Josh Doyle is a British-American singer-songwriter and musician best known as a solo performer as well as being the frontman of UK punk pop group
Dum Dums
In 2012 he signed with CTK management (
Dolly Parton
Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, philanthropist, and businesswoman, known primarily for her work in country music. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton made her album ...
) and The Agency Group (
Muse
In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in ...
,
My Chemical Romance
My Chemical Romance (commonly abbreviated to MCR or My Chem) is an American rock band from Newark, New Jersey. The band's current lineup consists of lead vocalist Gerard Way, lead guitarist Ray Toro, rhythm guitarist Frank Iero, and bassist ...
,
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philosophical lyrics an ...
) after being discovered through winning the "Guitar Center Singer Songwriter" contest. His single "Solarstorms" was released worldwide on CTK Records/Corporate Ogre Records on 23 August 2012, accompanied by his US Network TV debut on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" His self-titled album was released on 23 October 2012, produced by multiple Grammy award-winning producer
John Shanks
John Matthew Shanks (born December 18, 1964) is an American songwriter, record producer and guitarist.
Early life and education
John Matthew Shanks was born in New York City. Shanks moved to Los Angeles when he was 17 years old. He was in a ban ...
.
In 2021 he teamed up with
Candi Carpenter
Candi Carpenter is an American country music singer-songwriter who was born in Toledo, Ohio but raised in Lansing, Michigan. In 2016, Carpenter released her debut single "Burn the Bed", which was produced by Shane McAnally. The song charted on Cou ...
to form "Church Of Roswell" on their
Americana
Americana may refer to:
*Americana (music), a genre or style of American music
*Americana (culture), artifacts of the culture of the United States
Film, radio and television
* ''Americana'' (1992 TV series), a documentary series presented by J ...
-driven EP "Here Comes Church Of Roswell" produced by Alden Witt and Peter Shurkin, mixed by
Ryan Hewitt
Ryan Michael Hewitt (born January 24, 1991) is a former American football tight end and Fullback (gridiron football), fullback. He played college football at Stanford Cardinal football, Stanford and was signed by the Cincinnati Bengals as an und ...
and featuring
the 400 unit.
History
Dum Dums
Between 1998 and 2001, Doyle's band
Dum Dums were among a handful of successful guitar bands amongst a glut of all singing, all dancing boy-bands and female pop starlets. While touring the "toilet" circuit
(small clubs across the country such as "The Charlotte" in Leicester and "The Camden Monarch" in London) in the UK, they were signed to Wildstar by Ian McAndrew (
Arctic Monkeys
Arctic Monkeys are an English rock band formed in Sheffield in 2002. The group consists of Alex Turner (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards), Jamie Cook (guitar, keyboards), Nick O'Malley (bass guitar, backing vocals), and Matt Helders (drums, ...
,
Travis) and exploded across the radiowaves. Their first single 'Everything' hit the Official UK Top 20 and led to four UK hit singles
from the first hit album, "
It Goes Without Saying
''It Goes Without Saying'' is the only studio album by the British band the Dum Dums, released in the United Kingdom on 18 September 2000.
Reception
Track listing
# "The Kind Of Day I've Had"
# "Everything"
# "Caught Me in a Trap"
# "Until M ...
".
Doyle became a recognisable face in the UK music scene. The band grew in stature, selling out venues all over the UK including Shepherds Bush Empire in London. They were cover stars of national music magazines including
Melody Maker, and due to their live reputation made new fans of Paul Cook of the
Sex Pistols and John Entwistle of
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...
. They were invited by
Paul Weller
Paul John Weller (born John William Weller; 25 May 1958) is an English singer-songwriter and musician. Weller achieved fame with the punk rock/ new wave/mod revival band the Jam (1972–1982). He had further success with the blue-eyed soul mu ...
(
The Jam
The Jam were an English mod revival/ punk rock band formed in 1972 at Sheerwater Secondary School in Woking, Surrey. They released 18 consecutive Top 40 singles in the United Kingdom, from their debut in 1977 to their break-up in December 1 ...
) to play Earls Court and by
Robbie Williams
Robert Peter Williams (born 13 February 1974) is an English singer and songwriter. He found fame as a member of the pop group Take That from 1990 to 1995, and achieved commercial success after launching a solo career in 1996. His debut stud ...
to support him on 30 arena dates.
They played all the major festivals, sharing the stage with
The Flaming Lips
The Flaming Lips are an American psychedelic rock band formed in 1983 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The band currently consists of Wayne Coyne (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Steven Drozd (guitars, keyboards, bass, drums, vocals), Derek Brown (k ...
in Glastonbury,
Supergrass at V2000 (the same day they supported
Bon Jovi at
Wembley Stadium
Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 2002 to 2003. The stadium ...
) and a star-studded line-up at
Party in the Park
Party in the Park is the generic name given to music concerts organised by various radio stations and local authorities and groups in the United Kingdom, typically in large parks during the summer, however it is also used to refer to a family ori ...
for 250,000 at Hyde Park. They toured as headliners in Germany and Japan, hitting the Japanese charts with single "Everything", in 2001 signing to MCA in the US.
While recording the follow-up album, after the big US deal, the band span off into personal breakdown. Given a "write more 'pop' or get 'dropped' " ultimatum by the UK label, Doyle decided they had already strayed too much into 'pop' territory and quit the band.
He watched as poppier, manufactured copies of his band sprung up such as
Busted and
McFly
McFly are an English pop rock band formed in London in 2003. The band took their name from the '' Back to the Future'' character Marty McFly. The band consists of Tom Fletcher (lead vocals, guitar, and piano), Danny Jones (lead vocals, har ...
and dominated the music charts for the next couple of years, while he could not put his finger on a direction to pursue next. Depression descended and Doyle became reclusive, not leaving the house for days at a time.
Solo and wilderness period
In 2003, he and his wife sold and gave away all their personal belongings and moved from the UK to
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...
.
The next year saw him recording ''The End of Fear EP'' with college student Sam Shacklock, one half of Intramural
(the other half being
Statistics frontman and Conor Oberst bandmate Denver Dalley). Doyle released the EP independently from his website, mailing each CD out by hand. An underground US following developed quickly, and respected zines such as Absolute Punk
"a stellar debut, 8/10" and Sound The Sirens "a therapeutic must-have" gave high ratings. Using only MySpace and physical CD mail order sales (no touring, no digital sales, no radio) Doyle slowly but surely sold out of the first run of the EP, with help from a remnant of Dum Dums fans and a growing contingent newly discovered fans from the US.
In 2005 he played rough acoustic demos of new material to rock producer Joe Baldridge (
Beck,
Family Force 5
FF5 (formerly known as Family Force 5, The Phamily, Ground Noise and The Brothers) is an American Christian rock band from Atlanta, Georgia. The band formed in 2005 by brothers Solomon "Soul Glow Activatur" Olds, Joshua "Fatty" Olds, and Jaco ...
,
Jewel), who began producing his album, "The Long Distance Runner", without a record deal or management. At the same time, he also played his first solo shows in four years in Tennessee supporting
Imogen Heap
Imogen Jennifer Heap (born 9 December 1977) is a British musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. Her work has been considered pioneering in pop and electropop music.
Heap classically trained in piano, cello and clarinet starting at a ...
. His new songs impressed sufficiently to obtain international management from Showdown in the US (
Creed,
Mutemath
Mutemath (sometimes styled as MuteMath or MUTEMATH) is an American alternative rock project founded by American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer Paul Meany. Originally co-founded as a band with Darren King in 2002, ...
,
Paramore,
Family Force 5
FF5 (formerly known as Family Force 5, The Phamily, Ground Noise and The Brothers) is an American Christian rock band from Atlanta, Georgia. The band formed in 2005 by brothers Solomon "Soul Glow Activatur" Olds, Joshua "Fatty" Olds, and Jaco ...
) and Radius in the UK (
Imogen Heap
Imogen Jennifer Heap (born 9 December 1977) is a British musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. Her work has been considered pioneering in pop and electropop music.
Heap classically trained in piano, cello and clarinet starting at a ...
, Dum Dums).
In 2009, Doyle parted ways with Joe Baldridge and Showdown Management frustrated by the lack of time they had for his project. The tapes for "The Long Distance Runner" were unfinished and tied up in contractual red tape though Doyle aimed to revisit them as evidenced in his liner notes on the Values and Virtues EP. Values and Virtues was released independently, funded by his fanbase.
With the proceeds of those sales Doyle was able to tour the UK without a label or any sponsorship, testing a new way forward for artists who have fans but choose not to sign with a record label. Interview about his crowd funding project in Music Magazine
In 2010, Doyle had his songs featured on ABC TV show ''
The Unusuals
''The Unusuals'' is an American crime television series created by Noah Hawley for ABC. It follows the detectives in the New York City Police Department's fictional 2nd Precinct, many of whom have their secret eccentricities. The series ran for ...
'' and in promos for the
ION Network over all the US cable networks. He used the licensing fees to fund a home studio and began his "Songs From The Nuclear War" project in 2011, which itself led to a small scale Midwest US tour.
Winning G.C. Singer Songwriter 2012 and recording debut full-length album
In March 2012, Doyle beat 17,000 other entrants to win the Grand Prize in the Nationwide 2012 Guitar Center Singer Songwriter Contest.
Doyle recorded his debut album in April 2012 with producer
John Shanks
John Matthew Shanks (born December 18, 1964) is an American songwriter, record producer and guitarist.
Early life and education
John Matthew Shanks was born in New York City. Shanks moved to Los Angeles when he was 17 years old. He was in a ban ...
(
Bon Jovi,
Alanis Morissette,
Keith Urban
Keith Lionel Urban (born 26 October 1967) is an Australian-American musician, singer, guitarist and songwriter known for his work in country music. Recognized with four Grammy Awards, Urban also received fifteen Academy of Country Music Award ...
) in Henson Studios, Studio D. The prize had stated that John record a 3-song EP, but impressed by Doyle's body of work, Shanks decided to record an entire album instead
"Every song was great. It became clear to me that Josh Doyle was a very impressive artist...he needed a statement that was as strong as it could be for the new journey he would be embarking on".
Multiple Grammy-winner Shanks enlisted a legendary line-up, including drummer
Matt Chamberlain
Matthew Chamberlain (born April 17, 1967) is an American session musician, drummer, producer and songwriter.
Biography
Life and career
Chamberlain was born in San Pedro, California on April 17, 1967. He began learning how to play the drums ...
, guitarist
Dean Parks
Weldon Dean Parks (born December 6, 1946) is an American session guitarist and record producer from Fort Worth, Texas.
Albums
Parks was member of the North Texas State One O'clock Lab Band before moving to Los Angeles to work with Sonny and Cher ...
, keyboardist Patrick Warren and bassist
Leland Sklar
Leland Bruce Sklar (born May 28, 1947) is an American bassist and session musician. Sklar rose to prominence as a member of James Taylor's backing band, which coaleced into a group in its own right, The Section. This group of musicians so frequ ...
to serve as Doyle's studio band, and the entire album took only about six days to complete tracking. Many of the ten tracks were recorded over six or seven takes, some only one or two. Leland Sklar (
Jackson Browne,
James Taylor
James Vernon Taylor (born March 12, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A six-time Grammy Award winner, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. He is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, havi ...
,
Warren Zevon
Warren William Zevon (; January 24, 1947 – September 7, 2003) was an American rock singer, songwriter, and musician.
Zevon's most famous compositions include "Werewolves of London", " Lawyers, Guns and Money", and " Roland the Headless Th ...
) explained the process; "There was just a magic that used to go on, and it still happens on occasion, like I was saying with this Josh Doyle... He came in the studio, and all it is is him playing acoustic guitar – done. No charts, no arrangements or anything. It was so on fire and so great that we cut 10 tracks and did his album. This guy just kept pulling songs – he was writing. Then when the guy sits down to play and we'd say, "Well, it's just a run through," every time he opens his mouth, it's a performance."
Doyle appeared on
ABC's ''
Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' on 23 August 2012 where he performed his debut single "Solarstorms" on air, with a special online-exclusive performance of 'I Figured the World Out'. His debut self-titled album was released on 23 October 2012.
Billboard magazine wrote in their 7 November 2012 "615 Spotlight" feature Josh Doyle "may well be the Next Big Thing on an international level"
Nashville Lifestyles Magazine wrote in their December 2012 "20 Musicians To Watch in 2013" that Doyle "is the talk of the town right now... you have to see him for yourself"
In 2013 Doyle performed few, high-profile concert performances including the Avalon Stage at
Glastonbury Festival 2013
The 2013 Glastonbury Festival, Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts was held from 26 to 30 June 2013. It followed a fallow year, in which there was no festival.
Ticket sales
On 20 June 2012 it was announced that tickets for the ...
and the Hard Rock Rising stage at
Hard Rock Calling 2013 in the UK.
Solo discography
* 2002 – ''
The Barnroom Sessions''
* 2004 – ''
The End of Fear EP''
* 2009 – ''
Values and Virtues EP''
* 2012 – ''
Josh Doyle LP''
* 2017 – ''
Live Recordings LP''
* 2017 – ''
Modern Times EP''
* 2018 – ''
All You Zombies EP''
References
External links
Official Josh Doyle website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Doyle, Josh
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
English songwriters
English male singers
British male songwriters