| April Divine | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Starfuck, Bloody April |
| Origin | Örnsköldsvik, Sweden |
| Genres | Alternative rock, Metalcore, Melodic death metal |
| Years active | 1998 - present |
| Labels | Supernova Records/Bonnier Amigo Music Group |
| Website | Official Site |
| Members | |
| Jocke Åström Peter Uvén Per Karlsson Johnny Johansson |
|
| Past members | |
| Ante Lundqvist Nicke Westberg |
|
April Divine (formerly Starfuck and Bloody April) is a Swedish rock band based in the northern town of Örnsköldsvik, Sweden in 1998. They are currently signed to Supernova Records/Bonnier Amigo Music Group.
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April Divine was founded in 1998 under the name Starfuck. They played all around Sweden and have become a popular act in the major festivals in Sweden. In the summer of 2004, Bloody April played at one of the biggest festivals in Sweden, Storsjöyran. April Divine have also contributed on the festival's promo CD. April Divine has also been playing at the Smack Festival. Likewise a compilation was made containing two of their songs. Later on, Bloody April was chosen to contribute with two songs on a compilation CD released by Diesel Wing Records in the spring of 2002.
In December 2002, the band were voted as the Best Unsigned Rock Band on Sweden's biggest radio station, P3. April Divine also played at P3 on the show: "The Best of P3 Demo" in December 2003. Besides radio, the band has made some TV appearances.
April Divine are being promoted in England by Georgios Sidiropoulos, who is most known in the industry as the London correspondent for the Greek Metal Hammer, Metal Invader, and Seventh Sign magazines and as a music zine and webzine contributor. In November 2003, Kid Antrim released the song Diane on their Rock compilation CD which is distributed to several record companies and radio stations around the United States.
There were a few reasons for the change of the name from Starfuck to Bloody April. The main reason was to be further up in the search list for Google. Others were censorship, and a new member, Ante, replacing their previous bassist. Furthermore, they changed their name from Bloody April to April Divine because of the history of war with the name and not wanting to be affiliated with it.
In January 2006, they were signed to Swedish indie-label Ninetone Records. Union Entertainment Group was willing to distribute their album Chapter One, released on January 29th, in 2007. In January 2007, they opened for the band Staind at Nalen in Stockholm. Due to the success of this concert, Ema Telstar, a booking company, started a relationship with the band. This relationship led to a tour across Sweden.
2007 Andreas (Ante) Lundqvist left the band for personal reasons. He was replaced by Peter Uvén, who previously played in the band Powertrip. 2008 April Divine recorded a new album in Atlanta. The mission to produce it went to Rick Beato. In spring 2008 album was mixed, and April Divine hoped it would be released in autumn 2008.
February 26th, 2010, the band announced a new recorddeal with Supernova Records/Bonnier Amigo Music Group. On Mars 3rd April Divine opened for australian band Karnivool, together with swedish band Librah at Debaser Medis in Stockholm. Their new single Redemption was released for purchase at iTunes and CDON in SwedenOn Mars 22nd and the new album Redemption was released on 19th of May. April Divine announced in October that they will be the supporting act for American rock band Alter Bridge for the band's three performances in Sweden in November 2010.