Sahara CyberStars Bio - Sahara

Sahara is the Irish Australian singer/songwriter duo Trish and Dave  Long who migrated to Australia in 1987. Before meeting in 1984 they had  individually produced a rich body of live work on the Dublin music  scene. After joining forces they soon began a songwriting collaboration  which has blossomed over the last thirty four years resulting in several  recordings, countless live performances in theatres and festivals along  with ‘live to air’ on many radio and TV shows.

            

Since the release of  their recordings, reviewers have placed Sahara’s music under the  ‘eclectic’ umbrella due to it’s variance in styles. When Sahara released  their first CD 'Vision' back in 1997 the current trend was themed CDs in one music genre.  However Trish and Dave did not subscribe to this ideal having always  written from inspiration believing there must be freedom to be truly  creative. Surprisingly this eclectic album ‘Vision’ received great reviews and it wasn’t long before other songwriters described themselves as eclectic.

            

Sahara ‘Vision’ brought Trish and Dave into the international spotlight when in 1997 they submitted their track ‘Make My Day’  to the first Internet music charts ‘SoundClick’ operating out of New  York. Within a week their song was voted No.1 worldwide and stayed in  that position for four consecutive weeks. This was so unusual it made  the ABC TV evening news  Australia wide dubbing Trish and Dave ‘CyberStars’. A good moment for a  couple of migrant musicians working in offices and renting a small  unit! Not quite sure what to do next, Trish and Dave decided to hire a  small theatre in St. Kilda Melbourne and produce their ‘CyberStars in  Concert’ on July 4th 1998. To their amazement it was a total sellout.  

            

Another nudge arrived,  again from New York, in the guise of an email requesting a video of a  live Sahara performance for a new video streaming website called  CelticTV. Sahara had a video of the ‘CyberStars’ concert courtesy of a  radio presenter in the audience that night, however it was only on a  personal video camera and was lacking the quality needed at the time.  Sahara decided to hire the Beckett Theatre at The Malthouse in Melbourne  and staged ‘Sahara Live @ The Malthouse’ on September 4th 1999. The  video became a favourite and was broadcast on several occasions. Through  persuasion from various sources Sahara was talked into releasing part  of the live concert on the CD 'Sahara Live @ The Malthouse' . This received critical acclaim and ratings of three and a half stars in major publications.

            

A‘what next’ phase resulted in Sahara bringing their concert interstate. Trish and Dave self-employed  once again with their ageing car laden with instruments, basic sound  equipment and a couple of spotlights. With car engine number two under  the bonnet, thousands of kilometres and as many life lessons travelling  through glaring sun-drenched drought-ridden outback towns, to rain-drenched flooded coastal towns, leaves one with many a tale to tell. All of this provided the inspiration for Sahara’s next CD ‘A New Beginning’ which was recorded in their home studio between tours.

            

Sahara  toured ‘A New Beginning’ which was a great success running for a couple  of years with bookings well into 2007. However the long road came to an  abrupt halt in December 2006. Unlike the car which had it’s guts  replaced we were unable to do the same for Dave. A chronic illness  turned critical. Dave was at death’s door and we almost lost him on more  than one occasion. It was an enormous effort to save him. Surviving  emergency life saving surgery and subsequent complications including  sepsis, Dave proved his mental strength and bravery. It’s been a  particularly tough period in Trish and Dave’s lives. Between major  operations over the last few years Dave with Trish  managed to write and  record their last two albums 'There is this place I go' and 'See all that's before me' along with the singles 'Only This World' and ‘Hope in Everything’.

            

2016 we were all set to  go but there was another spoke in the works. In June Dave was rushed to  hospital yet again for more surgeries which concluded successfully in  April 2017.

              

June 2017: Now we can  say we are looking forward to recording all our new songs and once Dave  is fully recovered get back on the ‘long’ road again.

              

September: 2017 update: Release of Sahara’s latest single ‘Hope in Everything’.

December 2018: Recording new single 'Lock You Up Where You Belong'

January 2019: Finished recording and mixing of upcoming single.

29/01/ 2019: Release of single 'Lock You Up Where You Belong'

19th August 2021 Sahara CyberStars release single 'Evolution'

April 21st 2022 Sahara CyberStars release single 'I wanna go Home'