Building bridges to make music

Building bridges to make music

Updated March 22, 2013 21:52:00

A band has made an album without ever having met each other.

Source: 7.30 Queensland | Duration: 4min 7sec

Topics: music, arts-and-entertainment, people, brisbane-4000


JESSICA van VONDEREN: It's an unusual scenario. A band that's made an album Without ever having met each other. They hoped an Australian tour this month would be the time they'd all finally get together. Maria Hatzakis caught their performance in Brisbane this week.

MARIA HATZAKIS: This is what music made over the internet sounds like. It's been built online by musicians living in countries across the world from different cultural and religious backgrounds.

ANDY BUSUTTIL, MUSICIAN: We've never actually met physically, but we've got the desire to meet physically and we keep trying but we haven't succeeded yet.

MARIA HATZAKIS: Andy Busuttil from the blue mountains west of Sydney. Is one member of the trio which met through their online work with an audio software company. A shared interest in music led to the idea of forming a band

ANDY BUSUTTIL, MUSICIAN: Before you knew it we had a tune that sounded pretty interesting.

MARIA HATZAKIS: It became so interesting that they recorded an album. And the bridge project band was born. With one member Ittai Shaked in Israel another Andy Busuttil in Australia and a third it Ceyhan in Toulouse in France. The trio sent audio files to each other over the internet and kept in touch via email and Skype.

ITTAI SHAKED, MUSICIAN: Being part of a band that the members are all over the world is something that no-one else can feel, can experience until he does that.

MARIA HATZAKIS: It turned out being apart had its advantages.

ITTAI SHAKED: Sometimes when you're close to each other for a long time, you run into fights, in this situation, you just love that you're friends from a distance.

MARIA HATZAKIS: But the group has always wanted to physically meet too. Two of the three members have met once before. During the band's tour in Israel last year.

ANDY BUSUTTIL, MUSICIAN: It was great, it was really lovely, I went to Israel and I spent a few weeks in Israel which was really edifying, it was wonderful being there and meeting Itai was, we just folded into each other as if we'd been friends for years.

MARIA HATZAKIS: This tour in Australia was to be a chance for all three to finally meet. But that didn't happen. There are some barriers that haven't been so easily overcome.

ANDY BUSUTTIL: There'll be two of us not three, we had an awful lot of trouble trying to get a visa for Umit to come into the country and that's partly because he's living as a refugee in France, he's a Turkish refugee in France.

MARIA HATZAKIS: Ittai Shaked will be in Australia for part of the tour but couldn't get away from work in Israel to take part in the whole program including this performance in Brisbane. But the show went on with local musicians accompanying the group along the way.

ANDY BUSUTTIL: Yeah feeling good, it's all coming together well enough.

MARIA HATZKIS: They all have in common. A love of unusual instruments.

ANDY BUSUTTIL: I used to practice this at home by putting it between clothes in the wardrobe because otherwise the neighbours used to ring the cops.

MARIA HATZAKIS: The tools of trade, the mix of cultures and the distance have all shaped the unusual sound.

ITTAI SHAKED: It's amazing and doing it from a distance, is a great challenge both in mind and both a technological challenge, it's just amazing.

MARIA HATZAKIS: And the plan to finally meet one day goes on.

ANDY BUSUTTIL: We've actually made a decision and that is that we're going to produce another album, we're going to wait until Umit's a full citizen in France which will happen over the next few years and when he has his full passport rather than a titre de voyage we're going to try to do it again so with a bit of luck next time we'll succeed.