Sy Benlolo (Sylver)
1972 – April 2012
Sy Benlolo, known to the world as Sy Sylver, was a true rocker at heart. He started playing guitar at the age of 10. He played in several bands throughout his lifetime including Irock and Remedy. He was mostly influenced by Ace Frehley of KISS and David Gilmour of Pink Floyd to become a guitarist. It was the band KISS that introduced him to the rock and roll world. He was surely one of their biggest fans. The music business started shifting away from rock and roll when Sy realized that dance music was dominating the world. In the mid 1990’s, Sy started hanging out at clubs that featured DJs. A thought came to him that a live musician accompanying the DJ would be something cooler to look at and could take the music to a different level. That is when Sy decided that person would be him. In 1997, Sy Sylver was born. Together with his friend and DJ, Mark S1 (Mark Soer), Sy performed at X-IT II EDEN in Toronto. They coined the collaboration as the “Club Rock Experience”. After that, there was no stopping Sy Sylver. Within a few years, Sy became a legendary pioneer in the electronic music scene. He became a specialist in collaborating with DJs who played House/Progressive/Trance/Top 40 and Mash Up music. Most of his performances were improvised and on the fly. No matter what the DJ threw at him, Sy would find a way to play along and electrify the audience. His performances were so accurate and captivating that his audiences didn’t believe he was actually playing. Sy also worked in the studio producing some amazing dance music with various artists and producers. Just like his idol David Gilmour, you can always tell when you are hearing Sy’s guitar. He always gave everything he touched his special rocky edge. Sy played all over the international club scene in cities such as New York, Las Vegas, Tel Aviv, Dubai, and Ibiza to name just a few. He played alongside world leading international DJs including Paul Oakenfold, Benny Baennassi, Tiesto, Mark S1, Yahel, Kaskade, Reflex Le Roque and many others. His performances in front of thousands at clubs in North America, the Middle East and Europe proved that the concept of a live guitarist free styling with a DJ was a force to be reckoned with and no one will be able to do it like Sy Sylver!!!!