which consists of a professional 5 piece band and includes:
DONNA Williams : spoken word, vocals, percussion PAUL Spears : drums/sound tech ANTHONY Julian : keyboards/backing vocals HARRY Hormone : congas/percussion/backing vocals DERRICK Nuttall : bass guitar
SPECIAL THANKS
PAUL Spears : who is also recording engineer and producer who operates a music studio, PV Sounds, in Ferntree Gully where we rehearse and record (yes, you can affordably hire his fab studio and audio and recording services)
EARL Wollff - Founding Aspinaut and bass guitarist. We may yet see him back with Aspinauts For Kids in 2010. RUSSELL Edwards - keyboards ANDREW Sherman - lead guitar
Find out what we're up to. Check our status reports.
Influences
THE NAME
The term"Aspinauts" is a derivation of "Aspie" and "Autie". The name came about when the founding members, Donna Williams (who has autism) and Earl Wollff (who has Asperger's) formed the band in 2008. Future Aspinauts included those on and off the autism spectrum but have always included those who are diversity friendly. We're happy with challenging stereotypes, breaking down social barriers, promoting equality and tackling the tough subjects with theatre, surrealism and satire. We can do all this and still so love to have fun that our audiences really join with us.
LYRICS
The lyrics of the songs and the avant garde poetry and spoken word monologues that form our shows are influenced by both the theatrical and macabre, by a love of surrealism and by the existential angst of irrational 'rationality' around us - environmental destruction, global warming, oil wars, senseless conflicts, inequality, discrimination, mental health, isolation, alienation, homelessness, exploitation, the contortions of the concepts of love and caring. Other influences include sociology, Taoism and a deep celebration of utter silliness and dagdom.
THE MUSIC
The music is influenced by vast backgrounds of the members of the band who bring influences which range from Ska to funk to jazzy blues, to pop rock and from avant garde, to comical, to theatrical, to educated cabaret to gothic and classics.
THE SHOWS
FOOTSTEPS OF A NOBODY is a challenging, moving rock musical written and produced by Donna Williams the author of Nobody Nowhere; Autobiography of an Autistic Girl. The show traces her transformation from a seemingly deaf, psychotic, 'feral' child to citizen of the world. It is performed in Shakespearean meter and interspersed with songs performed by Donna and The Aspinauts
BALOOMBA-WOP is a comedic rock musical for kids and kids at heart, written and produced by Donna Williams draws upon characters her father created: Brookenstein Fox, Charlie Warmton, The Booger-Looger, and add to these her own, the Gadoodleborger, Bluster McFluster, the Gimmety-Gimme, the Whirly-twirl Girl and Dame Grumpty-doo-bee. Comparable to works like Alice in Wonderland, Willie Wonker and The Chocolate Factory and works by Dr Seuss, it is told in Dr Seuss silliness and should appeal to fans of Dr Seuss, Lewis Carroll and Roald Dahl.
INFLUENCES
THE ASPINAUTS
bring together a vast range of musical tastes and styles, from jazz, blues, funk and rock to pop, folk, theatrical and satire. Several of The Aspinauts are also composers, have decades of musical experience and have played with other bands and produced recordings.
grew up being a real life version of LV (Little Voice). At age 2, she was left a pop up portable 60s record player and a bunch of 45s and by age 4 had a repertoire of singing voices ranging from Jerry Lee Lewis to singing classical symphonies by Tchaikovsky. At 9, she was left another record player and a pile of 78s. Singing in voices from Louis Armstrong to Bing Crosby, Mitzy Gaynor to Ella Fitzgerald, Donna even sang as Bugs Bunny and Mickey Mouse and in the voices of a multitude of 70s TV advertisements and in her teens swung from an Abba phase into a penchant for Alice Cooper and his gothic theatrics and off into Melanie Safka thanks to Dee (hi Dee). By her 20s she began to dare singing her own voice which has been compared with people like Missy Higgins, Jewel, Corinne Bailey Rae, Karen Carpenter (but not when she's doing punk!).
As a screenwriter several of her screenplays are represented by Bicoastal Talent, Burbank, CA. The film rights to her first book, Nobody Nowhere were acquired by Hollywood producer Beverly Nero. The film is now in pre-production with award winning Australian director, Garth Davis to direct. More information on the film can be found here.
As a writer/producer, Donna has produced a number of one-woman rock-musicals which are musically supported by The Aspinauts and have recently begun to be performed around Melbourne. The show, FOOTSTEPS OF A NOBODY will also be performed in LA and New Jersey in 2010.
As a singer-songwriter Donna recorded two solo albums. The first was produced by UK music producer, Paul Farrer, and titled Nobody Nowhere after the title song. The second album was produced by Australian producer, Akash, and titled Mutations. Both are available on http://www.cdbaby.com/donnaw, two tracks from which feature in an international TV series, Things You Taught Me. Two tracks from her first album made the top 50 of Artist Underground and a track from her second album, Beautiful Behavioral Mutations had 20,000 hits on You Tube in a year. Paul Spears of PV Studios, in Ferntree Gully, is music producer for upcoming recordings of The Aspinauts
An international public speaker, she has spoken before 1000s of people with her audiences captivated by her expressive gestural signing (home sign) which she also uses in her performances with The Aspinauts.
She also works in the autism field as a public speaker and consultant. Her home site is at www.donnawilliams.net .
Sounds Like
WHAT DO WE SOUND LIKE?
Expect 'alternative' and diversity-friendly. Expect an unpredictable, gobsmacking, thoroughly entertaining 'inter-arts experience'.
Imagine vocals of reminiscent of Jewel, Nancy Griffith and Corrine Bailey Rae. Imagine lyrics and poetry evocative of Lilly Allen, Lou Reed, Jim Morrison, T.S Elliot, Lewis Carroll and Dr Seuss. Imagine delivery shifting gears between Laurie Anderson, Liza Minnelli, Edith Piaf and Eartha Kitt. Now wrap that in atmospherics which conjure up flavours of of The Sensational Alex Harvey Band in a socio-enviro blend of powerful pop, rock, blues and ska intertwined with powerful off the wall Avant Garde poetry.
Complete with gestural signing, alive with surrealism, satire and compelling characterisations, Donna & The Aspinauts are more than 'just a band'. We are diversity-friendly performance art musically confronting today's important issues and, hence suited equally to music and theatre venues and festivals.
Described Steve Iorio of The Vagrants as "Talking Heads meets Rocky Horror" Donna and The Aspinauts formed in 2008 and had soon played extensively throughout Melbourne.
Imagine vocals of reminiscent of Jewel, Nancy Griffith and Corrine Bailey Rae. Imagine delivery shifting gears between Laurie Anderson, Liza Minnelli, Edith Piaf and Eartha Kitt. Imagine lyrics and spoken word pieces evocative of writers as vast as Lou Reed, Jim Morrison, T.S Elliot, Shakespeare, Lewis Carroll and Dr Seuss. Now wrap that in theatrical atmospherics which conjure up flavours of of The Sensational Alex Harvey Band in a diversity-friendly package of powerful pop rock intertwined with powerful Avant Garde poetry, gestural signing and characterisations.
SHOWS TO DATE
To date our 2009 bookings have included Ruby's Lounge, Noise Bar, The Butterfly Club, The Rock n Rebuild Bushfire Relief Concert, 303 Bar, The Glasshouse, The Dog Theatre @ Dancing Dog Cafe, The Kalorama Chestnut Festival, Spenser's Live, Federation Square, La Mama's "The Carlton Courthouse", Wodonga Civic Centre, The Guild Theatre, , The Missing Piece Theatre (Burbank), Woodbin Theatre.
BOOKING A SHOW
We're proud to be diversity-friendly, improvisational, adaptable, and interactive. With over 50 originals and 100s of spoken word pieces we can shape our show in both theme and music style to fit the venue, function or audience.
We've been welcomed by alternative scenes, embraced as theatrical, avant garde, inter-arts and have amused boutique audiences with socio-enviro and diversity-friendly satire, surrealism and outright comedy. Our madness has attracted child and adult audiences alike, leading us to create an offshoot from Donna and The Aspinauts, called Aspinauts For Kids.
If you're miles away from Melbourne you can still see us perform without flying us there! We can arrange a video performance designed specifically for your event, or may even be able to look into doing a performance in 'real time' for your audience or guests using teleconferencing facilities available here in Melbourne.
THEATRE PRODUCTIONS
FOOTSTEPS OF A NOBODY
The author of the autobiography, Nobody Nowhere, and screenwriter of the film based on it, Donna has produced and performs in this powerful one-woman rock musical, Footsteps of a Nobody musically supported by The Aspinauts.
Through characterisations, gestural signing, evocative spoken word and vibrant songs it traces pivotal experiences in her journey from a seemingly deaf, psychotic, 'feral' child to life on the streets and on to her ultimate fight for equality among others.
REVIEWS OF DONNA WILLIAMS' WRITING:
She allows us to understand our own perceptions as never before. NEW YORK TIMES
Evocative, poetic, compelling, shocking, gut wrenchingly moving. WEEKEND REVIEW
Powerful and unique. DAILY TELEGRAPH
Deserves every superlative a reviewer can muster. THE GLOBE AND MAIL
Powerful enough to make one reassess what it means to be human. MODE
By turns fascinating and harrowing... PEOPLE MAGAZINE
The Footsteps of a Nobody show has been performed at The Carlton Courthouse, Spensers Live, Wodonga Civic Centre, The Guild Theatre on Oct 31st and performances in California and New Jersey in 2010 before returning to Australia for a Jan 23rd show at The Woodbin Theatre in Geelong West.
is a comedic rock musical for kids and kids at heart, written and produced by Donna Williams draws upon characters her father created: Brookenstein Fox, Charlie Warmton, The Booger-Looger, and add to these her own, the Gadoodleborger, Bluster McFluster, the Gimmety-Gimme, the Whirly-twirl Girl and Dame Grumpty-doo-bee. Comparable to works like Alice in Wonderland, Willie Wonker and The Chocolate Factory and works by Dr Seuss, it is told in Dr Seuss style rhyming silliness and should appeal to fans of Dr Seuss, Lewis Carroll and Roald Dahl.
Once upon tough time, there were Grumpy Gallumphies who didn't like strangeness it made them quite grumpy. Then a magical train arrived from a dream and those who could dare, they had dared to get in. It was off to Baloomba-wop where they had purple rain, and a shop that even sold new replacement brains!
They would meet Charlie Warmton whose best friend was a blanket, and the Brookenstein Fox who lives up on a shelf, and Bluster-McFluster with his technical gadgets and the Gimmety-Gimme with everything for herself. They'd meet
Booger-Looger who picks his nose to perfection and the Whirly-twirl-girl who lacks any direction. And not to mention the Gadoodleborger who runs a magical shop which just happens to be where the train is to stop.
But deep in Baloomba-wop, a Grumpy Gallumphy, the notorious Dame Grumpty-Doobee-the-Fourth, she doesn't like strangeness at all so she wants to make everyone so very 'normal' of course. She is looking to change Baloomba-wop for forever. She's determined to make all these weirdoes quite plain. Will she be stopped before everything's 'normal', I wonder. Or succeed making all be exactly the same?
The land of Baloombawop and is magically brought to life through the complete dag-dom of Aspinauts For Kids and the gestural signing and characterisations of their storyteller-lead singer, Donna Williams as she plays 7 different characters (complete with costume changes!). It runs for an hour and audience members are invited to actively participate throughout. This diversity-friendly, affordable show is suitable for schools, kindergartens, libraries, camps, parties, holiday programs, theatres and festivals. All performers have Working With Children cards.
OTHER SHOWS:
Donna is also developing a Christmas rock musical satire, Merry Cashmas and a post apocalyptic socio-enviro rock musical, Room With A View.
OUR PR
We're directly connected to http://www.donnawilliams.net and it's sister blog site, http://blog.donnawilliams.net sites which currently get around 10,000 new visitors each month. We have a presence on all of the major networking sites and don't mind doing the footwork either. Donna And The Aspinauts can guarantee to actively promote the events we're booked for.
REVIEWS:
As we lounged around in front of the stage at the Rock n Rebuild Concert, Donna and the Aspinauts sauntered in and had the audience looking up from their snags to see what the hell had hit them front and center between the eyes and ears.
A-ha! These were no ordinary folk songs to be kum-by-ya'd around the campfire, no way! As the guys in the Aspinauts band changed gear quicker than a red Ferrari, front-woman Donna kept apace brilliantly with her phonetically charged lyrics and mesmerizing hands shaping the melody like an artist at the easel. I watched, captivated like the crowd around me. Each song blurred deliciously into the next with Donna's spoken word etching out the poetry of human condition, always so very eloquent and astutely connected to the song the band was about to launch into, such a poignant moment when Donna painted the scene of a blackened landscape, burnt by the very fires this benefit concert set to quell.
The set itself was just the right amount of time for Donna and the Aspinauts own musical genre to be smacked firmly into the hearts and minds of the audience. As a muso myself, I intuitively looked around to see the reaction of people who might not have had the chance to experience such a richly flavoured ensemble before, and as a muso, I can confidently say that The Aspinauts had the crowd in the rather elusive 'palm of the hand'.
I've seen this band a few times now and I thoroughly recommend an audience with a Donna and the Aspinauts event if you are ever given the chance. I say event because they are so much more than just a band playing music, each of your five senses will be buzzing before the end of the first song, and by the end of the show, you'll be definitely Aspi-fied."
What an eye-opening night I had at The Butterfly Club, watching Donna and the Aspinauts! Amongst the rhythmic beats and uplifting tunes were embedded lyrics that move the soul. Through poetry and raw emotion I could not take my eyes or ears off this band. Explanations and perspectives that I have never thought to explore, bombarded me and lifted me to a higher place.
One minute I wanted to dance in the aisles, next I was dumbfounded by Donna’s ability to express. The Aspinauts stage presence is one no other band can contend with. I was taken on a wacky rollercoaster ride that spat me out at the end feeling empowered and inspired. This band explores world issues, personal conquests and how difficult it is circumnavigating the social world. A must see band for all!
- Adele Kristens
Donna and the Aspinauts at the 303 Bar. What a funny bunch. The lady is a true entertainer. She told amusing tales of life on the edge of society and made me envious I didn’t join her there. Real life? Social norms and expectations? Pah! Look what fun I’m having! She expressed herself even more with flailing arms and facial expressions than her voice, and began each song with a poem quickly captured by interesting and mischievous music. Tongue-in-cheek? Perhaps not. It cannot be genre-defined. I sincerely hope the lady is available for children’s parties.
As remarkable a spokeswoman, activist, artist, author, and musician Donna is, her humanity is what really sets her apart; her humor, passion, wit and insight into the world around her; her ability to see beauty in everyday things, her playfulness, her way of being in the world. Donna changed the way I see everyone.
- Stina R.
"Confronting, amazing and informative".
"Great, wonderful, get her back here."
"Very informative, entertaining delivery with a great sense of humor. What an incredible lady."
- Audience members, Wodonga, Australia.
Donna being so lively, human, funny and so true to herself , sparks of the same in me. Her standing up for everyone's right to their individuality, her celebration of differences, and her joy of simply being, allows me to be more of myself and to discover rich inner worlds.
- Malai Sontheimer, UK
CONTACTING US
If you're interested in booking us to do a show, we'd love to hear from you.
Email us at: aspinauts@donnawilliams.net
An offshoot of The Aspinauts called Aspinauts For Kids currently performs a children's rock musical Baloombawop (which has a sister show, Whoop-Whoop for children under 3).
Hi Donna, a very warm welcome.. FRIEND VOTE is the place for Artists with Friends, not fans. It's a page where you can find the very best music on Myspace by Artists that actually communicate with the people that take the time to comment on their pages. To join in, all you need to do is ask your friends to vote for one of your songs, if you get enough votes you appear in the chart, if you appear in the chart you will get more friends, if you get to No.1 your page views and song plays will increase significantly! All the best, hope to see you in the chart soon. Keith@FV. http://www.myspace.com/indietop100 http://www.twitter.com/indietop100
Nothing to do with The Vagrants, but.... If you want to know what is going on behind the scenes in the music industry get some news at wotnews and if you want to know what people are REALLY listening to, join the twitter at www.wearehunted.com
the musical was great... sorry to mix mediums (referencing a facebook comment on myspace) i would love write a review for you guys sometime.. but dont feel equipped just at the moment... as no notes... etc.. wow this is just alot of babble to really say... i dont feel like it... but the show was great and another time i will feel like it... this is confusing message i know...
hey! ive been promoting like crazy, offering free tickets to other shows, selling limited edition cds, etc any ideas/help would be greatly appreciated thanks. i really dont have much clue about the 'business' side of this industry hehe love shannon xo
Hi There Donna & Guys...Thanks for The Friendship. GREAT TOP MUSIC.!!!!! Love Your Style etc. Cheers & Support from Us Here & ALL Our Media/Music Concerns in AUSTRALIA & Overseas... Love & Peace. ♫OzMusoWorx♫ Paul,Jono & The OzMuso Team & Denny's Family. xo p.s. keep in touch...k...And Have an Awesome Weekend.
You know what? Let me look into that and get back to you. I'll get in phone or e-mail contact with some friends who live around there and ask if they'd be willing to put you up. There is one apt. in particular I used to live in around Hayes and Lion Street. The room mate occupies it all by himself now and is quite generous. He is a green libertarian type hippie. He asks that you bring him rolls of toilet paper and clean up after yourself in the kitchen, and that is it! It is very big, and dark too. I found it to be tolerable and comforting in one particular bedroom. However, the foot step patters upstairs start around 6am (there is a big family on 3rd floor). White noise, or ear plugs, if you can even wear them without ripping them out in your sleep (I cannot). It tends to have a little bit of the bachelor clutter look, so I'd suggest making one bedroom "the nest" if clutter bugs you as it does me.
Yes it must be a stereotype. Many spectrumites I know have it, but I have come across a few who do not! That is interesting what you mention about the Chinese culture and their perfect pitch! I am dying to come to Australia, however, San Francisco is first on my list.... Are you or the gang coming to SF any time soon?
Not sure if we are coming over to Austrial yet but will keep you up to date. We are up at the Edinburgh Festival again this year with 2 shows (This Is Now and The Visible Men) so looking forward to that.
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