ABOUT ME
Previous Work
I started playing guitar more than 14 years ago. Since then I've completed a 4 year honours degree at the University of Adelaide, I've played countless gigs including a major festival, I've written, recorded, and produced music that's traveled the world, and I've started my own business teaching private lessons and running workshops for local council. That's the short version, if you're interested in reading more, than I personally want to thank you for your interest and time, you can check out everything in a bit more detail below.
PRIVATE GUITAR TEACHER
2016 - Present Day
Like most private teachers, I started out teaching family and friends. Eventually I decided to turn teaching into a full-time business. It was slow going at first as I didn't know much about running a business, a few years later and here I am, loving every minute of it.
PROGRAM FACILITATOR
2018 - Present Day
By complete coincidence I ended up studying business at a local youth centre that had a strong focus on music (talk about luck). After introducing myself, I managed to land an opportunity assisting the facilitation of a band mentoring workshop, and the rest is history. Below is an outline of the workshops I've been involved with, and my rolls in them.
PROFESSIONAL MUSICIAN
2011 - Present Day
Over the years I've worn may hats as a professional musician. I've worked with heaps of different bands across a variety of styles and instruments. I've fronted, backed, recorded, and performed with all kinds of musicians. I've played countless gigs, many of them with bands, many without. I believe that playing with other people is one of the essential learning tools for becoming a better musician.
COUNCIL PROGRAM WORK
The City of Onkaparinga Council provide amazing opportunities for youth to explore art, music, and community.
To learn more, click here* or keep scrolling for a list of programs that I've been involved with.
*I don't get paid to promote them, I just think they're great
FRIDAY NIGHT ROCKS
February - Ongoing 2019
I've been running Friday Night Rocks for quite a while and the workshop has developed into a safe social space where a group of young musicians
ASSISTING FACILITATOR
January 23, 2019
A one day program, run by former drummer for The Living End, Travis Demsey. The program involved mentoring young drummers on the fundamentals of drumming. My roll was to provide support by communicating with the participants and also playing guitar to accompany their drumming. For many, this was the first time they had played with another musician.
FACILITATOR
January 16, 2019
A one day course in the basics of garageband. It was run by me, and was aimed at teaching young people how they could write their own music on garageband without needing any previous musical experience.
FACILITATOR
December 18, 2018
Another one day program that was built around bringing young kids together. Mostly we just had a blast decorating our bucket "drums," we also made rain sticks, and at the end everyone got to take their creations home with them.
LIVE SOUND ENGINEER
October 26, 2018
An event held specifically to celebrate youth music and community. It featured a number of local young live music acts and was themed around halloween. As well as helping with set up, I also worked as a live sound engineer for the event.
ASSISTING FACILITATOR
August 10 - September 28, 2018
Friday Night Rocks offers young musicians an opportunity to engage with like minded people, to express themselves, and to learn a bit about performing in an ensemble. My role has mainly been to co-facilitate the program by interacting with the participance and offering guidance.
FACILITATOR
August 16 - September 13, 2018
A short 5 week course that introduced a group of young people to the fundamentals of guitar playing. This program was run by me and wasn't too dissimilar to private guitar tuition.
RECORDING SOUND ENGINEER
July 26, 2018
Djembe Drumming was a program designed for young kids to have an opportunity to make new friends to have fun playing with some hand drums. My roll in this program was to record and mix samples from the final class, and to edit the samples into a song for the kids to take home.
RECORDING SOUND ENGINEER
July 5, 2018
Djembe Drumming was a program designed for young kids to have an opportunity to make new friends to have fun playing with some hand drums. My roll in this program was to record and mix samples from the final class, and to edit the samples into a song for the kids to take home.
ASSISTING FACILITATOR
May 11 - June 22, 2018
What's Your Beat offered young people the opportunity to get together and play music in a relaxed and supportive environment. My roll as an assisting facilitator was to ensure that all the participants had an opportunity to engage with the program.
EDUCATION
2012 - 2016
UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE
BACHELOR OF POPULAR MUSIC & CREATIVE TECHNOLOGIES (WITH HONOURS)
The Popular Music & Creative Technologies program at the University of Adelaide was focused on educating students in writing, performing, recording, and producing contemporary and popular music. Key areas of my studies were:
Advanced Sound Engineering
Song Composition
Music Performance
Music Industry Studies
Sound Design
Music Style Studies
Music Improvisation
2018 - 2019
SARINA RUSSO - NEW ENTERPRISE INCENTIVE SCHEME
CERT IV - NEW SMALL BUSINESS MANAGEMENT
An accreditation in new small business management, the program covered topics such as financial planning, risk management, promotion and marketing, and general management.
2018 - 2019
TAFE SA - CERT III - EVENTS - PARTIAL COMPLETION
Through working with the City of Onkaparinga Events Management Program, I was able to earn credits towards a Cert III in Events. The units I have completed are:
- Coordinate on-site event registrations
- Identify hazards, assess and control safety risks
- Participate in safe work practices
- Provide event staging support
CERTIFICATES
FIRST AID
POLICE CHECK
DCSI WORKING WITH CHILDREN SCREENING
CHILD SAFE ENVIRONMENTS
RAN - EC
VOLUNTEER WORK
PROGRAM SUPPORT VOLUNTEER
December 2018 - October 2019
The Event Management course offers young people the opportunity to work on the management of some large scale festivals and events based in South Australia. The program offers accreditation towards a certificate III in event management. My roll as program support is to assist the facilitator in coordinating the program, and to manage certain divisions of the program (such as events music planning).
BOARD MEMBER
August 2018 - 2019
The Youth Advisory group is a panel of young people who offer their insights and perspectives towards the development of the Onkaparinga BASE 10 youth centre and the programs and activities that it's involved with. The main purpose of the group is to assist the centre in supporting youth and to make sure that it functions in a way that is relevant to the youth community.
CAREER ACHIEVEMENTS
Music Career Development
2014
THE GORGEOUS FESTIVAL
In 2014, I performed at the McLaren Vale Gorgeous Festival with my former band, The Retrovines. The event was headlined by Eskimo Joe, and the John Butler Trio.
2012
STEVE HOOKER: RAISING THE BAR
While studying at university, I uploaded one of my first recordings to Triple J unearthed where it was found by an independent film company. The company used my song as part of the soundtrack to a documentary about Olympic athlete, Steve Hooker. The documentary was played as an inflight movie for Qantas Airlines, and aired on Foxtel during the 2012 Olympic Games.