Prime Circle
| Prime Circle | |
|---|---|
 Prime Circle at the Hamburg Harley Days 2016 |
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| General information | |
| Genre (s) | skirt |
| founding | 2000 |
| Website | www.primecircleband.com |
| Current occupation | |
| Ross Learmonth | |
| Dale Schnettler | |
| Marco Gomes | |
| Dirk Bisschoff | |
| Neil Breytenbach | |
Prime Circle is a successful rock band from South Africa . She has released six studio albums to date and has achieved multiple platinum and gold status in South Africa.
History of the band
Prime Circle was founded in December 2000 in Witbank , Mpumalanga , South Africa . The band members Ross Learmonth, Marco Gomes, Dirk Bisschoff and Gerhard Venter, who previously played in different bands, formed the new band together. In the beginning they mainly appeared in the Mpumalangas music scene in Witbank and Middleburg. Here they honed their skills and expanded their musical repertoire in their parents' garages. The band's current home is Johannesburg . In July 2007, Neil Breytenbach added a keyboard player to the band, giving them the opportunity to orchestrate their songs in a more extensive and varied way. Breytenbach also writes songs. In 2008 Gerhard Venter left the band to devote more time to his family. In September of the same year Dale Schnettler took over the role of drummer. With his distinctive and powerful playing, he enriches the band's sound with a harder nuance, which comes into its own when the band performs live. Prime Circle's trademarks are both rock ballads and rock anthems. Fans consider many of the ballads to be love songs. Ross Learmonth, singer and chief songwriter of the band, once said that he actually wrote break-up songs with a positive outlook.
In their homeland of South Africa, the band has number one hits in national and regional charts. The band's records also include the number of weeks their songs have been in the charts and the song rotation of their songs on local radio stations. Prime Circle has played at many major concerts and festivals in South Africa - including ten appearances at 94.7 Highveld Stereo Jo'burg Day. They also performed at the Nelson Mandela 46664 concerts, at the Oppikoppi Festival, the Splashy Fen Festival and at the My Coke Festival, Synergy and Rocking the Daisies. In 2003 Prime Circle was also on stage with the US band LIVE at the South African concerts of their “Birds of Prey” tour. Prime Circle toured India twice on international stages, including appearing at the Rock 'N India Festival. In 2007 they played at the Dubai Desert Rock Festival and in 2012 at the Reload Festival in Germany. In addition, there are several Germany and European tours, including a concert tour with 3 Doors Down, Alter Bridge and Seether. In 2013 Prime Circle also performed at the Homelandz Festival in the UK, and in 2014 they played on the main stage at the Graspop Metal Meeting in Belgium.
Band history
Early years
Originally the band signed a contract for two albums with the local independent label David Gresham Records. These albums shaped the characteristic sound and style of the band and brought songs like "Same Goes For You", "Hello", "As Long as I'm Here", "Father", "Shed My Skin", "My Inspiration", "Let Me Go", "Weaker Still", "Live This Life", "Fall Too Fast", "New Phase", "Miracle", "The Way It Could Be" and "Maybe Wrong" stand out. These songs can be found on various South African compilation albums, for example on 5FM's “Playlisted 2” and 94.7 Highveld Stereos “HomeBrew”.
Hello Crazy World (2002)
The debut album “Hello Crazy World”, released in July 2002, was an instant hit in South Africa. The first single "Hello" was at the top of the South African charts for a record-breaking 28 weeks. In 2003 and 2004 they were able to achieve this success with the songs "Let Me Go", "As Long As I Am Here", "My Inspiration" and "Same Goes For You", all of which landed at number 1 in the charts tie in. The album reached platinum status and Prime Circle headlined all of South Africa's major festivals as a result. At this point the band was already working on their second album "Live This Life", which was released in 2005. "Hello Crazy World" is still the best-selling rock album in South Africa. The success of the album and the first single ultimately led Prime Circle to accompany the US band "Live" at the South African concerts of their "Birds of Prey" tour.
Live This Life (2005)
The second album "Live this Life" (released in October 2005) reached gold status in spring 2006 and the songs "Miracle", "Maybe Wrong" and "Way It Could Be" became, as well as the title track of the album and the new edition of the song "As Long As I Am Here", to the chart success. With the success of their first two albums, Prime Circle were able to consolidate their position as the top-selling rock band in South Africa for the years 2003 to 2006. In 2007 the band played at the Dubai Desert Rock Festival. In December 2007 there followed a performance at the second “46664” concert.
Living In A Crazy World (DVD) (2006)
In July 2006 the DVD "Living in a Crazy World" was released. The DVD contains hits from the first two albums, which were played during a concert in The Function Room in Johannesburg.
Best of (CD / DVD box) (2007)
In 2007, the record label David Gresham Records released a best-of CD / DVD box that built on the success of previous albums. The CD contains a total of 17 songs, including some acoustic and live versions as well as remixes of songs that have already been released. With “Moments” the CD also contained a new track that landed at number 1 in the South African radio charts.
All or Nothing (CD & DVD) (2008)
In July 2007 the band expanded to include keyboardist Neil Breytenbach and the pre-production of All Or Nothing began before the end of the year . With Neil's entry into the band now have the option to add the songs to the diverse sounds and sounds of a keyboard offered what positive comes especially in live performance to bear, including in the implementation of the song She Always Gets (What She Wants) began - the band's most successful song to date. The song stayed in the charts for more than 52 weeks, was used as the soundtrack of a South African TV show and has more than a million views on YouTube.
All or Nothing was launched in June 2008 by EMI Music South Africa, the band's new label. In 2009 a live DVD followed, which was recorded as part of the release of All or Nothing . The sales start of the DVD coincided with the international release of the album. Due to the full tour schedule after the release of All or Nothing , drummer Gerhard Venter decided to leave the band and devote himself to his family. He was replaced by Dale Schnettler in September 2008.
The album All or Nothing was again a success. It reached platinum status in 2009, the singles Out Of This Place , All I Need and Consider Me also found their way into the charts. In the same year the album was nominated for the South African Music Award (SAMA), the single Consider Me brought the band another SAMA nomination the following year.
In 2009 Prime Circle started a tour of Dubai, Bahrain and London. The attention they received from their appearances in the 20/20 Cricket Series held in South Africa eventually led to a hard rock café tour of India. In the same year the first appearances in Germany and Europe followed with concerts in Cologne and Berlin.
In 2010 Prime Circle returned to India again to perform at the Rock-in-India Festival.
Jekyll & Hyde (2010)
In the spring of 2010, the band began work on their fourth studio album "Jekyll & Hyde". Staying true to their South African roots, they produced the album together with sound engineer Kevin Shirley, who has worked with bands like Journey, Iron Maiden, Rush, Led Zeppelin, Dream Theater, Mr. Big, Europe and Aerosmith. The album was mastered by George Marino, who also worked for Coldplay, Bon Jovi, The Offspring, 3 Doors Down, Arctic Monkeys, Journey, Cyndi Lauper, Kiss, The Cars, Motley Crue, Guns N 'Roses, Don McLean, Stevie, among others Wonder worked.
"Jekyll & Hyde" was released in South Africa in September 2010 in different versions - as a normal CD, as a double CD with live audio recordings from the "All Or Nothing" DVD and as a CD / DVD combination with a documentation of the second tour India. Despite difficult economic times, “Jekyll & Hyde” achieved gold status in just nine days and platinum status within five months. As the first band in the history of the South African Music Awards, Prime Circle received six nominations and won the SAMA in the category "Best Rock Album 2011". "Jekyll & Hyde" was published internationally. The album contains an unnamed bonus track that fans know as "Brothers". The song was originally intended as an advertising jingle for a retail chain, but it was never released. However, the band bowed to the pressure of fans and took the song on the album. However, since the song did not match the rest of the album, it remained nameless.
"Breathing" - the first single from the album was released in August 2011. In the first week, the song reached number one on the charts of regional radio stations and also landed at the top of the charts on national radio stations. In addition, the song was the most played song of the year, reaching number one on the radio airplay charts in South Africa.
In spring 2011 - after winning the MK International Breakthrough Award - the band went on a European tour with the American rock bands 3 Doors Down and Alter Bridge.
In March 2012 the Germany tour with 3 Doors Down and Seether was continued, and in June she played at the Reload Festival in Sulingen, among others.
Evidence (2012)
In July 2012, the band went back to the studio to record the fifth studio album "Evidence". This was published on November 12, 2012 in South Africa.
On September 28, 2012 "Time Kills Us All", the first single from the album, was played on the radio for the first time. The song just barely missed number 1 on the KIA Take 40 SA charts 15 weeks later. However, it was enough for second place and “Time Kills Us All” stayed in the charts for 18 weeks.
In November 2012, the album's title song "Evidence" was followed by the second single, which was followed by a tour of the same name through South Africa.
On February 7, 2013, the band announced their return to Germany in April to release the album on the European market. As soon as they returned to South Africa, they announced after the tour that they would appear again as the opening act for 3 Doors Down at their concerts in Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Switzerland.
Let The Night In (2014/2015)
The band released their sixth studio album "Let The Night In" on June 13, 2014 under the band's own label Prime Records. The album was released on a European tour at the end of June, during which Prime Circle gave concerts in France and Spain for the first time, and a concert at the Graspop Metal Meeting in Belgium was also a premiere for the musicians. Back in South Africa, Prime Circle went on an arena tour through the country for the first time in the band's history.
"Gone" - the first single from the new album was released on May 21, 2014. The song received critical acclaim and immediately hit the South African charts. Thanks to the combination of rock and hip-hop elements, “Gone” was also played by radio stations that otherwise tend to focus on urban sounds. On August 21, 2014, the second single, "Doors", followed. Just like “Gone”, “Doors” immediately entered the charts on South African radio stations.
On October 6, 2014, Prime Circle returned to Europe for a month-long tour. In addition to Germany, Austria, Belgium and Great Britain, Italy was also on the tour schedule for the first time. Another European tour followed a year later, from October 16 to 24, 2015, and took the band to five shows in Germany as well as two concerts in Holland and one in Switzerland.
If You Don´t You Never Will (2017)
Another album by the band was released on September 22, 2017. However, this was published under the label Rainbow Home Entertainment AG. The album consists of 10 songs and is 36:43 minutes long.
Band members
Current band members
- Ross Learmonth - vocals, rhythm guitar, acoustic guitar, songwriter
- Marco Gomes - bass, acoustic guitar, songwriter
- Dale Schnettler - drums, backing vocals, acoustic guitar, percussion, songwriter
- Dirk Bisschoff - lead guitar, acoustic guitar, songwriter
- Neil Breytenbach - keyboard, acoustic guitar, songwriter
Former band members
- Gerhard Venter
Timeline occupation
Discography
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Chart positions Explanation of the data |
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Studio albums
- Hello Crazy World (2002)
- Live This Life (2005)
- All or Nothing (2008)
- Jekyll & Hyde (2010)
- Evidence (2012)
- Let the Night In (2014)
- If You Don't You Never Will (2017)
Compilations
- Hello Crazy World (Special Edition) (2002)
- Living in a Crazy World (CD / DVD) (2007)
- The Best of Prime Circle (2007)
- All or Nothing (Live DVD) (2009)
- All or Nothing (International publication) (2009)
- The Ultimate Prime Circle (2010)
- Live World (2019)
Prices
- 2005 - Johannesburg Choice Award
- 2005 - FHM Awards
- 2009 - SAMA Record Of The Year: She Always Gets What She Wants (nomination)
- 2009 - SAMA Best Rock Album - English: All Or Nothing (nomination)
- 2010 - SAMA Record Of The Year: Consider Me (nomination)
- 2010 - SAMA Best Global Chart Live DVD for All or Nothing LIVE DVD (nomination)
- 2011 - SAMA Record Of The Year: Breathing (nomination)
- 2011 - SAMA Album of the Year: Jekyll & Hyde (nomination)
- 2011 - SAMA Best Duo or Group (nomination)
- 2011 - SAMA Best Rock Album - English: Jekyll & Hyde
- 2011 - SAMA Best Producer: Theo Crous for Jekyll & Hyde (nomination)
- 2011 - SAMA Best Album Packaging: Jekyll & Hyde (nomination)
- 2011 - MK International Break Through Act
- 2012 - SAMA Record Of The Year: Turning in My Sleep (nomination)
- 2013 - SAMA Best Rock Album - English: Evidence (nomination)
- 2013 - SAMA Best Video: Evidence (nomination)
- 2013 - SAMA Best Producer: Theo Crous for Evidence (nomination)
- 2015 - Short & Sweet Music Video Awards Cape Town "Best Rock Video" for "Doors"
- 2015 - SAMA Best Rock Album: Let The Night In (nomination)
- 2015 - SAMA Best Producer: Denholm Harding for Let The Night In (nomination)
- 2015 - SAMA Best Engineer: Brendyn Rossouw / Heritage Sound for Let The Night In (nomination)
- 2015 - SAMA Best Music Video: Doors
- 2015 - MTV AFRICA MUSIC AWARDS Video of the Year: Doors (nomination)
- 2015 - MTV AFRICA MUSIC AWARDS Best Pop & Alternative (nomination)
- 2015 - All African Music Awards "Best African Rock" (nomination)
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ European Tour 2015 [1] . Retrieved February 12, 2016
- ↑ Prime Circle in the German charts
- ↑ Short & Sweet Music Video Award 2014 ( Memento from April 6, 2015 in the Internet Archive ). Retrieved April 19, 2015
- ↑ SAMA 21 nominations All the nominees for the 2015 SAMAs . Retrieved July 28, 2016
- ↑ SAMA 21 winners These are all the 2015 Sama winners . Retrieved July 28, 2016
- ↑ MAMA 2015 Nominees - ( Memento of the original from June 14, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Retrieved June 12, 2015
- ↑ Afrima 2015 Nominees - ( Memento of the original from October 6, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Retrieved October 2, 2015
