“The delicious sounds of Joe Accaria, (who was giving us Daft Punk and Mark Ronson vibes) greet you, making you feel like you’re walking into New York’s famous Studio 54” Aspire Magazine
“Mix master Joe Accaria oversees proceedings from the DJ booth, punctuation the soundtrack with inspired bursts of live percussion” Adelaide Advertiser
“Everything happens to the beat provided by Joe Accaria’s drums, and he is impressive” Glam Adelaide
“One of the most exciting, engrossing and intelligent pieces of theatre I’ve seen this year” Daily Review
“Sensationally entertaining, this trip to Boogie Wonderland is a gold plated hit!” The Times UK
ARIA NOMINATION: – Velvet (Original Cast Recording) – Best Original Soundtrack/Cast/Show Album
Director
Craig Ilott
Music Director
Joe Accaria
Soundtrack Producers
Joe Accaria & Nik Pringadi (Repercussions)
Set & Costume Designer
James Browne
Lighting Designer
Matthew Marshall
Choreographer
Lucas Newland
Amy Campbell (Rewired)
Original Cast
Marcia Hines, Brendan Maclean, Craig Reid, Joe Accaria, Chaska Halliday, Rechelle Mansour, Emma Goh, Mirko Köckenberger, Perle Noire, Stephen Williams
Rewired Cast
Marcia Hines, Ryan Gonzalez, Craig Reid, Joe Accaria, Olivia Carniato, Kyla Bartholomeusz, Beau Sargent, Ryan James, Deni & Marie
Disco Delirium – Joe album notes
Sounds like an incurable yet dance provoking ailment. I’ve had it all my life although never manifested like this – until Velvet. When Velvet writer/director Craig Ilott informally showed me the rough sketches of what was to be the idea of a show called Velvet, I wittingly signed up (in my mind) without even being enlisted through the normal channels one usually begins work on such projects i.e. being asked to participate. Naturally, when Craig asked I was thrilled and accepted.
Disco Delirium kicked in around November 2014 when my studio and writing collaborator Nik Pringadi and I witnessed each other’s hazy yet triumphant reaction to several hours of programming disco beats coupled with a residual foot tap and head nod – we were in the disco.
The fascination with disco can be traced back to hearing the Bee Gees’ Saturday Night Fever soundtrack in Sicily as a 7yr old. The lyrics and meaning slightly lost as my grasp of English was somewhat foggy in the face of a heavy dialect. What wasn’t lost and immediately evident was a connection to a beat, a pulse, and a groove with a solid foundation – the “4 on the floor” but with a catchy syncopation that was sweeping the world, even Sicily. The drums sucked me in early as part of the engine room that, combined with the bass, would propel the disco locomotive express to its destination – the club.
James Brown’s 1976 offering “Get Up Offa That Thing” served to introduce the teenage drummer to the “pea soup” – an onomatopoeic effect of opening and closing the hi-hat cymbals off the beat giving vocalisation of the slang music term. Then came Earth Wind and Fire, KC and the Sunshine Band, Barry White, Ohio Players, Donna Summer, The Jacksons, The Salsoul Orchestra and of course Chic.
Chic’s powerhouse rhythm section of Nile Rodgers, Bernard Edwards and Tony Thompson brought an unparalleled virtuosity and solid rock muscle to the music not to mention Nile’s rich orchestrations littered with wonderful countermelody and movement. Songs such as “Le Freak”, “Good Times” and “Everybody Dance” catapulted Chic to stardom and they continued to pen classic disco hits for Sister Sledge and Diana Ross. These guys were a rock band playing incredibly complex and syncopated music but also appeared on and produced albums for David Bowie, Duran Duran, INXS and Robert Palmer’s The Power Station to name just a few.
While Disco was seemingly thought of as a reaction to Rock, it’s domineering cousin, back in the 1970s it also gave flight to the notion that rock musicians also played disco and the music continued to influence generations of musicians including the DJs and dance music producers of today such as Daft Punk, Mark Ronson and Dimitri from Paris.
This organised melange of cross-fertilised old and new was the template and also challenge in producing this album born out of making the music primarily for the show. The balance in staying true to the brilliance found in the originals whilst giving the music a sense of period both then and now was ultimately the most satisfying feature of the work. The dissection and discovery of the complexity of this music served to enhance our understanding of the vital components that are central to its core. We trust we’ve served disco justice and you too experience a happy dose of Disco Delirium.
