| Tin Alley | |
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Tin Alley In The Recording Studio, 18 May 2011. |
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
| Genres | Rock, New Wave, alternative rock |
| Years active | 2007–present |
| Labels | Independent |
| Website | Official website |
| Members | |
| Stefan Waltersson Peter Hofbauer Paul Siourthas Jared Piatkowski |
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| Past members | |
| Jim Siourthas | |
Tin Alley are a rock band based in Australia. Tin Alley was formed in 2007 in Melbourne, by brothers Paul Siourthas, Jim Siourthas and Peter Hofbauer.
They have released one studio album, Everyturn, in 2007. Their debut single "In Your Hands"[1] charted consecutively and peaked at number 13 between John Butler and Sneaky Sound System in the Australian indie charts.
In 2009 Tin Alley's release Out Of Control reached number 1 on the AMO Charts (Australian Music Office)and was also at number 1 on the AIR Charts(Australian Independent Record Labels Association) for five consecutive weeks.
November 2009 Out Of Control reached no.7 on the ARIA Australian singles charts and was in the ARIA Charts top 20 for six consecutive weeks.
In early 2010 Tin Alley had a special verses dance version of Out Of Control mixed by Luke Chable[2] who has collaborated and worked with (TV Rock, Nubreed) and had features on dance compilations by (Paul Van Dyk, Deep Dish,and Jonathan Lisle). In February 2010 the Luke Chable Vs Tin Alley Out Of Control dance mix was later featured on many shows and radio playlisted programs Australia wide.[3][4] August 2010 Out Of Control was featured and marketed Internationally by fashion company Billabong (clothing) as part of the 2010 Designers Closet Series.[5]
In mid August 2010 Tin Alley released Monster (Pop) a track which was a special pop edit taken from the groups original rock version mixed by David Treahearn and Rob Haggett in the UK who had previously collaborated on projects by Madonna, Britney Spears, Marilyn Manson, Gwen Stefani, Oasis, Kylie Minogue, Ladyhawke and Nelly Furtado.[6]
Soon after the mid August release lead singer and guitarist Jim Siourthas had left the band due to personal reasons and in January 2011 Stefan Waltersson from Iceland had joined Tin Alley.
In July the group had signed an endorsement with Australian guitar manufacture Maton and soon after released 'Ride The Wave' from the Bounce Back EP.[7]
In August 2011 Jared Piatkowski had joined the group on Bass guitar and in early October the band started working on there second album release. [8]
Contents |
Brothers Jim and Paul Siourthas grew up in Reservoir. Paul received his first guitar at age eight and from then the brothers began writing and singing songs.
They formed the group Everything in early 1998 with friends Bill Wall and Angelo on Bass. In 1998 drummer Peter Hofbauer of Austrian descent read an ad in The Sunday Herald and after two auditions joined Everything.
In 2006, after producing some demo recordings at Melbourne records, Paul invited numerous labels and profile managers to various shows and showcases. In the process, Jim helped facilitate their progression in musical style from Indie rock to the more hard rock approach that is now their trademark. On the strength of these demos, Mark Huxley took the band to meet with executives at MGM Distributionwhere they were immediately signed to a distribution deal.
Later in 2007 the band played at various product launches and showcases such as the Torian Wi-Fi Infusion.
Tin Alley's debut album, entitled Everyturn,[1] was released in Australia on 17 October 2007, released along with its lead single, "In Your Hands". It peaked at number 13 and 17 consecutively in the AIR Charts. Due to the success of Tin Alley's first independent release, another single from the album was released through MGM titled "Polar Bear".[9]
The video clip for Polar Bear was filmed and directed in the United States of America by producer Max Rubitzky and proved to be an underground university hit in the United states. "Polar Bear"'s release was only a digital distribution through MGM,[10] unlike "In Your Hands" which was marketed to Australian record stores.
In mid-2007, Tin Alley was voted in as 3RRR album of the week and soon found themselves playing on numerous TV shows such as The Breakfast Show for Channel 31 and 1700 and doing guest appearances and acoustic performances on various radio stations.
In December 2007 Tin Alley were struck down with the near loss of Drummer Peter Hofbauer from a serious motorbike accident stopping the band in the midst of their first Australian tour.
| “ | It takes more than broken bones to keep me away from what I love most. | ” |
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—Peter Hofbauer |
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In late 2008, Tin Alley were back and began work on their second release Crossing Paths. The EP [11] was written and recorded in Queensland and produced by Stuart Stuart who has also worked with The Veronicas and Small Mercies and many other Australian talents.
For any band worth their salt, there comes a time in their evolution when they get tired of messing around—a point of all-or-nothing.
And when that point is reached, the world around them—producers, promoters, fans—seem to come together in an unspoken recognition that something big is about to happen. For Tin Alley, that time is now.— Jesse Shrock, 05/08/09
In October 2009, the title track Out of Control was released to national radio as the lead single from the 2010 EP release Crossing Paths. The track Out Of Control was written by Tin Alley and had spawned from drummer Hofbauer's near death experience at the age of 27.
The number 27 had led Tin Alley to delve deep into the history of the 27 Club that further led them basing the lyrics in general on that theme and even quoting Kurt Cobain's last words in his suicide note "Best to burn out bright than fade into the night" in the final seconds of the track.
In early November 2009 Tin Alley made the top 100 on the ARIA Charts and in the weeks to follow Out Of Control also made No.1 spots on AIR Charts and AMO "Australian Music Office" Charts for six consecutive weeks and later peaked at number 7 on the ARIA Australian Singles Chart in early December. The track Out Of Control also featured as mover of the month on the Jägermeister AIR Charts[12] and was the fourth most added track to National radio and a week later got inducted into the 27 club hall of fame.[13]
Unplugged Session Tour 2009 / 2010
During the bands Out Of Control release Tin Alley were busy on their National Unplugged Sessions Tour.[14] The Media Acoustic Tour kick started in Queensland that spanned across WA/SA/QLD/NSW/VIC and Tasmania over a four month period from November 2009 to March 2010. While the band were in Sydney (NSW) Jim mentioned on the Ugly Phil show on Triple M as saying:
| “ | It was a tough time for the band coming into commercial society and being on the road for days on end. We were up for 25 hrs one day and running late for an Interview and at that time we were under a lot of pressure" | ” |
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—Jim Siourthas Triple M 12/03/10 |
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In December Tin Alley came back to Melbourne to play a special showcase performance supporting Boom Crash Opera for their Christmas party in Melbourne along with other guests on the night such as Taxiride.
January 2010 Tin Alley were invited to assist Juke Kartel on their Return To Australia Tour with other special guests Electric MaryThe groups success to date from the Out Of Control release had created landmark achievements and new opportunity's for the band. Following the success of Out Of Control in late December 2009 Tin Alley received notice from their PR representative that Luke Chable's management was offering to create a special dance version of the bands rock track.
In the weeks to follow Tin Alley accepted and the track was later received and backed by commercial and community radio stations in Australia and also received spins on commercial stations in the UK and USA and received a Top Ten review in The Music Network.[7] Luke Chable was quoted by Paul Siourthas from Tin Alley as a genius in his Interview on Red FM (Australia largest geographical radio network in the Southern hemisphere). Lead singer Jim Siourthas later went on to mention in an interview on Nova 969[15] he was not to happy at first listen with Luke's vocal effects on his voice however he was still very pleased to have Luke collaborate with Tin Alley and liked the dance version.[3]
March Tin Alley were fortunate enough to showcase on the Friday night at the Melbourne Moomba Festival before bad weather and storms hit the Melbourne districts the following days[16] resulting in headlining act Vanessa Amorosi and other performances being canceled on the Saturday and Sunday.
Regarding how they chose their name, Jim Siourthas states: "The name is something we thought about for a long time, and we wanted it to be something that we can relate to. The original name Everything was too random and didn't really touch a base with anything relative and we were very conscious of not wanting to make it a typical band name as well."
The name Tin Alley was taken from the name of a laneway at Melbourne University where the brothers studied. "The name Tin Alley was always on the books but Everything seemed to be more punchy at the time," Jim has said.
Compared with the other hard rock bands of the late 1990s, Tin Alley's style is noticeably less heavy and harkens back to the classic rock music of the 1970s. Tin Alley has cited many punk rock and classic rock bands as influences, including The Who, The Doors, and Ramones.[1] Tin Alley's success to date has been attributed to its sound, which fuses "the riff-heavy stadium rock of the '70s with the grit and anger of '80s post-punk, without ever neglecting hooks and choruses".
Jimmy Siourthas's guitar style is known for its sense of groove, while Hofbauer's power drumming, influenced by artists such as Keith Moon and Rodger Tailor from Queen, has been described as "feel-oriented" and "very powerful".[17]
By early 2006 the band began to incorporate more funk influences into its music. The band's 2007 album, Everyturn, was a deliberate break from the musical style of Tin Alley's earlier sound.
The songs on the album featured elements of garage rock, worldbeat, and experimentalism which was somewhat of a return to the straight forward rock approach of the band's early work in Everything, when the band dabbled with experimental art rock and folk rock elements on 2001's "NYC". Some of the band's tracks on the 2007 album, Everyturn, was cited as a return to the band's early sound. The band's upcoming album, Crossing Paths, contains elements of pop and New Wave.
Critic Mithcelle Alexander from Rave describes Siourthas's vocals as a "Jim Morrison-like vocal growl with the bands sound reminiscent of more recognised power-pop trios Crowded House, Manic Street Preachers, the aforementioned Police with a Led Zeppelin edge. Siourthas's vocal range was also described as a hard-hitting and often confessional lyrical style with a Eddie Vedder-esque baritone,[18] Tin Alley's lyrical topics range from personal to social and political concerns ("Looking Up", "Get By" and "In Your Hands"). The band's lyrics have often invoked the use of storytelling and have included themes of freedom, individualism, and sympathy for troubled individuals. When the band started, Paul and Jim were clearly designated as rhythm and lead guitarists, respectively.
The dynamic began to change when Paul went from guitar to bass and during the Everything era. Siourthas said in 2007, "Even though there is now only one guitar, I think there's maybe more room now, Peter will pull back and play a solid beat and Jim will do a power chord thing, and I fit into all that.
Stefan Waltersson[19] born in Iceland and raised in a musical family joined Tin Alley in early 2011 as lead vocalist for the group after Jim Siourthas had left the group. From a early age Stefan had been heavily influenced by Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash and at the age 13 began writing and performing.[20]
As well as being the bass player for Tin Alley, Paul is also the main songwriter, creating songs such as "In Your Hands", "Polar Bear" and writing the majority of songs on Tin Alley's debut album Everyturn, however, in the early years of Everything, Paul was the lead vocalist and guitarist. From the age of 8, Paul began to play and study music and in University he studied Law.
Peter was the original founding member of Everything in 1998 along with Paul Siourthas and Jim Siourthas. In 2009 Peter was signed to an endorsement deal by Australian drum company Dee Jay Drums.[21]
Jim former singer and front man of the group played a major role in the band as lead vocalist. At age 9, he started playing guitar and in later years he took on singing and songwriting roles, creating songs such as "Lucky Numbers" and having a major contribution to the band's 2009 release Out of Control and later in 2010 left the group.