Cactus Child

Cactus Child were an Australian folk, pop group formed in 1993 by mainstays, Gemma Deacon on lead vocals and Ian Housten-Shadwell on guitar. They issued two studio albums, Diaphones (February 1996) and Earthgirl (July 1998), before disbanding in November 1998.

Cactus Child
Origin	Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Genres	Folk pop
Years active	1993–1998
Labels	Republic Focus/Shock Grudge/Universal/BMG
Past members	Gemma Deacon Angus Diggs Chris Miller Ian Housten-Shadwell Joe Guiseppe-Accaria Jan Sebastian Carolyn Shine

History

Cactus Child were formed in 1993 in Sydney as a folk, pop band by Gemma Deacon on lead vocals, Angus Diggs on drums, Chris Miller on bass guitar and Ian Housten-Shadwell on guitar.[1][2] In January 1994 Deacon and Housten-Shadwell were joined by Joe Guiseppe-Accaria on drums, percussion and marimba; and Jan Sebastian on percussion.[1][2] This line-up recorded a six-track extended play, On, for Regular Records, which was issued in September of that year.[1][2][3]

During 1996 Cactus Child were the support act for Lisa Loeb, Ronnie Jordan, Jeff Buckley and Luka Bloom.[1] In February 1996 they released their debut album, Diaphones, on Focus Records/Shock Records with Craig Porteils as producer.[1] By October of that year the line-up of Deacon, Housten-Shadwell, Miller, Accaria and Sebastian were periodically supplemented by Maria Pavela on backing vocals and Natasha Ramirez on violin.[4]

The group were signed to Grudge/Universal/BMG, to reissue Diaphones in 1997.[1][5] Nathan of Channel [V] described the title track, "a slow finger-picking ballad with no drums at all – instead a cello and piano providing ample backing to a beautiful song."[6] A track, "Fall", was re-recorded as "Fall '97", which was released as the album's lead single in March.[1] Nathan observed, "you can tell that they've put a bit of thought into production and added bits here and there to make it more accessible for radio; and in doing so I'd tip this one to be the next song for them to push. A beautiful ballad complete with strings, percussion and of course Gemma Deacon's remarkable voice."[6] By that time Carolyn Shine had joined on keyboards and vocals.[1]

In June 1998 the group issued another single, "On the Money", ahead of their second album, Earthgirl (July 1998).[1] Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, felt "[it] featured pristine folksy pop, with lush arrangements, strings, piano, harmonies and acoustic guitar."[1] Christie Eliezer of Australian Musician observed, "[it] has some interesting guitar work, not just in its use of open tunings but the acoustic sounds in general. For example Ian spent hours on layering 'Juliette' which uses multi-tracks for an exciting effect."[7] They followed with another single, "Long Way" (September), but broke up in November 1998.[1]

Shadwell published a novel, Slush Pile, in June 2014.[8] In the following August, Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Radio National aired, Ian Shadwell's Slush Pile: a satirical novel of literature, fame and trivia nights.[9] The work was described by the program's Kate Evans and Michael Cathcart as, "he's taken that experience [with Cactus Child] of fame and its discontents to write a very funny story of a fictional Australian writer who won the Booker Prize and then had 14 years of writers' block."[9] Angela Meyer of The Australian observed, "[it's] a rollicking black comedy with an entertainingly unlikable main character. As this selfish, pleasure-seeking, pompous and arrogant man digs a hole for himself, due to the conviction that he is entitled to everything he imagines he could have, the reader both cringes and eggs him on, to see just how far he will go."[10]

Members

• Gemma Deacon – lead vocals
• Angus Diggs – drums
• Chris Miller – bass guitar
• Ian Housten-Shadwell – guitar
• Joe Guiseppe-Accaria – drums, percussion, marimba
• Jan Sebastian – percussion
• Maria Pavela – backing vocals
• Natasha Ramirez – violin
• Carolyn Shine – keyboards, backing vocals

Discography

Albums

• Diaphones (29 February 1996) – Focus Records/Shock Records (AJCDAUST007)
  • Diaphones (reissue 1997) – Grudge Records/Universal/BMG (MCD73056)
• Earthgirl (July 1998) – Grudge Records (UMD73099)

Extended plays

• On (6 September 1994) (OTS 713)

Singles

• "Fall '97" (March 1997)
• "On the Money" (June 1998)
• "Long Way" (September 1998)

References

1. McFarlane, Ian (1999). "Encyclopedia entry for 'Cactus Child'". Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop. St Leonards, NSW: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1-86508-072-1. Archived from the original on 28 August 2004.
2. Cactus Child (1994). "On". Republic Records. Retrieved 21 August 2019. Republic Records: RR 2010. Recorded at Paradise Studios and the Vault January 1994
3. "Cactus Child - News/Gossip/Hearsay". AMWS. Archived from the original on 28 October 1996. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
4. "Cactus Child - Biography". AMWS. Archived from the original on 28 October 1996. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
5. Cactus Child (1997), Diaphones, Sony Music, retrieved 21 August 2019
6. Nathan. "Cactus Child - Diaphones". Channel V. Archived from the original on 15 July 1997. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
7. Eliezer, Christie (Spring 1998). "Cactus Child". Australian Musician (15). Archived from the original on 21 April 2010. Retrieved 21 August 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
8. Shadwell, Ian (2014), Slush Pile, Puncher & Wattmann, ISBN 978-1-922186-49-2
9. Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). Radio National; Evans, Kate; Cathcart, Michael (13 August 2014), Ian Shadwell's Slush Pile: a satirical novel of literature, fame and trivia nights, Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), retrieved 22 August 2019, Summary: Ian Shadwell was a musician in an earlier life: and he's taken that experience of fame and its discontents to write a very funny story of a fictional Australian writer who won the Booker Prize and then had 14 years of writers' block.
10. Meyer, Angela (2014). "Slush Pile". The Australian. Retrieved 22 August 2019 – via Ian Shadwell Official Website.