Kangaroo Moon

Kangaroo Moon seems to be mutating into a many headed marsupial these days. Gigs in Europe and Australia over the past year have featured different lineups, Mark Robson being the only constant, working with many different musicians:

GUITARISTS: Jerry Bewley, Steve Berry (down under)
BOUZOUKI/MANDOLIN/GUITAR: Longtime Kanga Dave Williams - also in Agitfolk band Seize The Day
BASS: Maurice Cernigoi (down under), ex- Seize The Dayer Nick Marshall (up over)
VIOLIN: the incomparable Elliet Mackrell
DRUMS: Ian Campbell, ex Doctor Didg sticksman; Rick Cole - the most distinguishly coiffeured member of the band - ever, played on 2003's Europe tour, and in Australia '04; Matt Ledgar - the fairy god drummer has moved on, but did come back to play with the band in Oz '04; Greg Sheehan - awesome Aussie Percussionist

With such a dynamic pool of musicians to call on, Kangaroo Moon's musical spectrum has widened more than ever with electro squelchy psychedelic funk, ethno celto folk and everything in between getting a look in. The latest edition to the Kangaoo Moon brand is the KANGAROO KYLIE BAND - ceilidh band with dance caller.

Kangaroo Moon weave many strands from world, rock, folk and dance, with acoustic and electronic influences into a funky, psychedelic, heart-lifting wall of sound. Trancy, richly melodic and dancey, listeners experience a sound which unites the body and soul in deep, joyful psychedelia and elemental dance.

Kangaroo Moon have their roots in the music people play and the music people dance with .They've played and danced their way through more than a few permutations of global sound. Well travelled, extensive touring in Australia and Europe, the band has played Glastonbury and Womad several times, as well as Phoenix, Guildford, Mistelbach(Austria)Sfinks(Belgium) Oerol(Netherlands)Maleny & the National Folk(Oz).

The Band have recorded many albums since their roots in 1988, Mark ,Matt, David Williams and Elliet Mackrell being the originators, the sound has grown with their experience, striving for originality in a business thriving with talent. The sheer commitment and skill involved in wooeing an audience to fly. Inspiring and evocative, the celtic-aboriginal /aussie roots meet in rhythm with the spiralling speeds of our millenial inheritance.

The band are augmented on a less regular basis by a host of colourful characters. including Thom the World Poet, Tim Wheater 'the mystic flute', formerly of the Eurythmics, Fred Hood, former drummer of the Pretenders and now in Moodswings, along with Northumbrian pipes players, belly dancers, drummers and members of the audience.

Apart from playing live and recording, Kangaroo Moon also spread their music through a workshop that can be adapted to suit children, adults or a combination of both, introducing people to the inspiring effects of rhythm, movement and melody.

Kangaroo Moon - living proof that even teleport travel causes jetlag, nurtured in two cultures, two hemispheres, hopping from summer to summer across the planet born of the European dreaming joining the ancient dreamtime of Australia, carried by a vision to play music for all the people everywhere, and to find the keys to the van.

Recordings

1992 'Live' recorded at the Australian National Folk Festival in Canberra. 'Bagpipes On The Beach', studio recorded in Wales with a strong Celtic influence. Produced and mixed by Adrian Wagner.

1993 'No Ones Slave / 1000 Richest People', 12" single, a dance-floor favourite in clubs like Whirly-gig. Produced and mixed by Grant Showbiz of Moodswings.

1994 'Who's Got The Keys', live album recorded in Australia, Ireland and at that years Glastonbury Festival.

1995 'Belongil', studio album - produced by Grant Showbiz.

1996 'Keep Them Warm' biggest seller to date. Recorded in France with two tracks remixed by Grant.

1999 'In Transit' - recorded over the previous 18 months, with live appearances planned in Australia, Israel, Europe, UK & Japan, to promote the album. "Finest quality contemporary roots for rocking." - ROCK & REEL; "In Transit, but certainly not marking time. Recommended." - FOLK ROOTS.

2000 'Alive and Hopping' - a new album recorded live in London & Australia, 1999, released to coincide with 2000 European tour, which saw the band travelling from Cornwall to N.W. Scotland, & to Denmark, Czech Republic, Belgium and Germany...

2001 'Between Two Worlds' - studio album, recorded on German label Klangbad.

Mark ROBSON has released 4 albums (including members of K.M + others) 'A Celtic Dreaming' - 'Magenta moon' - 'Take time to dream' and 'In search of a simple life'
these celebrate the gift of life in a gentle less dance orientated mode, fine compositions, ably augmented with many a plantive aire.

Articles

The following article appeared in TNT (the British Aussie-focused street magazine) back in July 2000.

It's every Aussie band's dream - to tour year round and follow the sun, spending six months in Europe and the rest Down Under. Kangaroo Moon, who began life as a hippy outfit in 1992 are doing just that. MICK DALEY reports.

Rolf Harris wasn't the only esoteric Australian act to: pack out Glastonbury Festival this year. On a slightly smaller scale, the Avalon Fields stage was moving to the familiar ambient strains of Kangaroo Moon. who've played the festival every year bar one since 1992. Founding member Mark Robson, responsible for didgeridoo, piano-synth, whistles and vocal duties, is cradling his newborn son as we speak. He's on a brief respite at his brother's house in the country, where he and his family and the exhausted band have paused for a breather. After some consultation, he describes the band's sound as 'Celtic inspired didgeridoo-driven trance dance', but laughs that such a definition changes every day.

Percussionist Matt Ledger is the only other founding member still playing. Kangaroo Moon was formed in Bellingen, in the notorious Hippy Belt on the north coast of NSW, in 1992.

"When we started we were very ambient," says Robson. "We had a folky vibe, kinda soft and fluffy, and it's got slightly harder and heavier and faster each year. Now we're much more a dance band."

Robson's actually English-born. He bailed to Australia 15 years ago.

"I was hitch-hiking around, met a band, they needed a keyboard player. They were going off around the desert with a big convoy of artists, musicians and travellers called the Peace Train. I jumped on and had the year of my life."

Kangaroo Moon quickly became immensely popular on the north coast, but the band had its sights further afield and headed for Europe in '92.

"We took a big leap into the unknown and started off doing lots of busking and gradually met people and promoters and got gigs."

After a successful first season, they returned to home for the summer's festivals and bush hall gigs, from then on continuing their tradition of alternating summer sojourns from Oz to Europe.

"It used to be regular as clockwork, six months each, my proudest statistic was I had 14 summers in a row, but then finally we had to stop here for a winter because my wife had a baby."

To keep band members happy and productive over such a sustained campaign takes a focus and unity of purpose that's rare among musicians. Robson puts it down to their collective ambition to be "music morons, play lots and lots and lots of music. We all want to make a living and this is a way we can do it. We're doing something we love and it's not actually financially very efficient, but it's becoming more viable. But it took a lot of selflessness, total commitment."

In the last couple of years they've had to plan shorter, more intensive tours as Ledger is at university in Lismore and can only tour on holidays. This is perversely benefiting Robson who, being the only surviving vegetarian in the band, suffers on the road, where it's hard to come by healthy vego food.

"On my birthday dinner the other night I had a Burger King veggie Burger as the highlight of my culinary year. I get thinner and thinner each week and it's pretty hard. It's much easier in Australia, especially on the coast where they cater to vego diets."

Now that Glastonbury is over, Kangaroo Moon are headed for the Continent for their customary jaunt through Denmark, the Czech Republic and Austria. World music events like WOMAD and the general run of European festivals are an integral part of their schedule and a lucrative sales point for any of their 12 recordings. The latest being Alive and Hopping, recorded live at the Half Moon in Putney with legendary north coast freelance guitarist Steve Berry. It certainly captures the vibrant, charging feel of a focussed organic unit, able to improvise, wig out and regroup as tightly as any world class outfit, turning tightly on a chord to propel punters into frenzied dancing dervishes.

The band is playing Dingwalls at Camden Lock on July 18, after which they head to The Cavern at Exeter, then Salisbury. Wales... The endless summer stretches on ahead of them. Robson reckons they'll keep playing "forever".

Queensland's Woodford Festival over New Year is the next high-point, but they'll be doing their usual north coast run from Byron to Bellingen, then backing up next year for a return run at Glastonbury. where they'll try and knock Rolf Harris off his pedestal as tent-packer number one.



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