Sforzando are a

Celtic music Celtic music is a broad grouping of music genres that evolved out of the folk music traditions of the Celtic people of Northwestern Europe. It refers to both orally-transmitted traditional music and recorded music and the styles vary considerab ...

band from Australia, that combine elements of punk, Western European folk music and sea shanties to create "a soundscape for the ocean". They describe themselves as a "pirate orchestra" with Irish and Balkan influences in their sound. They issued two studio albums, ''We Sail Away'' (1997) and ''Hideous Sea Creatures'' (2002) and various other recordings including SF-EP and Midnight at the Lighthouse (live).

History

Sforzando formed in 1995 in Melbourne by Quincy Hall on lead vocals, Dave O'Reilly on lead guitar, his sister, Karen O'Reilly, on bass guitar and Ross on drums. The group's name, ''sforzando'', is used in musical notation to indicate that the following note should be played loudly (see dynamics). They chose this to match their loud, frenetic punk rock style. In 1999 they performed at the Lighthouse Cafe, during the Port Fairy Folk Festival, which was recorded for their live album, ''Midnight at the Lighthouse'', with the line-up of Hall, Scott Jansen, Stuart Mathieson, Dave O'Reilly, Karen O'Reilly, Raju Sharma and Paul Tierney. By 2002's album, ''Hideous Sea Creatures'', they were a six-piece and self-described as a "pirate orchestra who blend ferocious punk, Western European folk melodies and classic sea shanties to create a soundscape for the ocean." Sylvia Gauci of ''Vibewire'' caught their gig in August 2002 at The Tote in Collingwood; she felt they "played a wide selection of both more traditional, folk-inspired tunes along with the fast punk and vivacious violin playing. But on top of the musical fun, lead singer Quincy used some time to voice his opinion on the highly questionable state of our government and foreign affairs – a very commendable use of time talking to the audience." By 2006 the line-up was Hall on lead vocals, Sharma on percussion, Jansen on violin, Tierney on drums, Dave O'Reilly on guitar and Garth Heron on bass guitar.

Members

* Quincy Hall – vocals * Garth Heron – bass guitar * Scott Jansen – violin * Dave O'Reilly – guitar * Karen O'Relly – bass guitar * Raju Sharma – percussion * Ben Tarpey – bass guitar * Paul Tierney –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

* Sharon Ryan – guitar * Wez Rowe –

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...

Discography

Albums

* ''We Sail Away'' (Mabuhay Records, 1997) (MBR00004) * ''Midnight at the Lighthouse'' (πR8, 1999; live at Port Fairy Folk Festival) Note: Swedish label, Nosag, released the album in 2000. * ''Hideous Sea Creatures'' (Sound Vault, 2002)

Extended plays

* ''SFZ.ep'' (Sforzando, 2005) (1698249)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sforzando Victoria (Australia) musical groups Folk punk groups Australian punk rock groups