Brendan Maclean

Brendan Maclean

Brendan Maclean at the Sydney premiere of The Great Gatsby in 2013
Background information
Origin Cronulla, New South Wales, Australia
Genres Baroque pop, electropop, piano pop (early)
Occupation(s) Singer-songwriter, actor, presenter
Instruments Piano, keyboards, vocals, guitar, ukulele
Years active 2006–present
Website http://brendanmaclean.bandcamp.com/

Brendan Maclean is an Australian musician, actor and presenter.


Music

In 2007 Maclean began independently releasing music under his own name with a song called Airport People. The tune, which featured Brendan accompanying himself on piano, went on to win Australia's National Youth Week People's Choice award and The Industry award for Writing in 2008. [1]

Brendan's debut EP, White Canvas was released on iTunes in March 2010. The video clip for his first single 'Practically Wasted' won nine awards, including Best Video and Best Direction, in the Queensland New Film Awards.[2] The follow up single "Cold and Happy" was selected as Channel V's Ripe Clip of The Week[3] and placed 8th in Rage's Top 10 videos of 2011.

Brendan's notable tours between 2011 and 2013 included national support slots with iOTA, Kate Miller-Heidke and former Savage Garden singer Darren Hayes.

In January 2014 he released his second EP Population produced by Australian producer Paul Mac. The record gained some traction with the song's video for the single 'Stupid' being featured by Buzzfeed coupled with a successful crowd funding campaign which earned over 20,000. [4] [5] In May of 2014, "Stupid" was featured as the Weather on Welcome to Night Vale, in episode 47, "Company Picnic".

Amanda Palmer also invited Brendan to join her in 2014 season at The Sydney Festival where they performed a duet of the Bat For Lashes song 'Laura'. He also joined Amanda Palmer and The Grand Theft Orchestra in consecutive dates at The Enmore Theatre Sydney and The Forum Theatre in Melbourne. The pair also recorded a single with Paul Mac in March of 2014 which has yet to be released. [6]

In mid-2014 it was announced that he had been signed to the Universal Music Publishing Group as a songwriter and would begin writing a new EP with Amanda Palmer, Paul Mac, Cobra Starship and Ru Paul's producer Lucian Piane. [7]

Brendan appears on the 2015 Paul Mac album "Holiday from Me" on a song toted as "the world's first gay duet" F.A.Q with Nathan Hudson of Faker. [8]

Acting

Before turning his career to music Brendan appeared in multiple commercial campaigns for Coca-Cola, Wii and Virgin Mobile. As a child he can be spotted dancing in a video-clip for "Crazy About Your Smile" by Nikki Webster and made multiple cameos on ABC shows such as The Chaser and Laid by Marieke Hardy.

In 2013 Maclean was cast as "Klipspringer" in the Baz Luhrmann remake of The Great Gatsby which would lead him to revise the character in live performances across Italy, France and London. He is also credited as Peter in the 2014 film Tracks starring Mia Wasikowska and Adam Driver[9]

In 2014 Brendan began rehearsals with Marcia Hines for an original cabaret titled, "Velvet." It premiered at the Adelaide Fringe Festival on the 18th of February 2015 to critical acclaim, The Advertiser giving it 5 stars [10] Velvet is currently scheduled for The 2015 Edinburgh Fringe, The Brisbane Powerhouse and at The Sydney Opera House for a season beginning October 2015.

Presenting

From 2007 - 2013 Brendan broadcast weekly for youth station Triple J. Maclean began presenting in 2007 after an interview with Zan Rowe which celebrated the stations unsigned artist competition, Unearthed. Maclean had posted many music reviews as a "SuperUser" under the pseudonym "Murdoch". He has been heard presented Mid-dawns, Weekend Lunch, Weekend Breakfast, Super Request and Summer House Party.[11]

In 2009, Maclean was the semi-finalist for the Channel V Presenter Search for New South Wales and in late 2010 he joined the network for their series B430; writing and recording a travel show in Hawaii.

References

  1. ↑ Brendan win's National Youth Week Official
  2. ↑ Listing of Practically Wasted Awards
  3. ↑ Channel V chart listing
  4. ↑ http://www.buzzfeed.com/louispeitzman/this-is-your-new-favorite-break-up-song
  5. ↑ http://www.pozible.com/project/14124
  6. ↑ http://www.fasterlouder.com.au/opinions/38321/Brendan-Maclean-10-nights-with-Amanda-Palmer
  7. ↑ Brendan signs to UMPG.
  8. ↑ http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/paul-mac-launches-holiday-from-me-record-with-mystery-train-ride-party/story-e6frfmq9-1227297468104
  9. ↑ Episode listing of Mia Freedman announcement on Sky
  10. ↑ Velvet Scores 5 Stars at Debut .
  11. ↑ triple j forum including Brendan's shows

External links