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Sparkadia is an Australian band, formed in Sydney in 2004. They were originally known as The Spark. The band is brainchild of Alexander Burnett (vocals, guitar) and Dave Hall (drums), the band became a reality with the addition of Nick Rabone (bass) and Josephine Ayling (keyboards, guitar, vocals) in 2006. In 2008 Ayling was replaced by Tiffany Preece on guitars and vocals. By 2009 Sparkadia was Burnett's solo project. Sparkadia has released two studio albums, '' Postcards'' (31 May 2008) and '' The Great Impression'' (18 March 2011).


Band history


2004–2007: Formation and ''Things Behind the Sun''

Sparkadia formed as a duo in 2004 in Sydney by Alexander Burnett on lead vocals and David Hall on drums. On 17 February 2007 Sparkadia released their debut extended play titled, ''Things Behind the Sun'', on Boundary Sounds through Inertia Records, which peaked in the ARIA Singles Chart top 100 for four weeks in March–April. In 2007, Sparkadia supported Elbow on their tour of Australia following the release of the ''Things Behind the Sun'' EP. This was followed by a tour of the UK that included supporting Irish band The Thrills, whom they were to support again the following year on their Australian tour.


2008–2009: ''Postcards''

In May 2008, the band released "Too Much to Do", the second single from their debut studio album. "Too Much to Do" reached No. 11 on the ARIA Hitseekers Singles Chart. Their first studio album, '' Postcards'', was released on 31 May 2008 and reached number 23 in the ARIA Albums Chart. For the album the line-up were Ayling, Burnett, Hall and Rabone. Soon after Ayling was replaced by Tiffany Preece on guitars and vocals. However, by 2009 Sparkadia had become Burnett's solo project; according to Burnett: Hall had "moved onto other things", Preece had left to have a baby, and Rabone went to India. In 2008, Sparkadia toured with
Jimmy Eat World Jimmy Eat World is an American rock band formed in 1993 in Mesa, Arizona. The band is composed of lead vocalist and lead guitarist Jim Adkins, rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist Tom Linton, bassist Rick Burch, and drummer Zach Lind. They h ...
on their European tour. This was followed by shows with Vampire Weekend, as well as their own headline shows across the UK and Europe. In 2009, the band recorded a cover of "
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" by The Presets for Triple J's '' Like a Version Volume 5''. In 2009, Sparkadia toured Australia as part of the Big Day Out, before embarking on a string of sold-out shows across Australia before amicably parting ways as a four piece.


2010–2011: ''The Great Impression''

In September 2010 Sparkadia issued the next single, "Talking Like I'm Falling Down Stairs", which peaked in the top 100. Another single, "China", was issued in March 2011. Burnett, as Sparkadia, had moved to London to work on the second album in mid-January 2010. '' The Great Impression'' was issued on 18 March 2011, which reached number 8 on the ARIA Albums Chart. On 20 March it was the week's "feature album" on national youth radio Triple J. In March 2011, Burnett was the featured cover star for Sydney music magazine The Drum, with the tagline "Sparkadia I'll Do It Myself". The feature photo shoot was conducted by award winning music photographer Daniel Boud.


2012–present: Solo work

Following Sparkadia's '' The Great Impression'', Burnett joined the
Nick Cave Nicholas Edward Cave (born 22 September 1957) is an Australian singer, songwriter, poet, lyricist, author, screenwriter, composer and occasional actor. Known for his baritone voice and for fronting the rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Ca ...
''Straight To You'' concert series organised by Triple J. He performed on many of the songs on the tour including his own rendition of The Boys Next Door's "Shivers", and the duet " Where the Wild Roses Grow" with
Lanie Lane Lanie Lane (born 11 February 1987) is the stage name of Lanier Stefanie Myra Johnston, an Australian blues-jazz singer-songwriter and guitarist. Lane released two studio albums between 2011 and 2014. At the ARIA Music Awards of 2012, Lane was no ...
. The subsequent live recording/DVD went on to win an
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at the ARIA Music Awards of 2012. From December 2012, Burnett has largely working as a songwriter. He has collaborated and co-written tracks for various artists including DJ Snake, Alison Wonderland, Kaiser Chiefs, Digitalism, George Maple, Flight Facilities,
Elizabeth Rose Elizabeth Rose may refer to: * Elizabeth Rose (nun), 12th-century nun * Elizabeth Rose, Lady of Kilravock (1747–1815), Scottish literary critic and author * Elizabeth Rose (musician) Elizabeth Maniscalco, better known by her stage name Elizabet ...
, Dan Sultan, Thelma Plum,
Tieks Mark Tieku, better known by his stage name Tieks (often stylised as TIEKS) is an English record producer and songwriter from London. He is best known for his 2016 single " Sunshine", featuring vocals from Dan Harkna, which peaked at number 15 o ...
, LDRU, Rationale and more. Burnett also has a
deep house Deep house is a subgenre of house music that originated in the 1980s, initially fusing elements of Chicago house with the lush chords of 1980s jazz-funk and touches of soul music. Its origins are attributed to the early recordings of Larry Heard ( ...
project called
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, which is based in London. It is a duo with
Anita Blay Anita Blay is a British-Ghanaian singer and songwriter, formerly known by the stage name CocknBullKid (previously thecocknbullkid). She released her debut single in 2008 and her debut album, ''Adulthood'', in 2011. Blay currently writes for othe ...
(AKA CocknBullKid), who met in London in 2014 during a pop writing session. As of 2016, Alexander Burnett is working on the third Sparkadia album.


Members

* Alexander Burnett – lead vocals, guitar, keyboards (2004–present) * David Hall – drums (2004–2009) * Josephine Ayling – guitar, keyboards, vocals (2006–2008) * Nick Rabone – bass guitar (2006–2009) * Tiffany Preece – guitars, vocals (2008–2009)


Discography


Studio albums


Extended plays


Single


References


External links


Official Sparkadia websiteOfficial Alexander Burnett websiteOfficial Antony & Cleopatra websiteSparkadia Discography
at Discogs
Sparkadia Discography
at AllMusic
Interview with Iain Shedden
at The Australian Australian pop rock groups Musical groups from Sydney {{authority control