Rooster (band)

Rooster
Rooster in 2006.
Background information
Origin	London, England
Genres	Indie rock, hard rock, pop rock
Years active	2002 (2002)–2007 (2007)
Labels	Brightside, Sony BMG
Past members
Nick Atkinson Luke Potashnick Nick Howell Ben Smyth Dave Neale

Rooster were an English pop rock band that formed in London in 2002.

History

Formation

Vocalist Atkinson and guitarist Potashnik were former school friends who reunited while living in London, after both admitted they were struggling to make an impact with their respective bands. Atkinson was previously the singer in British nu metal band 50 Grind, who reached #57 in the UK Singles Chart in December 2001 with "Gotta Catch 'Em All", featuring the Pokémon all-stars, but never released any more material. They formed Rooster with Neale and Smyth and the name was settled on when Atkinson came home £250 richer after putting a bet on a horse called Rooster Booster. After only a few live shows, were signed to the new BMG affiliate label Brightside.

The quintet received plenty of publicity when they became the first band to broadcast a concert live to mobile phones, with their gig at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London on 2 November 2004 aired by the 3 network. The quartet's debut album was released the following January.

Mainstream recognition

The band's style combined hard rock with pop but was marketed primarily at the UK teen rock market. Rooster's debut single "Come Get Some" reached number 7 in the UK Singles Chart in November 2004. The next single, "Staring at the Sun", reached number 5 and their self-titled debut album entered the UK Albums Chart at number 3.

Live shows saw the band improvising and extending songs; Neale often performed a four-minute-long drum solo during "Drag The Sunrise Down." Rooster were known to incorporate covers, such as, Cream's "Sunshine of Your Love," Free's "All Right Now", Jamiroquai's "Deeper Underground", Blackstreet's "No Diggity" and The Rolling Stone's "Satisfaction" into their live sets.

Rooster provided a track for the soundtrack of the film Stormbreaker. The track selected to appear on the film's soundtrack was "Good to Be Here" which was released as a download-only single in August 2006. In autumn 2008, Rooster's song "I Come Alive" was used in American Discovery Channel commercials.

Break-up

In 2007, with musical differences and difficulties with their record label, Rooster announced their split via their Myspace page.

Post break-up

• Atkinson joined the indie blues band The Ya Ya Boys.
• Neale became a founding member of the superhero rock band The Justice Force 5. He also drums for Diana Vickers^{[citation needed]}
• Smyth is now playing with Amy Macdonald and Olly Murs, and performing with other bands and solo artists.
• Potashnick is now in the band Ben's Brother and is the guitarist on Leona Lewis' 2010 Labyrinth Tour.^{[citation needed]}
• Howell is currently touring with post-punk outfit "Illusions, Michael"

Band members

• Nick Atkinson - Lead Vocals
• Luke Potashnick - Guitar
• Ben Smyth - Bass & Backing Vocals
• Dave Neale - Drums
• Nick Howell - Percussion

Discography

Studio albums

Year	Album details
2005	Rooster Released: 24 January 2005 Label: Brightside
2006	Circles and Satellites Released: 24 July 2006 Label: Sony BMG

Singles

Year	Song	Peak chart positions					Album
		UK	AUS	CHI	JAP	NZ
2004	"Come Get Some"	7	38	5	18	22	Rooster
	"Staring at the Sun"	5	—	—	—	—
2005	"You're So Right for Me"	14	—	—	—	—
	"Deep and Meaningless"	29	—	—	—	—
2006	"Home"	33	—	—	—	—	Circles and Satellites
	"Good to Be Here"	—	—	—	—	—
	"One of Those Days"	—	—	—	—	—

External links

• Rooster on Myspace