| Nizlopi | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, England |
| Genres | Folk, hip-hop |
| Years active | 1993–2010 |
| Labels | FDM Records[1] |
| Website | nizlopi.com & jcbsong.co.uk[1] |
| Members | |
| Luke Concannon (Vocals, guitar, bodhrán) John Parker (Double bass, beatbox) |
|
Nizlopi ( /nɪzˈlɒpi/) were a two-piece band, from 1993–2010, with Luke Concannon on vocals, guitar,[1] and bodhrán, and John Parker on double bass, human beatbox,[1] and providing backing vocals. They were based in Leamington Spa, England.[2] Prior to attending Trinity Catholic Technology College, Luke and John attended St. Joseph's Primary. The band is named after a Hungarian girl who Luke had a crush on at school.[3] The band have since confirmed they have split up as of 10 February 2010.[4]
Nizlopi's most successful song is "JCB Song" and reached number one in the UK, on its second release.[5]
Contents |
Nizlopi released their first album, Half These Songs Are About You, in 2004 under FDM Records. It features the singles "JCB" and "Girls". In 2007 Nizlopi received an 'Impala Platinum' award recognising sales of Half These Songs Are About You in Europe. It was produced by Gavin Monaghan, also known for his work with Scott Matthews, Robert Plant, Editors, Ocean Colour Scene, The Twang and The Holloways.
"JCB Song" is Nizlopi's most successful song, reaching number one in the UK on its second release.[5] The song was written about the dyslexia suffered by Luke at school and his escape to accompany his father at work, and was released as a single in June 2005, reaching number 160 in the UK Singles Chart. The single was then re-released in the UK on 12 December 2005, reaching number one the following week on 18 December 2005, selling more than twice the number of copies than their closest competitor, Westlife. Dermot O'Leary gave the track extensive airplay on his BBC Radio 2 show. Some bookmakers put it in the running for the honour of Christmas number one, but it was beaten by the winner of the second series of the UK version of The X Factor, Shayne Ward's debut single, "That's My Goal". The video has received widespread airplay, mainly on music TV channel VH1. It is an animated video, made by Laith Bahrani (aka Monkeehub), who also animated an unofficial video for an acoustic version of "Creep" by Radiohead. In 2007 Nizlopi received an 'Impala Platinum' award recognising sales of over 500,000 copies of "JCB Song" across Europe.
Their next single, released on 3 April 2006, was track two on the album, "Girls". The band have described the song's video on radio interviews as "Tim Burton-esque". The video was directed by Karni & Saul of Flynn Productions, and is the first that the band appear in. Like the JCB song before it, Girls was first released on the Internet. Limited radio play meant the song did not chart in the UK top 40.
A mini-EP containing six songs and titled ExtraOrdinary, was released on 4 September 2006. The six tracks included two that had been released before — "Helen" and "Yesterday" which were previously released on the "JCB" and "Girls" EPs respectively. The record is an attempt to strip down the orchestral production of their early work to represent the duo's vibrant live sound.
ExtraOrdinary contains the track, "Homage To Young Men", a piece written and performed by Alastair McIntosh. McIntosh was inspired to write this piece after working with Concannon and performed live twice with the band. The band have likened Alastair's performances to "..the howlings of a wild animal". McIntosh is well known for his contributions to the Scottish version of 'Thought for the Day' and has been dubbed "The Rapping Reverend".
The second album from Nizlopi was released on 31 March 2008. The album was recorded with producer Phil Brown who had formerly produced artists such as Bob Marley. The album was recorded on 2-inch tape, a traditional style of recording said to create a more 'raw' sound that is popular with musicians preceding the era of digital recording technology. The album includes Martyn Barker (percussion/drums), Andy Simms (piano), Jonnie Fielding (violin), Jack Hobbs (vocal/scratching), Rory Simmons (trumpet), Kadially Kouyate (kors & Senegalese vocals), The Individuals Dedicated to the Ministry of Christ choir and a contribution by the poet Benjamin Zephaniah.
The release of a new album, Make It Happen, was preceded on 17 March 2008 by a digital single, "Start Beginning". In November 2008 they completed a tour entitled 'last nights on tour.' They announced using both the official website and Myspace that they would be taking a year out in 2009 and would meet while travelling in Cuba to discuss the band.
On 10 February 2010 an e-mail was sent out to all mailing list subscribers confirming that the band had split up after being together for 17 years. Luke Concannon stated:
Concannon has since announced that he is working on a solo album and plans to set up his own website by 2011 via the Nizlopi mailing list and has previewed new material on Touch FM's 'First Break Show'.[7][8][9] He has also been taking part in song-writing workshops.[10]
Luke Concannon is now living in Galway, and is actively writing songs, and planning a solo album to be produced soon.
In between recording albums, Nizlopi toured since early 2000. They are known for crowd involvement at their gigs, giving an energetic performance. They often improvised, even going so far as to invite people up on stage to sing and dance or unplugging and going into the crowd themselves. They took part in 'Healthy Concerts' or 'gigs in digs' where artists play in someone's house. On the 14 October 2008, Nizlopi played an intimate version of "Answers" on a balcony overlooking Camden Lock for the music viral show BalconyTV.[11]
They have been on tour with, and shared gigs and stages with, a diverse range of artists, touring the UK and Europe with Jamie Cullum, joined Christina Aguilera for two nights at Wembley Arena, toured Ireland with Damien Dempsey, opened Gigbeth festival with Mr Hudson and The Library, duetted with Billy Bragg at the Hackney Empire, and been supported at headline shows by Newton Faulkner and Duke Special amongst others.
The band have been able to take in a great number of venues of note, headlining shows at the Shepherd's Bush Empire and at Indigo2 at the O2 Arena (formerly the Millennium Dome). They are also popular regulars on the festival circuit, having performed to crowds for years at Glastonbury Festival, Wireless Festival, Ireland's Fleadh, Cambridge Folk Festival and Solfest.