| David Rotheray | |
|---|---|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | David Rotheray |
| Born | 9 February 1963 |
| Genres | Indie pop, pop, alternative rock |
| Occupations | Guitarist, songwriter |
| Instruments | Guitar |
| Years active | 1982–present |
| Associated acts | The Beautiful South, Homespun |
David Rotheray (born 9 February 1963, Hull, England) is an English rock and pop musician, best known for being the lead guitarist for The Beautiful South.
Rotheray was born the fifth of five children. His parents were both intellectual and had met through the Young Communist League. Having much older brothers and sisters speeded up his musical progress; by the age of 10 he was listening to rock and imagined being in a band. His chosen instrument at the time was the bass guitar.
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Rotheray joined his first band when he was aged 13; it was called Mammoth, at one time performing the then-current Sex Pistols song, "Pretty Vacant" at a school concert, without any microphones. At that time Rotheray's musical tastes were for progressive rock, his favourite being Pink Floyd. His parents were worried but still allowed him to play and drove him to clubs to perform. Eventually, Mammoth evolved into a band called The Newpolitans. Both Mammoth and the Newpolitans featured Hugh Whitaker on drums, who later became the drummer for The Housemartins. The Newpolitans also later featured Dave Hemingway on drums, who also became drummer for the Housemartins and then a singer with the Beautiful South.
The Newpolitan's style was a mixture of the current musical styles, from the Style Council to the Gang of Four. Band members included temporary additions, mainly for demo recordings, were saxophonist Kev Christian and the trumpet players Andrew Nicholson and Andy Russell. The Newpolitans recorded a self-financed single, but the failure of the single provided the catalyst for the band's demise. Rotheray and Hemingway then went on to form the Velvetones with other musician friends from Hull.
At the time of The Velvetones, Rotheray was still at The University of Hull and completed a degree in psychology. He was four years into studying for a Ph.D, researching the psychological theory underpinning educational software design, publishing several papers in this area of study, while working with the Educational Technology Research Group within the psychology department at Hull University, when Paul Heaton made him an offer of joining The Beautiful South playing guitar. Rotheray had known Heaton for several years, as they both lived in Grafton Street in Hull.
When Rotheray joined The Beautiful South he began writing songs alongside Heaton.
In 2001, Heaton released the album, Fat Chance. However, as the bulk of tracks on Fat Chance were written by Heaton alone, or with other collaborators rather than Rotheray, it was decided that Rotheray too would have a side project whilst The Beautiful South were on a recording hiatus.
Homespun originally featured Rotheray and Sam Brown. The band released three albums. More recently Brown was replaced by Helen 'Aitch' McRobbie as lead vocalist, before Homespun split up in 2008. Rotheray concentrated on a solo project involving different singers from the contemporary scene.
Rotheray announced the release of his first 'solo' album, The Life of Birds for 16 August 2010, on the Proper Music label.[1] Although ostensibly a solo effort, the record featured collaborations with ten different singer/songwriters including Alasdair Roberts, Jim Causley, Eliza Carthy and Camille O'Sullivan.
Following its release in 2010, The Life Of Birds was generally well received critically.[2][3] In November 2010 and again in March 2011, Rotheray embarked on a tour, playing the album in full, with Jim Causley and Bella Hardy handling all the vocal duties. The live shows were also well received.[4][5]