Infusion were an Australian

electronica Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that started in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mostly used to r ...

band, originally from

Wollongong Wollongong ( ), colloquially referred to as The Gong, is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near wate ...

which formed in 1995. They are best known for their ARIA Music Award-winning song "

Girls Can Be Cruel "Girls Can Be Cruel" is a song made by Australian electronica group, Infusion. The song was released in April 2004 as the lead single from the group's second studio album, '' Six Feet Above Yesterday''. The song peaked at number 52 on the ARIA Ch ...

" and ''

Six Feet Above Yesterday ''Six Feet Above Yesterday'' is the second studio album by Australian electronica and dance music trio, Infusion (band), Infusion. It was released in September 2004 and peaked at number 61 on the ARIA Charts. At the ARIA Music Awards of 20 ...

''.

Career

1995-2002: Early Days and ''Phrases and Numbers''

Infusion founding members, Jamie Stevens and Manuel Sharrad, met in 1988 at a local high school in

. Frank Xavier also hails from Wollongong, although he did not meet the other two until they had relocated to Sydney. In 1995, Infusion released their debut single "Smokescreen / Lux" on the Dance Pool label while primarily remixing other artists' tracks. In 1999, he band signed with Thunk Records, an underground electronic label and released their debut studio album, '' Phrases and Numbers'', in 2000. The trio's music evolved from the rave and club scene, widening in scope to include traditional pop song structures. Andrew Wowk from In the Mix said the release of "Spike" was "the turning point in their career" saying "the track perfectly encapsulated the group's reinvention of their sound into an unstoppable behemoth of dark, throbbing, techy filth, which came as a fresh, subtle alternative to the over-saturation of floaty, uplifting progressive house of the time."

2003-2013: ''Six Feet Above Yesterday'', ''All Night Sun Light'' and split

In October 2003, the group had relocated to Melbourne and signed with

Sony BMG Sony BMG Music Entertainment was an American record company owned as a 50–50 joint venture between Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann. The venture's successor, the revived Sony Music, is wholly owned by Sony, following their buyout o ...

. In April 2004, Infusion released the single "

", which received airplay on Australia's alternative music radio station,

Triple J Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian Radio in Australia, radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greate ...

. The song won the

ARIA Award for Best Dance Release The ARIA Music Award for Best Dance Release, is an award presented at the annual ARIA Music Awards, which recognises "the many achievements of Aussie artists across all music genres", since 1987. It is handed out by the Australian Recording Indus ...

at the

ARIA Music Awards of 2004 The 18th Annual Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (generally known as ARIA Music Awards or simply the ARIAs) were held on 17 October 2004 at the Sydney Superdome within the Sydney Olympic Complex. The ceremony, hosted by Ro ...

. The band released ''

'' in 2004, which won the Best Dance Release at the

ARIA Music Awards of 2005 The 19th Annual Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (generally known as ARIA Music Awards or simply The ARIAS) were held on 23 October 2005 at the Sydney Superdome at the Sydney Olympic Park complex, thus continuing the pre ...

. "Better World" and "Natural" were charting singles from the album. Infusion's album ''All Night Sun Light'' was released on 7 July 2009 on their own independent label Futuresque. Infusion performed their last show with Leftfield at the Enmore Theatre in 2013.

Post Infusion

Xavier produces records under the pseudonym Francis Xavier on Australian label Motorik!, and is a member of their rotating deejay collective, The Motorik Vibe Council, alongside members of The Lost Valentinos, The Bang Gang Deejays and Dreems, in addition to production credits on a plethora of tracks including Flight Facilities' debut "Crave You". Jamie Stevens has released solo under his own name on a large variety of record labels.

2019 Reformation

On 16 November 2019, after a 7-year hiatus, Manny Sharrad & Jaimie Stevens performed in Melbourne under the Infusion banner, with long time friend and collaborator Phil K in place of Frank Xavier. The trio played at a laneway festival which took place at Bourke Place in Melbourne and the nightclub La Di Da. It celebrated the 22nd event for event organisers Sunny.

Discography

Albums

Singles

Awards

ARIA Music Awards

Infusion have won two

ARIA Music Awards The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...

from four nominations. , - , rowspan="1",

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

, rowspan="1", "Smokescreen" , Best Dance Release , , - , rowspan="1",

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

, rowspan="1", ''Phrases & Numbers'' , Best Dance Release , , - , rowspan="1",

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

, rowspan="1", "Girls Can Be Cruel" , Best Dance Release , , - , rowspan="1",

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

, rowspan="1", ''Six Feet Above Yesterday'' , Best Dance Release , , -

References

External links

Infusion on MusicBrainz
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Infusion Alternative dance musical groups ARIA Award winners Australian electronic music groups Australian house music groups Club DJs Australian electronic rock musical groups Musical groups established in 1995 Musical groups disestablished in 2013 Remixers