Area 11 (band)
| Area 11 | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Nottingham, England |
| Genres | Pop punk, electronic rock, alternative rock |
| Years active | 2010-present |
| Labels | Cooking Vinyl, Smihilism Records, Yogscast Studios, Breaking the Boredom |
| Associated acts | My Vitriol, Beckii Cruel, Ghost Cassette, Teasing Demons, Last Constellation, Bloodguard, Superpowerless, Enter Shikari |
| Website | http://www.area11.band/ |
| Members | Tom Clarke (Sparkles*), Alex Parvis (Parv), Jonathan Kogan (Kogie), Leo Taylor |
| Past members | Luke Owens, Tim Yearsley |
Area 11 is an alternative rock band from Nottingham, England. The band currently consists of four members; Thomas "Sparkles*" Clarke, Alex Parvis, Jonathan Kogan and Leo Taylor. To date, they have released a number of singles, two EPs, and a studio album.
They describe their sound as being Modern rock, as they draw influences from western rock, while incorporating elements from other genres and cultures.
Biography
Area 11 consists of Sparkles*, Alex Parvis, Jonathan Kogan, and Leo Taylor. They formed on 8 October 2010 in Nottingham during what was described by band frontman Sparkles* as a "disastrous jam session".[1] Founding members Sparkles*, Luke, and Alex then discovered their shared love of anime whilst watching Code Geass episode 22 "Blood Stained Euphy", from which they wrote their first song, Euphemia.
In 2012, the band was discovered by UK YouTube broadcasting group The Yogscast. Band members Sparkles* and Alex Parvis were subsequently employed by the Yogscast as audio/video producers, and parts of their songs Euphemia and Vectors are used during and at the end of the Yogscast's content. The band was signed to the Yogscast Studios record label, which was run by Sparkles* before his departure in 2014 where they formed their own label, Smihilism Records. They were later commissioned by Namco Bandai Games to compose the song "GO!! Fighting Action Power" as the credits theme for their Bravoman web-series on ShiftyLook, and later "Wonder Wars" as the theme song for the Wonder Momo anime series.[2] Sparkles* left The Yogscast in 2014
The name "Area 11" is a reference to the anime Code Geass, as Japan is referred to as Area 11 in the series, with its citizens referred to as Elevens, a name which has come to collectively describe Area 11 fans.
The majority of Area 11's songs from their earlier records are based on various anime, including Code Geass, Death Note, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, Naruto, Elfen Lied, Bakuman and others. Other tracks are based off video games such as Minecraft. They have moved away from the trend of writing songs about Japanese anime and manga, rather focusing on original ideas, starting most notably on their second EP, Underline.
The band's début album: All The Lights In The Sky gained them a cult following that has since allowed them to embark upon numerous sell-out tours in small to medium sized venues throughout the UK, and has since sold around 13,000 copies worldwide.
On 6 May 2016, Area 11 announced that there second album Modern Synthesis would be released on July 1, 2016, and that they signed with record label Cooking Vinyl. On the same day they also announced that they would be going on tour to promote their new album.[3][4]
Genre
The band have described their sound as of modern rock. Their songs are based around Western rock and pop traditions, Their music commonly blends heavy metal guitar riffs with a wide range of synthesizers and electronic effects. Formerly they dubbed their style of music as "Gaijin-Rock", a tongue-in-cheek phrase that translates from Japanese to English as "foreigner-rock" due to the influences from East Asian culture in their earlier records such as Blackline and All the Lights in the Sky; in particular, they heavily referenced popular Japanese anime and manga most prominently in these records.[1]
Concert tours
- Zero Tour (2011)
- Ichi Tour (2014)
- Ni Tour (2014)
- San Tour (with Vukovi) (2015)
- Versus Winter Tour (with Myth City) (2015)
- Modern Synthesis Tour (2016)
Discography
Albums
| Year | Album Details | Peak Chart Positions | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [5] |
UK Rock |
UK Indie |
UK Breakers |
US Heatseekers |
US Indie | ||||||||
| 2013 | All The Lights In The Sky
|
75 | 10 | 10 | 2 [6] |
11 | 42 | ||||||
| 2016 | Modern Synthesis
|
||||||||||||
| "—" denotes a release that did not chart. | |||||||||||||
Extended Plays
| Title | EP details |
|---|---|
| Blackline |
|
| Underline |
|
Singles
| Year | Title | Peak Chart Positions | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [6] |
UK Indie |
UK Breakers | |||||||||||
| 2012 | DOTA 2 Beta Key[7] | – | – | – | |||||||||
| 2012 | Knightmare/Frame | – | – | – | |||||||||
| 2012 | Reply Boyz[8] | – | – | – | |||||||||
| 2012 | Minecraft Christmas | 69 [9] |
7 [10] |
3 [11] | |||||||||
| 2013 | Shi No Barado (featuring Beckii Cruel) | 115[12] | 12 | 1[13] | |||||||||
| 2013 | GO!! Fighting Action Power | – | – | 12 | |||||||||
| 2013 | Heaven-Piercing Giga Drill | – | – | – | |||||||||
| 2014 | Homunculus | – | – | – | |||||||||
| 2015 | Override [B] | – | – | – | |||||||||
| 2015 | Versus | – | – | – | |||||||||
| 2016 | Watchmaker | – | – | – | |||||||||
| "—" denotes a release that did not chart. | |||||||||||||
Members
Timeline
Current members
- Tom 'Sparkles*' Clarke - Lead Vocals, Keytar, Keyboard (2010-Present), Acoustic Guitar (2013-Present)
- Alex 'Parv' Parvis - Rhythm Guitar (2010-2012), Lead Guitar (2012-Present)
- Jonathan 'Kogie' Kogan - Bass, Saxophone, Tambourine (2011-Present), Backing Vocals (2012-Present)
- Leo Taylor - Drums (2010-Present)
Past members
- Luke Owens – Lead Guitar, Backing Vocals (2010-2012)
- Tim Yearsley – Bass (2011)
References
- 1 2 MCM, Interview. "Interview with Area 11 Lead Singer Sparkles*". Retrieved 14 January 2013.
- ↑ http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2014-01-29/wonder-momo-game-spawns-web-anime-by-graphinica-and-new-game
- ↑ ""On the release day, 1st July"". Twitter. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
- ↑ "We're very excited to tell you that our brand new album "Modern Synthesis" comes out on 1st July 2016!". Facebook. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
- ↑ "Area 11 - Official Charts". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 3 February 2013.
- 1 2 "2013 Top 40 Independent Albums Breakers Archive - 9th February 2013". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 11 May 2013.
- ↑ Spotify, media. "The offical page stream run by Area 11 on Spotify to listen to the single". Retrieved 17 February 2016.
- ↑ Yogscast, media. "The official page on The Yogscast's website with the original video of the Reply Boyz song and description proving it was a single before it was taken off The Yogscast's website and Youtube channel due to prevention of false copyright strikes on there channel.". Retrieved 17 February 2016.
- ↑ "Justice Collective’s Hillsborough single beats James Arthur to score Christmas No. 1". Metro. 2012-12-23. Retrieved 2013-01-12.
- ↑ "2012 Top 40 Independent Singles Archive - 29th December 2012". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 3 February 2013.
- ↑ "2012 Top 40 Independent Singles Breakers Archive - 29th December 2012". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 10 May 2013.
- ↑ http://www.zobbel.de/cluk/130511cluk.txt
- ↑ "2013 Top 40 Independent Singles Breakers Archive - 11th May 2013". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
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