Groop Dogdrill

Groop Dogdrill were a rock band formed in the early 1990s in the Northern English town of Doncaster, UK, by Damien "Damo" Fowkes (bass), Pete Spiby (vocals/guitar) and Hugh "Hug" Kelly (drums). They achieved modest success, releasing a number of singles and two albums in between numerous tours of the UK, before finally splitting up in 2001.

The band were originally called Dogdrill, until they played a show with The Wedding Present at The Tunbridge Wells Forum, on 24 August 1994. Darren Belk (friend of the band and frontman/guitarist with Beachbuggy) was playing bass guitar at the time for The Wedding Present. Dogdrill were renamed 'Groop' Dogdrill by Wedding Present drummer Simon Smith and they played as Groop Dogdrill from that day onwards.

They entered a 'battle of the bands' competition in their hometown of Doncaster, as they were unable to afford the bass gear that would allow them to start working the live circuit. The band won the competition (and the bass gear) and also caught the eye of a young producer called Matt Elliss at Axis Studios who offered to record a demo at the studio free of charge. Matt Elliss then passed the song onto a new label called EXP (a subsidiary of ViaCom) which was being run by Feargal Sharkey, formerly of The Undertones. The label demoed the band and released a limited edition (500) 7" single "Gentleman's Soiree"/"Silver Boots" before agreeing to record and release a full-length album. After a brief tour of the UK with Cable the band went into the studio to start recording tracks for their debut long player. A further single, "Gracelands" (1996) and more tours (with A amongst others) followed but financial difficulties forced EXP to fold before the full album was released.

The band were soon picked up by Mantra Records (part of the Beggars Banquet group) and further tours followed before the album "Half Nelson", recorded for EXP two years earlier, was eventually released by Mantra in 1998. The album chronicled the band's obsessions with Americana, the Rat Pack, working class humour, the seedier side of personal and sexual relationships and classic 70s movies with an ever-present combination of metal, punk, blues and rockabilly at its core.

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