Growing up in Werribee, Josh Needham could only dream of one day performing his music to millions of people.
But a surprise phone call from Triple J last year made his dream come true.
Josh and his wife Alisha, who have performed as indie duo Syre and Fresko since 2012, received a call from Triple J’s Unearthed team, inviting them to feature in a nine-part television series to be aired in China.
The program, shown on Beijing TV, was part of a contest giving international acts the chance to perform at China’s biggest new year celebration – the Spring Festival Global Gala. Nine Australian acts featured on an episode of the program, showcasing their music.
More than 20 million people tuned in to each episode, with viewers voting for the act they would most like to see perform at the gala. They chose Syre and Fresko.
“We didn’t know we had been voted in until we were in China,” Josh says.
“We only found out during an interview with a Chinese news station. People in China must have related to our music.”
Earlier this month, the Needhams visited China for nine days, performing at the gala watched by 800 million people.
They also took part in interviews with local television and radio shows, attended daily rehearsals for the gala and put their musical skills to the test by recording two songs in Mandarin.
Josh says gala organisers sent them an MP3 recording of one of the songs three days before they left Melbourne for Beijing.
But with no written lyrics to follow, the pair could only guess the words. “We only had two hours to learn and record both songs [on the first day],’’ he says. ‘‘We didn’t know what we were singing. Someone would say the words and we would repeat them back, adding the melody.”
Alisha says while Beijing’s heavily polluted air caused them both to fall ill during their trip and made looking after their voices difficult, the gala performance helped them make worthwhile connections.
“There were 60 international acts performing, from every country you could think of,’’ she says. “We met a lot of different people there, which we hope means we might be able to go back for music festivals.We want to get our original music out in the world.”
