The return of the power ballad
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Powerful duo … A Great Big World’s Chad Vaccarino and Ian Axel visit Australia for the first time since their Say Something hit with Christina Aguilera topped our charts. Picture: Carly Earl.
Source: News Corp Australia
THE overnight success of New York duo A Great Big World took five years, a television dance contest and a phone call from Christina Aguilera.
Good friends Ian Axel and Chad Vaccarino are chasing the success of their debut hit Say Something around the world five years after they wrote the song in their apartment, stealing time from their day jobs.
While they knew it was special then, it wasn’t until the So You Think You Can Dance producers in America heard the song and wanted to use it for one of their routines last year that it took off.
Just as their label had decided to re-release the song as a single as it went off on iTunes after the performance, Christina Aguilera called them out of the blue offering to sing on a new version.
And so an indie pop piano ballad hit was born.
In Australia, it was spearheaded to the top of the charts when used to promote the return season of Revenge.
Axel, who originally recorded Say Something for his solo record said he hoped its success signalled the return of the power ballad.
They have some competition for the title with Gabrielle Aplin’s rendition of the Frankie Goes To Hollywood hit The Power of Love heading for No. 1 thanks to its use on the Resurrection promos.
“I have played piano since I was three so I was born to write a piano ballad,” Axel said.
“I would love to be part of the beginning of that; we’ve got some power ballads up our sleeve.”
A Great Big World
are the latest breakthrough international act to visit Australia off a debut chart-topper in the hope of turning initial success into a long-term career rather than one hit wonder.
The strategy has worked recently for MKTO, Karmin and Aplin with American Authors to capitalise on the momentum of Best Day Of My Life with a promo tour in April as will John Martin, the voice behind the Swedish House Mafia smash Don’t You Worry Child.
A promo tour doesn’t come cheap with airfares, accommodation, transport, per diems, production and wining and dining likely to cost between $ 15,000 and $ 50,000 depending on the size of the band, their entourage and length of stay.
For singer-songwriters who can also perform live, the chatfest is also perfectly timed with a tour announcement, with the duo locking in a return visit for Australian concerts in August.
“You want to be able to come back and to do that, you have to connect with people face to face,” Vaccarino says.
A Great Big World will perform at the Metro, Sydney on August 1; Tivoli, Brisbane, August 2; and 170 Russell, Melbourne on August 3.
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