Electric Kompany

Electric Kompany is a New York City rock quartet which is pushing the boundaries of art - rock music. The group is dedicated to commissioning serious contemporary music for rock quartet.

The members of EK are James Johnston - keyboards, Alex Walker - electric bass, Sean McDaniel - drum kit, and Kevin Gallagher - electric guitar. The group has commissioned new works for rock quartet by Jacob Ter Veldhuis , David Laganella , Marc Mellits , Nick Didkovsky, and Kristen Hevner among others. EK's virtuoso style has earned them the title “pioneers of the new rock complexity”. In 2006, EK appeared at the Whitney Museum of American Art, The New York Guitar Festival, The Tribeca New Music Festival, and the New Rock Complexity festivals (1 and 2) curated by John Zorn. 2007 appearances include The Wordless Music Series, Chamber Music Now series, Music Journeys series, as well a tour with conservatory residencies in Holland.

Alex Walker (bass) divides his time between performing on the classical guitar and bass, and composing music for television. After recieving his MM from the Hartt School, Mr. Walker returned to NYC to perform solo and teach at the Lagond Music School in which he leads middle and high school ensembles working within the jazz, funk and latin idioms. He also writes music for several Saturday morning cartoons that appear on FOX including GI Joe, among others. Mr. Walker recently was the guest soloist with the Hartford Symphony Orchestra performing a suite of music from the Final Fantasy video game series. In addition to his hefty schedule, Alex also finds the time to lead his own trio, Do Shadows Savage?, which is an exploration into modern indigenous music with a punk rock sensibility. Mr. Walker has performed in a multitude of settings in New York, Hartford, Baltimore, Washington D.C., London, Prague, Berlin, Amsterdam, Budapest, Brussels, and Stuttgardt.

Sean McDaniel (drums) is currently the Drummer for the Grammy and Tony award winning Best Musical on Broadway, Monty Python's Spamalot . Prior to Spamalot he was a substitute drummer on Broadway's The Lion King , Wicked , Rent , Aida , Avenue Q , Thoroughly Modern Millie , Fiddle r On The Roof , Wonderful Town , Assassins , Nine , Les Miserables , and The Producers . Sean is also a successful freelance Drummer in New York City, having played with Audra McDonald, Carrie Underwood, Mario Frangoulis, Natalie Douglas, Trisha Yearwood, Karmine Alers, Andrea McCardle, and the Ed Palermo Big Band. He plays the Rock club circuit regularly with Melissa Giges, and Shanna Sharp. Sean received his Bachelor of Music degree from The University of North Texas, where he studied with Ed Soph. He earned a Masters of Fine Arts Degree from New York University in Musical Composition. His songs have been performed around NYC, and his musical Owl Creek was seen in workshops and produced by Ithaca College. Sean endorses Drum Workshop Drums, Pedals, and Hardware and Vic Firth Drumsticks

James Johnston (keyboard) is an American pianist whose abilities range from fresh interpretations of the classic literature to new music, improvisation, and jazz. With degrees from the Juilliard School and Yale University, Mr. Johnston is active both as a solo performer and chamber musician. Highlights of Mr. Johnston’s new music activities include recent New York performances of Elliot Carter’s Double Concerto and John Adams’ Grand Pianola Music, solo performances of Nancarrow’s Canons for Ursula, John Adams’ China Gates, and Thomas Ades’ Darknesse Visible, and chamber collaborations with David Rakowski, Martin Bresnick, and the Minimum Security Composers Collective. Mr. Johnston’s chamber music activities include concerts with the Proteus ensemble and Fireworks. Upcoming concerts include a portrait of Frank Zappa’s music at the Miller Theater at Columbia University. Mr. Johnston recently completed his Doctoral Studies at the Manhattan School of Music. He currently lives in New York.

Kevin R. Gallagher (electric guitar) began playing rock guitar in his formative years but his musical appetite quickly led him to study jazz and ultimately, classical guitar. His renowned gift for the classical guitar won him numerous scholarships and awards while studying with Benjamin Verdery at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music and at the Julliard School under the tutelage of Sharon Isbin. He was the first-prize winner in the 1993 Guitar Foundation of America, the 1994 American String Teachers Association, and the 1993 Artists International Competition. Mr. Gallagher also earned the distinct honor of being the only American classical guitarist ever to win first prize in the prestigious Francisco Tárrega Guitar Competition in Spain (1997).

In the summer of 2001, Kevin decided to expand the scope of his concert programs to also include works for electric guitar. Kevin is active in encouraging composers to write new music for the instruments of today - such as the electric guitar, turntables, synthesizers etc. This unique approach to composition is widening the audience and interest for new music as well as educating composers who never have the chance to study these modern instruments in a traditional conservatory education. To contact Kevin Gallagher directly, please visit his website www.guitar69.com