SUNNY HAWKINGS
BIOGRAPHY
If there are three things that ambitious Melbourne singer-songwriter-producer Sunny Hawkings' debut solo album isn't short of, it's Grammy-winning collaborators, local Melbourne music identities and frequent flyer points.
Hawkings' new album, Sheets of Life, announces the arrival of a major new singer-songwriter talent and a musician/producer visionary with a single-minded and determined ambition – and a slew of air points in his back pocket now to boot.
His album was primarily recorded, produced and mixed at the stunning Black Box Recording Studio (Paloma Faith, The Kills, Luka Bloom Test Icicles) in the French countryside by ex-Frames guitarist and Gemma Hayes producer Dave Odlum and his brother Karl, both of whom have collaborated extensively with The Frames, Swell Season and of course their mainman, Glen Hansard.
Sunny Hawkings has been a singer-songwriter and live performer for more than a decade, regularly swinging between solo and full band gigs in his hometown of Melbourne, with a rotating list of band members and varied cast of collaborators.
But Hawkings, a finalist in the national Telstra Road to Discovery 2015 song writing competition has always harboured his own determined vision.
An early love for music was inspired by his mother's extensive record collection and taste for British blues and rock. Renowned vocalist Lindsay Field (John Farnham, Olivia Newton-John, Jimmy Barnes, Renee Geyer) is a close family friend, as well as Sunny's godfather and mentor.
Hawkings has performed in Europe, Asia and the UK (where, demonstrating a sporty, multi-talented bent, he played a season with the prestigious Royal Household Queens cricket team at their home ground of...no less than Windsor Castle!). Sunny is also the mystery man behind some of TV and radio's most earworm theme songs and jingles, sssh!
After years honing his craft on the live circuit, the exhausting, expansive and sprawling two-plus years recording process behind Sheets of Life captures the evolution of Hawkings as a musician, producer and recording artist.
Lead single and fizzy pop nugget Little Cars, is already receiving national rotation on ABC Local radio, beamed out from nearly 60 stations Australia-wide.
With stunning melodies, thought-provoking lyrics and fuzzy guitar riffs, Sheets of Life spans indie-rock, folk, alt-country and ambient instrumentals, The album's title was lifted from a lyric in Little Cars, used to describe the veils of emotions (love, loss, longing, joy) we encounter in our daily lives - a recurring theme throughout the album.
My Saviour My Queen sees jagged guitars colliding in a near-symphonic sprawl amidst tempo shifts, while the gentle, locomotive bustle of Greatest Fears demonstrates Hawkings' knack for a pop hook. The epic Supposed to Be is aching, Beatles-ish psychedelia, while Rainy Days seamlessly shifts gear from a country-flecked ballad to a rollicking singalong chorus. The album's two halves are also spiked with two unexpectedly ambient, haunting instrumentals.
Initially recording on a mobile studio set-up with Melbourne producer Mark Stanley (The Maryjanes) in a country barn in the tranquil foothills of the Yarra Ranges, Victoria, the homespun, organic process became more inclusive when Hawkings and Stanley were joined by Frames/Swell Season/Glen Hansard creative team, Dublin's Karl Odlum and his French-based, Grammy Award-winning brother David Odlum.
Stanley and the Oldum brothers were not only guiding lights in the production process, but Hawkings also gleefully utilised their exhilarating musicianship during a two-week summer session in the Yarra Ranges.
Renowned backing vocalist Lindsay Field and his daughter Madeline appear across the album, while other guests included Ed Bates, former guitarist from legendary Melbourne band The Sports, provided pedal steel guitar, Romy (Glen Hansard, Gemma Hayes) keys and Philicorder, Scottish session Colin Berwick (Big Country) piano and the Blackchords' Tristan Courtney upright bass.
Recording gained a new intent when the production team shifted to David Odlum's French home base, Black Box Studios, for a further two weeks of recording and mixing of the album before Hawkings' return to Melbourne.
Two-and-a-half years on from the humble beginnings of the Yarra Ranges barn, Sheets of Life is finally ready to be unleashed, a truly international album that announces the realisation of an authentic and vital artistic expression from Sunny Hawkings.