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Stand Out Riot

Stand Out Riot are an English ska-punk outfit from New Mills, Derbyshire. Winners of the 2006 National Festival of Music for Youth Rock and Pop catergory - the biggest music competition in the UK. As winners of this, the band performed at the UK's most prestigious venue, the Royal Albert Hall. Boasting a 4-piece brass section, a violin player, and a highly unusual sound, sometimes described as Gogol Bordello having a rather steamy relationship with Streetlight Manifesto.

History

The Early Years

The band began in 1998, with two friends, Ste Anthony and Ben Streets, beginning to learn instruments (drums and piano), whilst still in Primary School. At this time, band members were simply close friends, regardless of whether or not they could play musical instruments. The band produced one very low budget album, under the name Testify. In 2001, Francis Hunt was asked to join on bass and Ste switched to playing guitar in the band. The band realised that as their original songs weren't their strong point, they concentrated mainly on cover versions. The band frequently changed names during this period, 2 Weak, Twisted Ego and The S Band were the most notable of these.

The Death By Boardin' Years

By 2002, the band had gained frontman Adam Painter and changed their name to Death By Boardin' and although the band famously never liked this name, it stuck for the next 2 years. After winning a local battle of the bands, and gradually getting more gigs around the New Mills area, the band decided to return to writing their own material, and this era produced a huge number of simple, pop-punk songs, such as 'Gyrocell', '...and that was the end of Reptile Boy' and 'My Own'. The band's growing interest in the world around them produced several politically themed songs, such as 'George' (a parody of Eminem's 'Stan', directed at US president George W. Bush) and also songs about the state of the UK music industry ('I Smashed My Radio')

The Great Genre Shift

Towards the end of the 2003, the band became very interested in Ska music, mainly due to the recommendation from close friend Ewan Mackenzie (who would later join the band). Because the band's new direction was completely different from the Iron Maiden-tinged Pop Punk they were used to playing, they decided to yet again change their name, to Stand Out Riot. The band then assigned Mackenzie on Trombone, and Will Garland on Keyboard. In this period, the band likened themselves to 3rd wave Ska bands such as The Aquabats, Catch 22 and Mustard Plug, and entered a professional studio for the first time, recording the Stand Out Riot EP.

The Mark Agar Years

Due to Ewan's skill at promoting the band over the internet, the band were soon offered many more gigs, and their CD was placed on Soundclick for streaming. The next addition to the band's line up was Trumpet player Mark Agar, from Rochdale. In the summer of 2004, a monumental dispute caused Ewan and Adam to leave the band, leaving the band with no singer, and the brass section heavily reduced. To combat this problem, Francis began to teach himself the Tenor Sax, using a battered instrument borrowed from the local school, which the band nicknamed 'Old Rusty'. Will replaced Adam on Bass during this period. The split also sent the band in a new musical direction, now drawing influences from more progressive bands such as the Rx Bandits and the Mars Volta.

The New Sound

With their new sound now established, they began to record their 2nd self-produced CD, the Stand Out Riot EP II. Soon adding Sarah Lyon and Hannah Hunt (Francis' sister), both on Alto Sax. The band impressed Manchester Ska promoters Bomb Ibiza, and were soon offered gigs with bigger bands, such as Adequate Seven. In the summer of 2005, the band's musical horizons were once again widened, when they fell in love with Klezmer and music of the Balkan Gypsies. They promptly incorporated these influences into their sound, mainly through the addition of Francis' youngest sister, Tessa Hunt, on Violin. Mark Agar left the band soon after.

The Present Day

Since the summer of 2005, the band have recorded 3 CDs with renown Manchester producer TiMG, played many more gigs, including supporting Canadian Ska legends The Planet Smashers. A new tradition of merchandise has been created, with the band designing their own range of t-shirts, badges and stickers. Trombone player and Jazz extraordinaire Rob Hodgson joined the band in the Autumn of 2005, to complete the current line-up. 2006 saw the band win the NFMY Rock and Pop competition and perform at the Royal Albert Hall and the Derby Assembly Rooms, and conducted a radio interview with BBC 7. The band recently completed work on their new CD, 'Stand Out Riot Vs. The Oxbridge Mafia'. In January, the band parted ways with Sarah. More recently, the band gained Charlotte Corry on alto sax. In October 2007 the band played on the Manchester date of the Ska Trek tour which was a nationwide tour with the bands Random Hand, The JB Conspiracy (formerly Duff Muffin) and Grown At Home which was reviewed in Big Cheese Magazine. In December 2007 the band supported Sonic Boom Six's home leg of their biggest headline tour to date, at Club Academy in Manchester.