Nero (stylised as NERO) are a British electronic music trio composed of members Dan Stephens, Joe Ray and Alana Watson. On 12 August 2011, they released their debut studio album, ''
Welcome Reality
''Welcome Reality'' is the debut album by British dubstep group Nero. A concept album, it was released first in Ireland on 12 August 2011 and the rest of the world on 15 August 2011 except Australia and New Zealand where it was released on 19 Au ...
'',
which reached number one in the
UK Albums Chart
The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...
. In August 2012, "
Promises" received a Gold certification in the United States. On 10 February 2013, Nero won a
Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...
for their collaborative remix of "Promises" with
Skrillex
Sonny John Moore (born January 15, 1988), known professionally as Skrillex, is an American DJ and music producer. Growing up in Northeast Los Angeles and Northern California, he joined the post-hardcore band From First to Last as the lead sing ...
.
Their second studio album, ''
Between II Worlds
''Between II Worlds'' is the second studio album by the British electronic music group Nero (band), Nero. Like its predecessor ''Welcome Reality'', the album is a concept album and was released on 11 September 2015 by Virgin EMI Records, Virgin EM ...
'', was released on 11 September 2015.
History
Ray and Stephens were both born in 1984. Ray grew up in
Northwood, London
Northwood is an affluent area in northwest London, England. It is located within the London Borough of Hillingdon on the border with Hertfordshire and from Charing Cross. Northwood was part of the ancient parish of Ruislip, Middlesex and has f ...
, whilst Stephens grew up in
Notting Hill
Notting Hill is a district of West London, England, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Notting Hill is known for being a cosmopolitan and multicultural neighbourhood, hosting the annual Notting Hill Carnival and Portobello Road M ...
. The boys met Watson when they were 18. Ray played classical
guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...
and Stephens played
cello
The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...
with encouragement from his free-jazz musician father. By the time a mutual friend introduced them at the age of 17, Stephens was attending the specialist music school at
Pimlico
Pimlico () is an area of Central London in the City of Westminster, built as a southern extension to neighbouring Belgravia. It is known for its garden squares and distinctive Regency architecture. Pimlico is demarcated to the north by London V ...
. Outside school both were making electronic music on home computers. They began working together at 17, setting up a studio in Stephens' bedroom. The latter had already been a fan of
jungle music
Jungle is a genre of dance music that developed out of the UK rave scene and sound system culture in the 1990s. Emerging from breakbeat hardcore, the style is characterised by rapid breakbeats, heavily syncopated percussive loops, samples, and ...
after seeing M-Beat featuring
General Levy
Paul Scott Levy (born 28 April 1971), also known as General Levy, is an English ragga deejay, regularly employed on studio tracks by drum and bass DJs. He is best known for the track "Incredible" which he recorded with M-Beat. A remixed versio ...
on
Top of the Pops
''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...
in 1994. Ray's epiphany (according to ''Q''), happened in the London club
Fabric
Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...
where the duo's ideas about producing were cemented.
[Stubbs, Dan. ]Q magazine
''Q'' was a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1986 by broadcast journalists Mark Ellen and David Hepworth, who were presenters of the BBC television music series ''The Old Grey Whistle Test''. '' ...
. December 2011. They Came From Outta Bass. pp 88-92.
Nero's debut release was "Space 2001" as part of the "Straight Outta Leicester" three piece vinyl LP on Reformed Recordings in 2004. Watson started featuring on Nero's songs from 2008, namely "Solid Air" (Punchy Recordings) and "This Way" (Audio Freaks) which was their debut dubstep release, and is now a full-time member of the band.
Nero released the EP, 'Requiem', 10 May 2006, predominantly hard drum and bass, which quickly saw their acknowledgement rise within the dance music scene.
Sasha Frere-Jones
Alexander Roger Wallace "Sasha" Frere-Jones (né Jones; born 1967) is an American writer, music critic, and musician. He has written for ''Pretty Decorating'', '' ego trip'', ''Hit It And Quit It'', ''Mean'', ''Slant'', ''The New York Post'', ''T ...
, journalist for the ''
New Yorker Magazine
''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'', listed Nero's
remix
A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...
of
The Streets
The Streets are an English music project led by vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Mike Skinner.
The project has released six studio albums: ''Original Pirate Material'' (2002), ''A Grand Don't Come for Free'' (2004), ''The Hardest Way to M ...
, "Blinded by the Lights" in his top songs of 2009. The track had radio airplay in the U.K. as well as being played by DJs including
Chase & Status
Chase & Status are an English electronic music duo composed of Saul Milton (Chase) and Will Kennard (Status). In addition, Andy Gangadeen is the drummer when the band performs live. MC Rage formerly performed as MC with the group, but left in Ju ...
,
Skream
Oliver Dene Jones (born 1 June 1986), known as Skream, is an English electronic music producer based in Croydon. Skream was an early and influential exponent of the dubstep genre. After producing several singles, he released his first full-len ...
,
Tiësto
Tijs Michiel Verwest (; born 17 January 1969), known professionally as Tiësto ( ), is a Dutch DJ and music producer from Breda. He was voted "the Greatest DJ of All Time" by '' Mix'' magazine in a 2010/2011 poll amongst fans. In 2013, he was ...
and
Diplo
Thomas Wesley Pentz (born November 10, 1978), known professionally as Diplo, is an American DJ and music producer. He is the co-creator and lead member of the electronic dancehall music project Major Lazer, a member of the supergroup LSD with ...
.
''Welcome Reality'' (2010–2012)
![NEROcampbiscox](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/NEROcampbiscox.jpg)
The trio released their first
single
Single may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Single (music), a song release
Songs
* "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004
* "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008
* "Single" (William Wei song), 2016
* "Single", by ...
on
MTA, "
Innocence
Innocence is a lack of guilt, with respect to any kind of crime, or wrongdoing. In a legal context, innocence is to the lack of legal guilt of an individual, with respect to a crime. In other contexts, it is a lack of experience.
In relation ...
", in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
on 26 April 2010. The single was released as a double A-side with the track "Electron" as a
digital download, as well as on
vinyl
Vinyl may refer to:
Chemistry
* Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer
* Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation
* Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry
* Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl m ...
. The track peaked at number one hundred and sixty seven on the
U.K. Singles Chart besides peaking at numbers sixteen and eleven on the
Dance
Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...
and
Independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s
* Independ ...
charts respectively. In November 2010, Nero unveiled their BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix. The mix went on to extreme critical acclaim and has been widely regarded as "The Greatest BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix of All Time".
The mix was recorded at the height of the dubstep popularity and features a wide variety of genres such as; Drum and Bass, French House, Dubstep and Electronica. The 2010 Nero Essential Mix also later became a talking point on 4 September 2015 as there was a wide debate upon Reddit users on 'the best Essential Mix of all time'.
[ ] On the website, users had a heavy favour of the mix (slightly edging out Zeds Dead in second place)
even though it was recorded 5 years earlier, furthermore, it received the publicly voted awards of "Greatest Essential Mix of All Time" and "Fan Favorite Essential Mix"
On 6 December 2010,
Nero
Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68), was the fifth Roman emperor and final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 un ...
was nominated for the
BBC #REDIRECT 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 ex ...
's
Sound of 2011
Sound of... is an annual BBC poll of music critics and industry figures to find the most promising new music talent. It was first conducted by the BBC News website in 2003, and is now widely covered by the corporation's online, radio and TV outl ...
poll.
The
nomination
Nomination is part of the process of selecting a candidate for either election to a public office, or the bestowing of an honor or award. A collection of nominees narrowed from the full list of candidates is a short list.
Political office
In the ...
was followed by the addition of their second
single
Single may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Single (music), a song release
Songs
* "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004
* "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008
* "Single" (William Wei song), 2016
* "Single", by ...
on
MTA "
Me and You" to
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, ...
's A List playlist on 8 December 2010. The single was released in the United Kingdom as both a digital download and a 12" vinyl on 2 January 2011, where it debuted at number fifteen on the U.K. Singles Chart, also managing to reach the number one spot on the independent releases chart. The trio's third
single
Single may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Single (music), a song release
Songs
* "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004
* "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008
* "Single" (William Wei song), 2016
* "Single", by ...
, "
Guilt
Guilt may refer to:
*Guilt (emotion), an emotion that occurs when a person feels that they have violated a moral standard
*Culpability, a legal term
*Guilt (law), a legal term
Music
*Guilt (album), ''Guilt'' (album), a 2009 album by Mims
*Guilt ( ...
" made its
premiere
A première, also spelled premiere, is the debut (first public presentation) of a play, film, dance, or musical composition.
A work will often have many premières: a world première (the first time it is shown anywhere in the world), its first ...
on 22 February when Zane Lowe selected it as the ''Hottest Record in the World''.
On the week ending dated 14 July 2012 "Promises" debuted at number 81 on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100 in the United States, which marked their first single to chart in the United States. Their debut album entitled ''
Welcome Reality
''Welcome Reality'' is the debut album by British dubstep group Nero. A concept album, it was released first in Ireland on 12 August 2011 and the rest of the world on 15 August 2011 except Australia and New Zealand where it was released on 19 Au ...
'' was released on 15 August 2011 and debuted at number one in the
UK Albums Chart
The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...
.
Nero composed an orchestral piece known as ''The Dubstep Symphony'' (later officially titled 'Symphony 2808'), performed by the band in collaboration with the
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra
The BBC Philharmonic is a national British broadcasting symphony orchestra and is one of five radio orchestras maintained by the British Broadcasting Corporation. The Philharmonic is a department of the BBC North Group division based at MediaC ...
, conducted by Joe Duddell on BBC Radio 1 on 6 June 2011.
The trio toured their live show after the release of their album during Autumn 2011 in both the United Kingdom and United States.
In early 2012, the trio toured their live show entitled 'Second Reality Tour' across Australia, the United Kingdom and North America. Nero declined touring as a support act for
Madonna's
Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...
MDNA Tour
The MDNA Tour was the ninth concert tour by American singer Madonna, launched in support of her twelfth studio album, '' MDNA'' (2012). Comprising 88 shows, the tour began on May 31, 2012, in Tel Aviv's Ramat Gan Stadium and concluded in Córd ...
over the summer, as they felt that they needed to spend much more time in the studio.
The
Skrillex
Sonny John Moore (born January 15, 1988), known professionally as Skrillex, is an American DJ and music producer. Growing up in Northeast Los Angeles and Northern California, he joined the post-hardcore band From First to Last as the lead sing ...
& Nero remix of Monsta's "Holdin On" received its premiere on
Zane Lowe
Alexander Zane Reid Lowe (born 7 August 1973) is a New Zealand radio DJ, live DJ, record producer, and television presenter.
After an early career in music creation, production and DJing, he moved to the UK in 1997. He came to prominence thro ...
's
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, ...
show on 1 October 2012. The remix was featured on Monsta's self-titled EP, released on 23 October 2012.
Their song, "
Promises" is featured in the
HP television advertisement for their
notebooks
A notebook is a small book often used for writing.
Notebook or The Notebook may also refer to:
Computing
*Laptop, a type of personal computer
*Google Notebook, a discontinued online application
* Notebook interface, a type of programming environ ...
with
Beats Audio
Beats Electronics LLC (also known as Beats by Dr. Dre, or simply Beats by Dre) is an American consumer audio products manufacturer headquartered in Culver City, California. The company was founded by music producer Dr. Dre and record company exec ...
in 2012.
On 22 October 2012, their debut album was re-released as ''Welcome Reality +''. It features two extra tracks, "Won't You (Be There)" and "Etude", along with the
Skrillex
Sonny John Moore (born January 15, 1988), known professionally as Skrillex, is an American DJ and music producer. Growing up in Northeast Los Angeles and Northern California, he joined the post-hardcore band From First to Last as the lead sing ...
& Nero remix of "Promises". An
EP of "Won't You (Be There)" was released on the same day, featuring the original alongside "Etude" and remixes from
Baauer
Harry Bauer Rodrigues (born April 30, 1989), known professionally as Baauer, is an American record producer and DJ, best known for his double platinum song "Harlem Shake (song), Harlem Shake".
He has produced varied dance music from the age of 13 ...
and Club Cheval.
''Between II Worlds'' (2013–2016)
On 23 April 2013, their track for the soundtrack of the Baz Luhrmann rendition of ''
The Great Gatsby
''The Great Gatsby'' is a 1925 novel by American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald. Set in the Jazz Age on Long Island, near New York City, the novel depicts First-person narrative, first-person narrator Nick Carraway's interactions with mysterious mil ...
'' was revealed: "Into The Past".
On 12 November 2013, a 28-minute ambient piece was posted to their
SoundCloud
SoundCloud is an online audio distribution platform and music sharing website that enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is one of the largest music streaming se ...
, along with the words "Sorry to have left you in the dark for so long. The second album is coming in 2014." On 24 December 2013, in an interview with Vh1 India, Nero revealed that the track was actually a 3-minute ambient song looped on purpose to be 28 minutes and 8 seconds long to reveal the number 2808 – a number frequently associated with Nero, which is the title of the first track on ''Welcome Reality''."
On 13 May 2014, the album's lead single "
Satisfy" premiered on
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, ...
as
Zane Lowe
Alexander Zane Reid Lowe (born 7 August 1973) is a New Zealand radio DJ, live DJ, record producer, and television presenter.
After an early career in music creation, production and DJing, he moved to the UK in 1997. He came to prominence thro ...
's ''Hottest Record in the World''.
In February 2015 the band's record label MTA Records posted a picture of a tweet by Stuart Hawke stating that he had just started mastering the new album by Nero. On 19 March 2015, Nero announced they had finished the album, and premiered its second single, "The Thrill". The single was released on 20 March 2015 alongside remixes by
Porter Robinson
Porter Weston Robinson (born July 15, 1992) is an American DJ, record producer, musician, and singer from Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Robinson began producing music in his childhood. He signed to Skrillex's record label Owsla, OWSLA at the age o ...
,
TCTS
Sam O'Neill, known by his stage name TCTS, is an English DJ and record producer from Manchester. He is signed to Chase & Status' record label, MTA. O'Neill is best known for his 2014 song "Games", which reached number 29 on the UK Dance Chart.
...
,
René LaVice
René LaVice is a Canadian electronic music producer, DJ and singer.
Biography
His song "The Calling", featuring Ivy Mairi, entered the UK Singles Chart at number 118 following a placement on BBC Radio 1's A List playlist. The song also featur ...
and KANT.
On 10 April, it was announced that the album is called ''
Between II Worlds
''Between II Worlds'' is the second studio album by the British electronic music group Nero (band), Nero. Like its predecessor ''Welcome Reality'', the album is a concept album and was released on 11 September 2015 by Virgin EMI Records, Virgin EM ...
'', and it would be released on 28 August 2015 (coinciding with their recurring use of the number '2808') but the release date was later delayed to 11 September. The album was made available to pre-order on the same day, with "Satisfy" and the title track offered as an instant grat for those who pre-order a copy.
The album features a reworked version of "Into the Past", from ''The Great Gatsby'' soundtrack.
"Two Minds" was released as the album's third single on 11 September 2015. "Into the Night" was released as the fourth single from Between II Worlds on 8 January 2016.
Side projects and new material (2016–present)
Group members Dan Stephens and Alana Watson got married in December 2015. They announced in June 2017 that they were expecting a baby and that Alana would not be resuming her touring duties until the baby's arrival in 2018.
NERO focused more on side projects after the release of ''Between II Worlds''. Joe Ray launched a solo project in 2017, while Stephens and Watson announced a new electronic pop project The Night in March 2018. During promotion for The Night, Stephens and Watson clarified that Nero was still active alongside the side projects, with new music in the works.
In 2021 during the lead-up to the 10th Anniversary of Welcome Reality, the debut album, the band released three remixes of classics from Daft Punk, Frankie Goes to Hollywood and Disciples after a nearly two year silence.
In 2022, Nero joined Deadmau5
We Are Friends Tour tour as the main support act. They also went on to remix Deadmau5 track “XYZ” on his label Mau5trap, which was released on August 26th, 2022.
Other works
In December 2012, the band produced the song "
Follow Me", for the British rock band
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 the ...
.
The song's instrumental version (without vocals) was later used in the soundtrack of the 2013 blockbuster film ''
World War Z
''World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War'' is a 2006 zombie apocalyptic horror novel written by American author Max Brooks. The novel is broken into eight chapters: “Warnings”, “Blame”, “The Great Panic”, “Turning the Ti ...
'', in the end credits.
In December 2018, the song "Lullaby" was released on the compilation album ''Ninjawerks: Vol. 1'' under the record label
Astralwerks
Astralwerks is an American record label primarily focused on electronic music owned by Universal Music Group. Its material is distributed via Capitol Music Group in the United States. The label was founded in 1993 and, in its early years, featur ...
in collaboration with American
Twitch
Twitch may refer to:
Biology
* Muscle contraction
** Convulsion, rapid and repeated muscle contraction and relaxation
** Fasciculation, a small, local, involuntary muscle contraction
** Myoclonic twitch, a jerk usually caused by sudden muscle con ...
streamer
Streamer or streamers may refer to:
* a person who streams online on an internet platform like twitch or youtube
* Pennon, a small pointed flag
* Streamer, a kind of confetti consisting of strips of paper or other material
* Streamer, a common nam ...
Ninja
A or was a covert agent or mercenary in feudal Japan. The functions of a ninja included reconnaissance
In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enem ...
.
Discography
Studio albums
* ''
Welcome Reality
''Welcome Reality'' is the debut album by British dubstep group Nero. A concept album, it was released first in Ireland on 12 August 2011 and the rest of the world on 15 August 2011 except Australia and New Zealand where it was released on 19 Au ...
'' (2011)
* ''
Between II Worlds
''Between II Worlds'' is the second studio album by the British electronic music group Nero (band), Nero. Like its predecessor ''Welcome Reality'', the album is a concept album and was released on 11 September 2015 by Virgin EMI Records, Virgin EM ...
'' (2015)
Awards and nominations
, -
, align="center", 2013
, "Promises"
(Skrillex & Nero Remix)
, Best Remixed Recording, Non - Classical
,
, -
, align="center", 2012
, Nero
, Best International Dubstep Act
,
, -
, align="center", 2011
, "Promises"
, Best Contemporary Song
,
, -
, align="center", 2011
, Nero
, Best New Act
,
, -
, align="center", 2011
, ''Welcome Reality''
, Best Album
,
, -
, align="center" rowspan="2", 2011
, Nero
, Best Dubstep Producers
,
, -
, Nero
, Best Dubstep DJs
,
, -
, align="center" rowspan="2", 2010
, Nero
, Best Dubstep Act
,
, -
, "Act Like You Know"
, Best Dubstep Track
,
References
External links
*
*
Nero's SoundCloud
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nero (Musicians)
British electronic musicians
Dubstep musicians
Musical groups established in 2004
Grammy Award winners