Australian new wave duo Vitabeats have revived their original project, with Andrew and Lissa Barnum joined by South Coast musician Neil Foley for the new song Where.
by Paul Cashmere
Four decades after Vitabeats broke into the Australian charts with Boom Box, Andrew and Lissa Barnum have returned to the project with Where, a song about the cycle of disappearance and rediscovery that has shaped their own musical lives. Now based in Meroo Meadow on the NSW South Coast, the pair are working with local musician and producer Neil Foley of Old Haunts on a new body of independently released material.
‘Where’ examines the experience of musicians who step away from public view before finding their creative purpose again. Its lyric video uses imagery including a guitarist and surreal masks to explore the difference between an outward appearance and the realities concealed underneath. The song also reflects Andrew Barnum’s long-running interest in the conditions under which Australian songwriters continue to create outside the mainstream music industry.
The current Vitabeats line-up brings together Andrew and Lissa with Foley, whose involvement followed the couple’s move south from their long-time home in Erskineville, Sydney. The recordings are being released independently through the couple’s Lifedrum operation, with the sound recording for the current project co-funded by South Coast Arts.
Where follows Rise Up, released in 2023 around the Voice referendum, and Red Electrics, a new interpretation of a song the pair had been performing since the 1980s. Both songs have accompanying videos, establishing a contemporary chapter for a band whose original recordings emerged from Sydney’s early electronic and new wave scene.
Andrew and Lissa’s musical partnership began in Los Angeles in 1980. Andrew, an American-born Australian who had grown up in Sydney and studied design in Melbourne, had moved to the United States to pursue freelance visual communication work while developing his songwriting and looking for musical collaborators.
Lissa Mendelsohn, born in Mexico City to American parents, studied film and theatre at UCLA. The pair met through Los Angeles’ independent music and arts community and formed Live Nude Girl during the post-punk period. The group combined guitars, synthesizers, drum machines and theatrical visual presentation, recording a four-track EP in Hollywood.
After Andrew’s new wave band Decades folded, Live Nude Girl became the vehicle for the couple’s collaboration. A demonstration cassette eventually reached Sydney producer Mark Moffatt through a design connection, helping lead the pair back to Australia. They married in Los Angeles in 1981 and relocated to Sydney in 1982.
The name Vitabeats was developed during a ferry trip to Manly. The group signed with Festival Records and released Tough Guy in 1983 before establishing an independent relationship with Hot Records.
Vitabeats developed a live electronic pop format around keyboardist Sam McNally, with Malcolm Fogg, programmed sequences, Andrew on guitar and Lissa on lead vocals. Studio work at Studios 301 involved producer and engineer John Bee, with Paul Dengate and Ken Francis contributing programming and arrangements.
Boom Box became the group’s breakthrough. Released in 1985, it received national airplay before an appearance on Countdown helped take the single into the Australian charts. It peaked at No. 31, while Audrey later reached No. 81.
The success led to the album Spot The Spanner, released by EMI in 1985 on vinyl and cassette. Despite its predominantly digital production, the album was never issued on CD.
Vitabeats subsequently expanded into a five-piece live band, including a Christmas residency at Kinsellas, television appearances and new recordings. The musical direction was also beginning to move beyond the electronic pop of the early releases. The original performing chapter ended after New Year’s Eve in 1988.
The end of the original Vitabeats era did not end the Barnums’ songwriting. During the following decades they established careers in graphic design and education while continuing to record.
Andrew released five albums as a solo singer-songwriter, working with Boris Hunt and releasing the recordings through Foghorn Records with MGM Distribution. Those albums included The Perfect Blend: Southerly, Feed The Clouds, Memory Collective, Little Phoenix / City / Country and Dear Ancestor.
The Barnums also recorded with American producer Joe Wissert and engineer David Hemmings at Studios 301 and Trackdown. Material from those sessions, including One World Rhythm and other recordings, was subsequently released to streaming.
Andrew’s academic work also returned him to Australian songwriting. Beginning doctoral research at UTS in 2015, he interviewed more than 30 Australian songwriters about maintaining songwriting, recording and performance practices in the digital era.
The move to Meroo Meadow ultimately provided the circumstances for Vitabeats to resume. Andrew sent Foley a collection of demos via SoundCloud, and the three musicians selected songs to develop together. The resulting recordings became the basis for the Vitabeats revival in 2023.
Where now extends that process, linking the duo’s history in post-punk and electronic music with a contemporary independent recording practice. Its subject matter also gives the comeback a broader context: musicians can leave the spotlight without necessarily abandoning the creative impulse that brought them there in the first place.
For Vitabeats, the new song represents another stage in a story that began in Los Angeles, continued through Sydney’s independent music scene and the national charts, and eventually led to a South Coast recording project. Where keeps that story moving while Andrew and Lissa Barnum continue writing and recording with Neil Foley.
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