Rockit
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ROCKIT is a band from London, UK. Armed with a stack of catchy original songs, a captivating live show and a sound canvass with real depth, ROCKIT's sound is making waves on both sides of the Atlantic.
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[edit] About
Originally conceived by Justin Silver, Martin Holloway and Ben Annersley, the band quickly found that it was getting a good rep for quality songs and recordings fun live shows and some great reviews.
When Justin quit his band Grasshopper in 2003, he met up with Martin (who'd just quit his band Holloway) and a natural musical chemistry took shape. Both Justin and Martin were heavily influenced by the blues and 60's and 70's rock. But whereas Justin was especially into the classic rock and pop acts, Martin was more into prog rock, especially Rush.
In one of their early improvised shows in London's West Hampstead, Martin and Justin rushed to the venue having performed live on BBC radio. They were approached in the bar after the show by Ben who had just returned from playing session bass in the US, after having been in-house bass player for Rough Trade records, and then touring with Red Crayola. Ben suggested trying out a 3 piece and immediately things worked with Justin and Ben complimenting each others styles and writing new songs together easily, the creative process was on the right track.
All members of the band shared a love for well crafted songs, especially The Beatles and Bob Dylan. Ben brought an extra dimension with a deep understanding of Baroch music, pieces by JS Bach and a whole tonne of classic Jazz.
Soon after forming Ben and Justin resolved not to play the normal run-of-the-mill venues. Deciding that ROCKIT gigs should be special and therefore only in interesting places. As a result ROCKIT's first few shows included a large boat overlooking Big Ben and one of the tallest penthouse apartment spaces in London, with panoramic views across the city. Within weeks, Chris Berry (an American) and one of London's best session guitarists joined the band. An old friend of Ben's he added just the right extra ingredient.
In addition to the core line-up ROCKIT often play with Ben Richardson (acoustic guitar) and Lakis Economis (bass). Whereas Ben is a Beatles "freak" and also massively influenced by Bowie, Lakis is very much a jazz maestro and has performed with some of the greats.
Exclusive Interview with Rockit
[edit] Chart Toppers
Rockit's debut album is due out in early 2007. To test the water the band uploaded 11 songs to the UK Music Week website, where there's a new music download chart. 11 of Rockit's songs made it to number one the UK Music Week New Music chart over a 6 month period.
[edit] News
ROCKIT are about to release their debut album Retro Boosters in 2007. The album features a load of original yet "classic" sounding songs. A taster can be found on ROCKIT's Myspace page: Rockit's Myspace and there are even some downloads available on the band's own website:Rockitpad.com.
The band have already finished writing most of the songs for their follow-up album which is again a complete departure.
[edit] Tours & Concerts
Rockit will be touring far and wide. Initially there's a whole load of promo work to do in Europe to promote the new album.
The band's debut TV appearance was a couple of weeks ago on "The Fiday Show", where they performed two songs live followed by the inevitable interview on the couch.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Listening Room
[edit] Albums
| Album | Information |
|---|---|
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[edit] Singles
| Title |
|---|
| Bag Lady |
| Neptune's Daughter |
| 2nd Class Post |
| It's Your Life |
| Holding On |
| Stray to the Point |
| Love of Life |
| Trolly Dolly |
| Holy Roller |
| Some Kind of Record |
| Victoria |
| Stuck on Rewind |
| Memories Fade Away |
| Truth Will Set You Free |
| Wicked Webb |
| Four Leaves |
| Oops |
| On The Right Track |
[edit] Influences
[edit] Trivia
- Martin's first degree was in Electronic Engineering at Oxford University.
- Justin appeared as a Zombie in Shaun of the Dead and won a semi finalists trophy in the 29th World Backgammon Championships.
- Ben's ancestor is Colonel Thomas Blood who famously stole the crown jewels from the Tower of London, but lived and got rewarded with a load of money and land!
- "2nd Class Post" was hugely influenced by the chord progression in Charlie Parker's "Donna Lee".
