2013 Canadian Folk Music Award Winner for "Pushing the Boundaries" and "Instrumental Group of the Year"

2012 Independent Music Award Winner; nominated for two Canadian Folk Music Awards

Daniel Akira Stadnicki is an award-winning drummer and percussionist based in Edmonton, Alberta. Originally from the suburbs of Toronto, Daniel has quickly become a key fixture in Edmonton's thriving roots, jazz, and world music scenes, including work with: Farhad Khosravi, Maddie Storvold, Braden Gates, Christine Hanson, Bardic Form, Cristian de la Luna, Spencer Murray and Pipeslinger, Cam Neufeld and the Gadjo Collective, Martin Kerr, Daniel Gervais, Jeremiah McDade, Elliot Thomas, Billie Zizi, Dana Wylie, Audrey Ochoa, and the Northland Trio.  

Inspired by found-sounds, eclectic timbres, and deep, vintage drum tones, Daniel thrives in string-based, acoustic music settings and has a passion for learning folk music traditions from around the world. Adopting an integrative approach to world percussion and drum set, Daniel draws from his studies with Grant Taylor (The Salads), Rick Gratton, Barry Romberg, Kwasi Dunyo, Rick Lazar, Ruben Esguerra, Paul Ormandy, and Patrick Graham. 

Over the past 20 years, Daniel has worked with a number of Canada's finest singer/songwriters and instrumentalists, including Jaron Freeman-Fox, Liam Russel, Lisa Conway, Ken Whiteley, Mike Evin, Hannah Georgas, the Weather Station, Kevin Breit, and that one time in Whitehorse, YK with legendary Canadian act, Moist. As a teenager, Daniel was a member of the rock band, Serial joe, which led to heavy touring across Canada; performing at Woodstock 1999; opening for KISS on a Western Canadian tour; Gold Records; getting banned from performing at London Ontario's Western Fair; and other surreal and crazy things.  

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Daniel proudly endorses Murat Diril Cymbals. 

Elliot Thomas 

Spencer Murray and Pipeslinger

Farhad Khosravi

Elliot Thomas' "Pull Devil, Pull Baker" EMA Nomination for 2017 Jazz Recording of the Year (click for link)

Dana Wylie and Farhad Khosravi both shortlisted for the 2017 Edmonton Music Prize (click for link)

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Dana Wylie's album nominated for 

2018 CFMA Award!

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Dana Wylie

Liam Titcomb "Shuter Street Sessions" (Double Dorje Records, 2013)

"Reach Out to the Darkness" (Live) with Martin Kerr (2018) 

"Duetymology" (Live) with Jaron Freeman-Fox (2018) 

"Dana Wylie - "The Earth That You're Made Of" (Live) (2017)

Jaron Freeman-Fox and the OOE, Live in Helsinki - "Flabbergasp" (2014)

Jaron Freeman-Fox, "Auctioneering Everything" (Official Video) (2014). Video by Ben Clarkson

"Get Behind the Mule" (Live Tom Waits Cover) - Blue Skies Festival (2014). Video by Fine Tippery Productions

"Into the Mystic" (2012), with Liam Titcomb.

Sal Piamonte Band - "Get Up, Get Up" (2011)

"Hallelujah Leonard Cohen Hallelujah" (Live) with JDana Wylie (2018) 

Daniel Gervais and 2E Fiddle - "Reel of Isabelle" (2017) 

"After A Long Time" - Official Video, Hanny Khoury (2017)

Elliot Thomas, Live @ Vacancy Hall with The Northern Sessions (2017) - "Shhh"

"To Forget" (Music Video) - LCON (2012)

"In Honour Of" - LCON

"Machines" (Music Video) - The Owle Bird (2009), by Jared Raab

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*** Teenage Rocking and Rolling!! ***

From around 1996-2002 (when I was 12/13 years old), I started playing in a Canadian band called Serial joe. We were buddies from school and started out covering No Doubt and Rage Against the Machine songs,  eventually writing originals (but mostly ripping off Rage Against the Machine). We lived and performed in Newmarket, Ontario, just outside Toronto. 

I started playing the drums because of this band...most of us in the group probably had about a year of playing under our belts until local news, youth media (aka YTV), and Much Music took notice. I made a lot of mistakes on stage.

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My cousin Warren P. Sonoda, an exceptionally talented and successful director and screenwriter, shot and edited most of our videos. He helped us win craploads of Much Music awards (which aren't really 'my' awards, but I put them in my CV as if I made them).

We were signed to Aquarius Records, had a short-lived stint with Epic in the US (but I think were dropped/replaced by Good Charlotte [remember them?]), and managed to travel/play across the country multiple times. I even got to record on Dave Grohl's snare from Nevermind in Los Angeles on a kit prepared by the infamous 'Drum Doctor.' 

Fact: this was pre-Napster and Internet record label days. Lots of money was spent on records and music videos. I had no idea how to save money.  

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Our first demo was a cassette and designed around skateboarding--something I still love to this day. Our first single 'Skid Row' was also about skateboarding. Most of those lyrics were actually written by the singer's mom/our manager. That was sometimes weird to process as an angsty teen. 

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Our debut major label record was produced by a guy who worked with Marilyn Mason, or maybe he worked with Nine Inch Nails...I forget. He was kind of useless, in retrospect. Probably not that into it, tbh.

Fact: teenagers made the record themselves on a ridiculous budget at Metalworks Studios in Toronto.

I mostly used an inexpensive entry kit by Yamaha (a Stage Custom) and had no idea how to tune drums. For a while, I was also sponsored by Yamaha and Sabian Cymbals. That was slick.

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Our biggest fan base was in Quebec. I really loved playing in Quebec. Lots of people from Quebec still post cover versions of our songs. 

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Enjoy!