Dreadzone

Dreadzone
Dreadzone live in Athens, June 2007
Background information
Origin	United Kingdom
Genres	Dub, reggae, techno, trance, folk
Years active	1993 - present
Labels	Virgin Records
Website	Official website
Members
Greg Roberts Tim Bran Dan Donovan Leo Williams Chris Compton Chris Oldfield
Former members
Steve Roberts (deceased)

Dreadzone are a British band whose music is an eclectic fusion of dub, reggae, techno, trance, and folk. They have so far produced five studio albums and one live album.

History

Dreadzone formed in 1993 when ex-Big Audio Dynamite drummer, Greg Roberts, teamed up with Tim Bran, who had previously worked as a musician and sound engineer for Julian Cope. The name Dreadzone was suggested to Roberts and Bran by Don Letts.

Bran and Roberts were soon joined by bassist Leo Williams and keyboardist Dan Donovan, also formerly of Big Audio Dynamite. The band signed to Creation Records in 1993 and released their first album 360°. The following year the band signed to Virgin Records and released their second studio album Second Light. In the meantime, Dreadzone had become a favourite festival act and in June that year opened the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury Festival^[1]. During these early years their backing vocalists included Melanie Blatt, Denise van Outen and Alison Goldfrapp.

In January 1996, the group had their first and so far only Top 40 hit in the UK Singles Chart with "Little Britain"^[2], which reached #20. The song sampled a line from the 1968 cult British film If.... - "Britain today is a powerhouse of ideas, experiments, imagination".^{[citation needed]}

John Peel championed Dreadzone on BBC Radio 1, and cited Second Light as one of his favourite albums of all time.^{[citation needed]} Tracks from Second Light also dominated Peel's Festive Fifty in 1995, and the band recorded six Peel sessions between 1993 and 2001. Between 1998 and 2001 the Dreadzone soundsystem hosted the Dubweiser club night at Notting Hill Arts Club. On 26 October 2006 it was announced on the Dreadzone forums that Dreadzone guitarist Steve Roberts, the brother of Greg Roberts had died.^[3]

In 2007 the band were joined by new members Chris Compton and Chris Oldfield (DJ, producer and lighting designer) and went back on the road. In 2007 & 2008 they played gigs and festival across the UK and Europe and signed to a new management company in 2008. In between a packed touring schedule in 2009 the band recorded their sixth studio album 'Eye on the Horizon' which is due out in Spring 2010.

Discography

Albums

• 360° (1993)
• Performance (1994)
• Second Light (#37 in the UK Albums Chart, 1995)
• Biological Radio (#45 in 1997)
• Sound (2001)
• The Radio One Sessions (2001)
• Once Upon a Time (2005)
• Live at Sunrise (2006)

^[2]

Singles

• "The Warning" (EP) (1993)
• "The Good, the Bad and the Dread" (1993)
• "Dream On" / "House of Dread" (1993)
• "Fight the Power" (1994)
• "Zion Youth" (#49 in the UK Singles Chart, 1995)
• "Captain Dread" (#49 in 1995)
• "Maximum" (EP) (#56 in 1995)
• "Little Britain" (#20 in 1996)
• "Life Love and Unity" (#56 in 1996)
• "Earth Angel" (#51 in 1997)
• "Moving On" (#58 in 1997)
• "Crazy Knowledge" (2000)
• "Believing In It" (2001)
• "The Warriors" (2002)
• "Once Upon a Time (in Jamaica)" (2005)
• "King Dub Rock2 (2005)
• "Elevate" (2006)
• "Lion Shirt" (2006)
• "Mashup the Dread" (2006)

^[2]

References

External links

• Official website
• UK Chart Positions
• Dreadzone review and Interview