World renowned Australian percussionist Ben Walsh, with his wall-shaking energy, is the driving force behind
many innovative and ground breaking musical projects and partnerships over the last twenty five years.
At age 19, he began his professional career, forming the high energy junk percussion trio Pablo Percusso.
Combining musicality with theatre this group successfully launched five years of national and international touring,
over 500 live shows and many television appearances.
After providing a percussive backdrop to the enigmatic punk-rock trio Vicious Hairy Mary, he became the brain-
child of the electronic live fusion sensation; The Bird, a musical project which morphed from an innovative duo
into a multi-instrumental musician's collaborative. They have performed throughout Australia and Europe for over
more than a decade and have become a highly acclaimed live act, producing a solid list of successful studio
albums.
For six years Ben studied and toured with the Australian taiko drumming group TaikOz. Highlights included his
performance (on traditional bamboo flute) of his own composition at Sydney Opera House with the Sydney
Symphony Orchestra, training under tuition of grand master Eitetsu Hiyashi in the ‘Wadaiko’ drum form, and
performing at the ‘1000 Drummers’ performance at Kobe, in Japan in 2000.
Ben is legendary for his ability to adapt and fuse styles, creating and reinventing approaches to traditional
formulas of rhythm and sound. A founding member of the Australian / Indian fusion sextet Dha and the highly
successful Circle of Rhythm percussion trio, he has been able to hone and showcase his impressive talents
over 8 years of touring and recording. With tabla master Tarlochan (Bobby) Singh, Ben studied and performed in
the production ‘Taal Vadya’, travelling to India in 2001 with him to study Indian classical music. This tour was
featured on SBS TV documentary series ‘Viva!’.
Driven to create a new style of percussion performance with razor sharp precision and visual spectacle, Ben
(using the pseudonym of Sound of Human) has designed and performed several ground breaking one man
shows. His first, Human in the Audio Sphere, was performed in 2000 at the Adelaide and Melbourne Fringe
Festivals and won the prestigious award for the best musical act. Then after receiving a commission from the
Sydney Opera House, he performed the final version over two weeks in October 2001 as part of Sensoh Festival.
This was followed up with the autobiographical journey First Sound premiering in October 2002 at the Hong
Kong Arts Centre and Taipei Dance Forum. After a successful debut he was asked to return to China with
additional shows in Singapore, Malaysia and Seoul. The work was chosen as a spotlight performance at the Bi-
annual International Arts Market sponsored by the Australia Council (Federal Funding Body for the Arts). First
Sound made its Australian debut at the 2004 Adelaide Fringe Festival and received rave reviews at the Sydney
Opera House and in Brisbane.
Two further one man shows, Circuit Breaker and Junkyard Symphony, both featured at Adelaide Festival
2005 and 2008, enabled Ben to showcase his multi-instrumental talents and stage craft to sell out performances.
The international award-winning spectacle The Tom Tom Crew exploded into action in 2006 featuring Ben as a
musician, performer and artistic director. Touring solidly for 7 years across the globe, highlights included
NY, Detroit, Montreal, Edinburugh, Taipei, London, Amsterdam, Paris and Berlin.
In 2007 Ben conceived and developed The Crusty Suitcase Band.
These original jazz fusion compositions are performed live,
In 2009 Ben was commissioned to create a work to film by Sydney Festival which led to him forming an eclectic orchestra
made up of the most phenomenal instrumentalists in Australia, and showcasing a cross section of jazz, classical, electronic and world musicians. In 2011 Ben was nominated for a prestigious Helpmann Award: Best Music Direction for Sydney Festivals production of My Bicycle Loves You.
2013 Ben collaborated with the renowned Company 2 circus troupe, where he co-directed a new work &
'The Crusties' were the backbone of Scotch & Soda a circus and music extravaganza, often performed in the infamous Speigeltent
which played in London, Dublin, Edinburgh and all throughout Australia.
Toured 7 destinations in India with his solo percussion show LOOP ZERO presented by the Australian consulate & DFAT
2016 saw Ben explore the new territory of South America with an extensive 3 month tour with projects; Orkestra of the Underground, The Wheel, Remix Experiment, Circle Of Rhythm, The Bird and as well as the newly commissioned production The Loop Lab.
He was a celebrated centre piece for the Brazilian festival Australia Now
performing in Rio, Sao Paulo, Salvador, Mexico City & Buenos Aires.
In October he performed and composed a 16 piece Rajasthani Percussion spectacular at the Rajasthani International Folk Festival.
Was Musical Director for a live film score titled SILENCIO at DIFF Darwin International Film Festival
a loose collection of the history of animation performed with viola player SHENZO GREGGORIO
2017/2018 Ben released Remix Experiment to the world playing India, Argentina ,Brazil, Japan, Mexico and released 2 albums
"REMIX EXPERIMENT" &" CASSETICA" partnered through Hydrofunk Records
2019 Was involved with Gravity & Other Myths as Musical Director in the development of a new work.
2020 was musical director for David Carberry's production of SMASH PARADE with new musical project NA MOJA
2021 SMASH PARADE live streamed at HOTA performing for prestigious NYC Q2 festival.
Live streamed his production THE ARRIVAL by THE ORKESTRA OF THE UNDERGROUND
directly to India from the BRUNSWICK PICTURE HOUSE presented by the TATA LITERARY FESTIVAL
in partnership with the Australian/Indian consulate & DFAT
composed the score and performed to Sue Healey's live dance film event LIVE ACTS for OzAsia festival.
2022 composed and performed in THE LONG WALK by Sue Healey for OzAsia Festival.
Was Sound Designer for the production of REDLIGHT DISTANCING a Binaural score
for an audience entirely on wireless headphones .
Was musical director for the reworked live score of FURY ROAD for Darwin International film festival
with Tom Thum & Shenzo Greggorio
Composed an Performed a new live film score to THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN (1957)
with Beatboxer TOM THUM at the Adelaide Fringe Fest and Brunswick Picture House
Premiered His cinematic debut REMIX EXPERIMENT THE MOTION PICTURE
at Byron Underground Film Festival (BUFF)
which he Produced & Directed acted and composed.
Playing at the Palace Cinemas and then performed Live score at The Brunswick Picture House
His film won the award "The Best of BUFF"
many innovative and ground breaking musical projects and partnerships over the last twenty five years.
At age 19, he began his professional career, forming the high energy junk percussion trio Pablo Percusso.
Combining musicality with theatre this group successfully launched five years of national and international touring,
over 500 live shows and many television appearances.
After providing a percussive backdrop to the enigmatic punk-rock trio Vicious Hairy Mary, he became the brain-
child of the electronic live fusion sensation; The Bird, a musical project which morphed from an innovative duo
into a multi-instrumental musician's collaborative. They have performed throughout Australia and Europe for over
more than a decade and have become a highly acclaimed live act, producing a solid list of successful studio
albums.
For six years Ben studied and toured with the Australian taiko drumming group TaikOz. Highlights included his
performance (on traditional bamboo flute) of his own composition at Sydney Opera House with the Sydney
Symphony Orchestra, training under tuition of grand master Eitetsu Hiyashi in the ‘Wadaiko’ drum form, and
performing at the ‘1000 Drummers’ performance at Kobe, in Japan in 2000.
Ben is legendary for his ability to adapt and fuse styles, creating and reinventing approaches to traditional
formulas of rhythm and sound. A founding member of the Australian / Indian fusion sextet Dha and the highly
successful Circle of Rhythm percussion trio, he has been able to hone and showcase his impressive talents
over 8 years of touring and recording. With tabla master Tarlochan (Bobby) Singh, Ben studied and performed in
the production ‘Taal Vadya’, travelling to India in 2001 with him to study Indian classical music. This tour was
featured on SBS TV documentary series ‘Viva!’.
Driven to create a new style of percussion performance with razor sharp precision and visual spectacle, Ben
(using the pseudonym of Sound of Human) has designed and performed several ground breaking one man
shows. His first, Human in the Audio Sphere, was performed in 2000 at the Adelaide and Melbourne Fringe
Festivals and won the prestigious award for the best musical act. Then after receiving a commission from the
Sydney Opera House, he performed the final version over two weeks in October 2001 as part of Sensoh Festival.
This was followed up with the autobiographical journey First Sound premiering in October 2002 at the Hong
Kong Arts Centre and Taipei Dance Forum. After a successful debut he was asked to return to China with
additional shows in Singapore, Malaysia and Seoul. The work was chosen as a spotlight performance at the Bi-
annual International Arts Market sponsored by the Australia Council (Federal Funding Body for the Arts). First
Sound made its Australian debut at the 2004 Adelaide Fringe Festival and received rave reviews at the Sydney
Opera House and in Brisbane.
Two further one man shows, Circuit Breaker and Junkyard Symphony, both featured at Adelaide Festival
2005 and 2008, enabled Ben to showcase his multi-instrumental talents and stage craft to sell out performances.
The international award-winning spectacle The Tom Tom Crew exploded into action in 2006 featuring Ben as a
musician, performer and artistic director. Touring solidly for 7 years across the globe, highlights included
NY, Detroit, Montreal, Edinburugh, Taipei, London, Amsterdam, Paris and Berlin.
In 2007 Ben conceived and developed The Crusty Suitcase Band.
These original jazz fusion compositions are performed live,
In 2009 Ben was commissioned to create a work to film by Sydney Festival which led to him forming an eclectic orchestra
made up of the most phenomenal instrumentalists in Australia, and showcasing a cross section of jazz, classical, electronic and world musicians. In 2011 Ben was nominated for a prestigious Helpmann Award: Best Music Direction for Sydney Festivals production of My Bicycle Loves You.
2013 Ben collaborated with the renowned Company 2 circus troupe, where he co-directed a new work &
'The Crusties' were the backbone of Scotch & Soda a circus and music extravaganza, often performed in the infamous Speigeltent
which played in London, Dublin, Edinburgh and all throughout Australia.
Toured 7 destinations in India with his solo percussion show LOOP ZERO presented by the Australian consulate & DFAT
2016 saw Ben explore the new territory of South America with an extensive 3 month tour with projects; Orkestra of the Underground, The Wheel, Remix Experiment, Circle Of Rhythm, The Bird and as well as the newly commissioned production The Loop Lab.
He was a celebrated centre piece for the Brazilian festival Australia Now
performing in Rio, Sao Paulo, Salvador, Mexico City & Buenos Aires.
In October he performed and composed a 16 piece Rajasthani Percussion spectacular at the Rajasthani International Folk Festival.
Was Musical Director for a live film score titled SILENCIO at DIFF Darwin International Film Festival
a loose collection of the history of animation performed with viola player SHENZO GREGGORIO
2017/2018 Ben released Remix Experiment to the world playing India, Argentina ,Brazil, Japan, Mexico and released 2 albums
"REMIX EXPERIMENT" &" CASSETICA" partnered through Hydrofunk Records
2019 Was involved with Gravity & Other Myths as Musical Director in the development of a new work.
2020 was musical director for David Carberry's production of SMASH PARADE with new musical project NA MOJA
2021 SMASH PARADE live streamed at HOTA performing for prestigious NYC Q2 festival.
Live streamed his production THE ARRIVAL by THE ORKESTRA OF THE UNDERGROUND
directly to India from the BRUNSWICK PICTURE HOUSE presented by the TATA LITERARY FESTIVAL
in partnership with the Australian/Indian consulate & DFAT
composed the score and performed to Sue Healey's live dance film event LIVE ACTS for OzAsia festival.
2022 composed and performed in THE LONG WALK by Sue Healey for OzAsia Festival.
Was Sound Designer for the production of REDLIGHT DISTANCING a Binaural score
for an audience entirely on wireless headphones .
Was musical director for the reworked live score of FURY ROAD for Darwin International film festival
with Tom Thum & Shenzo Greggorio
Composed an Performed a new live film score to THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN (1957)
with Beatboxer TOM THUM at the Adelaide Fringe Fest and Brunswick Picture House
Premiered His cinematic debut REMIX EXPERIMENT THE MOTION PICTURE
at Byron Underground Film Festival (BUFF)
which he Produced & Directed acted and composed.
Playing at the Palace Cinemas and then performed Live score at The Brunswick Picture House
His film won the award "The Best of BUFF"
