Sparkadia

Sparkadia
Background information
Origin	Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Genres	Alternative rock, indie rock
Years active	2004 (2004)–2012 (2012)
Labels	Boundary/Inertia Ivy League Ark Recordings
Past members	Alexander Burnett David Hall Josephine Ayling Nick Rabone Tiffany Preece Adam Foreman
Website	sparkadia.com.au

Sparkadia was an Australian rock band, formed in Sydney in 2004. They were originally known as The Spark. The band was formed by Alexander Burnett (vocals, guitar) and Dave Hall (drums), and eventually expanded 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 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.^[1][2]

On 17 February 2007 Sparkadia released their debut extended play titled, Things Behind the Sun, on Boundary Sounds through Inertia Records,^[3] which peaked in the ARIA Singles Chart top 100 for four weeks in March–April.^[4]

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.^[5][6][7]

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.^[8]

Their first studio album, Postcards, was released on 31 May 2008 and reached number 23 in the ARIA Albums Chart.^[9] For the album the line-up were Ayling, Burnett, Hall and Rabone. Soon after Ayling was replaced by Tiffany Preece on guitars and vocals.^[1][10] However, by 2009 Sparkadia had become Burnett's solo project;^[11] 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 on their European tour.^{[12][13] [14][15]} This was followed by shows with Vampire Weekend,^[16] as well as their own headline shows across the UK and Europe.

In 2009, the band recorded a cover of "This Boy's in Love" by The Presets for Triple J's Like a Version Volume 5.^[17][18]

In 2009, Sparkadia toured Australia as part of the Big Day Out,^[19] 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.^[20] Another single, "China", was issued in March 2011.^[11] Burnett, as Sparkadia, had moved to London to work on the second album in mid-January 2010.^[21]

The Great Impression was issued on 18 March 2011, which reached number 8 on the ARIA Albums Chart.^[9] On 20 March it was the week's "feature album" on national youth radio Triple J.^[22]

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.^[23][24]

2012–present: Solo work

Following Sparkadia's The Great Impression,^[25] Burnett joined the Nick Cave Straight To You concert series organised by Triple J.^[26] 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. The subsequent live recording/DVD went on to win an ARIA Award at the ARIA Music Awards of 2012.^[27]

From December 2012, Burnett has largely worked 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, Dan Sultan, Thelma Plum, Tieks, LDRU, Rationale and more.^{[28][29][30][31][32]}

Burnett also had a deep house project called Antony & Cleopatra, which was based in London. It is a duo with Anita Blay (AKA CocknBullKid), whom Burnett met in London in 2014 during a pop writing session. In 2016, Burnett claimed to be working on the third Sparkadia album.^[33] As of August 2024^[update], however, no further updates have been given regarding the project.

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

List of studio albums, with selected chart positions

Title	Album details	Peak chart positions
		AUS [9]
Postcards	Released: June 2008[34] Label: Ivy League (IVY063) Format: CD, LP, Download	23
The Great Impression	Released: 18 March 2011[35] Label: Ivy League (IVY105) Format: CD	8

Extended plays

List of extended plays, with selected chart positions

Title	EP details	Peak chart positions
		AUS [4]
Things Behind the Sun	Released: 17 February 2007 Label: Boundary Sounds (BS0003) Format: CD, LP, Download	83

Single

List of singles, with year released, selected chart positions, and album shown

Title	Year	Peak chart positions	Album
		AUS [36][11]
"Morning Light"	2007	—	Things Behind the Sun
"Animals"[37]		—	Postcards
"Too Much to Do"[38]	2008	—
"Jealousy"		—
"Talking Like I'm Falling Down Stairs"	2010	75	The Great Impression
"China"[39]	2011	81
"Mary"[40]		—
"Love Less Love"		—

References

1. True, Chris. "Sparkadia Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
2. "Alex Burnett's Sparkadia in top ten for first time". The Daily Telegraph. 28 March 2011. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
3. "Releases :: Things Behind the Sun". Australian Music Online. Australia Council for the Arts. Archived from the original on 21 November 2007. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
4. "Week Commencing 2nd April 2007" (PDF). The ARIA Report (891). Australian Recording Industry Association: 8. 2 April 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 March 2007. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
5. "The Thrills @ Amplifier, 10/06/08". Faster Louder. Archived from the original on 21 September 2016. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
6. "The Thrills, Sparkadia @ The Zoo, Brisbane (04/06/2008)". Faster Louder. Archived from the original on 21 September 2016. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
7. "The Thrills & Sparkadia @ Settlers Tavern, Margaret River". Faster Louder. Archived from the original on 21 September 2016. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
8. "Week Commencing 26 May 2008" (PDF). The ARIA Report (952). Australian Recording Industry Association: 21. 26 May 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 June 2008. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
9. Hung, Steffen. "Discography Sparkadia". Australian Charts Portal. Hung Medien (Steffen Hung). Retrieved 30 April 2015.
10. "Sparkadia - Official Bio". Sparkadia Official Website. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
11. "Week Commencing 28 March 2011" (PDF). The ARIA Report (1100). Australian Recording Industry Association: 2, 45, 8, 11, 14, 16, 21. 28 March 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 May 2011. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
12. "Jimmy Eat World Live at The Refectory on Friday, 22nd February 2008". Leeds Music Scene. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
13. "Jimmy Eat World + Sparkadia". Rockfreaks.net.
14. "JIMMY EAT WORLD – SPARKADIA". Terrorverlag.com.
15. "739 JIMMY EAT WORLD, Sparkadia, Southampton Guildhall". gigbook.blogspot.co.uk. 20 November 2009.
16. "Vampire Weekend, Sparkadia @ Audio, Brighton". starsandheroes.blogspot.co.uk.
17. "Sparkadia - "This Boy's In Love" (triple j / jTV Like A Version)". Triple J. Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). 14 April 2010.
18. "This Boy's In Love". whosampled.com. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
19. "Big Day Out: Young, MMJ, TVOTR". JamBase. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
20. "Week Commencing 20 September 2010" (PDF). The ARIA Report (1073). Australian Recording Industry Association: 2. 20 September 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 October 2010. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
21. Feeney, Katherine (6 March 2009). "Sparkadia shine". Brisbane Times. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
22. "Sparkadia The Great Impression". Triple J. Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). 20 March 2011. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
23. "Daniel Boud - About". danielboud.com. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
24. "Sparkadia Drum Cover". Boudist.com. Archived from the original on 11 May 2011. Retrieved 12 March 2019. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
25. "Sparkadia announce Mary tour for September". triple j. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
26. "Straight To You - triple j's Tribute To Nick Cave". triple j. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
27. 2012 ARIA "ARIA Award Winners 2012". ARIA. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
28. Apter, Liam (2 December 2014). "Interview: Alex Burnett (Sparkadia)". Pilerats Magazine. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
29. "Alexander Burnett songwriting credits". AllMusic.com. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
30. "Xander Burnett Biography". xanderburnett.com. Retrieved 20 August 2016.
31. "Alison Wonderland Announces Debut Album 'Run'". Falcona. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
32. "Antony & Cleopatra". Mushroom Music. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
33. "About Sparkadia". sparkadia.com. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
34. "Distant Sense of Random Menace (DD)". Apple Music. August 2004. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
35. "Distant Sense of Random Menace (DD)". Apple Music. August 2004. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
36. "Week Commencing 18 October 2010" (PDF). The ARIA Report (1077). Australian Recording Industry Association: 2, 4, 16, 21. 18 October 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 November 2010. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
37. "Animals - single". Apple Music. 2007. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
38. "Too Much to Do - single". Apple Music. May 2008. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
39. "China - single". Apple Music. January 2011. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
40. "Mary - single". Apple Music. May 2011. Retrieved 28 August 2020.

External links

• Official Sparkadia website
• Official Alexander Burnett website
• Official Antony & Cleopatra website
• Sparkadia Discography at Discogs
• Sparkadia Discography at AllMusic
• Interview with Iain Shedden at The Australian