Adalita Srsen
Encyclopedia
Adalita Srsen is an Australia
n rock musician, known best as a founding member of rock band Magic Dirt
.
on 25 February 1971. She told Rolling Stone
magazine in 2003 that her father, a Croatia
n cabaret performer, named her after a Spanish song.
She told Triple J
's Richard Kingsmill
in 2000 that she made her first guitar out of cardboard and wool, before her mother bought her her first acoustic guitar. "After persuading my mum to buy me a guitar, I learnt a few chord progressions from a music book and then started writing and recording very strange songs, using two tape decks and layering guitar parts and vocal harmonies."
Adalita told Australian Guitar magazine (when she became the first female to grace the magazine's cover) in 2005 that she "was 18 or 19 when I bought my first my $90 acoustic (guitar) for whatever strange reason I bought it for, on a whim. Then I got an electric maybe six months later and started on that - what was that - in like 1989, 1990.'
Early in the '90s, she formed Deer Bubbles with then partner Dean Turner. The band didn't last long and by 1992, the pair, along with guitarist Daniel Herring, started a new band, briefly known as The Jim Jims. With the addition of drummer Adam Robertson, they became known as Magic Dirt.
s for the Mick Harvey
-produced soundtrack of the Australian film Suburban Mayhem
: "Double Dare" (originally by Hoyt Axton) and "Sex Beat" (Gun Club). Along with Harvey, Dean Turner and Rowland S. Howard
play on the tracks. A promotional video was made for the single "Double Dare", featuring Adalita and Suburban Mayhem star Emily Barclay
.
The solo work was, at the time, a one-off and Adalita soon resumed work with Magic Dirt.
Adalita began writing and recording her debut solo album in 2009. Produced by Dean Turner, recordings for the album were completed before his death in August 2009. The album was completed in 2010, while Magic Dirt were on hiatus following Turner's death.
To coincide with her support slot on the Blondie and Pretenders double headlining Australian tour, Adalita released the 'Hot Air' EP on 26 November 2010. The EP contained the debut album's first single, 'Hot Air' and three non-album tracks.
The eponymous debut album
was released on 4 March 2011, though Liberation Music
. It debuted at No. 23 on the ARIA Album Chart.
Appearing on Triple J Radio, Adalita performed a haunting live studio cover of Madonna's 'Burning Up' for the station's Like a Version segment on 19 August 2011.
, where she added vocals to The Clowns Smiling Backwards' cover of "The Black Angel's Death Song".
In 2002, she contributed vocals to Bodyjar
's "Too Drunk To Drive" single, and appeared in the song's promotional video.
In 2003, she appeared on The Calculators' track, "Cellophane", on The Secret Life Of Us
3 soundtrack CD. Also in 2003, she was one of many guest vocalists during You Am I
's Triple J
Live At The Wireless session, singing the band's "Jewels And Bullets" and "Damage".
During 2003, Adalita attended the 'Mushroom Music Writers Bloc', a songwriting workshop for Australian artists. Together, she and Ben Nash of 78 Saab penned the track, "Too Much Is Not Enough". The track was featured as a b-side to Magic Dirt's "Plastic Loveless Letter" single, and was credited as being performed by 'Adalita & Ben Nash', to clearly separate it from the Magic Dirt tracks.
Adalita also appeared on stage with The Beasts Of Bourbon during the 2006 Big Day Out
tour. Also in 2006 she appeared in the Australian short film, The Desert by Glendyn Ivin.
In 2007 she collaborated with Katalyst
on the track "Bladewalker" on his album What's Happening, and joined him on a national tour in November.
On 24 January 2009 Adalita appeared on an episode of RocKwiz
performing a duet, covering The Saints
' "Messin' with the Kid", with Gareth Liddard (The Drones
). She also appeared on the 2009 RockWiz Christmas special, which was broadcast on 19 December 2009, performing a cover of The Pretenders
' "2,000 Miles".
and is also a vegan. She was about 18 when she turned vegetarian. Said Adalita, "It was a very easy decision to make and I never went back."
She lives in Melbourne with her partner, Raul Sanchez.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n rock musician, known best as a founding member of rock band Magic Dirt
Magic Dirt
Magic Dirt are an Australian rock band, which formed in 1991 in Geelong, Victoria, with Daniel Herring on guitar, Adam Robertson on drums, Adalita Srsen on vocals and guitar, and Dean Turner on bass guitar. Initially known as Deer Bubbles and then The Jim Jims, they were renamed as Magic Dirt in...
.
Early life and childhood
Adalita was born in Geelong, AustraliaAustralia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
on 25 February 1971. She told Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine in 2003 that her father, a Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
n cabaret performer, named her after a Spanish song.
She told 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...
's Richard Kingsmill
Richard Kingsmill
Richard "The King" Kingsmill is an Australian radio announcer and music journalist.He is best known for his work at national youth broadcaster triple j. His career at the station started in 1988 as a producer for station presenters George Wayne, Tracee Hutchison and Tim Ritchie...
in 2000 that she made her first guitar out of cardboard and wool, before her mother bought her her first acoustic guitar. "After persuading my mum to buy me a guitar, I learnt a few chord progressions from a music book and then started writing and recording very strange songs, using two tape decks and layering guitar parts and vocal harmonies."
Adalita told Australian Guitar magazine (when she became the first female to grace the magazine's cover) in 2005 that she "was 18 or 19 when I bought my first my $90 acoustic (guitar) for whatever strange reason I bought it for, on a whim. Then I got an electric maybe six months later and started on that - what was that - in like 1989, 1990.'
Early in the '90s, she formed Deer Bubbles with then partner Dean Turner. The band didn't last long and by 1992, the pair, along with guitarist Daniel Herring, started a new band, briefly known as The Jim Jims. With the addition of drummer Adam Robertson, they became known as Magic Dirt.
Solo work
In 2006, Adalita released her first material as a solo performer. She performed on two cover versionCover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
s for the Mick Harvey
Mick Harvey
Michael John Harvey , is an Australian rock musician, composer, arranger and record producer. He is best known for his long-time collaboration with the singer and songwriter Nick Cave...
-produced soundtrack of the Australian film Suburban Mayhem
Suburban Mayhem
Suburban Mayhem is a 2006 Australian film directed by Paul Goldman, written by Alice Bell, produced by Leah Churchill-Brown and Executive Producer Jan Chapman. It features an ensemble cast including Emily Barclay, Michael Dorman, Anthony Hayes, Robert Morgan and Genevieve Lemon...
: "Double Dare" (originally by Hoyt Axton) and "Sex Beat" (Gun Club). Along with Harvey, Dean Turner and Rowland S. Howard
Rowland S. Howard
Rowland Stuart Howard was an Australian rock musician, guitarist and songwriter, he played electric guitar in the post-punk group The Birthday Party. Howard died of liver cancer in December 2009, aged 50 years....
play on the tracks. A promotional video was made for the single "Double Dare", featuring Adalita and Suburban Mayhem star Emily Barclay
Emily Barclay
Emily Barclay is an English-born, New Zealand AFI award winning actress.-Career:Emily Barclay has performed in a wide variety of film and television roles...
.
The solo work was, at the time, a one-off and Adalita soon resumed work with Magic Dirt.
Adalita began writing and recording her debut solo album in 2009. Produced by Dean Turner, recordings for the album were completed before his death in August 2009. The album was completed in 2010, while Magic Dirt were on hiatus following Turner's death.
To coincide with her support slot on the Blondie and Pretenders double headlining Australian tour, Adalita released the 'Hot Air' EP on 26 November 2010. The EP contained the debut album's first single, 'Hot Air' and three non-album tracks.
The eponymous debut album
Adalita
Adalita is the debut studio album by Australian musician Adalita. It was released by Liberation Music in March 2011.-Background and History:...
was released on 4 March 2011, though Liberation Music
Liberation Music
Liberation Music is a boutique, independent Australasian record company, started in 1999 by Michael Gudinski and Warren Costello. Its stated aim is to find, nurture and then to develop new talent for a world market while remaining independent in the process...
. It debuted at No. 23 on the ARIA Album Chart.
Appearing on Triple J Radio, Adalita performed a haunting live studio cover of Madonna's 'Burning Up' for the station's Like a Version segment on 19 August 2011.
Collaborations
In addition to various collaborations within Magic Dirt, Adalita has appeared as a guest vocalist on a number of tracks by other Australian bands. The first, in 1992, was on the Velvet (Down) Underground tribute albumTribute album
A tribute album is a recorded collection of cover versions of songs or instrumental compositions. Its concept may be either various artists making a tribute to a single artist, a single artist making a tribute to various artists, or a single artist making a tribute to another single artist.There...
, where she added vocals to The Clowns Smiling Backwards' cover of "The Black Angel's Death Song".
In 2002, she contributed vocals to Bodyjar
Bodyjar
Bodyjar were an Australian punk rock/pop punk band based in Melbourne. They began performing under the name Bodyjar in 1994; their previous names included Damnation and Helium.-History:...
's "Too Drunk To Drive" single, and appeared in the song's promotional video.
In 2003, she appeared on The Calculators' track, "Cellophane", on The Secret Life Of Us
The Secret Life of Us
The Secret Life of Us was a television drama series set in the beachside suburb of St Kilda, Melbourne, Australia. The series was produced by Southern Star Entertainment and screened in Australia from 2001 to 2005 on Network Ten and on Channel 4 in the UK...
3 soundtrack CD. Also in 2003, she was one of many guest vocalists during You Am I
You Am I
You Am I are an Australian alternative rock band, fronted by vocalist/guitarist and main songwriter Tim Rogers. They were the first Australian band to have three albums successively debut at #1 on the ARIA Charts, and are renowned for their live performances.-History:Tim Rogers formed the first...
's 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...
Live At The Wireless session, singing the band's "Jewels And Bullets" and "Damage".
During 2003, Adalita attended the 'Mushroom Music Writers Bloc', a songwriting workshop for Australian artists. Together, she and Ben Nash of 78 Saab penned the track, "Too Much Is Not Enough". The track was featured as a b-side to Magic Dirt's "Plastic Loveless Letter" single, and was credited as being performed by 'Adalita & Ben Nash', to clearly separate it from the Magic Dirt tracks.
Adalita also appeared on stage with The Beasts Of Bourbon during the 2006 Big Day Out
Big Day Out
The Big Day Out is an annual music festival held in several cities in Australia and New Zealand in late January. It started in Sydney in 1992, spread to Adelaide, Melbourne and Perth by 1993, with the Gold Coast and Auckland joining in 1994...
tour. Also in 2006 she appeared in the Australian short film, The Desert by Glendyn Ivin.
In 2007 she collaborated with Katalyst
Katalyst (musician)
Katalyst is an Australian DJ/Producer. He won awards at the 2002 Australian Dance Music Awards for Best Album and Best Producer.- Biography :...
on the track "Bladewalker" on his album What's Happening, and joined him on a national tour in November.
On 24 January 2009 Adalita appeared on an episode of RocKwiz
RocKwiz
RocKwiz is an Australian television quiz show series, focused on rock music, and broadcast on SBS One. It premiered in 2005.-Summary:The forty minute program airs on Saturday at 9:20 pm, and is hosted by Julia Zemiro. It is shot in The Gershwin Room at St Kilda's Esplanade Hotel, commonly...
performing a duet, covering The Saints
The Saints (band)
The Saints are an Australian rock band, which formed in Brisbane in 1974 as punk rockers. Founders were Chris Bailey , Ivor Hay , and Ed Kuepper . Alongside mainstay Bailey, the group has had numerous line-ups...
' "Messin' with the Kid", with Gareth Liddard (The Drones
The Drones
The Drones are an Australian rock group who rose to prominence during the early 2000s. They are influenced by a variety of bands and soloists including Neil Young, The Velvet Underground, Bad Brains, Suicide, Green on Red, The Birthday Party, Van Morrison, Bob Dylan and Nina Simone.- The Sound...
). She also appeared on the 2009 RockWiz Christmas special, which was broadcast on 19 December 2009, performing a cover of The Pretenders
The Pretenders
The Pretenders are an English rock band formed in Hereford, England in March 1978. The original band consisted of initiator and main songwriter Chrissie Hynde , James Honeyman-Scott , Pete Farndon , and Martin Chambers...
' "2,000 Miles".
Personal
Adalita is an avid advocate of animal rightsAnimal rights
Animal rights, also known as animal liberation, is the idea that the most basic interests of non-human animals should be afforded the same consideration as the similar interests of human beings...
and is also a vegan. She was about 18 when she turned vegetarian. Said Adalita, "It was a very easy decision to make and I never went back."
She lives in Melbourne with her partner, Raul Sanchez.
Singles
- "Double Dare" — Inertia Recordings (IR2511CDS) (28 October 2006)
- "The Repairer" (7") — The Passport Label (VISA 011) (4 September 2011)
- "Fool Around (Alternate Edit)" (digital single) — Liberation (23 September 2011)