Me and the grownups

Biography

Me and the Grownups is a three-piece band from Melbourne, Australia, featuring vocalist Anita Lester, guitarist Adrian Sergovich
and violinist Jonathan Dreyfus. Formed in late 2006, the trio has received acclaim for the virtuosity of its members and the originality
of its music, which has been lauded variously as “impossible to compare” (BMA Magazine ) and “its own genre” (Rhythms). A key point of interest is the fusion of styles evident in the band’s music, which results from Lester’s background in folk, Dreyfus’ classical training and
Sergovich’s study of jazz and improvisation.

Members

Anita Lester, vocals

Lester’s early musical endeavors were characterized by compositions strongly influenced by Joni Mitchell, Jeff Buckley, Radiohead and
60s and 70s pop music, all of whom she still cites as main influences. Experience performing and writing in Australia, Israel and Europe during
her late teens helped her refine her style, which encompasses both traditional and experimental song forms and puts a strong lyrical focus
in issues which include family, maturation, sex and modern culture. In 2008 Lester began lessons with her first singing teacher, Ian Lowe
(who studied at the Conservatorium in Salzburg).

Adrian Sergovich, guitar

Sergovich did not grow up in a musical household, but his parents fostered his love of classical music and classic rock from an early age.
However, when he began to play the guitar at the age of 15, it was strikingly apparent that his instrumental gifts were extraordinary. After
two years playing, largely without formal instruction, he gained entry to the jazz and improvisation course at Monash University, beginning
his studies there in 2006. He studies with Stephen Magnusson, Doug DeVries, Rob Burke and Jochan Schubert, and models his distinctive
style closely after Ralph Towner and Egberto Gismonti.

Jonathan Dreyfus, violin

Dreyfus is the son of renowned German-born film composer George Dreyfus, and received guidance from his father from an early age.
He began violin tuition at 5, learning under the Suzuki method and also studying harmony and counterpoint. He has toured Australia with
George’s chamber ensembles and also performed in Germany, including a run of education concerts given at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden.
His current teacher is Ivana Tomaskova, who studied for 18 years at the Conservatories in Prague and Moscow. He has also studies improvisation
with Rob Burke.

Early Career

The impetus for the group’s creation came when Lester, a singer-songwriter of some years’ practice, proposed a project based upon her
existing compositions to Dreyfus. Sergovich was a student at Monash University, where he met Dreyfus and was invited to complete the group’s
lineup. The dynamic was immediate and fruitful; four weeks after their first rehearsal, the trio recorded a five-track E.P. with Sergovich’s father
Laurence, establishing the relationship which would soon lead to the collaborative production of their debut album,
Battling the Mountains, the Sky and the Sea.

Beginning in April 2007, Me and the Grownups took to appearing regularly on the Melbourne live music circuit.
Their most notable engagement was a weekly residency at Cape Live, a popular venue on Brunswick Street, Fitzroy. Combined
with appearances at smaller venues including the Elwood Lounge, the group made over 30 live appearances between May and September.
Production of Battling the Mountains… began in July 2007, and was the sole focus of the trio’s attention from October until its completion
on New Year’s Day, 2008.

Battling the Mountains, the Sky and the Sea

Launch Tour

In February 2008 Me the the Grownups undertook an interstate tour to launch and promote Battling the Mountains…. Their first
appearance was at The Basement in Sydney, NSW, a venue of international repute which has hosted performances by Muddy Waters,
Kurt Elling and Vince Jones amongst many others. Their second stop was in Canberra, ACT, performing at the Transit Bar, a venue usually
known for loud rock and dance bands. The final stop was Melbourne’s Bennetts Lane Jazz Club, a venue which is a second home to many
of Australia’s great jazz names including Renee Geyer, Vince Jones, and Don Burrows.

The tour was a success on two levels: firstly, each appearance was attended by crowds of over 150, a considerable achievement for a hitherto
unknown band with no funding. Publicity was created for the events through a combination of street team activity and advertising on community radio
and in street press. Critically, too, the performances received favourable attention. Sydney’s Brag Magazine, reviewing the show at The Basement,
enthused that:

“…not a single member of the audience could deny the overflowing talent that exuded from the stage before them. From the first commanding instant of their performance it was stunningly apparent that there is simply nothing ordinary about Me and the Grownups.”

A review of the Bennetts Lane launch in the Melbourne of the Australian Jewish News remarked that:

“…Lester’s style is piercing, pitch-perfect and melodramatic… her heartfelt renditions range from introspective to disquietingly passionate, as she commands the stage in a polished and vary moving performance... The group is the serendipitous outcome of three very unique talents combining with a similar musical vision.”

Repeat appearances at both of these venues are planned for when the group tours again in late 2008.

Critical response

Battling the Mountains… has received high praise in the music press. Melbourne’s Beat Magazine stated simply:

“As indie surprise of the year, this will be tough to beat.”

Sydney’s Drum Media was more effusive:

“Beauty, as Me and the Grownups perceive it, is the core value, even if that beauty can seem darkly uncomfortable. The rest is the sound, image and dreams of human frailty weaving together. It seeks, prods and pokes, sometimes in a tick-tock clockwork-like way, and at other times is completely fluid, as ephemeral as life itself. With kaleidoscopic images and scattered sounds, Me and the Grownups slither between surrealism and abstract expressionism, with the splatter of Pollock (Paul Jackson Pollock) and the fluidity of Dali.”

Canberra street press BMA Magazine was equally enthusiastic:

“A seductive voice both brazen and coy, imaginative and intelligent free-wheeling violin and accoustic guitar that gently but dependably guides a constantly changing compositional direction, combine to create an album of indefinable beauty and strength. The Grownups’ debut LP is one of those rare gems that reveal so much more with every rotation. The Grownups really have produced a record that cannot, in fact, be compared.”

The national blues and roots magazine Rhythms, in its March-April edition, praised the group’s distinctiveness, but was more
qualified in its assessment of the album:

“Battling the Mountains… isn’t an easy listen the first time up, but over a few spins it begins to ingratiate itself to you, taking you along for the ride it creates…its power to draw you in is what makes the record stand up, as it’s not really my cup of tea, yet I couldn’t not listen to the end.”

Image

Consistent throughout Me and the Grownups’ career has been a distinctive visual style in the form of Lester’s own designs.
A proficient artist and animation student at RMIT, Lester blends realism and impressionism, taking this approach to be representative
of the surrealist leanings of the music. Her artwork can be seen on the band’s posters, publicity materials and website, and on Battling the Mountains... In its wardrobe choices, the group blends period and modern fashion, which reflects the fusion of antiquated and
contemporary genres in its music.

Cultural Context

Comparable contemporaries of Me and the Grownups include Australian artist Sarah Blasko, New Zealand singer Sophie Koh, and
other avant-folk artists including Bonnie Prince Billy and Angus & Julia Stone. The group also lists Radiohead, Joni Mitchell, Jeff Buckley,
Ralph Towner and Jan Garbarek as its main contemporary influences. Dreyfus’s compositional style is most closely comparable with
post-romantic, impressionist and neo-classical composers from the early- to mid-20th century.

Discography

Albums

*Battling the Mountains, the Sky and the Sea - MGM; AUS (1 July, 2008)

Video Clips
*Anytime Soon - Produced by Anita Lester (March 19, 2008) view at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SanscIgzhW4

EPs & Singles
*Anytime Soon - Radio Single (February 2008)
*An Old Man's Dispay - E.P., Unreleased (December 2006)

Radio Singles
*From Battling the Mountains, the Sky and the Sea: "Anytime Soon", "An Old Mans Dismay", "Tight But I Like It" and "She's So Pure".

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