Beat Express

Music

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We Need Speed

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Released: Jan 1, 2008

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We Need Speed
5:57
1,412 plays
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Everyone Loves Rock & Roll
4:28
740 plays
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Help
4:08
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Stress
4:17
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Boogie Train
3:55
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Total Plays: 6,176 / Plays Today: 2See All Featured ►

The short biography -

Beat Express are a learning disabled rock band from Brighton, UK, consisting of Lee Hubbard on lead vocals and bass guitar, Ryan O'Donovan on guitar and backing vocals, Claire Offley on keyboard and backing vocals and Chris Rider on drums.

They are one of 6 bands supported by the disability arts organisation Carousel. Initially formed in 2002 from the success of a youth music project run by Carousel, the band has not only gained a strong fan base, but boasts a work ethic that would put most bands to shame! Beat Express know how to get people dancing and their impressive live performances are always incredibly tight. The songs they write like Stress and Stand Up, are about their experiences – detailing their lives as learning disabled musicians, showing insight to the hurdles they face as a band but also the enjoyment and satisfaction they get from being in a band. Their songs are not only an impressive collection of honest, hook-laden work, but also a statement of celebration – both of Beat Express’ own achievements and the culture and community that surrounds them.

A film about BEAT EXPRESS -

Formed: Late 2002

Genres:
Hard Rock, Alternative Rock, Post-Hardcore

The long biography! - (courtesy of Ryan from Beat Express)

It began in 2002 when the disability arts organisation Carousel brought together a wide group of young learning disabled people. All these people underwent a youth music project called Beat Express, which trained them all in a variety of different aspects of music. Before the end of 2002, the project Beat Express came to an end, and 4 members Lee Hubbard, Claire Offley, Jennifer Troy and Chris Rider were called forth, and they became Carousel's first ever rock band. The name Beat Express was now handed over to them from that point on. Lee became the bass guitarist and lead vocalist, Claire and Jennifer became two backing vocalists and Chris Rider was assigned to the drums. However, they didn't have a guitarist, so instead the band's guitar playing was done by Tom Cook, a supporter of the band and a music facilitator at Carousel.

It wasn't long before Beat Express released their first single Stand Up in 2003, and from there on they made a big impact at clubs for learning disabled people, such as the Blue Camel Club, Squidz Club and the first ever Burnstock Festival in 2004. This would all mark the beginning of a whole new era in Carousel's arts categories, as well as the band members' lives individually.

After Jennifer sadly left the band in 2005, Claire found a way to improve the kind of band Beat Express were. She added a keyboard to the band's line-up of instruments. She was now a backing vocalist and keyboard player. In addition, Tom took over Jennifer's backing vocals while continuing to play guitar for the group. By 2006, a whole new production hit the stage. Both Carousel and High Spin worked with Glyndebourne and South East Dance National Dance Agency to produce a rock opera called Debbie Rock Angel. It was performed by Beat Express and a number of dancers from High Spin in front of over 4000 people with and without learning disabilities.

In early 2007, Beat Express received a new music facilitator named Richard Phoenix working with them. He had completed a training program with Carousel the previous year, and became the company's music co-ordinator not long after. With Richard supporting Beat Express, it meant that there were now two interchangeable musicians for backing up the band on guitar and backing vocals. Also, aside from Beat Express' prowess on stage, they had also been working with younger learning disabled people as part of outreach projects. These outreach projects were carried out in schools and colleges around East and West Sussex, where Beat Express would go in, write a song with a select number of students, then jam with them in front of the rest of the school/college. In fact, these outreaches were so successful that the band and Carousel imagined what could be accomplished if they had a whole year to work with learning disabled students in the same way. And so in 2007, that's exactly what happened.

On September 21st 2007, an OCN accredited training course named Create This! began. This course was tutored by Beat Express, and trained 7 students to write, play and record their own songs. It was parallel to the dance course from High Spin. The cross-over between them was that at the end of the year, the dancers would appear in a dance film while the musicians provided soundtrack for it. The course was so successful that it won the Best Arts Film Award at the National Youth Disability Film Awards 2008, which was a new event/festival hosted by Funky Flamingo Club at the time. At the same time, Beat Express' single Stand Up was featured on the compilation CD Wild Things: Sounds of the Disabled Underground Volume 1. Their debut album Rockstars was also completed by then.

As the courses continued to train more people with learning disabilities, Beat Express went back from having 3 members to having 4 members again. In September 2008, a graduate of the first year of Create This! named Ryan O'Donovan became new to the band. His determination, enthusiasm and progress were all so great that Carousel invited him to join Beat Express as their guitarist and a backing vocalist. The band went on rocking hard at Carousel's clubs, as well as the International Day of disabled people at the start of December 2008. As of that very month Beat Express are the UK's first ever 100% learning disabled rock band. They do however continue to work with music facilitators for other kinds of support.

With Ryan in Beat Express, the band's genre of music increased to a much heavier sound due to Ryan's love for heavy metal music. And in January 2009, the band recorded a song called Rock House. It wasn't only the first Beat Express song Ryan recorded with them, but also the first song played completely by the band. In fact, the song also led to the name of a whole new monthly gig night called The Rock House which began on September 22nd 2009. Although this is managed by Carousel's music facilitators Tom Cook and Richard Phoenix and not directly by Carousel themselves, this unique monthly gig turned into a great success. Many great learning disabled artists in and out of the Brighton area have played there, including Heavy Load and The Coasters.

In 2010, Beat Express appeared in their first ever music video for a song of theirs called Modern Life. They also appeared on BBC1 twice. The first time was when they had their first ever live acoustic set at the Shut Up And Listen! launch party, which was broadcast on BBC South East Today on July 5th. The second time occurred when the band appeared in a 10 minute BBC Lifeline Appeal, with Ryan talking about his experience in music. The appeal was broadcast on BBC1 on September 26th.

Beat Express started 2011 with vigourous performances at The Rock Houses, as well as 5 outreaches closely together. During that time, the music video of Modern Life was launched in Hove Museum and played on a loop for 2 weeks. They also had their first performance abroad in Cardiff at the start of July, as part of the Unity 2011 Festival. Beat Express have now completed their second album Steamin'. They first announced it during their performance at The Blue Camel Club: Beach Ball in June. It will be released on 12th December at The Blue Camel Club and will be available on iTunes, Amazon and by contacting www.shutupandlisten.org.uk

We are Beat Express!

We Like To Rock!

....

Member Since:

June 14, 2007

Members:

LEE HUBBARD -
Lead Vocals & Bass
(2002 - present)

RYAN O'DONOVAN -
Guitar & Backing Vocals
(2008 - present)

CLAIRE OFFLEY -
Keyboards & Backing Vocals
(2002 - present)

CHRIS RIDER -
Drums
(2002 - present)

(Former member)

JENNIFER TROY -
Backing Vocals
(2002 - 2005)

Sounds Like:

A lot of fun.

Record Label:

unsigned

Style & Influences

Beat Express' style focusses on hard-driven distorted guitar sounds, keyboard effects and steady drum tempos. The band revolves around rock & roll, and their song lyrics are based on hurdles in their lives as learning disabled musicians and what they enjoy doing to escape it.

The band has many influences in different kinds of alternative artists like The Foo Fighters, Nirvana, Nickelback, Linkin Park and Fightstar, as well as some the most influential bands in rock and heavy metal, such as Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, Queen, Iron Maiden and Def Leppard. Beat Express have also learned about performing closely from performing on stage with learning disabled punk rock band Heavy Load.