At the end of 2022, I published my book “How to Get Good”. Up until that point I've been referencing it to a lot of my students and I think they were curious but didn't entirely understand what I was talking about. Then came the new iteration of my junior percussion ensemble and I decided to really methodically follow the steps of my book and apply these principles to the ensemble setting. I started by setting a group goal with them that
News
Flying Pepper Charity Concert
SoundStruck has been invited to perform at the Flying Pepper Cafe & Restaurant at Rochedale to raise funds for recent tragedies in Tonga and Cambodia. I'll be joined by Lachlan, Tom and Andy to perform our signature bucket jams, choreographed drumming pieces and paint drumming! This concert will also showcase a bit of Lachlan's handpan music as SoundStruck plays a bit of mellow music and we take up a bit of auxilary percussion.
The event is organised by a good friend Sophie Min, a
No Enemy Within Handpan Concert by Lachlan Hawkins
This week I'm going to have the pleasure of joining my best friend Lachlan Hawkins onstage for his debut handpan concert. He'll be premiering his compositions for handpan and collaborating with other instrumentalists on original music. I will be joining in on some handpan and percussion.
'No Enemy Within' is his latest musical project and I think it's about time the world got to hear his music. I've seen his interest for this thing grow since he bought his first handpan in 2014 and I can
Con Artists and Band of Frequencies
This was the greatest gig ever! I don’t think I’ve had so much fun performing and improvising on stage in such a long time. I had the opportunity to play with the Band of Frequencies and the Con Artists on percussion for a special concert in the 2015 Conservatorium Theatre series. Standing Waves.
The Con Artists, the conservatorium’s leading jazz ensemble, collaborated with the Band of Frequencies (which is sort of like a surf rock/reggae/roots band but even more incredibly epic) on their
SOUNDSTRUCK Performs Paint it Red
UPCOMING GIG NEWS! SoundStruck Performs at Paint it Red!
This weekend, Saturday the 20th of February at 7pm, SOUNDSTRUCK will be performing our paint drumming performance 'Etna' at the monthly event 'Paint it Red'. Follow the link event for all the details - Event link
Paint it Red is a monthly collaborative music and art event held at Jugglers Art Space in Fortitude Valley and other venues across Brisbane and Melbourne.
Whirling for Gondwana Voices – Harmonic Whirlies
The first ever performance of my composition 'The Angels are Coming' for harmonic whirlies!
One of the many benefits of rehearsing in public spaces is that everyone sees you and asks what you're doing. Lucky for me, one such peer was interested enough to involve my chorale for harmonic whirlies in a local fundraiser for the Gondwana voices. I went with Ba Da Boom Percussion to Saint Peter's Lutheran College to perform my chorale for harmonic whirlies and experienced a wonderful event.
Harmonic Whirlies Debut – The Angels are Coming
Who knew you could make such beautiful sounds from plastic pipes? Turns out all you need are some specially designed flexible PVC pipes and you've got harmonic whirlies!
About a year ago, I went to a drumming camp with my dad and we started talking to one of the guys (his name was Wayne) there about my idea for a show that involves visual effects. Being inspired by a flexible PVC tube I brought back from the tip shop one day, I told him that I was interested in figuring out how to make tuned,
‘Feel the Love’ Music Video
I had the great opportunity to record with KC Chen and Christina Bollendorf a while ago for the release of their new single 'Feel the Love'. About a month or 2 after, they started planning to film a music video for it!
Naturally, I joined in and had fun helping with choreography and even doing a bit of acting for the music video. I'm glad to have had the opportunity to help KC out with one of his projects like he's helped me with mine! And I'm also over the moon to see a production I was a
Etna – Paint Drumming Performance
Etna is complete!
The summer holidays are over and my new paint drumming composition is complete.
Named after the volcano 'Mount Etna' (in the spirit of Volcano Rising haha), Etna is a paint drumming quartet with a flair for choreography that is the third video in the synesthetic series of videos.
It was great fun working on this piece! And, as
More ‘Etna’ Paint Drumming Rehearsal Videos
With the coming release of 'Etna', my new paint drumming video, here's another sneaky peek into our rehearsals.
Thanks to my mum, Ronit Baras for filming these three snippets! There's nothing like having a supporting family and I really appreciate her help with this.
This rehearsal was on a VERY HOT day and we were very happy to have been getting sprayed from the drums! It was our first rehearsal with water and pumps so getting around the drums and getting used to the spray was a bit of a
