Men at Work

Performers

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  Men At Work

  “I’m deeply grateful for the life I have,” says Colin Hay, “and I think my natural tendency has always been towards optimism and humor. Lately, though, I’ve had to be more intentional about it. I’ve had to actively seek out the positive, to let new rays of hope shine on some seemingly dark situations.”
  
  That’s precisely what Hay does with his extraordinary new solo album, Now And The Evermore, facing down struggle, loss, and even his own mortality with grit and wit at every turn. Written and recorded in Hay’s adopted hometown of Los Angeles, the collection is a defiantly joyful celebration of life and love, one that insists on finding silver linings and reasons to smile. That’s not to say the record deludes itself about the realities of our modern world, but rather that it consistently chooses to respond to pain with beauty and doubt with wonder.
  
  The music on Now And The Evermore (Lazy Eye/Compass Records) is vibrant and animated, brimming with fanciful melodies, lush orchestration, and even a guest appearance from Ringo Starr, who kicks the whole thing off with a signature drum fill. Hay’s performances are likewise buoyant and full of life, drawing on vintage pop charm, pub rock muscle, and folk sincerity to forge a sound that’s at once playful and profound, clever and compassionate, whimsical and earnest. At its most basic level, Now And The Evermore offers a deeply personal acknowledgement of the relentless march of time, but zoom out and you’ll see that Hay’s contemplations of identity and eternity are in fact broader reflections on our shared humanity, on letting go of dead weight and reaching for the light no matter how dark things may get.
  
  “It’s a troubling and confounding and ever-inspiring world that we live in,” he muses. “I’m lucky to be able to wander downstairs and try to make some sense of it, at least to myself.”
  
  Born in Scotland, Hay moved with his family as a teenager to Australia, where he first came to international fame with seminal ’80s hitmakers Men At Work. While the band would reach the heights of stardom—they took home a GRAMMY Award for Best New Artist and sold more than 30 million records worldwide on the strength of #1 singles like “Who Can It Be Now?” and “Down Under”—by 1985, they’d called it quits and gone their separate ways. Hay released his solo debut the following year and, over the course of the next three-and-a-half decades, went on to record twelve more critically acclaimed studio albums that would help establish him as one of his generation’s most hardworking and reliable craftsmen. Rolling Stone praised his “witty, hooky pop” tunes, while NPR’s World Café lauded his “distinctive voice,” and late night hosts from David Letterman and Craig Ferguson to Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel have all welcomed him for performances.
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  Birds of Tokyo

  Formed in Perth back in 2004, Birds of Tokyo have grown from independent roots to become one of Australia’s most popular contemporary rock bands. Songs like “Plans”, “Lanterns”, “This Fire”, “Anchor” and “I’d Go With You Anywhere” have all been top 10 airplay hits and have lead to appearances at every major festival in this country including Falls, Splendour In The Grass and Groovin’ The Moo, as well as headlining slots at the AFL Grand Final and NRL’s flagship State of Origin game. More than seventy Birds of Tokyo songs have featured on Triple J, making them one of the station’s three most played artists of this millennium. The band are also the only artist in history to win “Rock Work Of The Year” on five separate occasions at the prestigious APRA Awards.
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  Eskimo Joe

  https://linktr.ee/EskimoJoe

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  Boom Crash Opera

  Boom Crash Opera are an Australian pop rock band formed in late 1984. Initially based around the songwriting partnership of Richard Pleasance and Peter Farnan, the band was later joined by Dale Ryder, Peter ‘Maz' Maslen and Greg O'Connor. Pleasance developed tinnitus from constant exposure to loud live music and left in 1992 to pursue a solo career as an artist and producer. O'Connor departed in 1994. Current line-up includes Dale Ryder, Peter ‘Maz' Maslen, Peter Farnan and John Favaro. Their highest charting albums are Boom Crash Opera, These Here Are Crazy Times! and Fabulous Beast. Their top 20 singles are "Great Wall", "Hands up in the Air", "Onion Skin" and "Gimme". In the United States "Onion Skin" reached No. 8 on the Billboard component chart Modern Rock Tracks. Australian musicologist Ian McFarlane noted that the group had a "strong visual image and the uncanny ability of its principal songwriters to pen catchy, commercial songs ensured a string of successful releases".

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  Vika & Linda

  Vika & Linda – Australia’s most-loved duo – have had an incredible three Top 5 albums in the past three years, as well as releasing the acclaimed memoir No Bull, which documents their remarkable musical life.

  The Bull Sisters have been singing together their entire lives, releasing eight studio albums, two live albums and a chart-topping anthology, plus three classic albums with The Black Sorrows. They have done gigs for the Dalai Lama, Nelson Mandela and the King of Tonga, sung on number one albums by Paul Kelly, Kasey Chambers and John Farnham, and been nominated for six ARIA Awards.

  Vika & Linda were inducted into the Music Victoria Hall of Fame in 2019. And in 2022, they were awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for their service to the performing arts.

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  Ella Hooper Official

  Ella Hooper burst onto the Australian music scene as the technicolour front woman of Killing Heidi, an unlikely success story the teenage band from the bush who went on to explode the naughties, claiming pop rock dominion over the turn of the millennium with a string of hit singles, no.1 album, sold out tours, Rolling Stone covers and more. Ella was the first ever woman and youngest person to be awarded APRA’s Songwriter of the Year Award.

  Now three albums deep into a celebrated solo career spanning synth folk, rock, country and Americana, Ella also balances a successful sidehustle hosting multiple TV and radio shows, including the hit music trivia shows Spicks And Specks, RockWiz and most recently music/disability docuseries, HEADLiNERS for ABC TV, making her more than just a pop singer in her native Aus.

  Ella’s most recent album Small Town Temple explores her love of country / Americana. Written in her tiny hometown of Violet Town in a period where, tragically, she lost both her beloved parents to cancer within two weeks of each other, Small Town Temple has been praised for its heart, authenticity and unique 'Australiana' perspective. The album debuted at No. 1 on the Australian Country chart and was nominated for the prestigious Australian Music Prize.

  Firmly in her country era and carrying enough highs and lows to really do the genre justice, Ella is now collaborating on a new record with Grammy Award winning Nashville stalwarts like Jim Lauderdale, Steve Poltz, Melody Walker (Sierra Ferrell) and LOLLIES aka Clare Reynolds (Rachel Baiman, Timbaland)

  Hooper is currently splitting her time between Nashville and Melbourne, servicing the summer festival crowds in Australia, and writing the next set of heart opening, toe tapping hits in Nashville.

  Ella Hooper is both a well seasoned artist and a dedicated proponent of ‘beginners mind’, courting her biggest growth spurt yet.

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  Red Hot Summer Tour