My Music 

The early years….. 

From a very young age my obsession with drums and music began. I come from a rather large family, I am one of nine children. Both of my parents were musicians back in their day with my mother playing violin and organ at church and my father’s dance bands “Terry Kennedy and the Downbeats” record went gold in the 70’s in NZ. My oldest brother had a replica of Lars from Metallica’s drum kit from the “an justice for all” tour. This was the first Drumset I played and needless to say was a pretty impressive set to first learn on. This is where my passion for the drums first started, listening to his band play grunge covers in the family room and thinking it was the coolest thing ever. 

When my brother sold his drums to move to England I had no intention of stopping playing. I made a deal with my parents that if I saved up half of the money for my first kit then they would pay the other half. The Drumset was a total of $800, I saved and saved and finally to my parents shock I had enough money for my half, and I finally had my first Drumset. A crappy Century brand kit with brass cymbals but I was so happy to finally have a kit of my own. 

Whilst at intermediate school I composed a song for a national songwriting competition run by the Ministy of Education NZ. My song came runner up and was used for school’s assemblies across the country in the 2002 Kiwi Kidsongs 12 CD. It was around this time I started getting lessons with Paul Dunninham from Misex and learning my rudiments, how to keep time and the general job of a drummer in a band. And not long after I joined my first originals band and recorded my first E.P. Paul was great and I was with him for numerous years through high school and eventually taught my first lessons under his guidance. After studying Audio Engineering at SAE in Parnell I moved to Australia to begin a new chapter in my life and musical Journey.

Taking it pro… 

Dusk blooms 

After playing in multiple bands around the Brisbane Scene I joined fellow Brisbane guitar teacher Andrew Scrivins in Dusk Blooms – an originals band that rose of the ashes of a previous project “Little Lune”. Dusk Blooms was a combination of solid, yet interestingly complex drum parts mixed with layered guitars and harmony vocals. 

In 2017 we released our debut album Paper Rose. Legendary producer Nick DiDia partially mixed our record which to me was a big honour as he had worked on some of my favourite albums ever. The drums were rented from Greg at the Drum Cartel from his fabulous selection of drums. I used a Sonor SQ2 as well as a over half a dozen snare drums. The drums were tracked at Airlock studios by Yanto Browning. 

The full album is available for free streaming on Spotify or check out the Lyric video below! 

the album Paper Rose was mixed by: Nick DiDia (Incubus, Pearl Jam, Bruce Springsteen, Powderfinger, RATM, Audiosoave), Cris Stevens (Portishead, Resin Dogs), Yanto Browning (Art of Sleeping, The Belligerents) 

The JSB 

My main band these days is The JSB (short for “The Jimmy Sogalrey Band”) – a high energy Brisbane corporate events & wedding band that I formed in 2017 after vocalist Jimmy Sogalrey moved to Brisbane. We have played events interstate across Australia & Internationally.

The JSB covers everything from dance floor hits to classic ballads and Jazz standards, and with Jimmys amazing vocals and captivating stage charisma we are sure to get the party started set the mood whatever the event. Come along to a show to see us live or watch our promo video below! 

Fill In & Session Work

I’m fortunate enough to get called in to play drums for all sorts of bands. Ranging from pub gigs to corporate events, weddings to the odd recording session. This often means learning a large amount of material quickly and sometimes walking in to play with musicians I haven’t meet before the gig. This keeps me on my toes and being able to slot in seamlessly is something I pride myself on.