Area 11 (band)
Area 11 | |
|---|---|
 Members from left to right: Leo Taylor, Alex Parvis, Sparkles*, & Jonathan Kogan. | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Nottingham, England |
| Genres | Alternative rock,progressive metal,glam rock,pop-punk,electronicore |
| Years active | 2010–present |
| Labels | Cooking Vinyl,Smihilism Records, Breaking the Boredom |
| Members | Tom Clarke (Sparkles*) Alex Parvis (Parv) Jonathan Kogan (Kogie) Leo Taylor |
| Past members | Luke Owens Tim Yearsley |
| Website | http://www.area11.band/ |
Area 11is an Englishrockband fromNottingham, England.The band consists of four members: Thomas "Sparkles*" Clarke, Alex Parvis, Jonathan Kogan and Leo Taylor. To date, they have released a number of singles and EPs, and three studio albums.[1]
The band's sound is heavy with minimal synthesizers and electronic effects that they callmodern rock,[1][2]however in their earlier records, Area 11's sound commonly blended heavy metal guitar riffs with a wider more prominent range of synthesizers and electronic effects,[1]which they sometimes referred to asgaijin rock.[3]Meaning "foreigner rock" in Japanese, this is a title that also relates to the band's musical origins when their style was notably influenced byanimeandJ-rock.
Biography
[edit]Area 11 consists of Tom Clarke, Alex Parvis, Jonathan Kogan, and Leo Taylor. They formed on 8 October 2010 in Nottingham during what was described by band frontman Sparkles as a "disastrous jam session".[3]Founding members Sparkles, Luke, and Alex then discovered their shared love of anime whilst watchingCode Geassepisode 22 "Blood Stained Euphy", from which they wrote their first song, "Euphemia."
The name "Area 11" is a reference to the animeCode Geass,asJapanis referred to as Area 11 in the series, with its citizens referred to as Elevens, a name which has come to collectively describe Area 11 fans. In fact, some of Area 11's songs are based on various anime, includingCode Geass,Death Note,Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann,Naruto,Elfen Lied,Bakuman,Fullmetal Alchemistdue to the band's strong fondness of the genre at the time of recording their earlier records. Towards the end of recording their debut album,All the Lights in the Sky,the band decided that they had done all they wanted in terms of writing songs about anime, and stopped writing songs about the animation genre, wanting to explore original new ideas and concepts.[2]
The band has been commissioned to produce music for companies such as YouTube broadcasting groupThe YogscastandNamco Bandai Games.Significantly forNamco Bandai Gamesthey produced "GO!! Fighting Action Power" as the credits theme for theirBravomanweb-series onShiftyLook,and later "Wonder Wars" as the theme song for theWonder Momoanime series.[4]
Musical style
[edit]The band's sound consists mostly of heavy guitars (including 7-stringed guitars) but also makes subtle use of synthesizers, orchestral sections and electronic effects. In contrast to this many songs contain acoustic instruments such as acoustic guitars and emotional piano melodies.[1][2]
In their earlier records, Area 11's sound commonly blended rock and metal styles of guitar with aspects of Japanese music includingJ-pop,[1]this sound they referred to by the tongue-in-cheek name,gaijin rockas "gaijin" in Japanese means "foreigner",[3]"a fusion of pop-punk, metal, prog, and glam fortified by a major obsession with anime, video games, and Japanese comics."[5]
Discography
[edit]Studio albums
[edit]| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [6][7] |
UK Rock |
UK Indie |
UK Break [8] |
US Heat |
US Indie | ||||||
| All the Lights in the Sky |
|
75 | 10 | 10 | 2 | 11 | 42 | ||||
| Modern Synthesis |
|
27 | 2 | 9 | — | — | — | ||||
| Singlarity |
|
— | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | |||||||||||
Live albums
[edit]| Title | Album details |
|---|---|
| Everybody Gets a Piece Tour |
|
Extended plays
[edit]| Title | EP details |
|---|---|
| Blackline |
|
| Underline |
|
| Let It Resonate |
|
| Cassandra Rising |
|
| Cover Girls |
|
| Not That Christmassy UK Christmas Number Ones |
|
| Fan Subs |
|
| Flannel EP |
|
Singles
[edit]| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [8][9] |
UK Indie |
UK Break [10] | |||||||||
| "Dota 2 Beta Key"[11] | 2011 | — | — | — | Non-album single | ||||||
| "Knightmare/Frame" | 2012 | — | — | — | All the Lights in the Sky | ||||||
| "Minecraft Christmas (feat. Yogscast)" | 69 | — | — | Non-album single | |||||||
| "Shi No Barado" (featuringBeckii Cruel) |
2013 | 115 | 12 | 1 | All the Lights in the Sky | ||||||
| "GO!! Fighting Action Power" | — | — | 12 | Non-album single | |||||||
| "Heaven-Piercing Giga Drill" | — | — | — | All the Lights in the Sky | |||||||
| "Homunculus" | 2014 | — | — | — | Non-album single | ||||||
| "Override [B]" | 2015 | — | — | — | |||||||
| "Versus" | — | — | — | Modern Synthesis | |||||||
| "Watchmaker" | 2016 | — | — | — | |||||||
| "The Contract" | — | — | — | ||||||||
| "Processor" | 2017 | — | — | — | |||||||
| "All Your Friends / New Magiks" | 2018 | — | — | — | Singlarity | ||||||
| "Everybody Gets a Piece" | — | — | — | ||||||||
| "Curtain Fall" | — | — | — | ||||||||
| "Tear Up" | 2019 | — | — | — | |||||||
| "ØCULIST" | — | — | — | ||||||||
| "Kaleidoscope" | — | — | — | ||||||||
| "Fortune Faded" | — | — | — | Non-album single | |||||||
| "Desaturate" | — | — | — | Singlarity | |||||||
| "4 Become 3"[a] | 2020 | — | — | — | Non-album single | ||||||
| "(Break) In Case Of..." | — | — | — | Singlarity | |||||||
| "Dancing on the Head of a Pin" | — | — | — | ||||||||
| "Singularity" | — | — | — | ||||||||
| "Plug in Baby" | — | — | — | Non-album single | |||||||
| "Every You Every Me" | — | — | — | ||||||||
| "Floating World" | — | — | — | ||||||||
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.
| |||||||||||
Members
[edit]Current members
[edit]- Tom 'Sparkles*' Clarke – lead vocals, keys(2010–present)
- Alex 'Parv' Parvis – guitar, backing vocals(2010–present)
- Jonathan 'Kogie' Kogan – bass, saxophone, backing vocals(2011–present)
- Leo Taylor – drums, percussion, backing vocals(2010–present)
Past members
[edit]- Luke Owens – guitar, backing vocals(2010–2012)
- Tim Yearsley – bass(2010–2011)
Timeline
[edit]
References
[edit]- ^abcde"Bio – Area 11".area11.band.Archived fromthe originalon 4 June 2016.Retrieved7 May2016.
- ^abc"Area 11 – Exclusive Interview – New Album, New Tour, New Direction".The LauraKBuzz Network.29 April 2015. Archived fromthe originalon 31 May 2016.Retrieved29 October2016.
- ^abc"Interview with Area 11 Lead Singer Sparkles*".Archived fromthe originalon 18 October 2016.Retrieved17 October2016.
- ^"Wonder Momo Game Spawns Web Anime by Graphinica & New Game".Retrieved18 January2018.
- ^"AllMusic – Area 11".AllMusic.
- ^"Area 11 – Official Charts".Official Charts Company.Retrieved3 February2013.
- ^"Blink-182 score first UK Number 1 album:" We're so thankful "".Official Charts.Retrieved18 January2018.
- ^ab"2013 Top 40 Independent Albums Breakers Archive – 9th February 2013".Official Charts Company.Retrieved11 May2013.
- ^"UK Chart Log"(TXT).Zobbel.de.Retrieved11 June2020.
- ^"2013 Top 40 Independent Singles Breakers Archive – 11th May 2013".Official Charts.Retrieved28 May2013.
- ^"Dota 2 Beta Key – Single".Spotify.Retrieved18 August2022.
