- Max Sharam
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For other people named Sharam, see Sharam (disambiguation).
Max Sharam Birth name Leanne Maree Sharam Born 1967 (age 43–44)
Benalla, Victoria, AustraliaGenres Rock Occupations musician, keyboardist, singer, songwriter Years active 1991–present Labels Warner Associated acts Minx, Fleshworld Website maxsharam.com Leanne Maree "Max" Sharam (born 1967, Benalla, Victoria) is an Australian musician, writer and artist. In the mid-1990s, Sharam had three top 40 hit singles, "Coma", "Be Firm" and "Lay Down" from her top 10 album, A Million Year Girl (1995). She received eight nominations at the ARIA Music Awards of 1995 and won 'Best Cover Art' by Dominic O'Brien for the album.
Contents
Biography
Max Sharam was born Leanne Maree Sharam in Benalla, Australia in 1967. She grew up in Beaufort about 160 km west of Melbourne and studied classical singing and the electronic organ. Following her graduation from Performing Arts College, with a major in Behavioural Science, she spent several years travelling around Europe, where she made a living from busking.[1][2] Whilst performing in Florence, Italy, RAI news journalist and producer Carlo Picone invited her to audition for Forza Venite Gente, a popular Italian rock opera, for which she landed a lead role.[1] The musical toured across Europe for two years.[1] Other Italian Theatre productions engaged her, including Kolbe directed by Polish film director – Krzysztof Zanussi. She received the Star of the Year award at Genoa's Cole Porter Festival, recorded and released a dance extended play, I'm Occupied. Her story was documented in an Italian television program, La Ragazza con la Chitarra (Girl with the Guitar),[1] shown on RAI TV. Sharam then spent a year in Japan studying Taiko drums[2] and fronting a Japanese band in Hiroshima, before returning to Australia.
In 1992, Sharam performed her self-penned song "Coma" on the television talent show New Faces, winning her heat and attracting the attention of a number of record companies:[3]
I did a TV spot on New Faces - I did that to make a statement, because I thought it was fucking mad all this mediocre stuff that goes on on television. I thought, why doesn't anybody get up and represent my generation, that side of Australia that's so readily ignored? That compelled me to get on New Faces. All the phones started ringing after that - I was really lucky.[3]She sang with a number of small-time Sydney bands including Minx and Fleshworld, as well as performing regular solo acoustic gigs at Kinselas nightclub in Darlinghurst during 1993 – under the banner of Max Sharam: The Sounds of Sirens.[1]
Sharam subsequently secured a recording contract with Warner Music Australia in 1994, which issued her debut EP Coma in December – produced by Daniel Denholm and Nick Mainsbridge – with the song peaking at No. 14 on the ARIA Singles Chart during February 1995.[4] and was voted the eighth most popular song on radio station, Triple J's Hottest 100 of 1994.[5] Her debut album A Million Year Girl was released in 1995, which achieved platinum accreditation and reached No. 9 in the ARIA Albums Chart.[4] At the ARIA Music Awards of 1995 Sharam was nominated in eight categories – although she only won 'Best Cover Artwork' for the album by Dominic O'Brien.[6] It provided two more Top 40 singles, "Be Firm" (No. 25 in June) and "Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)" (a cover of Melanie Safka's song, which reached No. 36 in November).[4] Her fourth single, "Is It OK if I Call You Mine?" was released in February 1996, but did not chart.[1][4] After several subsequent sell-out national tours, Sharam disappeared from the Australian mainstream music scene.
Sharam appeared in Channel 9's TV documentary Dream Factory, shot in Los Angeles. In 2000 she wrote and staged her first one woman show, MadmoselleMax for the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. In January 2005, she performed "Butterfly Suicide" at the Hong Kong Fringe Festival. The one-woman P'Opera (a 'Virtual Variety/Multi Media Musical') featured the misadventures of 'ill Soprano', a highly-strung opera diva who takes to the streets at night singing.
Sharam performed and produced the music for 2006 AFI award winning documentary Forbidden Lie$'.
In February 2009 she returned to the Melbourne International Comedy Festival with her show, Songs and Stories from Her Suitcase.[7]
Discography
Studio albums
- I'm Occupied - CAM (1985)
- A Million Year Girl - Warner (1995) AUS No. 9 (Platinum)
Singles
Year Title Peak chart positions Album AUS
[4]Hottest 100 1994 "Coma" 14 8 Non-album EP 1995 "Be Firm" 25 — A Million Year Girl "Lay Down" 36 — 1996 "Comacarma" — — Non-album single "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that country. References
- ^ a b c d e f McFarlane, Ian (1999). "Encyclopedia entry for 'Max Sharam'". Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop. St Leonards, NSW: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1865080721. http://www.whammo.com.au/encyclopedia.asp?articleid=363. Retrieved 23 September 2011.
- ^ a b Zuel, Bernard (18 June 2006). "How Max got her sparkle back". Sydney Morning Herald (Fairfax Media). http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2006/07/17/1152988470187.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1. Retrieved 23 September 2011.
- ^ a b Horan, Anthony (June 1994). "An Aquatic Interview with Max Sharam". http://www.ariel.com.au/max/aquatic.html. Retrieved 2009-02-04.
- ^ a b c d e "Discography Max Sharam". Australian Charts Portal. Hung Medien. http://australian-charts.com/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Max+Sharam. Retrieved 23 September 2011.
- ^ "Hottest 100 – 1994". Triple J. Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/hottest100/history/1994.htm. Retrieved 23 September 2011.
- ^ "ARIA Awards - Max Sharam". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). http://www.ariaawards.com.au/history-by-artist.php?letter=M&artist=Max%20Sharam. Retrieved 2009-02-03.
- ^ Mangan, John (25 January 2009). "The Art of a Cheap Night Out". Brisbane Times (Fairfax Media). Archived from the original on 23 September 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/61uRoI2fO. Retrieved 23 September 2011.
External links
Categories:- 1967 births
- ARIA Award winners
- Australian songwriters
- Australian female singers
- Living people
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