George (band)
|
|
George is a rock band from Brisbane, Australia.
| Contents |
Early History
The band consists of the rather large Katie Noonan on vocals and keyboards, her brother Tyrone Noonan on vocals, guitar and keyboards, Geoff Green on drums and percussion, Paulie Bromley on bass and Nick Stewart on acoustic and electric guitar. Geoff Hooton, a bass player left the band in early 2000.
The Noonans form the nucleus of the band sharing principal songwriting duties. Nick Stewart also contributes to many of the bands tunes. The Noonans grew up with a strong background in classical music with their mother Maggie Noonan being a well-known opera singer. Katie Noonan studied opera and jazz at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music.
Nick Stewart grew up listening to and playing rock music. Paulie Bromley played in underground Brisbane rock band Pangaea with Ben Ely of Regurgitator. Geoff Green has been playing the drums since 1987.
The band formed in 1996 to enter a university music competition. It released a series of independent EP's namely "George" in 1998, "You Can Take What's Mine" in 1999 and "Bastard-son/Holiday" in 2000. The EP's did progressively better earning good airplay on Triple J Radio and community radio stations across Australia. George was also winning a strong live following throughout the nation.
Chart success
George signed with Festival Mushroom Records in mid 2001. "Special Ones" was the first single released on Festival Records followed by "Run" in October 2001 and "Breathe in Now" in February 2002.
The band's first album Polyserena debuted at number one in the national album charts in its first week; George became only the tenth Australian band to do so with a debut album. Polyserena achieved gold record status within ten days, and platinum record status within three weeks. By the end of 2002, the album had gone double platinum.
In February 2002, the band joined forces with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra over two nights to perform Concerto for Group and Orchestra by Jon Lord. The band is the only rock group other than Deep Purple to perform the piece. It was typical of the band's eclectic approach combining classical, rock, funk, jazz and even electronic music.
George released the album Unity in February 2004 and it debuted at number 5 in the Australian album chart of 1 March 2004. Katie Noonan says on the band's web site that the title reflects the band's approach on the album. "That family vibe brings a closeness and honesty that permeates what we do. Collectively and individually, we've been through a great period of change and growth. Knowing we can look to each other for strength brings comfort and solidarity. We have all been through the same thing and there's an incredible sense of union from that experience - that's what being in a band's about."
Discography
- George EP (1998)
- You can take what's mine EP (1999)
- Bastard son/Holiday EP (2000)
- Polyserena (2002)
- Unity (2004)
External links
- George biography (http://www.george.net.au/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=4/)
- info about Unity on band's web site (http://www.george.net.au/)
- Festival Mushroom George artist page (http://www.fmrecords.com.au/viewartist.cfm?ArtistId=233/)