King Kong Company

King Kong Company is an Irish dance band based in Waterford in Ireland. Although most of the members are not from Waterford, they met while attending Waterford Institute of Technology.[1] In June 2016 they released their self-titled debut album.[2]

King Kong Company
OriginWaterford, Ireland
GenresElectronica
Years active1996 (1996)–2000 (2000), 2011–present (Hiatus: 2000–2011)
WebsiteOfficial website
MembersMark White
Alan Aylward
Colin Hoye
Trish Murphy
Tom Stapleton
Mark Graham
Past membersHazel Downes
Kevin O'Shanahan

Overview

King Kong Company was conceived when two college friends, Alan Aylward and Mark White began experimenting with dance music using effect laden guitars and drum machines. They recruited college friends and expanded into a five piece. King Kong Company recorded a session for Dave Fanning on RTÉ 2fm, and despite having some of their tracks edited, they were announced as the most popular radio session for that year. King Kong Company played at Ireland's first dance festival, Homelands. Other artists on the bill included Underworld, Orbital and Paul Oakenfold. The band split after finishing college in Waterford Institute of Technology.

In 2011 the band reformed with the idea of producing one new music video every month. Before the band played a gig, the video for Acetate won the Viewers Choice Award at the Irish Music TV Awards in 2011. The popularity of the videos resulted in the band playing a one off sold-out gig at The Forum in Waterford in 2012. This resulted in subsequent festival offers[1] including Life Festival, Body & Soul and Electric Picnic. Their first international gigs followed in the United Kingdom in 2014.

They released their debut self-titled album in June 2016. The album was produced by Neil McLellen and was well received in the Irish media.[2] The album reached the top 10 in the Irish Albums Chart.

In September 2016 they were nominated for two awards at the Pure M Awards. The first nomination was for Best Live Act where the other nominees included Hermitage Green, The Strypes and Aslan. The second nomination was for Best Music Video for 'Scarity Dan'. King Kong Company won the Best Live Act award.[3]

In November 2016 the band's debut album made the Choice Music Prize long list. Other nominees included All Twins, September Girls, Bell X1, Katie Kim and Two Door Cinema Club.[4]

In January 2017 King Kong Company played their first mainland Europe gigs in the Netherlands.[5] On 28 February, their debut album was released in the Netherlands to positive reviews.[6][7][8]

In April 2017 it was announced that King Kong Company would play the Silver Hayes stage at Glastonbury Festival for the first time in June,[9] they followed this up with gigs at Boomtown, Beautiful Days, Amsterdam Dance Event and their largest ever gig in front of 10,000 people at Electric Picnic.[10] The band were also invited to play for a specially invited audience with the President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins in July 2017.[11] In October 2017 they played their biggest headline show when they sold out the 1,250 capacity Cork Opera House.

In 2018 the band announced a headline gig at 1,600 capacity Olympia Theatre in Dublin in October. In June they released a mini-documentary 'One Small Little Thing To Do' about their 12-hour trip from the stage of Body & Soul to the stage of Glastonbury, a journey undertaken the previous June.[12] July saw the release of the band's most critically acclaimed single My Name Is Now.[13][14][15] In August the band were added to the line up for Electric Picnic[16]

Getting nothing off that.

Commotion Lotion

In June 2017 the band released their own beer called Commotion Lotion. The beer is infused with Buckfast, a tonic wine that features in the band's live show and in lyrics, as well as strawberries, raspberries and pineapple. The beer was produced by YellowBelly Beer, a craft brewery based in Wexford, Ireland. The beer has received mostly positive reviews[17][18][19] with a 3.5 rating on beer review site Untapped.[20]

Getting nothing off that.

Members

Discography
King Kong Company discography
Studio albums1
Music videos13
Singles1

Studio albums
Year Album details Peak chart positions
IRL
[21]
2016 King Kong Company
  • Released: 17 June 2016
  • Label: Self Released
  • Formats: CD, digital download
 45
"—" denotes a title that did not chart.

Singles
Year Title Peak chart positions Album
IRL UK
2016 "Scarity Dan" — — King Kong Company
"—" denotes a title that did not chart.

Music videos
Year Title Director Album
2011 "Dr. Whom"[22] Lofty King Kong Company
"Acetate"[23]
"Uncle Trouble"[24]
"Damn You Dorothy"[25]
"Zoids[26]
"Panic Button"[27]
"I Said Posse![28]
"Cannibal Country[29]
2012 "Eamonn Devalero"[30]
"One of These Days[31] Alan Aylward
"BagPuss[32]
2015 SpaceHopper[33] Lofty
2016 Scarity Dan[34] Jamie O'Rourke

References
  1. "King Kong Company – The Hedonist's Choice – Independent.ie". The Irish Independent. Retrieved 5 November 2016.
  2. "King Kong Company album review – 1990s vibes with 21st-century swagger". The Irish Times. Retrieved 5 November 2016.
  3. "2016 Pure M Awards | Pure M". Pure M. Retrieved 5 November 2016.
  4. "2016 Album List | Choice Music Prize". choicemusicprize.ie. Retrieved 1 December 2016.
  5. Echotape. "Echotape at Eurosonic Groningen – Altersonic Festival – 14/01/2017". Evensi. Retrieved 4 March 2017.
  6. "King Kong Company – King Kong Company". Muzine.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 5 March 2017.
  7. "King Kong Company: King Kong Company". Keys And Chords. Retrieved 5 March 2017.
  8. "King Kong Company – King Kong Company | Mpodia". www.mpodia.nl. Retrieved 5 March 2017.
  9. "Glastonbury Festival (official)". facebook.com. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
  10. "WATCH: This Fan Footage From A Tent At Electric Picnic Looks Absolutely Nuts". Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  11. "King Kong Company". facebook.com. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  12. "Body, Soul & Glasto". Broadsheet.ie. 19 June 2018. Retrieved 5 August 2018.
  13. Porzio, Stephen. "Festival Favourites King Kong Company Release Video for Single, 'My Name is Now' | Hotpress". Hotpress. Retrieved 5 August 2018.
  14. "JOE's Song Of The Day #631: King Kong Company 'My Name Is Now' | JOE.ie". JOE.ie. Retrieved 5 August 2018.
  15. "King Kong Company Back With A Bang With New Single 'My Name Is Now'". www.imro.ie. Retrieved 5 August 2018.
  16. McSorley, Anita (3 August 2018). "Huge acts announced as latest Electric Picnic headliners as full lineup revealed". irishmirror. Retrieved 5 August 2018.
  17. "How about some Buckfast in that beer?". The Irish Times. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  18. "Introducing Buckfast Beer, the greatest drink ever invented | JOE.ie". JOE.ie. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  19. "PSA: Buckfast Infused Beer Now Exists Just In Time For Festival Season". Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  20. Team, The Untappd. "Commotion Lotion – YellowBelly Beer (Ireland) – Untappd". Untappd. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  21. Hung, Steffen. "irishcharts.com – Discography king kong company". irish-charts.com. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
  22. King Kong Company – Dr. Whom – Official HD Music Video on YouTube
  23. King Kong Company – Acetate – Official HD Music Video on YouTube
  24. King Kong Company – Uncle Trouble – Official HD Music Video on YouTube
  25. King Kong Company – Damn You Dorothy – Official HD Music Video on YouTube
  26. King Kong Company – Zoids – Official HD Music Video on YouTube
  27. King Kong Company – Panic Button – Official HD Music Video on YouTube
  28. King Kong Company – I Said Posse! – Official HD Music Video on YouTube
  29. King Kong Company – Cannibal Country – Official HD Music Video on YouTube
  30. King Kong Company – Eamonn Devalero – Official HD Music Video on YouTube
  31. King Kong Company – One of These Days – Official HD Music Video on YouTube
  32. King Kong Company – BagPuss – Official HD Music Video on YouTube
  33. King Kong Company – SpaceHopper – Official HD Music Video on YouTube
  34. King Kong Company – Scarity Dan – Official HD Music Video on YouTube
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