'Imagine Pop Music As An Olympic Sport': Electric Fields On Eurovision, Vivid LIVE & What Lies Beyond

To say it’s been an incredible year for Electric Fields would be making a slight understatement.

2024 should instead be considered the year the electronic music duo ascended into history by representing Australia at the Eurovision Song Contest. Taking with them One Milkali (One Blood), a song which incorporates Yankunytjatjara, an Aboriginal language of the Anangu tribe, the duo set out to effect some change. 

While the duo did not win, the message they sent to the world of unity under the lights of a disco song was admirable.  

Still floating off the tailspin that was, Electric Fields have been thrown into a world unlike any they had experienced before since arriving home. With concerts scheduled in New York, performances with symphony orchestras, and millions of new fans at their feet, it’s fair to say Electric Fields are doing pretty well. 

Speaking with TheMusic.com.au, Michael Ross, one half of the duo, spoke about how whilst the year has already had many “big moments”, even more are on the horizon. Dialling in from a “hot, sticky, beautiful” Darwin, Ross’ voice was filled with bubbles of elation for their upcoming performance with the Darwin Symphony Orchestra. “Anytime we get to perform with the Symphony Orchestra is a special moment,” he gushed. 

The shows are a “very” different style of performing to what you would’ve seen on the television at Eurovision 2024. Speaking of the difference, Ross said, “The orchestra gigs are different because they are about milking the beauty of the compositions. Much less about the rhythm and much more about the colour of the emotions inside the story”.

Their regular shows are about “creating a space where the audience members’ bones dance for them. So there is something in your body, and you can’t help but sync up with everyone around you.”

In discussing the crowds post-Eurovision, Ross said there has been “a huge amount of love in the room. If someone’s there to see you, they’re already in love with your storytelling, and they know why they’re there.” 

It’s been a long journey to this point for the electronic duo. Electric Fields is comprised of vocalist Zaachariaha Fielding and producer Michael Ross. For those who haven’t heard their music before, it is a combination of modern electronic-soul music with Aboriginal culture. As such, Fielding sings in Pitjantjatjara, Yankunytjatjara and English. Given this, the duo has been heralded as mavericks for their original take on electronic music. 

Formed in 2015, after both of them unsuccessfully appeared on different seasons of the X Factor Australia, the duo has been described as “Daft Punk meets Nina Simone in the Deep Forest”. 

In December 2018, the duo was announced as one of the entrants in Eurovision – Australia Decides in an attempt to represent Australia at Eurovision 2019. The duo competed with the song 2000 And Whatever and came second in jury and audience votes. So, when the duo got the call that they were going to be a part of the 2024 contest, well-deserved elation ensued. 

Speaking of the experience, Ross said that he got the “full 360 experience” of Eurovision this year. “The first part of that experience is being a performer and creating the music, getting over there and then creating the stage show”. Speaking of the preparation beforehand, Ross said he and Fielding had to do “a 1000 things” before they even hopped on the plane. 

Then, after arriving, Ross said the duo got a real behind-the-scenes glimpse at Eurovision. Ross compared the experience to that of a pitstop in a Formula One race; he added, “The tyres are changed before you can even take a deep breath.” 

He added that the process of getting ready backstage is like having “fourteen or fifteen pitstops on a twenty-minute-long trip before you hit the stage”.

Speaking of the process, it almost sounds like something from a television show: “you walk down the corridor to a clap, then you wait here, then walk down the freezing corridor, then into the in-ear monitor room…”. The whole process sounds like one that is wracked by fear, but for Ross, the only thing going through his mind is “a very deep and clear focus with no nerves. I have a job to do that I have a deep belief in. [Thinking] this is a story I want to share, and I need to be calm and focussed and do what I need to do”. 

The second part of Ross’ 360 experience was watching the semi-final on television, akin to how most of the world watches the competition. However, Ross watched it at the world’s oldest gay bar in Copenhagen with a “bunch of queers”, figuring that that’s “the real Eurovision”. 

For the final part of the 360 experience, Ross was in the room as an audience member, watching on at the grand final. Upon reflecting on the entire experience, Ross offered this, “Imagine pop music as an Olympic sport. That is Eurovision”. 

Reflecting upon the duo’s set and their song, One Milkali (One Blood), Ross said the duo’s set was a “clapback to the referendum last year where division ruled”. However, Ross believes the song is tied to more universal themes of unity than writing about our current times, “She song was written five years ago. It’s the twin sister for the first song we through in the ring for Eurovision at Australia decide...”. 

Speaking of the themes, Ross said that they did not want to create another “unity song” that makes people want to heave vomit from the back of their throat. Instead, he wanted to look at the universe and the golden ratio of 0.618 and the harmony that exists from that number. Ross said such harmony is “mirrored in flowers and plants no matter how small the plants are. If that connection is there, then we are even more connected”. Accordingly, both Ross and Fielding tried to incorporate this into their set and all of their sets to come. 

This includes the duo’s upcoming shows at Carriageworks in Sydney as part of Vivid 2024. Speaking of their show, which is due to take place on 1 June 2024, Ross said, “We’re so excited. Vivid is such a brilliant festival, and Carriageworks is such an awesome venue. I think we’ve performed at Carriageworks five times before. It just has an excellent energy.” 

In channelling that 0.618 energy, the duo are going to be “blasting the jetlag out of our skulls. We’re conjuring a ‘doof, one blood’ energy with everyone in sync as party animals. Do I sound clinically insane?”. 

With a new album on the horizon, a show with the Darwin Symphony Orchestra, Vivid, then a show at the Lincoln Centre in New York the following week, that is a question that does not need answering because even bigger moments are coming for Electric Fields. 

Electric Fields will perform at Carriageworks as part of Vivid LIVE on Saturday, 1 June. You can find tickets here.