De Rosa Biography

Line Up
De Rosa was formed by main songwriter Martin John Henry in 2001. Since 2007 the band has been a five piece (brothers James and Neil Woodside on bass and drums respectively, with Chris Connick on guitar and Andrew Bush on piano/keyboards). All of the band members are based in Lanarkshire and Glasgow. Connick - school friend of Henry and long-time De Rosa collaborator - became a full member of De Rosa in 2006. Bush joined De Rosa as pianist/keyboardist in 2007 having previously worked as their live sound engineer.Sound

De Rosa are noted for their use of indie rock guitar-based compositions combined with Henry's personal lyrics sung in a Scottish accent. Although heavily influenced by the alternative rock music of the 1980s and 1990s, De Rosa's sound also makes reference to other sub-genres of music, with elements of slowcore, Scottish folk and electronic music. Recently the band has begun to use more synthesisers and drum machines in their live set, their sound moving away from the guitar-based rock of their debut material towards a fusion of electronic and traditional styles.

Early Work and Mend
De Rosa signed in 2004 to Lanarkshire label Gargleblast Records, run by Shaun Tallamy & Andy Miller. It was following the release of their debut single ("Camera"/"All Saints Day") in August 2004 that they first attracted interest from DJs including the late John Peel and Steve Lamacq. De Rosa was a three piece at this point consisting of Henry and brothers Neil and James Woodside. The band spent the rest of 2004 and most of 2005 recording their first album, Mend. The album was recorded by Andy Miller, producer of Mogwai, Arab Strap, Sons and Daughters, Life Without Buildings, Scout Niblett and The Delgados. Miller had been a friend and mentor of the band since their earliest rehearsals. The use of Chemikal Underground’s recording studio led to the Glasgow label offering to release the album under licence from the band's original label.

Released in the UK on June 19th 2006, Mend was voted #16 in British music magazine Mojo's top 50 albums of 2006...

"The kind of parochial majesty you might encounter if The Pixies reworked The Go-Betweens "Before Hollywood" for a documentary about the social history of Lanarkshire..."

With Chris Connick joining as guitarist after the completion of Mend, De Rosa spent many months touring and promoting the album. The four piece line-up embarked on tours supporting Scottish indie bands Mogwai and Arab Strap in Autumn 2006, and completed their first headline tour of Europe in April 2007.

“I think that with ‘Mend’ - and with any band’s first album - you’re selecting the best dozen songs that you’ve written in your life so far. This often gives a debut album the endearing quality of decent song writing but executed inexpertly and in a way that doesn’t perhaps flow as an album should. ‘Mend’ we were all very proud of, and it very quickly became the benchmark to beat, but it was obvious to me soon after its release that with our next album, we would attempt to make something more whole and concise..” – Martin J. Henry

Second Album, Prevention
De Rosa have recently completed their second album, Prevention. Once again the band worked with Mend producer Andy Miller at Chem 19 recording studios in Lanarkshire, Scotland. Guest musicians on the album include Barry Burns of Mogwai and Robert Johnston of Life Without Buildings. Prevention will be released by Chemikal Underground Records on 2nd March 2009. The cover artwork features a portrait of De Rosa painted by Glasgow writer and artist Alasdair Gray.

“I think that on Prevention, I finally exorcised the demon of alternative ‘rock’ that had possessed me since my teens. I think our music is very rooted in the locality of Scotland, and for that to be totally convincing you can’t very well have Thurston Moore-style sonic mayhem all over the place, as much as I have enjoyed making this kind of racket in the past. I think that Prevention has a big sound though, just not one which is dependent on lots of guitar distortion. Yeah we had all gone through a phase of listening to music which had an electronic aspect to it, from Kate Bush to Aphex Twin, and we definitely used some similar textures on this record. Prevention is still De Rosa though, and although we’re tipping our hats in the direction of these genres of music, these sounds are just one part of a complex sound which incorporated all of our listening at that particular time and throughout our lives up to that point.” – Martin J. Henry