Joel Pott (guitar/vocals)

Carey Willetts (bass)

Stephen Roberts (drums)

Tim Wanstall (keyboards)

The four members of Athlete grew up in the southeast London suburb of Deptford, and first began playing music together as teenagers. After several years spent playing in underachieving bands and holding down day jobs, the quartet reunited in 1999 and began performing as Athlete, taking their inspiration from maverick U.S. alt-rock bands the Flaming Lips and Grandaddy. They made their recording debut for the Regal Recording label, releasing the Athlete EP in early 2002. The EP's lead track, "Westside," introduced Athlete's keyboard-driven sound and penchant for big, swooping choruses (following a striking acoustic opening), and took a sly swipe at the herd mentality of the music business.

The warm reception afforded the EP led to a major label recording contract with Parlophone Records, who were no doubt hoping to replicate the success of another of their signings, Coldplay. Athlete broke into the U.K. top 40 with the singles "You Got The Style" and "El Salvador," and released their debut album, Vehicles & Animals, in April 2003.

Following the release of the album, the band worked the festival circuit, diligently endearing themselves to many new fans. They also found themselves nominated for a prestigious Mercury award. Further touring followed throughout Europe before the band set about making their second album. Recorded in Sussex and London and mixed in New York, the result was Tourist, an album bursting with glorious guitar-pop hooks. The album packed a solid, emotional punch right from the off, with opening song "Chances" building to its rousing chorus on a wave of piano, soft electro-flourishes and crescendos of epic strings.

Other album highlights include the aching "Half Light," the uplifting "I Found Out" and "Modern Mafia," with its snappy strut, which is built upon sleighbells. The soft-centred final track, "I Love," ends in a gentle flurry of electro-bleeps, adding further diversity to a solid collection of songs.

The album entered the U.K. charts at number one and quickly achieved platinum status. The first single from the album, "Wires," reached number four in the U.K. singles charts.

Equipment

The band uses a variety of Fender® equipment. Joel Pott plays a Custom Shop Bigbsy® Telecaster®, master-built by Yuriy Shishkov, as well as a Jaguar®, Hot Rod Deluxe™ and Blues Junior™. He also plays a Guild® D55. Carey plays a '70s Jazz Bass® guitar and has a '55 Precision Bass® guitar as backup.



Visit Athlete online at www.athlete.mu.