Biography

Danko Jones - guitar/vocals
JC - bass
Damon Richardson - drums

The European audience first encountered the phenomenon of Danko Jones in the spring of 2001, but back in Canada the band had actually emerged on the Toronto club scene more than half a decade earlier!! Refusing to put anything down on tape and consequently maintaining that if anyone wanted to hear the hottest rock band in the Toronto area, there was no other option but to drag your butt down to the nearest rock club!

As the fans were getting more and more frustrated, demanding to own a piece of the Mango Kid himself, the band finally had to give in to the pressure and release a self-titled EP, limited to 1,000 copies. This was a bad move. In no way did it satisfy their disciples, it made them even hungrier and in 1999 the band had no other option but to release another EP, the six-track masterpiece "My Love Is Bold".

Later that year word spread as Canadian bands were touring Europe, telling the tale of a rock band that would rule them all!! This caught the attention of Swedish record label Bad Taste Records who after hearing a taste of it were convinced that they could help make the prophecy come true!

The first European release, "I'm Alive And On Fire" (spring 2001) was, as the cover states, "a collection of songs: 1996-1999" and this proved to be the band's doorway into the unexpecting minds of the European audience. Before the end of the year Danko Jones had toured Europe for more than 4 months, including a 7-week tour together with The Backyard Babies and performances at some of the biggest festivals in Germany, Holland, Denmark and Sweden!!! This was the year Canada was forced to give up one of their best-kept secrets.

Early 2002 things happened very quickly for the band and as a reward for all their hard work in Europe the American magazine Billboard did a big feature focusing on the Danko Jones European success story!

By now the boys had long since realized that to be able to keep playing for months on end, giving their audience a rock show they would never forget, they were more or less forced to put another few tracks down on tape. And you know what, this time around it wasn't so bad. I wouldn't go as far as saying that they enjoyed it, but they actually started feeling comfortable about going back into the studio!!

The result, "Born A Lion", was one of the most talked about rock records in Europe last year, it was nominated for a Juno award back in Canada (similar to a Canadian Grammy) for "Best Rock Album Of The Year" and it actually reached the charts in three European countries as well as in Canada!! It also spawned three singles - "Sound Of Love", "Lovercall" (video clip nominated for "Best Video Of The Year") and "Play The Blues"! With all this action going on there was no way of containing the Danko myth to two continents and Danko releases soon started popping up in Japan, Brazil, Australia and the U.S.

This was the start of another long touring frenzy that didn't really end until the band entered the studio in May 2003 to start recording their brand new album, "We Sweat Blood"! By now, the band had toured Europe for more than 18 weeks since the release of "Born A Lion" and had also made sure there was enough time for a few dozen shows across Canada, the most memorable of which must have been the opening slot for The ROLLING STONES (!!!) in Toronto last summer!!

For any normal band two years of constant touring and recording usually means that it's time to take a break, or at least slow down for a while. Not Danko. After finishing the recording of the album in Canada late May Danko couldn't wait to get back out on the road and in the first week of June they landed once again on European soil. To be able to do all the festivals they wanted and still have time to finish the album they entered the world famous Polar Studios in Stockholm, Sweden (were Abba and Led Zeppelin have both recorded classic albums) in between festivals and found just enough time to mix and master the album before taking one of the most explosive shows you could ever hope to experience back out on the road!!! Besides covering most parts of Europe the band also got a chance to play at the Fuji Rock festival, which is the biggest music festival in Japan!

But instead of getting caught up in all the travelling and spectacular shows they've been doing lately (which would probably take another page or two just to get the essentials nailed down), the most exciting thing Danko did all summer was to complete an album that with its power, attitude, energy and most importantly, spectacular song-writing will help ensure the fulfilment of the prophecy in a very near future! One rock band to rule them all.

The 12 songs on this album are not your average rock songs. No, sir. Instead of going towards a more mainstream sound, the Toronto trio followed their own path; went back to a rawer sound with more attitude, a lot more variation and even recorded a few of the hardest tracks they have ever written!! This is how legends are born.

Bad Taste Records
Box 1243, 221 05 Lund, Sweden
Fax: +46 (0)46 - 13 13 21
info@badtasterecords.se
www.badtasterecords.se