Sharaya

Growing up as a member of an infamous religious cult is not the ideal way to spend your youth, but it's a hell of bio story for a lead singer of a rock band. Fortunately for Shay Liza, frontwoman for Melbourne rockers Sharaya, she and her family escaped the clutches of the American sect now know as The Family and relocated to Australia, where she's been able to pursue her love of music and use those life experiences in a positive way. “I went through hard times in my late teens, early twenties trying to come to terms with the different lifestyle and understanding the world that we live in from being so cloistered,” Shay recalls. “Now I wouldn't change a thing because I have this great respect for life and something to draw from when I write. A lot of the album is based on those experiences. I am in a very positive place now though.”

Shay has since immersed herself in the Melbourne music community and couldn't be happier, splitting her time between duo bar gigs and her new band Sharaya. Initially the songs which now appear on the Sharaya album “The Road To …” were being prepared with a solo project of some sort in mind. As musicians were brought in by producer Ricki Rae to lay some parts down for the songs, they organically just morphed into a band. Sharaya now features Rae as drummer, hot shot guitarist Simon Hosford, Adam Surace on bass and Nik Pringadi on keyboards. The album is a collection of brooding, atmospheric, rock epics, perfect fodder for FM radio and that's exactly where the band has been acquiring some extensive airplay of late.  Shay was in the studio when she heard her own music over the airwaves for the first time.  “It's a really special moment when you hear it on radio for the first time because you know there are loads of other people listening. It kind of gives you fulfilment for all those years of work. It's hard to describe,” she said of the occasion.

“The Road To …” reeks of an album that has benefitted by a lot of time, thought and effort in the construction of the tracks and it's no surprise that recording was carried out over a few years. “We tried the songs in different formats … a different feel or groove,” explained Shay “At the time we were doing a gig in Fitzroy and that was kind of the the time where we were deconstructing songs. I'd have a song which was written and we'd just play with it. Other songs we'd just live with for a long time and pull apart and put back together.”

The care taken with this project is no more evident than with the closing two tracks 'Burn' and 'You', merged together seamlessly into one epic power play. Shay suggest that all the creative praise for that one belongs to keyboard player and arranger Scott Griffiths. “Scotty again,” Shay explains. “He did all the string parts. He is classically trained. He does a lot of programming on computer with a program called Vienna in which you can MIDI everything and then put it through real sounds. Then Ricki put on his producer's hat and tried to give it more depth and dynamic. Dynamic is Sharaya's word! That  song Burn came out of a live performance. We were doing the Amy Winehouse song Stronger, just the feel and we just started jamming on it. It was a laid back Sunday afternoon gig and we were doing whatever we wanted. The audience loved it.”

Sharaya now look forward to a summer full of gigs, writing for album number two, and keeping one eye open to international market possibilities.