Our Team
Kev - CEO
Kev is the founder of Sonic Academy, which he set up in Belfast in 2004 as a training facility for DJs and music technology enthusiasts and which has since become the premier facility of its kind in Ireland. A former drummer with one of Ireland’s most successful bands, The Divine Comedy, it wasn’t long before he dumped the drums in favour of decks and began DJing and promoting club nights between London and Belfast. Since then he has notched up appearances in Holland, France, Italy and Australia and played alongside some of the world’s best DJs from James Zabiela to Adam Freeland and DJ Dexter to Tiefschwarz. Kevin was awarded the Prince’s Trust Young Achiever of the Year Award in 2005 for his work in setting up Sonic Academy.
Phil - CTO
'Philter', chief nerd and creative cog in the Sonic wheel, has been making music and phiddling with knobs since he was 10 years old. He’s pretty much completed the entire A-Z of ‘How To Make It In the Music Business’, from running the music-technology hardware department of his local music shop to setting up various recording studios, record labels and being a member of numerous bands, to DJing and making a hit record (well, it went to No.43 in the UK charts – ouch!). A rekindled love of guitars, bass and drums has led Phil to an early retirement from the DJ world to concentrate on a more musical and collaborative path. Expect to hear some new stuff soon.
Graham - Head of Accredited Training
Apart from having a fancy title and looking after all our accredited courses, Graham presents various production courses on the Sonic website as well as overseeing in-house training at Sonic HQ in Belfast. He's an accomplished DJ and producer, has held down residencies and promoted various club nights in Belfast and has released a couple of five-star breaks records under the moniker Funkasaurus on labels such as iBreaks and Labrok. Over the years he's performed alongside the likes of Tiefschwarz, Jon Carter, Elite Force and SuperStyleDeluxe.
Gleave – Tutor
Gleave got started DJing at 14, when he won the NI DMC Mixing Championship, and now DJ Gleave (also sometimes known as Audio Rehab) brings heaps of experience and an impressive track record to his gig as a trainer at Sonic Academy. His top track releases thus far are Coast2Coast’s “Home” (2004) and “Fire Devil” on Detox Records. He’s worked with an array of artists including Sander Van Doorn, John O’Callaghan, 4 Strings, Jam & Spoon, Fergie ... the list could easily go on. His work’s been released on – among other labels – High Contrast, Reset, Detox, Spinnin, Armada, freefall, Excentric, Nebula, Nu Life, and Cold Harbour Recordings. Recent achievements include two hugely successful tours of Australia in the company of Cybergroove, Godskitchen and Paul Van Dyk, and he continues to play all over the globe.
Chris – Producer
Chris Agnelli (No. 65 of the Top 100 DJs in 2008) has been writing and producing dance music with Robbie Nelson since 1997. Their massive Balearic classics “El Nino” and “Everyday” have helped define the Ibiza sound with five UK top-thirty hits! Chris and Robbie have re-mixed major artists from rock legends U2 to dance music kings Ferry Corsten and Armin Van Burren. They have provided six guest mixes on BBC Radio One (including two live NYE specials) and appeared on Top of the Pops. Agnelli & Nelson produce music for Xtravaganza and under pseudonyms (Afterburn, Cortez) for labels such as Tsunami and ID&T. The Irish duo spin throughout the world from the U.S. to Japan, as well as regular dates around Europe and the UK.
Karl - Tutor
Karl made his start as an Irish DMC finalist in 1999, and went on to win the Mixmag/Mixitmoto NI DJ of the year and represent Northern Ireland in the final at the legendary Ministry of Sound in London in 2002. He studied music technology at Queens University Belfast, and joined the drum & bass act Spree as their turntablist. Spree were nominated in the Best Live Act category in the Knowledge Magazine awards. Along with Spree, Karl went on to perform a string of shows worldwide, across Asia and America, culminating in a performance at Glastonbury 2004. Since then, Karl has been concentrating on production; he was the first Apple-accredited Logic engineer in Ireland, and received his certification at the London School of Sound in 2006.
Paul - Presenter
Mr Hamill is another DJ/producer turned Sonic Academy recruit. He records and DJs under the moniker Psycatron as well as being resident at two of Ireland's finest clubs, Shine and The Stiff Kitten. He also presents the highly respected Across the Line dance show on BBC Radio which goes out live to the world from Belfast every Saturday night. For Sonic Academy, he creates and presents videos on DJing skills and high-end DJ products.
Nik - Tutor
Known in some quarters as 'Nik Mix-a-Week' for his prolific delivery of weekly mix tapes, Nik is one of Ireland's most popular turntablists and has played every club worth mentioning around the country, including Vicos, The Limelight, Sandinos, and at Ireland’s Oxegen festival. His main love is hip-hop but he plays everything from funk to dub, electro to disco, and all points between. He has supported a huge range of acts over the years, including So Solid Crew, Scratch Perverts, Arrested Development, Dexter (Avalanches), DJ Yoda, RJD2, Prince Paul, Glimmer Twins, J Live and Ugly Duckling. Recent developments for Nik include being signed to Cut La Roc’s label, Rocstar. His first release, “Scuffle”, has the music press raving. Nik currently delivers in-house training at Sonic Academy as well as doing video-editing for the website.
Bryan – Producer
When we call Bryan a Producer, it basically means he does a bit of everything, from lighting to sound and filming to editing (which kinda explains why his nickname is “Super Bry”). In his spare time he releases funky electro-house records under the moniker Discount Rhinos, primarily on his own label Sharpie Style Records. He's remixed the likes of Nelly Furtado and Gabriel & Dresden and appeared on labels like CR2, Ministry of Sound, EMI and Interoscope Geffen. His tunes can often be seen hitting the top ten on leading digital dance-music store DJ Download.com, along with a number one in Beatport’s Minimal House Chart to boot. He'll also do you a nice price on a rhino, if you're after a new one.
Louise – Marketing Manager
Louise, an avid hobbyist filmmaker, has experience in market research (among other bits and bobs) and worked for Google for over three years. It was there that she learned online marketing wizardry – and spent lunch hours mastering the art of Guitar Hero. Her favourite music to listen to can change when a new band gets her attention, but if in doubt she tends to fall back upon the reliable Led Zeppelin, Broken Social Scene, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs or Neil Young. Louise is responsible for finding ways to keep you guys involved and interested, as well as bringing everything Sonic Academy does to your attention. She’ll be keeping the Sonic blog updated with competitions, events, news, features, etc., and is always open to feedback.
Cathie - Office Manager
Cathie is our Office Manager and it’s her job to keep us creative types in check. Cathie’s into most types of music (except for heavy rock), but she says, “nothing beats dance music for a good night out and a boogie” - and if you saw her at our Christmas party, you’d know she means it!
