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The Parlotones
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Last updated 15 07 11
The Parlotones
Genre
Melodic Rock
Members
Kahn Morbee
Glenn Hodgson
Paul Hodgson
Neil Pauw
Record Label
Sovereign Entertainment
Biography
The Parlotones are known for their electric,
polished stage performances delivered against the
backdrop of their deftly crafted and darkly romantic
lyrics. Their sound, described as alternative in
their formative years has evolved substantially
becoming more refined and focused with each album.
It took the bands debut album ‘Radiocontrolledrobot’
two years to reach Gold status and their follow up
‘A World Next Door To Yours’ achieved this in three
months. Three months later the album was certified
Platinum. Testimony to just how much the band has
grown over the past few years.’ A World Next Door To
Yours’ remained on the South African top 20 sales
chart for more than twelve months and is currently
South Africa’s biggest selling rock album of this
decade. The album spurned seven radio singles, a
very unique situation.
That convoluted journey into the music psyche of
South Africa was one which required strong work
ethic from the band and an even stronger stomach
when it came to attracting the country's media:
“We've always had the attitude to just do anything,
because everything counts. We've done it all; from
having kids throwing water bombs at us, to waxing
each other's legs on national television and eating
tripe in Soweto. And it really does all count; soon
the whole country knows who you are. (Well not
'soon', rather 'eventually.')”.
The Parlotones
But we are getting ahead of ourselves. Let’s start
from the beginning. Sitting in the studio working on
the new album reflecting on their recent
rollercoaster rise to fame, it has certainly been an
interesting time. In the last eighteen months the
band have played over 300 shows and sold over 100
000 records.
In 2005 things really took off with the release of ‘Radiocontrolledrobot’.
The debut album was nominated for Best Rock Album at
the 2006 South Africa Music Awards and won! From
there on the opportunities and breakthroughs just
kept on coming. One of bands highlights for the year
was the closing slot at The Coke Fest, which saw the
Parlotones play AFTER Metallica. How many indie
bands can say Metallica opened for them?
The awards kept on coming and by the end of the year
the bands hauntingly beautiful and poignant ballad
‘Beautiful’ was used in an Irish Fujifilm commercial
which led to a European license deal with Universal
Music.
2007 kicked off with a bang with the band performing
70 shows in the UK. In June of that year The
Parlotones were selected to perform at The Live
Earth concert, the largest festival ever staged. MSN
named The Parlotones as on one 10 most memorable
performances at Live Earth and likened seeing the
Parlotones at this early stage of the career to
seeing The Police in the late 70’s.
2008 was a great year with entering the European
market. The Parlotones went on tour in Germany with
the Wombats, had Razorlight over to perform with
them in SA and performed at the Open Air St Gallen
in Switzerland. UK super group, Starsailor came over
to support the band on The Powerzone unplugged
Festival tour. This resulted in a twelve city tour
with Starsailor in the UK
Back at home, their single ‘Ill be there’ was
nominated for 2 MTV Africa Awards and won 3 South
African Video Awards and they were chosen as the
Face of the HD launch in SA.
2009 was off to a great start with critically
acclaimed performances at Midem, Canadian Music Week
and SXSW. The band was selected to perform at Midem,
where they performed with Blue October. A show that
resulted in a 6 week tour with Blue October in the
USA the next year.
The Parlotones have been very well received in the
USA with an independent release managing to crack
the CMJ top 200 chart in the USA. ‘Overexposed’ won
awards locally and in the USA including 2 awards in
The International Song Contest (ISC) which boasts
heavyweight judges such as Robert Smith, Tom Waits
and Rob Thomas (Matchbox 20)
Moving forward…
The band released 3 of their own wines, each named
after a song. "Giant Mistake" (red) "Push Me to the
Floor" (white) and "We call this Dancing" (rose.)
The Parlotones performed at One Movement for Music
Perth (OMFM) in October, one of the most important
music industry event for the Asia Pacific region.
With 80 artists playing unique 30-minute showcase
sets, premičring their latest material in a full
outdoor festival setting over two days at Perth
Esplanade, the event sees music industry experts and
the cream of worldwide musical talent coming
together.
The schedule for the rest of 2009 is typically
fraught with activity as The Parlotones embark on a
world tour.
Kicking off in the United Kingdom, the band
crisscross Europe (including a visit to Russia),
playing concerts in countries where the singles off
“A World Next Door To Yours” are currently emulating
the success enjoyed in SA.
SA fans can catch their pride and joy live in
concert at The Dome, where 19 000 fans will
celebrate the end of the tour with the band.
The Parlotones
Cities on the tour included: London, Reading,
Bristol, Liverpool, Guildford, Portsmouth,
Manchester, Glasgow, Amsterdam, Paris, Berlin,
Munich, Hamburg, Stuttgart, Frankfort, Johannesburg,
Cape Town, Lisbon, Zurich, Stockholm, Copenhagen,
Oslo, Moscow and Perth.
Their unwavering work ethic, coupled with their 'do
what it takes' mentality means that they are winning
over fan after adoring fan in every territory they
visit.
The Parlotones is a South African rock band based in
Johannesburg, South Africa.
From their origins in Johannesburg, South Africa,
the rock 4-piece has achieved multiplatinum-selling
status in their home country. The band are currently
known as the biggest rock band in South Africa. [1]
A sold-out 300-date World Tour over the past 18
months has brought The Parlotones to the attention
of music fans in Austria, Benelux, France, Germany,
Italy, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the US
- where they packed out 1000+ capacity venues by
word of mouth alone.[citation needed]
After heading to Australia for their first
performance down under at the One Movement for Music
Perth festival, the band’s homeland crowd in South
Africa was able to see their most beloved rock band
at Cape Town’s Grand West Arena, and at the Coca
Cola Dome in Johannesburg. The latter was packed
with 19 000[citation needed] fans who helped The
Parlotones make history - being the first South
African band headlining the venue - and close their
biggest global tour yet.
The Parlotones Biography
The Parlotones are best known for the face make-up
worn by lead singer, Kahn Morbee. The band
experiment sonically with their sound and various
structures are utilised in their songs, including
the typical Doo-Wop cycle or traditional Folk
structure.
It took the band’s debut album
‘Radiocontrolledrobot’ two years to reach Gold
status[citation needed] and their follow up ‘A World
Next Door To Yours’ achieved this in a couple of
months.[citation needed] Three months later the
album was certified Platinum.[citation needed] ’A
World Next Door To Yours’ remained on the South
African top 20 sales chart for more than twelve
months[citation needed] and, with sales in excess of
80 000, is currently South Africa’s biggest selling
rock album of this decade having achieved Double
Platinum Status.[citation needed]
A lot of the band's success can be attributed to the
strong ties they have formed with the media and
their extensive use of publicity opportunities.
“We've always had the attitude to just do anything,
because everything counts. We've done it all; from
having kids throwing water bombs at us, to waxing
each other's legs on national television and eating
tripe in Soweto. And it really does all count; soon
the whole country knows who you are. (Well not
'soon', rather 'eventually.')”.[citation needed]
In 2005 things really took off with the release of ‘Radiocontrolledrobot’.
The debut album won Best Rock Album at the 2006
South Africa Music Awards.[citation needed] One of
bands highlights for the year was the closing slot
at The Coke Fest, which saw The Parlotones play
after Metallica.[citation needed]
The band's ballad ‘Beautiful’ was used in an Irish
Fujifilm commercial which led to a European license
deal with Universal Music.[citation needed]
2007 kicked off with the band performing 70 shows in
the UK.[citation needed] In June of that year The
Parlotones were selected to perform at The Live
Earth concert, the largest festival ever staged. MSN
named The Parlotones as on one 10 most memorable
performances at Live Earth and likened seeing The
Parlotones at this early stage of their career to
seeing The Police in the late 70’s.[citation needed]
The Parlotones
2008 the band entered the European market touring
Germany with the Wombats, had Razorlight perform
with them in SA and performed at the St Gallons open
air in Switzerland. In March the band joined UK
group Starsailor as special guests on a full UK
tour, including venues like O2 Shepherds Bush
Empire, a move reciprocated by The Parlotones when
they invited Starsailor to South Africa as guests
artists for six shows in October, part of The
Powerzone unplugged Festival tour, which resulted in
a twelve city tour with Starsailor in the UK, and
caused critics to favour The Parlotones over
Starsailor for performance standard.
Back at home, their single ‘Ill be there’ was
nominated for 2 MTV Africa Awards and won 3 South
African Video Awards and they were chosen as the
Face of the HD launch in SA.[citation needed]
2009 started with critically acclaimed performances
at Midem, Canadian Music Week and SXSW. The band was
selected to perform at Midem, where they performed
with Blue October.[citation needed]
The Parlotones has been very well received in the
USA with an independent release managing to crack
the CMJ top 200 chart in the USA.[citation needed]
‘Overexposed’ won awards locally and in the USA
including 2 awards in The International Song Contest
(ISC) which boasts judges such as Robert Smith, Tom
Waits and Rob Thomas (Matchbox 20).[citation needed]
The Parlotones now market their own wine. Named
after their number 1 hit single ‘Giant Mistake’ it
was launched in September 2009.[citation needed]
As they released their new album "Stardust
Galaxies", The Parlotones embarked on their biggest
international tour to date. The Parlotones World
Tour 2009, started at the end of September 2009 in
the United Kingdom. Then moved through Europe, with
concerts in countries where the singles from “A
World Next Door To Yours” were receiving
attention.[citation needed]
The band then headed ‘down under’ for The
Parlotones' first Australian performance at 'One
Movement for Music Perth' (OMFM) - a two day,
priority music industry event for the Asia Pacific
region which featured 80 artists premičring their
latest material, via unique 30-minute showcase sets,
in a full outdoor festival setting.[citation needed]
The Parlotones
The band are spokespersons for both Live Earth and
Earth Hour along with Bishop Desmond Tutu, Prince
Charles and Rihanna.[citation needed]
In line with the football fever that swept through
Europe, the band was played on Sky Sports, and were
also talk SPORT’s official ambassadors for the World
Cup in the UK.[citation needed] “Come Back as
Heroes” by The Parlotones was the musical anchor of
Germany’s national first TV channel ARD for their
World Cup image trailer campaign.[citation needed]
The Parlotones' video to the first single “Life
Design” was added on MTV Europe.[citation needed]
On 18 April 2010, The Parlotones played at the Dow
Life Earth Run for Water in Cape Town.[citation
needed]
The Parlotones performed as part of the 2010
Official FIFA World Cup Kick Off Celebration
concert. Other performing artists include Black Eyed
Peas, Alicia Keys and Shakira.[citation needed]
South African Music Awards 2006 - Best Rock
Album[citation needed]
You Magazine Awards 2007 - Best Band[citation
needed]
FHM Readers Choice 2007[citation needed]
MK Awards 2007 - Best Video[citation needed]
Resfest 2007 Best Video (nomination)[citation
needed]
People’s Choice Awards 2008 - Best Music
Act[citation needed]
Best Band Award – Caxton’s best of JHB[citation
needed]
Loerie Kraft Award 2008 (first time a music video
has won at the Loeries)[citation needed]
MTV Africa 2008 – Best Group nomination[citation
needed]
MTV Africa 2008 – Best Alternative
nomination[citation needed]
MK Awards 2009 – Best Video[citation needed]
MK Awards 2009 – Best Animation[citation needed]
MK Awards 2009 – Best Serenade[citation needed]
SAMA Awards 2009 –MTN Record of the year (nomination)[citation
needed]
SAMA Awards 2009 – Best Global Chart DVD (nomination)[citation
needed]
SAMA Awards 2009 – Best Music Video Of The
Year[citation needed]
SAMA Awards 2010 - Best rock album for Stardust
Galaxies[citation needed]
SAMA Awards 2010 - Best music video for Push Me to
the Floor[citation needed]
International Songwriting Competition (ISC) 2008
Music Video (first place)[citation needed]
International Songwriting Competition (ISC) 2008
Performance (second place)[citation needed]
2009 “Rock.Paper.Scissors” featured on USA hit TV
series One Tree Hill[citation needed]
[edit] Europe, Asia & MTV
The band released their album 'Stardust Galaxies' in
the UK and Europe in June 2010.[citation needed]
The single "Life Design" was released in the UK in
April 2010.[citation needed]
The Parlotones
Members
Kahn Morbee
Lead Singer
Paul Hodgson
Guitar
Neil Pauw
Drums
Glen Hodgson
Bass and Keys
Biography
The Parlotones Biography
LATEST NEWS
The following are latest snippets on what he band is
up to. For more information please see attached
press releases.
THE PARLOTONES RELEASE ACOUSTIC ALBUM �
�EAVESDROPPING ON THE SONGS OF WHALES�
The Parlotones are currently in studio recording
their first studio acoustic album. Aptly titled
Eavesdropping on the songs of whales the album is
set for release on the 6th June 2011.
The album features brand new acoustic versions of
The Parlotones hits (Giant Mistake, Life Design and
Should we fight back?) as well as a few unreleased
songs (Tiny, Long Way Home and Inside.) �Fans will
be treated to a striking medley of Rock. Paper.
Scissors, Pretend, Radiocontroledrobot and
Overexposed that will bring out the soul of any
music lover.
Eavesdropping on the songs of whales is a stripped
down interpretation of the band�s music where the
absence of electrical amplification will leave you
breathless.
The album artwork has been designed by drummer Neil
Pauw and is an adaptation of one of his paintings.
The cover will be the public�s first introduction to
Neil�s vivid artistic talents and is one of 30 that
will be launched soon.
The Parlotones
DRUMMER NEIL PAUW LAUNCHES ART COLLECTION
The Parlotones drummer Neil Pauw will be launching
his thrilling display of 30 portraits. The
collection of acrylic paintings is a colourful,
vibrant journey into the creative mind of Neil as he
uses experimental techniques to produce the
intoxicating collection. Each has a story and each
draws you in, refusing to let go.� The collection
can be viewed for the first time by the public at
this year�s SAMA�s at Monte Casino.� Details on the
official exhibition will be released soon.
LATEST USA TOUR DATES ANNOUNCED
The Parlotones are due return to the United States
for the third time in 8 months where demand for the
band States side has exceeded expectations and show
attendance has tripled!
As The Parlotones wrapped up the band�s first U.S.
tour in October 2010 opening for Blue October, the
news hit that Stardust Galaxies had charted on three
Billboard charts (No. 18 on the Alternative Music
Charts, No. 50 on Heatseekers Charts and No. 152 on
the Indies Charts.) Following exposure on the
popular reality series Jersey Shore where two of the
Parlotones singles have already been used (Brighter
Side Of Hell and Welcome To The Week End) the band
have received enthusiastic reviews from the US
press. During their tour to the United States in
March the band were invited by American pop band
Hanson to perform alongside artist such as Michael
Stipe (REM) and Bowling For Soup for an impromptu 12
hour musical telethon online to support the relief
efforts in Japan.
The band�s latest music video for Should We Fight
Back has recently been added to the MTVU playlist in
the United States and is currently receiving
substantial rotation on the popular network.
�The Parlotones could become huge here. Killers
huge, Muse huge, Coldplay huge.� - Boston Herald
"When I hear an album this good, I want to tell as
many people as I can. It sounds silly, but it kind
of hurts to think of an album this good, not
reaching the widest audience possible. I hope with
this review, I further that reach just a little
more." � indielaunchpad.com
The Parlotones brand of rock is epic and beautiful.
It's cinematic without going overboard, theatrical
without pretension. Having received countless
comparisons to Coldplay and Radiohead (two bands of
the moment on which everything seems to be gauged),
I have to respectfully disagree. The Parlotones are
a better band.� � kickaxemusic.com
The Parlotones land on the US music scene with
powerful vocals, masterful lyrics and a variety of
musical sounds all in one. If you are looking for an
album that will keep you hooked from beginning to
end, then this is the one for you. � releaselist.net
The Parlotones
THE PARLOTONES RECEIVE 4 SOUTH AFRICAN MUSIC AWARD
NOMINATIONS
The Parlotones have once again been recognized by
their industry peers for excellence, scoring four
nominations for the 2011 South African Music Awards.
The nominees were announced April 14, and The
Parlotones are competing against themselves in one
category - Best Music Video, which they won last
year for "Push Me To The Floor." Find a full list of
nominees here: http://samusicawards.ning.com/
DRAGONFLIES & ASTRONAUTS FEATURING THE PARLOTONES
DRIVEN BY VOLKWAGEN A WORLD FIRST
On the 16th of July 2011 �Dragonflies & Astronauts�
featuring The Parlotones - Driven by Volkswagen, in
association with 94.7 Highveld Stereo, Nu Metro and
Mnet will be broadcast live from The Teatro at
Montecasino in 3D.
The transmission - a world first - will be beamed
via satellite to 3D outlets
around the globe.
The landmark production integrates some of the more
theatrical elements The Parlotones have become known
for in their music videos and to some degree in
their more recent performances. In the tradition of
performers like David Bowie and Pink Floyd, the
creative crew of the show has spun a futuristic,
science fiction yarn which will form the backbone of
the visualisation and storytelling, using the band�s
numerous hits as well as some of their more obscure
recordings as the soundtrack for a sci-fi rock
opera. Audiences will be able to indulge their
senses when they experience The Parlotones playing
their songs live as a theatrical performance unfolds
on stage.
The Parlotones
LATEST TOUR DATES
31 May: Los Angeles, CA - Troubadour - Buy Tickets
1 June: San Francisco, CA - Bottom of the Hill
2 June: Solana Beach, CA - Belly Up
5 June: Santa Fe, NM - Corazon
7 June: Dallas, TX - The Prophet Bar
8 June: Austin, TX - Stubbs Jr
10 June: Jacksonville, FL - Jack Rabbits
11 June: St. Petersburg, FL - Local 662
12 June: Orlando, FL - Backbooth Bar
14 June: Chapel Hill, NC - Local 506
15 June: Nashville, TN - Exit/In
16 June: Atlanta, GA - Smith's Olde Bar
18 June: Columbus, OH - The Basement
19 June: Chicago, IL - The Double Door
21 June: Cleveland, OH - The Grog Shop
22 June: Pittsburgh, PA - The Hard Rock Cafe
23 June: New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom
24 June: Washington, DC - Red Palace
25 June: Boston, MA - T.T. The Bear's
26 June: Philadelphia, PA - World Cafe Live
2 July: Port Elizabeth, South Africa - Kirkwood
Festival
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