''Handheld Torch'' is the debut album by

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

band Tarmac Adam. It was released in 2003 and featured two former

Crowded House Crowded House are an Australian-New Zealand rock band, formed in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia, in 1985. Its founding members were Neil Finn (vocalist, guitarist, primary songwriter) and Paul Hester (drums), who were both for ...

members, bassist

Nick Seymour Nicholas More Seymour (born 9 December 1958) is an Australian musician and record producer. He is the founding bass guitarist and a mainstay of the rock group Crowded House, and is the younger brother of Mark Seymour, singer-songwriter-guitaris ...

and drummer

Paul Hester Paul Newell Hester (8 January 1959 – 26 March 2005) was an Australian musician and television personality. He was the drummer for the band Split Enz for their last year together from December 1983 to December 1984, and co-founding member an ...

. The album was produced by Seymour. The album began as a solo production by singer-songwriter Matt O'Donnell, who took time off work as an occupational therapist to record some of a set of 25 songs he had written.Tarmac Adam interview, Undercover.com.au website, 2003
He recruited guitarist Sean McVitty and drummer Hester, who in turn introduced O'Donnell to Seymour. Seymour began producing the album and in mid-2002 returned with O'Donnell to his Dublin base to work on vocals, where the set list was reduced to 10 songs. On their return to Melbourne, the project was joined by multi-instrumentalist Steve Paix and in January 2003 the album was mixed by US engineer Rob Feaster. The album was funded by O'Donnell after approaches to record companies by Seymour for a recording deal were rebuffed. O'Donnell explained: "I got to a certain age where I was working as a public servant for long enough and thought I'd like to make another record and make it in a certain way. I borrowed the money to do it." Seymour said: "On this record when I started working with Matt and Sean, we had songs that were the basis of the record realised. I sent them out to all these A&R guys and record company stiffs that I had known over the years and got absolutely no reply. I followed up with phone calls and they'd say they weren't interested or weren't signing anything. I realised that because of the digital age you make your own records in the back garden and do a lease deal. It is a real drag but that's what you have to do. You have to come up with the money yourself to get Pro-Tools and the good speakers for your spare room. It is part of the DJ culture but a lot of kids who don't have money don't get money thrown at them anymore. It means the ones coming up the ranks are predominantly middle-class to upper-class kids."

Track listing

Personnel

* Matt O'Donnell – vocals,

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

s, piano, keyboards,

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

, percussion *

– bass, piano, keyboards, percussion, backing vocals * Sean McVitty – guitars *

–

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

, percussion * Steve Paix – keyboards,

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to p ...

tin whistle The tin whistle, also known as the penny whistle, is a simple six-holed woodwind instrument. It is a type of fipple flute, a class of instrument which also includes the recorder and Native American flute. A tin whistle player is called a whistl ...

, backing vocals Additional musicians: * Michelle Wood, Ash Wood, Zolton Balazs, Lisa Reybolds, Phillip Healy – strings * Ken Murray – nylon string guitar * Ken Stephenson –

lap steel The lap steel guitar, also known as a Hawaiian guitar or lap slide guitar, is a type of steel guitar without pedals that is typically played with the instrument in a horizontal position across the performer's lap. Unlike the usual manner of play ...

* Pui – percussion * Brian Crosby –

mellotron The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which causes a length of magnetic tape to contact a Capstan (tape recorder), capstan, which pulls i ...

* Lawrence Maddy –

trombone The trombone (, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's lips vibrate inside a mouthpiece, causing the Standing wave, air c ...

melodica The melodica is a handheld free-reed instrument similar to a pump organ or harmonica. It features a musical keyboard on top, and is played by blowing air through a mouthpiece that fits into a hole in the side of the instrument. The keyboard usu ...

* Christopher Coe – programming

References

{{Authority control 2003 albums Tarmac Adam albums