Volcano Island Band featuring Sean M.

Sean Mireau and the "Volcano Island Band" create a lively and festive atmosphere by performing live calypso/island/luau/reggae/steel drum music. Sean and other members of his band play authentic hand-made steel drums imported from the Caribbean. They have been entertaining audiences in the southwest United States since the mid 1990s. Their song list includes traditional and classic island songs such as the Banana Boat Song, Yellow Bird, Island in the Sun, Jamaica Farewell, Mary Anne, and the Hawaiian Wedding Song, as well as more contemporary reggae and popular songs such as Margaritaville, Red Red Wine, One Love, Kokomo, Brown Eye'd Girl, California Girls, and I Can See Clearly Now. During the holiday season Sean and his band can also play songs like Jingle Bells, Deck the Halls, Feliz Navidad, Let it Snow, Christmas Island, and Mele Kalikimaka. They have performed at events with attendance as small as ten people or as large as one thousand people. For smaller engagements, Sean often performs as a solo musician on steel drums by playing along with prerecorded music tracks. Or, for more energy and variety, there is the option of adding additional live instruments such as the tenor pan steel drum, double second steel drums, triple-cello steel drums, guitar, congas, keyboard, marimba, vibraphone, or drum set by adding one or more members of Sean's band "Volcano".

Sean Mireau and the "Volcano Island Band" create a lively and festive atmosphere by performing live calypso/island/luau/reggae/steel drum music. Sean and other members of his band play authentic hand-made steel drums imported from the Caribbean. They have been entertaining audiences in the southwest United States since the mid 1990s. Their song list includes traditional and classic island songs such as the Banana Boat Song, Yellow Bird, Island in the Sun, Jamaica Farewell, Mary Anne, and the Hawaiian Wedding Song, as well as more contemporary reggae and popular songs such as Margaritaville, Red Red Wine, One Love, Kokomo, Brown Eye'd Girl, California Girls, and I Can See Clearly Now. During the holiday season Sean and his band can also play songs like Jingle Bells, Deck the Halls, Feliz Navidad, Let it Snow, Christmas Island, and Mele Kalikimaka. They have performed at events with attendance as small as ten people or as large as one thousand people. They have provided live musical entertainment for countless wedding receptions, birthday parties, New Year's Eve parties, anniversary parties, pool parties, cocktail parties, office parties, Christmas parties, grand openings, and large and small events of all kind. Sean and his band have performed numerous times at every major resort in the Phoenix area including the Arizona Biltmore, The Camelback Inn, The Scottsdale Hilton, The Phoenician, the Ritz Carlton, the J.W. Marriot at Desert Ridge, The Wig Wam Resort, and the Hyatt Regency at Gainey Ranch in Scottsdale, as well as countless back yards all over Arizona. They have also performed at events and venues such as the Glendale Glitters Holiday Spectacular, the Chandler Ostrich Festival, the Tempe Festival of the Arts, the Phoenix Zoo, the Desert Botanical Gardens, the Scottsdale Center for the Arts, University of Phoenix Stadium, and Veteran's Memorial Coliseum.

For smaller engagements, Sean often performs as a solo musician on steel drums by playing along with prerecorded music tracks. Or, for more energy and variety, there is the option of adding additional live instruments such as the tenor pan steel drum, double second steel drums, triple-cello steel drums, guitar, congas, keyboard, marimba, vibraphone, or drum set by adding one or more members of Sean's band "Volcano". If you are looking for a way to turn your event into a great event, Sean Mireau and the Volcano Island Band is the way to go!

What are steel drums? "Steel drums" or "steel pans" are 55-gallon drums or oil barrels that have been hammered and shaped by hand into musical instruments. They originated on the Caribbean island of Trinidad in the late 1940s and can range in price from $500 to $5,000. Steel drums are very fragile, can go out of tune very easily and require constant maintenance. They need to be tuned every 6 to 12 months, depending on how often they are played. If a steel drum is dropped or exposed to sunlight for more than a few minutes, it will require a tuning, if it hasn't been damaged beyond repair. Steel drums are tuned by being skillfully tapped on with hammers, which is also how the instruments are made. It requires 50 or more hours of hammering to make one steel drum and it is common to wait months or years to have one made. There are fewer than 10 people in the U.S. that can make and tune steel drums and Sean drives to California regularly to have his steel drums tuned.

Sean Mireau has been performing as a professional musician since he was 14 years old. Sean plays the tenor pan steel drum, the double-second steel drums, double-guitar steel drums, drum set, marimba, vibes, timpani, congas, and numerous Latin percussion instruments. The steel drums Sean plays are authentic hand-made instruments imported from the Caribbean island of Trinidad. Sean has spent 20 years searching for and obtaining the highest quality steel drums he possibly can and personally owns over 25 drums. He started playing steel drums in 1992 as a member of the Arizona State University "Pandevils" steel drum band. Sean has an Associate of Arts Degree from Central Arizona College and has studied percussion and Jazz Performance at Arizona State University. While studying music at ASU, Sean performed in over 65 concerts and recitals as a soloist and as a member of the ASU Big Band, New Music Ensemble, Percussion Ensemble, Marimba Ensemble, Symphony Orchestra, Percussion Jazz Ensemble, numerous jazz combos, and the Steel Drum Band. Sean toured the United States and performed as a member of the Sunset Regiment Drum and Bugle Corps from Tucson, Arizona and as a member of the Velvet Knights Drum and Bugle Corps from Anaheim, California. He placed first in the Multi-Percussion category of the Drum Corps International Individual and Ensemble Competition held in Dallas, Texas. Sean has performed in 23 states nationally and his international performance locations include Canada, Turkey, Italy, Greece, and Spain.

Sean and his band bring all the necessary instruments and equipment. They do need access to one standard electrical outlet and a flat and level space approximately 5-feet wide and 5-feet deep for each musician. If any portion of the event is outdoors before sunset, the musicians will also need a space that is shaded from the sun.