Australian Music Industry
Beeb Birtles developed a passion for music at a young age when his parents bought him a piano-accordion while growing up in Amsterdam. After emigrating to Australia with his family, Beeb started singing and playing bass in bands with friends from high school. This passion for music eventually...
Graeham Goble is a founding member, main songwriter and the architect of Little River Band’s sound. Graeham always had a deep and passionate love for songwriting! When he bought his first Banjo and was taking lessons, instead of practicing, he prepared songs he wrote to share with his teacher. He...
Joe Cecere established a small music school in 1967 in Southern Australia. As a teacher, he wanted to provide a safe and welcoming place for students at all levels to learn and appreciate music. Joe often provided meals for his students and even drove them to and from school so they wouldn’t miss...
Claudio Cecere grew up in the music store his father established in Southern Australia. He learned to play drums at an early age and started giving music lessons while still in school. His part time job with the store expanded and he soon realized he wanted to make a career of it, working side by...
Les Brazil’s first retail job was in Manchester, United Kingdom in 1966 when he was just 15, at a shop called Reno’s. Reno was a famous violin player that worked with the likes of Stephan Grapelli in the 30’s. After a few years of working at Reno’s, Les was also doing an apprenticeship as a welding...
Merv Cargill was the owner of Cargill Custom Guitars. After completing an apprenticeship in violin making he learned the finer details of building wooden instruments and became a qualified luthier. Merv made the old Australian brand of Pacific Guitars until he turned his hand to his own custom...
Philip Burn is currently the managing director of Hal Leonard Australia. He first commenced work for iconic Australian distributor, Rose Music, in 1976 (which in 1986 became Yamaha Music Australia) as a product manager, rising through the ranks to become General Manager in 1987, a position he held...
Vera May was the matriarch figure of the iconic Australian acoustic instrument maker Maton Guitars. Wife of the founder, Bill May, Vera worked in the business from 1954 until her retirement in 1987, organizing the administrative and financial aspects, while Bill built the guitars. The husband and...
Jody Whyte recalls fondly sitting in the family store as a child watching her grandfather repair pianos and then he would make banana pancakes for her. Those memories took on extra meaning after his passing and when her mother, Wendy Hutchings, asked if Jody would join her in the business and apply...
Peter Vogel and his schoolmate, Kim Ryrie, created the Fairlight Computer Musical Instrument (CMI) in 1975. The innovative computer based synthesizer helped revolutionize the music industry while providing cutting edge technology that allowed musicians to create and perform new sounds. Among the...