Sahara CyberStars On the Making Of “Light Shines into a Space”
What was the initial spark or idea that led to the creation of “Light Shines into a Space?”
Sometimes when you’re alone and it’s quiet, thoughts come into your head that need to be expressed creatively and a moment like that was the genesis of this particular song. When the words are written on paper by the ghostly hand of inspiration it can take some time before you realise that the subconscious has spoken. Upon reflection “Light Shines into a Space” can be traced back to a poignant photograph of a Ukrainian soldier inside the Azovstal steel plant in 2022 when a ray of sunlight pierced the palpable darkness of the factory and shone on the welcoming face of the soldier. The darkness of that factory as with other holdings of hostages was more than an exclusion of light in the physical sense, it was more the penetrating darkness of the soul that held these people in such inhumane conditions. In the song, despite having “your back against the wall but you can still stand tall” reflects the indomitable spirit of resistance and perseverance. The song had to be uplifting and the chorus as rousing as possible to portray a spirit that will not be denied its freedom.
Were there any challenges or breakthrough moments during the songwriting process for “Light Shines into a Space?”
Every song has its challenge but this song really came quite easily as it was from inspiration and it almost wrote itself from start to finish. The real challenge in such a case is to perform it in such a way that we do justice to the ideas in the song itself. Then comes the delicacy of the instrument arrangement.
Were there any memorable or standout moments during the recording sessions for this song?
Yes. When we start recording all we have to draw on is what we have been doing in rehearsal – two people on their instruments along with the main vocal and harmony. When we get into the recording studio we start off with a drum track. After that, we build it up with guitars, come up with a bass line, put down main vocals, and lead and solo. Finally, we let our imagination and enthusiasm get the better of us and before we know it we have layers of different things happening – hopefully pleasing to the ear! The icing on the cake this time was Dave’s last-minute idea to add an electric guitar phrase to the very beginning of the song – a sort of pre-intro which then leads into Trish’s soprano sax intro. It had a totally different feel to it and we both loved this new idea. Dave had discovered a sound on his guitar effect pedal which had echoes of the guitar sounds from ‘Better Call Saul’ and felt that the lonely feel of this particular sound suited the beginning of this song.
What has been the most memorable experience or achievement in your music career so far?
We are both in agreement that the total surprise of going to No.1 on the first internet charts back in the nineties with our song ‘Make My Day’ from our first CD album ‘Vision’ which we released independently as with all of our recordings. Then for the song to remain in the first position for the next four consecutive weeks was beyond belief. The story made the ABC TV Evening News across the continent dubbing us ‘CyberStars’. We then put on a ‘CyberStars in Concert’ in a theatre which was a total success and from that we undertook another concert in a larger theatre in Melbourne called ‘Sahara CyberStars Live @ The Malthouse’ which we filmed due to a request from ‘Celtic TV’ in New York. The concert video was very popular and streamed on multiple occasions.
Can you recall a particular moment, artist, or experience that had a significant influence on your music?
The particular moment was having to migrate from our homeland of Ireland all the way to Australia during the major economic downturn in eighties Ireland. Having moved to Australia we worked in day jobs and did gigs at night. The Australian audience did have an impact on our music. As we referred to it years ago as ‘the mist meeting the haze’ we had written a substantial amount of ballads and slow songs but in Australia, we noticed that the audience really enjoyed our more upbeat, fast, and rocky numbers. So we made a conscious decision to write a few more of them. With a quick throwback to the previous question the last song we wrote in Ireland before leaving was a love ballad. Then in Australia, we decided to turn it on its head completely. We speeded it up, wrote new lyrics, and swapped the darker tones of the alto sax for the bright and sprightly sound of the flageolet. This reborn song we renamed ‘Make My Day’ and as they say the rest is history.