De Rosa

De Rosa
Left to right: Chris Connick, James Woodside, Andrew Bush, Martin John Henry, Neil Woodside
Background information
Origin	Glasgow, Scotland
Genres	Indie-rock
Years active	2003 – 2009
Labels	Chemikal Underground Gargleblast Records
Website	www.wearederosa.com www.myspace.com/wearederosa
Members
Martin John Henry Chris Connick James Woodside Neil Woodside Andrew Bush

De Rosa was a Scottish rock band from Bellshill, consisting of Martin Henry (vocals, guitar), Chris Connick (guitar), James Woodside (bass), Neil Woodside (drums) and Andrew Bush (piano/keyboards). Founding member and song-writer Martin Henry stated: "I guess in some small way I’m trying to give post-industrial Lanarkshire a place in culture."^[1]

The band were noted for their use of guitar-based indie rock combined with Henry's personal lyrics sung in a Scottish accent. Although heavily influenced by the alternative rock music of the 1980s and 1990s, De Rosa's sound also referenced other sub-genres of music, with elements of slowcore, Scottish folk and electronic music. In later performances De Rosa began to use more synthesisers and drum machines in their live set, their sound moving away from the guitar-based rock of their debut material towards a fusion of electronic and traditional styles.

The band released two studio albums - Mend and Prevention - to critical acclaim.

De Rosa announced via twitter that they had disbanded in May 2009. It was rumoured that this was a result of ongoing tensions within the band.

Line up

De Rosa was formed by main songwriter Martin John Henry in 2001. From 2007-2009 the band was a five piece (brothers James and Neil Woodside on bass and drums respectively, with Chris Connick on guitar and Andrew Bush on piano/keyboards). All of the band members were based in Lanarkshire and Glasgow. Connick - school friend of Henry and long-time De Rosa collaborator - became a full member of De Rosa in 2006. Bush joined as pianist/keyboardist in 2007 having previously worked as the De Rosa live sound engineer.

History

Early work and mend

De Rosa signed in 2004 to Lanarkshire label Gargleblast Records, run by Shaun Tallamy & Andy Miller. It was following the release of their debut single ("Camera"/"All Saints Day") in August 2004 that they first attracted interest from DJs including the late John Peel and Steve Lamacq. De Rosa was a three piece at this point consisting of Henry and brothers Neil and James Woodside. The band spent the rest of 2004 and most of 2005 recording their first album, Mend. The album was recorded by Andy Miller, producer of Mogwai, Arab Strap, Sons and Daughters, Life Without Buildings, Scout Niblett and The Delgados. Miller had been a friend and mentor of the band since their earliest rehearsals. The use of Chemikal Underground’s recording studio led to the Glasgow label offering to release the album under licence from the band's original label.

Released in the UK on June 19 2006, Mend was voted #16 in British music magazine Mojo's top 50 albums of 2006...

"The kind of parochial majesty you might encounter if The Pixies reworked The Go-Betweens "Before Hollywood" for a documentary about the social history of Lanarkshire..."^[2]

With Chris Connick joining as guitarist after the completion of Mend, De Rosa spent many months touring and promoting the album. The four piece line-up embarked on tours supporting Scottish indie bands Mogwai and Arab Strap in Autumn 2006, and completed their first headline tour of Europe in April 2007.

Second album, Prevention

The second De Rosa album, Prevention was released by Chemikal Underground Records on 2 March 2009. Once again the band worked with Mend producer Andy Miller at Chem 19 recording studios in Lanarkshire, Scotland. Guest musicians on the album include Barry Burns of Mogwai and Robert Johnston of Life Without Buildings. The cover artwork features a portrait of De Rosa painted by Glasgow writer and artist Alasdair Gray.

Following the album's release, guitarist Chris Connick stated that "there’s talk of a possible mini-release later on in the year, and we’ll start work on recording album three by the end of 2009."^[3]

The band supported Doves on their UK tour dates in 2009. The band's label, Chemikal Underground stated that "it came about when De Rosa were down in Manchester, last month, to record a session for Marc Riley. Doves were next door recording for Radio 2, got talking, albums were exchanged and hey presto! Simple as that."^[4]

Discography

Studio albums

• Mend (2006)
• Appendices 2008 (2008)

A project where a free specially written and recorded song was given away free by MP3 download on the first Monday of each month of 2008. The result was a complete download only album of original songs.

• Prevention (2009)

Singles

• Camera / All Saints Day (August 2004)
• Camera / Amy’s Song (June 2006)
• Father’s Eyes / Evelyn (November 2006)

Other releases

• CHEM 087 CD+DVD (August 2006)

Chemikal Underground’s 11 years and 8 months anniversary compilation. Includes the De Rosa track “Cathkin Braes”.

• Ballads Of The Book (March 2007)

Compilation featuring collaborations between Scottish writers and musicians. Includes “Steam Comes Off Our House”, a collaboration with Michel Faber

References

External links

• Official Website
• De Rosa mySpace
• Stereokill Interview: Chris Connick, March 4 2009