WHEN the COVID-19 lockdown came into force three weeks ago Miles Sesselmann, aka Mileo, was staying with his parents Peter and Anita at their Waratah home.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The ban on all international travel meant the 25-year-old alt-pop singer-songwriter postponed his scheduled industry meetings and studio sessions in Los Angeles.
But rather than curl up in self-isolation watching Netflix or reading books, Sesselmann got creating.
In the space of a week he had written and recorded the pop track Isolate, a clever little ear worm with a strong message aimed at young people who might be blasé about the health ramifications of the coronavirus.
It is one of the first, of undoubtedly many, corona-inspired tracks to emerge from the global pandemic.
"I'm bit of a troll and I was on Instagram talking to followers and asked, 'Now that we're all in lockdown should I make a song about it?'," Sesselmann said. "I was thinking it was in poor taste but they all said, 'No, do it'."
The track opens with a coughing sample before Sesselmann sings the chorus of "Let's just isolate/ Let's not procreate/ Let's just keep the space between me and you", backed by a funky guitar.
"I think it's important we take it seriously," he said. "We've seen how it's affected most countries right now and we're doing quite well, but we shouldn't be silly about that. While we're on top of that, let's stay home and not go out and have parties.
"The world isn't just people in my age group, their 20s, it's full of heaps of different ages and some will be more affected by it."
Sesselmann spends half the year living in Oslo, Norway where his father - a well-known Hunter Valley artist and musician - originates. He's also a regular visitor to Los Angeles.
The ex-Hunter School of Performing Arts student had his first big break at 18 when he sent a home recording to his manager, who was a judge on Norwegian Idol.
It led to a deal with Sony and the release of the R'n'B electro-pop singles Echo, Know You Better and Boys Like Girls.
Know You Better, in particular, caught fire in the European pop market and reached No.16 on the US Billboard Spotify Viral 50.
Mileo has since signed with Universal and dropped the singles Dessert and Dead. Sesselmann said his management where still discussing whether to formally release Isolate.
"We just wanted to put it out because it's a time-sensitive thing and I thought it was a cool song and I'd played snippets on social media and people were freaking out," he said.
"My team gave me the option to release it properly through Spotify and I thought I'd see what the reaction is and it's been pretty positive."
RUM JUNGLE CHILL
THE party atmosphere Rum Jungle have created across their two EPs Crazy Days (2017) and Sun & Smoke (2018) has made the four-piece one of the most popular young bands in Newcastle and carried their music to the stages of This That Festival and New Year's Eve's celebration at the Foreshore.
But on their latest single Keep, Rum Jungle wanted the vibes to remain chilled.
"We're going really easy listening chilled-out vibes for this one, which ends up not exploding, but getting to this point where you're stoked at the end," Rum Jungle guitarist and vocalist Ben McIntyre said.
"Like you have bit of a smile on your face. It's probably one of our most chilled tracks as usually when we start writing something it becomes a lot bigger than we expect it to be.
"With this one we held ourselves back and wanted to keep that chilled happy vibe."
Keep was recorded at the Central Coast's Lakehouse Audio Studio by Simon Dobson (Bootleg Rascal, Little May) and is released on Friday.
After finding their indie-reggae sound - inspired by bands like Ocean Alley and Sticky Fingers - on previous EPs, the new single was first time Rum Jungle had entered the studio with clear intent.
It was also the first time the band's other members Frazer McDonald (drums), Michael Kolmajer (bass) and Josh Giles (lead guitar) had collaborated with McIntyre in the songwriting process.
The new approach has delivered an "absurd amount of music" for future records.
"It's still all getting rehearsed and fleshed out," he said. "We're trying to spend more time making sure it's exactly how we want it to sound before we go into the studio.
"By understanding how we want it to sound and having it well rehearsed with this one [Keep], we got to sit back and make sure all the tones were really good on each part."
CAN'T KEEP A GOOD GIRL DOWN
INDIE pop artist Thelma Plum has recovered from coronavirus and has set her sights on next summer's rescheduled Homecoming Queen tour.
The Better In Blak star was one of Australia's first entertainers to contract COVID-19 and she spent several days in the Brisbane Metro North Public Health Unit battling the virus.
Plum announced through social media on Tuesday that she had fully recovered.
"Just wanna say a huge thank you to everyone who has reached out and kept me in their thoughts," she wrote. "I am now coronavirus free and starting to feel like myself again. It's been a real tough time and my heart is breaking for anyone struggling."
Plum's Homecoming Tour, the largest of her career was scheduled for June and July, but was postponed due to the coronavirus shutdown.
However, Plum plans to kick-off the tour on November 11 and she'll bring her show to Newcastle's Wests NEX on December 10. Newcastle's Kira Puru will return as support on the rescheduled tour.
