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Michael den Elzen (born 1962) is a musician and music producer based in Melbourne, Australia. He has performed for over 30 years with many well-known Australian and New Zealand artists, principally as a guitarist, and has contributed music for several Australian movie soundtracks.
Den Elzen spent his early life in Boort and Mansfield (Victoria) and started playing guitar at about 10 years of age. At the age of 15, he was performing in Melbourne with the band Expresso Bongo, who made it to the finals of the Channel 9 TV talent competition "Safeway New Faces". He co-founded local bands Notorious Gentlemen and The U-Boats, and did recording studio session work. At age 19, he joined Broderick Smith for his first solo album and toured in his band for about three years. He went on to perform with Venetta Fields; with Tim Finn as a guitarist on his 1985 Big Canoe tour; and with Stephen Cummings on his "This Wonderful Life" album, and Australian and US tours.
In the mid 80s, den Elzen formed Melbourne band Schnell Fenster with ex-Split Enz members Phil Judd, Nigel Griggs and Noel Crombie. They released two albums, "The Sound of Trees" and "OK Alright A Huh Oh Yeah" and toured in Australia and New Zealand.
After the breakup of Schnell Fenster, den Elzen played on and co-produced Deborah Conway's 1991 successful String of Pearls album. He went to America to perform for Peter Case on Six-Pack of Love. The band on the album includes producer and keyboardist Mitchell Froom, bassist Bruce Thomas (Elvis Costello and The Attractions) and drummer Gary Mallaber (Van Morrison, Steve Miller Band).
He recorded and toured as bass player and musical director with Tim Finn on Finn's 1993 album Before and After; and toured and recorded with Richard Pleasance; and then toured and recorded with Melbourne band Rebecca's Empire for their Way of All Things album.
At the end of the 1990s, he joined Australian rock outfit Deadstar co-producing their final album Somewhere Over The Radio.
Den Elzen started composing music for films in the 80s, the first being As The Mirror Burns (1990 release date). He worked with Phil Judd and Schnell Fenster on the soundtrack for the movie Rikky and Pete (1988), and was also involved with Phil Judd on the soundtrack for The Big Steal (1990) and Mr. Reliable (1996). Three Schnell Fenster songs feature in the Jane Campion film Sweetie (1989).
He did the soundtrack to David Batty's Rodeo Road (1999) which led to producing, recording, and co-writing the music for the TV series Bush Mechanics (2001) in Yuendumu about 300 km north-west of Alice Springs, and the soundtracks to other David Batty films, Sisters, Pearls and Mission Girls (2003) and Taylor Made (2003), as well as the TV series Inventions From The Shed (2005), all aired on the ABC.
Den Elzen also worked on a project with painter and artist David Munro called Birdbrain, whose music was used in the TV series The Secret Life of Us and in the film Ghosts of the Civil Dead (1988). Other composer credits include Trespass (2001), Beyond Sorry (2004), Bush Bikes (2003), Us Mob (2005) and Aurukun-Voices From The Cape (2008) by David Vadiveloo, Case 442 (2005) by C.A.A.M.A., Going Bush (2006) by SBS TV, Marree Man (2007), the series Halal Mate (2007) (for which he was nominated in the category of "Best Music for a Documentary" at the 2008 APRA-AGSC Screen Music Awards), That's Australia (2007), Desert Heart (2007), Wedding Makers (2008), Coniston (2012), Kabelbel (2013), Black As series 1-4 (2016-2022) and Truck Hunters (2018-2020) (Ten Network) by Rebel Films, Artists at Work – David Frazer (2007), IOU – Lloyd Rees (2007) and Tom Moore – Glassorama (2008) by Tony Wyzenbeek at ABC TV, the SBS series Love's Harvest (2007) by Brian McKenzie and Rebel Films, and God Is A Wandjina (2021) by Paul Bell (Feral Films) for Compass (ABC TV). Michael also collaborated with Justin Marshall on the soundtrack for the second series of The Art Life (2008) by Frank Haines Films, which aired on ABC TV.
He produced, recorded and played most instruments on Take Me to the Place by Tess McKenna after collaborating on a song for the film soundtrack to Curtains for My Cabin and played guitars on March also by Tess McKenna – year uncertain since dates are not given on the album, and on her 2019 release Before You Wandered In . He played guitar and recorded with David Bridie and has also written and performed with Renée Geyer, Mark Seymour and Pound System. Other artists Michael has recorded with include Zulya Kamalova (he is also accredited with mixing her album Tales of Subliming), Margaret Urlich, Diana Aniad, Bollywood Prog Metal band; BaK and Mimori Yusa (Japan). Michael also mixed tracks for Kim Salmon & The Surrealists including I Won't Tell from the album Ya Gotta Let Me Do My Thing, and has a musical credit on the film The Man Who Sued God.
Den Elzen has visited far north-western South Australia (Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara / APY Lands) over the years to record songs by local musicians promoting awareness of issues to do with health and well-being, supported by Nganampa Health Council in Alice Springs. The resulting CDs are called UPK2 Tilun Tilun Ta (2003), UPK3 Kunma Piti-la (2004), UPK4 Ulkiyala (2005) and UPK5 Katji Kuta-la (2011).
In 2017 he released the album Music For Listening And Relaxation with former band-mate Rebecca Barnard. An eclectic soundscape featuring Rebecca's haunting vocals, Michael produced and co-wrote the songs, and played all the instruments apart from some acoustic guitar by Barnard. Michael continues to work on film sound production. He is accredited with audio-post production and music composition on the SBS series Halal Mate, Kabelbel, Maree Man, Black As, Truck Hunters and audio-post production for Little J and Big Cuz. He is currently composing for another project.
Crowded House are a rock band, formed in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, in 1985. Its founding members were New Zealander Neil Finn and Australians Paul Hester (drums) and Nick Seymour (bass). Later band members include Neil Finn's brother, Tim Finn and sons Liam and Elroy, as well as Americans Mark Hart and Matt Sherrod, with Neil Finn and Nick Seymour being the sole constant members.
Neil Mullane Finn is a New Zealand singer-songwriter and musician. He is best known for being a principal member of Split Enz with his brother Tim, the lead singer and a founding member of Crowded House, and a touring member of Fleetwood Mac. Finn joined Split Enz in 1977 after the departure of founding member Phil Judd and influenced a shift away from band's art rock roots and towards a new wave and pop-oriented sound. Gradually rising in creative prominence within the band, he came to write the majority of the band's successful songs in the 1980s, including "One Step Ahead", "History Never Repeats", "I Got You", and "Message to My Girl".
Split Enz were a New Zealand band formed in 1972. Regarded as the first New Zealand band to gain significant recognition outside of Australasia, they were initially noted for their progressive/art rock sound, flamboyant visual style and theatrical performances. The band later moved toward a pop/new wave sound that yielded the breakthrough hit single "I Got You" (1980). Split Enz broke up in 1984. Since that time, the band has staged several brief reunions.
Brian Timothy Finn is a New Zealand singer, songwriter, musician, and composer. He is best known as a founding member of Split Enz. Finn founded the band in 1972 with Phil Judd and served as lead singer and principal songwriter. Following Judd's departure in 1977, he was joined by brother Neil. Finn wrote or co-wrote some of the band's best-known songs, including "I See Red" and "Six Months in a Leaky Boat". While still a member of Split Enz, he began a solo career, scoring the two hits "Fraction Too Much Friction" and "Made My Day" in 1983; he left the band in early 1984, briefly returning for their farewell tour later that year.
Geoffrey Noel Crombie is a New Zealand percussionist and former member of the band Split Enz. He fulfilled multiple roles including costume and hair designer, singer, album cover designer, and music video director. Prior to Split Enz, Crombie worked as a postal assistant and was also an artist. He attended Mana College and then moved to Auckland to study art at Elam School of Fine Arts.
Nigel Griggs is a musician who played bass guitar in Split Enz. He is the brother of Paul Griggs from the 1970s vocal group Guys 'n' Dolls. A professional musician since 1963, Nigel Griggs played in a number of bands, notably The Cortinas and Octopus, 1963–1971, with his brother Paul, Carmen and Steve Hillage's Khan.
Schnell Fenster were a New Zealand rock band formed in Melbourne, Australia in 1986 by Noel Crombie on drums and percussion, Nigel Griggs on bass guitar and backing vocals, Phil Judd on lead vocals and guitar, and Eddie Rayner on keyboards and piano – who were all former members of New Zealand-formed rock group, Split Enz. Fellow founder, Michael den Elzen on lead guitar had worked with Tim Finn Band, another band formed by a Split Enz alumnus. Judd's band were briefly named The Wanx: but Rayner soon left and they changed their name to faux-German for "quick window", because it "appealed to [their] perversity". The group formed the core members of Noel's Cowards, a short-term ensemble, whose sole output was six tracks for the soundtrack of a feature film, Rikky and Pete, in 1988. Schnell Fenster released two studio albums, The Sound of Trees (1988) and Ok Alright a Huh Oh Yeah (1990), before disbanding in 1992. At the ARIA Music Awards of 1989 they were nominated for Breakthrough Artist – Album for The Sound of Trees, Breakthrough Artist – Single for "Whisper" and Best Cover Art for Judd's graphic art.
Deborah Ann Conway is an Australian rock singer-songwriter and guitarist, and had a career as a model and actress. She was a founding member of the 1980s rock band Do-Ré-Mi with their top-5 hit "Man Overboard".
The Makers were an Australian band formed by ex-Split Enz keyboardist, Eddie Rayner, and musician and singer, Brian Baker. The duo formed in 1988 after recording the tracks for a feature film, Rikky and Pete. The self-titled debut album The Makers released in 1990, provided three singles. The second album, Hokey Pokey, was released in 1992 with two further singles. They toured Australia in 1991 supporting the B-52's.
Deadstar were an Australian pop rock band formed in August 1995 by Peter Jones on drums and percussion; Caroline Kennedy on lead vocals and guitar; and Barry Palmer on guitar and bass guitar. They released three studio albums, deadstar, Milk and Somewhere Over the Radio. Two singles reached the top 100 on the ARIA Singles Chart, "Run Baby Run" and "Deeper Water", both in 1999. The group were nominated for three ARIA Music Awards. The group disbanded in 2001.
Bart Willoughby is an Aboriginal Australian musician, noted for his pioneering fusion of reggae with Indigenous Australian musical influences, and for his contribution to growth of Indigenous music in Australia.
Philip Raymond Judd is a New Zealand singer-songwriter known for being one of the founders of the bands Split Enz and The Swingers.
Chris Gough is the managing director of Mana Music and Native Tongue, a music publishing company with offices in Australia and New Zealand. Writers signed to Native Tongue include Don McGlashan, David Long and Philip Judd.
Lisa Anne Edwards is an Australian solo and session singer and musician. In July 1992 she had a top 5 hit on the ARIA Singles Chart with her cover version of Godley and Creme's "Cry". Edwards is primarily a backing vocalist and has worked for fellow Australian and international artists, including John Farnham and Kylie Minogue.
The Sound of Trees is the first album by Schnell Fenster.
Ok Alright A Huh Oh Yeah is the second and final album by Schnell Fenster. It was released only in Australia and New Zealand. The album peaked at number 117 in July 1991
The Third Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards was held on 6 March 1989 at the Darling Harbour Convention Centre in Sydney. First Australian host Greedy Smith of Mental As Anything was assisted by presenters George Martin, Jono & Dano, Barry Bissell of Take 40 Australia, Peter Collins, Peter Jamieson, Jonathan King and Brian Smith to distribute 24 awards. There were no live performances and the awards were not televised.
Rebecca Chirnside Barnard is an Australian singer, songwriter, producer and musician. She was the lead singer of the band Rebecca's Empire from 1993 to 2000 and has forged a solo career since her debut album, Fortified, was released in 2006. Her second solo album, Everlasting, was released in 2010. After a lengthy break of just under seven years, Barnard released her third solo album, Music for Listening and Relaxation, in 2017. She released her first solo jazz album, The Night We Called It A Day, in 2023.
Allan Zavod was an Australian pianist, composer, jazz musician and occasional conductor whose career was mainly in America.
Felicity Wilcox is an Australian composer and musician.
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