Tasha

Tasha was born August 2, 1977 in New Jersey. She began playing drums at the age of 11, after moving to Ft Lauderdale, Florida. She performed in the school Jazz Band, and also became familiar with music theory, as well as playing in a group musical setting. By the age of 14, influenced by such bands as Judas Priest, Led Zeppelin, and Cream, Tasha began playing drums on the Ft. Lauderdale music scene with local bands such as The Army, and Chamber of Thrills, who soon moved to Baltimore, MD. It was during this time that Tasha began playing guitar and writing songs. After a brief stint in Baltimore, Tasha returned to Ft. Lauderdale and focused on songwriting, performing acoustically in local clubs such as The Hot Moon, and The Nocturnal Café. During this time she recorded a four song demo, performing drums, bass, vocals,and guitar. Starting at age 19, Tasha played drums for a Sex Pistols Tribute called Spunk. This group performed regularly, and soon after led to playing for a garage band called The Pop Skulls, with whom Tasha recorded and played live for 2 years. After moving to Baltimore, MD, she recorded a 5 song demo with producer Fareed Haque, and has played drums in bands such as The Dave Cipriani Orchestra,(east indian classical, pop, funk). Bittersweet, (pop, funk, soul, R&B), The Rockstars, (Punk-Metal) with whom Tasha recorded a 10 song CD. She performed regularly on the Baltimore scene for over 12 years. More recently, Tasha recorded with Garaj Mahal, singing the song "No Spect" on the album Blueberry Cave, which won the independent music awards 2008.
Tasha (Sydney Levine) is now living and playing music in Las Vegas, and is playing drums for Bandshe, The Black Diamond Experience ( Neil Diamond tribute), and is writing and recording. Keep your eyes and ears open.
About The EP
The music you are hearing was written over the course of the past ten years or so. I was very fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with my producer Farreed Haque, a jazz legend and the associate professor of music at Northern Illinois University. He is also the leader of The Fareed Haque Group. We met in Colorado at a show he played with Garaj Mahal, with whom he is the lead guitarist. We hung out backstage and I played him a song on the acoustic. He said "Wow, you have a great voice. I would love to produce you." I took this very seriously. 3 months later we were in Northbrook, Illinois, recording my music with the help, input and expertise of engineer Craig Williams. Dr. Caw studios is a great place to record. I can't wait to work with Craig again. I really believe he knew exactly what to do with my voice. The band you are hearing is, in fact, Garaj Mahal. I did not have a band at the time, and I could not have asked for a better group of musicians to work with. Fareed Haque on lead guitar, Eric Levy, all keys, Kai Eckhardt on Bass, and on drums Alan Hertz. And myself, Tasha on rhythm guitar and lead vocals. The awesome backup vocals were provided by Fareed's wife, Elizabeth, who is an amazing jazz singer. Please go and check out the sites www.fareed.com and www.garajmahal.net so that you can meet my friends. Listen and Enjoy!!