Folk Face were a comedy band formed in 2005 by
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...
DJ
Dave Vitty and BBC Newsreader
Dominic Byrne
Dominic Anthony Byrne (born 10 November 1972) is a British newsreader and presenter. He currently works on the Chris Moyles Breakfast show on Radio X, having previously worked as the newsreader for Capital London on the Capital FM Breakfast ...
. Mainly appearing on ''
The Chris Moyles Show
''The Chris Moyles Show'' is the title given to two differing versions of a radio programme hosted by Chris Moyles, originally broadcast as Radio 1 Breakfast from 5 January 2004 to 14 September 2012 before transferring three years later on 21 ...
'', they also appeared in person at the
Glastonbury Festival and at several Radio 1 events. They mainly did
cover version
In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...
s in a tongue-in-cheek
folk music
Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...
style.
They appeared at the Glastonbury Festival in 2005,
[The Chris Moyles Show, BBC Radio 1, 20 June 2007] but disbanded soon after, only re-forming for a one-off on 20 June 2007 for ''The Chris Moyles Show'' to give away tickets for the Glastonbury Festival 2007.
Byrne played guitar for the band, however Vitty played different instruments, these being the
bongos
Bongos ( es, bongó) are an Afro-Cuban percussion instrument consisting of a pair of small open bottomed hand drums of different sizes. They are struck with both hands, most commonly in an eight-stroke pattern called ''martillo'' (hammer). The ...
in 2005 and the
nose flute
The nose flute is a musical instrument often played in Polynesia and the Pacific Rim countries. Other versions are found in Africa.
Hawaii
In the North Pacific, in the Hawaiian islands the nose flute was a common courting instrument. In Haw ...
in 2007.
They auditioned for
Dave Grohl on 6 July 2007, while Grohl was in London for
Live Earth
Live Earth was an event developed to increase environmental awareness through entertainment.
Background
Founded by Emmy-winning producer Kevin Wall, in partnership with former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, ''Live Earth'' was built upon the be ...
, in the hope of securing a warm up slot at one of the
Foo Fighters future gigs. Grohl was reminded of this and asked to consider it while on air on Radio 1 on the 22 November 2007, however no confirmation of an offer for supporting the band, this time for the Radio 1 Foo Fighters Gig at
Wembley
Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...
on 7 June 2008, was made. Folk Face also played live on 15 February 2008, at
Mote Park
Mote Park is a multi-use public park in Maidstone, Kent. Previously a country estate it was converted to landscaped park land at the end of the 18th century before becoming a municipal park. It includes the former stately home Mote House tog ...
in Kent, when Radio 1 announced that their
One Big Weekend
BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend (R1BW) (previously known as One Big Weekend, for 2012 as Radio 1's Hackney Weekend, and for 2018 as BBC Music's Biggest Weekend) is a British music festival run by the BBC's radio station. It is held once a year, in a ...
would be coming from Maidstone, also playing the actual event on 10 May 2008.
Folk Face were mistaken for band
Scouting for Girls
Scouting for Girls are an English pop rock band. Their name is a play on the title of the 1908 Scouting handbook ''Scouting for Boys''. The band was formed in 2005 by three childhood friends from London, Roy Stride on piano and lead guitar/voca ...
who also played live at the launch, in the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
.
Folk Face failed to impress Lloyd Webber, who commented that the lyrics could have upset
in Swindon, as part of the breakfast show team's set of song parodies. They also toured the UK for the first time through August and September 2010.
On 11 April 2011, they announced on ''The Chris Moyles Show'' that Folk Face would play Glastonbury Festival 2011.
On 10 January 2013 Dominic Byrne tweeted that it was a "sad day today with the news that Folkface are no more." However, he did state that there was the possibility that the band could re-form for a farewell show in the summer.
*{{youTube, sZ7aJqqh3Cg, Video of the band on YouTube from their performance in 2007