| Frost* | |
|---|---|
Frost* in 2008 (l-r) Dec Burke, John Mitchell, Jem Godfrey, Andy Edwards, John Jowitt |
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| Background information | |
| Origin | England |
| Genres | Neo-progressive rock |
| Years active | 2004–2006, 2008–2011, 2011-present |
| Labels | InsideOut |
| Associated acts | Arena, It Bites, Kino, IQ, Darwin's Radio, Squarepusher, Aeon Zen |
| Website | frostmusic.net |
| Members | |
| Jem Godfrey John Mitchell Andy Edwards Declan Burke Craig Blundell Nathan King |
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| Past members | |
| John Boyes John Jowitt |
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Frost* is an English neo-progressive rock supergroup, formed in 2004 by Jem Godfrey and members of Arena, Kino, and IQ. Frost* released their first studio album, Milliontown, in 2006, before splitting up. In 2008, Godfrey reformed Frost*, adding Darwin's Radio vocalist and guitarist, Declan Burke, to the lineup, and released their second album, Experiments in Mass Appeal. The band disbanded again in 2011, to reunite later in September, after a brief hiatus.
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Frost* was formed in September 2004,[1] by songwriter, producer and musician Jem Godfrey - better known to the wider world for his work creating chart-topping pop hits for bands including Atomic Kitten - when he made a conscious decision to return to his own musical past writing and playing progressive music,[2][3] in the band Freefall.[4][5]
After listening to a broad selection of contemporary progressive music, he first approached John Mitchell of Arena, The Urbane and Kino,[3] (and currently lead guitarist and singer for It Bites). Mitchell then introduced Godfrey to John Jowitt (also of Arena, and additionally IQ and Jadis), subsequently leading to meeting Andy Edwards (of The Wikkamen, Priory of Brion, IQ and the Ian Parker Band).[2][3] John Boyes, Godfrey's former band-mate in Freefall in the 1990s, and from the band Rook, had already performed significant rhythm guitar work on the early recordings.[2][3]
Frost*'s first album was titled Milliontown, the 26 minute long eponymous final track of which was inspired by the book The Apprentice by Gordon Houghton.[3] Similarly, The Other Me and Black Light Machine form a suite loosely influenced by Paul McKenna's book How to Mend Your Broken Heart. The album was released in the United States on July 18, 2006 and in Europe on July 24.[6] The band went on a brief tour to play a selection from the album, supporting Pallas on a four date tour of the Netherlands and Germany in October 2006.
Shortly after returning from the tour, Godfrey announced - by way of an article on the band's blog on MySpace on the 29th of the month (since removed), and re-iterated by InsideOut in a bulletin on the same site two days later (expired) - that due to his increasing professional and personal commitments elsewhere, Frost* would be dissolved after fulfilling four remaining concert dates. It later emerged that an appearance at the RoSfest in 2007, in America - which was the final scheduled date - had been cancelled.[7][8] The final appearance of Frost* for the time being, in support of their album Milliontown, was back-up for The Flower Kings at The Scala in Kings Cross, London, on December 10, 2006.[9]
However, in early 2007, Godfrey revived the band name and wrote in his blog about writing material for a second Frost* album. Godfrey has throughout 2008 posted several videos on YouTube called the "Frost* Reports," under the user name Planetfrost. In between the recording in early 2008, Frost* supported Spock's Beard for a small tour. Videos documenting their tour are also included on their YouTube site.
Following the band's reformation, Godfrey recruited Declan Burke of Darwin's Radio to supplement vocals and guitars on the follow-up album, Experiments in Mass Appeal which was released on November 17, 2008.[10]
In November 2008, Andy Edwards announced that due to his new job as a college lecturer he would no longer play live with the band, although he might be involved in future recording work.
In January 2009, Nick D'Virgilio of Spock's Beard was announced as guest drummer for Frost*'s performance at RoSFest 2009. Going forward, live drumming duties were to be handled by Alex Thomas (SquarePusher, Badly Drawn Boy), but will now be handled by Craig Blundell.
In May 2009, John Jowitt announced his departure from the band. With gigs scheduled in support of Dream Theater, Jem announced bass duties would be handled by Level 42 guitarist, Nathan King.
On May 29, 2009, Jem announced via AudioBoo that a live Frost* album, recorded at ROSFest 2009, would be titled "The Philadelphia Experiment". Excerpts from that performance were released as a limited edition EP, titled "FrostFest Live CD", including a new song called "The Forget You Song", recorded at The Cube, East Sussex.
On February 2, 2010, Jem announced via his blog that he had been invited to participate in the 10th anniversary party of The Dividing Line Broadcast Network, Vancouver, British Columbia's internet-based progressive rock radio station. Godfrey accepted, and, to thank them for their support of Frost*, tasked himself to write and record a new Frost* song, aptly titled, "The Dividing Line," to be completed within the eight weeks then remaining until the party.
Godfrey gathered not only fellow Frost* mates John Mitchell (It Bites), Andy Edwards, Dec Burke and Nathan King, but also enlisted the talents of Tara Busch, Mark "madfiddler" Knight, Lyndon Connah and original Frost* guitarist, John Boyes, for the one-off project. A special Frost* Report, Dividing Line edition, was posted on Godfrey's blog, as well as PlanetFrost*, the band's YouTube channel, providing a video chronicle of the song's status.
Jem announced on March 31 on the Frost* forum that the track was completed and would be included as a bonus track on the 2-disc live album, "The Philadelphia Experiment."
"The Dividing Line" premiered during The Dividing Line's 10th anniversary broadcast on Saturday, April 3, 2010.
Frost* played some select shows in December 2010. On March 1, 2011, Godfrey announced that he had put the band on indefinite hiatus. He stated that the main reasons for his decision were that he felt uncomfortable as the band leader, and that the increased workload from running the band was having a negative impact on his health.[11] On April 14, 2011, Godfrey announced that he is writing new material, this time without a band. The name of the project is yet unknown.
On September 16, 2011, Godfrey announced via his blog, that Frost* would once again be returning for a third album, stating "As yet I have no idea of the form, shape, personnel or sound of this new album, but it will definitely be Frost* shaped. I'll once again be making Frost* reports available online during the process and it'll no doubt be a bloody madhouse throughout, but that's Frost*".[12] Frost* are currently set to perform a sold-out Christmas show at the House of Progression, Kingston Upon Thames on December 16, 2011.
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