The Parlotones 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 and influenced by the likes of Muse, Radiohead and the Smiths, has evolved substantially becoming more refined and focused with each album. 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 and their follow up ‘A World Next Door To Yours’ achieved this in a couple of 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, with sales in excess of 80 000, is currently South Africa’s biggest selling rock album of this decade – having achieved Double Platinum Status. 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.')”.

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 band's 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 managed to tour Germany with the Wombats, had Razorlight over to perform with them in SA and performed at the St Gallons open air 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 has resulted in talks of a tour with Blue October in the USA

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. ‘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 Parlotones now market their very own wine. Named after their number 1 hit single ‘Giant Mistake’ it was launched in September 09.

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 off “A World Next Door To Yours” are currently emulating the success enjoyed in SA.

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 premièring their latest material, via unique 30-minute showcase sets, in a full outdoor festival setting.  

The Parlotones performed in: London, Reading, Bristol, Liverpool, Guildford, Portsmouth, Manchester, Bucharest, Derby, Glasgow, Amsterdam, Berlin, Munich, Hamburg, Hanover, Koln, Magdeburg, Bielefeld, Bochum, Stuttgart, Frankfort, Johannesburg, Cape Town, Lisbon, Zurich, Copenhagen, Dubai, Moscow and Perth.

SA fans caught their pride and joy live in concert at Cape Town's Grand West Arena and at The Coca Cola Dome in Johannesburg, where thousands of fans celebrated the end of the tour with Kahn, Paul, Glenn and Neil.

The Parlotones has shared the stage with musical greats, including:, Kings of Leon, The Gossip, Violent Femmes, Jimmy Eat World, New Model Army, Evanescence, Staind, The Rasmus, UB40 and Collective Soul.   

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.

Key acknowledgements include:

l     South African Music Awards 2006 - Best Rock Album

l     You Magazine Awards 2007 - Best Band

l     FHM Readers Choice 2007

l     MK Awards 2007 - Best Video

l     Resfest 2007 Best Video (nomination)

l     People’s Choice Awards 2008 - Best Music Act

l     Best Band Award – Caxton’s best of JHB

l     Loerie Kraft Award 2008 (first time a music video has won at the Loeries)

l     MTV Africa 2008 – Best Group nomination

l     MTV Africa 2008 – Best Alternative nomination

l     MK Awards 2009 – Best Video

l     MK Awards 2009 – Best Animation

l     MK Awards 2009 – Best Serenade

l     SAMA Awards 2009 –MTN Record of the year (nomination)

l     SAMA Awards 2009 – Best Global Chart DVD (nomination)

l     SAMA Awards 2009 – Best Music Video Of The Year

l     International Songwriting Competition (ISC) 2008 Music Video (first place)

l  International Songwriting Competition (ISC) 2008 Performance (second place)

l  2009 “Rock.Paper.Scissors”  featured on USA hit TV series One Tree Hill

l     The band are spokespersons for both Live Earth and Earth Hour along with Bishop Desmond Tutu, Prince Charles and Rihanna

l     Charity involvement: Starfish, children's charity.

Discography:

The Parlotones latest album is certified platinum in South Africa and is due for release in UK/Europe and USA in 2009. 

Albums

·       EPISODA (2003)

·       RADIOCONTROLLED ROBOT (2005)Certified Gold

·       RADIOCONTROLLED ROBOT (2007 - International Release)

·       A WORLD NEXT DOOR TO YOURS (2007)Certified Platinum

·       UNPLUGGED (2008 - CD+DVD Live at the Emperors Palace)

·       VIDEO CONTROLLED ROBOT (2008 - CD + DVD video compilation)

·       STARDUST GALAXIES (2009 - CD)

EPs

·       Borderline Patrol
2004 

·       Dragonflies & Astronauts
2005 

For additional information contact:

Danny de Wet

Sovereign Entertainment

086 11 BANDS

danny@powerzone.co.za