Helen Keller was formed as an acoustic duet project by former Kody frontman Gareth Icke and lead guitarist Tim Pritchard. The pair spent months writing and perfecting new material in their rehearsal studio on the Isle of Wight.
The songs were first aired at Viva Viva in London, followed by festival perfomances at The Nokia Isle of Wight Festival, Americana Festival in Nottingham and the Quart Festival in Kristiansand, Norway. Although the shows recieved great reviews, Gareth and Tim felt that the songs really needed the drive and momentum of a tightly locked rhythm section to achieve their full potential.
Lauren Bennett joined on bass guitar and Nate Webber took up the drums to complete the new look Helen Keller. Both Lauren and Nate have an invaluble wealth of musical experience behind them. Lauren has spent the last few years performing on cruise ships and has performed all over the world. Nate is also the drummer in Island rock outfit Jacuna and is currently part of the Platform One Music Course.
The four peice have been rehearsing hard on turning the acoustic tracks into a whole new sound that they can call simply their own.
Songs like Croyde Bay Holiday Park, Tel Aviv and Joe Vs display the joys and frustrations of a life slightly 'disconnected'. The laid back, almost reggae verses of Tel Aviv portraying the calmness of Island life, only to be counteracted by the fast powerful choruses convaying the underlying anger of small town bigotry.
In the past Gareth and Tim have been told to almost lose their heritage and become 'Londonised' to assist their bid for wider exposure. This is something that the band do not take kindly to. Helen Keller is a band that is distinctly Isle of Wight and while touring the deepest darkest parts of the wherever, will never lose their roots.
You can chat with others over in the Helen Keller forum...
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Silvertip Films video for Tel Aviv demo available now! Simply click play below!
We now have some badges for grabs... if you want one of these lovely things, email here and i'll tell you how to get some, they are 50p each or £1 for 3. Or, come to a gig, talk to us and get them free!
Thanks to Josie for this nice little video of us playing 'The Memory Fades' at The Marquee Club
Hey... we have some banners for you! Feel free to save em and whack em on your page! There's three styles, so you can choose which one best suits your page... if you have a request for a certain style/colour, e-mail me and i'll see what i can do! To add a banner to your profile, use this HTML code:
Are you like me? <a href="http://www.rockyou.com/events/track.php?event=ms-lk-c-q1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rockyou.com%2Flikeness%2Fquiz.php%3Fq%3D1">Take my "Just for fun!" Quiz to find out!</a>
Was an awesome gig at the liquid lounge people, blood and gore aside, gonna miss you guys, your gigs, your music, the taff van, flower head and onesy, axel and tippers, garish welsh behaviour, dressing like dorothy and the fact that I thought you're a bloody good band that was starting to get people really excited. Se la ve x x x
Someones left their toothbrush/toothpaste in my bathroom! lol! So for whoever has had to be chewing a lot of gum the past 2 days - your toothbrush is round mine! xx
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