| The Fratellis | |
|---|---|
The Fratellis performing at T in the Park 2008 |
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Glasgow, Scotland |
| Genres | Indie rock,[1] garage rock revival, punk rock |
| Years active | 2005–2009 (On hiatus) |
| Labels | Island Records |
| Associated acts | Codeine Velvet Club |
| Website | http://www.thefratellis.com/ |
| Members | |
| Jon Fratelli Barry Fratelli Mince Fratelli |
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The Fratellis were an indie rock band from Glasgow, Scotland. The band consisted of lead vocalist and guitarist Jon Fratelli (born John Lawler), bass guitarist Barry Fratelli (born Barry Wallace), and drummer and backing vocalist Mince Fratelli (born Gordon McRory).
The band released 2 albums during their career, Costello Music in 2006 and Here We Stand in 2008. Known for their energetic live shows, the band played with a 3-piece horn section during 2007 and in 2008/2009 were assisted by Will Foster on keyboards and guitar. After finishing the touring schedule for Here We Stand the band entered indefinite hiatus.
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The band's name came from the surname of the criminal family in the 1985 film The Goonies. They played their first show on 4 March 2005 in the O'Henry's bar in Glasgow across the road from the famous Horseshoe bar, and received their first radio playing in 2005, on central Scotland's Beat 106 (later XFM Scotland, now Galaxy Scotland) Beatscene show hosted by Jim Gellatly. They were signed by Fallout Records.
The Fratellis EP was released on 3 April 2006, featuring the tracks "Creepin' Up the Backstairs", "Stacie Anne" and "The Gutterati?". The NME ran a two page feature on The Fratellis in 10 August 2006 issue, proclaiming them "the best new band in Britain". "Creepin' Up the Backstairs" was never a single released by the band, even though a video was made for it. It was not eligible for the charts. The first single released by the band was "Henrietta", which was released on 12 June 2006 and charted at number 19 on the UK Charts.
Costello Music was the debut album for The Fratellis and was released on 11 September 2006. It charted at number two in the UK album charts for three weeks.[2] The success of the album led to The Fratellis winning the BRIT award for Best British Breakthrough Act in 2007, an award that was voted for by BBC Radio One listeners.[3]
The Fratellis supported Kasabian in December 2006 on their UK tour before playing 10 dates by themselves in February and March 2007. The locations included Nottingham, Manchester, Glasgow, Birmingham and London.[4] Following the release of the album, The Fratellis embarked on a tour of the UK festival circuit, playing at Glastonbury and headlining at festivals such as NME's Rock 'n' Riot tour, OXEGEN 2007 and T in the Park 2007, amongst others.[5][6][7] They also opened for The Police Reunion Tour in the summer of 2007 in some of the North America dates. The Fratellis also recorded some cover songs during the year including "All Along the Watchtower" for Radio 1's 40th Anniversary Double Album, Radio 1: Established 1967, and "Solid Gold Easy Action" for the soundtrack of the film Hot Fuzz, which also included the single "Baby Fratelli".
The band released their first live DVD, Edgy In Brixton, in the UK on October 1, 2007, which was recorded at the Brixton Academy in London. The DVD contains a full live performance of the debut album Costello Music, B-sides from various singles and a new song called "Pretty Like a Girl". Extras on the DVD include the band being asked questions by members of The Fratellis' website, and on the deluxe edition, highlights from the T in the Park 2007 festival. It was released in the United States on 30 October 2007.
On 10 February 2009, three songs from the album Costello Music- "Creepin' Up the Backstairs", "Flathead" and "Henrietta"- were made available as downloadable content (DLC) for the video game Rock Band 2.
The band's second album, Here We Stand, was first mentioned in November 2007 on the Fratellis' official website, which stated that work had begun on the album in a rehearsal space in Glasgow. The band said that they were self-producing the album and had their own studio to record in. Recording finished on 13 January 2008.[8]
On 22 February 2008, they played a small show for fans at Queen Margaret Union to debut new songs from the upcoming album. About eight new songs from their new album were played, including "Mistress Mabel", "Acid Jazz Singer", and "Look Out Sunshine!".[9] This performance introduced two new touring members, a guitarist, Robin Peringer and a keyboard player, Will Foster. However, after the Teenage Cancer Trust show in 2008, Robin departed the tour for unknown reasons. Will Foster subsequently played both keyboard and guitar during live performances.
The album, was released on 9 June 2008 in the UK and 10 June 2008 in the United States. The band marked the US release of the album with sold-out shows in New York City, Boston, and Los Angeles. The first single from the album,"Mistress Mabel", was released on 26 May 2008. The next single, "Look Out Sunshine!", released on 18 August 2008 and with money going towards the Teenage Cancer Trust. The third single was "A Heady Tale", released on 22 December. The Fratellis released a deluxe edition of Here We Stand internationally on 8 December. The CD included a new song titled "Moriarty's Last Stand" and the accompanying DVD which features "The Year of the Thief" (a documentary of the band on the road in the US), a live show filmed on 18 June 2008 at the Fillmore, San Francisco; performances of "Milk and Money", "Flathead" and "Mistress Mabel" from Abbey Road Studios and the videos for the singles "Mistress Mabel" and "Look Out Sunshine!".
During 2009, the band did a mini-tour of Australia and Japan during February and March. [10] The Fratellis headlined the Island Records 50th anniversary show on 27 May 2009 where they debuted their new track to be included on the Island 50: 50 Years of Island Records which was Bob Marley's "Stir It Up". The band also headlined the Hop Farm Festival 2009 on 4 July, with a gig at the Middlesbrough Empire on 3 July to prepare for the upcoming headline slot.
Since the Hop Farm Festival appearance in July 2009, the Fratellis are on indefinite hiatus and have each moved on to new bands. Jon formed a new band with singer/songwriter Lou Hickey called Codeine Velvet Club. He released an album with the band in December 2009 and toured during late 2009 and early 2010, before declaring that he will be leaving the band to pursue a solo career, taking the backing band with him [11]. He has since released his debut solo album entitled Psycho Jukebox and has embarked on tours in Scotland and the UK.
Barry initially stated that he is starting his own musical project in the coming months and will let Fratellis fans know about it via The Fratellis website.[12] He didn't let fans know his musical ventures until November 2011, where he revealed he had joined Birmingham band The Twang.
Mince initially joined a heavy metal band called Throne o' Diablo [13][14], before leaving the band to join Jon's solo band as a second drummer, backing vocalist and occasional guitarist. He is currently recording new material with Jon.
On 22 April 2010, various media sources reported that the band had split up, taking posts from Jon and Barry on the band's forum and twisting the truth.[15][16] After the story was put out, Jon updated his Twitter with a "cryptic message" which pointed towards the band's split being false,[17] he then posted on a thread on the band's forum which was discussing the split, stating "I haven't split from anyone....!".[18] In a June 2010 interview, Jon said on the band's future "Back home, it's been misjudged. People need absolutes and definites, but I've never lived my life like that. I have no plans to work with the Fratellis right just now, but that doesn't mean not ever. Sometimes, you find people you like to play with, and that's what it's like with the Codeine band. It's good to have choices."[19]
In February 2011, after completing work on his debut solo album Psycho Jukebox, Jon stated that:[20]
| “ | Having made a record that’s by far the best thing I’ve ever been involved in, if I was to go back to that band, there would be a whole year’s worth of songs that I wouldn’t be able to play. I find that almost impossible to even contemplate. I’m a great believer in that life has to keep on moving and that everything has its particular time. We were in that band for four or five years together and that seems like enough to me. | ” |
| Date | Award | Awarding Body |
|---|---|---|
| 4 July 2008 | Best British Band | 33rd Silver Clef Awards 2008 |
| 27 January 2008 | Best European Border Breaking Act- United Kingdom | 2008 European Border Breakers Awards |
| 14 February 2007 | Best British Breakthrough Act | BRIT Awards 2007 |
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