Arons Crusade

ARE THEY THE NEXT BIG THING?
By Melody Montague

“To be recognized for our original songs is rewarding”
— Brendan Gaspari

Local band Arons Crusade is off to Perth to compete in the semi-final of The Next Big Thing after winning the Albany heat.
Seven acts competed in the heat on Saturday night with Homebrewe taking out second place and Oricle third.
Annabelle Harvey, Brendan Gaspari and Wez Derrick are the members of Arons Crusade. The band has only been together for a few months but has already had a great response from audiences around Albany.
“Winning the competition was really a big thing for us, mainly for the exposure and the big step into the industry,” Annabelle says.
“The real advantage for us is it will help us to get gigs around the State and in the region.”
Annabelle knows exactly how much exposure a band earns from the competition — she got right through to the grand final last year as a member of the Flaming Sheilas.
Brendan says winning the heat is a great compliment to Arons Crusade for a number of reasons.
“To be recognized for our original songs is rewarding,” he says.
“When it’s something you’ve just sat down and written in your bedroom and someone else recognizes it as something special, that really means a lot to us.” -
Of the 12 bands who entered the competition in Albany, only Arons Crusade, Homebrewe, Oricle, Saz, The Xave Brown Players, Mr Speaker and Siamcyz were selected to play in the heat at the King River Tavern.
“It was really stiff competition,” Annabelle says. “Mr Speaker were really, really good,” she adds. ‘They put on a great show and Oricle and Homebrewe both did very well.
“We knew pretty much all of the acts so it was good to have some competition with colleagues and friends.
“It would definitely have been a hard decision from the judges’ point of view.”
The judges were local industry personalities Sue Flowers, Steve Dyer and Geoff Scott and The Next Big Thing’s Michael Zampogna.
Darrel Yates from Uptown Music provided outstanding support for the competition, coordinating the sound for all seven bands.
For winning the heat, Axons Crusade have been given eight hours in a professional recording studio to record a song for The Next Big Thing 2007 compilation CD, a voucher from Uptown Music and a copy of the Australasian Music Industry Directory.
The band members will also be flown to Perth for the semi-finals in July and have been invited to feature on Perth radio station RTRfm.
The opportunities brought about by the competition are just another step in the right direction for the band.
“Arons Crusade is going very well and the response has been really good,” Annabelle says.
“There were some people who genuinely came to see us at the competition but there were others that just happened to be there and really got into it.
“One of the best parts was when our drummer (Wez) decided he didn’t want to use the 16-piece drum kit-on the stage and took it all down to put his own drums up there.
“It showed that you don’t need the whole set-up to sound good and win the competition.”
Locals can check out Arons Crusade for themselves at the Earl of Spencer tomorrow night.
“It’ll be a good kick off after our win — we’re hoping to get as many people down there as possible to celebrate with us,” Annabelle says.

- Albany Advertiser

Crusaders, are the Next Big Thing

Taking on some of the best hands in the State will be nothing new to the members of newly-formed local band Arons Crusade.
Having formed three months ago, Arons Crusade consists of former Flaming Sheilas guitarist Annabelle Harvey drummer Wes Derrick and former Ulsta Road guitarist Brendan Gaspari.
They proved a hit with the crowd and judges at the Albany heat of the Next Big Thing at the King River Tavern on Saturday night.
The Next Big Thing experience was nothing new to Harvey and Gaspari, who have made it past the regional stage before.
The Flaming Sheilas won last year’s Albany heat, while Ulsta Road won the 2002 regional heat and made it through to fourth place in the State.
Arons Crusade went up against fellow local bands, Saz, The Xave Brown Players, Oricle, Mr Speaker, Siamcyz and Homebrewe on Saturday night.
Harvey said it was nervous time waiting for the result as this year’s competition was filled with quality acts including past winner Xave Brown. Brown performed with two groups, The Xave Brown Players and the hip-hop inspired Mr Speaker.
“This year was really competitive, we know most of the competitors and they are really good acts,” Harvey said.
“We were really unsure and nervous, we thought Mr Speaker did really well”
Judges considered originality, songwriting, musicianship, market viability, stage presentation and audience response. Alternative rock band Homebrewe finished second, while
Oricle were third.
Arons Crusade will now play at the regional semi-final at Mojo’s Barth Fremantle on July 27 for a shot at the state final the next night at the Rosemount Hotel, North Perth.
- Weekender

DUO ON CRUSADE TO WIN AWARD

Albany acoustic-roots duo Arons Crusade, have been announced finalists in WA Music’s Song of the Year contest, a statewide search for WAs best songwriting talent.
Vocalist Annabelle Harvey said the duo were thrilled with the nomination, but were surprised they had been nominated in the “Love” category
“We’re not exactly renowned for our love songs,” Ms Harvey said.
“We’re pretty stoked, we entered about five or six songs into about eight categories, but we just entered one into the love category.
“We weren’t expecting anything from it, but it’s cool, it’s awesome,” she said.
Their song ‘All these Lovers’ is one of the five finalists in the category and if they win, the pair will win $1000 cash and a day in a recording studio.
“Even if we don’t win ft’s such a great step for us, being up there and being part of such a great industry award,” Ms Harvey said.
“The WAMi is like the mother earth of the WA music scene, as far as providing opportunities & and grants to musicians,” she said.
Arons Crusade are in good company for the award. Other finalists in the competition include John Butler, Little Birdy, Abbe May and Albany’s own Vicky Thorn from The Waifs.
The awards night will be held on October31 at the Fly by Night Club in Fremantle.
Tickets for the presentation are available to the public and can be purchased at www.wam.asn.au.

- Albany Advertiser

CRUSADERS CHARGE TO BURSARY WIN

The judges’ word is final - Arons Crusade is the proud winner of the Denmark Music Foundation’s Bursary competition held last Saturday afternoon at Denmark Civic Centre.
A packed house witnessed the band perform a spellbinding set to beat off stiff competition from some of the Great Southern’s most talented up-and-coming acts.
The Albany duo of Annabelle Harvey and Brendan Gaspari is over the moon about winning the competition.
“It’s a dream come true" singer/guitarist Harvey said.
She was equally ecstatic about the prospect of performing at the sell out Union of Souls concert this Saturday.
“We’re hoping to perform a 20-minute set at around 6-6.3Opm,” she said.
The band has plans to plough the bursary winnings into recording time, possibly at Uptown Music’s studio,
“We want to keep things local’ Harvey said. The duo will perform up north in June and is hoping to play over east later in the year.
- The Weekender - focus on Denmark

Crusaders are on their way
By Melody Montague

It’s all over for The Flaming Sheilas — but not for their fans.
Three of the original band members have come together to form a new group — Arons Crusade.
The band will play gigs at the Earl of Spencer and Tanglehead this weekend.
The Flaming Sheilas split after Sarah Bird moved on early this year.
“There was no argument or anything, Sarah just had a different view on things,” band member Annabelle Harvey said.
“She wanted to go off and do her own thing and enjoy life. Doing music does take over your life a bit and you end up sacrificing some good things.”
“It was pretty sad to lose her and a shame for our fans but we’re really excited about doing something a bit different.”
Annabelle said the band’s influences ranged from KT Tunstall to Coldplay, with a little bit of The Waifs thrown into keep the Albany flavour.
“We don’t stick to a certain genre and we’re really open-minded about the things we do with our music,” she said. “Whether it’s adding instruments in or stripping back down to one instrument, there’s no holding back”
Annabelle performs vocals and plays guitar and harmonica.
The other band members are Brendan Gaspari on vocals, guitar and percussion and Wes Derrick on drums and percussion.
The group is focusing on putting an EP together with the view to eventually recording an album.
“We need to expose ourselves to the south-west and Perth as much as possible so they come to recognise the new name,” Annabelle said.
“We’re looking forward to contributing to Albany’s progressive music scene which is definitely booming at the moment.”
Arons Crusade will be performing at the Earl of Spencer on Friday night and Tanglehead on Saturday night.
Annabelle said local venues had been supportive of the new band and they could only hope the public would get behind them as well.

- Albany Advertiser

Crusaders set for semi final
ALBANY band Arons Crusade have a shot at the big time this weekend when they compete in the regional semi-finals of state-wide music com petition The Next Big Thing.
The three-piece band, Annabelle Harvey, Brendan Gaspari and Wes Derrick, will go head to head with artists and bands from the South West, Carnarvon, Geraldton, Broome, Mandurah and Esperance.
There will be two winners from the regional semi-final tomorrow night at Mojo’s Bar in Perth.
They will go up against Perth bands in the final the next night at the Rosemount Hotel.
The Next Big Thing has, given scores of aspiring musicians a leg-up on the ladder to success, including John Butler.
Arons Crusade will play for this year’s prize pool worth in excess of $70,000, and includes a starter kit worthy of any band including recording time, CD production, a music video clip, artwork, equipment insurance and guaranteed gigs including the Big Day Out.
- The Weekender

Victorious Crusade

ALBANY band Arons Crusade have beaten all corners to open for the sold- out Union of Soul concert on Saturday at the Denmark Civic Centre.
The winners of the Denmark Music Foundation’s bursary auditions last weekend have won the right to open for The John Butler Trio, The Waifs and Clare Bowditch and the Feeding Set — and a $3000 cheque,
Arons Crusade — Annabelle Harvey, Brendan Gaspari and Timmy Wiegele — were the third act and were buoyed by an enthusiastic fan club standing and waving and urging them on. The band was clearly the best suited in style for the tour. They admitted the stage was bigger than they were used to, but worked it well and gave a tight performance.
“There was no way I was going to let a chance like that slip through,” singer, songwriter and guitarist Annabelle Harvey said. “it is an absolute dream to support those guys.”
The folk/rock/blues ‘n’ roots band beat four other performers in an afternoon that showcased the diverse musical talents of the Great Southern. Simone Keane started the proceedings with her trademark laid-back, acoustic, reflective tunes. The crowd was oddly quiet and attentive, but she got plenty of applause and wolf whistles
Katie White, was clearly nervous, but the 14-yeareld already has a talent for playing guitar and singing that people 10 years her senior would wish for. In a few years time she and her guitar (dubbed George) will be an act to look out for.
The final band of the evening, The Selected few looked and sounded like they would have been more comfortable in a biker bar rather than the Denmark Civic Centre with an audience sifting 15m away, and with a “cop this” the they jumped into some old time rock ‘n’ roll.

- Albany Advertiser

Acts thrill sell-out crowd

Albany darlings The Waifs came home briefly last week end and brought The John Butler Trio and Clare Bow ditch and the Feeding Set along with them for the Union of Soul tour.
Punters for the sold-out concert queued early and when the gates opened people streamed into the MadFish Winery amphitheatre at Denmark and made a long line at the bar winch moved slowly as hundreds of people bought multiple bottles of wine at a time.
The irritating side of daylight savings reared its ugly head and anyone wanting to watch the first act, Arons Crusade, had to dodge the glaring sun just to catch a glimpse.
The winners of the Denmark Music l bursary competition played an enthusiastic 20-minute set and while the 3000 strong crowd looked on. Annabelle Harvey Brendan Gaspari and Tim Wiegele showed why they triumphed against several other local talents for the prize of opening the show.
Clare Bowditch walked through the crowd anonymously with a cup of tea in hand and 20 minutes Later the flame-haired singer/songwriter came on stage declaring “my name is Clare Bowditch and I just relieved myself”
She had the unfortunate luck of being announced on stage while in the loo.
The crowd cheered when Bowditch gave kudos to everyone who voted her song When the Lights Went Down into the Triple J Hottest 100 and the song drew the most crowd reaction during her set.
By the time The Waifs came on stage, the crowd was primed. People were leaning over the barricades, swigging from wine bottles and screaming for them to sing Crazy Train.
Donna Simpson and Vikki Thorn relished performing in front of so many familiar faces, although Thorn did suggest from time to time it could be a little distracting.
“It’s hard to play the harmonica when you have a smile on your face,” she said.
The band played for more than an hour, dancing around the stage, chatting to each other and fans singing along to every word.
The whole amphitheatre was elated and it felt like neither The Waifs nor the crowd wanted the set to end.
But the superstars of the night were The John Butler Trio — and they were still coming.
The three-piece quickly launched into some fast paced blues and roots and the crowd did not stop dancing.
Butler played an early 15-minute guitar solo and drummer Michael Barker crashed in with a 10-minute
Then all three jumped on one of the largest drum kits touring the country for a mind blowing jam.
At one point they were joined by Clare Bowditch and The Waifs for a cover of Paul Kelly and Key Carmody’s From Little Things Big Things Grow and the sound of 3000 voices rent the evening sky
The show ended with a four-song encore, which included Peaches and Cream and Something’s Gotta Give, finishing the show on a high.
And after all of the dancing — and stumbling — it was just a matter of picking up friends and blankets from the floor and making your way through the wine bottles to the exit.

- Albany Advertiser

Local band struck the right chord for charity


Local band Arons Crusade showed their charitable spirit when they performed at St Joseph’s College on Monday.
The band, which has just released its debut EP, Life.Love.Work. Dreams. gave two performances — one for the juniors and another for the middle school and senior students. The concert marked the start of St Joseph’s fund-raising season. All money raised goes to Caritas, a Catholic agency for international aid and development, working in countries throughout Africa, Asia Latin America, the Pacific and in Australian indigenous communities.
Arons Crusade’s concert raised more than $300.
“The band played for nothing, which was really good of them and shows the spirit of what fund raising is all about” teacher Jude Wiegele said.
The college will celebrate St Joseph’s Day today to raise money for Caritas.
- Albany Advertiser

Arons Crusade entering WAMI music awards

LOCAL band Arons Crusade have entered the West Australian Music Industry awards after teaming up May 2007.
Annabelle Harvey vocalist from award-winning band The Flaming Sheilas, along with Brendan Gaspari, Jono Talyor and Timmy Weigele make up Arons Crusade who have just finished touring their debut EP which they released earlier this year
Ms Harvey said the response to the six-track EP was great.
“It’s called Life. Love. Work. Dreams which are things that happen quite a bit for us,” she said.
“The tour for the EP took us up as far north as Exmouth where we performed at venues including the Gascoyne Hotel and in Coral Bay, both asked us to come back.
“We’ve also performed at the Blues and Roots Festival and at the Mad Fish winery with the John Butler Trio and The Waifs who are a big influence for us,” Ms Harvey said.
“We are currently in the studio working on our debut album.
“We’ve seen our fan base now and we are ready to take on the eastern states after we release the album,” she said.
- Albany Advertiser