WakingUgly All Over Again

April 14, 2011 - PRLog -- Melbourne pop/rock duo WakingUgly announced today their plans to complete the recording of their second five-track album by the end of this month.

The act’s lead singer and general manager, Lydia Gardner, will be finishing vocal tracks and mixing at Altona’s Airwaves studio with producer Michael Zammit.

Zammit produced the duo’s debut EP, Say Something Sweet, released last November under local independent label Future of Vintage (FOV) Records.

Since their 2010 debut, WakingUgly have attracted listeners from all over the globe who are fans of other international pop acts such as Katy Perry, Pink and Miley Cyrus and have also received high praise and five-star reviews of their work from industry professionals, both local and international.

In a review in Melbourne street magazine, Beat, Briony Jones said of the effort, “Say Something Sweet is pop as it hasn’t been done for a long time and it ultimately puts any mainstream version of the genre to shame – finally there is a band that can do the genre justice.” (Beat magazine, Issue 1244, pg96)

Gardner said that she hoped they would continue to get such positive reactions with the next five songs. “Every track on the first album had its own identity, and that is even more so the case with these ones. As with the first album, we’re trying to find that perfect balance between familiarity and uniqueness. We don’t want a bunch of songs that sound the same as each other, nor do we want to upset the listener by changing our overall sound too much from song to song. I think achieving that harmony has become our niche in a sense.”

Still in the midst of promoting their first album, WakingUgly have no immediate plans for their second release, preferring to focus on rehearsing their live show at this time, which is where fans will hear the new songs first.  

Gardner’s co-writer and guitarist for WakingUgly, Darren Pace, revealed their plans to work with similar acts in non-traditional venues in the near future.
Pace stated, “We’re working on putting on small concerts, rather than doing regular pub gigs. We want to give our audiences a professional performance in a comfortable, all-ages environment.”

WakingUgly believe they set a standard for themselves at their EP release party held at Eurotrash Bar in town last November, a four hour event featuring “Gender-Bender” MC Queen La Diva, a special acoustic performance from up-and-comer Jo Dawson, free food and drinks as well as a raffle with an iPod Nano touch as first prize.

Although organizing an event of this level takes a lot more money and effort, Pace and Gardner are determined to make it work, in the hope of eventually gaining a reputation as one of Melbourne’s best live bands.  

Gardner explained, “We had so many compliments regarding how much fun the release party was and how good the band looked and sounded. That’s because we used great equipment, skilled operators, and the entire event was well planned and executed. The last thing we want to do now is jeopardize that brilliant first impression we made by just doing some boring old gig in some boring old pub.”

Say Something Sweet is available on iTunes and other digital retailers.
Hard copy CDs are available on the band’s website http://www.wakingugly.com
For show updates, news and a free track download, join the Exclusive Access Club at http://www.wakingugly.com

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Pop/Rock duo Darren Pace & Lydia Gardner, aka WakingUgly, are popular for their catchy melodic pop tunes with a crunchy rock flavour.
In November 2010, WakingUgly released their critically acclaimed debut EP, “Say Something Sweet”, available at www.wakingugly.com, iTunes and other online retailers.