Dash and Will

Mon 1st Mar, 2010 in Features

Melbourne duo, Dash and Will, aka Charlie Thorpe and Josie De Sousa-Reay, have really been making waves on the Aussie music scene in the short two and a half years since they left school and seriously started their music careers. The pair have known each other for over half their lives, and been making music together since they were about 14. No longer teenagers, they have basically grown up in the music business.

Wiping the sleep from her eyes, Charlie admits she hadn’t been up to long before our chat, not really being a morning person at all having crawled out of bed just before 1pm. “If I have to get up early for something, I usually have to set about three alarms,” she concedes.

Although they’re still settling into the pop star life, Charlie admits that their life can be a little strange without a set structure to their days. While they wouldn’t swap their lives for anything, but Charlie did mention that there are times she wishes she had a normal nine to five worklife. “It’s such a great life, but at times it can wear you down,” she said. “Luckily we’ve met heaps of cool friends along the way that can relate to the way we are living.”

One routine they’ve embraced is the festival circuit and they’ll return to play at the Pushover Festival for the second year running in early March. The all-ages festival, which celebrates its 18th anniversary this year, is held at the old Abbotsford Convent, incorporating 30 acts playing over 4 stages and is the only major drug, alcohol and cigarette free festival that is held in the Melbourne area.

According to Charlie the convent is a beautiful place on the river – “You almost feel like you are in the country. It’s this amazing bunch of old buildings and yards, very cool, but it can seem a little creepy at night.”

The girls are planning on enjoying themselves at the festival this year, dressing up and taking lollies and beach balls and tennis racquets. “It will be one big party on the Dash and Will stage,” Charlie declares. “The Pushover audience really get into the festival vibe and have heaps of fun, joining in with the band with crazy hand claps and anything that is going. “

Though they haven’t been flat out performing they haven’t just been sitting around taking it easy. Over the last few months, Charlie and Josie have been busy writing and demoing new songs, leading up to recording a new album later this year. “It’s a little different but still very much Dash and Will,” reveals Charlie. “Some of the songs we wrote for the first album were written when we were 16 and we’ve changed a little since then.”

Charlie doesn’t find that she can write on demand. She prefers to always have a notebook handy to jot things down in and her iPhone is indispensible. “My iPhone has this awesome voice recorder on it,” she divulges. “I’ll often run off to find a quiet place to sing into it when I get ideas.”

In addition to writing the new record, Dash and Will are becoming TV stars as well with appearances on Spicks and Specks and Rockwiz. “Rockwiz was amazing. It’s all totally live, there’s no second takes, with a live audience. A bit nerve wracking, but such a great experience.” With the experience, Charlie and Josie are getting more confident in front of the camera, even acting as co-hosts on a few episodes of and The Go Show – Nickelodeon’s music programme. As hosts they got to turn the tables and interview other musicians and “do ridiculous and weird stuff, like dressing up as gorillas and busking.”

And you know you’re on your way when you even have your own Wikipedia page.”Yes, I only discovered that the other day,” Charlie claims, “hopefully there will be lots to add to it this year. I think it’s going to be a big year for Dash and Will.”

She could be very right. Festivals, more touring, more writing, a new album to record and it’s only the start of the year. Yes, it definitely looks like this will be a very big year for Dash and Will.