The Vazey Collective 

Music for all ages

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Our Story

We've loved every minute of our journey

An Idea is Born

Former founding member and Drummer for The Glocks, Rob Vazey decided to leave the band mid 2016 to focus on a solo project. With enough songs written for an Album, Rob decided to invite a friend Davy Mac from the rock band Red Light Runners  (RLR) over in April 2016 to see what he thought of a few songs he had written.
Davy immediately picked up a guitar and started putting some Ideas into the mix and that was it. 
From there the idea of making an album was born, and Rob, Davy got to work with Jesse Wilde in his new studio  (Studio 38) based in Auckland City.
   

Studio Time

In October 2016 Rob met up with Davy and Jesse in Studio 38 and he played all the songs on guitar. over the following few months the three laid down the guide tracks ready for recording the Album. Rob decided to use Sofi Elijah Alexander-pua on the drums for the whole album to which Sofi smashed all tracks out in a single sitting. Carl Win was then brought in for Bass guitar and Davy Mac completed the rythym guitar while Rob added touches with guitar & picking.

A Mixture

With the backbone completed the next step was to find the man to add the punch!  John Kemp with his skillful and dynamic guitar licks and solos was the man to take the songs to the next level.  With punchy solos on Home and Running to you, it's without doubt John was the right man for the job. Adding other instruments to complement the overall grove were harmonica by Midge Marsden, piano by Andrew Ishee, shakers and some ukulele to see the songs come alive.


Completion

Finding the right vocalist's is never easy but TVC found something special in Antony Pickard (Ants), he will blow you away. Ants grabbed each song and just new exactly what to do, taking the essence of the song and bringing them alive. TVC also managed to secure Karena West for the female vocals along with Caroline Chevin helping out with some backing vocals. The lyrics written by Rob Vazey are now blending through a music highway that needs to be revved up every now and then.
Enjoy!

Meet The Team

The Vazey Collective

Rob Vazey

Songwriter / Guitar
Producer
The founder of the TVC band, Rob Vazey first started in music in the mid to late eighties playing drums for a eight piece covers band in Auckland called Footsteps. 

After many years away from the music scene Rob came back as a founding member of Magpie Genocide in 2009 with Mike Froger and Ian Mac Kenzie, which ended up later being called "The Glocks". After recording an album and a couple of EP's and a few band member changes Rob Left the 'The Glocks" to start his new project "The Vazey Collective"

On the new TVC Album Rob wrote the music and lyrics and plays some guitar on the album along with producing the Album along side Davy and Jesse. 

Other than making music, Rob had represented NZ in Roller Hockey in many world Championships and international events spanning over 20+ years, before becoming head coach for the NZ Senior Men's Roller (Rink) Hockey Team. Which he  coached for 3-4 years. 

Rob also is a Speedway racing car driver racing a 410 V8 Sprint Car No 35a at the famous Western Springs Speedway Track in Auckland NZ.

Davy Mac

Guitar
Producer

Davy has been an original artist from the day he learnt 4 chords, he started writing & never looked back. After playing the guitar for 20+ years finding song writing & production to be his strength. Davy's first band INDIFFERENCE had been together for 15+ years we they toured the country relentlessly, ROCK N ROLL debauchery at its finest \m/ they still get together from time to time. 


Davy went from there to studying contemporary music and performing arts achieving a diploma from this his next band came together. BAD OLIVE they recorded their first single with Rikki Morris & video with Andrew Beattie. 


Davy's latest project RED LIGHT RUNNERS has been running for the past three years and are currently working on a new record which will be the third release for RLR. 


 they influences for Davy are the blues from the early 1900’s right through to current times as well as Punk, Metal, Jazz and contemporary music in its entirety. I am influenced by art as I am a genuine creative.


Outside of music Davy is a race car driver with many accolades to his name.


Jesse Wilde

Producer
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Jesse started playing guitar when he was 11 years old and since then has fronted many bands over the years including Acoustic Attitude, Fiesta Drive, Jesse Wilde and the Drive, Wilde and Taylor Americana. 

Jesse tracked down and fronted up to meet his major influences, Bob Seger, John 'Cougar' Mellencamp and Steve Earle. Jesse states that Bob Seger warned him that if he turned up on Steve Earle’s doorstep he was likely to shoot him. Jesse got a frosty reception but won him over in the end.

Jesse has played gigs in many places including LA, Chicago, Nashville, Texas, and New York. Jesse has produced many artists in NZ and continues to bring dreams alive in his Auckland Based Recording Studio, STUDIO 38. Jesse also contributes 10% of all proceeds to charity.

Some of Jesse’s studio clients/TV show guests he has worked with include Midge Marsden, Ricky Morris, Peter Warren(DD Smash), Malcolm Foster (Simple Minds & The Pretenders), Harry Lyon, Hammond Gamble, Ciaran Mcmeeken, Jackie Bristow, Jasper Hawkins, Tony Painting, Tama Renata (Herbs), Ariana Grande’s band and hundreds more.

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Sofi

Drums
Mr Rythm with his influencial style and flow, you may have noticed Sofi from bands:

2XL,

Chookpea, Nesian Mystik , Foxymoronz, Aunty's Garage, Bangers and Mashups, 3 blind mice, David Haslett Music, & Josh Leys.        

From the age of eight Sofi has been playing musical instruments starting with piano, guitar and bass before finding his soul in the drums. Outside of music Sofi loves cooking, painting telling dad jokes to his two kids and spending time with his family.

Carl Win

Bass Guitar

Carl is an Auckland based bass player, playing for 27 plus years, he has done numerous gigs and tours over this time throughout the country. 

Carl is a total gear head and loves the ever-evolving technology behind audio. 


Carl works in the professional audio field in sales and also conducts training on professional audio products uses and best practices.

Carl’s passion for recording music has seen him record many bands in his private studio over the last 15 + years, he also has a huge passion for location recording and has recorded many live performances for numerous bands.

Carl likes to take risks with his playing, and mostly plays 6 string Warwick basses. 


John Kempt

Lead Guitar
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Greg Mosen

Ukelele
Greg comes from the other side of music. Greg is a promoter and lover of all types of Music traveling the world looking for artists and listening to talent is what he loves best. 

Greg was the founder of Stampede a large Country Rock Based concert held in Auckland NZ in 2017 .This brought huge artists like 

selected Coyote Ugly star LeAnn Rimes and American Idol winner Scotty McCreery along with NZ artists Brendan Dugan, Gray Bartlett, Jodie Vaughan and Eddie Lowe as the ‘Legends’; along with Vodafone Music Award finalist Tamie Neilson and the ever-popular The Warratahs.


Greg on the side has a passion for playing the Ukelele and has played for a number of years. This is the first time Greg has recorded in a Studio.


Greg out side music is currently the manager of NZ's most famous Speedway track and events park Western Springs. Prior to this Greg managed huge events like the Pukekohe and Hamilton V8 Super Car rounds and the 50th anniversary of V8 Super Cars Bathurst Round to name a few

Antony Pickard (Ants)

Lead Vocals

Ants is a Christchurch based vocalists/guitarist who has played in many top bands over the years including, Wellington based band 'SLAM', Auckland based band 'KICK' and currently Christchurch bands Headrush and 'My Famous Friends'.

He has opened for bands like The Feelers, Exponents, Pointer Sisters, Op Shop including spending five years playing the music circuit in south East Asia and Europe working closely with musician over there.


Some of his musical influences would include bands like U2, The Cure, Nivana, Guns'n'Roses, Pearl Jam, Sound Garden, Foo Fighters, The Beatles, The Eagles to name a few.

Antony has been singing and playing guitar for over twenty years, he has also had a long and successful career in session work lending his voice to a large variety of jingles, ads and albums.


Andrew Ishee

Piano / Keys
Andrew began playing professionally at age 16 with the Dixie Echoes, a Southern Gospel group from Pensacola, Florida.  He then moved to Asheville, North Carolina to join the Kingsmen Quartet.  Since then Andrew has worked with many of the top Gospel recording companies and artists producing and playing piano on countless recordings. And today the Andrew Ishee solo music tour has spanned the length and width of the United States. 

In the arena of accolades: Andrew produced Palmetto State Quartet’s first “number one” charting Gospel song.  He has been a featured columnist for America’s largest Gospel Music publication, The Singing News Magazine, and is honored by the Gospel Music Association as a Hall of Fame inductee for his association with the Kingsmen Quartet.  Andrew was voted by the readers of The Singing News Magazine as one of Gospel Music’s Favorite Musicians for ten consecutive years.  The Southern Gospel Music Association has also recognized Andrew as one of the top five pianists in America.

Andrew’s network television appearances include INSP, TBN, The Nashville Network, CMT, GMT, Sky Angel, CBN, and World Harvest TV.  Andrew has performed on the Grand Old Opry television broadcast, and at the Country Music Hall of Fame. 
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Karena West

Vocals
Karena West grew up singing and listening to pop and country music. She made her way to Auckland to continue honing her singing skills at Excel. While at Excel she recorded a demo at a local Studio where her high range and vocal accuracy soon lead her to join the band "Foxymoronz". Karena has been on the covers scene for 6 years now playing Wedding's, corporate events and private functions. Her Idols include Carrie Underwood, Tori Kelly, Demi Lovato, Steel Panther and Beyonce.

Midge Marsden

Harmonica

Marsden's career spans four decades, and during that time he has played thousands of concerts in New Zealand and introduced several generations of New Zealanders to the blues. He was voted New Zealand Entertainer of the Year in 1990, and his 1991 album Burning Rain later went gold.

Marsden has toured the USA four times, and each time he has played with and befriended artists such as Little Willy Foster, Bobby Mack, Ronnie Taylor, and Australian Dave Boyle. He has encouraged all these artists to tour New Zealand, and thus broadened New Zealanders' appreciation of blues music. Marsden was a student at the University of Mississippi in 1996, from where he graduated with a Diploma in Southern Studies, and more recently he has tutored at Waikato Institute of Technology in "Bluesology".

In 2006 Marsden was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to music.

Marsden was a friend of Stevie Ray Vaughan; upon living in Texas at various times he would stay at Vaughan's house for months on end. He toured with Vaughan a few times, playing harmonica

Caroline Chevin

Backing Vocals

With the album Feel Real (Phonag) 2008 began her musical solo career. Back in the Days (Nation Music, 2010) marked another step in the maturity of the singer-songwriter. The single release remained around 80 weeks in the Swiss Airplay Charts. In March 2011, Caroline Chevin was awarded the Swiss Music Award for Best Breaking Act.[1]

Subsequently, Chevin signed with Sony Music, who released the third solo album Hey World on February 15, 2013, The 13 songs were written by Chevin in 2012 together with songwriter Sékou Neblett (Freundeskreis, Joy Denalane) and producer Philipp Schweidler (Seven, Marc Sway).

 
 

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