Ben's Brother
| Ben's Brother | |
|---|---|
|
Ben's Brother performing in 2007 Photo: Brian Marks | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | London, UK |
| Genres | Post-Britpop, indie pop |
| Years active | 2006–present |
| Labels | Island, Universal |
| Members |
Jamie Hartman Kiris Houston Karl Brazil Malcolm Moore Luke Potashnick |
Ben's Brother are a five-piece English band, headed by founder Jamie Hartman. The band was named after Jamie's big brother Ben, whose shadow he lived in as a teenager.
Music career
Their debut album, Beta Male Fairytales, was released on 6 August 2007, and went to number 3 on iTunes UK and achieved Gold status. Successes followed in Europe and North and South America.
A song from their album, "God By Another Name", became the first iTunes Store free single of the week to be made available in the iTunes Plus format. Beginning in September 2007, their song "Stuttering" was featured in a Dentyne Ice commercial in Canada and the U.S. This turned into a larger partnership where the band gave away free songs to fans and flew a fan to see them play in Texas, via a specially created website.[1]
The band made their American festival debut at South by Southwest in March 2008.[2] That same year, the band were nominated for an Ivor Novello Award in the category of Best Song Musically and Lyrically for "Let Me Out".[3]
Dropped by EMI and despite the Ivor Novello nomination and worldwide success of Beta Male Fairytales, the band formed their own label and recorded their second studio album in Autumn 2008. The first single from the album, "Apologise", was released in early 2009 and was co-written with Natalie Imbruglia (who recorded a version for her forthcoming album). The band was then signed to Island Records for the forthcoming singles from the album Battling Giants, which contains a duet with Anastacia, "Stalemate", and other vocal collaborations including Jason Mraz on the title track and Jack MacManus, Cass Lowe and Pete Gordeno doing group harmonies on the other tracks.
On 15 February 2010, Hartman announced via his Twitter page that the band would continue to release music without the support of the label Island Records.[4] On 23 October, Hartman announced via his Facebook page that a third album would be released in late February 2012, under the name of Jamie Hartman as opposed to Ben's Brother, although the band would remain in the same set-up.
Band members
- Jamie Hartman - vocals
- Kiris Houston - keyboards, guitars
- Malcolm Moore - bass
- Karl Brazil - drums
- Luke Potashnick - guitars
Discography
Albums
- Beta Male Fairytales (2 July 2007) (Chart: UK #14, ITA #100)
- Battling Giants (11 May 2009) (Chart: UK #56)
EPs
- Glow (25 April 2010) (UK )
Singles
- 2007: "Let Me Out" (Chart: UK #38, ITA #8)
- 2007: "Carry On"
- 2008: "Stuttering (Kiss Me Again)" (Chart: UK #41)
- 2009: "Apologise"
- 2009: "Q & A"
- 2009: "Stalemate" (featuring Anastacia)
- 2009: "Shine/Reacender" (featuring Roupa Nova)
- 2010: "What If I?" (Chart: UK #153)
References
- ↑ Ben's Brother Dentyne.
- ↑ Erin Chandler, Schedule For The Levi's/FADER Fort In Austin Announced Archived 13 March 2008 at the Wayback Machine., The Tripwire, 10 March 2008.
- ↑ The Ivor Novello Awards - Nominees Archived 11 December 2007 at the Wayback Machine.
- ↑ https://twitter.com/jamiehartman/status/9062039004
External links
- Jamie Hartman interview getcloser.com