Thenewno2 (styled as thenewno2) is an English
alternative rock
Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...
band
Band or BAND may refer to:
Places
*Bánd, a village in Hungary
*Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran
* Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania
*Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, I ...
from
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
. Originally composed of
Dhani Harrison
Dhani Harrison (; born 1 August 1978) is an English musician, composer and singer-songwriter. He is the only child of George and Olivia Harrison. Dhani debuted as a professional musician assisting in recording his father's final album, '' Brainw ...
and Oliver Hecks, with Harrison playing
lead guitar
Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...
and singing
lead vocals
The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...
, and Hecks playing
drums
A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...
and
synthesizer
A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...
. As of 2014, the band consisted of Harrison, Jonathan Sadoff, Jeremy Faccone,
Paul Hicks, Aaron Older and Frank Zummo. The name "Thenewno2" is a reference to the 1960s British television show ''
The Prisoner
''The Prisoner'' is a 1967 British television series about an unnamed British intelligence agent who is abducted and imprisoned in a mysterious coastal village, where his captors designate him as Number Six and try to find out why he abruptl ...
''. Thenewno2 have been credited with the album design for
George Harrison
George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician and singer-songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Indian c ...
's ''
Brainwashed'' and ''
Dark Horse Years'' box set, and for ''
Concert for George
The Concert for George was held at the Royal Albert Hall in London on 29 November 2002 as a memorial to George Harrison on the first anniversary of his death. The event was organised by Harrison's widow, Olivia, and his son, Dhani, and arrange ...
'', and the menu design for the 2005 ''
Concert for Bangladesh
The Concert for Bangladesh (or Bangla Desh, as the country's name was originally spelt)Harry, p. 135. was a pair of benefit concerts organised by former Beatles guitarist George Harrison and Indian sitar player Ravi Shankar. The shows were ...
'' DVD. Hecks was the still photographer for the
Concert for George
The Concert for George was held at the Royal Albert Hall in London on 29 November 2002 as a memorial to George Harrison on the first anniversary of his death. The event was organised by Harrison's widow, Olivia, and his son, Dhani, and arrange ...
in 2002, and some of his photographs appear in
Genesis Publications
Genesis Publications Limited is a British publishing company founded in 1974 by Brian Roylance, a former student of the London College of Printing. His aim was to create a company in the traditions of the private press, true to the arts of printin ...
' limited-edition book from the same event.
Thenewno2 released their debut album, ''You Are Here'', in February 2009. ''
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Conan O'Brien. NBC aired 2,725 episodes from September 13, 1993, to February 20, 2009. The show featured varied comedic material, celebrity interviews, and music ...
'' chose thenewno2 to be one of the show's final musical guests, a spot that also marked the band's TV debut in the US. Later that spring, thenewno2 played
Coachella Coachella may refer to:
* Coachella, California
* Coachella Canal, in California
* Coachella (festival), an annual music and arts festival in California
* "Coachella – Woodstock in My Mind", a 2017 song by Lana del Rey
See also
* Coachell ...
, where ''
Spin
Spin or spinning most often refers to:
* Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning
* Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis
* Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...
'' magazine dubbed their performance one of the "best debut performances of the festival". After concluding a US tour, the band took a break and Harrison focused on his side project,
Fistful of Mercy
Fistful of Mercy is a rock group consisting of Dhani Harrison, Ben Harper and Joseph Arthur.
History
The band formed in February 2010, when Arthur asked Harper to accompany him in the studio; Harper then asked Harrison, whom he had met at a ska ...
featuring Harrison,
Ben Harper
Benjamin Chase Harper (born October 28, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Harper plays an eclectic mix of blues, folk, soul, reggae, and rock music and is known for his guitar-playing skills, vocals, live perfo ...
and
Joseph Arthur
Joseph Arthur (born September 28, 1971) is an American singer-songwriter and artist from Akron, Ohio. He is best known for his solo material, and as a member of Fistful of Mercy and RNDM. Arthur has built his reputation over the years through c ...
. Their debut was released in October 2010 and was named "One of the Best Side Projects of 2010" by NPR.
On 31 July 2012, thenewno2 released their second album, ''
thefearofmissingout''. ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'' listed the band as one of the ten "Must-See Acts" at the 2012 Lollapalooza festival. Thenewno2 scored the music to the 2013 film ''
Beautiful Creatures''.
History
Formation
Thenewno2 formed in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
in 2006, but Harrison and Hicks had been collaborating since as far back as 2001.
Harrison and Hicks chose the name Thenewno2 (pronounced "the new number two"), because they wanted a "faceless entity" that they could use to make music, which would give them a chance to legitimatize without the help of Dhani Harrison's famous last name (he is
George Harrison
George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician and singer-songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Indian c ...
's son). They took the name "Thenewno2" from the British cult classic television series ''
The Prisoner
''The Prisoner'' is a 1967 British television series about an unnamed British intelligence agent who is abducted and imprisoned in a mysterious coastal village, where his captors designate him as Number Six and try to find out why he abruptl ...
'', liking the idea of an anonymous person. As Dhani explains,
"I wanted it to be a faceless entity, because I didn’t want to be 'Dhani Harrison and the Uncles', or whatever. There was just too much flak around the name 'Harrison' at the time. I started the band so I could send anyone to a meeting, and when they were asked who they were, they could simply say 'The New No. 2.'"
In the media
The song "Yomp" was released as a downloadable track for the music video game ''
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 ...
'' on 29 July 2008, and the song "Crazy Tuesday" was released as one of 20 free songs for ''
Rock Band 2''. In 2009, Dhani Harrison and Thenewno2 were featured in an issue of ''
Guitar World
''Guitar World'' is a monthly music magazine for guitarists – and fans of guitar-based music and trends – that has been published since July 1980. ''Guitar World'', the best-selling guitar magazine in the United States, contains original art ...
'' magazine, discussing their concert experiences and debut album, ''You Are Here''.
On 16 February 2009 Thenewno2 performed the song "Yomp" from the album ''You Are Here'' on the American television show ''
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Conan O'Brien. NBC aired 2,725 episodes from September 13, 1993, to February 20, 2009. The show featured varied comedic material, celebrity interviews, and music ...
'' in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. On 13 April 2009 they played at the Casbah in San Diego, California. The band played a 30-minute set at the
Lollapalooza
Lollapalooza (Lolla) is an annual American four-day music festival held in Grant Park in Chicago. It originally started as a touring event in 1991 but several years later made Chicago the permanent location for the annual music festival. Musi ...
Festival in Chicago, Illinois on 8 August 2009.
In 2009, Thenewno2 began their first US tour, joined by
The Heartless Bastards, and headlined by
Wolfmother
Wolfmother is an Australian hard rock band from Sydney. Formed in 2004, the group is centred around vocalist and guitarist Andrew Stockdale, who is the only constant member of the line-up. The band has been through many personnel changes since ...
. The tour began in Dallas, Texas on 29 October running through to Los Angeles, California, on 24 November.
The band agreed to do the soundtrack to the film ''
Beautiful Creatures'', and recorded it at Abbey Road Studios.
Discography
Singles
* "Another John Doe" (2008)
* "Choose What You're Watching" (2008)
* "One Way Out" (2011)
* "Live a Lie" (2011)
Albums
* ''
You Are Here'' (2008)
* ''
thefearofmissingout'' (2012)
* ''
Beautiful Creatures'' (2013)
EPs
* ''
EP001
''EP001'' is the debut release by Thenewno2, a band composed of Dhani Harrison and Oliver Hecks. Originally released as a promotional single on 28 August 2006, the EP was released on the iTunes Store in early February 2007. The songs on the EP fea ...
'' (2006)
* ''EP002'' (2011)
Music videos
* "Choose What You're Watching" (2008, directed by Oliver Hecks)
* "Another John Doe" (2008, directed by Oliver Hecks)
* "Yomp" (2009, directed by
Adria Petty
Adria Petty (born November 28, 1974) is an American director, editor, art director, and artist. She is best known for her music video work with Beyoncé and Regina Spektor. She is the elder daughter of rock musician Tom Petty and his first wi ...
and John Gutierrez)
* "Make It Home" (2012, directed by
Liam Lynch)
References
External links
Official website*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:newno2
Musical groups established in 2006
Musical groups from London
English electronic rock musical groups
English art rock groups
Neo-psychedelia groups
English indie rock groups