White Rose Movement
Encyclopedia
White Rose Movement were a post-punk
/electro
band from London
, England
. The band is named after the German anti-Nazi resistance movement White Rose
. They mix the post-punk style and attitude of early bands of the genre such as Joy Division
, Killing Joke
, and The Chameleons
with a more New Romantic
image reminiscent of bands like Duran Duran
, Depeche Mode
, and A Flock of Seagulls
, as well as more modern electroclash
and post-punk revival
influences.
. Erica MacArthur (known as "Taxxi") joined the band when Owen Dyke went throughout the London club Trash asking every girl whether they played keyboards. The band once ran a club in London
named The Dazzle!, which was situated in a venue used as a disco by the national front. Their first album Kick
was released 17 April 2006, after a long period of media hype and critical acclaim from the British indie music press. Its defining single ‘Love is a Number’, hailed by many as the soundtrack of the year (including Conor McNicholas editor of the NME and Kele from Bloc Party who described it as ‘the song I wished I’d written’) - an eclectic fusion of electronics and bass driven guitars, divided the critics, both impressing and confusing them. Kick was produced by British producer Paul Epworth
. The band toured with The Rakes
across January and February 2006, supported The Strokes
at Hammersmith Apollo
on 17 February, and embarked on a headline tour of their own in March.
Also in 2006, they played at the Coachella festival
in California
, Festival Paredes de Coura (Portugal) and Festival Internacional de Benicàssim
near Barcelona
, as well as two tours supporting Placebo
and other festivals. The band were due to embark on a headline tour of the UK in September, but due to Finn Vine being ill they were forced to postpone this tour to November/December of that year.
WRM’s unique sound has earned them support acts with NIN (Australia), Placebo, Bloc Party, The Strokes, Gary Numan, Soulwax, The Kills, and in 2007 they last played London at their own self-styled ‘Dazzle Club’, followed by DJ sets from The Kills and Jesus and Mary Chain. Since then, WRM have been buried deep in recording a second album.
On 15 April 2008, the band announced Taxxi's departure and replacement by Poppy Corby-Tuech, with Taxxi confirming on her personal blog that she had departed the band in January. Work began on the new album as they said farewell to Taxxi and embraced Poppy into the fold, a distant relative of Finn’s, whose presence has provided the final unifying link for the band, all brought together by friendship or family connections.
In 2008, the band made their foray into Eastern Europe territory with gigs in Moscow, St. Petersburg and the Ukraine where they headlined a festival in front of 33,000 people. Despite the fact that their first album was never released outside the UK, with the help the internet, WRM have amassed a huge fan base and toured extensively throughout the world. Their USA tours have included gigs at Coachella, South X South West and the Bowery Ballroom, selling out the NY club before they had even arrived in the States. Tours have also led them through most of Europe, including France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Turkey, Belgium and the recent visit to Eastern Europe and Asia.
Having landed a publishing deal with Domino, the band were due to return with a self financed second album but have since split up citing on their website that "we were lucky enough to release our first album which we are all proud of, unfortunately, the second has proved more difficult. Although it has been finished for some time, we have faced many brick walls and without the relevant support, it has proved a struggle to sort its final flight into the public domain. It's an album that we have spent much time compiling and we hope that you'll get to hear it somehow so that your waiting has not been in vain."
Post-punk
Post-punk is a rock music movement with its roots in the late 1970s, following on the heels of the initial punk rock explosion of the mid-1970s. The genre retains its roots in the punk movement but is more introverted, complex and experimental...
/electro
Electro (music)
Electro is a genre of electronic dance music directly influenced by the use of TR-808 drum machines, Moog keytar synthesizers and funk sampling...
band from London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The band is named after the German anti-Nazi resistance movement White Rose
White Rose
The White Rose was a non-violent/intellectual resistance group in Nazi Germany, consisting of students from the University of Munich and their philosophy professor...
. They mix the post-punk style and attitude of early bands of the genre such as Joy Division
Joy Division
Joy Division were an English rock band formed in 1976 in Salford, Greater Manchester. Originally named Warsaw, the band primarily consisted of Ian Curtis , Bernard Sumner , Peter Hook and Stephen Morris .Joy Division rapidly evolved from their initial punk rock influences...
, Killing Joke
Killing Joke
Killing Joke are an English post-punk band formed in October 1978 in Notting Hill, London, England; other sources report the band formed in early 1979.Related news articles: Founding members Jaz Coleman and Geordie Walker have been the only constant members.A key influence on industrial rock,...
, and The Chameleons
The Chameleons
The Chameleons were an English post-punk band that formed in Middleton, Greater Manchester, England in 1981. They consisted of singer and bassist Mark Burgess, guitarist Reg Smithies, guitarist Dave Fielding, and drummer John Lever...
with a more New Romantic
New Romantic
New Romanticism , was a pop culture movement in the United Kingdom that began around 1979 and peaked around 1981. Developing in London nightclubs such as Billy's and The Blitz and spreading to other major cities in the UK, it was based around flamboyant, eccentric fashion and new wave music...
image reminiscent of bands like Duran Duran
Duran Duran
Duran Duran are an English band, formed in Birmingham in 1978. They were one of the most successful bands of the 1980s and a leading band in the MTV-driven "Second British Invasion" of the United States...
, Depeche Mode
Depeche Mode
Depeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in 1980 in Basildon, Essex. The group's original line-up consisted of Dave Gahan , Martin Gore , Andy Fletcher and Vince Clarke...
, and A Flock of Seagulls
A Flock of Seagulls
A Flock of Seagulls are an English New Wave band originally formed by brothers Michael "Mike" Score and Alister "Ali" James Score , with Frank Maudsley , Michael Kuby , H.J...
, as well as more modern electroclash
Electroclash
Electroclash is a style of music that fuses New Wave and electronic dance music. It emerged in New York and Detroit in the later 1990s, pioneered by acts including I-F and those associated with Gerald Donald, and is associated with acts including Peaches, Adult, and Fischerspooner...
and post-punk revival
Post-punk revival
The post-punk revival was a development in alternative rock of the late 20th and early 21st centuries in which bands took inspiration from the original sounds and aesthetics of garage rock of the 1960s and post-punk and New Wave of the late 1970s...
influences.
Band members
- Finn Vine (vocals)
- Jasper Milton (guitar)
- Owen Dyke (bass)
- Poppy Corby-Tuech (keys)
- Edward Harper (drums)
History
White Rose Movement, not to be confused with the New England Pop-Punk Band White Rose, was formed from an earlier unsuccessful band named Arturo. Vine, Milton, Dyke and Harper were childhood friends who grew up together in a hippy commune in a small village in NorfolkNorfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
. Erica MacArthur (known as "Taxxi") joined the band when Owen Dyke went throughout the London club Trash asking every girl whether they played keyboards. The band once ran a club in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
named The Dazzle!, which was situated in a venue used as a disco by the national front. Their first album Kick
Kick (White Rose Movement album)
Kick is the debut album of White Rose Movement, released in 2006 .-Track listing:#"Kick" – 3:50#"Girls in the Back" – 3:32#"Love Is a Number" – 4:05#"Alsatian" – 4:35#"London's Mine" – 3:43#"Pig Heil Jam" – 3:49...
was released 17 April 2006, after a long period of media hype and critical acclaim from the British indie music press. Its defining single ‘Love is a Number’, hailed by many as the soundtrack of the year (including Conor McNicholas editor of the NME and Kele from Bloc Party who described it as ‘the song I wished I’d written’) - an eclectic fusion of electronics and bass driven guitars, divided the critics, both impressing and confusing them. Kick was produced by British producer Paul Epworth
Paul Epworth
Paul Epworth is an award-winning British music producer, musician, and songwriter. His production credits include Adele, Cee Lo Green, Florence and the Machine, Plan B, Friendly Fires, Bloc Party, Primal Scream, The Rapture, Jack Peñate, Kate Nash and Maxïmo Park.-Lomax:From 2002-2004 Paul provided...
. The band toured with The Rakes
The Rakes
The Rakes were an English indie rock band from London. They split up in October 2009.-History:The Rakes formed in 2004. Since coming to fame in 2005, they were associated with the British post-punk/art rock scene, a genre shared by bands such as Bloc Party, Maxïmo Park, and The Futureheads...
across January and February 2006, supported The Strokes
The Strokes
The Strokes are an American indie rock band formed in 1999 in New York City. Consisting of Julian Casablancas , Nick Valensi , Albert Hammond, Jr. , Nikolai Fraiture and Fabrizio Moretti ....
at Hammersmith Apollo
Hammersmith Apollo
Hammersmith Apollo is a major entertainment venue located in Hammersmith, London. Designed by Robert Cromie in Art Deco style, it opened in 1932 as the Gaumont Palace cinema, being re-named the Hammersmith Odeon in 1962...
on 17 February, and embarked on a headline tour of their own in March.
Also in 2006, they played at the Coachella festival
Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival
The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival is a three-day annual music and arts festival, organized by Goldenvoice and held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Inland Empire's Coachella Valley...
in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, Festival Paredes de Coura (Portugal) and Festival Internacional de Benicàssim
Festival Internacional de Benicàssim
The Festival Internacional de Benicàssim is an annual music festival which takes place in the village of Benicàssim, province of Castelló, Valencian Community in Spain. It focuses mainly on pop, rock and electronica artists, as well as having other elements besides music like short films,...
near Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
, as well as two tours supporting Placebo
Placebo (band)
Placebo are a British rock band from London, England, formed in 1994 by singer and guitarist Brian Molko and bass guitarist Stefan Olsdal. The band was joined by drummer Robert Schultzberg, who was later replaced by Steve Hewitt after conflicts with Molko. Hewitt left the band in October 2007 and...
and other festivals. The band were due to embark on a headline tour of the UK in September, but due to Finn Vine being ill they were forced to postpone this tour to November/December of that year.
WRM’s unique sound has earned them support acts with NIN (Australia), Placebo, Bloc Party, The Strokes, Gary Numan, Soulwax, The Kills, and in 2007 they last played London at their own self-styled ‘Dazzle Club’, followed by DJ sets from The Kills and Jesus and Mary Chain. Since then, WRM have been buried deep in recording a second album.
On 15 April 2008, the band announced Taxxi's departure and replacement by Poppy Corby-Tuech, with Taxxi confirming on her personal blog that she had departed the band in January. Work began on the new album as they said farewell to Taxxi and embraced Poppy into the fold, a distant relative of Finn’s, whose presence has provided the final unifying link for the band, all brought together by friendship or family connections.
In 2008, the band made their foray into Eastern Europe territory with gigs in Moscow, St. Petersburg and the Ukraine where they headlined a festival in front of 33,000 people. Despite the fact that their first album was never released outside the UK, with the help the internet, WRM have amassed a huge fan base and toured extensively throughout the world. Their USA tours have included gigs at Coachella, South X South West and the Bowery Ballroom, selling out the NY club before they had even arrived in the States. Tours have also led them through most of Europe, including France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Turkey, Belgium and the recent visit to Eastern Europe and Asia.
Having landed a publishing deal with Domino, the band were due to return with a self financed second album but have since split up citing on their website that "we were lucky enough to release our first album which we are all proud of, unfortunately, the second has proved more difficult. Although it has been finished for some time, we have faced many brick walls and without the relevant support, it has proved a struggle to sort its final flight into the public domain. It's an album that we have spent much time compiling and we hope that you'll get to hear it somehow so that your waiting has not been in vain."
Singles
- Love Is A Number (2x7") December 2006 (re-release) UK #136
- London's Mine/Testcard Girl (CD/7") July 2006 UK #96
- Girls In The Back (CD/7") April 2006 UK #77
- Alsatian (CD/7") October 2005 UK #54
- Love Is A Number (CD/7") July 2005 UK #117
External links
- White Rose Movement Official Site
- White Rose Movement at MySpaceMySpaceMyspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
- White Rose Movement at Last.fmLast.fmLast.fm is a music website, founded in the United Kingdom in 2002. It has claimed 30 million active users in March 2009. On 30 May 2007, CBS Interactive acquired Last.fm for UK£140m ....