What's Happenin'
Spellbound - Vol I Iss II
© August 1993

Ch-ch-ch-changes… no, it's not an Icehouse song but it fits the situation! Full Circle, due to have been released in July, has been put on hold. Although Spin One was received nicely and "Shakin' The Cage" can still be heard on Triple J, it wasn't given a high amount of promotion. Its main purpose was to "tempt the palate" of the listening audience in preparation for the release of Full Circle. Although not quite reaching "chart success," it did just as it was supposed to and many were sending out their compliments to the chef!!

But that wild and mysterious thing called a record company decided to keep Full Circle in a holding pattern in order that the new studio album could take off! With that said, beaming down to record shops in Australia and New Zealand will be the first single, "Satellite." Included on the single will be two versions of "Satellite" and a B-side. This new song will touch Earth in four to six weeks, with the album to follow in October. The single's cover artwork has been done by Patti Gaines Scholar who is originally from Boston but now resides in Australia. "Satellite" is already causing communications to fly between Icehouse and many other interested parties, including some from Europe and the United States (God bless us!). The record company executives at EMI New Zealand are already promising that they'll "do anything" to promote this stellar quality song!

Writing credits on the single go to Iva Davies, David Chapman, and Paul Wheeler. At this moment in time, the subject of the actual band line-up and touring can only be answered with these three words - ONLY IVA KNOWS - and he isn't tellin'…

Once again, Icehouse fans will see the name David Lord tagged onto an Icehouse album. David arrived in Australia on July 29th, and plans to spend a month with Iva, mixing the new album. The mixing began on August 4th.

To top off this out of the world news is the video being shot for the single, "Satellite." Iva arranged the working of the video himself and, at this early stage, it looks to be the type of "art nouveau" video that "Love In Motion" with Chrissie Amphlett was. Casting for the video was done the first week of August (looking for those "obviously beautiful girls") with the actual shooting done on August 10th.

So, soon we will have a new single, video, and album! The question is, after having the Icehouse lines quiet for so long, will our senses go into overload? Let's hope so!

Now, on to news about the boys…

Simon has been helping Iva out in the studio, providing extra keyboards when needed. But most of the time, you will find Simon contemplating the second "L" in his surname (you can hear him mumbling to himself "What's it doing there?"), and communing with the computer gods… in Sydney.

Stephen is at home in Melbourne, working on various projects with various "hip" Melbourne bands. Stephen was almost to be hired on as the bassist for Cameron Daddo's tour but other commitments held him back from taking the position. Steve said that he and Paul Gildea have been working in a band together, doing mostly "Country Rock." This still leaves Stephen time to ponder the significance of the letters "PH" together, and why they sound like a "V"…

The aforementioned Paul Gildea has been working on and off with Rick Price. However, since Rick's recent tour was "unplugged," Paul has stayed within the confines of Melbourne. Paul and his wife were recently separated but the split was amicable. He had thought about moving to Sydney but vetoed the idea so that he may stay close to his one and a half year old son. Rumor has it Paul is also teaching his son to tell people, "It's Gil-day, not Gil-de-ah."

Paul Wheeler was to work with the Maybe Dolls but their recording project was put on hold. He is now spending large amounts of his time with Iva in the studio and we hope to see him in the new video! Paul, to our knowledge, is quite happy with his name. (Although amazing things can be done to "Paul Wheeler," i.e."Wall Peeler," "Tall Smeeler"… Guy Delandro does it best.)

Tony Llewellyn is waiting to see if Cameron Daddo will tour in September as he is slated to be the keyboardist. Cameron's album has a country rock flavor, and, if sales go well, he will take his songs on the road. There was some sad news for Tony, however. Tony's father passed away last month and his loss was felt keenly as the Llewellyn family is quite close. All of us here at Spellbound send our condolences to Tony and his family. Tony will be moving to live near his family on the northern coast of New South Wales in a few months. His songwriting is still continuing and we wish Tony the best of luck! (We're not even going to touch "Llewellyn"…)

Iva is a very hard working man these days! So much of what is going on concerning the album is being handled by him. From proofing the artwork for the single to arranging the video shoot, Iva's having a guiding hand in it all. He is putting in a tremendous effort for this new album and is said to be very happy. His days are long and will be mostly spent in the studio these next couple of months. He is also said to be really opening up with other people and having them contribute with songwriting, playing, etc. That can only be good for him and for those involved. Iva appeared in Australia's August 1993 issue of Rolling Stone, talking about Full Circle. It was an interesting interview and somewhat echoed our own with him. Meanwhile, the debate ranges on amongst his fans as to whether "Iva" or "Ivor" is the favored name…

Congratulations go out to Keith Welsh! Keith was "wined and dined" by rooArt Records until he agreed to become their Managing Director. rooArt are responsible for several popular Australian acts such as INXS and Jenny Morris, to name but two. Keith's management company, WOW Management, is still going, however. His partner, Neil Wiles, will be seeing to most of the details. We hope rooArt know how lucky they are to have Keith in one of their executive chairs!

And that's what's happenin'!