Abroad
Photo: Carlos Walters
As we all know the world is vast place, but sometimes it can seem tiny. This was never more evident then when an email came into my inbox touting a new Australian music group called Abroad, which just so happens to include someone I went to school with. Obviously upon receiving this email I had to speak with Jack Dawson about how his journey in the world of music took him from Nowra to London & back to Australia.
We started out our conversation by discussing when Jack came to find his passion for music.
"It would have been back at school in Nowra just singing. The music teacher at the time suggested that I should sing more & maybe get a few lessons so the passion started there," explained Jack. "The passion has been there for me since year 9-10 but it's never really been first on my list of priorities."
With music not being at the top of his priory list we wondered how Jack & his band mate Will Cruger came to form Abroad.
"I first met Will in Wollongong while we were both at Uni. We record together for an old band in a shed in Wollongong but that was all that came of it at the time," recalled Jack. "Somehow we eventually met up again in London. We were both over there doing solo gigs & thought we should catch up, write some music & have a jam. So Abroad all came from that at the end of 2015."
With Abroad coming together so quickly you might think that Jack & Will had very similar music tastes. However, as Jack explained this was actually far from the case, "Will is a very talented producer & songwriter who was in a rock-punk band for a while there & I was in an indie-folk band, so we were pretty well opposites."
Over time Jack & Will would come to find a mutual love & passion for electro-pop during their London jam session.
"I don't know how we found it but together we both found & liked the electro sound," Jack told Pario. "We started playing around with different synth sounds & beats to eventually come up with the electro sound of Abroad. It's not something I ever thought I would be playing or trying to write but it kind of fell into our laps & we just ran with it. Over the last few years it's gone really well so we're pretty happy with it."
When Jack says it has "gone really well" he is somewhat underplaying the success they've had in recent times with their music. Abroad's most recent releases, an EP entitled Sydney & their new single Coffee, the duo have accrued over 1 million streams on Spotify alone. Contemplating on that success Jack said, "We created Abroad in London & always just thought of it as a bit of fun & passion project. To go from getting maybe 10 plays per day to now getting around 10,000 per day is very rewarding."
In celebration of their success Jack & Will are set to return to Australia to play a series of shows ahead of the release of their album. In regards to what audiences can expect from these shows Jack said, "We've got a whole new light show & we're going to playing songs of the album. We just want everyone to be present with our gigs & feel the energy of the atmosphere. Plus Will & I love to carry on like pork chops so it's always good fun."
Unfortunately at the time of our interview, there aren't currently plans for home town shows from Abroad but we may have planted that seed in Jack's mind.
"We're very excited with what's to come... We're playing in Wollongong but we haven't been any further south than that. We better fix that & play home town shows in Nowra & Bowral."
Follow Abroad's creative journey on social media @AbroadOfficial
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