Tara Simmons
Encyclopedia
Tara Emily Simmons is a musician
residing in Brisbane
, Australia. Simmons is proficient in voice
, keys
and sometimes cello
and is known for her use of bedroom
, bathroom
and kitchen
items to sample
extra sounds for her recordings.
at the age of three and the cello
at the age of eight, dabbling in songwriting along the way. Vocal lessons soon followed and she attended a performing arts school that taught her music technology and performance. She then went on to study at university in both production and songwriting at the Queensland University of Technology.
at Australian radio station Triple J
radio who took a liking to its lead single 'Everybody Loves You' and played it a number of times. The song also went on to be a finalist at the Q Song Awards 2006 and selected as a feature song for Triple J
OzMusic Month. She eventually realized the EP's potential and it was released in August 2006.
Immediately returning to the studio, this time with her cellist Briony Luttrell, Simmons began recording songs for her four track second EP All The Amendments. By the time it was released in February 2007, Simmons had garnered the attention of community and national radio and played as support for My Latest Novel
and Home Video.
Triple J
radio once again played an important part of the promotion of All The Amendments
, playing the EP's lead single 'The Recycling Bin Song'.
In October 2007, Tara had the 11 tracks from her two previous EPs remastered and repackaged onto a single disc compilation entitled EPilation, a term Tara herself created meaning "EP compilation."
Also in October 2007, Tara began work on songs for her debut album with co-producer Briony Luttrell. Recording in the apartment they share, Tara and Briony began work on a track called 'You And Me', which is commonly referred to as "that song with the three cellos" when they perform it live.
In August 2008, a new song from Tara's recent recording sessions called Shake was nominated for a Q Song Award in the Pop Category. On Valentine's Day 2009, Tara once again sold out the Judtih Wright Centre for the launch of her debut album Spilt Milk. She performed the album in its entireity plus "Pendulum" from her first EP and a cover of They Might Be Giants
' song Dr. Worm.
In November 2009, Tara released a brand new EP by the name of All You Can. It was a production collaboration between herself and producer Yanto Browning and spawned two radio singles 'All You Can' and 'I Cannot Be Saved'. In May 2010, Tara embarked on her first tour of Vietnam where she played shows to thousands of soldiers.
Most of 2011 was spent in the studio recording with producer Yanto Browning (The Medics
, The Jungle Giants) on a full length album. A new song, presumably from these sessions, emerged on YouTube
in August called "Honey" though it's not indicated if this will be from the forthcoming release. The first official single was played on Australia's national youth broadcaster triple j
on August 11, 2011 on Zan Rowe
's show and it was soon after available on iTunes
backed with "Honey".
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
residing in Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
, Australia. Simmons is proficient in voice
Voice
Voice may refer to:* Human voice* Voice control or voice activation* Writer's voice* Voice acting* Voice vote* Voice message-In film:* Voice , a 2005 South Korean film* The Voice , a 2010 Turkish horror film directed by Ümit Ünal...
, keys
Key (instrument)
A key is a specific part of a musical instrument. The purpose and function of the part in question depends on the instrument.On instruments equipped with tuning machines, violins and guitars, for example, a key is part of a tuning machine. It is a worm gear with a key shaped end used to turn a cog,...
and sometimes cello
Cello
The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
and is known for her use of bedroom
Bedroom
A bedroom is a private room where people usually sleep for the night or relax during the day.About one third of our lives are spent sleeping and most of the time we are asleep, we are sleeping in a bedroom. To be considered a bedroom the room needs to have bed. Bedrooms can range from really simple...
, bathroom
Bathroom
A bathroom is a room for bathing in containing a bathtub and/or a shower and optionally a toilet, a sink/hand basin/wash basin and possibly also a bidet....
and kitchen
Kitchen
A kitchen is a room or part of a room used for cooking and food preparation.In the West, a modern residential kitchen is typically equipped with a stove, a sink with hot and cold running water, a refrigerator and kitchen cabinets arranged according to a modular design. Many households have a...
items to sample
Sampling (music)
In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...
extra sounds for her recordings.
History
Tara began to play pianoPiano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
at the age of three and the cello
Cello
The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
at the age of eight, dabbling in songwriting along the way. Vocal lessons soon followed and she attended a performing arts school that taught her music technology and performance. She then went on to study at university in both production and songwriting at the Queensland University of Technology.
Career
In 2005, Simmons began recording her self-financed, self-produced seven track debut EP Pendulum but quickly shelved it, thinking it wasn't good enough. She eventually sent a copy to Caroline TranCaroline Tran
Caroline Tran is an Australian radio announcer on the national youth broadcaster Triple J.She moved to Melbourne, Australia, from Vietnam with her family when she was three. As an adult, she worked several other jobs before getting involved with radio broadcasting at the Australian Film...
at Australian radio station Triple J
Triple J
triple j is a nationally networked Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners between the ages of 18 and 30. The government-funded station is a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation...
radio who took a liking to its lead single 'Everybody Loves You' and played it a number of times. The song also went on to be a finalist at the Q Song Awards 2006 and selected as a feature song for Triple J
Triple J
triple j is a nationally networked Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners between the ages of 18 and 30. The government-funded station is a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation...
OzMusic Month. She eventually realized the EP's potential and it was released in August 2006.
Immediately returning to the studio, this time with her cellist Briony Luttrell, Simmons began recording songs for her four track second EP All The Amendments. By the time it was released in February 2007, Simmons had garnered the attention of community and national radio and played as support for My Latest Novel
My Latest Novel
- Background :A four piece, , My Latest Novel are from the small town of Greenock, near Glasgow in Scotland. They augment the traditional rock line up of guitars, drums, bass and keyboards, with the use of violins, xylophones, samples and undulating percussion, as well as multi-part vocals...
and Home Video.
Triple J
Triple J
triple j is a nationally networked Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners between the ages of 18 and 30. The government-funded station is a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation...
radio once again played an important part of the promotion of All The Amendments
All the Amendments
All The Amendments is the second EP from Brisbane musician Tara Simmons and was released in February, 2007.It features the single "The Recycling Bin Song," which received airplay on Triple J after both announcer Caroline Tran and music director Richard Kingsmill took a liking to it....
, playing the EP's lead single 'The Recycling Bin Song'.
In October 2007, Tara had the 11 tracks from her two previous EPs remastered and repackaged onto a single disc compilation entitled EPilation, a term Tara herself created meaning "EP compilation."
Also in October 2007, Tara began work on songs for her debut album with co-producer Briony Luttrell. Recording in the apartment they share, Tara and Briony began work on a track called 'You And Me', which is commonly referred to as "that song with the three cellos" when they perform it live.
In August 2008, a new song from Tara's recent recording sessions called Shake was nominated for a Q Song Award in the Pop Category. On Valentine's Day 2009, Tara once again sold out the Judtih Wright Centre for the launch of her debut album Spilt Milk. She performed the album in its entireity plus "Pendulum" from her first EP and a cover of They Might Be Giants
They Might Be Giants
They Might Be Giants is an American alternative rock band formed in 1982 by John Flansburgh and John Linnell. During TMBG's early years Flansburgh and Linnell were frequently accompanied by a drum machine. In the early 1990s, TMBG became a full band. Currently, the members of TMBG are...
' song Dr. Worm.
In November 2009, Tara released a brand new EP by the name of All You Can. It was a production collaboration between herself and producer Yanto Browning and spawned two radio singles 'All You Can' and 'I Cannot Be Saved'. In May 2010, Tara embarked on her first tour of Vietnam where she played shows to thousands of soldiers.
Most of 2011 was spent in the studio recording with producer Yanto Browning (The Medics
The Medics
The Medics is an Australian rock band formed in Cairns, Queensland in 2007. In April 2010 they moved to Brisbane. The band was formed by made up of Jhindu Lawrie, Charles Thomas, Kahl Wallace and Emma Andrews, later expanding to a five piece band with Andrew Thomson. Andrews left the band reducing...
, The Jungle Giants) on a full length album. A new song, presumably from these sessions, emerged on YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
in August called "Honey" though it's not indicated if this will be from the forthcoming release. The first official single was played on Australia's national youth broadcaster triple j
Triple J
triple j is a nationally networked Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners between the ages of 18 and 30. The government-funded station is a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation...
on August 11, 2011 on Zan Rowe
Zan Rowe
Susanna "Zan" Rowe is an Australian radio announcer, best known for her work on the nationally broadcast Triple J.-Radio:...
's show and it was soon after available on iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
backed with "Honey".
Band members
On stage, Simmons plays with a unique configuration of band including:- Tara Simmons: vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
, keysKey (instrument)A key is a specific part of a musical instrument. The purpose and function of the part in question depends on the instrument.On instruments equipped with tuning machines, violins and guitars, for example, a key is part of a tuning machine. It is a worm gear with a key shaped end used to turn a cog,...
, laptap, celloCelloThe cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is... - Briony Luttrell: celloCelloThe cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
- Emma Hales: celloCelloThe cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
- Chris O'Neill: drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
- Justin Bliss: double bassDouble bassThe double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
EPs
- PendulumPendulum (EP)Pendulum is the debut EP from Brisbane musician Tara Simmons.It features the single "Everybody Loves You" which received airplay on Triple J and a nomination in the Q Song Awards in 2006. "Everybody Loves You" and "Break The Rules For Me" were both featured in the independent film All My Friends...
(August, 2006) - All The AmendmentsAll the AmendmentsAll The Amendments is the second EP from Brisbane musician Tara Simmons and was released in February, 2007.It features the single "The Recycling Bin Song," which received airplay on Triple J after both announcer Caroline Tran and music director Richard Kingsmill took a liking to it....
(February, 2007) - All You Can (November 2009)
Singles
- "Everybody Loves You" (2006)
- "The Recycling Bin Song" (2007)
- "When You Say That I Don't Care About You" (2009)
- "All You Can" (2009)
- "I Cannot Be Saved" (2010)
- "Be Gone" b/w "Honey" (2011)
Soundtrack Appearances
- All My Friends Are Leaving Brisbane (2007)
-
- Track: Everybody Loves You
- SLiDE (2011)
- Track: I Cannot Be Saved
- Track: Everybody Loves You
Compilation appearances
- Songs Of Applewood (2007)
-
- Track: Go And Stop with Guy Webster
External links
- Official website
- Tara Simmons at MySpaceMySpaceMyspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
- Tara Simmons @ Sonic Bids
- Interview with Time Off magazine February 2007
- Review of Pendulum in Time Off magazine November 2006
- Review of All The Amendments in Rave magazine February 2007
- Tara Simmons on Brispop.com
- Interview In Time Off October 2007