David Rotheray

Overview

Rotheray joined his first band when he was aged 13; it was called Mammoth, at one time performing the then-current Sex Pistols song, "Pretty Vacant" at a school concert, without any microphones. At that time Rotheray's musical tastes were for progressive rock, his favourite being Pink Floyd. His parents were worried but still allowed him to play and drove him to clubs to perform. Eventually, Mammoth evolved into a band called The Newpolitans. Both Mammoth and the Newpolitans featured Hugh Whitaker on drums, who later became the drummer for The Housemartins. The Newpolitans also later featured Dave Hemingway on drums, who also became drummer for the Housemartins and then a singer with the Beautiful South.

The Newpolitan's style was a mixture of the current musical styles, from the Style Council to the Gang of Four. Band members included temporary additions, mainly for demo recordings, were saxophonist Kev Christian and the trumpet players Andrew Nicholson and Andy Russell. The Newpolitans recorded a self-financed single, but the failure of the single provided the catalyst for the band's demise. Rotheray and Hemingway then went on to form the Velvetones with other musician friends from Hull.

Whilst studying for a PhD at Hull University, living on Grafton Street in Hull, Rotheray met Paul Heaton who formed the Beautiful South and they began writing songs together.

Homespun

In 2001, Heaton released the album, Fat Chance. However, as the bulk of tracks on Fat Chance were written by Heaton alone, or with other collaborators rather than Rotheray, it was decided that Rotheray too would have a side project whilst The Beautiful South were on a recording hiatus.

Homespun originally featured Rotheray and Sam Brown. The band released three albums. More recently Brown was replaced by Helen 'Aitch' McRobbie as lead vocalist, before Homespun split up in 2008. Rotheray concentrated on a solo project involving different singers from the contemporary scene.

Homespun - album discography

The Life of Birds

Rotheray announced the release of his first 'solo' album, The Life of Birds for 16 August 2010, on the Proper Music label. Although ostensibly a solo effort, the record featured collaborations with ten different singer/songwriters including Alasdair Roberts, Jim Causley, Eliza Carthy and Camille O'Sullivan.

The Life of Birds - track listing

Following its release in 2010, The Life of Birds was generally well received critically. In November 2010 and again in March 2011, Rotheray embarked on a tour, playing the album in full, with Jim Causley and Bella Hardy handling all the vocal duties. The live shows were also well received.

Miscellaneous writing credits