lostprophets bio
(for individual band members bio’s click the links in the left sidebar)
In 1997, the Welsh town of Pontypridd was the backdrop for the formation of a band that were to become not only one of the town’s, but one of Wales’ biggest success stories. Childhood friends Ian Watkins and Mike Lewis were members of local band, Public Disturbance. Both had been part of the band since 1995, with Watkins on drums and Lewis on guitar.
In the two years that they’d been together, the band had recorded two demos, Lash Out in 1996 and Who’s First the following year. It was in 1997 that Watkins and Lewis, along with friend, Lee Gaze formed a new band Lozt Prophetz,taking their name from a bootleg of a Duran Duran concert from 1988. With the additions of Mike Chiplin on drums and DJ Stepzak on turntables, plus Gaze already playing lead guitar,the roles of vocalist and bass player were taken by Watkins and Lewis respectively. However, both remained active members of Public Disturbance.In 1998, following the realease of the band’s first full length album Victim of Circumstance,Watkins left so that he could fully concentrate on Lostprophets with whom he was still main vocals and songwriter.
The band were initially part of the new South Wales hardcore scene, and played in many venues across Wales. They recorded several demos during this time. The earliest, Here Comes The Party, featured not only a Ska~like brass sound, but also Ian Watkins rapping! This style of vocals was soon abandoned as the band developed.Two other demos followed this. Para Todas las Putas Celosas (For All The Jealous Bitches) and The Fake Sound of Progress.It was from this third demo that two tracks were taken and re~recorded to become part of the bands debut album of the same name ~ Moac Supreme(A Thousand Apologies) and the title track.
The band were starting to attract attention. Both Kerrang and Metal Hammer magazines were suitabley impressed, and the chance to finally record a single was handed to them by independent label Visible Noise. Stuart Richardson had joined the band in 1999 as their new bass player, allowing Mike Lewis to return to rhythm guitar, which he still actively played in Public Disturbance.The band spent most of that year working on new material with Richardson, and in 2000, Lewis finally left Public Disturbance so that he could concentrate on Lostprophets full time. 2000 was to be the year that things really started to happen. T he band signed with Visible Noise in the February, and then they headed for the studio to begin work on their debut album Thefakesoundofprogress. Quite unbelieveabley, the album was recorded in under a fortnight and for the ridiculously small sum of £5000! It was after the album was completed that there was a change to the bands lineup. DJ Stepzak left, and friend of the band,Jamie Oliver stepped into his shoes. At first the band had wanted Jamie to join them on tour as their photographer, but Visible Noise weren’t prepared to have anyone that wasn’t a member of the band on board. So, with a quick purchase of some turntables and a little bit of practise, Jamie was in!
Q Prime management were brought on board to help the band try and impress some of America’s major record labels. With acts such as Red Hot Chili Peppers and Metallica on their books, Q Prime seemed a good choice.After showcasing themselves for several labels, the band eventually signed to Columbia, a division of Sony Records.However, they are still signed to Visible Noise here in the UK. Columbia wanted the band to re~record their debut album, and they headed back to the studio with producer Michael Barbiero in tow to help them with the task. In October 2001, a new version of thefakesoundofprogress hit the shelves, dedicated to Steve Cookson, a Lostprophets fan who had tragically died in a car accident whilst travelling to one of the bands gigs.
The touring schedule was very heavy. They gained support slots for Deftones, Taproot and Linkin Park.The band were part of the Nu ~ Titans tour alongside other new UK metal bands, and also had several of their own headline slots. In 2002 they co~headlined the Deconstruction tour in London, and went on to have slots at Glastonbury, the Reading and Leeds festivals, and toured with Ozzfest.
After a brief, yet well earned break, the band headed for Frontline Studios in Caerphilly, Wales so that they could begin writing their much anticipated second album.In March 2003, Bigfoot Studio in LA was to become their home as they embarked on a six month recording process with Eric Valentine at the helm. Finally in November 2003, fans got their first taste of what the band had been working on with the release of Burn Burn, the first single to be taken from the new album. However, fans expecting the release of the album to follow soon after were left hanging until February 2004 before Start Something was finally unleashed. It reached no.4 in the UK album charts, and the second single Last Train Home peaked at 8 in the UK and spent a week at the top of the US Modern Rock Tracks radio play chart. Start Something was an album of epic proportions that some UK critics raved over, whilst others weren’t so keen. Three more singles, Wake Up(Make A Move),Last Summer and Goodbye Tonight were to follow in 2004,as well as extensive tours of North America, Europe, two headline UK tours and also taking part in Australia’s Big Day Out festival. Finally, after a tour of the UK towards the end of 2004, the Start Something era came to a close.
2005 saw another change for the band.In the June, whilst the band were working on new material for their third album, drummer, Mike Chiplin announced that he was leaving. He wanted to spend time with his young family and pursue other musical oppurtunities. Now down to five members, and left without a drummer, the band carried on regardless, writing and recording demos until they headed out to Hawaii and the studio of legendary producer, Bob Rock, to finally begin recording Liberation Transmission. Instead of replacing Mike Ciplin with a new drummer, the band had Josh Freese (The Vandals, A Perfect Circle) fly in and record the drum tracks for ten of the twelve songs, whilst Ilan Rubin (Denver Harbour) completed the other two.Rubin was only 17 at the time, and has since remained with the band but as a touring drummer. They haven’t officially named him as a permanent replacement for Mike Chiplin, although Rubin has been working with the band recently as they start work on their fourth album, leading many to believe that Rubin isn’t going elsewhere just yet. After recording of Liberation Transmission was complete, the band embarked on a tour of small venues in South Wales and headlined the Give It A Name festival, where the response to new tracks such as Rooftops was positive. That track was to be the first single of the new album, and was released on June 19th 2006, reaching 8 in the UK singles chart. The album was released a week later, june 26th, and became the bands first UK no.1 album. Tour of the UK, United States and Europe, plus the release of two further singles, A Town Called Hypocrisy and Can’t Catch Tomorrow (Good Shoes Won’t Save you This Time) in the UK, kept the band busy right up until the end of 2006. The more contemporary sound to the album hasn’t agreed with some of the bands older fans, but does seem to have earned them a whole generation of new ones, widening the Lostprophets community even further.
And so, onto 2007. The band had already started the writing process for a fourth album back in March. In April, they headed out on their first ever headline UK Arena tour, which was a sell out success, and they released the final single from the album 4am Forever. The Liberation Transmission chapter of the Lostprophets story ended with the ultimate honour, headlining the Full Ponty Festival in their hometown of Pontypridd on 26th May this year.The band went onto play at T in The Park and The Carling Weekend this summer, as well as a couple of small warm updates. The Carling Weekend at Leeds and Reading gained the band rave reviews, with many saying that they were the best act of the days they were on stage.
Since then they have been back in the studio recording their much anticipated fourth album under the watchful eye of producer John Feldmann. Although the band originally wanted it to be released by the end of 2007, latest indications point more towards September/October 2008. In February 2008 it was announced that Lostprophets are to headline the Download Festival at Donnington on Sunday June 15th 2008, therefore closing this year’s festival. They are also playing Rock Im Park and Rock AM Ring on the 6th and 8th June respectively, with Download warm up shows in Cardiff(10th), London(11th) and Norwich(12th) following those.
