(l-r): Wrecked Train, Albino Priest , Sheriff Jon Stone, The Slammer, A One Man Crowd Called Gentilee
(click on each band member for more info)
Vocals, lyrics, artwork, creative heat
Decks, samples, dealing with the press, enthusiast
Keyboards, scrapper, rocker
Percussion, Troublefunk freak, dancing on tables to Police remixes
A One Man Crowd Called Gentilee
Bass, football, commuter (lives in Castleford)
...the dawn of a new era...
The Allstars formed early 1996, during this time, The Albino Priest began writing instrumental stuff, whilst working in Tower Records, Picadilly (as a kid the Priest to earn his pocket money selling mix tapes to his mates). The Wrekked Train began adding his distinctive vocal style to the band's music after a now typical beer-fuelled night of recording
"I left Dave alone in a room with one of our backing tracks and loads of beer and let him do whatever he wanted," says Phil. "He just got pissed and rambled through an echo unit, but it really seemed to fit. After that, we started letting him loose on all our tracks."
Having played a few low-key gigs in London, the Allstars were soon signed by the mighty Skint Records, after label managing director Damian Harris saw them live:
"I was sent a tape of their's about 10 months ago, the main track was One Man's Fear, which is now the B-side of the first single. It was so distinctive, mainly because of the singing, or rather ranting, on it. I went to see them play in a pub in Camden soon after that. It was one of their first gigs and a bit of a mess because they hadn't quite sorted out their live sound, but they obviously had potential. The show was exciting. They looked like they were going to fall apart at any minute. That made them seem like a proper band, like a rock'n'roll band that just happened to be making dance music."
the Allstars followed up their signing with several support slots, including their first UK tour supporting 18 Wheeler. 1997 saw the release of their amazing debut single 'Kool Roc Bass' (now deleted). The single received much critical acclaim including the accolade of Single of The Week in NME: "We did Kool Roc Bass" in the Skint studio over two nights".
1997 later saw the release of the band's second single: 'Disco Machine Gun'. The single was withdrawn after three days because a sample from the Breeders 'Cannonball' was used without permission. However, around 8,000 copies were still sold, and the single even made it into the top 40. It is now a collector's item.
The band's outstanding talent was recognised in February this year at the NME Brat Awards 1998, when they beat bands such as 'The Beta Band' and 'Campag Velocet' to receive the Philip Hall On award For Most Promising New Band. The band rightly described receiving their award as 'vindication'.
Their first single of 1998, 'Vision Incision' was released in April. The lyrical inspiration for the song came from a night in which Dave, tanked up on Tennents Super and armed with a dictaphone, took off on a mystical journey through the streets of north London. Snippets of the recordings can be heard at the end of the track and throughout the new album track 'How To Operate With a Blown Mind'.
The band finished their latest (and largest) tour at the end of April this year and release the much anticipated debut album 'How to Operate With a Blown Mind' on the 25th of May.
