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SNEAKY SOUND SYSTEM
Starting
out as hosts of one of Sydney's hottest parties in late 2001, by 2007
Sneaky Sound System had become one of Australia's most popular dance/pop
recording artists.
Angus
McDonald met Daimon Downey at a fancy dress party Sydney's Fox Studios.
Angus was one of about ten people dressed as mariachi musicians when a
bored Daimon snatched Angus' toy flute. Two weeks later they met again and
exchanged numbers. When a flatmate described a guy she'd just met Angus
knew exactly who she was talking about and gave her Daimon's number. Then
Angus invited Daimon to MC at a gig he was DJ-ing. He'd never done anything
like that before but was up to the challenge, and borrowed a friend's
microphone. Soon he was also one of Angus's flatmates.
Next
they hatched a plan to start a regular Sunday night as a friend's fancy new
club. DJ Black Angus would spin double decks with Damien Hesse while MC
Double D was doing whatever he wanted at the microphone while a few live
musicians dropped in now and again. At Sneaky Sundays Sneaky Sound System
was born. Adding aspects of caberet - at one stage they had a a girl come
out of a clam and dance - they pioneered a new form of clubbing for
Sydney's in-crowd, and ultimately established a strong following. Their
appeal among film, music, hospitality and fashion industry folk, meant that
Sneaky Sundays are often brimming with trendsetters. Sneaky Sound System
themselves were often spied at parties in their matching white suits. They
ended up playing all the big festivals, as well as every club up and down
the east coast before disappeared from the social pages while they focused
on producing their debut album on their label, Whack.
'Other
People's Music' was released through Sony in 2003. Other members of the
band drifted off to do other things while Angus McDonald and Daimon Downey
hooked up with recording engineer/producer Peter Dolso. 'Other People's
Music' had been a live mix album. The plan now was to create their own
music. Two years into working on songs for a new album they felt they
needed a female singer and, by chance met Connie Mitchell in Sydney's Hyde
Park. That changed everything.
Connie
wasn't just a voice. She was an attention magnet. Once before Connie had
completely changed the course of a group's career. (refer Primary) Her two
album career with Primary went unnoticed, and the same might have happened
with Sneaky Sound System. The band did not have the budget for an initial
marketing blitz for the self-titled second album, so it took 12 months to
reach the ARIA top 10, on the strength of a succession of hit singles and
some lucky breaks, like securing the support act for Robbie Williams'
stadium tour.
At the
2007 ARIA Music Awards, nominated for several categories, Sneaky Sound
System won the Best Dance Release and Breakthrough Artist awards.
Connie
and success meant live performances, nationally and around the world,
culminating in an appearance at UK's Glastonbury Festival on the Dance West
stage on the 27th of June 2008. The follow-up album '2' was designed to
reflect the sound the band had evolved on stage. While on the self-titled
album Downey rapped and McDonald sang; on 2 there were no male vocals apart
from a handful of vocoder-treated refrains. 'Miss' Connie had thrust to the
forefront,
2009 was
spent on stage, at home and around the world, promoting their music in
Europe and America, including a performance at the prestigious, legendary
Glastonbury Festival. In September
2009, it was announced that Daimon Downey, aka MC Double D, was leaving
Sneaky Sound System to pursue other interests. The band plans to continue in its current
form without him.
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