Ph: 0409 169 357
PO Box 762
HAWTHORN BC
Vic. 3122
Cordigal Productions

About Me

I grew up in Orford, a small rural town near Port Fairy in the south-west of Victoria.

My primary schooling was at Port Fairy Consolidated School, where I was awarded the "Academic Excellence" award at the conclusion of grade six - this has recently been removed from my resume.

Secondary schooling was at Brauer College in Warrnambool. During my time at Brauer I enjoyed heavy involvement in the Instrumental Music program as a drummer, under the tuition of Barry Galbraith. I was also involved in other co-curricular activities offered by the school including public speaking and debating.

While at Brauer College, I began jamming with a rock band made up of school colleagues. We named the group "Free Beer" in the hope that if we ever got a gig at a pub we would attract a large crowd. We hadn't considered the consequences of angry punters who had been fooled into attending our performances. Thankfully the only gig I remember us having was a youth battle of the bands type event in Portland.

With my enthusiasm for Metallica and Guns'n'Roses at an all time low, I began jamming with guitarist Justin Sutcliffe and bassist Adam Bartlett. We were invited to perform at a daytime concert held in the school gymnasium as part of what was known as a "Communication Project". The students organising the event were the Deans brothers, a notorious duo involved in a local metal band, complete with a passionate biker father and their own arena sized PA system.

Our trio couldn't come up with a name, so the Deans' gave us a name - "Toe Jam". At the time, the band were primarily playing Jimi Hendrix covers, but began to branch out into other more modern influences including the Red Hot Chilli Peppers and the new Seattle sounds of Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Soundgarden and Stone Temple Pilots.

Justin took the mic, and we found ourselves competing in Battle of the Bands competitions as well as our first "real" gig at The Caledonian. We recruited a second guitarist, Wally Lynch who provided the band an even bigger sound. We rented out a storage shed in Warrnambool's industrial estate, furnished it with carpet on floor, walls and ceiling and used it as our band rehearsal facility.

The band was desperately needing a strong vocalist, and Wally brought in his friend Chris Pye. With Chris out front, we now had a real chance of seeking professional work as a local coverband. Another local act named "Slight Return" appeared to have the regular gig at "The Whalers Inn" all stitched up, but with perseverance, Toe Jam became the regular entertainment each weekend.

With secondary schooling finished and no solid ideas of what I wanted to "be", I left Warrnambool and Toe Jam and entered into a three-year Bachelor of Music qualification at Latrobe University's Bundoora Campus. Although this course didn't offer instrumental music tuition, it did attract many students with a range of musical backgrounds.

I was involved in a number of ensembles, both course based and independant. Some of the more memorable ones included:

At this time I also met up with some guys from Monash University and formed a band to be known as "Hyperno Way". Our first performance was at The Palace in StKilda playing support to Rebecca's Empire (a popular Australian act at the time). We then went on to play a number of Melbourne venues including a residency at The Metro on Saturday nights, The Corner Hotel, The Armadale, The Perseverance and The Evelyn. The band represented Monash University at the State final of the Campus Bands Competition, only to be beaten by a band including fellow ex-Warrnamboolians.

 

More to come...

Worked at 2 Pizza shops

Working at Mars Fundraising.

Working as a percussion teacher

Playing at the Opening Ceremony of the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games.

Creating Music Teachers Online

Joining the Australian Youth Band Drumline

Returning to Study Internet Software Development

Creating Ultimate Music Merchandise

Four months on the Road in a Campervan named "Kylie"

Travel to China with AYB