Rixton (band)

Early beginnings

Jake Roche (son of actor Shane Richie and former The Nolans member Coleen Nolan) and Danny Wilkin started writing together after they left school. They were later joined by Charley Bagnall through mutual friends and finally Lewi Morgan was the last addition to the band after meeting Jake through a girl he was seeing at the time. The band's initial fame was through cover releases posted on YouTube; in an interview with Metro, Roche divulged that they had performed a number of covers of songs – "stuff like Ignition and Thong Song" and then decided to do "a more personality driven cover". Roche had heard The Nolans – of which his mother was a member – performing Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas when he was four and suggested that Rixton cover it. For this performance, Rixton wore "elf ears" and created what Roche called "more of a comedy sketch". Scooter Braun saw this and offered to sign Rixton. This is a source of frustration to Roche given that "...Christmas" was the video that "took the least time and money and when [Braun] saw [it, they] were four mates having a laugh" and that "[Rixton] put a lot of effort into doing covers and uploading them". Soon after being signed by Braun, the band flew to New York City in August 2013 to record their EP, "Me and My Broken Heart, and "Let The Road", their debut album with producer Benny Blanco

2013–present: Let the Road

The band attracted attention with "Make Out", a song that involved the members lampooning famous 2013 music videos such as "Stay" by Rihanna, "Wrecking Ball" by Miley Cyrus, "Roar" by Katy Perry, "Applause" by Lady Gaga, "Blurred Lines" by Robin Thicke and "Beauty and a Beat" by Justin Bieber. The video was released on 22 October 2013 but it was never released as an official single. The band's debut single, "Me and My Broken Heart", was released on 11 March 2014. "Me and My Broken Heart" was released to radio on 11 March 2014 and made its premiere on KIIS FM in Los Angeles during one of JoJo Wright's shows. It has charted in Australia, Sweden, the United States and reached number 1 in the UK. "Me and My Broken Heart" went gold 27 May 2014 and Rixton was awarded their first gold plaque on 29 May 2014 in New York City. Their first extended play, also titled Me and My Broken Heart followed on 18 March 2014. An album is underway for release through School Boy, Giant Little Man, Mad Love and Interscope Records later in 2014. Justin Bieber joined the group on stage at the SXSW Festival on 10 March 2014. They are also lined up in mid-2014 to play summer festivals across the United States and United Kingdom before returning to North America to embark on their debut tour, The Broken Heart Tour, playing in 12 US and Canadian cities. This was followed shortly after by a UK tour in November 2014. In addition, they played a pop up gig in New York which required police attendance to control the crowds. They will open up for Ariana Grande on The Honeymoon Tour during the North American dates.

The debut album Let the Road was released on 8 March 2015. It only peaked at number 19 on the UK Albums Chart.

Members

Tour

Main act:

Support act:

Filmography