All About the Band

 

The LateShift Band

Mario, Alan, Pete, Steve, Dave O and Dave K

 

 

Steve Hansen on the bass guitar/vocals!

Steve’s first major influence, was “Roger Miller” but when the Beatles arrived on the scene, he knew that was it, He would be a musician. After a few years of accordion lessons, He switched to guitar, then bass. The first band that he played in was “Whiskey Tree”. This Nanaimo based band played up and down the island during the mid 60’s on the Coffee House circuit. Other 60’s bands he played in were, “Jacob Grin” and “Steamboat”.

After moving to Victoria, the 70’s and 80’s brought bands like the “Northern Lights” (Country), “Phoenix” (classic rock), with Dave Kissinger, “Steamboat”(classic rock from Victoria), and “Savanna Blue” with Little Ed Wright.

Eventually he joined Dave and Bob in an earlier version of Rukus, (92 to 95) along with Helen Davies, Steve Peabody and Brian Ferguson. He left to take some time off for Family, then got back into the music scene in “Kickstart”, with Pete Willing (classic rock, R&B). Other bands include the “Ready Willing Band”(classic rock),”Little Black T”(modern rock) , Freezeframe (80s) and for the last 11 years, Rukus.

 

Pete Willing on vocals!

Peter Willing was born and raised in Langford, British Columbia. As a child he loved to play the piano and later found that singing and playing music would soothe his soul and fuel his optimistic spirit.

When the mania of the Beatles hit Canada, Peter became serious about music and formed his first band playing British wave music. That was in 1965 and he’s been playing ever since.

Peter has performed lead vocals and played keyboards in many bands featuring music from Rock to Country, to his favourite, Rhythm and Blues.

Peter has an entertainment company and regularly produces music events and fundraises for his community. Over the years he ran Dick Clark National singing contests and judged and mentored many talented artists.

Peter has been blessed to have had a half-century performing with some amazing artists, many of whom have become lifelong friends..

 

Alan Heffer on all the keys/vocals!

Born in London, England, Alan has played keyboards and sung in bands since he was 16 years old. For three years in the early 70s he played in the resident band at the Lyceum Ballroom on the Strand in London. He also played with this band at the British Film Awards at the Royal Albert Hall alongside the Joe Loss Orchestra.

After emigrating to Victoria, Alan focused on solo performances and made several appearances on CHEK TV, including a one hour Christmas special. He was also a finalist in the Search for a Star” competition on CBC TV playing with a large orchestra at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver.

.

 

Dave Kissinger on lead guitar/vocals!

Dave got hooked on guitar one lunch hour in 1958 after listening to Don Beech and Bill Comerford play Poison Ivy and a couple of Everly Brothers songs in the school lunch room. By the age of 12 he had taught himself how to play “Torture” on his prized “Gemtone”. Shortly after, he joined with several friends and began exploring songs by the Ventures, Wailers, Johnny and the Hurricanes and the Fireballs, to name just a few. Eventually someone suggested they play for an hour at a dance being held at the Club Soho. The Trojans, as they were now called, ended up playing most of the night and their first dance was in the bag. Over the next few years Dave played mainly for school and teen dances. In those days, bands played instrumentals only.

In the early 60’s bands started doing vocals, mainly on the influence of the Beatles. A band called R.P.M. and the Regents was formed fronted by Raymond Peter May who had an English accent, pointed Beatle boots and “longer hair”!! The group was very successful throughout the 60’s.

In 2008, Dave was honoured by his peers and inducted into The Victoria Rock & Roll Hall of Fame along with fellow members of “The Regents”

In the late 70’s Dave joined Phoenix playing Eagles, BTO, Police, Chicago, CCR, Van Morrison  and even a “country” set.  In the early 90’s Dave played guitar with Rukus which was a very successful oldies band playing authentic versions of the hits from the 50’s and 60’s.

On March 8, 2019 some of the old band came back together to support a Lion’s Club fundraiser, and after that amazing night, a new band was formed……called LateShift!!

 

 

Mario Siciliano  on drums

Mario started at the tender age of eight, performing drums in a marching band, and by the time he was 12, he was playing weekly gigs in dance bands, and as a guest performer in his hometown of Winnipeg. After relocating to Alberta, Mario joined the blues scene performing with Blueseros for many years. With influences like Buddy Rich, Billy Cobham, Santana, Neil Peart, and Carter Beauford, Mario’s ability to play a wide range of styles became his calling card. In addition to performing live, Mario has clocked many hours in recording studios and is featured on more than a dozen albums ranging from jazz, blues, rock, Latin, reggae, folk, and funk. Before leaving Alberta for Vancouver Island, Mario played with The Enablers hosting community jam sessions and charity events. Now, after more than 50 years behind a drum kit, Mario is thrilled to be part of LateShift, and is honoured to play with such distinguished musicians.

 

 

Dave Oxendale    Live Sound Engineer

Dave, also know as “OX” became hooked on live music in the late 70’s while watching his friend Ron play guitar at parties.  Dave volunteered to control the light show and was quickly promoted to sound-man.  This was the beginning of a long career in live music, television and live musical theatre. In the early 80’s that band became the Rhythmtoads (Toads) a very popular Top 40 cover band which had a long successful run throughout the 80’s and 90’s with Dave controlling sound and lights.  The Toads played most weekends up and down the island and lower mainland at venues from Harpo’s to Mount Washington and a lot of really awesome parties in between.

After the Toads, Dave took a short break and then joined the very talented show band The Waybacks, a colorful costume filled show covering the 50’s to the 80’s.  The Waybacks performed all over the Island, Western Canada and even Ottawa.  After several years with the Waybacks, Dave took a couple years off bands and worked as a crew member on a TV show called “Let’s Sing Again”  (with Louise Rose).

After his break, former Wayback members Lisa and Paul Mclellan formed a new band called Matheson and asked Dave to join as sound engineer for this family oriented show designed to help PAC groups raise money for needed equipment at the schools.  Eventually Matheson became FreezeFrame, a very popular 80’s retro cover band still going strong today.  Dave also sat in as sound engineer for a season with the very popular 50’s band Rukus.

Today Dave enjoys mixing sound for his really good friends in LateShift, FreezeFrame and The Soul Shakers.  He enjoys being part of this large family of talented local musicians.  He also volunteers at Edward Milne School Musical Theatre each year as lead sound engineer assisting the student tech class with sound for the show, mentoring the next generation of live sound engineers.