Hed Kandi’s DJ Jack McCord and Singer Peyton will perform at drop bar on Thursday, 08 December from 11.00pm.

Both internationally renowned & respected, expect to hear some thumping house music accompanied by Peyton’s superb voice!

Jack McCord:

2005 Biography  As Hed Kandi’s ‘DJ down-under’ Jack McCord joins an exclusive club of talented international jocks including Stonebridge, Tom De Neef, Andy Norman, and John Jones who represent the world’s most recognizable club brand.  Travelling the globe on a busy schedule Jack serves up top quality house music to packed rooms of discerning clubbers, taking the crowd on an unforgettable journey through his switched on selections, positive energy and super-tight mixing skills.
 
Renowned for raising the roof wherever he plays, Jack has built a strong reputation as a crowd favourite keeping the beats rocking and the dancefloor moving all night long. With recent tours including gigs in Ibiza (El Divino), UK (Pacha London), China clubs such as Baby Face, Tango, Yellow, and Shanghai’s exclusive VIP Room, Club Zouk in Singapore and Malaysia , Room 18 (Taipei).   Jack also commences residencies for Hed Kandi in December 2005 at Ministry of Sound Club in Taipei and Singapore.  Jack just keeps adding to the international profile he has developed on the strength of recognition for his original production and remix work. He is also a respected producer, writer, musician and broadcaster with over 15 years experience in the music industry.
 
While Jack describes his style simply as ‘house music’, in reality his club sets are always varied and innovative featuring big, hands-in-the-air, vocal anthems and monster club tunes progressing through to darker, twisted beats incorporating scratching and sampling.
 
Since returning from his recent UK, Ibiza and Asian tours Jack is now taking up residency with Hed Kandi in the main room of Australia’s premier house venue ‘TANK’ nightclub in Sydney and playing nationwide at clubs such as OneLove (Melbourne), Platinum (Gold Coast), Kink (Sydney), Family (Brisbane), Cargo (Adelaide) and more.
  Regarded as one of Australia's strongest support DJs for touring international artists, Jack has enjoyed mixing it up alongside some of the biggest names in the business including Derrick Carter, Stonebridge, the Jungle Brothers, Miguel Migs,  Jay-J, Norman Jay, Chris Lum, Mateo & Matos, the Pound Boys, Alan Thompson and more, most of whom have appeared as special guests on his 2SER radio show ‘Decompression’.
 
Recording under the studio alias ‘Soul System’, Jack enjoyed European and Australian club success in early 2004 with his first release with Hed Kandi ‘Real Love’.   A funky, bass-driven house anthem featuring the vocal talents of Australian diva Gerrie Malla and soul sensation Marc Stockley,  ‘Real Love’ appeared on many compilations including the hugely successful Hed Kandi World Series Vol. 1.  Jack has since built on this success with impressive remixes for international artists including Stonebridge, Who Da Funk, DJ Renegade w/ Sade, Solu Music, the Jungle Brothers and local outfit Co-Lab, bringing his sound to such classic tracks as 'Fade', 'Sweetest Taboo' and 'I'll House You'.  Jack has made his mark on the DJ mix CD market with the hard-to-get ‘Future Shapes’ in 2000 and 2002’s acclaimed ‘Rhythm FM Vol. 1’ and was featured on national television representing the Australian Technics inTheMix awards on the Channel Nine network.
 
However the big buzz at the moment is for the follow up Soul System release ‘Feel So Good’. Due for release in the UK in early 2006, ‘Feel So Good’ stars Australian vocalists Gerrie Malla and Marc Stockley and features Hed Kandi guest vocalist Peyton from the UK.  The track was signed for international release on Hed Kandi after being one of the surprise hits of the 2004 Ibiza season.  Now with a hot remix package including Ian Carey, Cabin Crew and Stonebridge v Jack McCord it's little wonder the pressure for this track is building. Hed Kandi had this to say – “Jack’s Soul System is right at the top of the game and the new track ‘Feel So Good’ is absolutely monumental and destined for big things!”

Peyton:

Born in North Carolina, this sweet talking son of a preacher man has never followed the well-trodden path taken by most artists.

Peyton’s father was a traveling evangelist – The Reverend Wesley Peyton – who from early on encouraged his son to develop his vocal talents within the local Pentecostal church. Surrounded by like minds and powerful voices, he soon found a freedom in the local church, in contrast to high school, where ‘jocks’ were expected to play ball and act macho. In his own words, the Virginia church where he grew up taught him to ‘sing, clap, dance and holler’ his way ‘into the places I might have been too scared to go otherwise.’

By the time he was old enough to go to college Peyton was already working closely with his father as his ‘Minister Of Music’. This required him to direct the choir, perform as a soloist and lead the worship in church every Sunday. ‘Of course I heard other forms of music on the radio and with the omnipresence of MTV it was inevitable that I had some exposure to pop, rock and dance music. But, truthfully, and sometimes to my own embarrassment, it was gospel music that dominated what fell on my ears and out of my mouth.’

Peyton went on to Lee College, a small Christian academy in the mountains of Tennessee where girls weren’t allowed to wear shorts, dancing was forbidden and ‘everybody shared the same insular mentality’. Unimpressed by this small mindedness, he emerged with a ‘deeply suspicious view of organized religion’ but at the same time a healthy respect for the church’s power to nurture talent. So even now, he says ‘it’s not uncommon to find me singing the old time spirituals and hymns that gave my voice its starting place, and consequently its strength’.

So how did Peyton end up sharing his joyful vocals with the good folk at Hed Kandi? After college he embarked on a journey of self-discovery that took him to Atlanta, California, Colombia, Washington DC, Manhattan and, finally, to London, where he’s been based for the last five years.

By the time he arrived in the capital, Peyton had discovered that his voice ‘wouldn’t shrivel up or evaporate’ if he sang ‘songs without God in the title’. He was quickly spotted by Madonna / Massive Attack producer Nellee Hooper, who signed him to his Meanwhile Records imprint as part of a new vocal project, Hexdragon. After much hype, two videos shot at Universal Studios in Hollywood and predictions of world domination from the band’s management, the project eventually imploded in a fug of record label mismanagement. ‘This was my very real introduction into the glamorous world of rock-n-roll’ says Peyton. Undeterred, the singer continued to write his own gospel tinged club tracks and soon came to the attention of Hed Kandi’s Mark Doyle.

(information provided by the PR Company)