PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Steven Fox
Tel: +61 (0) x xxxx xxxx
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Australian artist Secret Friend release their Los Angeles recorded debut album today
Sydney, Australia (9 January 2013) — Sydney-based Secret Friend today has launched their debut album “Time Machine”, available now on CD, iTunes, Amazon and other major online services. Recorded last year in Los Angeles California, Time Machine is the unique pairing of Australian songwriter, Steven Fox, with acclaimed American producer Linus of Hollywood. The result is 12 exceptionally crafted and original pop songs which might have been found on a lost Wings or Nilsson album.
Several notable LA musicians lent their talents to the recording, including Willie Wisely and Kelly Jones on vocals; Bob Remstein (Mello Cads), Ben Romans (The Click Five) and Roger Joseph Manning Jr. (Jellyfish, Beck) on keyboards; supported by Carson Cohen on bass guitar, Reade Pryor on drums and percussion, and Linus of Hollywood on guitars. John Hill (producer of Margo Guryan’s classic 1968 album “Take a Picture”) contributed orchestral arrangements on several tracks.
Songwriter Steven Fox wears his musical influences on his sleeve. “I’m definitely a child of 1970’s American AM radio, that’s what I grew up listening to. But when it came to writing and recording this album, I totally rejected the idea of copying other artists using specific instrumentation or obvious chord changes or arrangements. It’s really tempting, and fun, to evoke a special sound heard on, say, “God Only Knows” or “Mr. Blue Sky”, but I chose not to go that route because I would find that very limiting as an artist, ultimately. I decided to use contemporary sounds and production, maybe also combine a couple different musical styles in one song, and then try to make each song on the album unique in its own right as well. Having said that, we recorded all the rhythm tracks live, just like it was done back in the day. The groove is just so much tighter than laying down each part separately. Even if it’s only on a subconscious level, the listener can feel that. And although we used ProTools for recording, we didn’t do excessive editing or alterations. Sometimes it took me 20 or more takes to sing just one small vocal part on pitch, but I’d rather do that than Autotune it. That certainly was a test of patience for Linus, but I think he would agree the end result was worth it.”
Lyrically, “Time Machine” explores a lot ground – from lost love to vehicular homicide, from time travel to compulsive masturbation, from first degree murder to living on the moon. With such topics it would be hard to consider this as an auto-biographical album, “But there are actually a couple personal songs on the album. One of them is ‘The Elephant in the Room’ which is about a happily married couple getting on in years but still behaving like they did when they first married – meanwhile their friends are raising kids and begin to distance themselves from that younger lifestyle. That’s absolutely what my wife and I have experienced. Another one is ‘Oblivious’, which I wrote for my wife’s birthday quite a few years ago. When I first played it to her, her immediate reaction was, “So that’s what you’ve been doing?? Why haven’t you been looking for a job??” She was right, of course, but that really stung. So I immediately found a new job and totally gave up on music. I didn’t even pick up a guitar for 5 years. She eventually started encouraging me to pursue music again, and even gave me the green light to quit my job and record this album.
About Steven Fox:
Steven Fox is a complete newcomer to the music industry, having spent his entire adult life as an entrepreneur in advertising and information technology. He worked in Asia for nearly 20 years and learned Mandarin by listening to Chinese pop songs. “Songwriting has been something I have been doing since I was a teenager in my high school band, but then I never seriously pursued it because I made a decision that I would follow a very different career. I would often write music at home after work, and it was always in the back of the mind that one day I might get around to seriously pursuing my music and recording some of my songs.” Due to a fortunate set of circumstances Steven found himself living in Hollywood for six months in 2012 and recorded this album. “I got a pretty late start at it, but I think I bring a level of maturity to my songwriting which I hope others will appreciate.”
LINKS:
Official website: http://secretfriend.com.au/
Time Machine Album Video Sampler: http://youtu.be/SBjV7Qgw8QA
Official Music Video for “Without My Pr0n”: http://youtu.be/-001-vtf0ck
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/album/time-machine/id589121344
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SecretFriendMusic
Stream Time Machine on SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/secretfriend/sets/time-machine
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