Infusion
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Biografía
- From humble beginnings defined by cheap second-hand synthesisers, the three members of Infusion: Jamie Stevens, Manuel Sharrad and Frank Xavier, have emerged as a world-class electronic act.At odds with the rock‘n’roll leanings of their industrial hometown Woolongong, they were soon seduced by Sydney’s thriving rave scene in the early nineties, where they began to secure regular gigs and their considerable talents began to get noticed. Their first single Smokescreen (on the Sony Dancepool imprint) was nominated for an ARIA dance award – a promising start and not a bad achievement for their first release, followed by the single Green before the boys joined the emerging Thunk Recordings Label. Their initial 12” outings with Thunk: the Weekend Favourites and Flinch EPs gained an immediate and outstanding international response – scoring 5/5 Dancing men in Mixmag UK, high praise from the USA’s URB magazine and high praise even, from the bastion of musical critique – the UK’s NME. Building on these successes, and with high-rotation support from Australia’s national broadcaster Triple-J (who picked up on the band’s unique cross-over style with tracks such as My Name Is Radar from Thunk’s 2-800 Thunk compilation), Infusion continued to develop their recording and live reputations with outstanding performances alongside internationals such as Underworld, The Chemical Brothers, Carl Cox and Darren Emerson. A major turning point came in the form of Spike, a blistering 12” release that successfully consolidated their uniquely atmospheric and genre-crossing sound. Finding instant favour with both local DJs and international names such as Pete Tong, John Digweed, Sasha and Bushwacka – the dark, cinematic quality of Spike has come to define the bands unique writing style. Subsequent releases ISBN/On the Outside scored yet more praise from the international dance music arena. Finding a place on John Digweed’s Radio One show (UK), playlisting by Steve Lawler, Lucien Foort & Chris Fortier and placement in the influential UK Massive and US Balance charts firmly established Infusion as one of Australia’s best renowned. Their debut album arrived in late 2000 as a compelling release, showcasing the intelligent, diverse and consistent quality Infusion have gleaned from this long and winding path of musical apprenticeship. Phrases & Numbers demonstrates the breadth of both their songwriting and production talent to great effect, the result: a striking and atmospheric journey through a patchwork of superbly crafted contemporary soundscapes. Recently nominated for an ARIA in the Best Dance Release category, this album has continued to find widespread success with its superb blend of musical dexterity and cutting edge production. International clubland success and writing & production skills demonstrated by these releases have caught the attention of many - more recently seeing them perform in front of 7000 at Sydney’s GLOBAL party with Fatboy Slim, on tour with the Ministry Of Sound’s Australian Club Nation Tour and studio work producing none other than Adam Freeland’s forthcoming album, and with and unprecedented five nominations in the Australian Dance Music Awards – Best Album, Best Single, Best Live Act, Best Video & Best Producers. Forthcoming plans for Infusion include the release of the Fallen Angel EP 12”, featuring Black Weekend and the live favourite Starwater, It’s Alright (Chicken Little Mix), the Legacy 12”, and the release of Starwater, It’s Alright (Stripper Mix) on highly regarded UK label Marine Parade. Surprising everyone from dancefloor punters to TV show hosts, these three musicians have happily retained an approachable, down-to-earth attitude that belies their considerable talent. And as such prolific writer/performers with tremendous local and international support, this is a heavyweight act on their way to a very, very bright future…