Born in Sydney in 1962, Tony is regarded as one of Australi´s most creative and adventurous musicians and composers, with vast experience across the globe. He has been involved in a highly diverse array of projects, but is probably best known as the leader of hardcore/impro band Peril and as a member of Australian tri The Necks.
Spending his early musical life experimenting rock and jazz, he graduated from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music at 20, and went on to play with some Australia´s most respected musicians and bands, often finding himself performing with visiting American Jazz stars, appearing on TV with leading Pop bands and mixing noise styles in underground clubs within the same week. Since around 1990 however, he has concentrated on mainly special personal projects.
Following a year spent in Japan, where he formed Peril with Otomo Yoshihide and Kato Hideki, Tony moved to Europe and has become deeply involved in many aspects of the European music scene. Focusing on the integration of sampling electronics and percussion within an improvising context, he has developed a personal ”virtual” MIDI controlling instrument at STEIM in Amsterdam, which he often utilizes in solo performances.
He has recorded over 80 of his own compositions; production & co-composition credit on around 15 releases and has performed on at least another 30 or so, including ARIA and APRA award winners. He has composed over a dozen pieces for dance and theatre and his music has been featured in a number of films, including, with The Necks, the soundtrack fro the feature film ”The Boys”. He has performed at many international festivals including Roskilde, Moers, Musique Actuelle (Victoriaville), Nancy (France), Pori, Montreux, Montreal, North Sea Jazz, Time of Music (Viitasaari), Nickeldorf, and Womad.
Tony has played, toured and recorded with, among others: Jon Rose, Kletka Red, Machine for Making Sense, Ernie Watts, Tom Cora, Peter Brötzmann, Ne Zhdali, Johannes Bauer, Palinckx, Paul Lovens, Clifford Jordan, The Ex, David Moss, Ground Zero, Switchbox, Markus Stockhausen, Phil Minton, Nicolas Collins, Subrito Roy Chowdhurry, Aki Takase…