| YFriday | |
|---|---|
| Background information | |
| Origin | Newcastle upon Tyne, England |
| Genres | Christian rock |
| Years active | 1994–2010 |
| Labels | Survivor Records |
| Website | www.yfriday.com |
| Members | |
| Ken Riley Gav Richards Danny Smith Dez Minto |
|
YFriday were a British Christian rock and worship band from Newcastle upon Tyne. From their beginning in 1994 until they split in 2010, they gained popularity amongst Christian music fans around the world, particularly in the United Kingdom. In 2010, YFriday announced that they were commencing their final months before disbanding later in the same year, after releasing a number of successful albums.
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The group was formed in 1994,[1] originally as the house band for a monthly evangelistic outreach event run by Youth for Christ called WhyFriday?.[2] The WhyFriday? outreach programme initially had a regular attendance of about 50-60 young people, but this steadily grew and the programme, now called IXth Hour, is currently held in the Newcastle City Hall,[2] and has around 800 attendees each month. The band still played there regularly until 2010.
Following the 1999 release of the Rainmaker album, the band were approached by Kingsway with an offer of a 3 year recording contract.[2] Bassist Danny Smith joined the band in 2001,[3] in time for the Open album. It was at this time that the band members made the decision to leave their jobs in order to work together full time,.[3] They also released an EP.[2]
From 2007 until 2010, the band supported the event Chesterfest, playing a number of gigs and performing at their "Funday on a Sunday". In February 2010, YFriday also performed alongside the worship team from Abundant Life Church, Blush and Kev Whitmore at the "Heart for Haiti" concert supporting the NXT ministries projects in Port-Au-Prince after the January 2010 earthquake.
YFriday played their final concert as a band in a sold out Newcastle City Hall on 31 October 2010.
Band membership has changed slightly since the original formation.
Riley was the lead singer and guitarist of Yfriday. He is a prolific song writer and his most globally recognised song to is "Everlasting God" which was co-written with Brenton Brown. The song received a prestigious ASCAP Award in 2008. The song was also nominated for a Dove award. Ken has also collaborated with many other Christian songwriters including Matt Redman, Martin Smith(Delirious) and Tim Hughes.
He co-produced the YFriday album, Great and Glorious, with successful producer and mixer Sam Gibson (Crowded House, Hillsong United). In 2010, Riley produced the album Supreme for the band The Steels, following their signing to Kingsway/EMI.
Ken is married to Amanda and has three children; Jaime, Jordan and Ben.
As of 2011, he is writing new material in preparation for a solo album.
Minto, the band's drummer, is also the Managing Director of Broadwater Studios Ltd, a recording studio in Gateshead and Minto Music Ltd, PA/lighting hire company with bases in Gateshead and Exeter. He is married to Rachael and has 2 boys Oliver and Sam. After the band split, Minto relocated to Devon.
Smith joined the band as bassist in 2001 as they signed their first professional record contract.[3] He is a member of an Anglican church in South Tyneside, where he is part of the worship band and helps with the youth work.
Keyboard, backing vocals and second guitar player, Richards was born and grew up in Hartlepool. He attends Newcastle Christian Life Centre, a church affiliated with Hillsong Church. After the band split, YFriday Gav continues to work as a sound engineer/producer for Broadwater Studios as well as playing a number of instruments in an up and coming band The Last Spectacular.
Ken Riley
Danny Smith:
Gav Richards:
Dez Minto: