| Michael
Carpenter - Bio & Discography
Michael Carpenter wears many hats. He is a well respected producer in Sydney, Australia, who co-owns and runs the successful LOVE HZ STUDIOS; he is a multi-instrumentalist who plays in various Sydney bands; and a successful singer/songwriter with 8 albums under his belt. His new album SOOP #2 - Songs Of Other People , will be released internationally in August 2006 by Australia's BIG RADIO RECORDS. The album is the second installment of his series of covers albums. SOOP #2 sees Carpenter mining the works of some of the independant pop world's most stellar talents, with songs written by David Grahame, Bobby Sutliff, Cloud 11, The Shazam and Myracle Brah to name a few. Recorded sporadically in between his numurous production jobs over the last 5 years, the album sees Carpenter at an interesting point in his creative growth. With a wide scope of styles already behind him, this album sees Carpenter relishing the opportunity to 'play around' in his studio. While the chiming guitars and exhilirating backing vocals are as present as ever, they are interestingly juxtaposed against an ever widening palette of sound.. a side effect of his producing work (and equipment collecting). On top of all that, this collection finds Carpenter in strong voice. The years of interpreting his own material giving him the experience to express the sentiments of the writers he covers on this collection. A surprising distraction presented itself in the time between SOOP #2 and Carpenter's preceeding album ROLLING BALL. A casual collaboration between Carpenter and friend Mark Moldre (Hitchcock's Regret) resulted in THE SUPAHIP and the album SEIZE THE WORLD . Built on a concept of getting together in the morning with no song and not leaving the studio til the song was completed, the album captured a spirit of fun and unbridled adventure that both men occasionally lack in their respective projects. Recorded in 13 days over 14 months, the album is an unapologetic indulgence.. consciously retro, occasionally minimalist, accidentally powerful and always cheeky. With songs that range from alt. country gems to indie pop rants and all stops in between, the album showed another side to Carpenter's writing and recording skills. And it also contained an excellent rendition of Nik Kershaw's "Wouldn't It Be Good". Building on the success of his world tour supporting KINGSRDWORKS, Carpenter dived straight into it's follow up ROLLING BALL. Far from being an easy birth, this album began strongly, then faulted in the middle of its making, as Carpenter, frustrated by the relative obscurity he found himself in as an artist in Australia, struggled to find a reason, or a direction for the album. Burying himself in the ever present production work, and believing that the album may never be finished, he left all work alone for a while. Whilst out touring he took an old CD of the works in progress, and became re-energised. In finishing the album, he believed that it 'finished itself, and found its own voice'. The album became renowned by fans and critics as his strongest and most mature collection of original works yet. ROLLING BALL touched on all the ground he had travelled on his previous efforts, but with a clarity and purpose that gave the album an edge over almost everything else he'd recorded. Carpenter himself claimed it as his crowning glory, and the 'culmination of years trying to work out what i am'. Though critically acclaimed, the album failed to grab the attention it's predecessor had, and Carpenter, who had recently become a first time father, was unable (and unwilling) to perform live to promote the release. The album was also the last release with his Australian label Laughing Outlaw. KINGSRDWORKS was Carpenter's first album of new material in two years. On that offering, Carpenter searches for a clearer definition of his own creative voice, all the while urging his purpose built band to push him beyond the realms of powerpop to explore flavours of country and rock. Established fans rose to the challenge and embrace Michael's distinct sound, while new fans were enticed by the broader appeal of this work. The album was particularly successful in the UK, where tracks received good airplay, including a flogging on legendary DJ Bob Harris's BBC program. The track 'The One For Me' was included on one of Mr Harris's compilation albums, and Carpenter toured the world in support of the KINGSRDWORKS album. Rest assured, though, Carpenter doesn't fall too far from the pop tree. Serving up his trademark melody-drenched music with a confident, expressive voice he blends ringing guitars and rich harmonies with tight arrangements and clear, punchy productions. KINGSRDWORKS crystalised the style of Carpenter's 2001 Australian compilation 'Up Close', released through Laughing Outlaw Records. 'Up Close' is a collection of tracks from Michael's first two US released albums, 'Baby' and 'Hopefulness' with seven bonus tracks. 'Up Close' bursts with infectious tunes ranging from energetic power pop to delicate, captivating ballads - showing off Michael's obvious knack for killer pop hooks. An outstanding singer-songwriter, Michael played almost every instrument and sang nearly every harmony on his first album 'Baby'. For his second, 'Hopefulness' he opened himself to other players and singers to develop his palette of sounds, incorporating pedal steel, cellos, drum loops and female harmonies. On KINGDRDWORKS, he took the next logical step of using his live band and produced and engineered every track. Carpenter's 'Baby' garnered excellent reviews, including the high profile Q Magazine and MOJO. 'Baby' established a huge web-based profile and popularity, which expanded with distribution to stores in the US, Canada, the UK and Europe. It ranked highly in Top 10 of 1999 lists in magazines such as Audities, Amplifier, Goldmine & New York's Village Voice - a coup for a debut album!! His performances at the International Pop Overthrow Festival in Los Angeles in 1998 and 1999 received outstanding reviews. As a result, his song 'You're The One", was chosen to appear on the festival compilation CD released by Del Fi Records. The track was later used on a TV episode of Fantasy Island. "Thinking About You" and "She Dreams" both appeared on a Popkomm Sampler, released by Australia's Spinning Top Records, throughout Europe. His track 'Moving On' appeared on the 1999 IPO Festival compilation CD. He also contributed the opening track, 'That's Alright By Me' to Not Lame Records' tribute to Gene Clarke, titled 'Full Circle' released in April 2000. Well known as one of the truly 'nice guys' in pop music, Michael also gigs and records as lead singer and bassist with popular local bands The Finkers (whose second album 'Double Back & Go' was released in November 2000), as the drummer with The Innocents, The Richies, Eva Trout & Pyramidiacs, and as bassist in the Amanda Easton Band. He has also produced projects for artists including Hitchcock's Regret, Lazaros Dog, The Wake Ups, Jason Walker, 78 Saab, The Monarchs, Youth Group, Steph Miller, The Chevelles, Eva Trout, Sarah McGregor, Warmer, The Happy Losers, Soap Star Joe, Spurs For Jesus, Audrey Auld, Dominique English, , The Pyramidiacs, High Horse, Finnish band Ben's Diapers, Challenger 7, Fantastic Leslie, Amanda Easton, Adam Power, City Lights, ex-Stem Richard Lane, NDP and The Navahodads.
Michael also
appears on tribute albums to: In April 2001, Michael toured through Europe with The Pyramidiacs and The Finkers. He returned to Spain in December 2001 to produce the third album for Spanish pop band, The Happy Losers and played a successful headline solo show in Madrid. In 2002, having completed KINGSRDWORKS,
Michael has also recorded tracks for several more tribute albums, is performing
shows in Sydney under his own name, and travelled to Chicago (March) and
Los Angeles (July) to perform at the International
Pop Overthrow Festivals in each city. He also performed as a sideman
with several American bands at the festival. Back to Biographies
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