I’m not much of a drinker but cocktails are yummy! They are exceptionally good when they’re mixed right in the appropriate proportions! So what happens when you put a cocktail of pop, rock, electronic and soul? You get The Artisans. Yes, that’s right. That’s my band in Australia. It consists of a group of damn-fine-good-lookin’ musicians including concert pianist Van-Anh Nguyen (keys), James Manson (guitar), Brendan Clark (bass) and James Jennings (drums). These fantastic musicians have all come through the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and have wonderful musicianship but what is more important than that is the fact that they all have ‘pizazz’. Oh, and then of course there’s me on lead vocals :) When people ask me what we sound like, I honestly don’t know what to say except ‘it’s a mix of everything and really rootsy. You’ll just have to listen and make up your own mind’. If I had to put a few names as to what our influences would be, I would say The Script, Temper Trap, U2 and Coldplay.

 

The name ‘The Artisans’ came about when we were brainstorming an appropriate name for ourselves. We wanted something that reflected the craftsmanship of not only a song but of also our band – the constant creativity, workmanship, rehearsals, finding the right people to work with and chipping away around the edges of a song and image to make it a final product. That is the birth of ‘The Artisans’. We play original songs of which were written on my writing trip to USA and Canada in 2009 and 2010 where I had the honour of working with such songwriters and producers like Jim Marr, Charlie Midnight, Jared Schaff (Saturday Night Live guitarist) and many others. 

 

The Artisans have been together since February 2010 which in retrospect, is really only 9 months and make us a very young band but we have such fun and gel so well together. We’re going to release our EP in February 2011 and really hope to be releasing the album soon after that. Plans for tours across Australia is in the works for 2011 as well as Asia so keep an eye out for us!

 

On another note, can you believe it, only 11 sleeps til Christmas! I hope you’ve all been good so that Santa gives you what you want :) Enjoy the festive season and grab yourself a good cocktail to celebrate!

 

Signing off in warm Ho Chi Minh City and soon back to Sydney!