Danko Jones

Danko Jones

Danko Jones at Wacken Open Air 2015
Background information
Origin Toronto, Canada
Genres Hard rock, garage rock, garage punk, blues rock
Years active 1996–present
Labels New Damage Records (Canada)
Bad Taste (Europe)
Website http://www.dankojones.com/
Members Danko Jones - Vocals/Guitar
John Calabrese - Bass
Rich Knox - Drums
Past members Atom Willard - Drums
Damon Richardson - Drums
Niko Quintal - Drums
Gavin Brown - Drums
Michael Cari Cari - Drums
Dan Cornelius - Drums

Danko Jones is a Canadian rock band from Toronto, Canada. The band consists of Danko Jones (vocals/guitar), John 'JC' Calabrese (bass guitar) and Rich Knox (drums).

History

Formation

Formed in 1996,[1] they played consistently for two years in and around the northeastern United States and Canada, opening for The New Bomb Turks, Nashville Pussy, Blonde Redhead, The Make-Up, The Dirtbombs, The Chrome Cranks and The Demolition Doll Rods. Originally they did not even want to release an album, opting instead to have the band's live reputation spread via word of mouth.

Eventually, the trio relented and put out a self-titled six song e.p. on Sonic Unyon records in 1998. In 1999 they released the self-produced My Love Is Bold E.P. and achieved national exposure with the single "Bounce".[2] They were nominated for a Juno Award in 2000 for Best Alternative Album.

In 2001 Bad Taste Records released a compilation of the band's early recordings, demos, and b-sides entitled, I'm Alive and On Fire. A 5 week European tour followed to promote the release including shows at the Roskilde festival in Denmark and Hultsfred festival in Sweden. By the end of the year they had returned 2 more times, most notably as main support for the Backyard Babies.

Danko Jones, vocals/guitar. Live in Rouen, France 2008

2002: Born A Lion

In 2002 they released their first full-length album, Born A Lion, produced by Bill Bell, on Bad Taste Records in Europe and on Universal in Canada. The band did several European tours and two Canadian tours to promote the record including a repeat performance at Roskilde and the now legendary return to Hultsfred as well as notable stops to Pukkelpop in Belgium and The Lowlands festival in the Netherlands. They also managed to grab the opening slot with The Rolling Stones on their "40 Licks" World tour kick-off show at the Palais Royale in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on August 16, 2002.[3]

2003: We Sweat Blood

2003 saw the release of We Sweat Blood, produced by Matt DeMatteo, and the group taking a heavier approach to their hard-rock sound.[4] More touring followed that included Europe and Japan. They were also nominated for two Junos: Best Rock Album (Born a Lion) and Best video (Lovercall).

While success was happening abroad, home relations with Universal Canada had soured and the band was dropped mid-album run. Explanations from the label were vague, but speculations point to Jones' February 2004 appearance on CBC Sunday where Jones appeared as a pro-downloader opposite then CRIA president, Brian Robertson.[5] Getting dropped from Universal Canada did little to stop the group as they continued to tour heavily for the rest of the year well into 2004 with bands like Turbonegro, Sepultura and The Bronx. While touring they managed to pick up another Juno nomination for Best Rock Album (We Sweat Blood) and tour Australia as well as more European dates including Rock Am Ring and Rock Im Park in Germany and Download, Leeds and Reading in England.

2005-2006: Sleep Is The Enemy

Early 2005 was taken up by recording the follow-up to We Sweat Blood, but not without a series of tours amidst recording that brought the band to the Netherlands, Germany and South Africa. In April, American label, Razor & Tie released We Sweat Blood and the band set out to America in support as well.[6] Working two releases simultaneously on both sides of the Atlantic proved quite hard and the worldwide release for the upcoming album, Sleep Is The Enemy, produced by Matt DeMatteo, was pushed back to 2006.

Bass player John Calabrese, live 2008.

During the summer and fall of 2005 the band toured America heavily with two of We Sweat Blood's singles being second most added to active rock radio in America ("Lovercall" and "Forget My Name"). Stateside tours with Flogging Molly, Our Lady Peace, The Supersuckers, and The (International) Noise Conspiracy followed. Prior to the release of Sleep Is The Enemy drummer Damon Richardson left the band, citing fatigue as a reason for leaving. He was replaced by Dan Cornelius.[7]

In January and February 2006, under new Canadian label, Aquarius Records, the band set out to do their first Canadian tour in almost 4 years opening up for Nickelback.[8] With the release of Sleep Is The Enemy came more touring including America and a headlining European club tour with support from Brant Bjork & The Bros.

The summer saw them perform at Rock Am Ring, Rock Im Park, With Full Force and Wacken Open Air in Germany; Hellfest and Furiafest in France, Metaltown in Sweden, Pinkpop and Lowlands in The Netherlands, Tuska Festival, Ruisrock and Ankkarock in Finland, Gampel in Switzerland and Wireless in the UK among at least a dozen more. In October 2006, a 2 week tour of Norway saw the band play with ex-Kyuss front-man, John Garcia who appeared on the song "Invisible" off Sleep Is The Enemy.

2008: Never Too Loud

Their fourth album, Never Too Loud was released on February 27, 2008[9] and produced by Nick Raskulinecz. The album yielded three singles, "Code Of The Road" followed by "Take Me Home" and "King Of Magazines". A major city tour of Europe in April 2008 was followed by a Canadian tour in May and a three month stint in Europe playing almost 30 dates on the festival circuit that included Rock Am Ring, Rock Im Park and With Full Force in Germany; Bospop and Lowlands in The Netherlands; Sziget Festival in Hungary; Rabarock in Estonia; Provinssi Rock in Finland; and Eurockeennes and Hellfest in France, where Jones got to sing on stage with one of his favorite bands, Death Angel for the song, "Bored". In the fall/winter of 2008 Danko Jones toured England, Germany, France and Benelux opening for Motörhead.

2009: B-Sides

On February 3, 2009 B-Sides was released in Europe only - a collection of previously released b-sides from European singles and unreleased tracks that spanned 1996 to 2008. On February 24 they commenced a 7 week tour in support of the release that spanned The Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, France and the UK with support coming from The Backyard Babies, Winnebego Deal and The Black Spiders. The CD yielded the singles "Sugar High" and "My Problems (Are Your Problems Now)". A greatest hits compilation titled This Is Danko Jones was released on April 7 the same year in Canada only.[10]

Drummer Dan Cornelius, live at Drops Dosol, 2009. Cornelius left Danko Jones in June 2011.

In the summer the band managed a few festival appearances, most notably, the Sziget Festival in Hungary on the main stage with Faith No More and The Offspring, as well as Huntenpop in The Netherlands, Winterthur and Gampel Open Air in Switzerland, Parken Festival in Norway and Jurassic Rock in Finland. In January and February 2010 the band toured across Canada with Guns N' Roses and Sebastian Bach.[11] In March the same year they toured the United States with Clutch.[12]

2010: Below the Belt

Their fifth album Below the Belt was released on May 11, 2010 and produced by Matt DeMatteo. The album's first single, "Full of Regret", features Elijah Wood, Lemmy Kilmister, Selma Blair and Mike Watt in the accompanying video, the first in The Ballad of Danko Jones. It debuted at No. 36 on Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks in November. It is also featured on EA's NHL 11.[13] soundtrack. The second single, "Had Enough", has Ralph Macchio appearing in the accompanying video while "Full of Regrets" features Wood, Macchio, Jena Malone and Watt in the final installment of the music video trilogy.

On June 8, 2011 Danko Jones announced on the band's website that drummer Dan Cornelius was no longer with the band.[14] In the same statement Danko Jones said Atom Willard had joined as a replacement. In a March 2012 question-and-answer session with fans on Twitter Danko Jones said: "Dan's time with the band had run its course but it was completely mutual from both sides. An amicable split." [15]

2012: Rock and Roll Is Black and Blue

In early 2012 Danko Jones revealed the band was working on a new album, posting footage of the writing process on the band's YouTube channel.[16][17] Jones said the album was likely to be out in the European fall.[15]

A 90-minute documentary about the band, entitled Bring on the Mountain, was released in June 2012. The 2-disc DVD also featured a short film based on the band's latest three videos, all their music videos and several live clips.

An oral history book about the band, called Too Much Trouble: A Very Oral History of Danko Jones is set to be released by ECW Press in October 2012.[18]

The title of the new album was revealed to be Rock and Roll Is Black and Blue, and will be released on 21 September 2012 in Europe and 9 October in North America.[19]

It was announced that Danko Jones will hit the road for 2013 Spring tour with Volbeat and Spoken.

2014-2015: Fire Music

On November 13, 2014, Danko Jones revealed the title of their 7th studio album, Fire Music. The album was the first to feature new drummer Rich Knox, and it was released on February 10, 2015 in Canada.[20]

In July 2015, the band announced a nine-date tour of the UK and Ireland scheduled for September, with support from The Amorettes.[21]

Radio, Spoken Word and Columns

Jones hosted a syndicated radio show called "The Magical World Of Rock"[22] between 2003 and 2006. It was broadcast out of 95.3 Rocket FM in Stockholm (Sweden) and syndicated to Power 97 in Winnipeg, Manitoba (Canada), Pure Rock Radio in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan (Canada), CT Das Radio in Bochum (Germany) and Radio Tango in Oslo (Norway).

He also released his first spoken word album in 2004 entitled The Magical World Of Rock[23] and completed two spoken word tours that same year, including a show at the Crossing Borders festival in The Hague, Netherlands where he spoke alongside Nick Hornby, Ian Mackaye, Jim White, Michael Franti and Irvine Welsh.

In 2012 Jones resumed doing spoken word in the form of "lectures". He spoke at the Wacken Open Air Festival for 2 days, "lecturing" about the rock band Kiss.

Danko Jones currently has a monthly column for Close-Up Magazine (Sweden), Rock Zone Magazine (Spain) and a weekly column in The Huffington Post. He has also written columns for Rock Hard (Germany), Guitar For The Practicing Musician (Germany), Mute Magazine (Norway), Rockstar Magazine (Switzerland), Lángoló Gitárok (Hungary).[24]

Jones hosts a podcast called "The Official Danko Jones Podcast" often co-hosted by his friend, comedian/singer, Nick Flanagan. Guests on the podcast have included Brendan Canning, Henry Rollins, Damian Abraham, Duff McKagan, Marty Friedman, Chris Jericho, Scott Thompson, Feist, Patrick Pentland, Wade McNeil, Lydia Criss, Harald Oimoen, Jim Breuer, Ron Sexsmith and more.

Discography

Studio albums

Extended Plays

Compilations

Honours

Juno Awards

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Biography | Danko Jones - Official Website". Danko Jones. 1999-02-22. Retrieved 2011-03-10.
  2. ↑ "Danko Jones Dot Net". Dankojones.net. 1999-12-09. Retrieved 2011-03-10.
  3. ↑ "Danko Jones Dot Net". Dankojones.net. 2002-08-17. Retrieved 2011-03-10.
  4. ↑ "Danko Jones | Interview | Lords Of Metal metal E-zine - Issue 30: October 2003". Lordsofmetal.nl. Retrieved 2011-03-10.
  5. ↑ "Danko Jones Interview – Melodic Rock Concerts". Melodicrockconcerts.com. 2010-01-25. Retrieved 2011-03-10.
  6. ↑ "BLABBERMOUTH.NET - DANKO JONES Announce First U.S. Tour". Roadrunnerrecords.com. Retrieved 2011-03-10.
  7. ↑ "BLABBERMOUTH.NET - DANKO JONES Part Ways With Drummer, Announce Replacement". Roadrunnerrecords.com. Retrieved 2011-03-10.
  8. ↑ "Blabbermouth.Net - Danko Jones To Support Nickelback In Canada". Roadrunnerrecords.com. Retrieved 2011-03-10.
  9. ↑ "Discography | Danko Jones - Official Website". Danko Jones. 2010-05-12. Retrieved 2011-03-10.
  10. ↑ "This Is Danko Jones | Danko Jones - Official Website". Danko Jones. 1999-02-22. Retrieved 2011-03-10.
  11. ↑ "Danko Jones: the EYE WEEKLY interview". Eyeweekly.com. 2010-01-27. Retrieved 2011-03-10.
  12. ↑ "to support Clutch on US tour | Danko Jones - Official Website". Danko Jones. 1999-02-22. Retrieved 2011-03-10.
  13. ↑ "First single from Below The Belt available | Danko Jones - Official Website". Danko Jones. 1999-02-22. Retrieved 2011-03-10.
  14. ↑ "Atom Willard joins Danko Jones on upcoming tour". Danko Jones. Retrieved 2013-10-28.
  15. 1 2 https://twitter.com/dankojones/status/183645168111583234
  16. ↑ "YouTube". YouTube. Retrieved 2013-10-28.
  17. ↑ "YouTube". YouTube. Retrieved 2013-10-28.
  18. ↑ Archived August 13, 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  19. ↑ "Danko Jones: Audio Snippet Of 'Just A Beautiful Day' Single". Blabbermouth.net. 2012-08-10. Retrieved 2013-10-28.
  20. ↑ February 6th, 2015 (6 Feb 2015). "Danko Jones". Retrieved 2013-11-13.
  21. ↑ "THE AMORETTES to support DANKO JONES on UK & Ireland tour". Uberrock. 14 July 2015.
  22. ↑ "Home". The Magical World Of Rock!. Retrieved 2011-03-10.
  23. ↑ Jonas Kolben. "Records / Danko Jones Spoken Word / The Magical World Of Rock BTR 85 - Bad Taste Records". Badtasterecords.se. Retrieved 2011-03-10.
  24. ↑ "Danko added as a columnist for Rockstar Magazine | Danko Jones - Official Website". Danko Jones. 1999-02-22. Retrieved 2011-03-10.

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