Player Profile

Name: Ben Ellingworth

Location: Sydney, Australia

Band / Artist / Projects: MM9, Chris Haskett Project

Brands Played: Yamaha, Sabian, Akai Samplers, Vic Firth Sticks

Biography

Ben's style with Sydney band MM9 (Many Machines on Nine) would be described as a hybrid mix of electro/dance rock.

His unorthodox setups including both acoustic and electronic drums, allowing him to create a fresh sound that has earnt him a reputation as one of Sydney's most innovative players.

MM9 has helped create a scene in Sydney that has inspired many bands to include electro, sample based music within the standard rock format.

Ben has received high acclaim for his performances right across Australia not only with MM9 but with many other artists such as Chris Haskett (Rollins Band), Carla Werner, Switchkicker, Kinetik Assassins, Lordz of the Fly and many others.

Through these live performances Ben has been a poular feature at some of Australia's largest drum festivals such as the Australian Drum Festival and the Roland V-drum expo.

Check out his recorded performances on:

Switchkicker - Method 2
Mm9 - Prosthetic blvd

Over the past 18 years Ben has studied with Milan Troha through the Billy Hyde Drumming Academy of Percussion. It was under the watchful eye of Milan that he entered and was a finalist at the '94 and '95 Drummers Playoff, an event he would later go on to organize and run as the events coordinator at Billy Hyde Drumcraft.

Ben's recently completed a new sound sample library for the one of the worlds most widely used drum sound replacement libraries - DRUMAGOG. He recorded at Electric Avenue, Camperdown, with US Producer / Engineer Rick Will, and Sydney Engineer Daniel Leftler.

Before moving across to Billy Hyde Drumcraft, Ben was the head Drum teacher at Sydney's Music Workshop for 5 years.
During his time at Billy Hyde Drumcraft he also contributed to Drumscene Magazines' quarterly editorial "Round Up".

Through Ben's combined experiences in performance, retail and more recently as a tech for Billy Hyde Stage Systems, he has gained a great knowledge of the instrument and has steadily built a name for himself as one of Sydney's most sought after drum technicians.

More Info

TV & FILM APPEARANCES - Performance, promotion and advertising

• MTV - The Lair - commercial, produced by MTV networks (March 2007)
• Jagermeister - commercial, produced by MTV Networks (November 2006)
• "F*!k this I'm Going to the Annandale" - DVD compilation of live performance (2006)
• Many Machines on Nine / Switchkicker video clip - aired on Rage ABC Television
• Pub Sports - pilot for Pay Television (2004)

FESTIVAL APPEARANCES

• Arrive Alive Festival
• Australian Drum Festival
• Auto Salon Lifestyle Expo
• Come Together
• Conception Day
• Drumming Up A Storm Drum Clinic
• DW Day
• Hardwars Indoors
• Metal Slam
• Newtown Festival
• Nokia Huge Air Festival
• The Pulse Festival
• Roland V-Drum Expo
• Royal Easter Show
• Shoreshocked
• Youth Week Festival

RECORDING CREDITS

• Prosthetic Boulevard, Many Machines On Nine (MM9)
• Self Titled EP, Many Machines On Nine (MM9)
• 17102, Switchkicker
• Method 2, Switchkicker
• Coming Home, Josh Ramsey
• Lakewood Drive, Sarah Aubrey
• Self Titled, Lost Husky
• Horses and Rollercoasters, Lofi Deluxe
• Brand New Day, Scott Collins
• This Is Not A Life Saving Device, Dat 65
• Keep Walking or I'll Kill You, Agnes Cain
• Self Titled, Susannah Stone

DRUM TECHNICIAN - Studio & Live drum technician

• Burt Bacharach
• Dionne Warwick
• Drumagog Sound Library
• Atomicide
• Sleepy Jackson
• Irrelevant
• Ash Hansen
• Switchblade
• One Shot Kill
• Transcending Mortality
• Stronger Than Hate
• The Black Stars
• Bonic
• Fish Fingazz
• Nobody Knew They Were Robots