Expatriate (band)
Encyclopedia
Expatriate is an indie rock
band
based in Australia
. The band formed in Sydney, Australia
, in 2005 and currently consists of vocalist
Ben King, drummer
Cristo, keyboardist
Damian Press and bassist
David Molland.
Expatriate has released one studio album
and two EPs
to date, with the album charting at #38 in the ARIA charts
. The name is derived from what the band describe as "common themes running through each member’s life".
, where he attended an international high school with classmates from all over the world. Students would trade cassette tapes, recipes and languages, all against the political background of President Suharto's controversial "New Order
" administration. King returned to Australia with his family in his early teens, eventually studying politics at Sydney University
before deciding to focus on music.
Drummer & percussionist Cristo was the son of Greek immigrants, listening on his father’s transistor radio to Greek underground Rebetiko
- a type of folk music originating from the forced immigration from Asia Minor
of two million Greek refugees following the Turkish Independence War
. Cristo and King met in Sydney's Annandale Hotel, where they discovered the similarity of their musical tastes and life experiences. Joined by Cristo's housemate Damian Press, a keyboard player and sound designer with a love for the atmospheric and ethereal in music, the musicians settled on the name Expatriate and began working on realising King's songs.
where Press worked as a producer and recording engineer, which was released in October 2005. The EP's singles "The Spaces Between" (2005) and "Killer Kat" (2006) gained solid airplay, the former spending six weeks on Australian national radio station Triple J
s playlist. This led to national touring and a performance at the all-Australian Homebake
festival in 2005 and in February 2006, their first headlining national tour was sold out. Appearances in London
, Toronto
, New York City
, Los Angeles
, and Austin, Texas
brought them to the attention of Jim Kerr
who personally invited the band to support Simple Minds
on the Australian leg of their world tour that May.
in Seattle to record and co-produce their debut full-length album In The Midst Of This
with producer John Goodmanson
(Death Cab for Cutie
, Blonde Redhead
, Wu Tang Clan
, Hot Hot Heat
). The band were interested in working with Goodmanson "in order to capture the rawness of their live shows" on record. Bassist Dave Molland joined the band in September 2006 after the album sessions were completed and they toured Los Angeles and London before returning to Australia for a seven-week national tour with Something for Kate
.
Expatriate's Play a Part EP
was released in February 2007, with In The Midst Of This following in April. The LP debuted at #38 in the Australian Recording Industry Association
(ARIA) charts. The band are currently writing their second album.
Extended plays
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
band
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
based in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. The band formed in Sydney, Australia
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, in 2005 and currently consists of vocalist
Singing
Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
Ben King, drummer
Drummer
A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
Cristo, keyboardist
Keyboardist
A keyboardist is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical instruments with keyboards have come into common usage, requiring a more...
Damian Press and bassist
Bassist
A bass player, or bassist is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass, bass guitar, keyboard bass or a low brass instrument such as a tuba or sousaphone. Different musical genres tend to be associated with one or more of these instruments...
David Molland.
Expatriate has released one studio album
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
and two EPs
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
to date, with the album charting at #38 in the ARIA charts
ARIA Charts
The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...
. The name is derived from what the band describe as "common themes running through each member’s life".
History
Frontman Ben King grew up an expatriate, moving between Australia and the Indonesian capital JakartaJakarta
Jakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Officially known as the Special Capital Territory of Jakarta, it is located on the northwest coast of Java, has an area of , and a population of 9,580,000. Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre...
, where he attended an international high school with classmates from all over the world. Students would trade cassette tapes, recipes and languages, all against the political background of President Suharto's controversial "New Order
New Order (Indonesia)
The New Order is the term coined by former Indonesian President Suharto to characterize his regime as he came to power in 1966. Suharto used this term to contrast his rule with that of his predecessor, Sukarno...
" administration. King returned to Australia with his family in his early teens, eventually studying politics at Sydney University
University of Sydney
The University of Sydney is a public university located in Sydney, New South Wales. The main campus spreads across the suburbs of Camperdown and Darlington on the southwestern outskirts of the Sydney CBD. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and Oceania...
before deciding to focus on music.
Drummer & percussionist Cristo was the son of Greek immigrants, listening on his father’s transistor radio to Greek underground Rebetiko
Rebetiko
Rebetiko, plural rebetika, , occasionally transliterated as Rembetiko, is a term used today to designate originally disparate kinds of urban Greek folk music which have come to be grouped together since the so-called rebetika revival, which started in the 1960s and developed further from the early...
- a type of folk music originating from the forced immigration from Asia Minor
Anatolia
Anatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...
of two million Greek refugees following the Turkish Independence War
Turkish War of Independence
The Turkish War of Independence was a war of independence waged by Turkish nationalists against the Allies, after the country was partitioned by the Allies following the Ottoman Empire's defeat in World War I...
. Cristo and King met in Sydney's Annandale Hotel, where they discovered the similarity of their musical tastes and life experiences. Joined by Cristo's housemate Damian Press, a keyboard player and sound designer with a love for the atmospheric and ethereal in music, the musicians settled on the name Expatriate and began working on realising King's songs.
Lovers le Strange
They recorded their debut five-track EP, entitled Lovers le Strange, at Ginsberg Studios in PetershamPetersham, New South Wales
Petersham is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Petersham is located 6 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Marrickville Council...
where Press worked as a producer and recording engineer, which was released in October 2005. The EP's singles "The Spaces Between" (2005) and "Killer Kat" (2006) gained solid airplay, the former spending six weeks on Australian national radio station Triple J
Triple J
triple j is a nationally networked Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners between the ages of 18 and 30. The government-funded station is a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation...
s playlist. This led to national touring and a performance at the all-Australian Homebake
Homebake
Homebake is an annual Australian rock festival, featuring an all-Australian lineup . The festival was first held on 4 January 1996 at Belongil Fields in Byron Bay, on the far north coast of New South Wales...
festival in 2005 and in February 2006, their first headlining national tour was sold out. Appearances 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...
, Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, and Austin, Texas
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
brought them to the attention of Jim Kerr
Jim Kerr
James "Jim" Kerr is a Scottish musician and singer-songwriter, best known for his work with the band Simple Minds who achieved five UK #1 albums and a #1 single "Ballad of the Streets EP". He released his first solo album, Lostboy! AKA Jim Kerr, on the 27 May 2010.- Simple Minds :Kerr attended...
who personally invited the band to support Simple Minds
Simple Minds
Simple Minds are a Scottish rock band who achieved worldwide popularity from the mid-1980s to the early 1990s. The band produced a handful of critically acclaimed albums in the early 1980s and best known for their #1 US, Canada and Netherlands hit single "Don't You ", from the soundtrack of the...
on the Australian leg of their world tour that May.
In the Midst of This
In July and August 2006 Expatriate headed to Robert Lang StudiosRobert Lang Studios
Robert Lang Studios is a recording studio in Shoreline, Washington, United States, just north of Seattle. Numerous bands have recorded at Robert Lang Studios including Alice in Chains, Candlebox and Bush. Perhaps the most famous recording session at Robert Lang Studio was in late January 1994 when...
in Seattle to record and co-produce their debut full-length album In The Midst Of This
In the Midst of This
In the Midst of This is the debut album by Sydney-based Australian indie rock band Expatriate. The band had previously revealed on MySpace that they hoped to have the album released by February 2007, however it was released in Australia on 21 April...
with producer John Goodmanson
John Goodmanson
John Goodmanson is an American recording engineer and indie rock record producer.-Selected discography:*Aiden "Conviction " *Simple Plan "Crash and Burn"...
(Death Cab for Cutie
Death Cab for Cutie
Death Cab for Cutie is an American alternative rock band formed in Bellingham, Washington in 1997. The band consists of Ben Gibbard , Chris Walla , Nick Harmer and Jason McGerr ....
, Blonde Redhead
Blonde Redhead
Blonde Redhead is an American alternative rock band composed of vocalist/rhythm guitarist Kazu Makino and twin brothers Simone and Amedeo Pace , which formed in New York City in 1993....
, Wu Tang Clan
Wu-Tang Clan
The Wu-Tang Clan is a hip-hop group from Staten Island that consists of RZA, GZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, Masta Killa, and the late Ol' Dirty Bastard. They are frequently joined by fellow childhood friend Cappadonna, a quasi member of the group...
, Hot Hot Heat
Hot Hot Heat
Hot Hot Heat is a Canadian indie rock band formed in 1999 from Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.-Career:Dustin Hawthorne and Steve Bays had been in many different bands together since 1995 and met Hawley in 1998. In 1999, Hawley bought a Juno 6 keyboard and asked Bays to try playing it, as no one...
). The band were interested in working with Goodmanson "in order to capture the rawness of their live shows" on record. Bassist Dave Molland joined the band in September 2006 after the album sessions were completed and they toured Los Angeles and London before returning to Australia for a seven-week national tour with Something for Kate
Something for Kate
Something for Kate are a rock band from Melbourne, Australia. Members include songwriter, vocalist and guitarist Paul Dempsey, drummer Clint Hyndman and bassist Stephanie Ashworth...
.
Expatriate's Play a Part EP
Play a Part EP
Play a Part EP is the second EP from Sydney band Expatriate. By the time the EP was released, touring bassist Dave Molland had become a permanent member of the band. However he did not contribute to the recording of this EP.-Radio singles:...
was released in February 2007, with In The Midst Of This following in April. The LP debuted at #38 in the Australian Recording Industry Association
Australian Recording Industry Association
The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956...
(ARIA) charts. The band are currently writing their second album.
In popular culture
- "The Spaces Between" was featured in the advertising campaign for Fox Sports (Australia)Fox Sports (Australia)Fox Sports is an Australia group of sports channels. They are owned by the Premier Media Group, which is in turn owned by News Corporation, and Consolidated Media Holdings. Its main competitors are ESPN, which has little local content and the free-to-air digital channel One HD...
, Domestic Cricket Competition in Australia and on the soundtrack for EA SportsEA SportsEA Sports is a brand of Electronic Arts that creates and develops sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they tried to mimic real-life sports networks by calling themselves "EA Sports Network" with pictures or endorsements of real commentators such as John...
Rugby 08Rugby 08Rugby 08 is the 2007 release in the Rugby series by EA Sports. The game allows players to play as many Rugby nations, both major and minor, and includes many tournaments, such as the Rugby World Cup, Tri Nations, Six Nations, Guinness Premiership and Super 14.Rugby 08 was released prior to the... - "The Spaces Between" featured in the film Yes ManYes Man (film)Yes Man is a 2008 comedy film directed by Peyton Reed, written by Nicholas Stoller, Jarrad Paul and Andrew Mogel and starring Jim Carrey, Zooey Deschanel, Bradley Cooper, John Michael Higgins, Rhys Darby, Maile Flanagan, Danny Masterson, and Terence Stamp...
- Expatriate appeared on the Paul McDermott-hosted ABC show The SideshowThe SideshowThe Sideshow was an Australian television programme that was broadcast on ABC TV in 2007. The show was a mixture of stand-up comedy, sketches, live music, circus stunts, cabaret and burlesque. The hour long show was hosted by Paul McDermott...
on 23 June 2007 - Expatriate were featured on the June 2007 cover of Rolling StoneRolling StoneRolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine as one of the top ten bands to watch for 2007 - Expatriate had a guest programming spot on ABC television show RageRage (TV program)Rage is a popular all-night Australian music video program broadcast on ABC1 on Friday nights, Saturday mornings and Saturday nights. It was first screened on the weekend of Friday, 17 April 1987. With Soul Train no longer being produced, it is the oldest music television program currently still...
on 10 November 2007 - Expatriate is an Australian six year old Bay Gelding bred out of Exceed and Excel and Sophisticat and is currently trained by Natalie Jarvis at Hawkesbury, NSW.
Members
- Ben King - vocals, guitar
- Cristo - drums
- Damian Press - keyboards, guitars, engineering
- David Molland - bass
Discography
Studio albumsExtended plays
Singles
| Year | Song | Chart | EP | Album |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | "Get Out, Give In Get Out, Give In "Get Out, Give In" is the debut single from Sydney band Expatriate. It was only sold at their early live gigs making it a really rare item. At the time the line-up of the band was Ben King on vocals and guitar, Damien Press on keyboards, guitar and backing vocals, Chris Kollias on drums and Tim... " |
|||
| "The Spaces Between" | Lovers Ie Strange Lovers Ie Strange "Lovers le Strange" is the debut EP from Sydney band Expatriate. The line-up was Ben King, Chris Kollias and Damien Press. Tim Rogers had already left the band by this stage.-Track listings:# "The Spaces Between"# "Get Out, Give In"# "Killer Kat"... |
|||
| 2006 | "Killer Kat" | |||
| 2007 | "Only Wanna Love Ya" | Play a Part EP Play a Part EP Play a Part EP is the second EP from Sydney band Expatriate. By the time the EP was released, touring bassist Dave Molland had become a permanent member of the band. However he did not contribute to the recording of this EP.-Radio singles:... |
In the Midst of This In the Midst of This In the Midst of This is the debut album by Sydney-based Australian indie rock band Expatriate. The band had previously revealed on MySpace that they hoped to have the album released by February 2007, however it was released in Australia on 21 April... |
|
| "Play a Part" | 54 | |||
| "Crazy Crazy (Expatriate song) "Crazy" is the third single from Sydney band Expatriate's debut album In the Midst of This. It came as the #4 most played song at Australia radio on the 26/03/07 chart. Promo CDs were issued of the song to radio stations however a physical single was never issued.-Video:The video debut on Rage on... " |
4 | |||
| "The Spaces Between The Spaces Between "The Spaces Between" is the first US single from Sydney band Expatriate's debut album In the Midst of This. The song had come in at number nine in the American Alternative Airplay Chart... " |
9 | |||
| "Missing" (Everything But the Girl Everything but the Girl Everything but the Girl was a two-person English band, formed in Hull during 1981, consisting of lead singer and occasional guitarist Tracey Thorn and guitarist, keyboardist, and singer Ben Watt . They are currently inactive although vocalist Tracey Thorn hinted that they may reform someday... cover) |
No Man's Woman No Man's Woman No Man's Woman is a compilation tribute album to female musicians, created by Australian male musicians performing various covers, to recognise the contributions female artists and musicians have made to the international music industry... |
External links
- Expatriate 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....
- Expatriate official Message Board
- Expatriate at Dew Process
- Universal Music's Expatriate page