Music
The best kept secret in music
Press
“iOTA possesses a vocal range to die for. Quietly individualistic and a class act to boot, don’t be surprised if you see and hear plenty more of iOTA in the very near future”
Xpress Magazine
“Acoustic driven and clean, the quietest of quiet spaces, dark melody opening up into muted rhythms, voice and guitar filling it before breaking out into punching straight bluesy rock. Way cool man.”
The Drum Media
“There’s nothing lower case about iOTA’s dramatic sound. With his riveting vocal range and mellow yet intricate guitar strummings, he has built a strong cult following.”
The Sun Herald
A breath of fresh iOTA: an evening of Japanese fighting fish and frisky tigers
Troubadour, 27th January
It has been a while since we’ve seen iOTA and I was geared up for a treat. The singer/songwriter has been busy working on his new album (with Tim Powles), so live performances have been on the slim side recently.
But after an earnest support act in the folksy Lana De Angelis, he arrived looking fresh as a daffodil, and keen to get stuck in. Opening with Shadowlove on a stage that cast his own silhouette against the roof, iOTA was in top form from the get go. His voice shows superb control, being simultaneously powerful and gentle.
He has a fantastic ability to transform his sound. He will pare it down to a pensive feel, as in the heart slicing Come Back to Me, or punch it out for a groovefest like Really Tall or Handle On It. He unleashed several of his new songs to an audience response of animal noises, welcoming in the Chinese New Year. iOTA took the crowd with him and we were willing to follow him to the moon.
I felt like I was bopping away in his living room, such is the intimate setting of the luscious red-lit Troubadour, with splendid 70’s wall frescoes - even though beyond the sitting area, there was barely standing room only.
When I asked iOTA for a comment on the gig, he said, ‘What’s got two thumbs, winks, and loves Brisbane?’
- Various
Discography
Albums
Beauty Queen Of The Sea - Oct 2006
La Caravana - released July 2003
Big Grandfather - released August 2001
Hip Bone Connection - Sept 1999
EP's
Little Carlos - August 2000
iOTA - August 1998
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
Hello world, my name is iOTA. No my parents didn't take alot of acid in the sixties. I changed my name by deed poll about nine years ago. Why did I change my name? Well firstly, I was ALWAYS going to. Everyone I ever admired as a kid changed their names. Like, rock stars and movie stars. It's just what they did. It's all part of it. And being the young aspiring Star that I was, it was the natural thing to do. Secondly because when I "came out" of my rock 'n' roll closet I felt like a new man. No pun intended. I just left behind my old life and lifestyle and felt that I'd moved on and far beyond anything I'd ever been or done before. A new life, a new identity, a new name. And lastly, I changed my name to iOTA because I thought it was a rad name for a band. One night while playing some drunken acoustic guitar a friend asked if I'd like to do a solo support spot with his band at the Vulcan Hotel in Ultimo(Sydney, Australia). I said "yup" and he asked what name they should advertise me as. I said "iOTA". I changed it legally soon after and the rest is history. Now, since then I've released three albums and two e.p.'s, a few singles, made film clips, been nominated for awards, had backing bands, split up with backing bands, gotten loads of cool airplay, experienced the highs of an album that sold well, experienced the lows of an album that flopped, quit my day job to be a full time muso, learnt how to use Pro-tools, met lots of cool famous people, done supports with lots of cool(and not so cool) famous people, made lots and lots of great friends, had one or two die, fallen in and out of love, been stalked, lost all hope, found new inspiration and created one of my favourite albums of all time... "Beauty Queen of the Sea", for which I'm still working on the album artwork. Hopefully it'll be out around late April. I reckon that's kind of me in a nutshell...for now anyway. I'm restless and I don't feel complete, but that's o.k. It keeps this arty wanker inspired and ladies and gentlemen I WANK HARD and EVERY day. Wear more make-up, change your hair colour regularly, be creative, get a frock on every now and then and hug your mates... Peeeeeeeeeeeace.
Links
