Musicians

Music is the very heart of Finding Joy, and our deepest gratitude goes to all the musicians who so generously allowed us to include some of their creative sparks both in the movie and on the soundtrack album.

The music of Finding Joy came mainly from musicians in the Braidwood, NSW and Canberra, ACT regions in Australia. In some cases, like Katyusha, Chrys King (from Newcastle), Richard Steele, and the Gillespie Girls, we approached the musicians because we had heard them perform.

Others found us. Merrilyn Simmons walked into an open audition. We learned about Malumba when a band member’s mother signed up to be an extra in the film, then handed Andrew a CD and said “This is my son’s band. Have a listen.” One of our actresses knew Rick Grossman, who provided the movie’s title track. We recorded voice-overs in the studio of David Pendragon, which led us to his group Tribe.

A special thank-you goes to our Music Director Peter Haydon, who worked closely with us to bring form and finish to our songs, to Sound Designer Ashley Klose, who understood deeply what we were trying to do with the sound of “Finding Joy” and who mastered this album, and Anthony D’Angio for his fabulous artwork on the poster and the album cover.