Anthony Rossomando
Encyclopedia
Anthony Pasquale Rossomando (born February 21, 1976) is a guitarist, most recently with Carl Barat
's rock
band Dirty Pretty Things
. He previously stood in for Pete Doherty
in The Libertines
, after Doherty was first suspended from the band and then sacked due to his drug habits. He is also a live member of the British
dance punk band Klaxons
.
He is from Hamden, Connecticut
, where he was trumpet player in the 1990s ska
band J.C. Superska.
After dropping out of university in his first year he relocated to Boston
. Moving into the first of many overcrowded apartments, he started The Damn Personals
with ex-JC Superska band mate, Ken Cook. The band's first tour was with The Brian Jonestown Massacre
. Shortly after, The Damn Personals became a mainstay at popular Boston, Providence, and New York indie venues, usually bringing half of the audience back to their rehearsal space for after parties.
The band recorded their first album, Driver/Driver with producer Darron Burke, who now works for Tape OP. Their second release entitled Standing Still in the USA, was produced by Michael Demming. Anthony, Ken, bassist Jim Zavadoski and drummer Michael Gill comprised The Damn Personals, who lived hand-to-mouth and toured the US nearly ten times sharing the stage with the likes of The Walkmen
, The Hives
, Jimmy Eat World
, Piebald
, Cave-in, the Explosion, Hot Snakes, Dismemberment Plan, and the Make-up. They also toured Europe and UK once.
In 2003, introduced in a roundabout way by Isaac Green of Startime records, Rossomando met Barât in NYC and agreed to fill in for Doherty in an upcoming US tour for The Libertines
; then came back to London to play Top of the Pops
and Reading and Leeds festivals
. Eight months later he rejoined the Libertines, Doherty having gone AWOL again, to help support the entire worldwide touring campaign for the their self-titled second album. It was during this time when Rossomando and Barat began to formulate their ideas that would later embody the Dirty Pretty Things
. Following the demise of the Libertines, he relocated to London; his first real flat after being evicted out of his Boston home a year previous.
In May 2006, Dirty Pretty Things released Waterloo To Anywhere
which reached No. 3 in the UK charts, while the first single "Bang Bang You're Dead
", where he plays the cornet
, peaked at No. 4. The band toured extensively in the UK, US, Europe and Japan.
Anthony also played on:
In November 2007, he played the role of Pete Neon in the first episode of the third series of The Mighty Boosh
. He spoke about his appearance in the series in the documentary The Mighty Boosh: A Journey Through Time and Space, which aired on BBC Three on March 22, 2008.
Anthony, as well as the rest of Dirty Pretty Things, has been a long time supporter of the Love Music Hate Racism
Campaign, appearing at numerous gigs, shows and festivals for them. On March 1, 2008 he spoke at the LMHR session as a part of the Unite Against Fascism
annual conference, discussing racism in his life and why he has so strongly supported the campaign, stating "It is the most important of all the campaigns out there." The band are also supportive of the Make Roads Safe
Campaign, and in November 2006, Anthony appeared on Sky News
to promote the cause.
Dirty Pretty Things split up in the summer of 2008.
Carl Barât
Carl Ashley Raphael Barât is an English musician, actor and author. He was the frontman and lead guitarist of Dirty Pretty Things, and recently debuted a solo album, but is best known for being the co-frontman with Peter Doherty of the garage rock band The Libertines.-Early life:Carl Barât was...
's rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band Dirty Pretty Things
Dirty Pretty Things (band)
Dirty Pretty Things were an English band fronted by Carl Barât, a member of The Libertines. The formation of the band was announced in September 2005, after a dispute between Barât and Pete Doherty led to the breakup of The Libertines in 2004. Barât had worked with Vertigo Records and had...
. He previously stood in for Pete Doherty
Pete Doherty
Peter Doherty is an English musician, writer, actor, poet and artist. He is best known musically for being co-frontman of The Libertines, which he reformed with Carl Barât in 2010. His other musical project is indie band Babyshambles...
in The Libertines
The Libertines
The Libertines were an English rock band, formed in London in 1997 by frontmen Carl Barât and Pete Doherty . The band, centred on the song-writing partnership of Barat and Doherty, also included John Hassall and Gary Powell for most of its recording career...
, after Doherty was first suspended from the band and then sacked due to his drug habits. He is also a live member of the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
dance punk band Klaxons
Klaxons
Klaxons are a British indie rock band, based in London. Following the release of numerous 7-inch singles on different independent record labels, as well as the success of previous singles "Magick" and "Golden Skans", the band released their debut album, Myths of the Near Future on 29 January 2007....
.
He is from Hamden, Connecticut
Hamden, Connecticut
Hamden is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. The town's nickname is "The Land of the Sleeping Giant." Hamden is home to Quinnipiac University. The population was 58,180 according to the Census Bureau's 2005 estimates...
, where he was trumpet player in the 1990s ska
Ska
Ska |Jamaican]] ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues...
band J.C. Superska.
After dropping out of university in his first year he relocated to Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
. Moving into the first of many overcrowded apartments, he started The Damn Personals
The Damn Personals
The Damn Personals were a Boston based rock band that existed from mid 1998 until late 2005. The concept was the brainchild of singer/guitarist Ken Cook and guitarist Anthony Rossomando...
with ex-JC Superska band mate, Ken Cook. The band's first tour was with The Brian Jonestown Massacre
The Brian Jonestown Massacre
The Brian Jonestown Massacre is an American eclectic musical group led by Anton Newcombe, whose music spans multiple genres including psychedelia, electronica, folk music, blues, experimental music, and many others....
. Shortly after, The Damn Personals became a mainstay at popular Boston, Providence, and New York indie venues, usually bringing half of the audience back to their rehearsal space for after parties.
The band recorded their first album, Driver/Driver with producer Darron Burke, who now works for Tape OP. Their second release entitled Standing Still in the USA, was produced by Michael Demming. Anthony, Ken, bassist Jim Zavadoski and drummer Michael Gill comprised The Damn Personals, who lived hand-to-mouth and toured the US nearly ten times sharing the stage with the likes of The Walkmen
The Walkmen
The Walkmen are an American indie rock band, with members based in New York City and Philadelphia. The band formed in 2000 with three members from Jonathan Fire*Eater—Paul Maroon , Walter Martin , and Matt Barrick —and two from The Recoys, Peter Bauer and Hamilton Leithauser . All but Bauer...
, The Hives
The Hives
The Hives are a Swedish garage rock band that first garnered attention in the early 2000s as a prominent group of the garage rock revival. Their mainstream success came with the release of the "greatest hits" album Your New Favourite Band, featuring their most well-known song "Hate to Say I Told...
, Jimmy Eat World
Jimmy Eat World
Jimmy Eat World is an American alternative rock band from Mesa, Arizona, that formed in 1993. The band is composed of lead vocalist and guitarist Jim Adkins, guitarist and backing vocalist Tom Linton, bassist Rick Burch and drummer Zach Lind....
, Piebald
Piebald
A piebald or pied animal is one that has a spotting pattern of large unpigmented, usually white, areas of hair, feathers, or scales and normally pigmented patches, generally black. The colour of the animal's skin underneath its coat is also pigmented under the dark patches and unpigmented under...
, Cave-in, the Explosion, Hot Snakes, Dismemberment Plan, and the Make-up. They also toured Europe and UK once.
In 2003, introduced in a roundabout way by Isaac Green of Startime records, Rossomando met Barât in NYC and agreed to fill in for Doherty in an upcoming US tour for The Libertines
The Libertines
The Libertines were an English rock band, formed in London in 1997 by frontmen Carl Barât and Pete Doherty . The band, centred on the song-writing partnership of Barat and Doherty, also included John Hassall and Gary Powell for most of its recording career...
; then came back to London to play Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops, also known as TOTP, is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly from 1 January 1964 to 30 July 2006. After 25 December 2006 it became a radio program, now hosted by Tony Blackburn...
and Reading and Leeds festivals
Reading and Leeds Festivals
The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual music festivals that take place in Reading and Leeds in England. The events take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend, sharing the same bill. The Reading Festival is held at Little John's Farm...
. Eight months later he rejoined the Libertines, Doherty having gone AWOL again, to help support the entire worldwide touring campaign for the their self-titled second album. It was during this time when Rossomando and Barat began to formulate their ideas that would later embody the Dirty Pretty Things
Dirty Pretty Things (band)
Dirty Pretty Things were an English band fronted by Carl Barât, a member of The Libertines. The formation of the band was announced in September 2005, after a dispute between Barât and Pete Doherty led to the breakup of The Libertines in 2004. Barât had worked with Vertigo Records and had...
. Following the demise of the Libertines, he relocated to London; his first real flat after being evicted out of his Boston home a year previous.
In May 2006, Dirty Pretty Things released Waterloo To Anywhere
Waterloo to Anywhere
Waterloo to Anywhere is the debut album by English indie rock band Dirty Pretty Things, fronted by then former Libertine Carl Barât. The album was produced by Dave Sardy and Tony Doogan, and released on May 8, 2006 in the United Kingdom where it debuted at #3 in the UK Albums Chart .The album was...
which reached No. 3 in the UK charts, while the first single "Bang Bang You're Dead
Bang Bang You're Dead (song)
"Bang Bang You're Dead" is a song by the band Dirty Pretty Things. It was released as a single on April 24, 2006 and was the first to be released from the band's debut album Waterloo to Anywhere. It proved very successful, charting at #5 on the UK Singles Chart...
", where he plays the cornet
Cornet
The cornet is a brass instrument very similar to the trumpet, distinguished by its conical bore, compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B. It is not related to the renaissance and early baroque cornett or cornetto.-History:The cornet was...
, peaked at No. 4. The band toured extensively in the UK, US, Europe and Japan.
Anthony also played on:
- ChiselChisel (band)Chisel was a punk rock band from the United States that existed between 1990 and 1997. In that time, the group released two full-length albums and a compilation of early recordings.-Early years:...
- "Set You Free" (trumpet) - PiebaldPiebald (band)Piebald is an American alternative rock band. Piebald started as a hardcore band in Andover, Massachusetts, out of the same scene that produced legends Converge. They later moved to the Boston suburb of Somerville and became a staple of the Greater Boston indie rock scene. Two members still live in...
- "We Are The Only Friends We Have" - The CribsThe CribsThe Cribs are an English three-piece indie rock band from Wakefield, West Yorkshire. The band consists of twins Gary and Ryan Jarman and their younger brother Ross Jarman. They were subsequently joined by ex-The Smiths and Modest Mouse guitarist Johnny Marr who was made a formal member of the group...
- "The New Fellas" (trumpet)
In November 2007, he played the role of Pete Neon in the first episode of the third series of The Mighty Boosh
The Mighty Boosh
The Mighty Boosh is a British comedy troupe featuring comedians Julian Barratt and Noel Fielding. Developed from three stage shows and a six episode radio series, it has since spawned a total of twenty television episodes for BBC Three and two live tours of the UK, as well as two live shows in the...
. He spoke about his appearance in the series in the documentary The Mighty Boosh: A Journey Through Time and Space, which aired on BBC Three on March 22, 2008.
Anthony, as well as the rest of Dirty Pretty Things, has been a long time supporter of the Love Music Hate Racism
Love Music Hate Racism
Love Music Hate Racism is a music-oriented campaign based in Britain by the Anti-Nazi League and Unite Against Fascism. The campaign involves concerts aimed at spreading an anti-racist message...
Campaign, appearing at numerous gigs, shows and festivals for them. On March 1, 2008 he spoke at the LMHR session as a part of the Unite Against Fascism
Unite Against Fascism
Unite Against Fascism is an anti-fascist pressure group in the United Kingdom, with support from politicians of all mainstream UK political parties...
annual conference, discussing racism in his life and why he has so strongly supported the campaign, stating "It is the most important of all the campaigns out there." The band are also supportive of the Make Roads Safe
Make Roads Safe
Make Roads Safe is a global road safety campaign established with the aim of securing political commitment for road traffic injury prevention around the world....
Campaign, and in November 2006, Anthony appeared on Sky News
Sky News
Sky News is a 24-hour British and international satellite television news broadcaster with an emphasis on UK and international news stories.The service places emphasis on rolling news, including the latest breaking news. Sky News also hosts localised versions of the channel in Australia and in New...
to promote the cause.
Dirty Pretty Things split up in the summer of 2008.