8. Brett Little

Brett’s love of music has been a driving force throughout his life, from the cradle days until now when it takes up most of his time. Brett was born in Luxembourg City, in Luxembourg in 1986. He moved to Australia a year later with his family, and has been here ever since.

For any teen, music is usually a massive part of life. It reflects the way we are feeling and helps us make decisions and make us feel better. But for Brett, the passion that he already had for music was not enough and it was taken to the next level when he took up the guitar at the age of 16. Since then, he has never looked back, also taking up the keyboard at 18 and vocals at 20. Brett’s love of playing the guitar came about just from sheer interest. He developed his guitar playing skills by learning covers of bands such as Metallica and Iron Maiden, from tabs he viewed on the net and by using a program called ‘Guitar Pro’. Brett said learning to play from a lot of metal bands developed his technical skills a lot quicker than if he had learnt from other styles. Having said that, Brett enjoys diverse styles of music. His favourite is rock/metal, but he also enjoys pop rap and other genres. When it comes to what music influences him, he credits heavy bands such as Tool, Pain of Salvation, Devin Townsend, Opeth and Evergrey. He also gets inspiration from softer bands like Incubus, Matchbox 20, Nickelback and Bon Jovi.

Brett started a band in high school, through his year 12 group performance subject. Once that had finished, he met Dean Todorovski at his local tennis club. It was here that the two of them started talking about their love of music and the possibility of jamming together some time. Brett and Dean then got together and started playing acoustic covers and gradually began to write originals. It was then and there that they decided to start their band, ‘Wingman’. Dean found Mitch and Carl, the other members of ‘Wingman’ through high school connections. The band members’ roles are Brett on the guitar, keyboard/piano and vocals, Dean on the guitar and vocals as well, Mitch on the bass and Carl on the drums. Wingman rehearse regularly in Dean’s garage and record any new songs and ideas they have in Brett’s home studio.

Wingman’s most recent gig was a few weeks ago, when Gunn Music ran a competition at the Espy hotel called The Espy Artist Showdown which they  were invited to play in after the organisers had heard Wingman’s  music on Triple J’s ‘Unearthed’. They made it through the heats, through to the semi finals and all the way to the Grand Final but couldn’t take out the competition in the end. They did however receive a 6 month booking deal with Gunn Music and a spot on a showcase night at the Corner Hotel later this year. (Date still to be announced)

Brett has studied and completed an Advanced Diploma of Music Industry Tech Production (technical production) at NMIT in Fairfield.  While juggling his job and being in a band, remarkably Brett also has time for the community. While studying at Fairfield he heard of an information night which was to discuss opportunities in the community, and now he is currently part of the organisation ‘FReeZA Central’ which helps develop artists, engineers, producers and events in the community. Brett just finished helping with the sound and lighting for the FReeZA Central ‘All Ages’ tour. The tour took place around Bendigo, Hoppers Crossing, Sunbury and a number of other places around the state. When reflecting on it Brett said it was a really rewarding experience and he said he gained some good knowledge on what’s required as far as production goes on the bigger events. He also got to see some great acts while he was at it.

It was through FReeZA that Brett was chosen from a pool of hopefuls to be one of the lucky few to be mentored by Peter Frawley for 12 months as part of the prestigious FReeZA Mentoring Program.  It’s a tremendous opportunity for anyone wanting a career in the music business. Peter is the owner of Salt Studios and he regularly gives Brett guidance in the industry whether it’s to do with production or performance.

It is obvious that Brett has talent when it comes to music. Better still, he has the passion and generosity to share his talent and expertise not only on the airwaves but through getting involved in his own community.

Costante Bergamin