The eighteenth artist in our Who Is series is Voyager from Australia.
Voyager is a progressive metal band from Perth in Western Australia. The band was formed in 1999 at the University of Western Australia. The current line-up of the band consists of Daniel Estrin (vocals, keytar), Simone Dow (guitar), Scott Kay (guitar), Ashley Doodkorte (drums) and Alex Canion (bass). Daniel is the only original member of the band left in the line-up.
Voyager released their debut album “Element V” in 2003. Following the European release of the album, the band began to increase in popularity. This popularity secured them as a support act for Steve Vai for his Perth concert in 2004. In 2005, the band played their first concert outside of their home state of Western Australia in Sydney.
While recording their second studio album, Voyager played their first gig outside of Australia at the ProgPower Europe Festival in the Netherlands in 2006. After the closure of their original label and switching to another, they released their second album “uniVers” in October 2007. The album was critically acclaimed and was named number 7 on the Full Metal Racket albums of 2007 by Australian alternative radio station Triple J.
In 2008, Voyager continued touring throughout Europe with performances in Denmark, the Netherlands, Germany and Switzerland. Their third album “I Am the ReVolution” was released in 2009 to critical acclaim once more. In 2010, they were nominated three times as a top 10 finalist at the Australian MusicOz Awards for “Lost”, “The Devil in Me” and the video for the latter. They were also nominated for Best Hard Rock/Metal Act at the Western Australia Music Industry Awards in 2010.
In 2011, Voyager released their fourth album “The Meaning of I”. This was followed by three more albums; “V” in 2013, “Ghost Mile” in 2017 and “Colours in the Sun” in 2019.
In 2020, Voyager submitted “Runaway” to the Australian selection for Eurovision but were not chosen as one of the finalists. In 2022, the band were shortlisted as one of the finalists for Eurovision 2022 – Australia Decides. They placed second with “Dreamer”, winning the public vote.
Voyager were internally selected to represent Australia in Eurovision 2023. They are the first band to represent Australia and the first internally selected Australian representatives since 2018.
The song that Voyager will perform in Liverpool is called “Promise”. It was written and composed by all five members of the band.
Voyager will perform in the second half of the second semi-final on May 11.
Image Source: SBS
SOURCE: EUROVOIX