Sarah's Bio :: Sarah's Factfile :: Sarah's Band :: About this site :: Contact


Every story has a beginning, and for Sarah Blasko hers started in the church. She was conceived in French speaking Reunion Island, before being brought home to Sydney. This fact somewhat explains the global pull she seems to have. Singing in church was second nature to her - a part of everyday life. Silently seeping into her psyche was the influence of organs and the art of building a song.

Whilst growing up she was introduced to a wide field of music - her dad played a lot of 80's Paul McCartney, some Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan, while her mum liked Olivia Newton-John and her aunty gave her tapes of the Beach Boys. This was combined with a lot of Christian hymns, U2 and top 40. Inspiring a then teenage Blasko were female artists - the classic African American Jazz and Blues singers who had really hard lives and sang with real conviction and had such original voices. Some of them were pretty rough and boozy and they certainly weren't pin up girls. There was also a rap phase she went through! You can’t call her anything but original.

The nature of a rock star showed itself in Year 8 when Sarah was disciplined for misbehaviour and forced to conduct a music lesson for the whole class. After that disaster her teacher uttered the now famous words: "Young lady, you do not have a musical bone in your body." And with that her fate was sealed. What else could she do? It was destiny.

Sarah started a band with her sister at 16 and began to sneak out to listen to the soothing sounds of jazz and blues. Another crossroads came into view later when a band she was fronting decided to hash out their problems in group therapy. Blowing all their money on this made Sarah realise one important fact - that she should go solo. So she did. She sent demos to every label around, and was met with the same response "sounds great, we'd just like to hear more". Naturally, Sarah got pretty sick and tired of this, and so decided to take matters into her own hands.

She went home and began work on her EP, ‘Prelusive’ - a little record laden with mystery, longing and soul - and was lucky enough to get a track picked up by jjj. This garnered the attention of the record label, Dew Process, who saw the talent in her songs. One gem she discovered whilst recording ‘Prelusive’ was Robert F Cranny. He was to become her co-writer and co-producer, as well as a close friend. Saying goodbye to everyone else that she had played with, she saw something in Robert and kept him on. With this confidence behind her Sarah packed up her samples and stored the ideas she had brimming out of every pore in a suitcase stamped for Hollywood.

She had in hand hours of samples and hundreds of beats, determined to make an album she was proud of. Finding an ally in Wally Gagel, they set about laying down some epic tracks. Not wanting to let too many cooks spoil the broth, Sarah and Robert arranged and played almost all of the instruments on the album, with Joey Waronker playing the rest. The result is 'The Overture & The Underscore' - an album with soaring symphonies, dramatic beats and oozing soul. With all that work, how could they not be proud of the result? It is in one way a small album but it has a huge heart - and that shines through in every song. From the epic 'Don’t U Eva' to the stunning 'Beautiful Secrets', everything is covered here.

Returning home with this wonderful present in hand, Sarah began the task of finding the perfect band to rehearse for the live set. Handpicking talent from the Sydney live scene she assembled David Keys, Jessica Chapnik, and Jeff De Arujo, with Robert’s sister, Gillian, completing the line-up. Knowing full well that a band won’t last unless it excels live, she put every effort into making her shows sincere, heart-felt and magical - everything 'O&S' delivers and more. 2005 saw them take to the stage on their first national headlining tour, leading to shows overseas in Europe and the United States.

In looking at her musical peers Blasko notes "I think I admire bands in this country who do things for themselves, who have a fan base and sell records off their own bat. It's not an easy thing to do. I think it is really great when you can see that something is handcrafted and thoughtful". There’s something for you to consider when listing your own favourites, for it is just that feat that Sarah herself accomplished.

Sarah has had a life some of us could only dream about, and the best part about it is that in some way her journey is only just beginning. People are starting to sit up and take notice of her talent. Everyone who has had the privilege of seeing Sarah and her band play live knows that she is destined for big things. We know it's only a matter of time before her musical flight takes off into the stratosphere and being nominated at this year’s ARIAS made a whole new audience aware of the special talent patiently waiting in the wings.

People used to ask me "Who is Sarah Blasko?" - but I don’t seem to get that as often now.

She is well on her way