Sneaky Sound System
Sneaky Sound System is an Australian dance music group formed in late 2001 by Angus McDonald on guitar, MC Double D (Daimon Downey) on vocoder and vocals, Damien Hesse (DJ) and Nick Broadhurst on saxophone. They were joined in 2004 by Connie Mitchell (ex-Primary) on vocals; Downey left the band in September 2009, Hesse in 2005 and Broadhurst in 2006. On 12 August 2006, they released their self-titled debut studio album, which peaked at No. 5 on the ARIA Albums Chart in mid-November 2007 and was certified 3× platinum by December 2011, denoting shipments of 210,000 copies. The group's breakthrough single, "I Love It", which was issued on 8 July 2006, peaked at No. 24 on the ARIA Singles Chart and spent 73 weeks in the Top 100 – this broke the record as the longest charting single previously held by The Living End's 1997 hit, "Second Solution / Prisoner of Society", at 69 weeks. Their second studio effort, 2, which appeared on 16 August 2008, became their first number-one album. On 7 October 2011, From Here to Anywhere was released and reached at No. 11. At ARIA Music Awards ceremonies they have been nominated fourteen times winning twice in 2007 for Best Dance Release and Breakthrough Artist – Album for their eponymous album.
For other uses, see Sneaky Sound System (disambiguation).
Sneaky Sound System
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
2001–present
Sony, Whack, 14th Floor, Modular, Cr2
Angus McDonald
Connie Mitchell
Donnie Sloan (Jonathan Sloan)
Damian Hess
MC Double D (Daimon Downey)
Tricky Nick (Nick Broadhurst)
Peter Dolso
History[edit]
2001–2005: Early years[edit]
In late 2001, Sneaky Sound System was formed in Sydney as hosts to dance music parties, Sneaky Sundays.[1] Angus McDonald had met MC Double D (Daimon Downey) at a fancy dress party in 2000 and the pair soon became flatmates. Angus was working as a DJ with Damien Hesse and invited D to MC at their regular Sunday parties.[1] Hesse explained their concept "We wanted to start a Sunday night, our own night in Sydney, because we didn't feel we fit into anything else that was going on ... We played for over a year to over 100 people in a basement in Bondi so it was very much an underground thing".[2] Various live musicians would perform irregularly with Sneaky Sound System, the group added cabaret elements including specialist dancers.[1] With Angus on guitar and D on vocoder and vocals, they began gigging at various clubs and festivals along the Australian east coast.[1] They recorded a remix album, Other Peoples Music, produced and engineered by Peter Dolso.[1] The double CD was released on 3 October 2003 by Sony Music Australia. The line-up for the album included Angus, D, Hesse (as a remixer) and Tricky Nick (Nick Broadhurst) on saxophone.[3]
In 2004, Sneaky Sound System established its own label, Whack Records. Angus recalled being rejected by recording companies when proposing an album of original material, "We were told by every label we might sell 10,000 copies and it wasn't worth it ... so we decided to do it ourselves".[4] On 15 November that year, they issued their debut single, "Hip Hip Hooray", on their label and distributed by MGM Distribution.[1] Angus wrote the track,[5] and contributed guitar, keyboards, bass guitar, drums and lead vocals.[6] It appeared on the ARIA Singles Chart Top 100.[7] In late May, Hesse indicated that a new album was due later that year.[2] However, he left soon after and the group decided that they required a female vocalist, Angus and D met Connie Mitchell (ex-Primary) by chance in a public park as she sat singing and playing guitar to a friend.[1] They asked her to join as lead vocalist, Mitchell later remembered, "I thought they were a bit dodgy ... You know, two guys coming up to you, excited, jumping around a bit, saying 'Come to our studio'".[3][4] Their second single, "Tease Me", had been recorded before Mitchell joined with lead vocals by D and guest vocalist Pepper (Pip Edwards), it appeared on 18 July 2005, but did not chart.[6]
2006–2007: Sneaky Sound System[edit]
Mitchell provided lead vocals on Sneaky Sound System's breakthrough single, "I Love It", which was issued on 8 July 2006. It peaked at No. 24 and spent 73 weeks in the Top 100.[8][9][10] This broke the record as the longest charting single by an Australian artist on the ARIA Singles Chart – previously held by The Living End's "Second Solution/Prisoner of Society" (1997) at 69 weeks.[10][11]
On 12 August 2006, Sneaky Sound System released their self-titled debut studio album, which was produced by Angus and Dolso and included the three earlier singles, "Hip Hip Hooray", "Tease Me" and "I Love It".[6] At the ARIA Music Awards of 2006, "I Love It" received two nominations: 'Break Through Artist – Single' and 'Best Dance Release'.[12] The band were awarded with 'Best Performing Independent EP/Single' and 'Best Independent Artist' at the 2007 Australian Independent Record (AIR) Awards[13]
At the 2007 ARIA Awards, the group won two categories, 'Best Dance Release' and 'Breakthrough Artist – Album' from nine nominations.[14][15] In late October, the album was at No. 37 but with their ARIA wins it reached the peak of No. 5 within three weeks, in mid-November.[9][16] Sneaky Sound System remained in the Top 50 for a total of sixty-one weeks,[9] it was certified ×3 platinum by December 2011, denoting shipments of 210,000 copies.[17]
In December 2006, they supported Robbie Williams on the Australian leg of his Close Encounters Tour.[1][3][18] Mitchell has appeared on albums by Kanye West,[19] Snoop Dogg and Rick Ross. In addition to their own headline tours, Sneaky Sound System have supported Jamiroquai, Scissor Sisters, Sam Sparro, and Lady Gaga. They appeared at festivals including Electric Picnic, Wireless, Global Gathering, Get Loaded in the Park and Oxegen (Ireland), Zomerparkfeest and Mysterylands (Netherlands), Big Day Out, Homebake, Good Vibrations Festival, Live Earth, V Festival, Splendour in the Grass, Stereosonic, MS Fest and Hot BBQ (Australia). They have performed in New Zealand, the United States, Russia, Italy, Spain and Canada. The group's next single, "Pictures", was released on 2 December 2006, which reached No. 19.[9] The remix version by Tonite Only peaked at number one on the ARIA Club Tracks Chart for a record-equalling thirteen weeks.[20]
"Pictures" came second in the Dance-Electronica category of the 2007 International Songwriting Competition.[21] The fifth single from the album, "UFO", was released in April, which reached No. 11, is their highest single peak.[9] The last single from the album, "Goodbye", was released in October, which peaked at No. 33, almost three years after the first single.[9] During November that year the band embarked on its first major tour, 2007: A Spaced Out Odyssey, the five dates began on 9 November at the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre and ended on 17 November at Sydney's Hordern Pavilion.[22][23] The September 2009 version of the tour also included international shows in Auckland, London, Madrid and Barcelona.[24]
2008–2010: 2[edit]
At the beginning of 2008, Sneaky Sound System began work on their second studio album, 2, which appeared on 16 August 2008 and became their first number-one album.[9][19] On 12 July 2008 Sneaky Sound System released the first single from the album, "Kansas City", which peaked at No. 14.[9] Their second single, "When We Were Young", was released on 15 November, which reached No. 46 on the ARIA Physical Singles chart and No. 16 on their Dance Chart.[25]
Controversies[edit]
Albury Hotel Incident[edit]
In late 2007 Sneaky Sound System performed in Albury for Groovin' the Moo music festival and stayed overnight at the Chifley Hotel.[54] After their stay however they were accused of having left the room in a damaged state, with hotel management claiming that they had "smashed" a bed, covered walls in graffiti and ripped flyscreens off the windows. The damage bill was reportedly $1,000.[55] The following day the local newspaper ran this story as front-page news, despite a historic win in the Australian federal election for the Labor Party the day previously. The band's management responded, confirming that a crew member was fired over the incident and claimed that the band itself had no knowledge of the incident.[56]
A few months later, Mitchell was participating in an interview with British music magazine TNT and was questioned about the incident. She repeated sentiments that the event had been blown out of proportion, claiming: "Albury–Wodonga had only one hotel and relied on sheep-shearing", suggesting that it was a case of a small country town looking to stir up drama and grab the spotlight. These comments were published and made their way back to residents of the regional centre who took issue with this mischaracterisation, as the town at this point had more than a dozen hotels and a varied economy, acting as a centre for tertiary education, manufacturing and tourism.
Mitchell put out an apology to the residents of Albury, which read: "It seems we have really set off on the wrong foot. I apologise unreservedly for the negative comments that were published in the TNT magazine in Britain. It was never my intention to upset anyone and I truly regret this situation. I hope we can get over this hurdle, you can accept my apology and we can get back on the right foot."[57]
She also hit back at the initial accusations, claiming that the Chifley Hotel had admitted to, and apologised for, spreading misinformation about the original event. In a statement to the local newspaper The Border Mail, Julia Davis (the band's booking agent) corroborated this: "There is a group of bands who… take a painting off the wall at every hotel they stay at and draw a painting behind it... It's like a cult thing."[57] Many residents, including Albury's Mayor, Stuart Baker, were satisfied by this apology with some expressing that the town's response to the perceived reckless behaviour was counterproductive.[58]
Awards and nominations[edit]
AIR Awards[edit]
The Australian Independent Record Awards (commonly known informally as AIR Awards) is an annual awards night to recognise, promote and celebrate the success of Australia's Independent Music sector.