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Dash & Will

Some things are worth the wait. And it’s an extraordinary understatement to say the debut album for youthful pop duo Dash & Will has been a long time coming. A bigger understatement however, would be to downplay Up In Something as anything less than what it is – one of the best Australian pop albums of 2009.

Yes, this world class record bares the fingerprints of a couple of production heavy-hitters. But as skilful songwriters and performers with a voice of their own, Dash & Will- a.k.a Charlie Thorpe and Josie DeSousa-Reay- simply cannot be ignored.

You may think you know the fundamentals around the Dash & Will story.

Two girls meet at a Melbourne primary school, graft out a friendship that steadily develops into a meaningful connect, begin writing songs together as teenagers, rebadge themselves with the names they would have been called if they were born boys and record a demo that’s uncovered by producer and musician Barry Palmer. But there’s always been something else at play. The two 19-year-olds possess an edge that underlies the spunk in these ten slices of pop-perfection. This diverse collection of songs draws on a wide variety of influences. Album highlight, and hit-in-the-waiting Painful has a DNA traceable back to forgotten Australian pop duet Leonardo’s Bride and also recalls Howling Bells chanteuse Juanita Stein and even echoes of Chrissie Hynde. Elsewhere, there are vestiges of veterans Natalie Merchant in the brilliant mid-tempo cut Save Me and Veruca Salt on Didn’t Know blending with their contemporaries, think Michelle Branch on the scorching opening track Some Like It Hot. It’s a brand of pop music that’s never too straight, and clearly has something else in play.

Whether it was getting up at dawn every Saturday to consume every video on Rage (Josie) or learning guitar with dad (Charlie), neither were introverted.

“My dad would play guitar in our shed,” Charlie say. “I’d go out there and make-up ridiculous songs and mum would film me. Dad showed me the basic chords of guitar. They had a huge collection of old-school pop music and I devoured it all.”

Similarly, Josie has been playing music, be it violin, piano or guitar, as long as she can remember.

“My dad taught me my first three chords when I started playing guitar. It was only later I realised they were the chords to Enrique Iglesias’ Hero,” she says, laughing. Soon after meeting at the callow age of 9, they began writing and singing together. “We’d sit in a little music room at recess and sing,” Josie says. “We’d work out really strong harmonies and write songs,” adds Charlie.

Meanwhile, by age 16, Josie had attended a pile of rock shows. She was hooked.
“I grew up obsessed with pop music. Mum and dad would play the Beatles, Stones, the Bangles and Blondie. I knew this is what I wanted to do.”

Sensing their own potential, the two applied for a Buzz grant in Year 10 that afforded them the opportunity to record a demo. It was this demo that would end up in Barry Palmer’s hands. When the Hunters & Collectors veteran received the disc at a Christmas party, he swiftly signed the girls to his own label, Gigantically Small.

The duo began playing open-mics in Fitzroy. Still at high school, they needed fake IDs just to get on stage. “We’d go home from school and practice endlessly,” Charlie says, “and Google the places in Melbourne we could play. The responses were great which surprised us a bit.”

At the beginning of year 12, they hit the studio, recording five tracks with Palmer and Cat Empire/Kram producer Andy Baldwin. A deal was cut with Mercury/Universal to license their debut album.

“The girls had grown up playing and singing together so the studio became a natural extension of that,” Palmer says.

Instead of joining their mates at “schoolies” , they headed to Noosa for ten days to finish writing the songs for their debut. After earning their studio tans for a few months over summer, they hit the road with their acoustic guitars in tow, touring with Faker front man Nathan Hudson and American singer-songwriter Matt Costa.

Sensing they had more songs in reserve, they channelled their touring life’s hedonism into a new song, the superb Out Of Control, the last track recorded for the album. More and more though, Dash & Will focused on their live show. They got themselves a band made up of friends and toured with big international acts such as the Kooks, the Ting Tings and the Futureheads. They played a swag of festivals, Falls, Homebake and Southbound among them.

“It was really great,” raves Charlie. “The more we toured the less overawed we were by it all and the bands we played with . Along the way we kept watching , learning and just getting better . Now it’s something we’re totally addicted to.”

“To do our own headlining tour at 19 is crazy,” says Josie, “but the show’s only as good as the songs and the performance, and that’s what keeps the audience watching and involved… by the end of the gig everybody’s down the front dancing with us.”

In person, the chemistry is palpable, as is the difference in character. One is opinionated and brimming with chutzpah. Another is equally focused but analytical and quietly confident .

And what of the album? Put simply, Up In Something is a classic-sounding pop record.

It boasts an all-too-rare combination of accessibility and edge. It’s diversity and skill is matched by its sense of fun. Dash & Will can party all night, but are lively enough to deflect any inevitable hangover. It’s just the right mix of power-pop, ballads and dance grooves to keep the listener enthralled and intrigued .

“I kind of felt that we had something unique,” Josie says. “We write our own songs and play guitar, but we’re really different people, and I think that it’s the combination of personalities that is the defining factor in the sound of Dash & Will.”

“ Not to mention it’s great to have a partner in crime ,” adds Charlie with a grin.