The Parlotones

Genre: Melodic indie rock
Origin: Johannesburg
Official Band Website: www.parlotones.co.za
My Space site: www.myspace.com/theparlotones
Management Website: www.sovent.co.za

Band Members:
Kahn Morbee (vocals, guitar), Glenn Hodgson (bass, piano, backing vocals), Paul Hodgson (guitar) and Neil Pauw (Drums)

The Parlotones live act, the basis of any musician’s popularity, embraces the concept of performance and the guys fill the stage. Audiences watching The Parlotones are swept up in a whirlwind of energy and rock orchestrated by front man Kahn Morbee. Not adverse to experimentation, the band merges innovative and authentic ideas into a comprehensive sound, which lends itself to mammoth live performances, the likes of which audiences have rarely seen.

During 2006, The Parlotones have garnered a number of noteworthy accolades, the most recent of which is signing a worldwide license deal with the international division of Universal Music. The deal, which covers the territories of France, Japan, Germany, Holland, Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom, was set in motion by the single ‘Beautiful’ being used in the new Fuji Film advert for Ireland. Intense interest in the band from Metropolis Music (one of the top promoters in the UK) led to a promotional tour of the UK in November 2006. While on the tour, The Parlotones signed with the international artist agency The Agency Group Limited. The agency, which has a massive international reach, books for such names as: the Foo Fighters, The White Stripes, Whitney Houston, Nickleback, Muse, My Chemical Romance, Keane, Jewel, Evanescence, Death Cab for Cutie and many more.

Other international achievements include being play listed on one of Germany’s biggest alternative rock radio stations Motor FM (7.5 million listeners). The single ‘Overexposed’ has been Gold play listed, which is the highest rotation the station offers. This is what they had to say:

‘The Parlotones' music is affecting, meets contemporary international tastes, the singer sets memorable marks and the album shows notable acclaim since it's an award winner--yes, I believe there are possibilities to introduce them to Germany.’ Markus Marwil Radio Motorde Germany

On home ground, The Parlotones have had a tremendous year:

• The genius of the band was recognised locally earlier in the year when their debut full-length album, Radiocontrolledrobot, won the 2006 Best Rock Album SAMA.
• The Parlotones performed alongside international rock greats at the Coca Colab Massive Mix concerts. The organisers asked The Parlotones to close the show after Metallica, and being up for all challenges, the band agreed. Not only did they get to share the stage with the likes of Collective Soul, Simple Plan and Metallica, but they also gained a massive Kudos in the music industry for having the guts to step up and close the show after the mammoth Metallica performance.
• The Parlotones were given the opportunity to open for super group Live on their Black Mountain White Light tour to SA in October, where they played to packed out stadiums in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban.
• The band’s single ‘Overexposed’ was used as the theme song for FHM World’s Hottest Woman short film.

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South Africa’s finest chart toppers unleash their exhilarating sound onto UK shores

Packed with more passion than the South African scrum, The Parlotones songs merge innovative and authentic ideas with their trademark pop melodies. Led by showman and front man Kahn Morbee, the hotly tipped quartet will kick off the year with a bang by serving up lead single, ‘Beautiful’ on 11th February.

‘Beautiful’ was handpicked as the soundtrack for Fujifilm’s TV advertising campaign in Ireland and was the single to kick start it all outside of South Africa.

The genius of the band was recognised earlier in the year when the Gold selling ‘Radiocontrolledrobot’ (released early in 2008 in the UK) won them the SAMA Best Rock Album at the South Africa’s Music Awards (The equivalent of the UK Brits) and spawned 3 top ten singles including a number 1.

Already chalking up the kudos from both peers and music fans, the rockers are set to share a stage with Razorlight in South Africa after Johnny Borrell requested a club show with a top South African band - The Parlotones were the obvious choice! Heroes to their people, The Parlotones were invited to perform at this year’s Nelson Mandela’s 46664 aids awareness concert in Johannesburg and made history when they became the first artists to perform twice at the Coca Cola Colab Massive Mix concerts – the biggest international music festival South Africa has ever seen. Last year it attracted the likes of Metallica, The Rasmus, Fat Boy Slim, Stereo MCs and the Audio Bullies.

No strangers to stadium crowds, The Parlotones have opened for super group Live on their Black Mountain White Light tour in October with sell out performances in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban. This was followed by an invitation to perform at Live Earth South Africa as well as the band being voted ‘Music Stars of the Year’ at the YOU Awards.

Their debut UK single, the delightful ‘Dragonflies & Astronauts’, has been nominated for two international awards, one of which is the world renowned ResFest Digital Film Festival (www.resfest.com) for best video. Hoping for similar success with their next offering, the boys release ‘Beautiful’ in the UK on 11th February 2008, followed by the album, ‘Radiocontrolledrobot’, later in the year.