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Review:
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Unitopia began as musical adventure comprising the
vocal/song writing skill of Mark Trueack (a former EMI Marketing
& Sales Executive)and the production/song writing/keyboard/engineering
& vocal skill of Sean Timms (Owner of Timms Tunes the premier
recording studio in Adelaide, Australia).***
Unitopia endeavors to draw from the heart and soul
of the listener thought provoking topics such as environmental
awareness, political and social upheaval, media misrepresentation,
the hectic pace of life and human relationships in a positive
and uplifting light. Using progressive rock as a framework,
Unitopia’s music includes elements of world, classical,
jazz, heavy rock and groove. Unitopia began when a mutual
friend introduced Mark and Sean after realizing the two
had similar musical tastes. In late1996 the duo began work
on a track which was to become ‘Take Good Care’. This formulated
into a prolific and exciting song writing partnership that
culminated in the completion of their debut album ‘More
Than A Dream’. Mark and Sean gathered some of Australia’s
finest musicians to contribute to the ‘More Than a Dream’
project, including conductor/arranger Timothy Sexton and
the Adelaide Art Orchestra, Pat Schirippa, Constantine Delo,
Bradley Polain and Ian ‘Polly’ Politis thus ensuring the
standard of musicianship on their debut CD was of the highest
standard. They released ‘More Than a Dream’ independently
in 2005.***
Realising that performing live would require musicians
capable of playing the demanding intricacies of Unitopia’s
music, they recruited some of Adelaide’s finest instrumentalists.
Matt Williams - guitar/vocals, Monty Ruggiero - drums, Shireen
Khemlani - bass, Tim Irrgang - percussion and Mike Stewart
- saxes & flutes complete the Unitopia line up. In Oct 2005,
Unitopia launched ‘More Than a Dream’ to a sell out audience
at The Cavern Club, Adelaide and shortly thereafter supported
Aussie icon Daryl Braithwaite. Another highlight was performing
at the Norwood Food and Wine Festival. In March 2006, Canadian
label Unicorn Records re-released ‘More Than a Dream’ internationally.
This pressing and distribution deal exposed Unitopia to
the ever increasing world progressive rock market.***
Early in 2007, Unitopia wrote and recorded ‘321' a
tribute to the courage, ordeal and eventual rescue of the
Beaconsfield miners. Whilst in Adelaide, Brant Webb and
Todd Russell sang backing vocals on the track which gained
nationwide exposure including a segment on 60 minutes. In
May 07, with support and funding from the West Tamar Council,
the band launched the single ‘321' at the one year anniversary
memorial in Beaconsfield, Tasmania to an audience of nearly
3,000 people. In Feb. 08, Unitopia signed a world wide publishing
deal with Shock Music Publishing. In July 2008, Unitopia
was honored by being included on the CPR Volume 3 compilation
CD. Their track ‘Lives Go ‘Round’ from ‘More Than a Dream’
is the opening song on the release. They are joined by some
of progressive rock’s finest artists including Phil Keaggy,
Everlasting Arms and Ted Leonard.***
After releasing ‘More Than a Dream’ in 2005, Sean and
Mark started work on Unitopia’s follow-up ‘The Garden’.
Committed to improving and fine tuning their music, they
began writing new material whenever time would allow. Rarely
short on ideas, before they knew it, they had 8-10 songs
under way. The opening song of disk 1 ‘One Day’ is almost
a prelude to ‘The Garden’ as it sets the premise for the
rest of the album about the journey of self discovery this
person takes to bring themselves back from the brink of
despair and self destruction. Alone and without hope, he
muses on the futility of life and contemplates ending it
all and the effect it will have on those around him. The
title track, ‘The Garden’, is Unitopia’s longest piece to
date running at 22 and a half minutes. The song began as
an idea Sean had after seeing advertising for the Fringe
Festival’s ‘Garden of Unearthly Delights’ and his fascination
with Hieronymus Bosch’s painting ‘The Garden of Earthly
Delights’. Using both for inspiration, he began to write
lyrics that depicted a strange, fanciful and wondrous place
where one could go and totally forget their inhibitions,
indulge their every whim and fulfill their every desire.
Exploring this idea further, Sean wanted to convey the notion
that sometimes the things that feel pleasurable are not
always good for you. Thus a constant struggle is waged between
the pleasures of life and looking after one’s mind, body,
soul and emotions. This struggle is what Mark and Sean focused
on during the writing of the rest of the piece. The eventual
outcome is that the catalyst of the story finally overcomes
the ‘dragons’ that prevent him from claiming his future
and enters a realm of peace, grace and freedom. The story
is allegorical and uses concrete forms to convey the more
abstract and spiritual notions of the song.***
‘Angeliqua’ is about the ‘one that got away’. Mark
came up with an idea where he had the experience, as many
people do, of seeing an old friend from the past and wondering
what it would be like if they were connected now It’s also
a bit of a ghost story. Angeliqua is an other-worldly character
that weaves a spell over whomever she meets and then is
gone. ‘Here I Am’ is our ‘pop song’! The song came out of
a piece of music that Sean wrote for one of his clients.
He liked it so much that he played it to Mark who came up
with the lyric idea. Most of the lyrics were written while
Mark was in hospital undergoing surgery for a serious throat
condition. Many emotions flooded his mind as he contemplated
whether the operation would be a success or possibly leave
him without a singing voice. Fortunately, not only was the
operation successful but Mark’s voice has improved! It’s
a life cycle in a 3 minute song, almost moth-like in its
simplicity and brevity. It also has a touch of regret. Whereas
some people live life to the full, others try only to avoid
death. This song is hopefully a wake up call to those people
who don’t live life to the fullest.***
‘Amelia’s Dream’ and ‘I Wish I Could Fly’. These pieces
are all about the experience of being that free that you
feel like you are flying. Mark told Sean about a dream he
had and wanted to put into words. He wrote down what he
saw in the dream and this became the platform of the song.
Not a care in the world, you soar to even greater heights
than you thought possible. The melody and the orchestral
intro were adapted from a piece that Sean wrote for the
Botanical Gardens of Adelaide. It features part of a speech
given by the great female aviator Amelia Earhart. It’s also
a song about being balanced and grounded. It’s no good having
your head in the clouds constantly, but it’s no good to
never look up and see what’s out there either!***
‘Inside the Power’ is all about the freedom of riding
the waves on a surf board. The nature of the sea, it’s power
and ferocity and man’s attempt to subdue and control it.
It’s a story of a lone surfer who wants to catch the perfect
wave. Our second epic, ‘Journey’s Friend’ opens the 2nd
CD. It’s about what lies beyond this mortal coil. Sean started
writing the lyric when a work colleague passed away very
suddenly. It prompted the question, “what happens to us
when we die?” The answer is that nobody really knows and
all we have to go on is what our faith would have us believe.
It deals with trust issues as well. In a fallen world, it’s
sometimes hard to trust that what some people say is the
truth. Therefore we are left to either blindly trust or
go through life wondering what the truth really is. This
piece talks of the’ friend’ that is there to help us on
this journey of life. It portrays him as a protector, fellow
traveler, unconditional ally and the only person we can
rely on other than ourselves. We leave the listener to decide
who this person might be.***
‘Give and Take’. If we all learnt to see things from
other peoples point of view and stopped being so selfish,
the world would be a much better place. Un-forgiveness is
the cause of many a problem that could be solved if only
we could learn to give the gift of forgiveness and accept
it in return. Bitterness takes root in people’s lives and
it won’t allow them to move on from where they are to where
they could be. Imagine, to paraphrase Lennon, a world without
war, religious and racial intolerance, divorce, hunger etc…
That’s the world Unitopia wish to live in! ‘When I’m Down’
Mark wrote the lyrics about 4 years ago and had a great
chorus/melody and wanted to try writing with Matt Williams,
Unitopia’s brilliant guitarist, so the two went about the
business of making a really well crafted song. The song
is about when things go wrong and how one can get a little
down and how you might reach out to someone to get the comfort
you need.***
‘This Life’ was written when Mark was living in Sydney
during the mid 90’s with local producer Matt Coxhead and
extensively re-worked by Sean for the new CD. A video clip
of the song has been directed by up and coming film maker
Joshua Sutherland and has been edited in the same facility
where Scott Hicks (Shine, Hearts in Atlantis, Snow Falling
on Cedars) and Greg McLean (Wolf Creek, Rogue) edit their
films. The clip has been shot entirely on HD and looks amazing!
Finishing touches are being done at the moment and the clip
should be ready in time for the album launch. ‘Love Never
Ends’ is all about that special kind of ‘once in a lifetime’
love that two people can have for one another. It features
the talented Kiki Celarik sharing vocals with Mark. Sean
was looking for something special to help celebrate his
marriage to Amanda, so Matt arranged and wrote the melody
idea to complement Mark’s wonderful lyric.***
‘So Far Away’ and ‘Don’t Give Up Love’. Aahhhh….long
distance relationships seldom work out. It’s always good
to try though, cause you never know. This song’s arrangement
is a tip of the hat to the great Brian Wilson. His ear for
harmonies and chord structures and progressions is amazing!
He’s a true genius! It’s also got some Tony Banks influence
there in the synth solo. Sean always loved the Genesis tracks
‘Firth of Fifth’ and’ Inside and Out’. This is his tribute
to a wonderful composer and keyboardist. ‘321' began as
a song about feeling ‘trapped’ by a situation or circumstance
and ‘Trapped’ was the working title for a while. After reading
an account of the two trapped Beaconsfield miners, Mark
changed the direction of the lyrics to reflect the thoughts
and feelings of the men who were trapped underground for
321 hours or nearly two weeks. Mark then sought out Brant
Webb, one of the two miners and talked to him about the
song. While in Adelaide for the Clipsal 500 V8 motor sport
carnival, Brant and Todd Russell sang backing vocals on
the choruses. The recording was covered by 60 Minutes as
part of the one year anniversary of their release. Following
an invitation from the West Tamar Council, Unitopia travelled
to Beaconsfield, Tasmania in May, 2007 to perform at the
memorial concert on the 1st anniversary of their release.
Brant and Todd again sang backup vocals live on stage. Unitopia
also released ‘321' as a single at that time with part proceeds
going to the Webb/Russell foundation. The event was extensively
covered by the national media due to the high profile of
the miner’s rescue and the tour was made into a mini documentary
by Spadge Productions titled ‘Inside Unitopia’ which is
viewable on YouTube and Unitopia’s MySpace and Facebook
pages.***
After the songs had been demoed, the rest of the band
set about learning the songs and injecting them with their
own personalities. Shireen’s meticulous bass work is a feature,
as is Tim’s unlimited array of tuned and un-tuned percussion.
It took 3 sessions and as many wagon loads to bring in all
of his equipment! Apart from his song writing and vocal
abilities, Matt also does some amazing guitar work. Listen
for his tasteful soloing on ‘Angeliqua’ and ‘Journey’s Friend’.
Mark’s voice is as rich in character and as varied tonally
as you can get. His vocal performances hit new heights during
recording sessions and he would regularly cause Sean’s jaw
to hit the ground by singing in a way he had never heard
him sing before. As opposed to the 1st CD, Unitopia wanted
to sing all of the backing vocals themselves rather than
rely on session vocalists. This meant a much greater workload
on Sean vocally especially in ‘Don’t Give Up Love’ which
is Sean’s homage to Brian Wilson and the harmonies he created
for The Beach Boys. There ended up being about 80 tracks
of vocals on this song!***
Add to the mix Kiki Celarik’s beautifully haunting
vocals on ‘Angeliqua’ and ‘Love Never Ends’, Mike Stewart’s
brilliant tenor and soprano sax work, the Amicus Strings
on most tracks and Amanda Timms’ flowing flute work and
you have an album that is musically diverse and technically
brilliant but still extremely listenable.***
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