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Larissa McKay
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Larissa McKay
Genre: Pop, Rock
Region: Sydney, NSW
Members: Larissa McKay vocals + keys. I usually play with a band too- drums, bass, guitar and sax.
Sounds Like: Coldplay, Missy Higgins, Bonnie Rait
Influences: John Mayer, the beatles, sia

The story so far…

Larissa McKay is a self-starting musician.

At the age of 15 she began playing the family piano by ear, taught herself chords and wrote her first song in no time.

A few years later an ex boyfriend asked her to join the ranks of a jazz/funk band he had going called The Groove Syndicate. The band played at The Manly International Jazz Festival among other events and recorded an EP called Up Late. After fronting this seven piece ensemble, Larissa gained the confidence to give her songs a little life and began performing them around Sydney with drummer, Steve de Wilde. The pair won recording time and with the help of bassist, Andy Gray, they recorded larissa & the wild grey’s first EP, Soldier, in 2007.

Larissa began booking gigs for the band around Sydney, on both sides of the harbour, including The Hopetoun, The Excelsior, The Vanguard, The Supper Club, Manly Boatshed, residences at Newport Arms Hotel and The Novotel Hotel in Manly, and the Sydney Opera House’s Utzon Room.

Along the way guitar shreader, Pete Covington, joined the trio. His work features on the track called The Rain.

In honing her craft at countless shows across Sydney, Larissa in early 2009 recorded her first solo EP Just the Wind, produced by Mr. Percival. The EP has a stripped back, emotive vibe which showcases what makes Larissa McKay a successful artist – her warm and captivating voice and songwriting.

With the new EP hot in her hand, she took off the USA to perform at seven small-venue shows, all booked independently.

The selected solo shows - in New York City and Hollywood, concentrated on small, intimate venues best suited to her lyrical soft-rock sound. Her CV now includes an appearance at the famous/notorious Viper Room on Sunset Boulevard, where the film stars go out to play, two shows at The Bitter End, New York City’s best known and longest-running live rock venue, in the heart of Greenwich Village. Arlene’s Grocery and The Living Room in the East Village, NY, and Room 5 in LA.

Her shows on the compact US tour sparked interest from agents in the UK, South Africa and USA, but one meeting proved more significant than the others.

Since fortuitously meeting visiting English chap/ artist manager Keith Phillips in Wicked Willy’s next door to The Bitter End, Larissa has been booked for the Great Escape Festival in Brighton, England (Europe’s biggest emerging artist festival), and the legendary Troubadour in London.

Her move to London early next year is now being planned as she ambitiously tries to crack both the Australian and English markets.

Larissa recently received Honourable Mention in the 16th Annual World Song Contest for her track Ricocheted, a song she wrote about feeling disorientated when her and her sister were separated by the Tasman Sea.

She also recorded backing vocals on Bryan Estapa's latest album set for release early 2010. Sung and appeared in the video for soul/funk band Kid Confucius and is dipping her vocals in the dance scene.

Listen out for Larissa’s music on Australia’s national radio station Triple J – 105.7fm and Sydney’s number one independent radio station FBi 94.5fm. Music can also be purchased online through www.cdbaby.com and itunes or at live shows.

“I love playing solo because it gives my music some portability, allowing me to travel, take risks, play and learn with lots of different musicians, and to move forward, because selfishly I only have to worry about myself.”

“But I do really love the energy, mateship and support that comes with playing with a band,” McKay observes. “There's nothing like sharing that amazing high with people close to you. It's just that like anything, it’s easy to get comfortable so that’s why I mix it up. It’s more like a high wire act without a net for me and the audience."

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reviews

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The Rain
rating:  4/5
i dont agree with fog about the nasal vox? wtf? really pretty vocals and atleast on key pretty instrumentation and lyrics
triplej



The Rain
rating:  5/5
Great melody, great lyrics, nice vocal and piano. Well done Larissa.




The Rain
rating:  5/5
Nice instrumentation with the piano and guitars running over each other, but not getting in each others way. Glad it has been played on JJJ




Falling Away
rating:  5/5
I like the phrasing and honest lyrical content. It has integrity.
more reviews



This project is supported by the Australia Council, the Australian Government’s arts funding and advisory body, through its Music Board Section.