Projected Twin

Shaun Holton isn’t your traditional artist. Essentially a one man band, the 24-year-old from Adelaide (South Australia) formed PROJECTED TWIN in late-2006. After spending his earlier years in bands, it became apparent his frustration in having to please the other members in the band stemmed his growth creatively as an artist. “I had got to a point where I felt like I wasn't really given a proper opportunity to create music without having to worry about 3-4 other people's opinions or artistic flare being trampled on,” said Shaun. So was the birth of Projected Twin that allows Holton to create ‘band’ orientated music as a solo artist. “I've always known what I wanted to hear. And beat boxing the drum part you hear in your head to your drummer doesn't often get the results you were aiming for. So I just hit sticks together and plucked strings until I started hearing the sounds I wanted to hear”. After spending the most part of 2007 and 2008 performing full time all over the world including Oman, Thailand, Iraq, Indonesia and USA including a six-month residency at Dubai’s Hard Rock Café, Shaun returned to Australia with a renewed focus to cement his own blend of rock in what is to be his debut album. The first taste of that was introduced in the form of debut single 'We Know It's True' which was made available for release on iTunes and quickly made its way into the top 50 charts of MP3.com.au and the top 5 of Triple J Unearthed! The single had already started to attract fans in America when world famous YouTuber Cory Williams and Ryan Cyr flew Shaun to Los Angeles to direct an accompanying music video. In 2009, Holton called the Adelaide Hills studio of XPM Productions home as he recorded and self-produced the tracks of Projected Twin’s debut album titled ‘Earth to World’ – a process that’s taken two years to complete and is to be the first of what Shaun hopes to be a three-part story. “I'm a big fan of conceptual albums and albums that are a body of work, not a collection of singles”. ‘Earth to world’ is a 55 minute musical landscape with the majority of the instrumentation performed by Shaun Holton himself. “Each song I write has its own character but when you put them in succession it becomes obvious that they are all pieces of a bigger picture. It's hard, it's soft, it's aggressive and then it's fragile”. Whilst describing the sort of message he is trying to send to the world through music, Holton says, “I'm trying to get the idea out there that while our own lives are the most important things we know, there is so much going on that no one thinks about. I'm trying to get the idea out there that making a difference isn't just something people say on TV and in movies to make a good story, that it's actually achievable. The only thing that stands in our way of making things better not just for ourselves but for people we've never met is Doubt and Fear”. Fast forward twelve months and Projected Twin’s YouTube channel was abuzz with over one million viewers and the support of over 16,000 subscribers. To this day, Holton’s YouTube channel stands as one of the top 20 Australian Music Artist channels of all time and residing within the top 50 Australian channels of all time. All this without the aid of a record label or management. “It's been the best thing I've ever done. I had always hoped but never expected to be in direct contact with thousands of people who can relate to what I create and present to them”. So how does Projected Twin come alive on stage? “[The Audience] become a part of something. Live PT shows are like a conversation between the stage and the crowd. At one moment we're all having a good time, chatting away and then there is a connection, you could hear a pin drop during a broken down verse, the guitar is muted and I’m singing a line a capella. It's a great moment I’ve been lucky enough to share many times”. Now in 2010, supporters around the globe are eagerly awaiting the release of 'Earth To World'.