Distortion, dancing, destruction. Energy, brain, guitars. Party on the grave of the 80s. Charismatic bass-baritone.
Ladies and Gentlemen, The Prostitutes!
"Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."
Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca
The band is formed in Prague by a strike of luck in the fall of 2004. The former sailor Adrian Bell joins the other four a toxicologist, a sociologist, a graphic and a director as a singer, when, after hearing his voice recordings, they cannot resist their bewilderment: Wow, he sounds like Johnny Cash!
The name comes to them without thinking; they all know they want to give people a good ride, regardless of the nature and nationality of the customer - and thus, The Prostitutes are born. The cast remains quite stable: Martin Destroyer on the guitar, Luke Santiago behind the drums, Stevie LFO on the keyboard, Mark Jukebox on the bass and Adrian Bell and his vocal chords.
"My Brain? It's my second favorite organ."
Woody Allen in Sleeper
Soon, they record their first EP with 4 tracks and put it up on Myspace for sharing. On the Czech site bandzone.cz, they become the most visited band after a few weeks, a position to be held for months and months on end It is only after their third gig that they receive the accolades of the music press (Filter magazine), comparing their energy to that of the first concerts of Sex Pistols and Joy Division.
The Prostitutes naturally form a platform of supporters, be it graphics, animators, movie-makers or web designers, who are willing to help promote the success of the band. When the band is phoned up to come for an appearance on music TV Óko, they produce two music videos for their tracks overnight to be broadcasted until they can be replaced with professionally produced videos (animated Shes a Monster spends a number of weeks in the Óko chart, clip for Sunshine was released in August 2006).
The band does it all: rehearsing every spare minute, going round clubs all over Czech Republic, posting up the posters on dark wintry nights (these are now collectable items amongst the fans, being known for their exceptional visual impact).
They use every opportunity to provide their tracks for free download and sharing.
"At my signal, unleash hell."
Russell Crowe in Gladiator
The success rate of The Prostitutes is unprecedented. They are praised by most of the music press (Filter Magazine, Report, music servers New Music Magazine, Musicserver and Musiczone), their fan base grows steadily. These are some of their early achievements:
2nd in the readers chart of New Music Magazine (beating Bloc Party, Editors a Hard-Fi) Newcomer of the Year
4th in the editors chart of New Music Magazine (beating) - Newcomer of the Year
3rd in the readers chart of the Filter magazine Discovery of the Year
3rd in the Óko Music TV awards for the Newcomer of the Year
Sunshine is nominated to the Track of the Year in the Music Awards of the Czech Internet.
On Myspace, they already reached almost 40K plays, winning followers worldwide, from Australia to Arizona Czech fan club is formed, too.
"Let's get outta here!"
Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz
In September 2006, the long awaited and self-produced album Get Me Out of Here is released. The music press goes very emotional, using outcries such as Album of the Year!, The Czechs needed a band like this! and Riot for Intellectuals. They classify it with marks 9/10 and 5/5.
A week on, the single track Sunshine reaches the top of the Radio Wave chart. Tracks from the album (Dont Give a Damn, Eject, Blue Friday, Shes Dead) enter the broadcast schemes of the majority of Czech Republic radios.
A tour of Spain is scheduled for November with the fabled Spanish indie band Catpeople.
"Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn!"
Clark Gable in Gone With the Wind
Each of the press reviews, be it a CD or a gig, is known to set off a fervid love-and-hate discussion on anything from the age and occupation of the band members, to their musical instruments and invention - amongst the bands fans and the bands adversaries, turning The Prostitutes into a true social phenomena.
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