F*****G AWESOME BAND ! GONNA BE HUGE !JYROJETS are one of the most heavily tipped bands around, with shed-loads of great press. The Sun named them as one of the seven hottest up- and- coming bands of 2008, and ran a full page story about their US tour.
The bad lads’ anthem ‘Favourite Thing About Jane’ / ‘I Don’t Think You Hurt’ was released on 14 May on CD single, 7” vinyl and download. XFM called it a ‘Britpop Anthem’, Jonathan Ross and Stephen Merchant are fans and the single was featured as a ‘Hottest download’ in The Sunday Times.
The video shoot for 'Jane' was crazy – the crowd rushed the stage, equipment went flying and it all ended with Chris and Colin buried under a pile of bodies! The Director was freaking out and ended the shoot early for fear of serious injuries.
The San Francisco Chronicle called Jyrojets: “ the best kept secret at South by Southwest’ after their shows in Texas in March. US station ME TV filmed a performance and it was broadcast throughout the SXSW festival. The band returned to the US in April for a 2 month BBC BritBus Tour, which took them coast to coast, from San Francisco to New York, in a red, double-decker London bus. The bus turned heads everywhere.
With a top speed of 45mph (downhill), the bus was customised complete with plasma screens and a bar with Bass on tap! The tour hit 15 cities, along with a couple of non-scheduled stops for the odd blow out (windows as well as tyres!). They played 50 gigs, surviving extreme desert temperatures with no air-con on the bus, tropical storms and some of the country’s less salubrious motels, but despite some hardships they had the best 8 weeks of their lives. They appeared on many TV and radio shows on route and sometimes played several gigs a night, returning home a much tighter and more confident band.
Jyrojets released their debut EP in November 06 and The Guardian raved about 'I Had Something Wonderful': "a spiralling guitar riff The Edge or Johnny Marr would kill for, a sublime anthem". The lead track, ‘Dead on Arrival’, is being featured on the soundtrack of a feature film titled '20 Cigarettes', recently shot in Russia.. The 3rd track on the EP was 'All The Rage'.
The week their EP was released, Jyrojets opened for Richard Ashcroft at Glasgow’s SECC in front of 10,000 people. Richard personally chose them, and called them “a great young band” during his encore (he watched their performance from the side of the stage). The band had already bought tickets to the show, never dreaming they would be supporting him. It was their biggest gig to date. Scottish TV were there, an interview and performance clips were broadcast on the STV News.
Some live acoustic sets followed for BBC Radio Scotland, who introduced them as “a band on the cusp of greatness”, XFM Scotland and Janice Long's Radio 2 show. Janice emailed the band afterwards:
"Thank you so much for doing such a top set..the listeners were mad for you. We were absolutely inundated with enquiries about you. Don't forget us when you are huge! I can't thank you enough . ....Lots of love...Janice x"
The last Jyrojets headline gig in Inverness was a complete riot, with about 1,000 fans filling The IronWorks. The band have already headlined the BBC Radio Scotland stage at the Belladrum Festival, supported Dirty Pretty Things, The Kaiser Chiefs and The Ordinary Boys, played festivals in Spain and Moscow with live radio and TV broadcasts across Russia. Their music has been described as a heavy kick of Nirvana with Simon & Garfunkel harmonies, Beatles melodies and plenty of attitude, which pretty much sums up their diverse influences.
It all started when Colin and Martin were 14. While hanging out, drinking a bottle of Buckfast in a bus shelter, listening to Nirvana with one earphone each, the boys decided to start a band. The two set about writing songs and, after a few years of trying out various line-ups, they finally hooked up with guitarist Chris Bain after seeing him play at a party. Their search for a drummer proved more difficult, until one day: “We were just wandering round Culloden and through an open window we heard someone banging a drum kit really loudly. It sounded great so we knocked on the door, and Veeb answered. We asked him if he wanted to join the band and he just said “Aye” . Dougie Edwards completed the line-up on bass.
After just a month of rehearsing 7 nights a week at the local ice rink, they recorded a demo and entered a competition for a chance to play at T in the Park. They were chosen to appear at King Tuts in Glasgow for the T-break heats – not bad for their first gig! They didn’t know the T-break promoters had sent their demo to Radio 1, so it was a bit of a shock to hear it on air.
Their big break came in 2005 when a demo track was chosen for inclusion on a CD featuring unsigned bands from Scotland, compiled by Highlands & Islands Enterprise and distributed to the industry by Music Week. Songphonic Records were excited by the demos and flew from London to Inverness to see a gig. They were blown away by the live show. They then flew the band down to jam in their studio, and at dinner that night a 4-album deal was struck. The band all ordered burgers, and when asked how he would like his cooked, Chris replied with a straight face,
"Dunno. Have you got a microwave? That'll do". The waiter was speechless.
The band had often been told they would never get a deal unless they moved out of the Highlands, but they have proved anything is possible if you have the talent. Incredibly, they are the first band from Inverness ever to sign a major record deal.
Jyrojets were a great hit at the Musexpo Showcase in May when they played to a packed room at The Roxy in Hollywood. They said it was a great buzz to finally perform "Hollywood, Hold On" there. The track was released as a single on 10th September. The video, their third Directed by Cavan McLauglin, features their journey to Hollywood on the BritBus. Their debut was released June 2008.
Music Style: Indie
Myspace Link:
http://www.myspace.com/jyrojets
The Windupdeads formed in the summer of 2007, Rickard Olsen (lead vocals, guitar), Jonas Westholm (bass) and Marcus von Boisman (drums, backing vocals) previously played together in a project called froid. After bringing in Petter Ingman on guitar, The Windupdeads emerged. They have spent the fall of 2007 recording an album that will be released october 7, 2008 by One Eleven Records. Their song Reverse of Shade has recently gained attention through the television series Gossip Girl and a full length version of the song will be included on their debut album. Really awesome songs !=)
