UNITED KINGDOM: If you like rock with a touch of new the these guys may just be your thing - they're called Brothermandude, their frontman is a member of the royal family of Bahrain, and they are preparing to tour with Starsailor in the US
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- ITN Source
UNITED KINGDOM: If you like rock with a touch of new the these guys may just be your thing - they're called Brothermandude, their frontman is a member of the royal family of Bahrain, and they are preparing to tour with Starsailor in the US
On the hottest day of summer in London, Brothermandude, aka Shake (leadsinger/song writer), Matt White (guitar, back-up vocals and co-writer), Iain Markin (drummer) and Russell Milton (bass) were sweating hard at the East London Premises Studios to rehearse their debut album. The four guys, three from the UK and one from Bahrain, have been in the UK on a mini tour to introduce their take on rock music, melodic guitars and even the occasional Arabic beats. With their different ethnic backgrounds and diverse upbringing, they are hoping to conquer music fans world-wide and will be getting greater exposure this autumn when they will be touring with Starsailor in the US. Lead singer Shake, whose real name is Sheikh Hassan bin Rashed al Khalifa, was born in the Gulf state of Bahrain and is indeed a member of the royal family of Bahrain. With a Catholic education and a corporate background, his career path may have looked different if it wasn't for his love of music from an early age. When he moved to Florida to attend college, Shake formed his first band Beanstalk but later turned it into Brothermandude: "That came from me - Brothermandude, that was just , a friend of mine in Tampa, Florida, you know we were called Beanstalk at the time and he kicked on my friends out of the apartment or tried to and said, Dude, Man, you know I love you Man, but you gotta leave this apartment brother, man, dude, and so when he tried to kick him out and obviously he left later and me and my friend laughed at it and said, we're gonna start a band that's called Brothermandude, and it's just gonna be fun, serious when we want it and whatever we want it to be", he told Reuters Television. Influenced by The Doors, Led Zeppelin, and Pearl Jam, Brothermandude put some excitement back into rock: "People always say rock's dead and will always, you know it's always there, it just kind of regenerates itself in kind of a new sound or whatever so we kind of you know, we just wanted to warm up here and get ready for The States and we're gonna go to The Sates and have a little fun there but we'll come back here", added Shake. Back in his native Bahrain and in Dubai, the group are receiving loyal support. Asked whether he thought that singing in English would hamper the band's success in the Arab world, Shake said: "When I first started, people didn't know what to think. They wondered why I choose music, why I choose to sing and why in English. But now that I have been singing for so many years I have reached a certain level and there is now a future for me [in music], so they have have started to appreciate the music and help me." He added: "I really don' think people will reject us [Brothermandude in the Middle East] and the music because we sing in English because when I started singing and writing songs it was in America and as a result the songs came out in English. I like Arabic music but my lyrics and the songs that I write and the group that I am with, of course, are from America and England." Brothermandude are currently working on their self-titled debut album that features three songs already available for downloads - 'Automatic' 'Heart Attack' and 'The Sun'. The album is due for US release on 16th September - UK dates to be confirmed.
ITN Source | July 27, 2006
