Launceston band Agent 99 have been bringing their enthusiastic sounds to the city and abroad for the past five years.
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They have been a part of events such as Festivale, New Year On Royal, Taste The Harvest, Devonport Skyfire and many more, and have supported Leo Sayer, Ross Wilson and Daryl Braithwaite.
On October 28, Agent 99 will perform at Skyfields, at Burnie, where they will be supporting iconic Australian band The Hoodoo Gurus.
Lead vocalist 18-year-old Shanice Chuku spoke to BAILEY COX about her musical life, Agent 99 and this incredible opportunity.
How did you first get into music?
I got into music at a very young age and was brought up around musicians. My mother is a musician, which meant during my younger years I was watching her perform.
Her and her musician friends’ contribution to music rubbed off on me and influenced me. I found a passion and a love for it.
How did you first get into Agent 99?
It was through word of mouth.
Matt Neil, the drummer of the band, had contacted my mother and asked if she knew anyone who was prepared to take on the band’s lead vocalist role.
With me being a singer I decided that I would love the opportunity and asked if she could put a sneaky word in. Then there was an audition scenario.
I went along and jammed out a couple of songs and luckily enough they enjoyed my singing that I had to offer and we worked really well together, which was awesome.
To walk into a situation and gel with a bunch of musicians is rare and from there that’s how it all happened.
How has the Agent 99 experience been so far?
It has been really good, it has been awesome.
Even though I have been busy with the Launceston College production and gigs, there are definitely a lot of skills that I have learnt through production that I can contribute and use during my gigs with Agent 99.
It has been great working with them all and doing gigs every weekend is essentially what I want do to once I leave school.
I really want to pursue music. It is giving me the opportunity to get super gig fit and even though we do cover material, there is a lot you can learn though doing that when writing your own material.
Just getting out there and performing every week is super awesome.
What was the band’s response when Skyfields was announced?
We were super excited. Skyfields is such an awesome event and is pretty massive so to get to be involved with that sort of event is wicked.
The Hoodoo Gurus are a super well known band. To get to be on the same list as those guys is just awesome.
What’s next for Agent 99?
Well we are going to look into doing a few film clips and a bit of recording as well, link those in with each other.
We will keep going and still be doing functions and pub gigs and just smashing it out.