[vocals + rhythm guitar]
Brad has toured the world with the international singing group The Ten Tenors. He has performed at the 2004 AFL Grand Final, and the 2004 Brisbane Jazz and Blues Festival. Onstage, he has held lead roles in such musicals as Rent, Into the Woods, Sweeney Todd, Jesus Christ Superstar, and Kiss Me, Kate. He is also a singer/songwriter and has performed alongside Bernard Fanning, Pete Murray, Rob Guest, and David Hobson. myspace.com/bradleymccaw
[lead guitar + bv]
Brad bloody-well loves the guitar. He has been playing it ever since he saw Alvin the Chipmunk rocking out during Agro's Cartoon Connection in 1992. Since then, he has never tired of it's endless ability to sound awesome in almost every context. Playing regularly in rock, jazz, latin and funk bands from the age of 14, he has performed at both the Woodford Folk and 2High festivals; as well as various originals venues all over Brisbane. Brad has now completed his studies in guitar through the Griffith Conservatorium of Music under James Sherlock and Jamie Clark. Recently, he performed alongside Bernard Fanning, and Pete Murray.
[keyboards + bv]
In 2001, at the age of 15, Daniel Grindrod was playing in Griffith University's Young Conservatorium Jazz Ensemble under the direction of José McLaughlin. Studying under Stephen Newcomb and Louise Denson, he graduated from the Queensland Conservatorium of Music with a Bachelor of Music (Jazz Piano) in 2007. Daniel plays professionally throughout Brisbane and is currently completing a Masters in Composition at QUT.
[bass guitar + bv]
Before graduating from the Queensland Conservatorium of Music in 2007, Steele established himself as one of Brisbane's go-to bassists. He has recorded two live albums with the Brisbane Contemporary Jazz Orchestra, played sell-out shows at The Zoo with electro-pop band The Shuttle Wreckers, as well as playing support to The Angels. Steele is currently based between Brisbane, Australia and Boston, United States where he has a scholarship to study at Berklee College of Music. Recently, he played alongside Bernard Fanning, and Pete Murray. myspace.com/digsteele
[drum kit]
Having studied under Grant Collins, David Quinn, and Jeffery Jarrot, Chris was the principle percussionist in Griffith University's Young Conservatorium Symphony and Wind Orchestras, a member of the Contemporary Percussion Ensemble, and lead drummer in the Big Band led by Steve Newcomb. In 2007, he was accepted into the Conservatorium's Bachelor of Music (Jazz Drums) program. Chris is now studying under drummers Ken Edie and Paul Hudson.
The Suits are a new generation of covers band for a new generation audience. With a repertoire based closely on the incredibly popular Triple J Hottest 100 countdowns – the most popular songs of each year, as voted by the Australian public – they bust out a large majority of tunes from the dominating Australian artists of today, as well as revisiting great rock songs of the 90’s and 2000’s.
For a complete listing of the Triple J Hottest 100 countdowns, click here.
The idea of a covers band that, when asked to play some Aussie rock, looks past 'Khe Sanh', at first seemed preposterous. However, after playing on the Brisbane covers scene for the majority of 2007, bassist Steele Chabau noticed that almost every covers band out there had very similar, if not exactly the same, set lists. These, more often than not, included 'Hotel California', 'Sweet Home, Alabama', and either 'Moondance' or 'Brown Eyed Girl' (or both). Despite being great songs, they became virtually inescapable. You would usually have one of two choices: go to a pub and hear the same songs over and over, or go to a pub and hear an originals band playing songs you've never heard before and will probably never want to hear again.
A need for a third option arose. The requirements were simply this: the audience should know the lyrics, and at the same time be surprised that they still do. Finding music that was both popular with Australian audiences and hasn't been played to death became the next challenge.
"Popular music that hadn't been played to death... There are a lot of songs on Australian radio that hadn't been played to death. What about 'The Macarena'? Although, I suspect that it hasn't been played for an entirely different reason." This scene became a semi-permanent resident of Steele's mind for a few days, until he came across a compilation CD in his iTunes folder - Triple J's Hottest 100 Volume 6. Normally, he would have skipped anything connected with Triple J (he's more of a Triple M fan) but something wasn't right. Not only did he know the lyrics to most of the songs, he was surprised that he did...
Working together in numerous different combos on the Brisbane jazz circuit, Steele teamed up with guitarist Brad Parker and keyboardist Daniel Grindrod.
At the time, Dan was playing in the Starlight Theatre Company's production of Songs for a New World, where he and drummer Chris Vale formed a tight bond - a valuable asset for any musician. With Chris on board filling out a powerhouse rhythm section, The Suits were 4/5ths of the way to success. Steele, who was living in the United States at the time, made a single 3am international phone call (shudder) and, without much convincing at all, was able to secure a singer/songwriter, Brad McCaw. And so it began...
