Welcome to
Billy Hyde Drumcraft
Billy Hyde Drumcaft is the leading drum store in Sydney, Australia. We specialise in the following products and brands:
- Drum Kits
- Snare Drums
- Cymbals
- Cymbal Stands
- Latin Percussion
- African Percussion
- Electronics
- Microphones
- Hardware
- Accessories
- Spare Parts
- Repairs
- Tuition
- Advice
- Books
- DVDs and Videos
- Bags and Cases
- Pearl
- DW Drum Workshop
- Tama
- Yamaha
- Billy Hyde
- Zildjian
- Sabian
- Paiste
- LP
- Remo
- Evans
- Vic Firth
- Vater
- Pro Mark
- Plus heaps more!
Australian Drum Festival 2006
It's here again! 2 huge days of amazing drumming on display.
Saturday 4th November
Kenny Aronoff
Gordon Rytmeister with Tony Azzopardi
Lucius Borich - COG
Adrian Griffin - 28 Days
Tubby Wadsworth - Educator / Clinician
Sunday 5th November
Grant Collins
Pete Drummond
Dane Brown - Sunk Loto
Shane Wakker - Bodyjar
Ben Ellingworth - MM9
PLUS MORE TO BE ANNOUNCED!
Massive New Product Expo Both Days.
Drummers' Playoff Winners Playing Throught the Day in the Product Expo Hall.
9am - 4pm Both Days
Acer Arena
Sydney Olympic Park
Northern Foyer
Cnr Edwin Flack Avenue
and Olympic Boulevard
Parking is available in P1 parking station
Entry via Edwin Flack Avenue
Sydney Olympic Park
$3.00 per hour, maximum $15.00 per day
About the Drummers
Saturday 4th November
Kenny Aronoff
Widely recognized as one of the greatest drummers in popular rock music, Kenny Aronoff is among the most in-demand musicians in the world. He has worked with some of the biggest names in the music industry including Smashing Pumpkins, Rolling Stones, John Bon Jovi, Bob Dylan, Elton John, Rod Stewart, Santana, Alice Cooper, Meatloaf, Mick Jager, John Mellencamp, and Joe Cocker.
With a style of playing that combines power with finesse, he has been named the #1 Pop/Rock Drummer and the #1 Studio Drummer for 5 consecutive years by the readers of Modern Drummer Magazine.
Kenny brings tremendous drive, enthusiasm and creativity to everything he does, whether it's recording, touring, drum clinics, teaching or producing his instructional videos and books.
Gordon Rytmeister
Australian Idol
From 2003 to the present, Gordon has been an integral part of the Australian Idol house band and can currently be seen weekly across the nation backing the Idol finalists in all the various musical styles.
Between his Idol commitments, Gordon has also been extremely busy in the studio recently having recorded CD tracks for James Morrison, Phil Emmanuel, Simon Shapiro, Blaine Whittaker, The Idea of North, Wayne Scott-Kermond, Alfio Bonanno and others. On top of this Gordon has played live with international artists Bobby Shew, Bob Mintzer (the Yellow Jackets) and travelled to Europe to perform with Lalo Schifrin (composer of Mission Impossible theme).
Gordon chooses to play Yamaha drums, Sabian cymbals. He also uses Vic Firth sticks and brushes and Beyerdynamic microphones exclusively.
with Tony Azzopardi
Lucius Borich
COG
Lucius plays drums for Sydney band COG.
He also uses DW drums, Zildjian Cymbals and Vic Firth sticks.
Adrian Griffin
28 Days
Adrian plays drums for Melbourne band 28 Days and can be heard on their recent latest release 'Bring 'Em Back'.
Adrian also plays for Sydney band Degeneracy and is currently working on various new projects with members of The Hell City Glamours, The Suitable Few and Grand Fatal.
He playes Pearl Masters MRX and MSX Drums, Zildjian Cymbals and Vic Firth Sticks.
Tubby Wadsworth
Eductaor / Clinician
Tubby Wadsworth's many years of live performing and teaching experiences will be an opening Feature of this Years Festival. Having conducted numerous clinics and workshops in the past, those in attendance at his clinic this year can be assured of being provided with much technical and philosophical information so as to further develop ones own performing level. Besides exploring techniques that are essential to kit development, rest assured as per usual that Tubbys infectious passion for the instrument will leave new listeners not familiar with his teaching style wanting to head straight for the practice pad then hopefully onto their dream gig.
Achievements , Past and Present.
Three times State side drum champion winner in conjunction with The N.S.W Police Citizens Youth Federation and Boosey and Hawkes National Soloists Federation as a Teenager.
Previously been involved in Major Label signed acts including KillingTime / Mantissa on POLYDOR records through REDEYE, achieving a number one single in the Independent charts for several weeks running and crossing over into the mainstream charts securing a top 20 National hit. Follow up singles also charting well. This band played National support slots to Faith No More and many other popular acts.
Recorded and performed with legendary Australian Hardcore act MASSAPPEAL who are about to re-release treks from 20 years ago on Major U.S Label RELAPSE RECORDS home of bands such as Mastodon and Dillinger Escape plan . These recordings will also be made available through CHATTERBOX RECORDS locally.
Has appeared on National t.v segments for WONDERWORLD and SCHOOLTORQUE which to this day has been replayed numerous times Has been an active member of the BILLY HYDES PLAYOFF panel of judges since 2002 and Teaches privately at DRUM CITY Sydney. many of his currant and previous students have gone on to secure positions in the Australian music scene. Tubby also works in con junction with music managers and affiliated label contacts.
His latest Projects Have included recorded performances with Love Shark of Machine Gun Fellatio and Leeno Dee of INK/JERK.
As can be summarized by the above information, Tubby's main interests lay within the Original music scene both past and present.
Tubbys workshop is sponsored by Pearl, Zildjian, Remo, Vic firth. Hair by Karen Hopwood at 'Head over Heels' Newtown. Teeth by Dr Andrew Maratos at Dental on King, Newtown.
INTERESTING TRIVIA. Tubbys first two paying gigs were at 14 dressed as a clown marching down Burwood R.d Burwood playing sidedrum. and then being part of a roving Dixieland band continuously playing 'Sweet Georgia Brown' while The Original Harlem Globetrotters were shooting wring at a National Press conference! True story! beat that!
Has Also appeared in an acting role in B.grade Art House Horror movie 'Blood Lust' ' a small but messy Part' Check for his name in the outro credits.
Quote- 'if I'm not busy, I'm not happy!
Sunday 5th November
Grant Collins
Described as a ‘Master Drummer' and one of ‘Worlds Hottest Professional Drummers', Grant Collins has an intense, almost spiritual passion for the drums. This infatuation has seen him tour his dynamic one man show, not just all over his native Australia, but also with a series of sell out international tours. He has performed for thousands at sold out venues, pushing the limits and confines as a solo performer.
Grant is one of the forerunners in the industry, forever pushing the boundaries of music and leading the cutting edge of creative and unconventional drumming. His approach defies stereotypical drum set methodologies with his innovative and enthralling solo drum set compositions. He uses all four limbs both individually and as a collective to present multi-timbral soundscapes, defining the drum set as a contemporary solo instrument for the world stage. US drum magazine was recently quoted as saying:
"It's hard to imagine a human acoustic drumkit performer advancing much beyond this level."
He has received high accolades and reviews around the world for his DVD, Live @ the Tivoli - The Official Bootleg and his CD's Primal Instinct and Dogboy.
As well as performing around the globe, Grant in currently in the process of completing his PhD in composition and performance. This has seen his reputation grow internationally, not only in performance but also in academic and educational sectors of the arts.
Grant's instrument is as unique as his creative musical attributes. His custom drum set is valued at over $75,000. It is a one of a kind and takes a two-man team nearly two hours to assemble, prompting comments such as ‘the kit looks more like an artistic sculpture than an instrument' (The Morning Bulletin).
Pete Drummond
Soloist, Clinician, Session Drummer
Pete Drummond is one of Australia's most phenomenal drummers. His relentless pursuit of technical mastery, and his deep-rooted musicality have captured the attention of many of the world's great drumming artists including: Virgil Donati, Dave Weckl, Thomas Lang and Mike Mangini.
As a solo drumming artist, Pete's mind-blowing performances at major drumming festivals both in Australia and overseas, have established him as one of the rising stars of the next generation of drummers. When asked by Modern Drummer magazine about the future of drumming, Thomas Lang (Drumming superstar) stated: "Pete Drummond is an amazing Australian Drummer".
As a sideman Pete has worked with a host of great artists, spanning a wide array of musical styles including: The Temptations (US Motown Legends), Glenn Shorrock (Little River Band), Dragon, Wendy Matthews, Doug Parkinson and Jeremy Barnes (The World's Fastest Guitarist).
As a session drummer, Pete has appeared on a multitude of albums, commercials and soundtracks, inc. Dead Ringer Band's ARIA award winning album 'Homefires', Channel 10, NRL, ABC TV and many more.
Pete's performance at The Ultimate Drummers Weekend 2003 received widespread acclaim, and subsequently Pete is a cover artist on the internationally released DVD of the event; alongside Thomas Lang, John Blackwell JR. (Prince) and Jimmy Degrasso (Megadeth).
Pete Drummond is an international clinician for Pearl Drums and Zildjian Cymbals.
Dane Brown
Sunk Loto
Dane Brown plays drums for Sunk Loto.
Shane Wakker
Bodyjar
Shane is the driving force behind one of Australia’s hardest working and exciting bands. For over a decade Bodyjar has consolidated their local & international following with relentless touring and promotion. Their blistering high energy live shows have made them a worldwide respected punk band that boasts hordes of committed fans in Japan, America, Korea and Europe.
Shane has been with the ‘Jar’ since 2004 and has quickly risen to be a favorite amongst Australian rock drummers. At only 22 years of age, Shane recorded on Bodyjar’s latest album and is touring throughout Australia and Asia.
An Yamaha artist since 2003, Shane plays the Maple Custom Absolute Nouveau handcrafted series.
Shane Plays a Yamaha Maple Custom Absolute kit in Apple Sparkle Fade.
Ben Ellingworth
Many Machines on Nine, Switchkicker, Kinetik Assasins, Lordz of the Fly
Ben plays drums in Sydney groups Many Machines on Nine, Switchkicker, Kinetik Assassins and Lordz of the Fly as well as freelance drumming for various Australian artists.
He plays DW Drums and Zildjian Cymbals.