The Dukes are a five-piece

rock band A rock band or pop band is a small musical ensemble that performs rock music, pop music, or a related genre. A four-piece band is the most common configuration in rock and pop music. In the early years, the configuration was typically two guita ...

from

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. Their debut album, ''Lil Sunshine'', was released in 2005. Their second album, ''

Still Life A still life (plural: still lifes) is a work of art depicting mostly wikt:inanimate, inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc.) or artificiality, m ...

'', was released in 2010 throughout New Zealand spawning the Gold certified Top 10 single "

Vampires A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mischief or deaths ...

Music career

Early beginnings

The Dukes formed in early 2003 as a result of a band name change. Formerly known as Deluxeboy. The four piece featured brothers, Matt and Jo Barus, Brad Banks and Fausia Fialele. The name of the Dukes comes from the cult classic seventies television show

The Dukes of Hazzard ''The Dukes of Hazzard'' is an American action comedy TV series that was aired on CBS from January 26, 1979 to February 8, 1985. The show aired for 147 episodes spanning seven seasons. It was consistently among the top-rated television series ...

. The Dukes released their debut album, Lil' Sunshine, in May 2005. Three

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

have been released from this album: ''Mornin, ''Luv Came Thru'', and ''Rather Be With You''. In the past they have toured the

University Orientation Circuit and have also opened for

INXS INXS (a word play, phonetic play on "in excess") were an Australian Rock music, rock band, formed as The Farriss Brothers in 1977 in Sydney, New South Wales. The band's founding members were bassist Garry Gary Beers, main composer and keyboar ...

2007-2009: Line-up changes and commercial breakthrough

2007 was a big year in the Dukes history. In the early part of the year a new member was added to the group, Christchurch musician L.A. Mitchell. Mitchell is also a solo artist and released her debut solo album in the later part of 2007, titled ''Debut''. In May the original Dukes drummer, Fausia Fialele, left the group suddenly and was replaced by Dan Kennedy. Fialele rejoined the group following Kennedys departure from the group in 2009. The Dukes now stand as a five piece. On Friday 9 March came the Dukes biggest breakthrough of their career. They entered and won the

leg of MTV Kickstart Competition, a music competition for bands from both New Zealand and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. Eventually they came second, however, to Yves Klein Blue, one of the Australian bands in the competition but the prize for their New Zealand leg win entitled them to many prizes including the chance to take part in the

first Mile High gig. In May they helped officially open up New Zealand Music Month in both Christchurch and Auckland and featured alongside high profile local acts including

Fur Patrol Fur Patrol is a rock band, originally from Wellington, New Zealand. The band formed in Wellington in 1996. Their debut EP, ''Starlifter'', was released on the independent Wellington label Wishbone in 1998. Their debut album ''Pet'' was produced ...

. After winning the MTV Kickstart Competition, Dukes released ''Always Forever'' as a promo single. The song is a fan favourite and found minor success on local radio. The video for the song was filmed by

MTV New Zealand MTV New Zealand was a 24-hour general television entertainment channel operated by MTV Networks International. The channel launched on 18 August 2006. From its launch MTV New Zealand employed 23 people at its headquarters in Auckland. MTV New Zea ...

and was released to television in July. They followed by releasing ''Time Is A Train'' in 2008, it also found minor success. 2007 was a successful year for the Dukes music with three of their songs appearing on TV, two of them of which were high-profile television shows: the first was American Drama

Brothers & Sisters (2006 TV series) ''Brothers & Sisters'' is an American family drama television series that centers on the Walker family and their lives in Los Angeles and Pasadena, California. It aired for five seasons on ABC from September 24, 2006, to May 8, 2011. For the enti ...

and the second was New Zealand local hit drama

Outrageous Fortune (TV series) ''Outrageous Fortune'' is a New Zealand family comedy crime drama television series, which ran from 12 July 2005 to 9 November 2010 on TV3. The series followed the lives of the career criminal West family after the matriarch, Cheryl (Robyn Ma ...

which featured the group's song, ''Luv Came Thru''; their third appearance was in Episode 108 ("Emily") of the

Journeyman A journeyman, journeywoman, or journeyperson is a worker, skilled in a given building trade or craft, who has successfully completed an official apprenticeship qualification. Journeymen are considered competent and authorized to work in that fie ...

TV series, with the song ''Mornin. Throughout the second part of 2007 the band was involved in two big tours with local rock band The Have and late 1970s and early 1980s pop/rock band

Th' Dudes Th' Dudes are a New Zealand rock band that was formed in the late 1970s in Auckland, New Zealand. Hits include "Walking in Light", "Right First Time", " Be Mine Tonight" and "Bliss". History 1975–1980 The band was formed by Morris, Urlich, ...

2010 – present: "Vampires" and "Still Life"

In March 2010 their first single ''

'', off their second studio album "

", debuted on the

RIANZ Recorded Music NZ (formerly the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ)) is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell recorded music in New Zealand. Membership of Recorded Mus ...

Singles Chart at #32, their first release to officially chart 7 months after its initial release. This was also their first release on their own label ''Play Nicely'' after ending their association with Sony earlier in the year. The single rose to #20 the following week and entered the Top 10 at #9 on the 26 April Chart, attributed to its success on radio and through digital downloads. On Monday 23 May 2010 "Vampires" was certified Gold in New Zealand after selling more than 7,500 units. In May they were nominated for the "Breakthrough Artist" award at the

Juice TV Awards The Juice TV Awards was an annual New Zealand music video award presentation held by the now defunct New Zealand music video channel Juice TV (later Juice). The awards were founded in 2001 and initially honoured music videos from both New Zealand ...

. At the award show they went on to win the award for the Video of the Year. They also went on to collect the award for "Up & Coming" act in the Myspace New Zealand 2010 Choice Awards. Following the commercial success of "Vampires", "

Self Control Self-control, an aspect of inhibitory control, is the ability to regulate one's emotions, thoughts, and behavior in the face of temptations and impulses. As an executive function, it is a cognitive process that is necessary for regulating one's b ...

", was released to radio in April 2010. A third single " Time is a Train" followed in November, this being the new album version of the song after previously being released as a buzz single in mid-2008. In September to coincide with their Acoustic Church Tour with

Dave Dobbyn Sir David Joseph Dobbyn (born 3 January 1957) is a New Zealand musician, singer–songwriter and record producer. In his early career he was a member of the rock group Th' Dudes and was the main creative force in pop band DD Smash. Since then he ...

their first acoustic EP, "Settle Down - Acoustic EP" was released. Due to strong sales across the tours shows and online the EP debuted on the

Album Chart at #23 on 13 September 2010. It peaked two weeks later at #16 making it their first release to chart on the NZ Album chart. Their second full-length album, "

", was released on 8 November 2010. It debuted on the

Album Chart at #26 on 15 November 2010http://www.rianz.org.nz/rianz/chart.asp Chart #1747 making it their second release to chart.

Discography

Albums

EPs

Singles

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dukes New Zealand rock music groups Musical groups established in 2003