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Gemma Clarke is a musician, who was previously the drummer for The Suffrajets, The Krak and Babyshambles and Adam Ant. She has recently taken up writing, and her article, entitled "For the love of music" was published in Louder Than Bombs Magazine. [1] Her family owns a rehearsal studio in Old Street, called Rooz Studios, and a venue in Holloway Road called Nambucca.
Gemma is now drummer in up and coming indie grunge band called JW Paris
For a year, Clarke played drums for the ex-Libertine Pete Doherty's band Babyshambles. She left in January 2005, citing disagreements with the management. [2]
After leaving the band, she wrote an open letter which read as follows:
"Dear Peter, I would like to make it very clear about my reasons for making the stand that I have. I will not continue to work under the management that you have chosen for the band as I could no longer be part of a machine that I feel is destroying you. I love you, the music, Patrick, Dru and Babyshambles. Please be safe and be careful. You are a great artist and have been a massive inspiration to me. Thanks for the experience and for a great time – keep safe and don't forget to call me...good luck for the future.
xxxgemmaxxxx" [3]
Clarke drummed on early Babyshambles tracks, including the single version of "Killamangiro" and its B-side "The Man Who Came To Stay". She also attended the band's XFM session in December 2004, played on the Zane Lowe recordings of 27 October 2004 ("Fuck Forever", "Do You Know Me" and "My Darling Clementine") and made a few television appearances with the band including Top of the Pops , CD:UK , [4] Hero2Hero and on Tim Lovejoy's Allstars show.
Before and after her time in Babyshambles, Clarke toured with the Suffrajets. They released four singles in 2005/2006. "Sold" was released in May 2005, with "Everything You Do" following in October. "Going Nowhere" was released on 27 March 2006. Their next single "Worthy" was released on 26 June 2006. Their album Crooked Mile' went on release in September 2006, only available via their website. After spending 12 years with the Suffrajets, and co-founding the band, the group eventually split in 2007.
After The Suffrajets split, Clarke played drums in a band called The Krak, who toured and most of Europe including Belgium, France and Luxembourg. They released two singles: 'Madame Riviere' (through Militant Entertainment) in June 2008 and double A-side 'School Disco (the kazoo song)/Estate Dwelling' in June 2009 (via notonyourradio records). The Krak also had extensive press and media coverage, playing guerilla gigs in shops, in London Zoo Gorilla enclosure, Space-hopping on the millennium bridge and the Orient Express... They played at Glastonbury 2008 and made a collaboration with indie/rock band The Sea, doing a cover version of well known 'Out of Space' by The Prodigy. They made a video for this track, which includes footage of the Glastonbury performance. They also headlined London venue The Scala in January 2009.
The Krak split in October 2009 and Clarke put together new project Spitfire in January 2010 (with 2 previous members of The Krak; Tom Lattimer and Tom Keane). The band did a week tour in Ireland and England. In March 2012 Clarke formed a dance-punk band with fellow musicians Laura Le Rox, Josefine Jonsson, Mercedes Di'Ett and Rosie Bans, entitled Her Majesty and played a number of gigs under that name including some in Amsterdam (supporting Florida Room at The Winston on Saturday 29 September 2012), until November 2012 that year when the band separated. She also writes for music magazines. In September 2021 Clarke played drums for JWParis at Luton's Castlefest, who she currently remains with.
The Libertines are an English rock band, formed in London in 1997 by frontmen Carl Barât (vocals/guitar) and Pete Doherty (vocals/guitar). The band, centred on the songwriting partnership of Barât and Doherty, has also included John Hassall (bass), and Gary Powell (drums) for most of its recording career. The band was part of the garage rock revival and spearheaded the movement in the UK.
Peter Doherty is an English musician, songwriter, actor, poet, writer and artist. He is best known for being co-frontman of the Libertines, which he formed with Carl Barât in 1997. His other musical projects are indie band Babyshambles and Peter Doherty and the Puta Madres.
The La's were an English rock band from Liverpool, originally active from 1983 until 1992. Fronted by singer, songwriter and guitarist Lee Mavers, the group are best known for their hit single "There She Goes". The band was formed by Mike Badger in 1983 and Mavers joined the next year, although for most of the group's history, the frequently changing line-up revolved around the core duo of Lee Mavers and John Power along with numerous other guitarists and drummers including Paul Hemmings, John "Timmo" Timson, Peter "Cammy" Cammell, Iain Templeton, John "Boo" Byrne, Chris Sharrock, Barry Sutton and Neil Mavers.
The Dumdums were a British guitar-pop band. London-based, they split up in August 2001. The band members were Josh Doyle – vocals and guitar, Steve Clarke – bass and vocals, Stuart 'Baxter' Wilkinson – drums and vocals.
Levellers are an English folk rock and anarcho-punk band formed in Brighton, England, in 1988, consisting of Mark Chadwick, Jeremy Cunningham, Charlie Heather (drums), Jon Sevink (violin), Simon Friend, Matt Savage (keyboards) and Dan Donnelly. Taking their name from the Levellers political movement, the band released their first EP in 1989 and LP in 1990, with international success following upon signing to China Records and the release of their second album Levelling the Land. The band were among the most popular indie bands in Britain in the early 1990s, and performed at the Glastonbury Festival, first in 1992, then in 1994, where they performed as the headline act on The Pyramid Stage to a record crowd of 300,000 people. They continue to record and tour.
Babyshambles were an English rock band established in London. The band was formed by Pete Doherty during a hiatus from the Libertines. As of 2013 the band included Mick Whitnall, Drew McConnell and Adam Ficek. Babyshambles have released three albums—Down in Albion (2005), Shotter's Nation (2007) and Sequel to the Prequel (2013)—three EPs and a number of singles.
JJ72 were an alternative rock band from Dublin, Ireland. After forming in 1996, they signed to Lakota Records in 1999 and released two albums before splitting in 2006.
Carl Ashley Raphael Barât is a British musician and actor, best known for being the co-frontman with Pete Doherty of the Indie Rock band the Libertines. He was the frontman and lead guitarist of Dirty Pretty Things, and in 2010 debuted a solo album. In 2014 he announced the creation of his new band, The Jackals.
Kasabian are an English rock band formed in Leicester in 1997 by lead vocalist Tom Meighan, guitarist and second vocalist Sergio Pizzorno, guitarist Chris Karloff and bassist Chris Edwards. Drummer Ian Matthews joined in 2004. Karloff left the band in 2006 and founded a new band called Black Onassis. Jay Mehler joined as touring lead guitarist in 2006, leaving for Liam Gallagher's Beady Eye in 2013, to be replaced by Tim Carter, who later became a full-time band member in 2021. Meighan left the band in July 2020, with Pizzorno stepping up as full-time lead vocalist.
"Killamangiro" is a song by English band, Babyshambles, released in November 2004 through Rough Trade Records. It achieved respectable chart success, peaking at #8 on the UK Singles Chart.
Patrick George Walden is best known as the former guitarist for Babyshambles. Prior to joining Babyshambles, Walden belonged to a variety of London groups, among which were Fluid, the Six Cold Thousand, and The White Sport. He played guitar for The White Sport alongside another future Babyshambles member, drummer Adam Ficek. Walden also worked as a live guitarist and as a session musician, playing bass and guitar for numerous recording artists. Among those acts were Whitey, James Blunt, 500 and Crave, Ed Laliq, and, very briefly, The Honeymoon.
The Subways are an English rock band from Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire. Formed in 2002, the band consists of Billy Lunn, Charlotte Cooper, and Camille Phillips (drums). Founding member and original drummer Josh Morgan left the band for personal reasons in October 2020.
Drew McConnell is the bass guitarist and backing vocalist with Babyshambles, the band formed by frontman of the Libertines, Pete Doherty, and for former Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher's band. He lived in Tenerife, Spain, for much of his childhood and he speaks Spanish fluently. Formerly in the band Elviss, McConnell participates in a number of side-projects, such as the Phoenix Drive and playing double bass and piano with Irish singer/songwriter Fionn Regan as well as writing and recording solo material.
The Stands were an English alternative rock band, formed in 2002 in Liverpool. The band was composed of singer-songwriter Howie Payne, guitarist Luke Thomson, bassist Dean Ravera and drummer Steve Pilgrim.
The Bandits were an English blues rock band from Liverpool. They are most notable for the singles "Take it and Run" and "2 Step Rock", which both reached the Top 40 on the UK Singles Chart.
Sebastian Rochford is a British drummer and composer. He has recorded and released music as leader of the British band Polar Bear, as Kutcha Butcha and as part of numerous collaborations.
The Blinding EP is an EP by English indie rock band Babyshambles. It was the band's first release since signing with major record label Parlophone. The EP was released on 4 December 2006 in the United Kingdom to positive critical reviews by that label's offshoot Regal Records and on 5 December in the United States by Capitol Records. The EP entered the official UK Albums Chart at #62 on 11 December 2006, while the title song entered the download chart at #77. A week later, an entry on band's official MySpace blog stated that had a fifth track not been added to make the EP ineligible in the UK Singles Chart, "The Blinding" would have entered that chart at #4. As with their debut album, Pete Doherty designed the artwork for the EP.
Up the Shambles – Live in Manchester is a live DVD of the band Babyshambles. The DVD was released without the band's prior knowledge according to bassist Drew McConnell. The DVD was released around the time of the band's second album Shotters Nation, but not only featured a much older version of the band, it was recorded prior to the release of the first album Down in Albion. The set list features songs of the band's debut, B-sides, unreleased songs and songs by Pete Doherty's other band The Libertines.
The Sea were an English rock band from Cornwall, England, between 2007 and 2014. They released three studio albums, played over 1000 concerts in over 15 plus countries over several tours.
Sarah Jones is an English musician based in London, best known for her work as a session and touring drummer. She is a founding member of NYPC, and has also served as a touring drummer for musicians such as Aynsley Lister, Harry Styles, Bat for Lashes, post-punk revival band Bloc Party, and synthpop band Hot Chip. Additionally, she has released several solo singles under the moniker Pillow Person. In 2020, she played drums on the Puscifer album Existential Reckoning.