Sunil De Silva - Australia’s Premier Hand Percussionist
Sunil De Silva has established a formidable reputation as Australia's premier hand percussionist during the last 25 years. He has been fortunate to have worked with some of the world's most respected musicians and artists, encompassing an enviable range of musical styles. Always the “first call' percussionist, Sunil is at the cutting edge of musical performance. He is the premier endorsee for LP, through the auspices of Garry Hyde and Musiclink Australia. Sunil is also the main percussion teacher at Billy Hydes Sydney, and has nurtured many young musicians into their careers. His resume is like reading a history of Australian Music. He is in demand as both a freelance and session player and his talents have been heard in films such as “Strictly Ballroom” and “Crocodile Dundee”. Sunil has performed on most Australian TV shows, has been recorded on over 400 CD's/albums as well as thousands of jingles & commercials for TV & radio. Sunil has won awards for the Best Latin Percussionist, Best Studio Player, Best Jazz Player and as an Australian LP Clinician.
His endorsements include LP (percussion), Pearl (drums), and Zildjian (cymbals). He is sponsored by Billy Hydes Australia.
Sam McNally is one of Australia's best and most experienced
pianists/keyboard-players. "Studio Keyboard Player of the Year"
in 1990 (Music Week magazine) and a Top 5 Finalist for "Best Jazz
Artist" (MusicOz Awards, 2004), Sam has worked with Tommy Emmanuel,
John Farnham, Air Supply, Marcia Hines, Tim Finn (Crowded House) and international
acts (sax man) Dave Koz, Seals & Croft, US guitarist Louie Shelton,
and (Canadian) George Fox.
Sam was a founding member of 70's soul/pop group Stylus, the only Australian
artists ever released by Motown Records (Stevie Wonder, Lionel Ritchie)
in the USA. Stylus toured with George Benson, Average White Band, Ike
& Tina Turner, and Australia's "Little River Band".
Japan's Toshiba-EMI re-issued 3 Stylus CD's in 1998/99, along-side other
"white soul" acts like Boz Scaggs and Hall & Oates (from
the same era).
Sam has numerous albums of his own including "Jubilation" released
2003/04. Go visit www.sammcnally.com
for more info.
Eric Rasmussen has worked on the Sydney live music circuit for many years playing guitar with a host of artists including The Riva Band, Brothers of Oz, Marcia Hines and Armondo Hurley. He has also performed in the musicals 'Buddy', 'Oh What A Night' and 'Always..Patsy Cline'. Prior to moving to Australia he was a member of the group 'Heatwave' and also plays on the CD 'Lovelines', Karen Carpenter's final release.
Jimmy 'The Rock' Roach, as he is affectionately known by his peers, gained this title by effortless hours performing death metal seminars at local old age homes. For the last 5 years, he has been the driving force behind the Enormous Horns, also playing in his own rock band, 'Cracksquad!' where he performs his originals. Jimmy has also had the opportunity to perform originals with THE MIX.
John Adams has been working with Doug Williams periodically since the age of 17. He has worked professionally since then with Steve Edmonds, Erana Clark, Phil Emmanuel, Andrew Oh, Sam McNally and many other artists and groups, as well as some session work. More recently, he has been working actively in the nightclub scene as a drummer/percussionist with the Martini Club, Scott T, and a host of other other DJ's around the Sydney nightclub scene.
For the past 7 years the live music scene has been graced
wirh the unique vocal stylings of Corinne Anquetil. Coming from a musical
family, Corinne found her love for the stage at a very young age - starting,
as many R'n'B singers do, singing her praises for God in church. It was
here that her love for 'acapella', gospel and soul blossomed, and she
learned very quickly the art of performing to intimate crowds.
After many years starring in a variety of Musical Theatre productions
including the traditional Gilbert and Sullivan shows, to an Australian
comedic spinoff of the classic "Offenbach", Corinne put her
musical theatre career on hold, to pursue her interest in writing and
performing the music she loved and grew up with. She started in the club
scene at the age of 17, securing a place with one Sydney's most prestigious
cover bands Torrid Zone and headlining an R'n'B trio at Riva, The Cave
Nightclub and many other venues. Her career expanded to include lead guest
roles for an American Series, and several appearances on Australian TV.
She continued to improve her portfolio, with more and more club bands;
seeking to hire her for her experience and repertoire and lending her
vocal talents to many jingles and theme songs for T.V.
After a successful seven years, Corinne is proud to join Doug Williams
THE MIX. "How can I call it work when I am having such a good
time with such wonderful and amazingly talented group of musicians?? There
is a great chemistry within the band and you never know what to expect
next! If you are in the audience, you can't help but join in the fun and
enjoy it as much as I do!"
Kittrick Redmond is a man of many talents, born and raised
in the Methodist churches of Magnolia State, Mississippi. At the tender
age of three, Kittrick climbed on a drum stool and started beating out
a path of musical interpretation that has kept him securely afloat until
this day. He joined his father and uncles in a gospel group called "The
Redmond Brothers" which kick started his performing career. Although
never doubting his vocal ability, Kittrick's life was dominated by percussion
well into College, where he completed a Bachelor of Music on a full scholarship.
Kittrick also sang with his mother and sister in the church choir, this
made him feel even more comfortable in front of an audience. Having opportunities
to sing at weddings, parties, talent shows and fashion shows, music became
a spiritual support for his happiness in life.
After College, Kittrick migrated to the east coast of America where he
joined the United States Air Force. This is where his permanent transition
from percussion to singing and song writing took place. He teamed up with
numerous producers and musicians in the Tri-State area and performed in
many clubs. He also became a finalist in the infamous showcase competition
"Show Time at The Apollo" at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem, NY.
Finally making New York his home after doing three years in the Air Force,
Kittrick got a job as a promoter for a live music venue in Greenwich Village,
where he sat in with the house band and open mic sessions. This also gave
him the chance to perform in the club with music legends such as Chaka
Khan, George Benson, Tichina Arnold (The Martin Lawrence Show), Sheryl
Pepsi Riley, Renee Neufville (Zhane), Monifah and many others.
Three weeks after arriving in Sydney, Kittrick came in contact with Doug
Williams. It was pure fate that Doug was forming a new band at this time.
Based on Kittrick's experience, a lead position in THE MIX was
given to him over the phone.
Hylton Mowday - Keyboard / Saxophone
Recently moving from Cape Town in South Africa, his CV
reads like that of musicians twice his age, Hylton is however just a regular
fun kind of "saxual" guy. He has played and recorded with the
likes of Peter Gabriel, Al Jarreau, UB40 and has performed and recorded
in London, Sydney, South Africa to even Dar Es Salem! Working as a soloist
with a symphony orchestra to travelling down the "Soul-highway"
with Doug, he is as comfortable and adapts in both!
Besides being a performer, he writes music for commercials and film. Having
written original music scores for Audi, VW, Gravox, Mc Donalds, to name
a few, he is currently working on the film soundtrack for an animated
series.
Ben has worked in a diverse range of fields, playing live gigs with a wide range of artists such as Tom Burlinson, Candela, Tommy Tycho Orchestra and James Morrison. He has also worked in the theatre with "Frank, The Sinatra Story", "Fame", "The Tim Rice Arena Spectacular" and "Shout". In the studio he has been lucky enough to record music for the Disney remake of "South Pacific" with Harry Connick Jr. and Glenn Close as well as recording music for Baz Luhrmann's "Moulin Rouge". For television, Ben has worked on Good News Week, The James O'Loghlin Show, This is your Life and the 1998 AFI Awards.