Wayne Connolly

Wayne Connolly is an Australian producer/engineer and musician. Throughout the 1990s, Connolly played in Sydney band, The Welcome Mat, with whom he released a series of critically acclaimed albums and EPs on the Waterfront Records, Regular Records and id/Mercury labels. In 1994, he formed Knievel^[1] with Tracy Ellis and Nick Kennedy, who went on to release five albums and a series of singles on various labels in Australia, the United States and Japan including Murmur (record label), Citadel Records and Albert Music. Knievel achieved high rotation on Triple J, toured locally and abroad, and supported acts such as Luna, Teenage Fanclub, Death Cab for Cutie and The Pernice Brothers.

Career

Production/audio engineering

Connolly has balanced his career as a performer with work as a producer and engineer for some of Australia's most successful and respected artists, including Josh Pyke, The Vines, Boy & Bear, Paul Dempsey, Youth Group and You Am I.

In the early '90s he took a job managing Paradise Studios for rooART,^[1] which put him in touch with emerging artists providing songs for the Youngblood compilation series. Among these were Underground Lovers, Glide, and Custard, all of whom formed working relationships with the producer. Production credits from the 1990s include Wahooti Fandango by Custard, Fill Yourself With Music by Screamfeeder, The Young Need Discipline, Lazy Highways and Future Spa by The Fauves, In Your Bright Ray by The Go-Betweens' Grant McLennan, and Sold by Died Pretty.

Since the early 2000s, Connolly has also worked with Neil Finn, Cloud Control, Dallas Crane, Sarah Blasko, Silverchair, Jimmy Barnes, The Living End, Grinspoon, Powderfinger, The Veronicas, Midnight Oil's Jim Moginie, Halfway (band), Dappled Cities, Old Man River, The Grates, Turnstyle and many more. Recent credits include albums for The Apartments, Community Radio, All Our Exes Live in Texas, Husky, Hungry Kids of Hungary, Knievel, Sounds Like Sunset and The Paper Kites.

Film and television

In addition to his work in the music recording industry, Connolly has produced work for film and television. His credits include Friday On My Mind (miniseries), The Kettering Incident, Love Child (TV series), The Black Balloon, Newcastle, Little Fish, Monkey Puzzle, Mullet, Willful and Dirty Deeds. The track, "When We Get There", produced for The Black Balloon, won best song at the 2008 AGSC/APRA awards.

Studio

From 2007-2015, Connolly worked largely from his own studio within the Albert Music^[2] premises in Sydney where he housed his restored Neve 8026 desk.

Awards

In 1992, Connolly produced the Underground Lovers album, Leaves Me Blind, and subsequently received Rolling Stone magazine's Best Australian Record award.^[1] The following year he engineered You Am I's fourth EP Coprolalia and their debut album Sound As Ever, alongside Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth. This album went on to win the 1993 ARIA for Best Alternative Release. He has received numerous ARIA nominations and awards for his work, including Producer of the Year for his work on Josh Pyke's Memories and Dust in 2007,^[3]^[4] and Engineer of the Year for his work on Paul Dempsey's "Fast Friends" in 2010.^[5]

1996 – ARIA Engineer of the Year for You Am I, Hourly Daily
2006 – ARIA Breakthrough Artist – Single for Youth Group, Forever Young
2007 – ARIA Engineer of the Year for Josh Pyke, Memories and Dust
2007 – ARIA Award for Producer of the Year for Josh Pyke, Memories and Dust
2010 – ARIA Engineer of the Year for Paul Dempsey, "Fast Friends"

Nominations

2006 – ARIA Producer of the Year for Youth Group, Casino Twilight Dogs
2006 – ARIA Engineer of the Year for The Vines, Vision Valley
2009 – ARIA Producer of the Year for Paul Dempsey, "Everything is True"

Select production credits

1991:

Youngblood 3 by Various Artists

1992:

Leaves Me Blind by Underground Lovers

1993:

Copralalia by You Am I

Sound as Ever by You Am I

1994:

Wahooti Fandango by Custard

The Young Need Discipline by The Fauves

1995:

Hi Fi Way by You Am I (selected tracks)

Higher Up The Firetrails by Bluebottle Kiss

Sold by Died Pretty

1996:

Hourly Daily by You Am I

Disappear Here by Glide

Future Spa by The Fauves

1997:

In Your Bright Ray by Grant McLennan

Steep Hill Climb by Knievel

1998:

Lazy Highways by The Fauves

Mud and Five Ways to Serve It by Flanders

Using My Gills as a Roadmap by Died Pretty

1999:

Sweeter than the Radio by Icecream Hands

King Autumn by Hoolahan

2000:

Everydaydream by Died Pretty

The Name Rings a Bell that Drowns out your Voice by Knievel

2001:

Size of the Ocean by Big Heavy Stuff

First Translated in 1965 by Ides of Space

Griffith Sunset EP by Evan Dando

2002:

Drag (EP) by Drag

2003:

Rarities by Silverchair

2004:

Dallas Crane by Dallas Crane

Skeleton Jar by Youth Group

The Truth About Love by David McCormack & The Polaroids

Dear Friends and Enemies by Big Heavy Stuff

Farewell To The Fainthearted by Halfway (band)

2006:

Factory Girls by Dallas Crane

Casino Twilight Dogs by Youth Group

Vision Valley by The Vines

Nervous Flashlights by The Fauves

Flame Trees by Sarah Blasko

Remember The River by Halfway (band)

2007:

Intermission: The Best of the Solo Recordings 1990–1997 by Robert Forster and Grant McLennan

The Bells Line by 78 Saab

Memories & Dust by Josh Pyke

2008:

When Good Times Go Good by The Fauves

Chimney's Afire by Josh Pyke

Easy Fever: A Tribute to the Easybeats and Stevie Wright by Various Artists (including Neil Finn, Jimmy Barnes and Iva Davies)

2009:

Zounds by Dappled Cities

Everything is True by Paul Dempsey

Ragged and Ecstatic (select tracks) by Yves Klein Blue

2010:

An Outpost of Promise by Halfway (band)

2012:

Taken for a Fool by Bears with Guns

Young North by The Paper Kites

Serious Magic by Community Radio

Emerald City/Through the Rainbow Dark by Knievel

2013:

Harlequin Dream by Boy & Bear

You're A Shadow by Hungry Kids of Hungary

States by The Paper Kites

Lemons by Woodlock

2014:

Labour of Love by Woodlock

Loneliness by Karise Eden

Echoes in the Aviary by Jane Tyrell

Broken Lines by Patrick James

We Could Leave Tonight by Sounds Like Sunset

2015:

Baby Blue by Noire

No Song, No Spell, No Madrigal by The Apartments

2016:

Look Now You're Cursed by Community Radio

Holograms by Why We Run

2017:

When We Fall by All Our Exes Live in Texas

Zone by Cloud Control

2018:

Jim Salmon's Lament by Perry Keyes

The Narrow Corner by Tim Hart

2019:

Data Dust by Ella Hooper

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Alberts (2012). "Wayne Connolly". Alberts. ALBERTS PTY LTD. Retrieved 2 September 2012.
^ "Home of Aussie rock still rolling". The Australian. News Ltd. Retrieved 2 August 2014.
^ "Winners by Award – Producer of the Year". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Retrieved 5 November 2016.
^ "17th Annual ARIA Awards". Australian Recording Industry Association. Archived from the original on 23 February 2004. Retrieved 5 November 2016. Note: User may be required to access archived information by selecting 'The History', then 'By Award', 'Producer of the Year' and 'Option Show Nominations'.
^ The Music Network (28 September 2010). "Angus & Julia, Connolly and Moyes win ARIA Artisan Awards". The Music Network. The Music Network. Retrieved 2 September 2012.

External links

[Alberts-1] Alberts (2012). "Wayne Connolly". Alberts. ALBERTS PTY LTD. Retrieved 2 September 2012.

[2] "Home of Aussie rock still rolling". The Australian. News Ltd. Retrieved 2 August 2014.

[Producer-3] "Winners by Award – Producer of the Year". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Retrieved 5 November 2016.

[ARIA_Awards_Pandora-4] "17th Annual ARIA Awards". Australian Recording Industry Association. Archived from the original on 23 February 2004. Retrieved 5 November 2016. Note: User may be required to access archived information by selecting 'The History', then 'By Award', 'Producer of the Year' and 'Option Show Nominations'.

[5] The Music Network (28 September 2010). "Angus & Julia, Connolly and Moyes win ARIA Artisan Awards". The Music Network. The Music Network. Retrieved 2 September 2012.

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