|
|
Big News! 5 July 2010 Icehouse will be playing a charity gig on August 7th in Perth. It is for the Strike A Chord For Cancer Foundation. There is also a chance that they may play another show for the same charity in Melbourne in November. 22 June 2010 Iva attended the APRA awards on 21 June. Photos can be found at the LIFE and Sydney Morning Herald sites. 30 May 2010 The Nordoff-Robbins site has a very nice picture of Peter Garrett, Jenny Morris, and Iva from last night's Art of Music event. 27 May 2010 Iva will be attending the Nordoff-Robbins Art of Music event this Saturday 29 May at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Also, Iva is once again involved with the Salvation Army's Red Shield Appeal. It is great to see Iva involved with so many worthy causes! 22 May 2010 Happy Birthday, Iva! 1 April 2010 Iva will be performing today during the Run with the Law event for the Special Olympics! He has confirmed that he will be performing "Great Southern Land." 27 January 2010 From macarthuradvertiser.com.au: Icehouse frontman Iva Davies says Australia Day a chance to reflect
Mr Davies is best known for the iconic song Great Southern Land by the 1980s group. "In Great Southern Land I described Australia as a hungry home. What I was trying to say was in Australia people make it work with very little,’’ he said. Mr Davies said being an Australia Day ambassador had allowed him to travel across the state over the past nine years. "I’m left with two things. The first is seeing all the amazing charity work that is done about the community,’’ he said. "And the citizenship ceremonies are fantastic. There are experiences from that I’ll never forget, for example seeing 116 people from 46 different countries become Australian citizens. "It’s just good to have a day to stop and think about where you live. The way it works. What it’s good points are, what’s bad points are and what can be improved.’’ Campbelltown Mayor Aaron Rule said the Great Southern Land lyric 'so you look into the land and it will tell you a story, story ‘bout a journey ended long ago’ could relate to Campbelltown. "Certainly, for the city of Campbelltown the journey - to preserve our past and embrace our future - has only just begun,’’ Cr Rule said.
Also from macarthuradvertiser.com.au: Iva Davies sings our praises Icehouse frontman Iva Davies celebrated our great southern land with local residents yesterday at Campbelltown and Ingleburn's Australia Day celebrations. "It was absolutely wonderful," Mr Davies said of the local events. "I've been to a few very quiet Australia Day functions but this was great and there was a very large number of citizenship candidates." Mr Davies said his song Great Southern Land played a large part in his selection as Campbelltown's Australia Day ambassador. But he said the inspiration for the song originally came when he was travelling overseas. "It was the first thing I wrote after our first international tour," Mr Davies said. "I got incredibly homesick and I remember the experience of flying across Australia and going to sleep over the desert and waking up and we were still across the desert. "I was just stricken by the great size of Australia." The music legend, whose hits include Hey Little Girl, Electric Blue and the iconic Great Southern Land, gave the Australia Day address at Koshigaya Park and Ingleburn Community Centre. "It's quite exciting that by writing a song I could become an Australia Day ambassador," he said in his address in Ingleburn. "I've been encouraging my children to write songs so that they may become prime minister one day." Mr Davies also spoke about the meaning behind the words `Great southern land, they burn you black, black against the ground', which were inspired by something his father told him about Australia's bushfires. "My father had just come back from fighting fires totally black and he said, `This country really needs fire."' Mr Davies said many of the seeds in the bush require a bush fire to break open and create new life. Apart from delivering his address, Mr Davies also awarded the citizenship candidates their citizenship certificates with Mayor of Campbelltown Aaron Rule and cut the Australia Day cake. More photos can be found on the campbelltown.nsw.gov.au site. 23 January 2010 Surprise appearance at Big Day Out in Sydney! Eskimo Joe invited Iva to join them in a fantastic performance of "We Can Get Together" and the crowd loved it! From sidestage:
A fan's perspective. A daughter's perspective (that's Brynn in the lower right-hand corner): 
6 January 2009 And more good news! Iva has been chosen as Ambassador of Campbelltown for Australia Day 2010! From campbelltown.nsw.gov.au: Iva Davies Campbelltown's 2010 Australia Day Ambassador Australian music legend, Iva Davies, is this year’s Australia Day Ambassador for the City of Campbelltown. Renowned frontman of the popular 80s group, Icehouse, and creator of some of Australia’s most distinctive music, Iva will deliver his Australia Day message at Council’s Australia Day events at Koshigaya Park, Campbelltown and Hallinan Park, Ingleburn on 26 January. Mayor of Campbelltown, Cr Aaron Rule, said Iva Davies was a music icon whose work was characteristic of the Australian ethos. “Campbelltown City is delighted that Iva Davies has accepted the role of Ambassador of our Australia Day celebrations,” Cr Rule said. “As a pioneer of music technology in this country, and creator of some of Australia’s most recognised popular music, I look forward to Iva’s Australia Day address and encourage residents to share this unique opportunity.” As a leader and founder of Icehouse, Iva achieved national and international success over a period of 20 years, with classic hits such as Hey Little Girl, Electric Blue and the iconic Great Southern Land. With a background in classical music, including as an oboist, pianist and composer, Iva’s broad musical accomplishments include scores to the internationally acclaimed Sydney Dance Company’s two most successful ballets Boxes and Berlin, and the highly acclaimed song Circles in the Sky, which was chosen as an official Sydney 2000 Olympic theme. Iva’s award-winning Master and Commander film score emanated from his piece, The Ghost of Time, which was commissioned as the centrepiece of the Sydney Millennium celebrations. In addition, Iva was awarded for the two-hour film score for the AFI-winning movie, The Incredible Journey of Mary Bryant. In 2006, Iva was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame for achievement in music. Iva Davies will give his Australia Day address at Koshigaya Park, Campbelltown at 8.23am, and at Ingleburn Community Centre at 11.11am. 26 December 2009 A belated Christmas present! The Golden Stave site has finally posted photos from the lucheon on 26 June! There are several nice snaps of ID. The first picture of him is on the second page of photos. Happy viewing! 12 December 2009 Here are a couple of videos from the media launch of "The 80s Are Back" exhibition at the Powerhouse Museum: 10 December 2009 From bigpondnews.com: Eighties music showcased in exhibition While it's music and fashion is experiencing a revival, the 'daggy' decade of the 80s has made it's official comeback at Sydney's Powerhouse Museum. 9 October 2009 Sound Relief DVD released today! Icehouse's complete performance is included as part of the Sydney portion. More information can be found at the Liberation site.
Saturday 7 February 2009 will Forever be known as Black Saturday. 26 September 2009 From the Manly Daily: ST LUKE'S GRAMMAR SCHOOL – SPRING FAIR – 26 SEPTEMBER 2009 27 July 2009 From the July issue of Pipeline, a Salvation Army publication, this photo was taken in May at the official launch of the Red Shield Appeal in Sydney.
A number of celebrities were present at the launch and are pictured with Salvation Army officers and Communications Department staff. From left are Mick Doohan, Major Paul Kinder, Alex Robinson, Brant Webb, Major Philip Maxwell, Adriana Guthrie, Captain Peter McGuigan, Iva Davies and Todd Russell. Photo by Adam Hollingworth. 1 July 2009 Guy Pratt will be touring Australia next month. One stop will be in Adelaide. GOSSIP FROM THE GUY 29 June 2009 Here’s a fantastic photo of Iva that was taken at the 2009 Golden Stave Charity Luncheon, courtesy of The Daily Telegraph and news.com.au. 27 June 2009
We're sure all of you will join us in saying, "Congratulations, Iva! Well done!"
7 June 2009 Check out Spellbound's new Facebook page for Iva Davies & Icehouse! We hope everyone reading this will become a fan and contribute to making the page another great resource for all things Icehouse! 6 June 2009 Another long-time friend of Spellbound, Wil Manning, contributed these great photos. Thanks, Wil! We appreciate it! Wil adds to Dags' review of the show:
4 June 2009 Spellbound's good friend Darren McKinty (Dags) attended the Heart of St Kilda concert, and had this to say:
Now, for those photos - crappy phone camera or not - we're extremely glad to have them! Thanks for sharing, Dags!
22 May 2009 Happy Birthday, Iva! Iva will again be donating his time to the Salvation Army Red Shield Appeal today. Nice way to spend a birthday! "I often see the Salvation Army in my local area and
it's important to donate to this vital cause. Please consider doing something
more for the less fortunate. There's such a big hidden need out there.
The Salvation Army is able to transform lives through the work that it
does in communities and on the street. The Salvos want to do more and
by supporting Red Shield you can help them." 13 May 2009 Sacred Heart Mission
Our services include a free, hot lunch to 600 people every day of the year, housing assistance, counselling, food parcels, emergency financial support and drug and alcohol support. The Mission also operates a clinic, sports and recreation program, mental health unit, three aged care hostels, crisis accommodation for women, three Op shops and a 64-bed rooming house. But we need your support. For more information regarding Sacred Heart Mission, visit www.sacredheartmission.org Cameron Adams discovers Icehouse is warming-up for a
new gig. Icehouse have reformed. Briefly. The band will play at this year's Sacred Heart Mission's star-studded Heart of St Kilda Concert at the Palais on June 4. The event - also featuring Kate Ceberano, Tim Rogers, Mark Seymour and comedians Dave Hughes and Mick Molloy - aims to raise $100,000 to fund Sacred Heart Mission's meal service and other community work. "I'm increasingly involved with charity work," Davies told Rock City this week. "At this stage in my life I get a lot of pleasure to find myself in the position in society where I can contribute to these things, it's very grounding work." It follows Icehouse reuniting for the Sydney leg of the Sound Relief concert - Davies was the first artist to sign onto the event. "It was a very nerve-wracking night for me in front of near on 50,000 people after 15 years abscence," Davies says. "But it was very exciting." The well-received Sound Relief performance fuelled an array of reformation rumour. Davies is quick to deny them - saying the Sacred Heart show is a one-off favour for a friend. "There's been an awful lot of talk but the practical reality is that I'm a long way off being match fit enough to do anything more substantial than small appearances," Davies says. "One of the reasons we haven't even contemplated a full-scale tour was because we never did anything by halves. I wouldn't entertain the idea of doing anything unless it was up to the standard we had previously presented. "There's been any number of offers, until such time that I really think I'm capable of undertaking a full-scale tour - and at the moment I just wouldn't be physically up to it - those disucssions are academic. We can't avoid the fact we're all middle aged men!" Pushed, Davies - who turns 54 this month - admits Sound Relief opened his eyes to the ongoing influence of Icehouse. "It certainly did take me by surprise. It's something I never really fully process, the way in which the songs have filtered through to another generation." Davies was in Melbourne recently to help out Jet's Nic Cester at Earth Hour. Cester covered Icehouse's 1980 classic We Can Get Together but needed the song's author after realising how wordy the song was. "I know what he means," Davies says. "I got the words to Electric Blue wrong in Sound Relief and I wrote them! "But I met Nic at Sound Relief, he got up with Katy from Little Birdy and Kav from Eskimo Joe on Great Southern Land. "I'm a huge Jet fan, so I got to play with him and Chris Cheney from the Living End. He's an unbelievable guitarist. It was great fun for me to let these guys know i've been watching what they do and I admire their work." Sound Relief gave Davies the chance to play for his daughter Brynn (15) and son Evan (12) for the first time. "That was a highlight for me. If they never see us play again at least they've seen us play once." The verdict from his kids? "A teenage muted thumbs up." Evan Davies has just started his own covers band. "They play everything from U2 to Coldplay. They've just started by theyr'e a great little unit." Icehouse began as Flowers, a covers band, before writing originals. However Iva's son's band are currently free of Icehouse covers. "I think I'd forbid that," Davies notes. Heart of St Kilda concert, Palais, June 4. $69, Ticketmaster. 2 May 2009 Cure for Life Foundation - Unmask The Cure Gala Ball Cure For Life Foundation™ (CFLF) is devoted to saving lives of people suffering from brain tumours, through advances in research and education in neurosurgery. The Cure For Life Foundation™ was established by the world-renowned neurosurgeon Dr Charles Teo to help fund advancements in the treatment of brain cancer, hopefully one day leading to a cure. Jean Kittson will host the Cure for Life Foundation Unmask The Cure Gala Ball at the Hordern Pavilion, with special guests new Australian Leo Sayer, Iva Davies and the Party Boys. The ball will also feature Screaming Jets band members David Gleeson and Scott Kingman, Mondo Rock's Paul Christie and Powderfinger's Lachlan Doley. To help raise even more funds for the Cure For Life Foundation, you can purchase your evening masquerade mask from the charity. The Unmask The Cure Gala Ball is on 2 May. 31 March 2009 Iva provided this photo of himself, Chris Cheney (The Living End) and Nic Cester (Jet). It was taken backstage after the Earth Hour concert.
Comment from Iva regarding the Earth Hour Concert: Played "We Can Get Together" with Nic Cestor (Jet) and it was he who invited me to come down to do it. I then joined Chris Cheney (The Living End) and Nic playing Nic's guitar for the Beatles' "Revolution" which closed the night. We ended up in a club until the wee hours of Sunday morning, a very fun experience all round. Excerpt from Earth Hour Concert @ Federation Square, Melbourne, by lukey26, fasterlouder.com.au: Fresh from recording his third album, Jet’s Nic Cestor was next to take to the stage, and he had a very special guest with him, all the way from Sydney. Living legend, and lead singer of Australian band Icehouse Iva Davies joined the young rocker performing a one song set.
Earth Hour Concert - Melbourne Iva will be performing Saturday night March 28th in at the Earth Hour Concert in Federation Square in Melbourne as part of a supergroup made up of members of Jet, Living End, Spiderbait and more. The concert is free and is set to start at 6:30 pm. Earth Hour began in Sydney in 2007, when 2.2 million homes and businesses switched off their lights for one hour. In 2008 the message had grown into a global sustainability movement, with 50 million people switching off their lights. Global landmarks such as the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Rome’s Colosseum, the Sydney Opera House and the Coca Cola billboard in Times Square all stood in darkness. In 2009, Earth Hour is being taken to the next level, with the goal of 1 billion people switching off their lights as part of a global vote. More information can be found at the websites for Earth Hour and Future Spark. 16 March 2009 Icehouse was the first artist to sign up for Sound Relief, within 10 minutes of the first conversation about the project. Spellbound had a chat with Iva regarding the events surrounding Sound Relief. Here's what he shared with us: The band gathered for a three hour rehearsal on Friday. Some of their equipment didn't arrive on time for the rehearsal which cut the three hour period down to an hour and a half. At 5pm on Friday they had a sound check at the SCG and that went well. They arrived at the venue at 5:30pm on Saturday. Iva was joined by his daughter, Brynn and his son, Evan. There was an interview with Music Max as well as a photo shoot with the band. Keith Welsh offered his services to the band in a managerial capacity. He handled all of the arrangements for the band and kept tabs on everything. Iva described this as a "labour of love" for Keith and said he was just "fantastic." Go Keith! It is also worth noting that Larry Ponting was heavily involved with the operations for the concert in Melbourne at the MCG. He also put together the Icehouse crew and lighting engineer. ID also noted that Larry was responsible for overseeing the onscreen light show which accompanied the band. Larry is a long time friend of Iva's and also a former Icehouse tour manager. Throughout the time at the venue Iva met some of the other acts involved. He met some of the members of Jett, Eskimo Joe and the Presets. Brynn and Evan got autographs from the Presets, which are current faves of theirs. There were a few nerve-wracking moments. Iva's guitar wasn't working properly but he was able to get it fixed before the band started the performance of "Crazy". Otherwise, that would have been something of a disaster! The rain came down in buckets during the Presets set. The stage ended up being quite wet and slippery. Icehouse was moved back deeper into the stage to avoid some of the wetter parts towards the front of the stage. Iva said he still was very careful as to where he put his feet! Simon Leadley played his part as the tech manager for Icehouse's set. He was also moved from place to place due to the wet conditions. Icehouse were joined on stage by Nic from Jett on guitar, Katty from Little Birdie and Cav from Eskimo Joe. William Barton was the didgeridoo player. This had been pre-arranged with Keith Welsh and ID said it was very generous of them to join the band for "Great Southern Land." ID said he could hear the audience singing along with "Can't Help Myself" and thought that was great! Once it was all over he and the band were very pleased with how it all turned out. It was a great night for all! He did have a word with Evan to see how he felt about the show. He asked Evan if he had a good time and Evan said "what do you think?!" Needless to say, Evan was mighty impressed with the show! Judging by all the great comments from fans and press alike it seems that everyone is joining Evan in his sentiments! 14 March 2009 Icehouse played the following songs at Sound Relief: Artists played during the triple j broadcast: 13 March 2009 From triple j: triple j will be broadcasting both Sound Relief concerts this Saturday 14th March from midday until late in the night. We’ll be crossing between both the MCG and the SCG concerts, so you’ll hear the best bits from: COLDPLAY Icehouse's currently scheduled set time of 8:50 pm in Sydney translates to 5:50 am on the East Coast of the U.S. 10 March 2009 Below are the Sound Relief set times from the MySpace blog (times and order are a guide only, and subject to change without notice). SOUND RELIEF - SYDNEY - SCG 11:00AM Gates SOUND RELIEF - MELBOURNE - MCG 9 March 2009 Sound Relief Live on Channel [V] & MAX Channel [V] and MAX will be exclusivley broadcasting the SOUND RELIEF concerts LIVE from the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) and the Sydney Cricket ground (SCG) this coming Saturday. This will be the only appearance of this performance on TV, and there will be no repeats. If you've missed out on tickets (Melbourne has already sold out), or can't make it to Sydney then make sure you tune your TV in to MAX on the day. [V]J’s Jane Gazzo, Danny Clayton and Renee Bargh will host the LIVE TV broadcast from the MCG on Channel [V], whilst MAX will show the Sydney show (at the SCG), to be hosted by Yumi Stynes and Chit Chat . The telecast will commence simultaneously at 12 noon on Saturday 14th March. NEWS FLASH: Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees will be backed by a band including Jon Farriss from INXS on drums, for sat night Sydney Sound Relief. More information: Also, Iva's rendition of the Easybeats' "Sad and Lonely and Blue" was heard at the end of an episode of the Australian TV show Underbelly. 6 March 2009 Excerpt from Bands to bring Sound Relief, Sydney Morning Herald Icehouse frontman Iva Davies, whose band hasn't played since 1994, says he was overwhelmed when he first heard about the devastation caused by the nation's worst natural disaster. "It was such a phenomenally powerful force of nature, it was beyond any comprehension," he says, adding that his father was a forester for 42 years and his family grew up with the threat of bushfires in the Riverina. "We wanted to help in any way we could. I think there are lessons we can all learn about coexisting with nature in this unique environment we live in."
Tickets went onsale today from Ticketek 132 849 for the two Sound Relief concerts, and those tickets are going quickly! That's great news for the two worthy causes that will benefit from the money raised by these concerts. 100% of the proceeds from the Melbourne concert will be donated to the Red Cross Victorian Bushfire Appeal. 50% of the proceeds from the Sydney concert will be donated to the Red Cross Victorian Bushfire Appeal and the other 50% will be donated to The Premier's Disaster Relief Fund Appeal in QLD to aid the victims of the Queensland floods. Sound Relief also has a MySpace site. 1 March 2009 KOFM 102.9 in Newcastle interviewed Iva regarding the Sound Relief concert. Have a listen! 24 February 2009 Iva will be on Sunrise this morning at 7:50am on Channel 7.
11th Annual Nordoff-Robbins Music Trivia Night The 11th Annual Nordoff-Robbins Music and Entertainment Trivia Night will be held on Thursday 26 March 2009 at an exciting new venue - the Kirribilli Club. This popular event has been a complete sell-out for the past few years so make sure you get in quick. Quizmasters include Kirk Pengilly, Iva Davies, Mark Gable and Melinda Schneider. Photo: 2008 quizmasters Glenn A Baker, Mark Gable, Iva Davies, Jimmy Barnes, Jenny Morris, Melinda Schneider, Mark Lizotte, Peter Hebbes. 23 February 2009 Minister for rock: Garrett reforms Oils for fire benefit, AAP, Sydney Morning Herald Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett will return to his musical roots to play a huge benefit concert in Melbourne next month for victims of the Victorian bushfires. Mr Garrett will reform with his band Midnight Oil for the concert at the MCG on March 14. Iconic Australian band Hunters And Collectors will play together at the Melbourne event - the first time since 1998. International act Kings Of Leon are also on the Melbourne bill as is Jack Johnson. Another concert, which will also benefit victims of the bushfires as well as the Queensland floods, will occur simultaneously at the SCG. The Sydney concert will feature an acoustic set by international act Coldplay as well as Josh Pyke, Eskimo Joe, The Hoodoo Gurus, Jet, Wolfmother and Icehouse. Iva has confirmed for us that Icehouse are indeed scheduled to perform at the Sound Relief concert in Sydney. It will be a short set with the band consisting of Paul Gildea, Paul Wheeler, Glen Reither and Steve Bull. Please keep in mind that this is a project in flux and details are subject to change. 14 February 2009 Iva played an acoustic version of GSL on 774 ABC radio national in support of the bushfire appeal today. 12 February 2009 "Great Southern Land" is one of 35 tracks on this 2 CD set for a worthy cause. BUSHFIRE
AID - Artists for The Bushfire Appeal Australian and international artists have immediately jumped to the cause and generously donated their songs and royalties to help the appeal. BUSHFIRE AID - Artists For The Bushfire Appeal features 35 artists on 2 CDs such as Midnight Oil, Hoodoo Gurus, John Farnham, Delta Goodrem, Jessica Mauboy, John Butler Trio and Wes Carr, together with international artists such as Bruce Springsteen and Billy Joel. BUSHFIRE AID - Artists For The Bushfire Appeal was officially launched during the Nine Network telethon 'Australia Unites - The Victorian Bushfire Appeal', which aired on Thursday 12 February nationally. Sony Music proceeds from the sale of the CD will go to the Salvation Army Bushfire Appeal through the charitable arm of the Australian Sony Group of Companies, The Sony Foundation. Denis Handlin AM, Chairman & CEO, Australia & New Zealand, Sony Music Entertainment said: "Sony Music Australia is privileged to support the Victorian Bushfire Appeal through this special CD." "Our thanks go to all of the artists and songwriters for generously donating their tracks royalty free. We also thank Sony DADC Australia for kindly donating the CD manufacturing." "I know everyone in Australia shares deep concern for this tragedy, its horrific toll on life, families, communities and wildlife. On behalf of Sony Music and the Sony Foundation, our thoughts and prayers are with those affected, and our immense gratitude goes to all the emergency service people and volunteers who have so generously given in this time of need." BUSHFIRE AID - Artists For The Bushfire Appeal is in stores
now. 26 January 2009 Here's S.A.M.'s transcription of the Jono & Dano interview: Jono and Dano's return to the airwaves kicked off in fine style...first with a Minister for a guest, closely followed by an Ambassador!! Their first guest was Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts (and former frontman for Midnight Oil), Peter Garrett. After speaking with Mr G, and playing an Oils song, they then played "Great Southern Land" and chatted with Iva. Iva talked about the experience of being an Ambassador. He mentioned one of the best things about the role was taking part in the Citizenship Ceremonies. At one such Ceremony, he related that there were people from around 100 different countries taking part! Aside from mentioning that being an Ambassador was his way of being Peter Garrett for a day!!....Iva also told a humourous anecdote about one particular experience as an Australia Day Ambassador. He spoke of the time he attended one of the smaller Australia Day gatherings. There were around 20 or so people there. One young boy approached Iva and asked "Are you an Ambassador?" When Iva replied yes, the young lad responded excitedly... "So, where's your limo?" 23 January 2009 Iva is doing a short interview for Australia Day that will be aired next Sunday morning at 7am on Sky News. 22 January 2009 Excerpts from an article in The Daily Telegraph, Sydney: THIS year is the 20th anniversary of the Australia Day ambassador program, where high-achieving Australians are guests at community celebrations. In 2009 more than 160 ambassadors from all walks of life will visit local councils and take part in their activities. Iva explains what he think makes Australia unique... "It is the diversity. The enormous number of different
countries represented in Australia result in a combination that produces
such an amazing variety." 20 January 2009 Jono & Dano hit the airwaves this Australia Day with a host of homegrown heroes. Jonathan ‘Jono’ Coleman and Ian ‘Dano’ Rogerson will kick-off their new weekday drive-time programme, The Jono & Dano Show, with some of Australia’s biggest music legends this Australia Day. Over three hours, the launch show special, Jono & Dano’s Homegrown Heroes, will be jam-packed with classic hits and interviews. Music greats celebrating Jono & Dano’s return to radio on the Classic Hits Network include Jimmy Barnes, Richard Clapton, INXS’ Kirk Pengilly, Hoodoo Gurus, Rob Hirst, Ian Moss, Jon Stevens, Doc Neeson, John Paul Young, Iva Davies, James Reyne, Mental As Anything, Daryl Braithwaite, Mark Gable from The Choirboys, Diesel, Dragon, Ross Wilson and Eric McCusker from Mondo Rock, with many treating listeners to an acoustic performance. 6 January 2009 Iva recorded an interview this afternoon with Mark Trevorrow for his "Me and My Music" segment on 702 ABC Sydney radio. It aired later in the evening. Here's S.A.M.'s rundown of the discussion: The show went for around 50 minutes. It started with "We Can Get Together" being played. Iva and Mark then spoke about, and played some of Iva's fave songs over the years, and discussed in some detail interesting bits and pieces relating to each song, and the artist. Here is a listing of the songs played, and some of the comments... WALK ON THE WILD SIDE - LOU REED IMAGINE - JOHN LENNON HEROES - DAVID BOWIE GAMES WITHOUT FRONTIERS - PETER GABRIEL LITTLE GREEN - JONI MITCHELL CHILDREN OF THE REVOLUTION - T-REX MONEY - PINK FLOYD Iva also mentioned his love of classical music - in particular composers such as Bach and Strauss. One of the things he found most amazing about Bach was his ability to produce such incredible work despite the very strict confines and limitations of the genre. As for current projects... Iva mentioned that's he's always on the lookout for new film projects. The situation in the film industry at present, however, means that quite a few projects end up getting shelved.
Carols in the Domain, Saturday 20th December Woolworths Carols in the Domain is Australia’s largest, and one of Sydney’s most loved Christmas events. Every year tens of thousands of people come together to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas, whilst raising funds for The Salvation Army. Those who can’t make it to the Domain can enjoy this spectacular concert right across Australia on the Seven Network. Iva will be one of the performers at this year's "Carols in the Domain." He will be joined by his fellow "Battle of the Choirs" judges and the winning choir from Newcastle. 18 November Singer Iva Davies arrives for the world premiere of 'Australia' at the George Street Greater Union Cinemas, photograph at left by Ted Szukalski. 14 October 2008 Challenge raises $20,000, by Gemma Seymour, Penrith City Star MORE than $20,000 was raised at the inaugural Nordoff-Robbins Whitewater Rafting Challenge on Friday. SEI Carbide Australia took out first place, while the Penrith City Council raft placed second. A number of other Penrith businesses battled it out in the water on the day, organised to raise money for the Kingswood-based facility. A guitar signed by Neil and Tim Finn, Iva Davies, Jimmy Barnes and Jenny Morris was auctioned for $1800, going to a silent bidder.
Neil & Tim Finn, Jenny Morris, Jimmy Barnes & Iva Davies sign guitar for charity The Guitar Factory in Penrith have very generously donated a beautiful guitar to Nordoff-Robbins to auction which will raise much needed funds for music therapy. Neil & Tim Finn (Crowded House), Jenny Morris, Jimmy Barnes and Iva Davies (Icehouse) all happened to be in town at the same time and have signed this guitar (pictured, left). The guitar will be auctioned at the Nordoff-Robbins White water Fundraising Day which will be held on 10 October 2008. More photos of the night can be seen on flickr. 4 October 2008 On October 4, Albert Music and SonyBMG will celebrate the extraordinary musical legacy of The Easybeats, by releasing EASYFEVER: A Tribute to the Easybeats & Stevie Wright, a superb 2CD album in celebration of this ground-breaking group. The band – Harry Vanda, George Young, Stevie Wright,
Dick Diamonde and Gordon “Snowy” Fleet – formed in Sydney
in 1964 and almost immediately ‘Easy Fever’ took Australia by
storm and was soon to captivate audiences overseas. Their meteoric rise
to stardom was due to releasing hit single after hit single, including
classics such as Friday On My Mind, Wedding Ring, She’s So Fine and
Good Times. Their success saw them consistently get mobbed at airports,
chased down streets and even tour internationally with the Rolling Stones.
Among the 20 tracks on this tribute CD is a lovely version of "Sad and Lonely and Blue" by Iva Davies. 12 September 2008 From the Sydney Morning Herald: COVER
TO COVER, 9am Sun, Vega FM 95.3: Will Icehouse re-form? Iva Davies
has a yak with Barry Bissell who delves into the back catalogue of Led
Zeppelin, Phil Collins and Skyhooks, among others. 24 August 2008 Iva has confirmed that he will be performing this coming Friday 29 August at Shine - the Gala Dinner for the Special Olympics Upper North Shore region. Iva will be performing an acoustic version of the song "From Little Things Big Things Grow." It is a well known song written by Paul Kelly and Kev Carmody. There is a possibility that Iva will be joined by his daughter, Brynn. 20 August 2008 Getting their names up in neon lights, by Sunny Burns, Sydney Star Observer For the past few months TV Rock has flaunted its music across the European festival circuit, but is now ready to re-embrace Australian clubs with another addition to the Neon Night series and two new tunes. “We have two new singles in the can already. The next one we are testing at clubs at the moment is called Happiness,” DJ and TV Rock member Grant Smillie told Sydney Star Observer. “It’s got a rare and unreleased sample from a Bob Marley track which never actually saw the light of day. “The next one after that we’ve teamed up with Iva Davies from Icehouse and, funnily enough, even though our styles are different they both seem to go hand in hand — it’s a great summer record.” So what’s the secret behind making a summer anthem? Smillie says there are a few rules to be followed. “Catchy vocals that people can sing along to fairly quickly and understand what it’s all about,” he said. “It also needs to have a beat because you can never just have a strong vocal — you need music to back it up. “The melody needs to be very strong so once people hear it they feel that they’ve known it all their life. The vocal becomes the most important part because it’s what they remember.” 8 August 2008 From an article by Megan Miller in Melbourne's Herald Sun: A hectic schedule is to get busier for TV Rock's Ivan Gough when his first child is born in October. The DJ has been busy putting the finishing touches on a series of tracks back home in Melbourne, while fellow TV Rocker Grant Smillie has been flogging their club anthems including "The Others" and 2006 smash "Flaunt It" across Europe. While Smillie was away, Gough presided over the production of fresh tracks, including a remake of Bob Marley song "Happiness", with local vocalist Jason Heerah, and an original, "Stars", voiced by Icehouse frontman Iva Davies. 3 August 2008 Seven's Battle of the Choirs came to an end last night, but what was most exciting for Icehouse fans was at the very the beginning of the grand final show! Iva & Icehouse (Paul Wheeler, Paul Gildea, David Chapman, Steve Bull) performed "Great Southern Land" with full choral backing by the three remaining choirs. It was a beautiful performance! Here are a couple of links to this performance on YouTube,
with thanks to aussieshep19 and chromaticsuspension for uploading them!
20 July 2008 Aussieshep19 has been posting Battle of the Choirs video clips on YouTube each week. A few of the clips include the judges' comments. We don't know how long these videos will be available, so watch them while you can! The semi-final contest airs on 27 July, followed by the grand final the following week. 29 June 2008 Rewind 1983 - Iva Davies, by Paul Connolly, The Sun-Herald (Sydney)
He was touring Europe with David Bowie and releasing smash-hit singles with his own band but life wasn't all rock'n'roll for this classically trained musician and man of many colours. In 1983, we [Davies' band, Icehouse] were supporting David Bowie on the European and British legs of his Serious Moonlight tour, which was the biggest Bowie tour ever. This photo was taken backstage, outside our dressing room - a caravan - during one of three outdoor shows in Milton Keynes [in Buckinghamshire, south-east England]. The shows were huge, with about 70,000 people for each one. We hung out with Bowie's band over a couple of months. He always seemed very personable to me and I caught up with him years later when, surprisingly, he and his band Tin Machine played a secret gig at an unlikely little venue in Whale Beach [Sydney], just down the road from my house. But the most memorable time we spent together was the night we nearly got killed. It happened in a club in Amsterdam when Bowie was rushed by a crowd. We got caught up in the crush. We literally had to be passed out over the top of this riot of fans. Bowie was used to crowds but even he was shocked by what had happened. It was frightening and something I'll never forget. That period was a very exciting time for us. Man Of Colours [Icehouse's sixth and most successful album] was still a few years away but even then we were well received at home and in Europe, and we were all gobsmacked by our success. At home it seemed more pedestrian perhaps because we were living our normal lives. I still did normal things, like ironing my girlfriend's dresses. Ever since high school [in Sydney's Epping] I've had two, parallel lives. One was going to the NSW Conservatorium of Music for oboe lessons and playing in a professional orchestra in a dinner suit that I got from St Vinnie's for $7. It's the only dinner suit I've ever owned. The other was playing popular music in folk clubs in my torn jeans and ugh boots. I gave up playing the oboe when it was wrecked by an instrument repairer, and that kind of threw me onto the popular music route. I wasn't the hard-living rock'n'roll star. The horrible reality is that if you take the job seriously, which I did, you can't go out clubbing because you lose your voice. Of course we had our moments but as a rule, I refrained due to a professional ethic. Perhaps I inadvertently gave the band their ethic, too. Maybe I got that from being a professional musician prior to being a rock'n'roll musician.
I still live in Whale Beach with my wife, Tonia [a dancer
whom he met in 1985 when he scored the Sydney Dance Company's ballet Boxes],
and children Brynn [14] and Evan [12]. In terms of my career, I still
have these parallel lives and there are people who can't come to grips
with that. In fact, I've been disowned by the classical fraternity because
I dabbled in popular music. I work on a variety of projects. I'm judging
on Seven's Battle Of The Choirs, I've written film scores [such as Master
And Commander] and I composed the music for the opening ceremony of the
2006 Asian Games [in Qatar]. I'm still very comfortable playing with Icehouse.
We haven't lived in each other's pockets, so it becomes a novelty to get
together. 27 June 2008 Iva attended the 2008 Golden Stave Charity Luncheon at the Hordern Pavillion. Photos can be seen on JAMD. 26 June 2008 Iva Davies goes into Battle, by Cameron Adams, heraldsun.com.au Iva Davies is known to TV audiences now for Battle of the Choirs, but the former Icehouse frontman remains proud of his '80s mega-mullet. Plus, should his band reform? You've turned down reality TV in the past, but now you're judging on Battle of the Choirs. What made you say yes? This appeals to me because I don't think the people went into their choirs to be TV stars or music stars or dancing stars. They just love doing what they're doing and they'd do it whether there was a TV show there or not. Reality-TV shows love tension between the judges. How's the vibe on Choirs? There have been some tense moments when the judges have been divided. I don't watch any reality TV, I'm a sucker for a good documentary. Your fellow judge Charli from Hi-5 said she was the only one who knew how Pink's Get the Party Started should be sung. True? I'm vaguely aware of that stuff, I have children who are 14 and 12. It's not that I study the charts any more, but a lot of those songs have filtered through. That Mika song (Grace Kelly) was one of my son's favourites for months. Do you listen to much new music? I was a devotee of Pink Floyd and more recently Radiohead,
but I've disappeared into that wonderful middle age of life where none
of these things become a passion to follow. I think that's the case with
many professional musicians, what's recreation to other people is work
to us. What are your memories of Icehouse's induction into the ARIA Hall of Fame two years ago? That was the first time my children had ever seen the band perform. My daughter saw an interview from about 1980 and said: ‘‘Dad, I want those sunglasses." Apparently they're back in fashion. So the current status of Icehouse: dormant? Not necessarily. Last year and January this year we did a couple of private, corporate shows. They were great fun. So we're not dormant, but as far as live touring in front of the public, we haven't done that for a very long time. What would it take to get you back on stage? A good deal of confidence on my behalf. It's an extremely difficult thing to have to sing for two hours and in sheer practical terms I'd have to be a lot fitter than I am now. Have there been a lot of offers? There have been some quite high-level offers of tours, as well as the retro packages like Countdown. There seems to be some interest in the '80s going on. Promoters want to reboot everything on a massive scale but if I wanted to do it I want to do it properly. How close have you got to saying ‘‘yes"? I've got too much on at the moment. I'm not thinking about that until next year. A few unreleased Icehouse songs leaked on the internet. Your God Not Mine is one . . . I wrote and recorded an album a while ago. That song was written in 1998. We chose to put that up there because there's still quite a strong fanbase over the internet, I guess they don't get too much new stuff from me. The album is in various states of unfinished, but I keep getting projects which interrupt me working on it. I'm a different songwriter than I was, in terms of maturity, I'd like to think that still has a value. I wouldn't like to be just endlessly trawling through the past. You got famous in an era when people still legally bought music. What's your take on downloading? Like a lot of people of my generation I'm glad I'm not in the prime of my CD-selling career. At the minute things are very fluid. What about music on the internet? It's a very powerful thing in one way. The downside is every man and his dog can make a recording and put it on the internet. As a result you have an absolute tsunami of mediocre and sub-standard music available on the internet. Record companies effectively used to be a filtering system, if they were prepared to invest in you, you could go into a recording studio. That's where I came in, I wanted to get in a recording studio and the only way to pay for that was to become popular and have a record company enthusiastic enough to fund it. The upside is there's incredible interest in music because people can do it themselves. So many kids at my children's school are forming bands, music is a very important part of their lives in a way it wasn't among my peers. You own the rights to the Icehouse back catalogue. That puts you in a fairly rare club. Yes, it's extremely rare, I have to give credit to good management over the years. Man of Colours is still one of the highest-selling albums in Australia. As far as I know it's the still the highest-selling album by any Australian band. No Icehouse greatest-hits album is available. Why? There's been any number of attempts to put out a best-of and I've been resistant thus far. Last year I started remixing all the singles in surround sound. There are about 36 video clips, and my intention is to put them out on a best-of DVD rather than a CD. I'm one of the people who think we've moved on from CDs by now. Do any of the old videos make you cringe? I don't really identify with them. If I did maybe I would cringe. I don't recognise myself as a 24-year-old. It's the dim, dark past. You've said you're happy Great Southern Land seems to have overtaken Electric Blue as the song Icehouse are most known for. Electric Blue I wrote with John Oates (of Hall and Oates). It was very successful but it wasn't necessarily reflecting anything to do with my life or feelings. Though I'm very proud of it, it's not one of those songs I have a personal affection for. For that reason I'm glad Great Southern Land has taken over. I took the prospect of writing a song about my native country very seriously. I thought it was a large risk so I was extra careful. Do you recognise yourself with that mega-mullet in the Electric Blue video? I was very proud of that hair and I remain proud of it! It took a long time to grow that hair. There was a cinematic quality to Icehouse which resulted in you doing soundtrack work. Do you still get offers? A few are in the works. Strange things happen in terms of my telephone. (Soundtracking) Master and Commander came about because I picked up the phone in my little studio in Whale Beach and Peter Weir was calling from location in Mexico. Any production offers? I had an intriguing production offer recently, a very well-established and highly successful Australian band. I hope that comes off. How's the recognition factor now you're on a high-rating reality-TV show? I live in a small community, and they're as surprised as
I am that I'm on TV. 19 June 2008 Iva Davies Sees No Divide Between Classics And Rock, Siobhan Duck, Herald Sun (Melbourne)
Davies, who rose to fame as the frontman with 1980s rock band Icehouse, says he has never understood why musicians must be forced to specialise in one genre. "People seem to feel the need to pigeonhole you," he says. "As a result I have never been able to establish full rock and roll cred because of my training as a classical musician. "At the same time the classical fraternity have kept me at a distance because I dared to dabble in rock. "I have never really understood the need to choose one music discipline over another. It's all music to me." Davies is appearing as a judge on Channel 7's new reality series Battle of the Choirs. The show, as with Davies himself, straddles two different musical genres -- reinventing the traditional view of choirs as slightly-daggy, psalm-singing church groups to rock 'n' roll-belting musical performers. Davies, who grew up in a musical family where both his parents were avid choir singers, was eager to be part of the new show. He says he has been asked to judge several musical reality shows before Battle of the Choirs but refused because he wasn't interested in being part of programs that were celebrity vehicles or aimed at manufacturing stars. "I have been approached a few times to be part of these sorts of television judging panels over the years," he says. "What I liked about this one was that it was about people who were doing it for the love of it, not for their own success." Davies joins former Hi-5er Charli Delaney, Choir of Hard Knocks mentor Jonathon Welch and choral music expert George Torbay on the judging panel. The series is hosted by Sunrise's David Koch. Davies says Battle of the Choirs will revolutionise people's
perception of choirs with groups singing popular songs by Pink, Queen,
AC/DC and Kylie Minogue. 18 June 2008 It Wasn't Great Southern Planned, Siobhan Duck, Herald Sun (Melbourne) The mass appeal of Great Southern Land remains a total mystery to the man who penned it. Iva Davies says he wrote his most famous song in an afternoon. Though he is very fond and understandably proud of the song that many have suggested would make a better national anthem than Advance Australia Fair, Davies says he never imagined it would become such a huge hit. "Great Southern Land continues to astound me," he says. "When I wrote it, it was just another song for one of my albums. "I have no idea why, pardon the pun, it struck such a chord with people. "It has done from the very beginning. "I remember the recording studio's reaction to it -- they were so excited. "I didn't see it as a single -- at five minutes long. And
it wasn't like you could dance to it." 16 June 2008 Iva attended the 2008 APRA Awards. 15 June 2008 In fine voice - Icehouse frontman Iva Davies sings the raises of Battle of the Choirs, by Helen Tsitouris, The Sunday Mail (Brisbane)
There's Paula Abdul in American Idol, Marcia Hines in Australian Idol, Red Symons and Dannii Minogue in Australia's Got Talent. Now, Icehouse frontman Iva Davies is making his television debut tonight as a reality TV judge. Davies, 53, will join Jonathon Welch, founder of the Choir of Hard Knocks in the Logie Award-winning ABC1 program; former Hi-5 performer Charli Delaney; and choral conductor George Torbay to crown Australia's top choir in Channel 7's new singing competition show, Battle of the Choirs. "A lot of these shows need judges and they need to have some sort of expertise," Davies says. "One has to offer constructive criticism because part of the process is the way in which these choirs will improve over the series. "Musicians are obvious choices as judges and they are coming to television and radio in this role. It's more to do with the fact that these shows have become popular. That's really the phenomenon - the fact that American Idol has inspired the production for these kind of shows." Choirs traditionally evoke the image of angelic children singing sweetly in unison, but Davies says this is far from the truth. "Look, that's a misconception and some of that might be covered, but choirs are different these days to when I was in high school. They have become contemporarised so they are drawing their songs from current material. A lot of it is exciting and high energy." The 16 choirs will compete in music genres ranging from pop hits to holiday classics. They are challenged to perform songs from Kylie Minogue, Meatloaf, Rihanna, Kiss, AC/DC, Scissor Sisters, Stevie Wonder and more. He laughs when asked if music from Icehouse will be performed. "That would put them on the spot and it would be horribly unfair." The winning choir will receive $100,000 and a recording deal with Universal Music. Davies says this is an incentive for regional choirs to stay afloat. "Community choirs really struggle for resources. What they are solidly aiming at is the money, and that will be critical to their future." The accomplished composer says he was drawn to the series for personal reasons. "The choirs are an important part of my background. My parents went to a couple of country towns in regional Australia and wherever they went, they started choirs." When he was offered a role to co-judge the choirs on their technical ability, cohesion, presentation and entertainment value he had no hesitation in accepting the position. "This show is different to any other competitive show. It's more than individuals wanting to show their talent off. These choirs have come together by people who share a common interest and do it for the love of it. Pure and simple. "I grew up with choral music and rehearsals in the home. It was no mystery then, that by the time I got to high school, music became of more importance." He went on to become an icon in Australian music. Icehouse's record is impressive. Eight Top 10 albums and 20 Top 40 singles in Australia, debuting with Can't Help Myself in 1980 and then went on to record hit singles Man of Colours, Electric Blue, We Can Get Together, Don't Believe Any More and Great Southern Land. He has hinted that Icehouse have not disbanded. "Actually, we occasionally get together and do a secret little show. These are for private closed events and not for the public. "I don't miss the relentless touring. It's extremely hard work, so to be able to have the luxury of doing little gigs here and there is great fun." He dismisses reports that he is a reclusive rocker. "I'm a very private person but reclusive, absolutely not. "Any of my children's school community will know that I'm quite happy to be a very visible member of their community. To them, I'm regarded as another dad." His children Brynn, 14, and Evan, 12, have seen him perform with the band only once, when Icehouse were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2006. "They would find it difficult to picture me anything other than the dad they know. They are aware of the history but they haven't grown up with the touring father." He continues to be involved in musical concepts and gives workshops to organisations and the NSW Education Department for Year 11 and 12 students. While the choirs are set to raise the roof tonight, Davies is looking forward to the joy of choral music. "There's very few things more pure than the human voice. The idea that people get together to sing is very inspirational. I'd be very surprised if numbers do not swell in local choirs." Cover of TV Guide, Sunday Mail (Brisbane)
11 June 2008 Special event for extra-special athletes, by Crystelle Coulon, northshoretimes.com.au SPECIAL Olympics Upper North Shore Sydney Region is hosting a gala fundraising dinner entitled Shine, on August 29, in the ballroom at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre, Darling Harbour. Shine has been chosen as the theme to highlight the outstanding personal efforts and achievements of the Special Olympics athletes in their chosen sports. The Gala Dinner aims to raise funds to help provide opportunities for people with an intellectual disability to participate in sport at all levels including competition. It will be a wonderful evening with great entertainment from Australian celebrities, such as John Foreman, Iva Davies and Tim Campbell and dances from the popular Special Olympics Performance Dance Group. Marcia Hines, Ricki-Lee and Damien Leith may also attend. Special Olympics is a global organisation represented in 121 countries. It is dedicated to enhancing the lives of people with intellectual disabilities through the provision of its sports programs. All funds raised at the Gala will directly support programs for our athletes. More information is available at the Special Olympics website. 8 June 2008 Stars Shine For Charity, by Jonathon Moran, The Daily Telegraph (Sydney) New Zealand's famed Finn brothers were in town last week, helping to raise funds for the Art Of Music Charity Ball. Neil and Tim performed at the charity event, which raised more than $350,000 to provide music therapy programs for children with physical and intellectual disabilities as well as emotional and behavioural issues. Also there were Australian music veterans Iva Davies, Jimmy Barnes and Jenny Morris. Pictures of the evening can be seen on flickr. 25 May 2008 Rocker in tune with role, by Fiona Byrne, heraldsun.com.au Rock and pop identity Iva Davies will head the judging panel on Channel 7's new series, Battle of the Choirs. Davies, the lead singer and songwriter of Australian band Icehouse, will be joined by former Hi-5 member Charli Delaney, George Torbay and Jonathon Welch. David Koch is the show's host. Davies said signing on as a judge was just a further example of the "mad projects" he had chosen to do during his career. "My father and mother started choirs wherever they moved through regional Australia as I was growing up. They were community choirs like the ones competing in this contest," Davies said. "It (choir singing) goes back a long way in the culture of my life and family, so that is why I am interested in it." Davies doubted he would turn into the show's "nasty" judge. "I think as a judge I will fall squarely in the middle," he said. "I don't think there is any risk I am going to end up being the hard judge. "And by now, of course, I have done such mad projects that are totally unrelated to anything, but vaguely related to music, that I think the Australian public won't be surprised in the least if they see me attached to some other mad project." Davies's body of work is diverse, to say the least. Along with top 10 hits with Icehouse, he has written a contemporary ballet, the score to Russell Crowe film Master and Commander and part of the music used in the opening and closing ceremonies of the Asian Games in 2006. And Davies would not rule out Icehouse reforming and touring. "I never say never," Davies said. "Last year we did a couple of performances that were private events and it was pretty good fun - so it is certainly a possibility." From the Sydney Sunday Telegraph:
24 May 2008 Iva has been chosen to be one of the judges on Channel Seven's new reality show, Battle of the Choirs! The show begins filming in June. 22 May 2008 Especially Happy Birthday wishes to ID from Spellbound!! Iva had a busy day for his birthday, promoting the Salvos' Red Shield Appeal. This was the scheduled itinerary: 8.30am 6PR Perth. A feature interview on the breakfast program
with Millsy and Tony Mac. 21 May 2008 On the Susie show today: Rock legend, singer and composer, Iva Davies, of Icehouse fame shares some amazing career highlights and sings his classic hit "Great Southern Land." 5 May 2008 Iva will be participating in the Salvation Army's Red Shield event this year. ID will be the "face" or spokesperson for the event along with General Peter Cosgrove. The Red Shield appeal will occur on May 24th-25th. Please keep an eye on the Salvation Army's web site for further details. Iva says: "I often see the Salvation Army in my local area and it's important to donate to this vital cause. Please consider doing something more for the less fortunate. There's such a big hidden need out there. The Salvation Army is able to transform lives through the work that it does in communities and on the street. The Salvos want to do more and by supporting Red Shield you can help them." 8 February 2008 From blog.icantgetno.com, July 2007: SCORING THE LEAD Project Satisfaction is an independently driven film project, directed by Jonathan Worsley. MUSIC AND SCRIPT As early as our first draft, we were talking music. We wanted to use it as a storytelling device to propel the narrative and carry subtextual messages revealing the characters’ inner thoughts... If the dialogue was ‘switched off ’ it would be like watching a two hour music video clip. We’re in the process of creating a ‘music bed,' listening to HUNDREDS of songs, mashing them together. Given the complexity of licensing music, we decided on iconic covers to mark the narrative milestones. The rest will be originals, by both reknowned and undiscovered artists, who’ll work with our music producer Iva Davies. 26 January 2008 "TRUE CELEBRATION OF WHO WE ARE" By Aimee Brown. Daily Telegraph (Sydney) When he penned the lyrics to the anthemic tune "Great Southern Land" in the early 1980s, Icehouse frontman Iva Davies had no idea that it would grow to become one of the most widely recognised songs written about this rugged country. "When I presented 'Great Southern Land' to the record
company and my managers, it had a huge reaction from them," he says. "I've
never really understood why it kind of hit some mark ... it was just me
sitting down to write an album and it was just another song in a collection
of songs." "One thing I can remember very specifically is how seriously I took the business of writing the song," he says. "I had a self- preservation reason for that -- I was acutely aware of how disastrously embarrassing it would be if I got it terribly wrong. So I was very particular about every word that I wrote. Looking back on the experience I can't believe I actually did that when I was relatively young. I think I was 25." Such was the reaction to his song that 18 years after it was released, Davies was asked to create a 25-minute composition based on Great Southern Land, called Ghost Of Time, for the Sydney Millennium celebrations. It was performed by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in the lead-up to the midnight countdown. The following year, Davies was invited to be an envoy for the Centenary of Federation celebrations, which led to his involvement with the Australia Day Council. Each year since, Davies has been an Australia Day ambassador and spends the day in local council areas, this year in Baulkham Hills, taking part in citizenship and flag-raising ceremonies. "It's really wonderful to be assured every year of how many great contributors to society there are, especially when you get a year full of not necessarily positive events in the news," he says. "I really love Australia Day for that reason, because every year I get to meet and recognise that there are so many good people out there. It's just really humbling." On his second year as an ambassador, Davies visited the country town of Wagga Wagga, where he was raised. "I took the opportunity to go back to Wagga Wagga, which is where I grew up as a boy. It was a great thing," he says. Davies now takes his daughter Brynn and son Evan, with him when he attends Australia Day events. Both Brynn, 14, and Evan, 11, have inherited his musical talents. "My son has just become the music captain of his primary school," Davies says. "He's very talented. I don't want to sound like a gloating parent but I really believe he has a lot more natural talent than I had, so one would hope he does use it because I think he's been given a gift. "My daughter has as well. She has taken music as an elective. She is a passionate writer of lyrics and a singer, but she is also a pianist and a bass player." While they may share their father's love of music, Davies' children -- and his wife Tonia -- know that when he is working, his home studio is well off-limits. "It's always been a no-go zone ... when I'm working, I actually do go into another world," Davies says. "If you ask my wife, on the number of occasions she's appeared at the door, I've nearly jumped through the ceiling, I disappear so comprehensively into it. I just disappear and do what needs to be done." It is this attitude that has led to Davies' success, which was acknowledged in 2006 when he and fellow Icehouse members were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame. "MY WEEKEND" with IVA DAVIES, Daily Telegraph (Sydney) ( Q ) Do you have a favourite cafe? ( A ) There are a number of good ones around here [Northern Beaches] and if I name one, one of the other proprietors might kill me. All the cafes in Avalon and Palm Beach I frequent often. ( Q ) Do you have a favourite weekend ritual? ( A ) Going to a local cafe for breakfast with my wife and children on Sunday. ( Q ) Where do you get the best view of Sydney? ( A ) From my studio (on the Northern Beaches), looking out over the ocean. ( Q ) Do you have a favourite beach? ( A ) Our favourite spot is what's referred to as Kiddie's Corner at Palm Beach, which is where I taught my son and daughter how to surf. My daughter is now an active member of the Palm Beach Surf Lifesaving Club. ( Q ) What would you recommend to visitors as a must-do activity on the weekend? ( A ) Wait for a beautiful day and catch the seaplane from Rose Bay, which lands up at Barrenjoey at Palm Beach. That is a scenic flight all the way up the coast. ( Q ) What is your favourite part of the city? ( A ) I'd have to say the Opera House because I saw it being built as I caught the train into the Sydney Conservatorium of Music for lessons every week. I ended up playing in the orchestra for the first opera staged in the Opera House. So it was something that I aspired to that I actually achieved. ( Q ) What do you think is Sydney's best-kept secret? ( A ) I think Government House is one of the best-kept secrets because it's a beautiful place, but also is a real reminder of our craftsmanship, and if you can imagine, everything inside it had to be brought out on a tall ship. Very few people I think include that in their tours of the Botanic Gardens and so on. It gets overlooked. I know about it because of the Australia Day functions, but I don't think it's on most people's radars. ( Q ) Sum up your perfect weekend. ( A ) It involves a surf and a bit of beach. It most definitely involves breakfast at a cafe with my children and probably spending at least some time with them sitting around playing the odd Radiohead song on guitars and basses. I've just introduced them to three Radiohead albums. I drip-feed them things I think they should know about. 25 January 2008 "What does Australia Day mean to you?" TODAY catches up with a few true blue Aussies to see what Australia Day means to them. Iva was interviewed for this segment. Watch the video. 22 January 2008 Iva Davies to celebrate Australia Day in the Shire Flag raising ceremonies, a fun family festival, competitions and fantastic live entertainment will all form part of Baulkham Hills Shire Council’s exciting Australia Day Celebrations on Saturday 26 January 2008. Special guest and Australia Day Ambassador for Baulkham Hills, Iva Davies from the iconic Aussie rock band Icehouse, will take part in Council’s exciting Australia Day Celebrations across the day. Locals will have the opportunity to meet and talk to this outstanding Australian. Schedule: The best chance to say hello to Iva would be prior to the
start of any of these events. |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
Iva Davies said Australia Day should be a chance for residents to reflect on what makes our country great and what can be improved.
The Icehouse frontman was the Campbelltown’s 2010 Australia Day ambassador and said it was an opportunity to some of the charity work done in the community.
9 HOURS OF FOOTAGE OVER 4 DISCS. FEATURING EVERY ARTIST,
DOCUMENTING THE BIGGEST CONCERTS IN AUSTRALIAN MUSIC HISTORY.
The 2009 Golden Stave Charity Luncheon was held at the Hordern
Pavilion in Sydney on Friday, June 26th. Iva was in attendance and for
a very good reason! ID was awarded the 2009 Golden Stave Award! It was
presented to him by Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy Australia. It is in
recognition of his service to the music industry and to the community.
Every
day hundreds of people who are homeless or living in poverty, come to
the Sacred Heart Mission (SHM) in St Kilda seeking food, shelter, care
and support. But that’s just the beginning. SHM works with people
to overcome challenging issues and reconnect them with the community.
Sometimes this can take years, but the Mission is there each step of the
way.
29
March 2009
28
March 2009
4
March 2009
24
February 2009
19
December 2008
10
October 2008
Life
goes on
Fast
forward
For
years Iva Davies lived a double life, by day in a dinner suit, playing
the oboe in a classical wind ensemble group, by night, a scruffy musician
playing acoustic guitar.
MORE
and more talented singers and musicians are moving into judging a reality
TV show.
