Electric Fields is an Australian duo of electronic-aboriginal music formed by vocalist Zaachariaha Fielding and pianist and producer Michael Ross, they obtained second place in the Australian preselection for ESC 2019, we had the pleasure of talking with them and this was the result.
Hello Electric Fields, it is a pleasure for us to talk with you and to know a little more about your history and your participation in Australia Decides, first, congratulations for having get the silver medal in the first national final of your country for Eurovision, let’s start:
ORLA: Who is Electric Fields for the world of music, how did you start in the music industry?
EF: We both began differently, Zaachariaha began by singing in the central deserts of Australia and I (Michael) began as a singer-songwriter producing music on my family computer and my grandma’s piano.
ORLA: Music: what does it mean for Electric Fields?
EF: Music is our way our sharing our truth and how we see the world in the most beautiful way possible.
ORLA: What emotions define you as musicians and people?
EF: I think most people on the planet work with all the emotions. For us It’s just really important to feel them and fell them deeply.
ORLA: You made known for your participation in “The X Factor Australia”, Zaachariaha Fielding in 2011 and Michael Ross two years later, what did this musical adventure mean to you?
EF: It helped us both to get a taste of performing into the eyeball of the camera lens and knowing there are souls on the other side of that camera.
ORLA: After publishing your first EP in 2016, called “Inma” you have won several musical awards such as Emily Burrows, National Indigenous Music Awards (2017) and were nominated for the same awards last year, what has been the most difficult to stay in the music industry?
EF: There are a lot of people who want us to follow their rules or their idea of what we should do and how we should do it. But that normal music industry model doesn’t really fit us. So we’ve just had to stick to our guns to be 100% ourselves.
ORLA: We feel that your music is a call to ancestral empowerment. How would you define it?
EF: We love that. Ancestral empowerment. In that sense we think of our music as deep energy you can listen to and feel it.
ORLA: Last year you were introduced as one of the ten participants of the Australian Decides. How was this opportunity given?
EF: We applied via a website. We uploaded our song they called us within a few days.
ORLA: Which musical genres are you identified with and which artists inspire you?
EF: Zaachariaha’s favourite singer is Whitney Houston and mine is Mariah Carey. But we also love Robyn, Daft Punk, Janet and Fleetwood Mac. Each track we work on gets it’s own mixture of musical genres.
ORLA: ´´2000 and Whatever´´ is the song that was performed in Australia Decides, What story is behind the song and what message is in this track?
EF: It brings the past and future together as a message stick to the current generation. To make the most authentic, positive impact on this planet in our very short human experience.
ORLA: The day of the Australian finale, you got second place after Kate Miller-Heike, how did you feel that day and what did you think when you stayed just one step behind to represent Australia in Tel Aviv?
EF: When we performed for the live telecast, the audience were singing along to our song, including the lyrics in Anangu language. This was such a special moment that the voting didn’t matter anymore. It became less a competition for us and more of single launch of our song.
ORLA: Do you still consider participating again in a possible national final or maybe, being elected internally to represent Australia or another country?
EF: Hmmm… maybe.
ORLA: In general, what you liked the most in Eurovision?
EF: We love that Eurovision unites people from heaps of different countries with music and performance. Such a great way to bring people together.
ORLA: Eurovision has a large number of fans in Latin America, Would you like to bring your music to this continent?
EF: We haven’t been to Latin America yet, we’d love to though! The culture is so rich there it would be stunning to be immersed in it.
ORLA: With which Latin artists would you like to collaborate?
EF: Carlos Santana
ORLA: Finally, what message do you want to give to the people who are reading this interview?
EF: Life isn’t about being perfect, it’s a balance of light and shade and there’s room for everybody.
Here is their performance in the National Indigenous Music Awards 2017
Michael Ross audition in X Factor 2013
Zaachariaha Fielding´s audition for the X Factor
Electric Fields performance in Australia Decides 2019