Happenstance

Happenstance in Australia In a serious city called Sydney where angry rock bands gather a-plenty, one band chooses to ignore the road rage & channel the hectic pace into cheerful pop/rock music. Happenstance are two charismatic front-men Ben Grace & NICK WOODFORD, the virtuosic David Grant on bass & dynamic drummer Ali Foster (winner of the 2007 Jann Rutherford Memorial Award for women instrumentalists in jazz.) Happenstance's on-stage sound has been likened to the Beatles, Crowded House, Maroon 5, Queen, early Whitlams, Phish, Supergrass and Jellyfish.

In a serious city called Sydney where angry rock bands gather a-plenty, one band chooses to ignore the road rage & channel the hectic pace into cheerful pop/rock music. Happenstance are two charismatic front-men Ben Grace & NICK WOODFORD, the virtuosic David Grant on bass & dynamic drummer Ali Foster (winner of the 2007 Jann Rutherford Memorial Award for women instrumentalists in jazz.) Happenstance's on-stage sound has been likened to the Beatles, Crowded House, Maroon 5, Queen, early Whitlams, Phish, Supergrass and Jellyfish.

Happenstance have been playing the Sydney scene for less than a year and have wasted no time producing their first EP along side ARIA award winning producer/engineer Anton Hagop (Silverchair, Powderfinger, the Dissociatives). This stylistically varied debut serves as an entree to Happenstance's extensive repertoire. Two of the EP tracks recently made into the top 30 in the national New Artists 2 Radio (2007) competition and in September 'If I'm Not Mistaken' debuted in the newly launched mp3.com.au charts at number 1.

In late 2008 'If I'm Not Mistaken' was featured as the opening track on the US compilation CD "Power Pop Overthrow Vol. 2" and sees it being added to US college radio. In early 2008 'Here I Am Again' secured a spot on the Perisher Blue 'Launch Your Band' compilation CD which is still awaiting an official release.

Happenstance have received airplay as well as being interviewed and playing live, on community radio right across Australia. Their track 'If I'm Not Mistaken' has also been added to US college radio networks.

Happenstance have played at venues such as the Annandale, the Hopetoun, the Lansdowne, Will & Toby's, the Excelsior, the Cat & Fiddle, HQ, Mandarin Club, Orange Grove Hotel and Vic on the Park and Windsor's infamous Jolly Frog Hotel and recently took their show on the road to Newcastle, Wollongong, Port Macquarie, Armidale & Coffs Harbour.

You can view their website at http://www.happenstance.com.au or at http://www.myspace.com/happenstanceband

Happenstance in California

Happenstance is a project made by Torrance, California's own Sean Akutagawa, which started in the winter of 2005 in a messy garage where kids came over to play Smash. One day Sean decided that he was writing way too many songs that people might (or might not) enjoy, so he made http://myspace.com/happenstanceca and posted "battlefrontdemo" on it. People actually liked it, and eventually by happenstance the current lineup was created. (ha ha)

The band consists of Sean Akutagawa (vox/guitar), Sabrina Vicerra (guitar), Juan Aniceto (bass), and Daniel Akutagawa (drums). Former members include James Parker (bass), former lead singer of the band Blue Goose, and Tommy Trinh (keys).