Gemini Downs

Rip It Up is proud to announce local pop act Gemini Downs as the winner of our Kangaroo Island Surf Music Festival competition.
Almost 50 local acts put their hand up for a chance to bag themselves a 45-minute set at the festival on Sat Nov 5, with the decision-makers here at Rip It Up spending many hours listening to all the entrants and engaging in spirited arguments to decide the winner. The quality was high and the styles of music varied, which made the deliberations even more heated.
In the end Gemini Downs were chosen thanks to their sunny spirit, warm pop hooks and general feel-good musical style.
With a taste of Tilly & The Wall and early Architecture In Helsinki, Gemini Downs’ vibrant tunes will be a perfect fit alongside Kangaroo Island Surf Music Festival acts such as Hungry Kids Of Hungary, The Holidays and Big Scary. As well as snaring the Saturday set, Gemini Downs have also won return transport to the Kangaroo Island event, festival passes and drinks tokens – all thanks to the good folk at Surfing SA and the Kangaroo Island Surf Music Festival.
Rip It Up thanks the entrants and the event for letting us be a part of this exciting comp!
For a taste of Gemini Downs, check out their preview video. - Rip It Up, SA

Adelaide alternative folk-pop 7-piece Gemini Downs, which was formed around the brother-sister combination of Sean and Jess Braithwaite, have finally released the official video for 2010's heartbreak anthem “From Darwin”.

The film-clip sees the band make full use of Jess’ day job as a news reporter to gain access to the empty night-time channel 7 studios. What results is a comic and chaotic narrative with the band members playing multiple roles in Jess’ musical breakdown on “live TV”. The video was shown on the Channel 7's morning show, which for some reason completely confused the hosts.

Gemini Downs released their debut release earlier in the year (available here) on the back of wild Triple J Unearthed success. Like fellow Australian bro-sis combo Angus & Julia Stone, Sean & Jess Brathwaite take turns with vocal duties. In fact, some of the stronger songs on the EP like “If It Works”, “Covers” and “Fine” largely have Sean to thank for their quality, due to his fantastic vocal ability. The whole concept of a folk-pop band with brass and woodwind instruments has proven to be something that people really enjoy, so hopefully Gemini Downs make a few more videos to really push-start the songs off the EP that people might not have heard. - Timber and Steel, National

Jessica takes Darwin with her
MEGAN PALIN for confideNTial | January 5th, 2011

SHE'S from Darwin and she's letting the rest of Australia know all about what happened when she left.

Territorian musician and Seven Adelaide reporter Jessica Braithwaite is taking her song and film clip From Darwin - along with her band Gemini Downs - to the nation.

The clip launched on The Morning Show last week after Braithwaite sent producers a link to the outrageous music video.

Watch and listen to Gemini Downs on MySpace

"They wrote back saying that they loved the clip, thought the song was really catchy and that they'd love to do something with it on the show," she said.

"(The band) had so much fun and a lot of laughs making the clip, so it was great to see it launched in a fun way on national TV."

And the feedback from audiences, friends and family has been encouraging too.

"All week people have been contacting me to say congratulations and how much they love the clip. We really didn't want to take ourselves or the song too seriously, so we decided to have a bit of a laugh with it instead. It's great to see friends and fans reacting so positively to it," she said.

Braithwaite wrote the song in 2008 after moving to Adelaide to take up her reporting role and discovering her boyfriend was cheating on her back in Darwin.

"I've always expressed myself through music and writing, so for me it was a way of dealing with what was happening," Braithwaite said.

"It was a long time before I actually played it in front of anyone, and it was then that I realised it was really striking a chord with people. I think that's because of the pure honesty in the song. People really connect with that."

Braithwaite decided not to publicly name the ex-boyfriend she wrote the song about.

"This is mainly because the song was never meant to be vengeful and I wouldn't want to oust him in that way. He knows who he is," she said. "Success is often the best revenge anyway.

"I'm actually seeing a really beautiful guy right now. He plays in a band too so we have loads in common, and he makes me smile.

"He'd better not break my heart though," she joked.
- NT News, NT

Jessica Braithwaite is a familiar face on the television screen each night as a news reporter for Channel 7, but now she has another claim to fame.
A year ago, Jessica and younger brother Sean formed the band Gemini Downs - named after a favourite family holiday destination in the Coorong - which is now making waves on the local music scene.
"We started out just playing for fun and then wanted to start playing gigs but everywhere we contacted wanted a demo, which we didn't have," Jessica said.
"So we went to a friend's house from Channel 7 who had all the recording equipment and it came out really well so we thought we would release it as an EP."
Trying their luck, Jess and Sean sent the CD in to Triple J where it went on to reach number two on the Unearthed chart.
"It's gone a little bit nuts now, but that's good," Jessica said. The group has grown to a seven-piece ensemble and even shot a film clip for their song From Darwin - filmed in the Adelaide Channel 7 studios.
"We had so much fun making it, I still laugh every time I watch it," said Jessica.
"Terry Plane, our news director, basically let us have free rein in the studios."
Gemini Downs will be playing their next gig as par of the Fuse Festival at the Jade Monkey on February 17. - The Sunday Mail, SA

Jessica takes Darwin with her
MEGAN PALIN for confideNTial | January 5th, 2011

SHE'S from Darwin and she's letting the rest of Australia know all about what happened when she left.

Territorian musician and Seven Adelaide reporter Jessica Braithwaite is taking her song and film clip From Darwin - along with her band Gemini Downs - to the nation.

The clip launched on The Morning Show last week after Braithwaite sent producers a link to the outrageous music video.

Watch and listen to Gemini Downs on MySpace

"They wrote back saying that they loved the clip, thought the song was really catchy and that they'd love to do something with it on the show," she said.

"(The band) had so much fun and a lot of laughs making the clip, so it was great to see it launched in a fun way on national TV."

And the feedback from audiences, friends and family has been encouraging too.

"All week people have been contacting me to say congratulations and how much they love the clip. We really didn't want to take ourselves or the song too seriously, so we decided to have a bit of a laugh with it instead. It's great to see friends and fans reacting so positively to it," she said.

Braithwaite wrote the song in 2008 after moving to Adelaide to take up her reporting role and discovering her boyfriend was cheating on her back in Darwin.

"I've always expressed myself through music and writing, so for me it was a way of dealing with what was happening," Braithwaite said.

"It was a long time before I actually played it in front of anyone, and it was then that I realised it was really striking a chord with people. I think that's because of the pure honesty in the song. People really connect with that."

Braithwaite decided not to publicly name the ex-boyfriend she wrote the song about.

"This is mainly because the song was never meant to be vengeful and I wouldn't want to oust him in that way. He knows who he is," she said. "Success is often the best revenge anyway.

"I'm actually seeing a really beautiful guy right now. He plays in a band too so we have loads in common, and he makes me smile.

"He'd better not break my heart though," she joked.
- NT News

It's a story that's been barely 12 months in the making but the resume of pop/folk band Gemini Downs is already impressive. Formed by two Mount Gambier musicians, Jessica and Sean Braithwaite, Gemini downs is well and truly making it's mark and the band is hopeful the best is yet to come. "It's still not quite real," Jessica said. "I have people coming up to me saying they heard us on the radio and just this week I got our first payment from itunes."
Named after their family holiday destination on The Coorong, Gemini Downs released its first album on September 13. Clearly not superstitious, the launch date was a Friday but nothing but success has followed and its music.
Three of its songs occupied the top 10 of JJJ's Unearthed chart and this week Gemini Downs are headlining Lilkafest - a unique music festival held on a property near Meningie. "I heard about Lilkafest last year and just decided to ring them and see how we could get involved," Jessica said. "It also seemed appropriate given it's in the area where the band name and our love of music came from in the first place. Both Jessica and Sean are latecomers to music - Jessica not really dabbling in music until her high school boyfriend gave her a guitar when she was 16 and Sean, while learning piano as a youngster, not really discovering his passion for music until his lates teens as well.
Sean in fact is now studying music composition at Adelaide University while Jessica contines to juggle her burgeoning music career with her journalism work. "I'm so lucky becuase the two careers dovetail quite nicely and I have a really supportive boss," she said. "Just the other day some of the cameramen and production guys from work helped us put together a film clip." Last week's itunes windfall was another real wake up call for Jessica and the band that their music is striking a chord and that the dream of touring Australia in a bus might be closer to reality.
"People that have bought our CD tend to be famikly and friends and people that come to our gigs, but with itunes this is a whole new audience who just heard our music and loved it enough to download it," she said. "That is an amazing feeling." The South East flavour of the band goes beyone the Mount Gambier siblings, with Penola's Scott Woollett having been part of the journey since the original four members pooled their talents.
Melbourne's Lauren Fowler was the other member of the original quartet which has now expanded to six with Dan Fernie-Harper and Michael Jenkins. Their first live gig was in fact Mount Gambier's South Aussie Hotel but Jessica hopes the Lilkafest exposure will open the door to most music festivals and other performance opportunites. - Lifestyle 1 Magazine, SA & VIC

Hit hurts so good

DANIEL BOURCHIER

October 20th, 2010

THE song that liberated a former Territory media identity after having her heart broken has made the band a sensation.

Jessica Braithwaite said she was surprised to see music-lovers at the opening mouthing the words to her song From Darwin.

"People were singing along," she said.

"It's more than I ever could have expected.

"It was a powerful moment," she said.

The Adelaide Channel Seven reporter said it was a positive experience, especially considering it happened at the launch of her band Gemini Downs' debut EP at the Jade Monkey in the City of Churches. "There was a 'you go girl' sort of vibe," Braithwaite said.

Braithwaite was a reporter at Imparja at Alice Springs from early 2007 to mid 2008 when she met and "fell head over heels in love" with the Darwin man. It was when she snagged a job in Adelaide and moved, that the relationship unravelled.

She said she was thrilled that her traumatic experience has turned in to a success for the band.

And things are set to get better for the group, they are set to appear at the Lilkafest music festival in the Coorong, they have also been filmed for a Channel 31 program, and will support Brisbane band The Rooftops on the Adelaide leg of their tour.

- NT News, NT

The musical namesake of a Coorong camping ground?—?inspired by a brother and sister’s childhood memories?—?came to Mount Gambier for the first time on Friday, August 6, having made an impact on the national underground music scene.
Sean and Jessica Braithwaite returned to their hometown with their band Gemini Downs to blow away friends and fans with their raw, energetic folk music.
Jessica, 25, said some of her favourite family memories were of sitting around the campfire at Gemini Downs singing songs and toasting marshmallows.
“That’s one of the cool things about the band actually, we’ve been singing some of the songs around the campfire for years, so it’s so exciting now to play them with a full band,” she said.
Starting as a four piece folk band in September last year, Gemini Downs boasts Penola’s Scott Woollett and Melbourne’s Lauren Fowler on saxophone.
Adelaide boys Michael Jenkins on double bass and drummer Dan Fernie-Harper came into the mix a couple of months ago while Emma Hickmott, of Alice Springs, will made a special appearance in a show fronted by the Braitwaites on vocals and guitar.
The pair grew up in Mount Gambier but both left the district, with Sean, 20, studying music composition at Adelaide University while his sister has travelled extensively.
Jessica studied documentary making in Chile and is now a reporter and producer for Channel 7 News in Adelaide.
“We both love coming home to visit the family?—?we do that every opportunity we get,” she said.
“Me and Sean have been making music together since a friend bought me a guitar for Christmas when I was 16?—?but this is the first time we’ve put a full band together, so it’s really exciting.”
Jessica landed her first television job in Alice Springs, where she fell in love with a Darwin man.
The heartache that followed led her to write From Darwin?—?which went on to hit number two on the Triple J Unearthed chart?—?while Covers, a “beautiful” keys and cello piece, and Crazy, written by Sean, also made the top 10.
“The success of From Darwin was outstanding?—?I guess it’s something a lot of people can relate to,” Jessica said.
“I think people like the honesty in the song?—?it’s a pretty emotional one.”
She said the band was prone to pranks and attitude in their gigs, reflected in the sounds of Covers.
“We wanted it to sound really crazy so we used toys as instruments when we recorded it,” she said.
“My favourite part is where I play the balloon in the bridge and Sean has also snuck a whoopee cushion in there.
“We’ve even got a song about Mount Gambier that Sean wrote when he was missing home.”
Jessica said the band was “massively surprised” by their success on Triple J.
“We uploaded our music to the site not expecting anything to come from it and then next thing you know we were in the charts,” she said.
“The week that we had three songs in the top 10 we were in Mount Gambier?—?Mum printed the chart out for us in the morning, but I had to read it three times before I believed it?—?I guess our music has struck a chord with people.” - The Border Watch, SA & VIC

Fresh from landing three songs in the top ten of Triple J's Unearthed chart, Gemini Downs are ready to celebrate with a long awaited EP launch on Friday 13th August. Be prepared for some laughable on stage antics, including the debut performance from their highly anticipated balloon orchestra. The band is centered on the brother and sister combo of Sean and Jessica Braithwaite. It's folk pop with attitude and it's so groovy your grandma would probably like it. Gemini Downs gigged their way around Adelaide last year as a four piece with Lauren Fowler and Scott Woollett on saxophones and this year they have returned with two new members in tow - Dan Fernie-Harper and Michael Jenkins on double bass, which has created a bigger, more striking sound. Get in quick to buy your tickets to this exciting group because the secret of how good they are is quickly spreading and you don't want to miss out. - Rip It Up, SA

When the cameras aren't rolling, Channel 7 reporter Jessica Braithwaite can be found working on her hidden talents as a multi-instrumentalist singer/songwriter.
And Jessica is thrilled to have started her first band with younger brother, Sean, 19.
The bubbly 24 year old from Mount Gambier is enthusiastic about the special musical chemistry, which sees them hoining sibling acts like Oasis and the Bee Gees.
"We're really close and hang out all the time. Our music works so well because we know exactly what each other is thinking without even speaking," she said.
"Sometimes it gets weird, we once showed each other the new song we'd been working on independently and found we'd written exactly the same music."
Gemini Downs is more than just a name for the siblings, it's a reference to a place on the Coorong where the family used to holiday. "We spent so much time there with our family, making music and toasting marshmallows. When I get nervous before I got on stage, I imagine I'm back there. I know it sounds a bit cory but it's one of my favourite places in the world."
Jessica not only sings but plays piano, guitar, harmonica and percussion - sometimes on the same track - The Sunday Mail, SA

Heartbreak hits charts
DANIEL BOURCHIER
July 28th, 2010



A SOUTH Australian media identity got over having her heart broken by a Territory lad by immortalising her pain in song.
And the track is flying up the Triple J Unearthed chart.
Jessica Braithwaite said writing about her heartbreak in her track From Darwin was "liberating".
"I wrote it sitting on the floor of my place in Adelaide with tears running down my cheeks," she said.
Have you heard the song? Let us know what you think here.
"But I look back now and smile."
Braithwaite was a reporter at Imparja at Alice Springs from early 2007 to mid 2008 when she met and "fell head over heels in love" with the Darwin man.
She was coy and wouldn't name and shame the man who could make her a music star.
It was when she snagged a job in Adelaide and moved, that the relationship unravelled.
"(It happened) on a phone call," she said, "Things weren't going as I planned."
"There were a couple of things that happened - like seeing a photo on Facebook of another woman."
The track is from the debut EP of Braithwaite's band Gemini Downs. The six-piece group also features her younger brother Sean, 20.
The song reached a high of No. 2 on the chart last week and is sitting at No. 3 this week.
"Everyone gets their heart broken," Braithwaite said,
And as for the future, as the song says: "I'll be OK, it's what my mum says, everytime I start to cry."
And while she won't be diving headfirst in to love again so quickly, there is a special guy on the scene.
"They would be brave to go out with me," she said with tongue firmly planted in cheek, "I might write a song about them." To hear Jessica Braithwaite's song, check out www.triplejunearthed.com/charts/
DO YOU know the identity of the mystery heartbreaker from Darwin? Send an email to confidential@ntnews.com.au, call 8944 9788, text 0428 NTNEWS, or visit the ConfideNTial page on Facebook. - NT News, NT

Having her heart broken has paid off for journalist and singer Jessica Braithwaite. Jessica's heartache over a Northern Territory lad led her to immortalise her pain in song. And the track is flying up the Triple J Unearthed chart. The Channel 7 journalist and producer, left, says writing about her heartbreak in the track From Darwin was "liberating".
"I wrote it sitting on the floor of my place in Adelaide with tears running down my cheeks," she says. "But I look back now and smile."
Jessica was a reporter at Imparja in Alice Springs from early 2007 to mid 2008 when she "fell head over heels in love" with the Darwin man.
It was when she snagged a job in Adelaide and moved that the relationship unravelled.
The track is from the debut EP of Jessica's band Gemini Downs. The six-piece group also features her younger brother, Sean, 20.
The song reached a high of no. 2 on the chart last week and is sitting at no.3 this week.
"Everyone gets their heart broken," Jessica says. "Just the raw emotion might have hit a chord." And, for the future, as the song says, "I'll be OK. It's what my mum says every time I start to cry."
And while she wont be diving head first into love again so quickly, there is a special guy on the scene.
Gemini Downs will launch its self-titled EP at the Jade Monkey on August 13.
To hear the song, check out www.triplejunearthed.com/charts/. - The Advertiser, SA

A wronged songwriter's heartache-inspired ballad is resonating with listeners, writes Jared Lynch.

Facebook is mean to be fun. But it can also give you a career-launching pop single. One winter's night, Jessica Braithwaite sat on the floorboards of her Adelaide share house, guitar in lap, with tears gushing. She had logged on to facebook to find a picture of her partner, from Darwin, caught in the act with another woman.
The pain still raw, Braithwaite, 25, picked up her trusty Cole Clark guitar and began writing. Soon enough she had created a ballad that would soar up the Triple J Unearthed chart. The track, From Darwin, released by Braithwaite's band Gemini Downs, has so far reached as high as no. 2 and had 5000 hits on the independent music site.
"I was devastated," Braithwaite says. "But something positive has grown from the experience."
Brother and fellow band member Sean Braithwaite, 20, wrote a stirring piano accompaniment to the song, which also features leads, warm cello bass lines and Braithwaite herself on guitar.
Every line in the song she swears is true, especially "that boring leech I saw the photos on the book, her hand on your chest makes me want to vomit every time I look."
It is that honesty and sotrytelling that Braithwaite, a Seven News journalist, says is the key to the song's success.
"So many women are sick to their guts when they have found out that they have been cheated on and can relate to the song. And as a journo I like to be able to tell a good story... It wasn't vengeful at all."
Braithwaite is yet to ascertain what the subject thins of her track.
"We don't talk... It has been played on national radio. So it would be great to hear what the boring leech things," she says.
From Darwin can be heard on the Gemini Downs debut self titled EP, which is online now. Gemini Downs will tour Victoria this summer. - The Age, VIC

This is a rave review, okay? Let’s get that crucial fact established, so that you now have the choice of either reading all the way down to the bottom of the page and finding out exactly what I liked about Gemini Downs’ debut EP (i.e. everything) or you can just go directly to their artist page on this site (or their MySpace and Facebook pages) and start discovering for yourself why I think they’re the best new local band of their type (hell, of any type) that I’ve heard in ages!

Brother and sister multi-instrumentalist/singers Sean and Jessica Braithwaite each take three lead vocals (shrewdly alternated in the track listing for maximum dynamic impact), and the contrast between them is often breathtakingly effective - yet when they need to blend, they do so with impeccable skill! ‘Too Sweet to See’ is a most apt title for the first track here, because the honeyed surface of the song may initially obscure for some listeners the drops of venom that lie in wait! The saxophone played by group members Lauren Fowler and Scott Woollett (entering soon after Jessica wraps her lovely Aussie voice around the opening lyrics) does a skillfully subtle job at setting this group apart from your typical average blues/roots/folk band, and then the superb sibling harmonising (smooth on top with real strength and grit underneath), plus the brilliant blend of lyrical smoothness, defiance and vulnerability creates a magical mixture of musical ingredients, and sets a standard that Gemini Downs succeed (and then some) in meeting for all six tracks on this release!

‘From Darwin’ sounds to these ears like a future Aussie classic; it’s one of the best locally-grown songs I’ve heard since Emily Smart’s ‘Italy’, and will hopefully bring Gemini Downs the recognition they deserve! Inspired by real-life heartbreak (as so much great art can be), it reminded me structurally of one of my favourite artists, Joan Armatrading, with maybe a dash of Missy Higgins vibe (another good thing in my book), but Gemini Downs go places lyrically that I doubt either of those fine artists would have risked, while dynamically the song is just stunningly powerful – and they have the good judgment to follow this exhilarating number with a relaxing bossa-nova song, while also taking the opportunity to demonstrate their impressive versatility!

But what about the weak points, you ask? Well…heck, I don’t know…maybe the production/arrangement on ‘Crazy’ could have been a bit tougher and fuller and not so consciously-cute and lightweight – ahh, who do I think I’m kidding?? It’s terrific the way it is – and that includes the balloon, whoopee cushion and squeaky dog toys, plus the spoken interjections (all devices much underutilised and underrated in the world of music!)

I thought that as a critic I was supposed to be able to identify a weak link; actually have something to criticize, you know – but what can I say? Gemini Downs sing marvellously, they play beautifully, they write wonderfully, their music is excellently recorded by Dave Gully – and they’re all gorgeous-looking young people into the bargain! Since I am at a loss as to what could be wrong with, missing from or improved upon in this group and these six songs, my advice would simply be to get acquainted with Gemini Downs ASAP and see if you can prove me wrong by finding something, ANYthing, to complain about…

(I can guarantee you won’t!)
- Music SA

By Tim Gerritsen and Stan Thomson

A band, started by a brother and sister from Mount Gambier, is returning home to perform for the first time.Download this mp3 file
Jessica and Sean Braithwaite started Gemini Downs after moving to Adelaide to begin their university studies.
The group grew, including the addition of Penola's Scott Woolett on Saxophone.
Sean and Jessica front the band, singing covers and original pieces including their first release titled "From Darwin".
"From Darwin" was written by Jessica after a relationship break-up which she describes as "a real honest song".
The pair is returning to Mount Gambier on August 6.
The group recently gained recognition as part of Triple J Unearthed, where their first single managed to rise as high as second on the charts.
"It's taken us by surprise really, the success so far, everyone wants to be a rock star don't they, touring with the band," Jessica told ABC Radio.
"That would just be amazing." - ABC Online

By Tim Gerritsen and Stan Thomson

A band, started by a brother and sister from Mount Gambier, is returning home to perform for the first time.Download this mp3 file
Jessica and Sean Braithwaite started Gemini Downs after moving to Adelaide to begin their university studies.
The group grew, including the addition of Penola's Scott Woolett on Saxophone.
Sean and Jessica front the band, singing covers and original pieces including their first release titled "From Darwin".
"From Darwin" was written by Jessica after a relationship break-up which she describes as "a real honest song".
The pair is returning to Mount Gambier on August 6.
The group recently gained recognition as part of Triple J Unearthed, where their first single managed to rise as high as second on the charts.
"It's taken us by surprise really, the success so far, everyone wants to be a rock star don't they, touring with the band," Jessica told ABC Radio.
"That would just be amazing." - ABC Online