DETAILS

BAND MEMBERS:
Todd Stewart - Lead Vocals and guitar.
Noel Manning - Guitar and Vocals
Paul McNeill – Drums and percussion
Shaun McCready - Bass and Vocals

GENRE
Originals and Covers Hard Rock

CONTACT:
WEBSITE and FACEBOOK

BIO

THE BEND:
The Bend is a four piece rock band based in the Hunter Valley NSW.

The seeds for the band were laid in early 2011 with the concurrent dissolving of Noel Manning’s popular cover band Final Warning and Shaun McCready and Paul McNeill’s Heavy Metal project Goliath Asylum. Shaun had played with Final Warning on a part-time basis the year before when their long time four stringer needed leave. Noel saw this as an opportunity to create something new, meeting with Shaun and Paul for what was to be a “jam and a bit fun”.

The trio immediately started jamming and played a few parties, however something was missing. Enter Todd Stewart. A County singer in his own right, with constant radio play of his single “Rodeo Town” and a former bandmate of Noels’, he was looking for “an outlet that would let me hit the distortion pedal a bit more”. And THE BEND was formed, they have since been writing, jamming and playing non-stop since mid 2011, hitting venues as far south as Woy Woy and as far north along Eastern NSW as Tamworth.

Taking hints from grunge giants Alice in Chains, The Bend uses three vocalists to create harmonies. Although Todd is defiantly the ‘Front Man’ he opens the songs up allowing both Noel and Shaun to play to their singing strengths and not limit them to the traditional ‘backing vocalist’ role.

The rhythm section of The Bend consist of Shaun and Paul. Both have a passion for the extreme counting bands such as Machine Head and Slipknot as their favourite ‘easy listening’ bands. Taking the lead from this style of music and applying it to the Pub Rock setting, The Bend have created a strong, focused dynamic rhythm section which has all but eliminated the need for the ‘traditional’ rhythm and lead guitarist. This allows both Todd and Noel to explore the melody, harmony and feel of the song through their guitars.

This style of playing has been transposed into The Bends growing catalogue of original material where Todds’ love of Australiania is combined with Noel’s catchy riffing and added to a technical rhythm section creating songs that are complex without alienating ‘non-musos’, dynamic and yet catchy. With musical influences ranging from Slim Dusty to Slipknot, Cold Chisel to Credence, Mendel to Motorhead, and experienced musicians who have played in Blues, Rock, County, Folk and Metal bands - The Bend takes their combined love of Pub Rock and passion for their own individual musical taste and melds it into something of their own, covering, and adding their own personal touches to, bands such as Credence, Rolling Stones, Rose Tattoo, Black Keys, The Angles, AC/DC, The Screaming Jets, The Georgia Satellites, Fuel, Dragon, Elton John, The Eagles, Cold Chisel …

The Bend
UP FRONT
Todd Stewart - Lead Vocals and guitar.
Also plays: Drums, bass, harmonica, didgeridoo
Favourite music: varies “depending on my mood”.
Major writing influence: John Williamson
Previous Bands: 23TEN, Final Warning
Current Bands: The Todds Duo, Solo Artist and of course The Bend
Achievements: Released Solo EP 'Australian Made' produced by Bill Chambers, with nation-wide airplay of 1st single "Rodeo Town"
Competitions: Toyota Star Maker Grand Finalist, Maton Talent Search Grand Finalist (Winner of Traditional Country & 2nd in Country Rock), Brand New Star Grand Finalist
Major Performances: Newcastle Foreshore NYE, TREC (Tamworth Entertainment Centre), Tamworth Country Music Festival, Gympie Music Muster QLD, Central Coast Country Music Festival

Noel Manning - Guitar and Vocals
Also plays: Bass, keyboard
Other job: Live Mix
Favourite music: Aussie Rock
Major writing influence: Ian Moss
Major playing influence: Eddie Van Halen
Previous Bands: Grounds for Divorce, Final Warning
Major Performances: Newcastle Foreshore NYE

IN THE BACK
Paul McNeill – Drums and percussion
Also plays: Bass, keyboard, guitar, clarinet
Other Job: Studio mixings, production
Favourite music: Van Halen, Placebo
Previous Bands: Goliath Asylum, Jessica Cain, Session Drummer
Major Performances: Sydney Opera House Concert Hall

Shaun McCready - Bass and Vocals
Also plays: Guitar, harmonica
Other Job: Manager, promo
Favourite music: Opeth, Motorhead
Major writing influence: Katatonia, Alice in Chains
Major playing influence: Lemmy, Mike Inez, Martin Mendez
Previous Bands: Grounds for Divorce, Goliath Asylum, Jessica Cain