The Struts

History

Singer-songwriter Luke Spiller was raised in Bristol in a Christian family. His exposure to music was mainly limited to gospel music, until the age of seven, when he discovered Michael Jackson's Off the Wall. Inspired by Jackson, his first aspirations were to be a contemporary dancer, but by the age of 11, he was listening to Led Zeppelin, Queen, AC/DC, and Leonard Cohen, and in addition to pretending to be Jackson in front of a mirror, he was imitating Bon Scott and Freddie Mercury. He began playing in bands as a teenager, only starting to sing at age 16.

In 2009, Spiller, then living in Clevedon, met Derby-based guitarist/songwriter Adam Slack, who had also been playing with bands since his teens. At the time, each of their bands were "coming apart," and Slack and Spiller quickly connected musically. Spiller moved to Derby, where he and Slack lived, wrote, and recorded together for nearly three years. They recruited mutual friends Jamie Binns and Rafe Thomas to play bass and drums. In 2012, Binns and Thomas were replaced with bassist Jed Elliott and drummer Gethin Davies.

The band chose the name The Struts based on an offhand comment made at a rehearsal. Spiller said in a 2015 interview, "I was just moving around and somebody was like, 'you strut around a lot.' From then on, we knew we had a great name. We couldn't believe it hadn't been taken."

The band played frequently throughout the UK. They soon developed a following, and released their first single "I Just Know" in June 2012. Signed by Future Records, they were transferred to Virgin EMI after Future's demise and subsequently put out a four-track EP titled Kiss This.

The Struts toured extensively in England and France, and in 2014 performed for 80,000 people as the opener for The Rolling Stones in Paris. That summer, they did a 24-date tour, which included a gig at the Isle of Wight Festival. Spiller wore clothing designed for him by Zandra Rhodes, who formerly dressed Freddie Mercury. The production of Rhodes' clothing for Spiller was later featured on the BBC documentary Oh You Pretty Things: The Story of Music and Fashion.

As The Struts reputation as a live band grew, their audience increased, and their shows were frequently sold-out. Spiller's talent as a frontman was often noted by the press and reviews described him as "a force of nature" and as a "physical, mesmerising entertainer... vocally strong, expressive and blessed with excellent range". Spiller's looks and stage presence led Roger Goodgroves of Get To The Front to describe him as "the musical love child of Freddie Mercury and Mick Jagger".

Mike Oldfield recruited Spiller to sing on his 2014 album Man on the Rocks. "He did a much better job of sounding like a rock star than me," Oldfield said.

The Struts first television performance was on Vintage TV's 'Live Sessions,' where they appeared alongside established acts including Toyah, Nik Kershaw and Judie Tzuke. The show was recorded in January 2014 at the Bedford in Balham and aired on March 20. The band played two tracks, 'Kiss This' and 'Could Have Been Me'.

Everybody Wants, their debut studio album, came out in July 2014. It charted in the UK and received positive reviews. In early 2015, The Struts signed to Interscope Records/Polydor and in August of that year they released the EP Have You Heard, their first U.S. release. They began a tour of the States in support of the record in September. 20 dates were sold out, including the band's Los Angeles debut at The Troubador, which sold out in 30 minutes. "Could Have Been Me", the lead single, hit No. 1 on the Spotify Viral Top 50, No. 4 on the iTunes rock singles chart, and in the Top 5 on the U.S. alternative and active rock charts. The video for the track, directed by Jonas Ackerland, had more than 1.5 million views within two months of its Vevo debut.

The Struts relocated to Los Angeles in early 2015. Their first television appearance in America was on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in August 2015, and in September they were named "Band on the Verge" by USA Today. In December 2015 they performed on Late Night with Seth Meyers.

In January 2016, it was announced that The Struts would release a reissue of Everybody Wants on 4 March on Freesolo/Interscope Records/Universal Music Canada with five songs not included on the original UK release.

In August 2016, they opened for the band Guns N' Roses for their Not In This Lifetime... tour at AT&T Park.

Personal life

The Struts' bassist Jed Elliot has been dating Little Mix's member Jade Thirlwall since January 2016. According to Jed, they met in August 2015 after their mutual friend Jake Roche, from the band Rixton, introduced them in Los Angeles.

Luke Spiller's girlfriend is model Laura Cartier Millon. They have been dating since February 14, 2014.

Tour