Infusion was an Australian

electronica Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that came to prominence in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mos ...

band, originally from

Wollongong Wollongong ( ; Dharawal: ''Woolyungah'') is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near water' or 'sound ...

which formed in 1995. It is best known for its ARIA Music Award-winning song " Girls Can Be Cruel" and '' Six Feet Above Yesterday''.

Career

1995-2002: Early Days and ''Phrases and Numbers''

Infusion founding members, Jamie Stevens and Manuel Sharrad, met in 1988 at a local high school in

. Frank Xavier also hails from Wollongong, although he did not meet the other two until they had relocated to Sydney. In 1995, Infusion released its debut single "Smokescreen / Lux" on the Dance Pool label while primarily remixing other artists' tracks. In 1999, he band signed with Thunk Records, an underground electronic label and released its debut studio album, ''Phrases and Numbers'', in 2000. The trio's music evolved from the rave and club scene, widening in scope to include traditional pop song structures. inthemix.com.au said the release of "Spike" was "the turning point in their career" saying "the track perfectly encapsulated the group's reinvention of their sound into an unstoppable behemoth of dark, throbbing, techy filth, which came as a fresh, subtle alternative to the over-saturation of floaty, uplifting progressive house of the time."

2003-2013: ''Six Feet Above Yesterday'', ''All Night Sun Light'' and split

In October 2003, the group had relocated to Melbourne and signed with

Sony BMG Sony BMG Music Entertainment was an American record company owned as a 50–50 joint venture between Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann. The venture's successor, the revived Sony Music, is wholly owned by Sony, following their buyout o ...

. In April 2004, Infusion released the single " Girls Can Be Cruel", which received airplay on Australia's alternative music radio station,

Triple J Triple J is an Australian government-funded national radio station founded in 1975 as a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). It aims to appeal to young listeners of alternative music, and plays far more Australian conten ...

. The song won the

ARIA Award for Best Dance Release In music, an aria (, ; : , ; ''arias'' in common usage; diminutive form: arietta, ; : ariette; in English simply air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrumental or orchestral accompaniment, normally part of a large ...

at the ARIA Music Awards of 2004. The band released '' Six Feet Above Yesterday'' in 2004, which won the Best Dance Release at the ARIA Music Awards of 2005. "Better World" and "Natural" were charting singles from the album. Infusion's album ''All Night Sun Light'' was released on 7 July 2009 on its own independent label Futuresque. Infusion performed its last show with Leftfield at the Enmore Theatre in 2013.

Post-Infusion

Xavier produces records under the pseudonym Francis Xavier on Australian label Motorik!, and is a member of their rotating deejay collective, The Motorik Vibe Council, alongside members of The Lost Valentinos, The Bang Gang Deejays and Dreems, in addition to production credits on a plethora of tracks including Flight Facilities' debut "Crave You". Jamie Stevens has released solo under his own name on a large variety of record labels.

2019 reformation

On 16 November 2019, after a 7-year hiatus, Manuel Sharrad & Jamie Stevens performed in Melbourne under the Infusion banner, with long time friend and collaborator Phil K in place of Frank Xavier. The trio played at a laneway festival which took place at Bourke Place in Melbourne and the nightclub La Di Da. It celebrated the 22nd event for event organisers Sunny.

Discography

Albums

Singles

Awards

ARIA Music Awards

Infusion have won two

ARIA Music Awards The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...

from four nominations. , - , rowspan="1",

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

, rowspan="1", "Smokescreen" , Best Dance Release , , - , rowspan="1",

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

, rowspan="1", ''Phrases & Numbers'' , Best Dance Release , , - , rowspan="1",

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

, rowspan="1", "Girls Can Be Cruel" , Best Dance Release , , - , rowspan="1",

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

, rowspan="1", ''Six Feet Above Yesterday'' , Best Dance Release , , -

References

External links

Infusion on MusicBrainz
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Infusion Alternative dance musical groups ARIA Award winners Australian electronic music groups Australian house music groups Australian club DJs Australian electronic rock musical groups Musical groups established in 1995 Musical groups disestablished in 2013 Australian remixers