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 doule 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 ultimateley 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 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.