Lo-Tel was a

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, ear ...

band based in

Sydney, Australia Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and List of cities in Oceania by population, Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metro ...

. They achieved commercial success and are best known for their single " Teenager of the Year" released 2000. They no longer perform as Lo-Tel; however, two past members continue to produce music.

History

In 1998, Lo-Tel were initially a trio of Luke Hanigan (singer and guitarist), Dave Lumsdaine (bass), and Darren Brollo (drums), recording tracks in Hanigan's home studio. This led to their first shows, and, with the help of John O'Donnell, they were signed to Epic Records in 1999. Hanigan said, "It was almost like we tripped and wound up with a record contract; it was so ridiculously speedy." In April 1999, Lo-Tel recorded their debut album '' Planet of the Stereos''. Hanigan said, "We spent five weeks making it, and then six months getting it remixed by various Americans." Their first single, "Genre Casting", was released in early 2000 on vinyl only. " Teenager of the Year" was released in May 2000 and became a Top 40 hit on the back of its appearance in the popular Australian film '' Looking for Alibrandi''. Marty Hailey joined the band in May 2000 on 2nd guitar, keyboards, and backing vocals. '' Planet of the Stereos'' was eventually released in October 2000 and achieved moderate commercial success. Two further singles from the album, " A Pop Song Saved My Life" and "Crucifix", enjoyed a similar amount of airplay and publicity but were less successful. In March 2001, Luke Hanigan married his longtime partner, Australian actor

Pia Miranda Pia Miranda (born 15 June 1973) is an Australian actress whose career was launched with her role in the 2000 feature film '' Looking for Alibrandi'', an Australian film based on the novel of the same name by Melina Marchetta. She is also known ...

, in Las Vegas. After a two-year break, Lo-Tel regrouped in 2002 (with Paul Wheeler replacing Brollo) and released their second album, ''The Lost Thing'', in August 2003, with artwork by

Shaun Tan Shaun Tan (born 1973) is an Australian artist, writer and film maker. He won an Academy Award for '' The Lost Thing'', a 2011 animated film adaptation of a 2000 picture book he wrote and illustrated. Other books he has written and illustrated inc ...

. Although the album track, "

Angel In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles inc ...

", received widespread commercial airplay, ''The Lost Thing'' failed to make the Top 100. The band split in 2003. Luke Hanigan continues to write music under a solo title. David Lumsdaine has had commercial success as a production music composer. Darren Brollo is the drummer of State of Grace.

Discography

Albums

Singles

Awards and nominations

ARIA Music Awards

The ARIA Music Awards are an annual series presented by

Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) is a trade association representing the Australian recording industry which was established in the 1970s by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replac ...

(ARIA) since 1987, which recognise excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music. , - ,

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

, "Teenager of the Year" ,

ARIA Award for Breakthrough Artist – Single The ARIA Music Award for Breakthrough Artist – Single was an award presented at the annual ARIA Music Awards. It was presented from 1989 through to 2009 and 2011. This, and the ARIA Award for Breakthrough Artist – Album was merged in 2012 t ...

, , - ,

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanistan ...

, ''Planet of the Stereos'' ,

ARIA Award for Breakthrough Artist – Album The ARIA Music Award for Breakthrough ArtistAlbum is an award presented at the annual ARIA Music Awards, which recognises "the many achievements of Aussie artists across all music genres", since 1987. It is handed out by the Australian Recordin ...

, , -

References

External links

Band profile on Australian Music Online
Australian pop rock groups Australian alternative metal musical groups Australian post-grunge groups Musical groups established in 1998 Musical groups disestablished in 2003 {{Australia-band-stub