Before we start, I invite you to close your eyes for a few moments. Imagine you are enjoying the ambience of one of the oldest exposed rock formations on the planet. It’s a new day. The sun is peeping over the horizon and throwing a mystical hue of orange pink and grey hues across the land. In the bushes you hear the rustling of small animals and the occasional touch down of a kangaroo seeking refuge from the coming day’s heat. The insects are starting to dull, the last are slowly waking…
Keep your eyes closed, imagine you are there…… smell the morning air, the Spinifex, the ore that taints the ground, the dusty track underneath your feet. Inch your face toward the sky and imagine for a moment you are on the edge of a magnificent timeless gorge in the Karijini Park, with the gum trees and the land stretching to greet the new day in this timeless, almost perfect land… as you enjoy the most mystical time of the day. You are now listening to the MESA BAND. And the song Karijini.
Our Story Starts
Our story starts many years ago when there were two little boys growing up in opposite ends of the Earth. Fast forward several decades and plant yourself in one of the most isolated regions of the world and somehow you will discover a recipe for MESA.
One of those boys David Morgan – was born in Bristol, England - and somehow, he managed to find his way as an adult to the Pilbara region of Western Australia. It was a world away from the Cotswolds but amidst the dust, heat and hostile environment, Morgan saw a fragile beauty and became bewitched by the land he chose to call home.
Meanwhile, in the coastal Pilbara town of Dampier, a young Steven Spouse was growing up and was spending endless sunny days enjoying the intoxicating world of the Pilbara Morgan had come to love. Unknown to each other they were both developing a passion for a remote region of Australia that continues to capture the hearts of the ever-growing number of Grey Nomad tourists that meander through the region every winter.
And as fate is one of those unexplainable things in life, it was one evening in a Karratha restaurant in 1987 that Morgan watched the younger Spouse belt out a few tunes and they instantly developed a rapport. Karratha was then a boom town where construction workers from all around the world were united to build Australia’s first LNG plant. Jimmy Barnes, Midnight Oil, and INXS ruled the airwaves, so the boys put together a band and played covers around the local pubs and construction camps.
They called themselves the Mugshots after a band Morgan had played in England and it was not long before their popularity grew across the Pilbara and they soon found themselves regularly travelling the dusty Pilbara roads or flying as far afield as Broome, Newman & Exmouth. It was a good tight band and over their five long years together they developed a diverse sense of humour amongst themselves that could rival any scene from Spinal Tap.
Endless road trips only served to harden their love for the Pilbara, they absorbed the rugged beauty of the red cathedral-like ranges, rolling spinifex plains and successfully navigated the many flooded creeks that would appear after the cyclonic rains.
There is no doubt the Pilbara burned itself into the souls of Morgan and Spouse and continued to grow and haunt them long after their departure from the region in the mid-nineties.
As the story of fate continued, the niggling need and the calling to go “home” and write continued to eat into their being. They wanted to write songs about the region, at the time nobody had ever successfully captured the unique culture and character of the Pilbara in words and music. It was time someone did.
In February 2006 it was Morgan who started writing the words and music for the songs. He wanted to truly reflect the Pilbara’s modern culture whilst capturing the essence of the mystical beauty that had captured his heart. In October 2006, Morgan and Spouse went to Sydney and under the guidance of Morgan’s long-time friend, Sydney Producer David Holmes, they started recording their first CD - Nor West Friends. The Mugshots became the MESA Band… although they still look like Mugshots!
The boys called in a few favours and were joined during the recordings by such well known musicians as Pete Northcote (Session Guitarist, Angels), Mark Oats (Bushwackers), Adrian Wallis (Sydney Symphony Orchestra) and the legendary Brazilian conga player Ricky Kugler.
Given the diverse styles of music captured during the production process, there was only one person considered for the mastering process – the Sydney based Don Bartley of Benchmark Mastering (Powderfinger, Living End, Paul Kelly, Thirsty Merc).
Norwest Friends is a musical journey through the heart and soul of the Pilbara during a time when many lasting friendships were forged between the locals and the many construction workers who had travelled to the Pilbara from all corners of the earth. It will remind you of the anguish still experienced by today’s fly in fly out Mums & Dads. It will show you the rush of a cyclone, the sadness of Wittenoom, and the power of the Pilbara Moon.
The name MESA? Well, that’s simple, MESA is the name given to a flat-topped hill in the Pilbara. Their passion for the region later provided the opportunity to write Warlu Way for an Australia North West tourism marketing campaign.
In 2008 Morgan went to work in Southern Vietnam where he discovered a passion for the South East Asian country that equalled his passion for the Pilbara, and he was inspired to write songs about the places he visited. He realised that there was an opportunity through music to help promote Vietnam to a generation of global tourists who were introduced to Vietnam some fifty years earlier. Morgan set about writing four songs for what was initially a promotional CD similar to Warlu Way. In early 2013, accompanied by Spouse they travelled to Sydney and recorded four songs at Rocket Studios in Sydney and then went to Soul Entertainment Studio, Saigon (owned by former The Voice Australia finalist Thanh Bui) to add a few Vietnamese instruments.
Morgan coordinated the Hello Vietnam CD production in Vietnam and registered the CD with the local authorities so it could be sold in Vietnam. He also legally registered the songs and the ‘Hello Vietnam’ logo in Vietnam which was an overall challenging experience.
Morgan and Spouse successfully launched the ‘Hello Vietnam – Volume 1’ CD in Saigon and there was good acceptance by the Vietnamese people who were intrigued and surprised that a western man wanted to write and perform songs to promote their country.
Perhaps the biggest accolade to Morgan was when much respected Vietnam journalist and songwriter Ha Quang Minh said after listening to the songs in a coffee shop, “David you write the words to your songs just like you are Vietnamese. You know my country well.”
The ‘Hello Vietnam CD’ was very successful and sold over 8,000 copies in Vietnam and the songs are still played on Saigon FM radio. The Hello Vietnam CD had taken MESA in a new direction, and the concept still remains very unique, and Morgan has a bunch of songs ready for Hello Vietnam 2. Over the years the Vietnam experience has also added a new dimension to the MESA live performance and the stories of the Vietnam songs are now interwoven with the stories of the Pilbara songs and provide a very entertaining experience for audiences.
Following the popularity of the Hello Vietnam CD in Vietnam Morgan was asked to write a song for the Vietnam Swans Aussie Rules Footy Team to tell the story of its origins during the Vietnam War. The inspiration and story of the song that was called ‘Forever We Will Run’ is well documented in the discography section of this website but it’s interesting to mention that two years after the initial release of the song a YouTube video was launched of the song playing to photos that directly related to the words of the song. Morgan says, “It just took a long time to find the right photos to suit the song, but the finished product now tells the story in full. It was a very heart-warming project.”
The success of Forever We Will Run inspired Morgan and Spouse to start work on a new long awaited Pilbara album. Following several inspirational visits to the Pilbara, by mid-2015 the songs were ready to record initially in Perth. Evergreen Perth guitarist Graham Ford (Lead) and former WAAPA graduate Jayden Williamson (Drums) were invited to play on the tracks.
It was late 2015 when recording in Perth finally started at Sound Engineer Tory Rao’s Studio Zed and it was April 2016 when Sydney Producer David Holmes received the Perth recording files. As with previous MESA recordings David Holmes added guitar and keyboards, and he recruited Sydney session singer Jess Pearson to add backing vocals on a few tracks. It was during a visit to Sydney by Morgan to finalise the recordings it was suggested Jess sing the lead vocal on a MESA version of the old Church classic ‘Under The Milky Way’ – the only cover ever recorded by MESA to date.
The ‘Long Road’ CD artwork was completed in Singapore by Snooze Graphics and the first CDs were manufactured in Vietnam in August – it’s interesting to note the cover shot has a street sign – LONG RD which is taken from the end of the street where Morgan grew up in South Gloucestershire, England.
It was unfortunate at the time personal commitments limited the opportunity to promote the LONG RD CD but several of the songs were picked up by ABC radio and received national exposure.
Finally, after ten long years of other personal projects another chapter in the MESA history is about to commence as Morgan and Spouse once again reunite to take the MESA show on the road.