Big break for young Aussie muso
YOUNG musician Jonti Danilewitz has won an Australia-wide competition to work with Grammy Award-winning producer Mark Ronson.
LEXI LANDSMAN
THE young Jewish winner of a major contest to work with Grammy Award-winning producer Mark Ronson is set to be among Australia’s newest crop of rising young musical stars.
Masada College graduate Jonti Danilewitz’s band Danimals won the Tooheys Extra Dry (TED) The Lab competition earlier this month, beating some 4000 other hopefuls Australia-wide.
“We’re having a pretty hard time picking up what’s left of our minds after being selected by Mark Ronson for The Lab in New York -— we’re ecstatic beyond belief,” Danilewitz, 22, said shortly after winning.
“It’s completely surreal and incredibly scary, to be honest.”
The frontman and mastermind of Danimals, Danilewitz has been in New York, writing with Ronson along with the help of music stars Santigold, Sean Lennon, Nick Hodgson of Kaiser Chiefs, John Taylor of Duran Duran and members of The Dap-Kings.
The Sydneysider will return to New York in January for another week to record. The track will then be used in TED’s next national advertising campaign.
In a video on the TED website, Ronson -— who is the producer responsible for Lily Allen, Daniel Merriweather and Amy Winehouse’s stellar tracks, among others -— said he chose Danimals for their unique sound.
“I love their stuff,” Ronson said. “I thought they were incredibly original. One of most interesting things I’ve heard in a while.”
Danilewitz’s brother Leron, who is the band’s manager, told The AJN that winning the competition is a huge push for the band.
“It was a huge shock that Danimals won and it’s something we are really grateful for,” Leron, 25, said. “It’s great exposure, so we hope it leads them on the path to success.”
Danilewitz’s journey will be filmed from start to finish, for a fly-on-the-wall documentary, which will be released in March next year.
His band will also perform at Big Day Out for 2010 along with a string of other performances and support acts scheduled for next year, including at Field Day and the Laneway Festival.
Indeed the South African expat, who is also a band member of Sherlock’s Daughter, seems destined for success.
He began Danimals as a solo project experimenting in indie music but it soon evolved it into a five-piece band.
Danilewitz’s mother, Heidi, says her son’s passion for music stretches back to his bar mitzvah, when he started playing the guitar.
“Every free moment he would play music,” she recalls. “We could always hear him in his home studio working away. We’re very proud of how far he’s come.”
To chart Danimals’ progress, follow www.tedthelab.com or visit www.myspace.com/jontidanimals.