold out well in advance. So now The Palms has invited them back again in what may well become an annual event and as Davies’ comments above attest, the band are looking forward to it. And what will the fans see that is different? To that Davies laughs and says, “We have such a lot of songs to choose from that we can move them around so that each show can be different. Our crew are preparing new visuals and we’ve got a few musical surprises to throw in to celebrate the 2014 Summer. It will be a lot of fun and we look forward to seeing everyone there”. Iva is also pleased that Michael Paynter will be presenting a special guest performance with his own band before joining ICEHOUSE on stage for the rest of what will be a series of very special evenings. ICEHOUSE at The Palms at Crown
20 October 2013 BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!!! 19 October 2013 Iva will be performing at the Opening Ceremony of the Special Olympics 2013 Asia Pacific Games at Hunter Stadium on Sunday 1 December 2013. Also performing: Human Nature, Anthony Callea, Marcia Hines, The McClymonts, Silvie Paladino, Doug Parkinson, Darren Percival and Marina Prior. Tickets onsale now! 15 October 2013 Here's a message from the Icehouse team: 11 October 2013 Here is some very exciting and intriguing news from Mr. Davies!
As ID said, watch this space! 12 September 2013 Message from Iva Davies regarding the new releases from Repertoire Records: Hi everyone. 12 September 2013
Official Press Release: ICEHOUSE issue 2 huge career-spanning remix collections over 49 tracks ICEHOUSE has long been a favourite of the remixing fraternity, the band’s tracks having been blessed with remixes throughout the world, offering what Chris Johnston of The Age dubbed ‘a kind of post-disco, pre-house, percussive dance music’. Released via digitally on Friday September 13th, ICEHOUSE ‘The Extended Mixes Volumes 1 and 2’, spans 49 glorious remix treatments compiled together for the first time. These compilations satisfy the long-held desire of ICEHOUSE fans for an exhaustive collection of mixes which have in the past been cherished rarities. Many compiled here are available digitally for the very first time. ICEHOUSE formed at a time when the extended mix was making its way into popular culture thanks to the sheer characteristics of the 12” format, on which many of these recordings were originally released – spreading one song over 12 inches of vinyl allowed for the creation of longer versions of the track being produced and promoted. Also the width of grooves allowed better reproduction of the bass frequencies dance music is known for so with up to 20 minutes to play with, there was plenty of scope for studio experimentation. Icehouse – The Extended Mixes: Volume 1 combines 24 dance mixes of Icehouse tracks from all over the globe. Spice is added by the fact that different mixes were only available in different territories, making this the first time they have been available together in the one release. Of particular note – ‘Byrralku Dhangudha’ is a unique remix of ‘Great Southern Land’ featuring members of the Indigenous Australian Bangarra Dance Company singing the chorus in their traditional language. Icehouse – The Extended Mixes: Volume 2 compiles 25 remixes, cherrypicking treatments from a broad spectrum of artists such as Buckethead (Brian Carroll – who later joined Guns N Roses), keyboardist Bernie Worrell (of Parliament/Funkadelic reknown) and Manchester’s 808 State. The track selection spans all the way from the US version of the band’s first single ‘Can’t Help Myself’ in 1981 through to 2002’s Lay Your Hands On Me. Rounding out the set is the epic 15 minute ‘The Great Southern Mix’ produced and mixed by acclaimed producer Bill Laswell which ICEHOUSE main man Iva Davies calls a “tour de force”. "When I formed the band in 1977 the extended remix excitement was just beginning to have an impact. By the time our debut album arrived, the 12” format was well established - and over following albums I eventually got brave enough to create my own extended mixes’ remarks Iva. ‘I always looked for interesting collaborators or interpreters of the song; there were many people who took us through unexpected sonic journeys…It’s an exciting experience to hear my songs interpreted by such talented people." Icehouse – The Extended Mixes Volume 1 and 2 are out Friday 13th September. Icehouse – The Extended Mixes Volume 1 Icehouse – The Extended Mixes Volume 2 6 September 2013 Below is a video featuring Iva Davies speaking at an APRA Songwriters' Workshop. Brew a cup of tea, settle down and enjoy! This is a two hour long video clip. 30 August 2013 One more from Repertoire Records - follow the link for more information: 12 Inch Versions and Remixes Volume 2 23 August 2013 From the Los Angeles Times: Meet the wigmaker of Tom Cruise, Johnny Depp and Leonardo DiCaprio By Cristy Lytal "Pop star to wig star" — that's how Bob Kretschmer describes his unusual career path. The former member of the band Icehouse now works as an expert wig maker for films including Fox's "Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters" and Sony's "The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones." "I find the process is the same — music and wig making," he said. "Obviously, it's a different thing you're making, but it's very creative. It's very intense." Kretschmer, 64, who was born in Australia, traces his fascination with music and hair all the way back to Elvis Presley. "As a kid, I always wanted to have hair like Elvis Presley and black hair, like a big bouffant," Kretschmer said. "And I could never get it. I just didn't have the look." VIDEO: Bob Kretschmer - the wig maker Lured by the music scene, he moved to London after high school. There, he met musicians and picked up wig making. He landed a job teaching wig making to the hair and makeup department at the Australian Broadcasting Commission, but he quit to pursue music and tour with the rock band Icehouse during the 1980s. He eventually moved to Los Angeles and returned to wig making, creating his first film wig for Marlon Brando in 1994's "Don Juan DeMarco." Since then, he's made wigs for Russell Crowe in 2001's "A Beautiful Mind," Tom Cruise in 2004's "Collateral," Johnny Depp in the "Pirates of the Caribbean" films, Leonardo diCaprio in 2012's "Django Unchained" and many others. "The last wig I make will be the Elvis wig," he joked. "I don't know who the actor will be." To top it off: To make a wig, Kretschmer creates a cap of fine netting, which is fit to a mold of the actor's head. He performs an initial fitting to make sure the cap is comfortable and devises a detailed plan in consultation with the actor, producers and designers: which color and style the wig will be, how it will fall and swing, how much height it will have and how it will integrate with the actor's natural hairline. "You might use the front or parts of their hair, or you pull their hair through," he said. Then he sits down and ties strands of hair onto the netting, one by one.
Follow the rainbow: For most of his wigs, Kretschmer uses finely textured, non-chemically-treated hair from Eastern Europe. "Hair to me is like mirrors — it reflects color," he said. "It's very hard to dye hair and get some of these colors. From the top of the hair down to the bottom, it's going from dark to lighter. As a wigmaker, I know all the colors in there: there are greens, and there are blonds, and there are yellows. I'm inspired because with natural hair I see all the reflections of color. But if I have to deal with dyed hair, it's just not the same, and it's actually boring. I wouldn't do it. I've got to have those natural colors." Good hair days: For the action-adventure movie "The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones," Kretschmer created locks for the stars Lily Collins and Lena Headey. "Lily Collins, her hair's very fine. She has lovely hair and all that sort of thing, but it would be too much work every day. They wanted her to have fuller hair, so a wig was decided on. And Lena, who played Lily's mother, had dark hair. They wanted to have a bit more red, and she wasn't prepared to dye her hair. So then a wig comes in." Hair today, gone tomorrow: By the time "Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters" went into reshoots, many of the actors had cut or changed their hair. It was up to Krestchmer to re-create their original looks. "There was a girl, and she had long hair. Her hair was beautiful and very soft. So it was a very difficult wig to make and match the color, but it was successful." At his wig's end: For 1996's "The Island of Dr. Moreau," Marlon Brando did not wear his wig in the intended fashion. "I made this beautiful wig," Krestchmer said. "And he decided one day, instead of wearing the wig as it's meant to be, he just turned it upside down and plopped it on his head. He said, 'That's the way I want to wear the wig.' And you watch the movie, and there's an upside-down wig on Marlon. He's a fascinating character. I mean, I feel very privileged to have met someone like that. We spent many hours talking about the strangest things." 26 July 2013 New releases from Repertoire Records - follow the links for more information: 12 Inch Versions and Remixes Volume 1 25 June 2013 Photo of Iva and Paul G at Art of Music Live provided by Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy Australia.
21 June 2013 From the Sydney Morning Herald: Musicians back in the frame for charity gig By Peter Vincent Art driven by great Australian songs is being celebrated with a star-studded performance
The inaugural concert, Art of Music Live, is at the Opera House on Monday night and Iva Davies, Ian Moss, Tim Finn, Katie Noonan, Suze DeMarchi, Josh Pyke and Dragon will be among the 11 performers to tackle 19 iconic Australian songs. Each of those songs was the starting point for artists including Ben Quilty, Nicholas Harding, Reg Mombassa, Wendy Sharpe and Michael Leunig. Proceeds from ticket sales for the concert ($220 a head) also go to the auction's long-time recipient, Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy, which uses improvised live music to build relationships between its therapists and their clients, who are often physically or intellectually disabled. The first Art of Music auction was held in 2006 and has been repeated every two years at the Art Gallery of NSW. The highest price paid for a painting yet was $65,000 for Garry Shead's Shadows Fall, based on the Brewster Brothers' song. Last year, Ben Quilty's Largs Pier Hotel, based on the Jimmy Barnes song, sold for $45,000. All painters and musicians donate their work to the project. Art of Music creative director Jenny Morris started the project ''because I love art and I love music and I thought put them together and make some money for a good cause''. She came up with the idea for the concert because all the attention to date has been on the artworks, but it was time to put some focus back on the songs. The concert will be repeated and is likely to be held every two years (in the off-years for the auctions), at the Opera House. It may also be toured interstate. ''People in the art and music world are so philanthropic,'' Morris says. ''I think painters tend to have a very deep connection with music and musicians very often have that same connection with visual arts. The two [mediums] are organically connected.'' Reg Mombassa, who sings at the concert on Monday and has also painted three works for the auction over the years (including Dirty Creature, based on the Split Enz song, which sold for $18,000 last year), says making a painting from a song ''is an interesting way of arriving at a picture''. ''It certainly gives you some sort of direction and that can make it a bit easier to start because you know what you have to do.'' Mombassa also had his own show open this week at Watters Gallery in Darlinghurst. 19 June 2013 Exciting news about Iva appearing at the Art of Music Live event at the Sydney Opera House! This event will take place on Monday, June 24th. The Art of Music Live 2013 event is a fundraiser for Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy Australia. Also appearing will be Katie Noonan, Tim Finn, Ian Moss, Dragon and more!
13 June 2013 From ICEHOUSE Management: As some of you may know, Iva has a house for sale in Sydney which was where he wrote Great Southern Land. Iva says: "After 32 years I am selling the house in Lilyfield (Leichhardt) where I had the little front bedroom studio in which I wrote Primitive Man (including "Great Southern Land"), Razorback and the Sidewalk album. For anyone who is genuinely looking for an inner west home I can recommend this due to its perfect situation, being a walk to the light rail station, a four minute drive to the CBD, cafe and grocery store three doors away, a quiet street (which has become a cul de sac since the days when I lived there), and also a short walk to the local memorial park. The link features details of the house, and among the photographs at the end of the pictures are one of me in the front bedroom studio in 1982, one from 1983, and one with Glen A Baker whilst filming the documentary "Sacred Rock Sites" in 2006." While most of you may not be in the market for a new home, we thought you might like to connect with this piece of ICEHOUSE history.
12 June 2013 From RWWA: WA Country Cups - Broome's Opening Meeting Highlights See the all the racing and entertainment highlights featuring Australian rock outfit Icehouse at the opening meeting of the Broome racing season. 11 June 2013 From 2UE 954: Iva Davies gets Order of Australia Iva Davies has been recognised in the Queen's Birthday Honours for his contribution to our cultural psyche with the song Great Southern Land. Paul Murray with the Icehouse frontman on his Order of Australia. Listen here. 10 June 2013 A note from ID regarding his Australian Honours award!
10 June 2013 Here are the biographical notes for Iva Davies, from The Queen's Birthday 2013 Honours List: MEMBER (AM) IN THE GENERAL DIVISION OF THE ORDER OF AUSTRALIA 10 June 2013 From 4BC 1116: Iva Davies on Afternoons Iva Davies from Icehouse has been made a Member of the Order of Australia for his work with a range of charities, he talks to Moyd and Loretta. Listen here. 10 June 2013 From 774 ABC: Red and a gong for Iva Icehouse frontman, Iva Davies, explained to Red Symons how to go about getting on the Queens Birthday honours list, after being awarded a gong for his music and community work. Listen here. 10 June 2013 Also from Ten News: Aussie honours list This year's Queen's Birthday list has recognised quiet achievers, to rock stars. Icehouse singer Iva Davies honoured his country through song, and today it honoured him. 10 June 2013 From Ten News: Queen's birthday honours list Celebrated musician Iva Davies and Australian businessman Ross Oakley discuss being named in the Queen's birthday honours list. 10 June 2013 From Billboard: Icehouse’s Iva Davies Feted with Queen’s Birthday Honour By Lars Brandle Iva Davies, frontman of storied Australian alternative rock group Icehouse, has been recognized in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list, published Monday. The artist, whose hits include “Crazy,” "Hey Little Girl," "Great Southern Land," and "Electric Blue,” was named a Member (AM) of the Order Of Australia for “significant service to the music and entertainment industry as a songwriter and performer, and to the community.” Icehouse were one of the biggest acts to break from Australia in the '80s. In the U.K., "Hey Little Girl" was a top 20 hit in 1983 on the Chrysalis label. The band's biggest U.S. commercial peak came in 1988, when "Crazy" (EMI) cracked the top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100, and "Electric Blue reached No. 7. To date, Icehouse has enjoyed more than 20 top-40 singles Down Under, six have cracked The Billboard Hot 100 and five tracks have appeared in the U.K. top 75 chart. The group has landed eight studio albums in the top-10 in Australia -- for 28-time platinum certification. Icehouse’s legendary status was confirmed in 2006 when it was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame, being described as “one of the most successful Australian bands of the 80s and 90s.…With an uncompromising approach to music production they created songs that ranged from pure pop escapism to edgy, lavish synthesized pieces.” In that year, the group’s 1987 album was still the highest-selling album in Australia by a homegrown band. Davies has composed for films, ballet, TV and special events and for many years he’s worked as an ambassador and fundraiser for various charities, including the Salvation Army, Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy Australia, the Special Olympics and Music Assist. In 2009, after more than a decade in hiatus, his act returned to the stage for the 2009 Sydney leg of the Sound Relief bushfire benefit concert. Davies reunited Icehouse in 2011 and rolled-out a re-issue program, starting with the seminal debut “Icehouse,” (the band was then known as Flowers). A hits set, “White Heat,” opened at No. 5 on the ARIAs albums chart in August 2011 and was gold-certified within two weeks of release. The single “Great Southern Land” returned to the singles sales chart. The awards—a system established by Queen Elizabeth II of England and the commonwealth states, which include Australia, in recognition of special achievements by the country's citizens—usually coincide with Queen Elizabeth II's birthday. Davies is the most prominent musician in this year's list. 10 June 2013 From abc.net.au: Icehouse frontman Iva Davies recognised with Queen's birthday honour Icehouse frontman Iva Davies has been recognised with a Queen's birthday honour for his service to the music and entertainment industry, and his charity work. Watch the video here. 10 June 2013 From ABC News 24: Hundreds recognised with Queen's Birthday honours Watch the video here. It includes a short interview with Iva about halfway through the piece. 10 June 2013
Davies among arts elite honoured Iva Davies was front and centre of one of the most successful Australian bands of the 1980s, before inexplicably disappearing without a trace in the mid '90s. If he hadn't reunited Icehouse in 2011, he night never have received his appointment as a Member (AM) of the Order of Australia for significant service to music and entertainment as a songwriter. After Icehouse disbanded in 1995, Davies holed up in his home studio, threw himself into writing scores for films (Master & Commander), the Sydney Dance Company and a Millennium performance piece called The Ghost of Time, which centred around the Icehouse song, Great Southern Land. For all intents and purposes, it seemed as if he had turned his back on pop music for good. Then, after 17 years, Davies announced a secret gig at the Esplanade Hotel in St Kilda to gauge the reaction to a comeback. Fans turned up in droves and the huge response prompted further dates and a tour in celebration of the anniversaries of the band's two biggest albums, Primitive Man and Man Of Colours. "Part of the reason we did that show was basically to see if there was still interest in the band," Davies said at the time. 10 June 2013 From The Age: Cool rocker with a social conscience Ivor Arthur (Iva) Davies, AM One of Australia's most successful and enduring rock stars, Iva Davies says he is ''overwhelmed'' by being named a member in the general division of the Order of Australia for significant service to the music industry. ''It is absolutely extraordinary. I haven't even told my children yet. I can't wait to hear their response.'' Davies, 58, studied at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music before joining a pub covers band that would become Icehouse. The band spawned eight top-10 albums and 30 top-40 singles in Australia and multiple top-10 hits in Europe and North America. Davies was only 26 when he wrote the band's hit single, Great Southern Land. ''It mystifies me now that I was thinking about issues of sovereignty and the environment at such a tender age,'' he says. ''Those issues are close to my heart.''Davies supports a wide range of charities and initiatives including Landcare Australia, Living Ocean, Coastcare and Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy. ''My career has been largely accidental,'' he says. ''To be acknowledged like this is a great honour.'' 10 June 2013 From The Australian: Chart hits and charity praised By Iain Shedden Iva Davies is mystified about how Great Southern Land, the song he wrote 31 years ago for his band Icehouse, became such an Australian pop classic. "I'm as baffled today as I was back then about its success," the 58-year-old singer, songwriter and composer said. "The way people immediately reacted to it was incredible." Davies, who today becomes a Member (AM) of the Order Of Australia, has had many successes since that 1982 hit and in many different facets of the music industry, including composing for film, ballet and Olympic events. His Queen's Birthday honour is not just for his music, however -- Davies has been recognised for his services to the community as well. The Sydney-based singer has worked for many years as an ambassador and fundraiser for a number of charity organisations, including the Salvation Army, Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy Australia and Music Assist. "The career in music has given me the platform to be able to help in that way," Davies said. "The Salvation Army Red Shield appeal is launched every year on the same day as my birthday, so I generally spend all of my birthday launching their campaign. They are fantastic people." Davies said while Great Southern Land was his proudest moment as a musican, he was grateful for being able to work in fields other than pop music. He composed the music for the Australian movie Razorback and won awards for his work on Peter Weir's Master and Commander. Davies also composed music for the Sydney Dance Company's ballets Boxes and Berlin. Composing in Hollywood wasn't his favourite endeavour. "I dipped my toe in the water," he said of working on Weir's film. "It's incredibly interesting and a particular discipline; you're writing for the director, not yourself." Davies's biggest regret in his career is that he had to turn down an offer to go on tour in Europe with British singer Peter Gabriel at the beginning of Icehouse's international success, albeit because the band had a tour with David Bowie at the same time. "I always regret that, because Gabriel -- like Bowie -- is an artist I really admire." Icehouse, whose other hits include Electric Blue and Hey, Little Girl, has enjoyed a renaissance following the rerelease of its catalogue last year and a national tour. Today, however, is one of his proudest moments. "It's among the highest honours you can be given by your country, so that's pretty significant," he said. "I'll be telling my children that they have to refer to me now as Sir Iva." Also honoured today is Mike Brady, composer of AFL anthem Up There Cazaly, who has been made a Member (AM) in the General Division of the Order of Australia "for significant service to the community, and to music as a composer and performer". IVA DAVIES 10 June 2013 From Courier Mail: Queen’s Birthday Honour for Great Southern Land boy Iva Davies By Kathy McCabe; Photo by Toby Zerna
Also made a Member of the Order of Australia for his work with a range of charities including the Salvation Army, Davies said he remembered being shocked by the reaction the song provoked from friends and fans. >He had just returned to Australia from the band’s first international tour and got to work on the next album, writing the song while wearing headphones in his Leichhardt home to drown out the noise of the planes and buses. While his team were blown away by the ambitious piece, releasing it as a single was a great risk in the nascent era of FM radio because it went for more than five minutes. Radio stations hated playing anything over three and a half minutes. “The first playback was on 2JJ and after George Wayne played it, there was this massive silence and then he groaned and said ‘I don’t know about that.’ I was absolutely gutted,’” Davies said. “Up until the millennium I was more associated with Electric Blue but for some reason after that, Great Southern Land came on fire again.” Even as Icehouse continues to play to packed houses and Davies considers the possibility of another record, the AM award also has him casting is mind back. Back to playing oboe in the orchestra for the first opera staged at the Sydney Opera House. And then to playing in covers band on Friday nights while juggling cleaning jobs. “It is quite surreal as I still imagine myself 30 odd years ago in a covers band on a Friday night, which was a great life — but I had to keep my cleaning job for a long time,” he said. 10 June 2013 CONGRATULATIONS to Iva Davies! He has been made a Member of the Order of Australia! 31 May 2013 From ABC Kimberly: Icehouse founder Iva Davies returns to Broome By Vanessa Mills Iva Davies is keen to feel the red dirt under his feet again, 23 years after his last fleeting visit to Broome. There's awards and accolades, the Hall of Fame inductions, sell out concerts across the world, record breaking album sales, and top 10 hit after hit. It's an extraordinary 30 year career for a boy who was very good at playing oboe in the school orchestra. Iva Davies and Icehouse have produced songs that will remain part of the Australian music scene for years to come. Just as well then that Iva's application to the Conservatorium of Music to become a piano tuner never got taken up; his band Flowers began getting success with their debut album and the rest is music history. The accomplished musician had potential in a classical orchestral career, since he was skilled in a number of instruments and score writing, but Iva laughs as he describes another important moment in his life. "I had the great fortune for my older brother to leave to go London and leave behind his guitar, which was a mistake... and so over a summer holidays I taught myself to play the guitar and from that point on I had a very strange life." Away from the rock stage, Iva is involved in a number of charities, such as Music Assist and the Special Olympics. A particular annual highlight for him is being involved in the Salvation Army's Red Shield Appeal - always on his birthday. Iva Davies also writes soundtracks for film and television, crafts music for ballet, and admits he's one of the most nervous performers ever prior to a concert! But depsite the pre-show nerves he is very much looking forward to the Broome concert on the Cable Beach foreshore. Listen to Iva Davies reflect on Icehouse and his broad musical career with Vanessa Mills for ABC Kimberley Mornings. 28 May 2013 From The West Australian: Icehouse up and running for Broome By Ben O'Shea Uluru might be the inspiration behind Icehouse’s 1982 classic Great Southern Land but songwriter Iva Davies admits his first real taste of red dirt was a visit to Broome in 1990. The admission makes the seminal Australian band the ideal choice to headline Sunday’s inaugural Cable Sounds, a concert timed to coincide with the opening weekend of the Broome horse racing season, which culminates in the Broome Cup on August 17. “The irony of it is that the first time I’ve ever been to Uluru in my life was last year,” Davies said. “It was an incredible experience but I felt almost guilty after all these years having written that song and not been to that place.” After forming in Sydney in 1977 under the name Flowers, Icehouse became one of Australia’s most successful acts of the 1980s, releasing hit LPs such as Primitive Man and Man of Colours, which in turn spawned beloved singles such as Great Southern Land, Electric Blue and Crazy. The group returned to the stage in 2011 after a 20-year hiatus and have been wowing fans, old and new, ever since, including those who attended a stunning Kings Park show last year. The Cable Sounds gig, complete with an elaborate audio-visual component, will be one of the most ambitious held in the historic Kimberley town. Though Davies hasn’t finalised the set list, punters can expect a greatest hits package. “It will be, but we are also in the fortunate position of having more greatest hits than we can actually fit into one show, so therein lies the variation,” he said. The concert has been funded by the Royalties for Regions program and is part of a State Government initiative to enhance the peripheral activities around racing in Broome, Bunbury and Kalgoorlie. 22 April 2013 From Noise11: Icehouse Play Stone Music Festival SETLIST By Paul Cashmere; Photo By Ros O'Gorman The Icehouse reunion is continuing with a performance at Sydney’s Stone Fest on Sunday.
Iva Davies has been mentoring Melbourne singer songwriter Michael Paynter since reactivating the Icehouse brand to the point where Michael’s lead vocal on ‘Man of Colours’ is becoming a centrepiece of the show. The song has evolved live in the two years since this band went back on the road. Halfway through the song Michael hands back the vocals to Iva to conclude. Original drummer Paul Wheeler is in the band and guitarist Paul Gildea takes on a maestro-like role. Icehouse performed a stripped down set for the show to fit within the time allocated before headliner Billy Joel took to the stage. The setlist was: We Can Get Together (from Icehouse, 1980) 22 April 2013 Spellbound was very saddened to hear the news of the passing of Chrissy Amphlett. We wanted to share with everyone the following statement from Iva Davies: "It is with great sadness that we have received the news of the passing of Chrissy. Chrissy and the Divinyls played with us on scores and scores of occasions and I was always a great admirer of her as both a writer and a performer. Chrissy did me the great honour of recording her version of one of my songs, "Love in motion", in the early nineties. She made the song distinctively hers, with her own smoking, seductive and unmistakable style. I was recently asked by The Age to nominate my choice of the Top 10 Australian singers of all time. Chrissy was among my choices, of course. She was a pioneer, and a great spirit." Today we are sharing the wonderful work that Iva and Chrissy did together. Chrissy left us far too soon but let's hope she is truly at peace. 31 March 2013 Iva and Paul G performed an acoustic set of three songs, aired on Mix 94.5 today, Easter Sunday. Listen to the songs here, or listen to the interview in three parts below: 15 March 2013 We have confirmed with ICEHOUSE management that there is a new show to announce! ICEHOUSE will be hitting the stage at the Cube in Campbelltown, NSW! 27 February 2013 From Perth Now: Icehouse to perform under the stars in Broome Timeless Australian band Icehouse is set to perform at one of the most picturesque locations in our great southern land. The 1980s legends will headline the Cable Sounds concert at Broome's Cable Beach Amphitheatre on June 2nd, to celebrate the opening of the Broome Racing Carnival. Frontman Iva Davies says he first visited the town in the 1990s, and it made a big impression. "I'd heard about the beauty of Cable Beach and had seen many pictures and commentary about the intensity of the red soil. However, nothing could have prepared me for the real thing - the vivid colour of the landscape, the friendliness and hospitality of the people and the sense of being in a very old and special place is everywhere - I loved it," Davies said. "And now I'm glad to be headed back there and to show the band and crew another exquisite part of the Australian landscape. To play our songs under the stars in such a magnificent location will be magical.” 26 February 2013 More exciting news out of the ICEHOUSE! The band will be headlining the Cable Sounds concert on June 2nd! The concert will take place at the Cable Beach Amphitheatre in Broome, WA. This concert celebrates the opening of the Broome Racing Carnival. Tickets go on sale on Thursday, March 7th. Tickets can be purchased through Ticketmaster or Mellen Events. 21 February 2013 From the Sydney Morning Herald: These Aussie anthems rule (Oh, Khe!) By Peter Vincent The newly announced Stone Festival is the latest, and biggest, event aimed squarely at the huge music nostalgia market. It's no concidence, then, that several of the acts playing the April 20-21 festival have in their repertoire that ultimate musical weapon, an "unofficial national anthem". The festival is headlined by brilliant, but now slightly saggy stadium rockers Van Halen, and '80s hit master Billy Joel, who has sold 150 million records. But the highlight for many of the Stone Festival audience (dare we call them "Stoners"?) will be those songs which have transcended the realms of the mere "classic" and been accepted by the public as some kind of narrative on Australian identity. Jimmy Barnes will probably be lynched if he doesn't dish up a rousing Khe Sanh on April 20, day one of Stone – no matter that it's the bawdy tale of an embittered ex-serviceman. (Or perhaps because of that.) Barnes can also expect 100 per cent crowd participation for Working Class Man, Flame Trees and Forever Now, although they're not quite as beloved as Khe Sanh. You can also count on the Choirboys' Run to Paradise to move even the tone-deaf among concertgoers to join in a giant-sing-along, and ritual waving-of-the-lighters (or smartphones as its now). There is speculation John Farnham may also be added to the Stone Fest bill. No matter that his classic You're the Voice is one of the most overplayed songs in the history of Australian radio, just try not joining in if Farnesy makes an appearance. Other acts confirmed on the line-up include Icehouse, Ian Moss, Guy Sebastian, the Living End, Mark Seymour, Noiseworks, Diesel, the Superjesus and Shannon Noll. When Icehouse play day two of the festival, April 21, their 1982 new-wave track Great Southern Land will receive the biggest cheer, even though Electric Blue sold more. It was only after Sydney's millennium celebrations, Iva Davies says, when Great Southern Land was re-imagined as a 25 minute opus (called The Ghost of Time) that the song assumed the cultural significance it enjoys now. Last year Tourism Australia and Davies combined to release a 30th anniversary clip. "In my mind it was just the first song of 10 that I presented to the record company for the follow-up to our previous album, Flowers, and they reacted immediately," Davies says. "That was a complete surprise to me and to be honest it's been taking me by surprise ever since. "The more time passes, and the more entrenched [Great Southern Land] becomes in the psyche of Australia, the more of a mystery it becomes to me." Although he's played the song "thousands" of times it's no millstone – despite the weight of the "unofficial national anthem" tag, which he calls "an extraordinary thought" ... "It's very very flattering." It remains an essential song to the band in more ways than one – it's also their "go-to soundcheck song". "Of all the songs we've done, we know that if we get it right in soundcheck when we tune our stage sound [the show] is going to be OK." Davies still has a soft spot for the song because of how personal it was to him at the time: "I got very homesick on my first international tour ... [when I wrote it] a lightbulb went off in my head on the sheer scale and ancientness of the land." Does he get sick of playing "the hits", as so many artists do? "A big contributing factor to the amount of enjoyment I still get is how they are received. Electric Blue [co-written with John Oates] is a great example of that. "I've invested a lot more personally in other songs ... but playing Electric Blue live to an audience who knows it backwards is a blast." So after more than three decades, is the buzz of playing live as intoxicating as it once was? "The experience is still equal parts terror and excitement. I've never walked onto a stage in a blase and relaxed manner and I never will." 20 February 2013 Great news! ICEHOUSE has been added to the lineup for the inaugural Stone Music Festival!! It will be held at the ANZ Stadium, Sydney on April 20th and 21st. ICEHOUSE is slated to appear on Sunday, April 21st. Tickets are on sale as of today! Please go to the Stone Music Festival website to purchase tickets. 14 February 2013 An exciting announcement from Icehouse! Hi Everyone in Perth and WA. We've been invited to perform at one of the NOCTURNAL series of concerts at Perth Zoo. We'll be there with special guest Mark Seymour and his band on April 5. The last time we played outdoors in Perth was a very exciting event for us so we are looking forward to a special evening. The event organisers have advised us that tickets will be on sale from Feb 21st via Ticketek Australia. We look forward to seeing you there!
23 January 2013 From SydneyNYEFans: The Ghost Of Time Mini Documentary 'Confronted with turning 'Great Southern Land', a seminal song about the nature of Australia, into a 40 minute composition, Iva Davies developed the idea of drawing together composers and musicians from all over the world to produce a complex collaborative work. The idea was to turn 'Great Southern Land' into a piece of music which, in the minutes before midnight when the clock turned over from 1999 to 2000, was performed on the Northern Forecourt of Sydney's Opera House. It was broadcast around Australia on the Millennium Eve and then it became part of Australia's contribution to the vast international Millenium Eve celebration which was broadcast live worldwide. Using a rewritten and expanded version of 'Great Southern Land' as the composition's centrepiece, Davies had called upon a number of musician-composers to develop the larger work 'The Ghost of Time'. Richard Tognetti, virtuoso violinist and Director of the Australian Chamber Orchestra, had collaborated extensively on the piece. Award winning Australian composer Christopher Gordon has written additional material inspired by the long, 'endless horizon' opening to the original song. The Japanese avant techno unit Rom=Pari also contributed as is ex-Icehouse turned Pink Floyd bass player Guy Pratt and a group of Taiko drummers. The composition was performed on Millennium Eve by a musical 'group' comprising the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Richard Tognetti on electric violin, Guy Pratt on electric bass, Rom=Pari, a group of Taiko drummers and Iva Davies on vocals and electric guitar. The performance was also accompanied by the 'Harbour of Light' Lantern Parade, a parade around the harbour foreshore of giant sea creatures, each the size of a 3 storey building, made from silk and steel and lit internally. 'The Ghost Of Time' was also released on CD in the weeks prior to the end of 1999. 'The Ghost of Time' gives notice that Iva Davies is moving into a new phase in his career' - City Of Sydney 1999 This mini documentary, produced as part of 'The Opera House Project', celebrates the musical composition of 'The Ghost Of Time' and the dedication and hard work that it brang to make Sydney the New Year's Eve Capital of the World on the 31st December 1999. Footage from 'The Opera House Project' and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 16 January 2013 From Musicfeeds: Icehouse – From Charts To Culture By Marc Zanotti Icehouse have long since transcended the charts and become a part of Australian culture. Their 1982 single Great Southern Land is so ingrained in this country’s consciousness that even an Australian with no interest in music would most likely recognise its spacial tones. The single celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2012, along with the album it was lifted from, Primitive Man. During the same year Icehouse’s most commercially successful album, 1987's Man of Colours, turned 25. To celebrate the event Icehouse embarked on the Primitive Colours Tour, which saw mainstay Iva Davies and co. return to smaller venues, similar to the ones where the storied band first made a name for themselves. Perhaps the most remarkable thing about Icehouse is that despite being an 80′s band, their music has not dated. Hit’s such as Electric Blues, Hey Little Girl and My Obsession continue to grab the attention of a younger generation, much to the surprise of Davies himself. The day before Icehouse took the stage at the recently passed Trevor Festival on Phillip Island, Davies took the time to reflect on the career of Icehouse and why the music still stands up. Music Feeds: How was the Primitive Colours Tour, did it exceed your expectations? Iva Davies: Yes, because as a matter of fact we’re about to do a second leg of it – which we’ve called The Encore Tour – because we sold out to the extent that, especially in Victoria, we very much underestimated the demand. We’re about to do five shows in Victoria to revisit that, and Queensland as well. So yes, we did rather underestimate the reaction (chuckles). MF: Icehouse probably could have sold out a stadium tour. Was making Primitive Colours a pubs and clubs tour an important decision to tap back into the band’s roots and recapture certain energy? ID: I think what we did last year was predominantly – in the early part of the year and also previous to that – outdoor, large festival type shows. And they’re great fun, and certainly one of the [festivals] we did in the middle of the Primitive Colours Tour was in fact the closing ceremony of the Masters Games in Alice Springs, and that was strangely enough a huge night. I don’t actually have figures on the number of people there, but it looked to me around about 10,000. [It] was a great night, but that’s something we’ve been doing for a while now, so the opportunity to get back into smaller venues was an interesting one, because the band has a different kind of energy. They’re both great fun to play, but a kind of outdoor festival type show is a different thing than a club or a theatre. MF: What is it about those two albums, Primitive Man (1982) and Man of Colours (1987), that still holds up and resonates with people? ID: Well, it’s not a question I can answer very easily, because it has been a surprise to me. And the other thing that is a surprise is the content of our audience, who are in their twenties – probably weren’t even born when those songs were released. The only explanation I can have for that I sort of glean through my children, who are 19 and 16. And that’s that the world of technology has changed so much that we now have a generation of people who not only can access music historically, but have great interest in going back and finding out what happened in the 80s and the 90s and the 70s and the 60s. And so that’s been the surprise for me. MF: You give a lot of credit to the modern day accessibility of music, but do you give yourself any credit for writing truly memorable songs that have stood the test of time? ID: Well, thank you. Yes, I suppose so. I remember, for example – and I don’t know how much this may have influenced the way the songs have worn – that I was very mindful of the fact that a lot of what was going on around me (especially in the world of synthesizers, which opened up in the 80s) – that there [were] a great number of sounds that I thought to myself at the time, ‘This is going to date very badly, avoid at all costs.’ (chuckles) I actually made quite conscious decisions along the way, especially when we were recording, to avoid some things that were highly fashionable then, and I’m very glad that I did. I think it’s possibly served to make the recordings weather better. Having said that, you know, my son and I in fact are huge fans of Pink Floyd. Now of course those recordings were made in the 70s, and of course The Beatles and Rolling Stones – those recordings are made in very distant times in terms of technology, and still they sound fantastic. And so I think it’s possible to do that. MF: Are you accepting of the fact that Icehouse were pioneers of electro and new wave music in Australia and serve as an influence for many bands and artists today? ID: A peculiar thing seems to be happening in terms of the 80s, and I never thought I’d see the day, but the 80s seem to be an entirely influential period, and there have been quite a few young bands, strangely enough or interestingly enough. I was sent an interview quite recently by a couple of guys from the band, The Killers, who cited Icehouse as an influence. And I found that extraordinary because my son had introduced me to The Killers when he was around about 14. I was really quite shocked to discover the music had travelled that far, and down another generation. MF: Did listening back over Primitive Man and Man of Colours bring up any memories of a piece of equipment that you had a love/hate relationship with? ID: Almost every album has associated with it a certain piece of technology. In fact, it became kind of a running joke in the band that before I wrote an album I’d have to have a new toy to play with. I can very clearly mark each of the collections of songs with a new gadget. For example, Primitive Man … the first song I wrote for that was Great Southern Land. And I had a number of pieces of new technology, but primarily the one that was driving that album was a thing called a LinnDrum, which was the first drum machine that actually used digital samples of real drums. In actual fact, so much so that Great Southern Land is actually a song that runs a 120 BPM, which is the default tempo of the LinnDrum, because at that stage I hadn’t even learnt how to speed it up and slow it down (chuckles). MF: Primitive Man is the second album from Icehouse, but it originally started off as a solo project. What led to you deciding to turn it over to the band? ID: Well the thing was that the collection of songs [for] Primitive Man was in some ways an accident, because bear in mind that the first album, the Flowers’ album, had really the first songs that I had written. But they had been written over a fairly long period of time and kind of introduced into our live set. So I guess it was probably from two-and-half years of performing that I added those ten songs. Now that’s not a lot of songs, but they were the first songs that I had ever written, and then of course I had the prospect of, suddenly out of nowhere, producing a set of songs for a follow-up album to what was the highest selling debut album of any Australian band: the Flowers’ album. And that was an incredibly daunting prospect for me. I really didn’t have a clue what I was doing. So that’s why I used that technology to sit down with and play with. And there wasn’t really a plan to do it on my own; it was just a way in which I thought I needed to work to write songs. [I] ended up writing them, playing everything on the demo recordings myself, and then the suggestion was to go into the studio and re-record them on my own. But of course we needed to showcase those songs once they were recorded, and of course being a product of the studio, they actually required a different lineup. For example, we immediately knew that we would need two keyboard players. There were just so many keyboard parts on those songs that it couldn’t be done with one set of hands, and similarly a second guitarist. So that’s where the band was expanded into a six-piece band, where it had previously been a four-piece band. MF: Last year Great Southern Land turned 30 years old. When did it first dawn on you that Great Southern Land was more than a song and had become a part of Australian culture? ID: It’s been a constant surprise to me, but I guess I knew something was going on with that song. I didn’t understand it myself and I never really have, but I certainly remember the way people reacted to it immediately. I remember taking that original demo, which is very similar sounding to the final recording, to our little independent record company Regular Records and to our managers at the time, and both of those people immediately reacted to it in a way that I didn’t expect at all. So as time has worn on over the years, I guess it’s constantly surprised me. What’s most surprising, I guess, is that it’s so recognised even after 30 years. And in actual fact it gives me great pleasure when, for example, I see the Australian cricket team enter an oval and they play Great Southern Land. I think it’s quite amazing; I’m still shocked, really (chuckles). MF: When performing songs that have lived with you for so long, where does your mind go. For example, when playing Hey Little Girl, does it spark the memory of whoever inspired the song or perhaps does it take you back to how the song was written? ID: I guess all of those things, but also a lot of these songs have a history associated with them too. So for example, if somebody mentions Hey Little Girl to me, I guess my immediate memory is of not only writing the song but of where it came from – which is a story in itself, because it was a bit of an afterthought. In fact, I was actually instructed: we’d completed the whole album and the record company in America said, ‘Well, we haven’t got a single yet. You need to go back and write something’. And of course that was the last thing I was prepared for, but out of that process came Hey Little Girl. But the other thing I associate with it too was that it was really the first thing that was a major success for us internationally. So it was a number one in Europe and we ended up on Top of the Pops in Britain and things like that. So a lot of those songs have very particular memories attached to them. MF: Man of Colours spawned five top 30 songs, and Electric Blue went Number One, as did the album. Commercially speaking, it was the most successful Icehouse album, but for you, is that album Icehouse’s best work? ID: Look, I have an affection for all sorts of things, but certainly of course you’re quite right. I mean there was no doubt about the commercial success of Man of Colours. I think one of the interesting things about it was that the year that it won the ARIA for the highest selling album, it also won the ARIA for the best album. And the best album category was voted for by the industry, and I think almost in the entire history of the ARIAs there hasn’t been an album that has won both the critics’ choice and the public’s choice. And that to me is something of which I’m very proud, because it seems to me generally speaking that you’re either a favourite of the critics or you’re a high seller, but never both of them at the same time. MF: You’ve said don’t feel Electric Blue is the song that best represents Icehouse. Which song would you say does best represent the band? ID: Well, it’s very hard to go past Great Southern Land. Being the song with the history that it has, and I suppose if I had to make a choice of any of my children it would have to be that. On the other hand, there are other songs that have a particular thing for me about them. I think one that is very outstanding for me is the song Man of Colours itself, mainly because it felt as if it had already existed in a parallel universe and it’d been channelled to be a complete song. It was so fast, the writing of that song, and it is in some sense autobiographical as well. So I have a particularly soft spot for that song, just because of the way it was kind of given to me. MF: Man of Colours, Nothing Too Serious, My Obsession, Crazy, and Electric Blues are all off the same album. What were the circumstances that led to such a creative peak when you were writing Man of Colours? ID: I think I’d been working in partnership with our lead guitarist Bob Kretschmer for some time. And so we started off writing the fourth album Measure for Measure together, but also at the same time we were writing my first ballet for the Sydney dance company, Boxes. By the time we got to writing the next album [Man of Colours] Bob and I had a fairly professional kind of businesslike way of going about things. And I by then had sort of mastered the 24-track equipment that I was using in my little house in Sydney. And we’d also developed very strong work ethic, and at that point I guess we were kind of a well-practiced professional team at producing songs. So I look back on that period as just really kind of succeeding out of practice. I suppose that was the thing, we’d worked together so much that when we sat down to write things together it was a case of, ‘Right, let’s start and we’ll put the phone back into the wall in a weeks time when I’ve got a full recording of this thing.’ MF: In theory there’s no reason why Icehouse couldn’t record another classic album, but when longstanding musical acts write new material it is often dismissed as being inferior to past work, without being based on individual merit. Do you think writing a memorable song or album is as much about timing as it is creativity? ID: I think there’s certainly an amount of… yes; I think certainly that does factor into it. Even artists like Bob Dylan for example. I heard a recent track of his only about a week ago and had exactly that thought myself: that his history is so much pinned to a certain time and a certain environment, especially with somebody like Bob Dylan, that you can’t disassociate him from the protest movement, and the Vietnam War and a whole lot of other things that were going on at the time. So I think it’s very difficult for people to transcend that. Having said that, there’s no logical reason why a song that Bob Dylan might write tomorrow might not be as good as anything he’s done in the past. So it’s a tricky one. Fortunately, it’s one I don’t have to confront at the moment because I’m not in the writing mode (chuckles). MF: You come across as such a humble bloke. What’s been the key to remaining modest despite all the success of Icehouse? ID: Right at the very beginning I – like most musicians, like most writers, like most aspiring artists of any description – had benchmarks, had people whose work I admired enormously. And in a sense my process over the years has just been trying to achieve something, which I thought was as good as the best Bowie song, or the best Peter Gabriel song, or the best Beatles song, or the best Rolling Stones song, or the best Pink Floyd song. Even after all this amount of time and the success we’ve had, I still have to remind myself that I probably have achieved that very little, if [I’ve] got anywhere near it. I saw a documentary a couple of nights ago on The Rolling Stones and it was just extraordinary, really, the kind of quality of what they did in a performance and what they did in the studio, and the songs. So while there are those sorts of examples of people who have achieved great things with songwriting, it’s very easy to be humble (chuckles) because they’re very big boots to fill. 6 January 2013 From gpac: Icehouse - Primitive Colours To say that the last twelve months has been an incredible ride for ICEHOUSE is an understatement. The iconic Australian band that has sold millions of albums domestically and internationally has reignited passion amongst existing fans and in the process has collected a new audience of younger followers along the way. |
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This show was very different from any other show Icehouse had done previously as it incorporated bursts of reggae classics into their Icehouse hits. They even had a slightly different line-up for this show with Simon Burke on keyboards (filling in for Michael Paynter) and some additional musicians on stage to help blend the new sound smoothly throughout the set.
Conversation Hour with Brian Nankervis, Iva Davies, Paul Shields
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ICEHOUSE back in WA for Exclusive Rottnest Island show as
part of the Rotto Live concert series
As we started out in the 1970s, Flowers was a covers band and we played quite a few Lou Reed songs.
As some of you may know, the ICEHOUSE catalogue has found a home in Europe and the UK through the label Repertoire Records 
Knotty and nice: According to Krestchmer, "there are about five, six classic knots that will give you a different quality or architecture for the wig." The trick is deciding which one to use when. For instance, with a split knot, "you get hair going in two directions, so then you get lift, and it looks very natural," he said.
Art of Music, the world-first charity project which has raised more than a million dollars for music therapy programs from the auction of music-inspired paintings by some of Australia's best artists, has been expanded to include a star-studded charity concert.
From 
It Is one of the defining anthems of Australia. Yet as Iva Davies is recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for his contribution to our cultural psyche with Great Southern Land and his enduring Icehouse songbook, he reveals it was an accidental success. 
