Australia's Voyager are gearing up for the biggest week of their careers, as the Perth prog rockers compete as our entry in Eurovision 2023 in Liverpool with their song 'Promise'.
And as a band who have been together for almost 25 years and released seven albums (soon to be eight), it's been a long time coming for them.
If you've been following them closely since they were announced as Australia's 2023 representatives, you'd probably know some of the basics already.
They're heavy (synth metal, to be precise).
They're the first band Australia has sent to Eurovision, and fans have been campaigning for them to go since 2015.
They're from Western Australia and proud of it.
They were runners-up at 'Eurovision: Australia Decides' last year to Sheldon Riley, and were the clear winners of the public vote.
They're armed with a key-tar.
But there's a stack of less obvious and interesting things which you might not have known about your new favourite metal act. Here's five of them.
1. They've got a bunch of interesting day jobs.
We don't know if anyone can be sued for not rocking out enough. But if such a 'crime' did exist, frontman Danny would be pretty well placed to take action. He's a lawyer by trade and a partner of a boutique firm which specialises in immigration and administration.
Drummer Ash is a graphic designer - and he's responsible for all the awesome artwork you might have seen on the band's Eurovision merch. Guitarist Simone helps wannabe rock gods find their perfect axe when she's not shredding on stage herself - she's a sales assistant at Concept Music in Perth.
Bass player Alex works there too, and is a part-time voice over artist. He's also recently started taking up graphic design as well.
2. Both the guitarists are self-confessed pop culture nerds.
Scott is a hardcore Dungeons & Dragons fan - so much that he's been a gamemaster of the popular role-playing fantasty game for eight years! He recently told us: "I think it’s one of, if not the best game ever made, and is a great outlet for creativity outside of music for me."
Meanwhile, Simone is a huge cartoons and Star Wars buff, and she has a massive passion for anime. She recently told us: "I’ve watched more anime that has elicited an emotional response from me recently than any western show, so give it a chance I say!"
3. They've supported some huge metal acts.
Over their 20+ year history, Voyager have toured all over the world and built up a huge fanbase overseas, with their own shows and slots on the bill at some great heavy music festivals.
But they've also warmed up the punters on local and international tours as the support act for some huge names. They include:
2004: Steve Vai
2008: Nightwish
2011: Alestorm, Children of Bodom 2015: Opeth
2016: Deftones, Coheed and Cambria
2019: Twelve Foot Ninja (and Opeth again)
4. They love good food, good beer, and playing basketball (with a mini hoop)
As we found out in our band member profile features, Alex is a bit of a foodie and loves to visit the "many" great restauraunts around Perth.
Drummer Ash also loves his craft beers, and will hunt around for the hottest new releases from little brewries to wet his whitstle. And, in a fan Q+A with SBS, Danny has said he might do a shoey at some point during the band's Liverpool adventures.
Followers of the band on their social media platforms have also grown to love their fun random videos while on tour, and to promote 'Promise' and their Eurovision campaign.
Just check out this basketball-themed clip. We're not sure if the Perth Wildcats will snap them up yet, but surely a halftime performance at a home game when the new NBL season kicks off in October is worth a guernsey!
5. They love doing covers of not-very-metal songs.
Given they are such huge fans of the competition, it's no wonder Voyager love doing their own takes on other countries' entries.
We saw them rework Cyprus' representative (and fellow Aussie) Andrew Lambrou's track 'Break A Broken Heart' for the Eurovision: A Little Bit More series.
And they've also covered last year's winner - 'Stefania' by Ukraine's Karush Orchestra, and one of this year's big favourites, 'Cha Cha Cha' by Finland's Käärijä with an acoustic guitar and a kazoo.
But back in 2021, while most of us were still laying low during COVID, they won rave reviews for this cover of 'This Boy's In Love', a big hit in 2008 for Aussie dance legends The Presets.
AND... finally:
Voyager have big plans after Eurovision - including a national tour in June and the release of a new album, 'Fearless In Love', on July 14. You can find all the info on the band's website.
Voyager will be performing in Semi Final 2 of Eurovision 2023 on Thursday, May 11. It will be shown live locally (AEST) on SBS at 5am on Friday, May 12, and then repeated on Saturday, May 13 from 7.30pm.
If Voyager qualify for the grand final, you can watch that live (AEST) on SBS from 5am on Sunday, May 14, and repeated again that night from 7.30pm.
Check out Voyager's interview with Aussievision on the ground in Liverpool as they gear up for Eurovision this week.
For continued updates on all the Eurovision 2023 news follow Aussievision on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. All links at: https://linktr.ee/aussievisionnet