Artists 
Steve Fisher
Steve Fisher is a very accomplished drummer/percussionist and demonstrator. As a musician, Steve’s background includes playing with Dizzy Gillespie, Tom Scott, Blood, Sweat & Tears, The Temptations, as well as many TV/radio commercials and movie soundtracks.
As a professional drummer, Steve has been instrumental in many design aspects of Roland V-Drums for the last 20 years including the concepts, mesh heads, V-Pads, hardware, features and sound design – earning him the nickname ‘Mr. V-Drums’.
A member of the Roland research and development team, Steve is still involved with the concept, design, programming, and performance of Roland’s electronic percussion and has traveled throughout the world demonstrating Roland electronic percussion.
Don’t miss your chance to meet Steve Fisher and see the range of Roland V-Drums demonstrated by the man who helped develop them.
Johnny Rabb
Every time Johnny Rabb has performed in Australia, he has been met with rapturous applause. Whilst he used to be widely known as the world’s fastest drummer, more recently he has gone to become an award winning drummer, producer, author and educator.
Johnny’s new business ventures include an online teaching system, a new series of signature drumsticks, intensive one-day drum training seminars, programming drum kits for Roland V-Drums and BioDiesel.
His book, the Official Freehand Technique, has captivated the drummers around the world and details how to perform drum rolls with one hand.
BioDiesel
BioDiesel are a musical duo that exist in the razor thin space between band and dj, synthetic and human, man and machine.
On one end you have drumming legend Johnny Rabb—pioneer of freehand technique, who has performed and given clinics the world over. Johnny is recognized as an inventor, author, educator and the original World’s Fastest Drummer.
Add Clay Parnell, who is known throughout North America as bassist for Brothers Past (one of the premiere bands blending rock and electronic music), and you get the environmentally friendly BioDiesel.
At the V-Drum Festival don’t miss BioDiesel perform their unique blend of ‘Intelligent Dance Music’. Their mission to save the world one show at a time continues…
Chris Whitten
Chris Whitten made a name for himself providing drums for the classic hits ‘What I Am’ by Edie Brikell and The New Bohemians and ‘The Whole Of The Moon’ by The Water-boys.
He cemented his place as one of the World’s top drummers with two critically acclaimed projects in the early 90′s; Paul McCartney’s ‘Flowers In The Dirt’ album and subsequent record breaking World tour, and Dire Straits 18 month ‘On Every Street’ tour (1991-92).
Chris has also recorded with such varied artists as Tom Jones, Johnny Cash, Julian Cope, World Party, Swing Out Sister and The Pretenders.
Taking a break from drumming, Chris spent most of the 90’s and early 2000’s writing music for film and television, scoring major series for the BBC, C4 (UK) and Discovery (USA). This spawned an interest in music software and sampling.
Working with record producer Peter Henderson (Supertramp, Rush and McCartney), Chris released a CD of sampled drum loops in 2001; ‘Monster Beats’ (Zero-G) and three virtual drum instruments for Swedish company Toontrack; EZdrummer ‘EZX Vintage Rock’ (2006), ‘EZX The Classic’ (2011) and Superior ‘SDX Custom & Vintage’ (2009).
In 2005, Chris moved from London to Sydney, Australia. As well as studio work, Chris has been playing live again. Reuniting with old friends World Party, Chris toured North America over Summer 2006 and again in 2007, this time supporting Steely Dan around Australia and New Zealand.
Ben Gillies
Ben Gillies has taken time out of his busy schedule and agreed to be Special Guest Judge at the finals of the V-Drums Contest, which will take part of the main stage at 4pm. A panel of experts, including Ben Gillies and Johnny Rabb, will see the best six Roland V-drummers from Australia and New Zealand go head-to-head in a live onstage battle.
The winner will go on to represent Australia & New Zealand in the V-Drums International Finals, held at the NAMM Show (Anaheim, California) next year.
Gary France
Originally from New York, USA, Gary France received his Master of Music degree (Orchestral Performance / Jazz) from the University of North Texas.
Since moving to Australia, he has been regularly employed by peak music bodies such as the Australian Youth Orchestra and the Australian National Academy of Music to tutor developing percussionists. His former students now hold prominent positions as performers, educators and executives in the music industry both here in Australia and abroad.
Gary has performed with orchestras, ensembles and a diverse range of artists, including James Morrison, Dale Barlow, Australian Chamber Orchestra, Canberra Symphony Orchestra, West Australian Symphony Orchestra, Nova Ensemble, West Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestras, and many more.
Since 1998 Gary France has coordinated and nurtured the Australian National University percussion program.
Joe Accaria
Joe Accaria graduated from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music in 1993 with an honours degree in Music and Education, majoring in contemporary and orchestral percussion.
Since then he has performed and recorded extensively throughout Australia, Europe, Asia, Africa, Central & South America and the USA. He has appeared on numerous TV shows, presentations and movie soundtracks.
Joe Accaria has become one of Australia’s most hardest working and in-demand percussionists, performing with theatrical productions like Smoke & Mirrors, Tap Dogs and David Campbell’s ‘On Broadway’.
His touring and recording credits include artists as diverse as Andrea Bocelli, Cyndi Lauper, Smokey Robinson, Jimmy Little, Tripod and Ian Moss.
Lucius Borich
Lucius has been playing music since the age of 3, and his career was kick-started when, at age 12, he was invited to perform alongside his famous father Kevin in The Party Boys.
Since then, Lucius has played both bass and drums at a professional level, developing a deep understanding about the finer points of a band’s rhythm section. He has forged a reputation as one of Australia’s finest and flexible drummers, stemming from his performances with FloatingMe and COG.
Fresh from the DrumScene Live Australian tour, don’t miss Lucius’s performance at the V-Drum Festival.
Graham ‘Buzz’ Bidstrup
Buzz has been actively involved in the Australian entertainment industry for over 35 years as a musician, songwriter, music producer and artist manager.
He joined The Angels in the mid 70′s, recording four albums and co-writing/co-producing songs including their biggest hit “No Secrets”. During the 80’s Buzz co-founded 2 other legendary bands, The Party Boys and GANGgajang. Since then, he has also produced over 50 albums, recorded and/or played on soundtracks for many major Australian feature films and TV series and can be heard on many hit records, including Australian Crawl’s “Reckless”, Jimmy Barnes’ “No Second Prize” and Richard Clapton’s “Solidarity”.
Today, Buzz is the CEO of the Jimmy Little Foundation, using music to engage school children and promote healthier living in remote communities through the Thumbs up! program. The Jimmy Little Foundation mission is to create a healthier future for Indigenous Australians www.jlf.org.au
Mal Green
Mal Green has over 40 years experience in the music industry. He was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame for his work as drummer with Split Enz, playing on many of their hits including I Got You, I See Red, and History Never Repeats.
He started playing professionally at the age of 16 and has since recorded and toured with a diverse mix of musicians; James Blundell, Dave Warner, Dave Skinner (Roxy Music), Allan Caswell, Martin Celia (The Atlantics), Steve Flack (Guitar Heroes), The Hippos, The Henrys (Canada), Nigel Gavin (Robert Fripp), Rick Robinson, Chris Bailey, (The Angels), Steve Hunter, Peter Blakeley and Gumbo Fever.
In 2007, Mal designed and built Green Sound Music, a high-end professional studio. It’s an ideal environment with natural light for singer songwriters and musicians to work on their projects, masters or demos.
David Stratton
David Stratton is one of Australia’s leading bassists, playing recording sessions, TV shows, music theatre and supporting many international and local artists for over 25 years. He has performed or recorded with artists as diverse as Kylie Minogue, Jose Feliciano, Patti LaBelle, Barry Manilow, Olivia Newton-John, Randy Brecker and Trisha Yearwood.
Currently playing in Mary Poppins, recent shows include Wicked, Billy Elliot, The Lion King, Mamma Mia and The Producers. He played on The Midday Show, a live national daily TV show for 10 years and was also Head of Contemporary Studies at the Australian Institute of Music for 9 years. David was honoured to act as Assistant Musical Director for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. He holds Master of Arts (Honours), Assoc. Diploma of Jazz Studies and Diploma of Teaching qualifications.
Simon Ayton
Simon Ayton is the V-Drums Specialist & Media Production Manager for Roland Australia. He has performed as a drummer throughout Australia, USA and Europe and created music for film, radio, television and international artists since 1991.
