Mario Millo

Mario Daniel Millo (born May 1955) is an Australian musician and composer from Sydney, he was a member of symphonic rock group Sebastian Hardie from 1973 to their disbandment in 1977. Their debut album, Four Moments (1975) peaked at No. 13 on the Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart. He has had a solo career and composed film and television soundtracks and scores. In 1978, he worked with Jon English on the soundtrack for the television series, Against the Wind and its related single, "Six Ribbons". Both album and single peaked in the Top 10 on the relevant Kent Music Report charts. The series had international release, known as Mot alla vindar/Mot alle vindar/Mod vinden (1980) in Scandinavian countries where the album and single reached No. 1 in Norway and No. 4 in Sweden. Millo's compositions have won Australian film industry awards for, The Lighthorsemen (1987) and television awards for, Brides of Christ (1991) and Changi (2001). Brides of Christ won an Australian Record Industry Association (ARIA) Music Award in 1992 for 'Best Original Soundtrack Album' - Millo was nominated for the same award in 1997 for G.P. and in 2002 for Changi.

Mario Millo
Birth nameMario Daniel Millo
BornMay 1955 (age 65)
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
GenresProgressive, symphonic, rock
Occupation(s)Musician, songwriter, composer
InstrumentsGuitar, mandolin, vocals
Years active1969-current
LabelsFestival, Polydor, Mercury, EMI / Wheatley, Powderworks / BMG
Associated actsThe Menu, The Clik, The Fantasy, Sebastian Hardie, Windchase, Jon English, Baxter Funt
Websitewww.mariomillo.com

Biography

Mario Daniel Millo was born in May 1955, to Italian parents, and was raised in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.[1] He was taught to play mandolin at age five by his father, he learned guitar at eight and fronted his first band, The Menu, at Mitchell High School, Blacktown, when 12.[2] The Menu had Millo on guitar and vocals, Mark Friedland on drums, Vince Moult on bass guitar and Brian Nicholls on organ.[2] The band won the 1969 2SM Pepsi Pop Poll or 'Battle of the Bands' held at the Sydney Stadium. As a result, they signed a contract with a Sydney agency, and, renamed as The Clik, released a single, "La De Da" on Festival Records in November 1969.[2] Their second single, "Mary Mary" was issued in March 1970, they were hired by Coca-Cola and, as The Fantasy, promoted orange-flavoured Fanta in a series of TV ads, "Fancy Nancy".[2] The Fantasy toured Australia and New Zealand, but disbanded in 1971.[2] Millo travelled around Europe for six months and returned to Australia in early 1972 to reform The Clik with a new line-up of Garry Adams on lead guitar, Doug Bligh on drums (both ex-Galadriel), and Phil Cogan on bass guitar.[2] Justin McCoy replaced Adams on lead guitar, however The Clik separated in October 1973.[2]

Millo joined the Sydney-based pop group Sebastian Hardie to replace their founding lead guitarist, Graham Ford after they had released a debut single, "All Right Now".[3] With Millo, Sebastian Hardie included Alex Plavsic on drums and his brother Peter Plavsic on bass guitar.[3] They released a second single, "Day After Day" in April 1974.[3] By that stage, Toivo Pilt had joined on keyboards, Millo had taken on lead vocals, and Sebastian Hardie began playing more original progressive rock material.[3] They became Australia's first symphonic rock group and released their debut album, Four Moments in August 1975.[3] The album, produced by former member, Jon English, peaked at No. 13 on the Kent Music Report Albums Chart.[4] "Rosanna", written by Millo,[5] appeared on the related Singles Chart.[4] The band released a second album, Windchase in February 1976 which had less chart success, the group split in June. After a court case over use of the name Sebastian Hardie, Millo's new group was called Windchase with Pilt joined by Bligh (ex-The Cheks) on drums and Doug Nethercote on bass guitar. Windchase released Symphinity, in June 1977, which had a heavier jazz-fusion sound but did not chart.[3] The group disbanded in October and Millo began his solo career.[3]

Millo and English worked on the soundtrack for the 1978 TV series Against the Wind – English also had a starring role in the period drama.[6][7] The album reached No. 10 and its associated single "Six Ribbons" peaked at No. 5.[4] Against the Wind was screened in the United Kingdom and through Scandinavia, where it was translated as Mot alla vindar (1980). Both the album, its title track and "Six Ribbons" peaked at No. 1 on the Norwegian albums and singles charts respectively.[8] "Six Ribbons" and the album, peaked at No. 4 on the Swedish charts.[9] Millo and English toured Scandinavia in 1980 using English's backing band, Baxter Funt.[2]

Millo recorded the track, "Rebecca" for the various artists' Australian Guitar Album released in 1979, it was issued as a shared single with Harvey James' "Let It Go".[2] Millo's debut solo album Epic III appeared in November on Polydor Records, he engineered and produced the album using Jackie Orszaczky on bass guitar and Mark Kennedy on drums.[2] "Life in Our Hands" had been issued as a single in August but neither album nor single had any chart success.[2] Millo followed with his second solo album, Human Games in March 1983.[6] His third solo album, Oceans of the Mind, was released in 2002.[6] Millo provided electric and acoustic guitars, mandolin, lead vocals and Hammond organ; he wrote all the tracks and produced the album for Red Moon Music. His band members were Jeff Camilleri on bass guitar and backing vocals and Robbie Siracusa on drums and percussion. Guest musicians were David Hirschfelder on Nord synthesiser and Dave Wilkins and Jess Millo on backing vocals.[10]

In 1984, Millo released the original soundtrack for World Safari II: The Final Adventure, a film documentary by Alby Mangels.[2] He followed with the soundtrack of television mini-series, A Fortunate Life in 1986.[2] Millo developed a successful career in television and film soundtrack composition and production, winning six industry awards for work in The Lighthorsemen (1987), G.P. (1989), Brides of Christ (1991, two awards), See How They Run (1999) and Changi (2001).[2][11] Brides of Christ won an Australian Record Industry Association (ARIA) Music Award in 1992 for 'Best Original Soundtrack Album' - Millo was nominated for the same award in 1997 for G.P. and in 2002 for Changi.[12]

In 1994, Millo, Pilt and the Plavsic brothers briefly reformed Sebastian Hardie to perform at a progressive rock festival, ProgFest, in Los Angeles,[3][13] which was recorded and eventually released as Sebastian Hardie – Live in L.A. in 1997.[13][14] They played material from Four Moments, Windchase, Symphinity, and Epic III.[13] Another reunion occurred in 2003 when supporting the British art rock band, Yes on their Australian tour.[15]

Awards and nominations

AFI Awards

The annual AFI Awards are presented by the Australian Film Institute.

Year Nominee / work Award Result
1988The LighthorsemenBest Original Music Score[16]Won

AGSC Awards

The annual AGSC Awards are presented by the Australian Guild of Screen Composers.

Year Nominee / work Award Result
1999See How They RunBest Original Music in a Children's TV or Animation Series[17]Won

APRA-AGSC Awards

The annual Screen Music Awards are presented by Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and Australian Guild of Screen Composers (AGSC) for television and film scores and soundtracks.[18]

Year Nominee / work Award Result
1992Brides of ChristBest Film Score[19]Won
Best Television Theme[19]Won
1996G. P.Best Television Theme[19]Won
2002ChangiBest Music for a Mini-Series or Telemovie[20]Won

Discography
Main article: Sebastian Hardie § Discography

Studio albums
  • Epic III – (November 1979 Polydor Records)
  • Human Games – (March 1983, EMI / Wheatley)
  • Oceans of the Mind – (2002, Red Moon Music)

Soundtrack albums

References
General
  • McFarlane, Ian (1999). "Whammo Homepage". Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop. St Leonards, NSW: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1-86508-072-1. Archived from the original on 5 April 2004. Retrieved 5 January 2011. Note: Archived [on-line] copy has limited functionality.
Specific
  1. "Mario Millo Official Website". Mario Millo. Retrieved 5 January 2011.
  2. McFarlane, 'Mario Millo' entry. Retrieved 5 January 2011.
  3. McFarlane, 'Sebastian Hardie' entry. Retrieved 6 January 2011.
  4. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970-1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6. Note: Used for Australian Singles and Albums charting from 1974 until ARIA created their own charts in mid-1988. In 1992, Kent back calculated chart positions for 1970–1974.
  5. ""Rosanna" at APRA search engine". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 6 January 2011.
  6. Holmgren, Magnus. "Mario Millo". Australian Rock Database. Passagen.se (Magnus Holmgren). Archived from the original on 19 September 2012. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  7. McFarlane, "'Jon English' entry". Archived from the original on 12 May 2003. Retrieved 27 July 2008.. Retrieved 6 January 2011.
  8. "Jon English & Mario Millo". Norwegian Charts Portal. Archived from the original on 15 July 2012. Retrieved 6 January 2011.
  9. "Jon English & Mario Millo". Swedish Charts Portal. Retrieved 6 January 2011.
  10. M, V (9 April 2002). "Detailed Reviews [Millo, Mario – 2002 – Oceans of the Mind]". ProgressoR. Uzbekistan Progressive Rock Pages. Retrieved 7 January 2011.
  11. "Mario Millo – Awards". Internet Movie Database (IMDb). Retrieved 6 January 2011.
  12. "ARIA Awards 2010 : History: Winners by Artist: Mario Millo". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Retrieved 7 January 2011.
  13. McLatchey, Mike (4 November 2001). "Sebastian Hardie (Australia)". Progfest '94 Preview. Gnosis2000.net. Retrieved 6 January 2011.
  14. Holmgren, Magnus. "Sebastian Hardie / Windchase". Australian Rock Database. Passagen.se (Magnus Holmgren). Archived from the original on 20 February 2012. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  15. "The Yes Australian Tour Site – Sebastian Hardie". Oz Guitar. Retrieved 6 January 2011.
  16. "Feature Film Award Winners 1958–2008" (PDF). Australian Film Institute. 2008. p. 12. Archived from the original (Portable Document Format (PDF)) on 25 October 2009. Retrieved 9 January 2011.
  17. Nicholson, Dennis W. "AGSC Award Winners". Australian Soundtracks. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 9 January 2011.
  18. "Screen Awards". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Archived from the original on 25 March 2010. Retrieved 9 January 2011.
  19. "Screen Music Awards – Winners prior to 2002". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Archived from the original on 14 April 2014. Retrieved 9 January 2011.
  20. "Screen Music Awards - 2002 Winners". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Archived from the original on 8 March 2011. Retrieved 9 January 2011.
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