Evan Yako

Session Drummer, Educator, Music Producer

Evan Yako is an Assyrian session drummer, educator, music producer and creative director of Real Rhythm Studio in Sydney, Australia. His passion project, Healing Through Evan Yako’s Drumming, supports young people in connecting with the power of music in schools. His first solo album, Inspirational Stories will be released in 2021.

Evan’s passion for World, Fusion and Jazz music began in childhood and his earliest memories include playing pots and pans as drums. Not being raised in a musical family, Evan rescued plastic buckets from the local neighbourhood to create music. He soon became known for his unique drumming style and before long he was asked to audition for a local band. Evan turned up with his buckets and, in that moment, history was made.

Recognised in the industry as a session and studio drummer, Evan Yako has supported local and international artists get acclaim. He has performed in numerous world music, jazz and folk festivals including Peats Ridge, Blues and Roots, Art Not Apart and the National Folk Festival Canberra. Among his influences are Steve Gadd and Dennis Chambers.

Evan has played drum tracks in over 45 albums and performed for Australian and American television including Sunrise, Fuel TV, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and SBS. He has studied under Mitch Farmer and renowned Australian drummer David Jones. Evan hails from a unique cultural ancestry, that of the Assyrian people. His grandparents were displaced from their Indigenous ancestral territories in the Hakkari region and ended up in Iraq. At the impressionable age of 16, after years of war, Evan was forced to flee with his family as a refugee. Among the first drummers of history, Evan continues an ancestral legacy with a modern fusion twist.

Evan Yako is proudly sponsored by SONOR and UFIP Cymbals. He resides in Sydney, Australia with his partner Deena and daughters Melody and Harmony.

YouTube | Facebook | Instagram | Spotify

projects

Community – Albums – School

videos

Live – Studio – Lessons

media

TV – Magazines – Newspapers

Achievements & awards:

Fairfield & Liverpool Multicultural Health Services to Evan Yako
from Real Rhythm Studio in appreciation of the time and effort invested in the Anti-Smoking Campaign 2014-2015

Certificate of Appreciation presented by Fairfield City Council to
Real Rhythm Studio for the contribution to the “Work Experience – Bring it On!” Program 2012

ZEST Awards Nominee for Outstanding Not for Profit Community Leader

Certificate of Appreciation presented by Cabramatta High School Intensive English Centre

Humanitarian Awards 2015 as Best Project Award by NSW Service for the Treatment and Rehabilitation
of Torture and Trauma Survivors from the Refugee Council of Australia, Settlement Services International
and Illawarra Multicultural Services Inc.

Youth work Awards 2017 – Youth Action and nominated for Outstanding
Service or Project working with Young People from a CALD background