Wilf's Story 

I started learning drums and tuned percussion when I was 6 years old, playing in ensembles such as the Hampshire County Youth Brass Band and Hampshire County Youth Jazz Centre in which I was principal percussionist and principal drummer for numerous years. From my early teens I was gigging independently as a jazz vibraphonist for private functions and also in pit bands for musicals such as Chicago, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

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At 18, I moved to Birmingham to study jazz at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, being taught by some of the UK's finest jazz musicians including Jonathan Silk, Winston Clifford, Daniel Casimir, Orlando le Fleming, John Turville and Mark Hodgson. Whilst in Birmingham I have honed my craft as a versatile session drummer who can play in a huge variety of genres thanks to my jazz based education. 

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Currently, amongst many other artists, I am playing/recording drums for: Dystopia Gently, an experimental/art rock band which is releasing their debut single and more very soon, the Link Up Band: a session band that has worked with many artists in many genres including R&B, Afrobeats and Grime, and also my own jazz-rock fusion group the Wilf McKenzie Quintet which is releasing our debut album next month.

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As for my songwriting/producing, I have been writing music since I was a kid, but started writing songs in the rock/pop genre when I was 19. I quickly became fluent with Pro Tools in order to produce my own tunes. In late 2023, Karate Bandana, an indie rock band formed by me and my friends (other jazz musicians at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire), was founded in which I play lead guitar. We quickly began performing original material in which I brought a vast stylistic array of my songs to the group as well as making key songwriting suggestions and edits to other band members tunes as well. We are currently recording our debut EP in which 2 of my own songs are featured, where I am also performing lead vocals on, as well as 4 other songs which I have contributed key parts of the songwriting for, as well as co-producing the EP.

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There are many influences in my songwriting/production from a wide variety of genres I write in. Some of my biggest influences include: Sam Fender, Wunderhorse, The 1975, Tom Petty, The Smiths, The Police and Sabrina Carpenter (for my pop writing/production).