Wicked Beat Sound System

Wicked Beat Sound System
Damian Robinson and Linda Janssen
Background information
Origin	Sydney, Australia
Genres	Electronica Dub Soul
Years active	1992 – present
Labels	Mushroom Records Wicked Beat Records
Website	Official website
Members	Linda Janssen Damian Robinson
Past members	MC KYE Dave Carnovale

Wicked Beat Sound System is a Sydney based group whose sound is best described as a mixture of electronica, dub and soul. The group formed in 1992, following a series of live "jams" instigated by DJ Dave Carnovale (Crucial D) in collaboration with Damian Robinson and other DJ's Scott Pullen and Mark Walton which took place at the Bentley Bar c. 1991 in Sydney's Darlinghurst area. They have released five albums to date. Originally featuring reggae and hip hop, the group expanded their sound to incorporate elements of soul, jazz, Latin, funk and breaks. They have been nominated for three ARIA Music Awards and an Australian Dance Music Award as well as creating dozens of remixes for others.

The lineup of the group was originally Linda Janssen and MC KYE on vocals, alongside producers Damian Robinson and DJ Dave Carnovale. Over the years many other artists have been included in the lineup of the 'Live' band including Marko Simec (Waiting For Guinness), the late Bruce (Babs) Clarke, well known breaks producer Andy Page, Dave Norris (Nubreed) as well as current performers Gerard Masters, Ian Mussington and Cameron Undy. Dave Carnovale departed the band in 2003 to concentrate on his 'Dubnosis' project and MC Kye departed the band shortly after the release of their fourth album 4ormation in 2005 to work on his Budspells Album. They have headlined their own tours and have supported Ben Harper and The Fugees

The first single releases, Stand Up, Inside and Summer Sun were produced by John Prior at Unity Gain Studios. Stand Up was the group's first video, Inside and Summer Sun were originally released on Matt Hayward's independent label One Movement, while Summer Sun was picked up by DJ Andy Glitre and continued to receive high rotation on national radio network Triple J for several years. The first album release, Music From The Core was also originally released on One Movement in 1996 and the single "Local MP" also achieved high radio rotation. These tracks were featured on the soundtrack to the French film Clubbed to Death (Lola). They collaborated with other local artists such as Yothu Yindi, Directions in Groove, Deborah Conway, Iva Davies, Christine Anu and Renee Geyer.