Happy New Year, everybody! Hope you got to have a good Christmas despite the weird situation we are in at the moment.

Today, 1 January 2021, single track "New Year" was released from the upcoming Markus Michelucci & Sound Refuge album. We started work on the album prior to Tier 4 restrictions which put a spanner in the works, but we thankfully got this track finished in time for release on New Year's day.

The lyrics are very poignant given what a crazy 2020 it has been, and gives us all hope for the future. Hope you enjoy!

If you like what you hear, you can buy your own digital copy of the track by clicking here.

www.soundrefugemusic.com

Find Sound Refuge on YouTube and Instagram.

"New Year" Music & Lyrics by Markus Michelucci

Guitar & Vocals - Markus Michelucci
Electric Guitar - Chris Buglass
Cello - Marianne Hardisty
Drums/Percussion - Stephen Coetzee
Bass - Kaveh Ghandizadeh

Produced by Matthew Norriss at Piraxa Studios
Artwork by Dom Duong

I am pleased to now be working with a number of other freelance musicians and instrument tutors to deliver more lessons. All lessons can be online and face-to-face may be possible, depending on tutor availability and location.
Current lessons offered:

• Drums
• Bass Guitar
• Vocals
• Cello
• Music Theory
• Musicianship

Please contact stephencdrums@gmail.com for more information.

I am delighted to be joining the brand new theatre show EVERYTHING CHANGES, paying tribute to the songs of TAKE THAT and ROBBIE WILLIAMS.

The incredible cast features Dean Betton, who appeared on this year's series of Britain's Got Talent, as Robbie Williams.

The show will begin it's preview performances this October before playing UK theatres in 2021.

Preview performances: 
10 October 2020 - Online | Buy Tickets
23 October 2020 - The Diamond, Sutton In Ashfield

Click here to visit the Facebook page and 'like' to stay up-to-date with more information and the performance schedule.

Lou Reed’s ‘melancholic ballad’ given 2020 makeover with nationwide musical collaboration, featuring 17 professional musicians and vocalists.

The track features seasoned professionals from the UK music and theatre industry, including Alex Larke of Electro Velvet (Eurovision Song Contest 2015), Kim Shepherd (Imagine Theatre and National Theatre Scotland), Anita Okienko (Scottish Chamber Orchestra) and Sofia Jones (Fastlove – A Tribute To George Michael). The band of 11 includes punchy brass section dbhorns (And Finally Phil Collins… and The Best Of Wham) and lavish strings from midlands-based Artume Quartet.

The concept, conceived by Stephen Coetzee, the drummer on the track, was inspired by the many collaborations performed by musicians around the globe during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Stephen is hoping that the track, recorded in support of musicians, artists, actors and others in the Creative Arts, will raise awareness of the benefits of music and the value of artists in society.

Stephen said: “I wanted to create a project with a select group of colleagues, past and present, who I have really enjoyed making music with – we are all in the same situation together, with our industry not likely to be up and running again until 2021.”

The Lou Reed song was recorded for his 1972 album Transformer, and has since gone on to feature in the film Trainspotting, starring Ewen McGregor and Robert Carlyle. It is probably better known, however, for its star-studded 1997 version; the line-up of which included Elton John, David Bowie, Boyzone, Tom Jones and Lou Reed himself.

Stephen continued, “There are not many versions of this song, which in itself, presented a great opportunity for us. I feel we reinvented Reed’s somewhat melancholic, yet heartwarming, ballad, and added a level of ‘sweetness’ to it, much thanks to Michael Maddock’s superb brass and string arrangements.”

Perfect Day 2020 is raising awareness and support for artists in the music industry. Donations are going to the project and Help Musicians, an organisation which has been doing fantastic work assisting musicians during this difficult time. Click here to find out more and to donate.

Hi everyone,

Firstly, I hope that everyone is safe, well and making use of any spare time during this lockdown period that we wouldn't otherwise have. I have been finding plenty time to practice and work on remote collaborations with friends and colleagues, as well as lots more family time, which has been great.

Teaching online has been a rewarding challenge, and I'm thrilled to see students adapt to this new tuition method and see them progress - you can still book lessons online with me by sending an email to stephencdrums@gmail.com

I am delighted to be hosting a drum workshop LIVE on FACEBOOK this Thursday, 11am for This Charming House.

If you have drums, great, but if not, get yourself some cushions, or pans etc to hit at the ready!

Join the page by clicking here and hitting the 'like' button to join in the fun.

Thanks to Joel Peter for inviting me to run this session.

New photography from Tom Jeavons Photography and video promos have been released for my function band The Wilderminds.

In November last year, we got together with manager Craig Robinson and his video team at the gorgeous Lost Village Of Dode in Kent - a real hidden gem, and must-see wedding venue!

On that freezing cold November afternoon, we shot the material and put on an intimate gig for the village locals; a lovely way to wrap our first gig Season!

Check out our new website by clicking here.

We are now taking bookings for 2020/2021. Get in touch with us through the website above.

Happy New Year to you all!

After a very busy month of 2 day show days with panto, it is lovely to be back home and back into the swing of things with teaching and preparing for the year ahead.
I was very proud to be part of the Imagine Theatre’s 5 star production of Jack And The Beanstalk this year at The Beacon Arts Centre, located on the West Coast of Scotland in Greenock.

As always, an intense band call and straight into tech rehearsals with this one. I do enjoy the rehearsal process though, especially for pantomime. Lots of changes are being made to the music, the script and the overall look of the production during this stage, sometimes even right up until the show opens – and further changes made during the previews stage!

Big shout out to the Musical Director, Dave Adey, for making me feel so welcome in the pit – there were only 2 of us (yes, I know), so we bonded very well!

The cast, creative team, crew and musicians worked tirelessly to put together the fantastic production which ran the whole of December.

After depping on The Carpenters Experience earlier in the year, I was offered some gigs with Real Magic – The Queen Tribute from the same company. I am delighted to be joining the band on their travels to Bahrain in the Middle East to play the Dilstock Festival – a festival of tribute bands – on 8th November.  We will also play the role of backing band for the U2, Rolling Stones, David Bowie and 80s tribute outfits. Can’t wait for this experience!

In December, I will be heading to my homeland to play on panto with Imagine Theatre’s production of Jack And The Beanstalk showing at The Beacon Arts Centre in Greenock, from 6 December to 31 December 2019. Looking forward to working with this company and Theatre for the first time!

For more information on Dilstock Festival, please click here.

For more information on Jack & The Beanstalk, please click here.

I am now trying my best to update this section of my website once a month – but of course, summer for musicians is usually crazy busy, hence my failure last month to write something! However, let me condense my June and July into one post instead...

Wedding Season has arrived again!  I returned to my regular dep slot (dep means to fill in for the regular/resident musician) with The Gentlemen Of The Road Band – a 4 piece, powerhouse, function rock outfit playing wedding and parties across the country. As the name suggests, I get to see a lot of different places – well, usually a field or the inside of a barn, but still nice. . . it’s always a fun gig with these guys, go check them out!

My own function band, The Wilderminds, fresh from Stag Promotions, have taken on bookings this year with a new guitarist and a new bassist, and it has been great fun getting to know and work with those guys.

After being asked to play for The Carpenters Experience upon returning from tour earlier this year, I was invited to play for the company’s Queen tribute, Real Magic. It had been a while since I set up more than 3 cymbals and a double kick pedal! Queen is one of my favourite bands, so it was a pleasure to play this amazing material.

And on that note, a very enjoyable (if not slightly rainy) weekend was spent with The Carpenters Experience in South Wales. The first gig held in Cwmbran, followed by Barry Island (which reminded me of a very small Blackpool) and brought back found memories from my childhood. Izzy (saxophone/flute) and I made it our mission to find a House Of The Dead arcade game. . . but none could be found, so we had to settle for another shooter! The search continues. . .

Rounding off this post, it’s worth giving a shout out to the Newham Music  team (and Chris Buglass) – a company which provide music tuition to schools in the Newham area – for the trust and hiring me for their youth concert performances at Stratford Circus earlier this month. It was awesome to perform with their orchestra for audiences of young people, many of whom would never have seen a live orchestra perform before. The evening performance starred young students taught by the music hub, including a short opera based around people in Newham, entitled ‘Full Circle’. With no drum charts handy, I worked off scores, lyrics and a bass chart – great band though, and a lot of fun! Thanks again for having me.