Adalita Srsen

Infobox Musical artist
Name = Adalita Srsen


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Background = solo_singer
Born = birth date and age|1971|02|25|df=y
Died =
Origin = Geelong, Australia
Instrument = Vocals, guitar, piano
Years_active = 1992–present
Associated_acts = Magic Dirt

Adalita Srsen (pronounced "Ser-sun") is an Australian rock musician, known best as a founding member of rock band Magic Dirt.

Early life and childhood

Adalita Srsen was born in Geelong, Australia on February 25, 1971. She told Rolling Stone magazine in 2003 that her father, a Croatian cabaret performer, named her after a Spanish song. Generally, Srsen prefers not to talk openly about her childhood and early life to the press, but has on occasion revealed minor details of her childhood, such as her parents' divorce when she was two years old. The track, "These Drugs Are Really Starting To Fuck Me Over" from Magic Dirt's 1998 album "Young & Full Of The Devil" is allegedly about her father. In her essay printed in Kathey Bail's 1996 book, "DIY Feminism", Srsen revealed that "I come from an all-female family (my father left my mother, my sister and me when I was two years old - what an arsehole) and I listened to and idolised female pop stars from the 1980s, such as Kate Bush, Debbie Harry, Stevie Nicks and Chrissie Hynde."

She told Triple J's Richard Kingsmill in 2000 that she made her first guitar out of cardboard and wool, before her mother bought her her first acoustic guitar. "After persuading my Mum to buy me a guitar, I learnt a few chord progressions from a music book and then started writing and recording very strange songs, using two tapedecks and layering guitar parts and vocal harmonies." She also told Kingsmill that, while her family was of Croatian decent, she'd never visited the country.

She told Australian Guitar magazine (when she became the first female to grace the magazine's cover) in 2005 that she "was 18 or 19 when I bought my first my $90 acoustic (guitar) for whatever strange reason I bought it for, on a whim. Then I got an electric maybe six months later and started on that - what was that - in like 1989, 1990.'

She has stated in numerous interviews that, before Magic Dirt, she had planned to become a school teacher. She told the Herald Sun in 1996 that, "it wasn't my vision, it was my Mum's. She wanted me to have a job with a little respect. Something that's well paid."

Early in the '90s, she formed Deer Bubbles with then partner Dean Turner. The band didn't last long and by 1992, the pair, along with guitarist Daniel Herring, started a new band, briefly known as The Jim Jims. With the addition of drummer Adam Robertson, they became known as Magic Dirt.

Magic Dirt

olo work

In 2006, Srsen released her first material as a solo performer. She performed on two cover versions for the Mick Harvey-produced soundtrack of the Australian film "Suburban Mayhem": "Double Dare" and "Sex Beat". Along with Harvey, Dean Turner and Rowland S. Howard play on the tracks. A promotional video was made for the single "Double Dare", featuring Srsen and "Suburban Mayhem" star Emily Barclay.

The solo work, however, was a one-off and Srsen soon resumed work with Magic Dirt.

Collaborations

In addition to various collaborations within Magic Dirt, Srsen has appeared as a guest vocalist on a number of tracks by other Australian bands. The first, in 1992, was on the "Velvet (Down) Underground" tribute album, where she added vocals to The Clowns Smiling Backwards' cover of "The Black Angel's Death Song".

In 2002, she contributed vocals to Bodyjar's "Too Drunk To Drive" single, and appeared in the song's promotional video.

In 2003, she appeared on The Calculators' track, "Cellophane", on "The Secret Life Of Us 3" soundtrack CD. Also in 2003, she was one of many guest vocalists during You Am I's Triple J Live At The Wireless session, singing the band's "Jewels And Bullets" and "Damage".

During 2003, Srsen attended the 'Mushroom Music Writers Bloc', a songwriting workshop for Australian artists. Together, she and Ben Nash of 78 Saab penned the track, "Too Much Is Not Enough". The track was featured as a b-side to Magic Dirt's "Plastic Loveless Letter" single, and was credited as being performed by 'Adalita & Ben Nash', to clearly separate it from the Magic Dirt tracks.

She also appeared on stage with The Beasts Of Bourbon during the 2006 Big Day Out tour.

In 2007 she collaborated with Katalyst on the track "Bladewalker" on his album "What's Happening", and joined him on a national tour in November.

Discography

Magic Dirt

olo

*"Double Dare" October, 2006, Inertia Recordings

Trivia

*Srsen's voice dropped considerably during the '90s, which she attributed to smoking cigarettes – compare her vocals on 1993's "Signs Of Satanic Youth" to 1998's "Young And Full Of The Devil". She quit smoking in 1999.
*She posed nude for "Black+White" magazine in 1997. When asked if she would pose nude to further her career, she told Rolling Stone in 2003, "No, but I have already done a photo shoot where I was totally naked. The photo had a vampire theme to it, and I was lying on the ground holding a cross and you could see my breasts. It was a huge personal challenge, and at that point, we definitely didn't need to further our career. I am not a salesperson. I can't even sell my music to anyone in the music business. That was purely an artistic endeavor. I did it solely for myself, not for anyone else."
*In 1997, Srsen had a highly publicised affair with Silverchair front man, Daniel Johns.
*She is an avid advocate of animal rights. She is also strictly vegan.
*She told Adelaide street press magazine "Rip It Up" in 2004 that her first kiss was at an "underage disco. A tall, ugly, army cadet. Terrible."
*The first concert she saw was Pseudo Echo at the Geelong Railway Station in the early '80s.
*She has numerous tattoos, including a wolf, a sparrow, a Chinese symbol for good luck and a nurse on her upper arms and a mouse on her forearm.
*Srsen wears contact lenses
*Her sister, Angelina is also a singer in a band.