Voyager have had a different sort of journey to get to Eurovision than any of Australia's previous entrants in the world's biggest Song Contest.
For one, they're a band — and we haven't had one of those before. For another, they're a progressive metal band, capable of delivering everything from 80s pop to crunchy metal.
In addition, although the line-up has changed markedly over the band's time, there is nearly a quarter of a century of history there.
The key to their longevity is that, not only have they been able to make seven full-length albums, but they have a solid reputation as a kick-arse live band.
And, aside from Kate Miller-Heidke — who came ninth with Zero Gravity in 2019 — the Perth-based quintet are the only performers from this country at Eurovision not to come to prominence via a reality TV competition.
So when they take to the stage at Liverpool Arena for their semi-final, seeking a place in Sunday morning's grand final, their song Promise will not look or sound like anything we've sent before.
Of the three students who began Voyager at the University of Western Australia, more than two decades ago, only lead singer Estrin remains in the current line-up — who have been together since 2011 — along with drummer Ash Doodkorte, bassist Alex Canion and guitarists Simone Dow and Scott Kay.
But in addition to their discography, numerous overseas tours and taking their brand of heavy music across the mainland capital cities in Australia over the years gives them priceless experience for taking on the Contest.
Speaking to ABC from London after a series of preview party performances prior to heading to Liverpool, Estrin — whose other job is as an immigration lawyer — puts Voyager's career in perspective.
"It's the overnight success story that's taken 20 years," he says.
"I assess it as training. And I feel sorry for the people who are doing their first or second or third show at Eurovision because it's really, really hard and it's very intimidating. And we've had a lot of practise over the years.
"It's like you've been practising for years, you've honed your art to a fine finesse and you, you're comfortable. You're comfortable on the shitty stages. On the big stages as well."
Estrin grew up in Germany before moving to Australia with his family when he was 11.
"I remember listening to Eurovision [growing up]. My mum had a double vinyl, the Eurovision winners. It's like this bright blue thing. I remember teaching with the song Ding a Dong (Netherlands, 1975). That was one of my favourites.
"And just that melody and just the kind of vibe of Eurovision being very heavily melody focused. That certainly rubbed off on me because most of the stuff that I was listening to at the time was classical music.
"It was kind of the only exposure I had to any sort of vaguely pop music. And it just continued through my university years and then when we moved to Australia. It [Eurovision] has been a part of me for a very, very long time."
Melody is at the heart of what Voyager does, so they are a good fit for the Contest. While Estrin's desire to make it to Eurovision has been there for decades, other band members caught up later.
But the story of how Voyager finally got the gig to represent Australia is a tale of at least three songs, not one.
Runaway just misses out
Voyager had been sending in songs to the national selection ever since Australia first competed in 2015.
The first one Australia heard was the band's 2020 entry for Australia Decides, Runaway.
As an intro to the band, it made a splash. SBS played a short snippet from the video to highlight songs that didn't quite make the final shortlist for Australia Decides.
The melody is there from the start, with strong guitars and big vocals — but the star of the show is the keytar, as Estrin takes special delivery of one of his trademark instruments in the middle of a Western Australian lake.
That year, Montaigne won Australia Decides with Don't Break Me, but never got to perform it on the big stage, as Eurovision was cancelled due to COVID.
Australia's creative director for Eurovision, Paul Clarke, says Runaway was the 11th-rated song, just missing out on the final 10.
Jury doubts spoil Eurovision hopes for Dreamer
Last year it was Dreamer, with the synth sound, fluoro colours and still a metal edge as well.
"Ash [Doodkorte] and Danny [Estrin] flew over to meet us at the Eurovision — Australia Decides (E-AD) show on the Gold Coast and they were lovely guys," Clarke says. "We encouraged them to enter the following year and they came up with Dreamer … hearing that song the idea dawned that they were right for Eurovision."
Voyager were a big hit in the live show on the Gold Coast, but in the end they came second in 2022 to Sheldon Riley, who went to Eurovision in Turin performing his big power ballad, Not the Same.
"[Voyager] won the public vote of E-AD last year, but a few of the judges thought that there would be a lot of rock bands following Maneskin's win [for Italy in 2019] — that often happens and didn't want to be seen that we were going with Voyager to 'copycat'," Clarke says.
"After that, we had a 'preservation of friendship' meeting.
"I encouraged them to have another crack. They came up with the song Promise. I thought it was even better than Dreamer."
Kay talks about the changes between Runaway, Dreamer and Promise.
"I think we've been able to think a little bit more about how the staging and the sort of televised nature of Eurovision alters how we write a song," he says.
"I think we've thought a lot more about how it would translate to a stage rather than just writing it for music's sake. So there's a bit more of an analytical approach, but no less creative."
Canion says:
"The biggest learning curve for us was learning how to become a band for TV. Not for a live audience.
"It's such a different way of performing and something that it was such valuable experience for us. Especially going into to Big Eurovision."
Estrin adds:
"Restraint is really important because if you look at the [2023] Madrid pre-party, we were just so raring to go, we're just like, let all our energy loose. Which is not necessarily the best thing to do.
"But we were just so excited to be playing music rather than talking about it for months that we just had to do it. So I think restraint and control are the big things that we learned from Australia Decides."
Promise fulfilled? Voyager can't wait to find out
The band was told they were finally into Eurovision on a Zoom call with organisers after submitting a demo of Promise. Estrin says the band's drive to make it to the Contest was matched by a desire to get there with the right song.
"The song had to be right. We wouldn't have put our hat in the ring if we weren't behind the song. Cause we spend months talking about it and if you're not sure about it then you don't come across as confident.
"Whereas now we're like, yeah, this is sick. We love this. We love every single second of that and we can talk proudly about it. And I think that's really important that that comes across."
Promise is a cleverly crafted three-minute composition, half-anthem, half Eurovision in a snapshot, designed for the biggest stage.
From one perspective, the band throws everything but the kitchen sink at this. There are 80s-style synths, a classic rhythm section from drummer Doodkorte and bassist Canion, some strong, contrasting vocals from Estrin and Canion, and cracking lead guitar from Simone Dow and Scott Kay.
Then add the trademark keytars and a bit of harpsichord — and a massive metal 'growl' from Canion in the breakdown in the middle and there is something in this for everyone.
The song itself is about how we deal with the stresses of modern life, posing a number of questions along the way.
LYRICS:
Have you ever been alone too much? / Have you ever prayed for human touch? / Have you ever just lost a little part of you / To find a little something new?
And the chorus allows the crowd to join in with Estrin's vocal before Canion delivers the fierce 'growl'.
Oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh / Since you told me everything's alright / Oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh / Promise me it's gonna be al…Right!
The studio version is cohesive, building naturally and nailing a big finish. The normal question that follows at Eurovision is whether entrants can perform live. That is not a concern, here.
Voyager have played for and with all sorts of rock and metal royalty, from Queensryche to Nightwish, and they have a big fanbase, including in Europe.
Drummer Ash Doodkorte makes the rather brave statement that "nothing could possibly happen to us on stage [at Eurovision] that hasn't happened to us 10 times worse and 20 times before."
Estrin then recalls a moment that happened at one of the pre-party shows in The Netherlands.
"There's this wonderful scene in Spinal Tap where the band is being led down corridors backstage and they get lost and their usher doesn't know where they're going. And it's probably about a five to six-minute sequence where they're just going down this labyrinth, they can't get on stage.
"We had a very similar situation in Amsterdam, so we've certainly had a lot of Spinal Tap moments in our career and let's hope that the actual event at Eurovision doesn't give us another one."
Musically the band can do anything from big, heavy epics to a stripped-back piano ballad, like Summer Always Comes Again. Do they think their versatility helps them hit numerous audiences at Eurovision?
"Yeah, absolutely," says Estrin. "The wonderful thing about metal generally is when people think metal, they think of Cookie Monster vocals and they think of bands like Slayer and those traditional kind of metal bands that are extremely heavy.
"But there are so many metal genres and sub metal genres which have really beautiful melodies which are sophisticated and refined and don't necessarily sound like metal when you listen to it. So this is such a great way for people to discover not only us, but also heavy music.
"Summer Always Comes Again is not a metal song, but it's in the metal category. And what a shame if people go, I don't want to listen to metal and they're missing out on this wonderful song.
"The beauty of us doing Eurovision is people go, hang on, I didn't like metal, but I like this. Maybe I do like metal. Right?"
Canion joins in.
"It's interesting this year that there's a direct comparison with two bands [at Eurovision] that have metal in their name — us and [Germany's] Lord of the Lost.
"We are both technically metal bands, but sound nothing alike. So it's a great way for people to be like, oh okay, well this is metal and this is metal, but they don't sound the same."
Last year Sheldon Riley had to practise singing his number with carrying sandbags to mimic the wearing of his 40 kilo dress that he wore on stage.
What does training for Eurovision look like for Voyager?
"I don't think I'll need sandbags necessarily, but I think maybe a bit more stretches to make sure that when we are jumping around, I don't want to pull a hammy in front of 180 million people and making sure our impeccable costumes don't break," says Estrin.
Doodkorte provides an intriguing visual of proceedings.
"We've been doing rehearsals in big rooms just tied at each other's waists, like a bunch of mountaineers so we don't run too far from each other.
"Cause it's a very big Eurovision stage and we'll want to use all of it, but then we might not be in frame. So it's a bit of forced discipline."
Clarke is confident in what Voyager bring to the table for 2023.
"They're a pretty special band. They are great friends, they write terrific songs, they've got great singers in Danny and Alex, and they have a really irreverent sense of the moment, while understanding how important it is. They will stand out, trust me."
The video for Promise was an open skies number, with Voyager filming at famous WA locations like Nature's Window, for a show-stopping sequence as Simone Dow shreds on the guitar, and then Estrin performs a rapid keytar solo.
Scott Kay describes it as "the ultimate rockstar's dream. Really."
The man tasked with creating an impact in Liverpool is 2023 staging director Marvin Dietmann, who has sorted out the vision for many Eurovision numbers over the years, including the 2014 Contest winner, Rise Like A Phoenix by Austria's Conchita Wurst.
"It's an interesting song that really encourages a feeling of being by yourself at the start, and builds to a moment that brings everyone together. I love the build – I think Queen would be really happy with the song structure and the solo. So it has to be staging that builds, and relates to them [Voyager]," Clarke says.
Asked if there will be any surprises, Estrin goes straight for one of the cult-hit Eurovision moments of all time, Poland's suggestive visuals from their 2014 entry, quipping: "I'm going to be churning a lot of butter suggestively on stage."
He follows up by saying the band does have "something a little extra planned".
"I can tell you what ... there's no ice skaters, there's no monster outfits, but it will be something a little bit extra, which I think people will go, that's special, that's pretty speccy. It is Eurovision, after all!"
The elephant in the room is the fact that this is Australia's last year of the contract with the Eurovision Broadcasting Union (EBU) to compete at the Contest, and there are no guarantees we will be back in 2024.
"We sure have done our best to deliver great music, performances and staging. At this stage, our future in the song contest is a live discussion, but it’s no secret we love being part of Eurovision," Clarke says. "Right now, we’re focused on giving the best performance we can with our very first band entry."
Regardless of the result, and the future of the Contest in Australia, those present at Liverpool Arena and the viewers watching and streaming at home can be clear on one thing — Voyager will be putting on a show at Eurovision. And that's a promise.
Australia's Eurovision semi-final is on Friday morning at 5am AEST. ABC will have a wrap of the semi, and will live blog the Grand Final on Sunday from 4:30am AEST.
