PN44060 Tuesday, <strong>March</strong> <strong>30</strong>, <strong>2021</strong> « parra news 22
ENTERTAINMENT MOVIES, TELEVISION, MUSIC AND MORE – PARRAMATTA’S LEADING ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE parra news » Tuesday, <strong>March</strong> <strong>30</strong>, <strong>2021</strong> COOKING UP AN EVOLUTION ERIN CHRISTIE It’s been eight years since the ‘Red Wiggle’, Murray Cook, retired his famous skivvy, and six years since he began working with The Soul Movers, a dynamic project he fronts with fellow musician Lizzie Mack. With a funky, retro-inspired sound, and colourful music videos, The Soul Movers seem to epitomise a fun time. “It’s great fun, we have a blast,” Murray told <strong>Parra</strong> <strong>News</strong>. “We’re called The Soul Movers but it’s not just soul. We like so many different forms of music, so we do like to avoid labels.” Their new record, ‘Evolution’, features collaborative work between the band and a few of their biggest influences. Garth Porter, of Sherbet fame, helped write a lot of the songs, while Tony Mitchell joined them on bass. It proved to be a full-circle moment for Murray; Sherbet was the first band he ever saw live in his hometown of Orange. “I thought my 13-year-old self would have been pretty mind-blown by that,” he laughed. “Really I think Sherbet put me on the path to playing live music, because that was the first concert.” Cook started his career among a few different bands in the ‘80s, before returning to university to study early childhood education at Sydney’s Macquarie University. Here, he met Greg Page and Anthony Field, and together they would make up three quarters of The Wiggles. <strong>30</strong> years later, The Wiggles are the biggest children’s band in the world, despite changes to the line-up inspired by health issues experienced by the original four. “It’s an amazing thing, to have been around for <strong>30</strong> years. I haven’t been performing with The Wiggles for the last eight years, but it’s still great to be involved,” Murray said. He has continued to involve his original band in his new project, with Greg, Anthony and Jeff Fatt appearing in music videos for The Soul Movers. “A lot of the Soul Movers fans were Wiggles fans when they were young, and so it was kind of a thrill for them to see Jeff and Greg and Anthony in the Soul Movers videos,” Murray said. The Soul Movers will remain his focus for the time being. “Leaving the Wiggles was quite hard, it took a while to settle into something, and this is just such a creative ongoing project that we all have loved doing.” ‘Evolution’ is out now. SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT EXPERIENCES TM THE PERFect UNIQUE EXPERIENCE TO ENJOY, SHARE OR GIFT WW43794 unprecedented access to sporting anD Getentertainment experiences www.fanplus.com “This was a dream come true thanks to FAN+” Alex, NSW 23