Wayne Paul Connolly is an Australian music producer, audio engineer and musician. From 1991 to 1997 Connolly played lead guitar and sang in guitar group The Welcome Mat and released two studio albums. Since 1994, he has played in Knievel with Tracy Ellis and Nick Kennedy. Knievel have released four studio albums and a compilation of B-sides and rarities.
Career
Musician
Connolly formed The Welcome Mat in 1990 with Cory Messenger on vocals and guitar, Pete Bennett on drums (ex-Fiction Romance) and Dave Moss on bass guitar.[1] Leo Mullins (of The Benedicts) replaced Moss on bass guitar in 1991.[1] They released two albums Gram (1993) and Lap of Honour (1996) before disbanding in 1997.[1] Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane says, "[they] started out as a chirpy, jangly guitar pop outfit before heading in a tougher, though still melodic and harmony-laced, power pop direction."[1]
In 1994 Connolly formed Knievel on lead guitar and vocals with Tracy Ellis (ex-Oliver) on bass guitar and Nick Kennedy (ex-Templebears, Big Heavy Stuff) on drums.[1] The group have issued four studio albums, We Fear Change (1995),[2]Steep Hill Climb (1997),[3]The Name Rings a Bell That Drowns out Your Voice (2000)[4] and Emerald City (2012)[1] as well as a B-sides and demos compilation No One's Going to Understand in My Way. Knievel achieved rotation on national youth radio Triple J with several singles, toured locally and internationally, and supported bands such as Luna, Teenage Fanclub, and Death Cab for Cutie.
In the early 1990s he took a job managing Paradise Studios for rooART,[5] 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.
From 2007 to 2015, Connolly worked largely from his own studio within the Albert Music[6] premises in Sydney where he housed his restored Neve 8026 desk. Since 2016 he has worked extensively at Hercules Street Studios in Sydney and at the newly refurbished Music Farm Studios in Byron Bay.
In 1992, Connolly produced the Underground Lovers album, Leaves Me Blind, and subsequently received Rolling Stone magazine's Best Australian Record award.[5] 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,[8][9] and Engineer of the Year for his work on Paul Dempsey's "Fast Friends" in 2010.[10]
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"
2023 – ARIA Engineer of the Year for The Teskey Brothers, "The Winding Way"
References
^ abcdefMcFarlane, Ian (2017). "Encyclopedia entry for 'The Welcome Mat'". The Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop. Jenkins, Jeff (Foreword) (2nd ed.). Gisborne, VIC: Third Stone Press. pp. 508–509. ISBN978-0-9953856-0-3.
^"Wayne Connolly | Credits". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 18 September 2022. Retrieved 19 September 2022. Note: incorrectly gives composer credit for US folk group, Beers Family's Season of Peace (1971). It is a different Wayne Connolly.
^"17th Annual ARIA Awards". Australian Recording Industry Association. Archived from the original on 22 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'.
