Wild Colonials are an American

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

band formed in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment building in Amsterdam after two of its engines ...

by Angela McCluskey (vocals),

Shark Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachi ...

(guitar/vocals/percussion),

Paul Cantelon Paul Cantelon (born December 25, 1959) is an American contemporary classical music and popular music composer, a film score composer and an actor He is also a violinist, pianist, and accordionist, and a founding member of the American alternat ...

(violin/piano), Scott Roewe (multi-instrumentalist) and Ian Bernard (drums/percussion). After 1993 members included Thaddeus Corea and Jason Payne on drums/percussion and Skip Ward on bass.

Biography

Formed in early 1992 as an impromptu jam session at an Irish coffee house in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywoo ...

called Café Beckett. Singer Angela McCluskey had gathered together a group of fellow musicians to arrange a “musical evening” to showcase her friend/guitarist

, who had recently relocated to Los Angeles from New York. Brought aboard were

, on violin and piano; Scott Roewe, on bass, keyboards, and saxophone; and Ian Bernard (drums/percussion) and other revolving special guests. The “musical evening” evolved into a regular gig from the group soon to be known as Wild Colonials - named after the Irish song “

Wild Colonial Boy "The Wild Colonial Boy" is a traditional anonymously penned Irish-Australian folk ballad which tells the story of a bushranger in early colonial Australia who dies during a gunfight with local police. Versions of the ballad give different names f ...

.” Also joining in with the ever changing line up of guests included Dave King (

Flogging Molly Flogging Molly is an Irish-American seven-piece Celtic punk bandLife Is Good Out Now
Floggingmolly. ...

Vivian Campbell Vivian Patrick Campbell (born 25 August 1962) is a Northern Irish guitarist. He came to prominence in the early 1980s as a member of Dio, and has been a member of Def Leppard since 1992 (replacing Steve Clark after his death). Campbell has a ...

(

Def Leppard Def Leppard are an English rock band formed in 1976 in Sheffield. Since 1992, the band has consisted of Rick Savage (bass, backing vocals), Joe Elliott (lead vocals), Rick Allen (drums, backing vocals), Phil Collen (guitar, backing vocals) ...

), and several members of the

Hothouse Flowers Hothouse Flowers are an Irish rock band that combine traditional Irish music with influences from soul, gospel, and rock. Formed in 1985 in Dublin, they started as street performers. Their first album, ''People'' (1988), was the most success ...

and

Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. His work explored religion, politics, isolation, depression, sexuality, loss, death, and romantic relationships. He was inducted in ...

's touring band. From Café Beckett the group developed a large following, performing regularly at Molly Malone's, an Irish pub in Los Angeles, and then moving to

Café Largo Largo, also called Café Largo, Largo, darling!, or Club Largo, is a nightclub and cabaret in Los Angeles, California, known for its musical and comedic performers and for the Friday night residency of singer-songwriter Jon Brion. History ...

a larger venue in West Hollywood. With a Tuesday night residency that lasted several months the buzz that developed in the LA music scene procured the Wild Colonials a record deal with DGC/Geffen Records. ''Fruit of Life'' (1994) and ''This Can’t Be Life'' (1996) were both released to critical acclaim, landing the group as the second stage headliner on the prestigious

Lilith Fair Lilith Fair was a concert tour and travelling music festival, founded by Canadian musician Sarah McLachlan, Nettwerk Music Group's Dan Fraser and Terry McBride, and New York talent agent Marty Diamond. It took place during the summers of 199 ...

lineup in 1997. Over that time, Wild Colonials–either as a group or as individual artists - have performed music for several films- a collection of unreleased tracks, soundtrack only tracks and score cues was collected to make up their third album "Reel Life vol 1" (2000) (released through indie label Chromatic Records). The band's fourth album was intended to be released as four separate EPs under the umbrella name ''Life As We Know It'' (UMe/Universal). To date only EP 1/4 has been released. The band members have a number of connections to other celebrities and musicians: Thaddeus Corea is the son of pianist/composer

Chick Corea Armando Anthony "Chick" Corea (June 12, 1941 – February 9, 2021) was an American jazz composer, pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, and occasional percussionist. His compositions "Spain", "500 Miles High", "La Fiesta", "Armando's Rhumba", and " ...

, violinist Paul Cantelon is the brother in law of American singer

Rickie Lee Jones Rickie Lee Jones (born November 8, 1954) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and author. Over the course of a career that spans five decades, she has recorded in various musical styles including rock, R&B, pop, soul, and jazz. A two ...

, and vocalist Angela McCluskey is British singer

Lily Allen Lily Rose Beatrice Allen (born 2 May 1985) is an English singer-songwriter and actress. She is the daughter of actor Keith Allen and film producer Alison Owen. Her music career began in 2005 when she made some of her vocal recordings public ...

's Godmother.

Music in film

Wild Colonials music has appeared in over thirty different films from Disney's ''Mr. Wrong'', to the quirky Indie sensation ''Flirting with Disaster'' and the Sundance Film Festival hit ''Dead Man's Curve''. Three members of the band, Shark, Paul Cantelon and Scott Roewe have all scored feature-length films. * The song "Blue" appeared in the movie "

Dead Man's Curve Dead Man's Curve is an American nickname for a curve in a road that has claimed lives because of numerous crashes. Examples * A curve on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles memorialized in the hit song " Dead Man's Curve" by Jan and Dean. The song ...

" and the film " Anarchy TV". * The song "Victim" appeared in the movie

The Last Supper (1995 film) ''The Last Supper'' is a 1995 American spoof political satire black comedy film directed by Stacy Title. It stars Cameron Diaz, Ron Eldard, Annabeth Gish, Jonathan Penner and Courtney B. Vance as five liberal graduate school students who ...

and the short film The Yard Sale. * The song “Wake Up Sad (remix)” appeared in the movie "

". * The Wild Colonials version of

Tom Jones Tom Jones may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Tom Jones (singer) (born 1940), Welsh singer * Tom Jones (writer) (1928–2023), American librettist and lyricist *''The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling'', a novel by Henry Fielding published in ...

' "It's Not Unusual" appeared in the movie " Mr. Wrong" * The song "Evil" appeared in the movie "

The Motorcycle Gang (Rebel Highway) ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in ...

". * The song "This Misery" appeared in the movie "

Unhook The Stars ''Unhook the Stars'' is a 1996 American drama film directed by Nick Cassavetes, and starring his mother Gena Rowlands, Marisa Tomei, Gérard Depardieu, and Jake Lloyd in his film debut. Rowlands plays Mildred, a widow who befriends the wayward ...

". * The song "RollerCoaster" appeared in the movie " I'll Take You There". * The song "Love®" appeared in the movie " Cosa Bella". * The Wild Colonials version of

's "Dance Me To The End Of Love" appeared in the movie ''

Chromophobia Chromophobia (also known as chromatophobia or chrematophobia) is a persistent, irrational fear of, or aversion to, colors and is usually a conditioned response. While actual clinical phobias to color are rare, colors can elicit hormonal respo ...

'' * The song "Cure" appears in the television movie Cabin by the Lake and its sequel. * The songs "Rainbow" and "If By Chance" (a duet with Cyndi Lauper) appears in the movie soundtrack for "Southie". * The song "Heaven & Hell 2010" appears in the movie '' "Conviction"''.

Discography

* '' Fruit of Life'' (1994) * '' This Can't Be Life'' (1996) * ''Reel Life vol. 1'' (2000) * ''Life As We Know It - EP'' (2007)

Awards

Vocalist Angela McCluskey as co-writer/guest vocalist with French Electronica band

Télépopmusik Télépopmusik is a French electronic music trio, composed of Fabrice Dumont (bassist of the pop band Autour de Lucie), Stephan Haeri (also known as "2 square" for his solo projects), and Christophe Hetier (also known as "DJ Antipop"). Histor ...

was nominated for the 2004

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

for Best Dance Recording for the International hit "Breathe". The Grammy went to

Kylie Minogue Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter and actress. She is the highest-selling female Australian artist of all time, having sold over 80 million records worldwide. She has been recognised for reinve ...

for "Come Into My World".

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Alternative rock groups from California Musical groups established in 1992 Musical groups from Los Angeles