Genres Power pop Origin Cardiff, United Kingdom Members Donnie Vie | Years active 2015–Present Genre Power pop | |
Labels Donnie Vie Music, Magic Cat Records Limited, Dharma Bucks Records Associated acts Donnie Vie, Magic Eight Ball, Enuff Z'Nuff, Candybag Website www.facebook.com/v8powerpop/
donnievie.com
www.facebook.com/ilovemagiceightball/ | ||
V8 is a power pop band formed in Wales by Donnie Vie of Enuff Z'nuff, Baz Francis of Magic Eight Ball and Lewis John.
Contents
History
In late 2010, English singer Baz Francis and his band Magic Eight Ball were selected as opening acts for The Donnie Vie Band’s inaugural UK Tour (Magic Eight Ball performing the first 4 shows, and Francis performing the final 3 solo). During the second half of this run, Baz was invited onstage twice to sing with The Donnie Vie Band on ‘Time To Let You Go’, the second time of which on 11 November 2011 at The Patriot Inn in Crumlin, Wales also saw Lewis John accompany the band on a rendition of 'The Beast'. 2 years later, Francis then opens for Donnie Vie solo and acoustic at The Barley Mow, Leicester on 9 May 2013, followed by Magic Eight Ball supporting Enuff Z’Nuff on the 10 and 11 May (at Queens Hall, Nuneaton and The Railway, Ipswich respectively). As well as this, Baz is also invited onstage to sing with Vie on all 3 nights. During the summer of 2013, Baz Francis then went on to perform on the 10-show European ‘Magical History Tour’ with Donnie Vie, playing acoustic shows in England, Scotland, Wales, Italy and Northern Ireland. As well as being the headline support act each night, Francis was also a guest performer during 6 of Vie’s sets on the tour.
On 8 November 2013, Magic Eight Ball’s album ‘Sorry We’re Late But We’re Worth The Wait’ was released on Magic Cat Records, the record also featuring Donnie Vie on the song 'Before It Was Murder (You Got Me Talking)'. On 24 February 2014, Cargo Records UK released the Donnie Vie live CD/DVD set 'Goodbye : Enough Z'nuff' that was recorded the previous summer across Europe. As well as overseeing the compilation of the project, Baz Francis also provides backing vocals to 4 of the 14 songs on the CD as well as featuring on a number of the tracks on the DVD too. Lewis John engineered most of the CD and mixed the entire album. On 10 July, Magic Eight Ball’s digital single ‘Monkey Bars’ was released, accompanied by an exclusive b-side ‘Rose-Tinted Eyes’ (as begun at the start of the year and later completed with Lewis John mixing). On the 1st December 2014, Cargo Records then released Donnie’s Vie’s double-record, ‘The White Album’, featuring vocals from Baz Francis on the tracks ‘For Your Pleasure’ and ‘Unforsaken’ and almost entirely mixed (except for 'Better Love Next Time') by Lewis John, with additional guitar work from him too. On 27 January 2015, Magic Eight Ball digitally released their stand-alone single track ‘Better Off Asleep’ that was engineered, mixed and mastered by Lewis John. That summer, starting on 19 August in Edinburgh, Baz Francis once again toured Europe with Donnie Vie, performing 10 shows with him across Scotland, Northern Ireland, England, Wales, Italy, Spain and France as both the special supporting guest and accompanying player to Vie himself at every show on The White Album Tour. Just prior to this tour, Donnie Vie had the idea to combine his name and the name of Francis's band Magic Eight Ball for merchandise to be sold at the shows, which is how the 'V8' moniker came into existence for the pair.
Whilst in Wales on the tour, the duo took the opportunity to record with Lewis John again at M.A.D Studios in Swansea for their new single, which is when the trio's now established partnership saw V8 officially become Donnie Vie, Baz Francis and Lewis John. This tour was almost immediately followed by Vie’s so-far digital-only ‘The Best of Donnie Vie’ release on 22 September 2015, consisting of 5 tracks featuring Baz Francis (3 of which were exclusive to this release plus mixed and mastered by Lewis John as well). Taken from recordings off The White Album Tour tour and mixed by Lewis John, Magic Cat Records then released Donnie Vie & Baz Francis’s new joint live EP ‘V8 Live In Europe 2015’ on 30 November 2015. This CD and download featured 2 Vie and 2 Francis originals, respectively. It was also the first time a release had officially come out from the trio bearing the name 'V8' in any form. On 19 January 2016, a compilation of Donnie Vie rarities overseen by Baz Francis called '!' was released digitally having been mostly mixed and mastered by Lewis John again. V8's début single "Mrs Vandevelde" was then released to download on 22 February 2016, and on Limited Edition cream 7" vinyl through Dharma Bucks Records on 7 March 2016. Both versions feature ‘You're My Favourite Thing To Do’ (from Donnie and Baz’s 'V8 Live In Europe 2015' EP) as the B-side. On 14 March 2016, Italian band Candybag's 'EP Ending' that features both Donnie Vie and Baz Francis on the song 'Nun S' Po Fa Sta Vita' (and also narration from Vie on the song 'Piccolo Ingombrante') was released by Radio Entropia Factory.