Marmaduke Duke are a Scottish conceptual rock duo from

Ayrshire Ayrshire ( gd, Siorrachd Inbhir Àir, ) is a historic county and registration county in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine and it borders the counties of ...

, Scotland, comprising

Simon Neil Simon Alexander Neil (born 31 August 1979) is a Scottish vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter. He is known for his work in the bands Biffy Clyro and Marmaduke Dukeand also new band with Mike Vennart, Empire state bastard. Career Biffy Clyr ...

Biffy Clyro Biffy Clyro are a Scottish rock band that formed in Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire, composed of Simon Neil (guitar, lead vocals), James Johnston (bass, vocals), and Ben Johnston (drums, vocals). Currently signed to 14th Floor Records, they have r ...

and JP Reid of Sucioperro. Within the band, the pair perform under the pseudonyms The Atmosphere and The Dragon respectively. According to Neil, the band, and its albums, are "based on a trilogy of unreleased manuscripts that a friend of ours brought to this country a few years ago. We're really just working to soundtrack those stories." To date, the band have released two studio albums, with their second, '' Duke Pandemonium'', achieving commercial success in the United Kingdom. The album entered 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 ...

at No. 14.

Background and studio albums

Beginnings and ''The Magnificent Duke''

Marmaduke Duke reputedly formed in 2003. However, prior recording and touring commitments to their own respective bands meant that it took until 2005 for the band's first album - an 18-track album named '' The Magnificent Duke'', and presented as a triptych of discs - to be released.

''Duke Pandemonium''

'' Duke Pandemonium'', the band's second studio album, was released on 11 May 2009. In ''Duke Pandemonium'', the band adopted a more synthesiser based approach - a radical departure from their previous musical style, and reflected in the style of two tracks ("

Silhouettes A silhouette ( , ) is the image of a person, animal, object or scene represented as a solid shape of a single colour, usually black, with its edges matching the outline of the subject. The interior of a silhouette is featureless, and the silhou ...

" and "Everybody Dance") previewed on their web site prior to the album's launch. During live performances, again prior to the album's release, the band also performed the tracks "Erotic Robotic", "Music Show" and "Heartburn", confirming their inclusion on the then-forthcoming album. The album was originally scheduled for release in late 2006, and a three-track sampler CD was distributed to magazines and radio stations in spring 2006. However, due to the touring and recording commitments of Biffy Clyro, and the intervention of 14th Floor Records, the decision was made to postpone the album's release until Marmaduke Duke could actually tour and promote the new record. In late 2008, it was announced that ''Duke Pandemonium'' was to be released through 14th Floor Records (an imprint of Warner Music UK) in April 2009, preceded by two singles; 'Kid Gloves' in March 2009 and 'Rubber Lover' in April 2009.

''The Death of the Duke''

According to JP Reid, the band's one-song conclusion to the musical trilogy, ''The Death of the Duke'', will be "a modern classical two guitar death march. At the moment we’re working on riffs and rhythms." The band plan to record the album live at a concert, with contributions from 10 members of the audience. In 2019, when asked on Twitter about when the album would be released, Reid replied: "I'd speculate sooner rather than later and when the time is right." Neil told '' NME'' in May 2020 that they have been close to finishing the new record "for about two years” and were due to finish it in March but were set back by the UK coronavirus lockdown.

Live performances

Marmaduke Duke have thus far only played two small tours, during which they played at venues in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popu ...

, Newcastle,

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and

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

. On 9 June 2009, they were added to the Reading & Leeds Festival lineup, headlining the Festival Republic Stage on the Friday in Reading and the Sunday in Leeds. They also played T In the Park In 2009 on the Radio 1/NME stage.

Live lineup

Live, the group consists JP Reid (vocals, guitar) and

(vocals, synth, guitar and bass). The duo are augmented by James Johnston (bass, vocals) and drummers Fergus Munro and

Ben Johnston Ben Johnston may refer to: * Ben Johnston (rugby union) (born 1978), British rugby player * Ben Johnston (composer) (1926–2019), American contemporary composer of concert music * Bennett Johnston, Jr. (born 1932), Washington, D.C.-based lobbyist ...

. There is usually also a cloaked/masked figure on stage during performances, known only as "The Duke"; played by Sucioperro's ex-bassist Michael Logg also known as "The Big Slice". This character might be construed as the band's own version of

Public Enemy "Public enemy" is a term which was first widely used in the United States in the 1930s to describe individuals whose activities were seen as criminal and extremely damaging to society, though the phrase had been used for centuries to describe ...

's Flavor Flav or the

Happy Mondays Happy Mondays are an English rock band formed in Salford in 1980. The original line-up was Shaun Ryder (vocals), his brother Paul Ryder (bass), Gary Whelan (drums), Paul Davis (keyboard), and Mark Day (guitar). Mark "Bez" Berry later joine ...

' Bez. Regarding the inclusion of Ben and James,

states: "It wouldn't feel right to be out and playing without them, you know?"

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

External links

2009 Interview

Manchester Deaf Institute Gig Review March 2009

Duke Pandemonium Review

Official Site
{{Authority control Scottish rock music groups British post-hardcore musical groups Rock music duos Musical groups from Kilmarnock Musical groups established in 2003 14th Floor Records artists