Donots

Donots
Donots at a concert in June 2008
Background information
Origin	Ibbenbüren, Germany
Genres	Punk rock, pop punk
Years active	1993–present
Labels	Headshock Records (1995-1998) GUN Records (1999-2007) Solitary Man Records (2008-present) Vertigo Records (2012-present)
Website	Official website
Members	Ingo Knollmann Guido Knollmann Jan Dirk Poggemann Alex Siedenbiedel Eike Herwig

The Donots are a rock band from Germany, formed in 1993 in Ibbenbüren.

The Donots were founded in 1993 by Ingo Knollmann on lead vocals, his brother Guido Knollmann on guitar, Jan-Dirk Poggemann on bass, Jens "Stone" Grimstein on guitar and Jens Trippner on drums. They celebrated their stage debut on April 16, 1994 at the Scheune in their hometown Ibbenbüren. They began playing as a support band in local venues and released the demo tapes We Do Not Care So Why Should You? and Mellow D's and Harm on E's in 1994 and 1995, respectively. Drummer Jens Trippner was replaced by Eike Herwig in 1995.

In 1996, the band released their debut album Pedigree Punk via independent label Headshock Records and shortly afterwards, Alex Siedenbiedel replaced Stone Grimstein on guitar, finalizing the current line-up. They played support shows in Germany for Blink-182, Propagandhi, No Fun At All, Terrorgruppe and No Use for a Name.

The band released their second album Tonight's Karaoke Contest Winners in spring of 1998, followed by their first tour with Samiam and ErrorType:11. That year they also won a band contest at the Bizarre Festival, which furthered their popularity in the German underground scene, leading to them getting signed by major label GUN Records (Sony BMG).

The Donots released their third album and first major label release Better Days Not Included in 1999, produced by Die Ärzte producer Uwe Hoffmann, together with their first single "Outshine the World", which received minor radio and TV airplay. They went on to play their first co-headlining tour called "Ladies First, James Last" across Germany, Austria, Italy and the Netherlands, together with fellow German punk rock peers the Beatsteaks.

In 2001, the band released their fourth album Pocketrock, with which they achieved their breakthrough into the mainstream, mainly through their hit single "Whatever Happened to the 80s", which reached No. 67 on the German charts. The following singles "Room With a View", "Today" and "Superhero" also received video airplay on MTV. They played their first headlining tour through Germany, Austria and Switzerland with Midtown as support. The following year, Pocketrock was re-released through Burning Heart Records all over Europe.