O and Shea, a husband-and-wife duo, have been bringing their unique style of music and heartfelt lyrical stories to the Northern Rivers for over a decade.
Shea, born and raised in San Francisco, California, is a multi-instrumentalist, a sound engineer and producer and has played and toured with bands, including The Richmond Sluts, Brian Jonestown Massacre and Neil Young. O was born in Australia and since her teenage years, has played in various bands, ranging from post-punk to psychedelic rock with her older sister. They ended up living and playing in New York and London. O met Shea through mutual friends while she was living in Los Angeles, and the rest they say is history.
Musically, they describe their sound as having no rules or genre boundaries interfering with their creative ideas, so their songs are drawn from whatever inspires them at the time, taking you on a truly wonderful musical adventure.
Recently, I was lucky enough to chat with these two musical legends and encourage you to listen to their debut album, Into the Sun.
What inspired you to start making music together?
Shea had released his debut solo album and following this, was given the opportunity to be the support act for Colin Hegna’s band, Federale, on the West Coast leg of their USA tour. Needing to put together a band, Shea felt like it was a no-brainer to have his wife, O, play on guitar. As a two-piece on vocals and guitars, we combined acoustic guitar, electric guitar and effects, and in doing so we realised we were creating a sound together that was truly unique. After that, we started songwriting together and that became the birth of O and Shea as a project. After relocating to Australia, we put together a backing band to complete our sound.
Tell me about the creative process you guys follow (if any) when making your music?
It’s very different for each song. We have a couple songs written start to finish by one or the other, but mostly we have songs that start as an idea, then turn into strong collaborative project.
What are your career highlights to date?
Definitely the release of our debut album, ‘Into The Sun’ earlier this year. (This is a subtle hint from Prudence to go take a listen).
Do you find it difficult to separate from your musical personas in your day-to-day lives together?
No. What you see of us on stage is what you get when you meet us in person. We don’t take ourselves too seriously, even when we are working hard.
Best and worst thing about the Northern Rivers music scene?
The best thing is the music community and support from musicians, artists, community radio, record store owners and music lovers, who are open minded about experiencing many styles of music- even at the one event. The only negative we could come up with is that it would be nice to have more venues that host original bands and regular shows.
More about O and Shea…
‘Short and Sweet’ is your backstage pass to NSW’s Northern Rivers Music Scene, inspired by BayFM’s Ange Kent host of Northern Rivers Music Box and music journalist, Prudence Clark, from Off the Record.