Rogue Traders - Biography

The Rogue Traders are an electro-rock group from Australia. The live band consists of James Ash (Keyboards), Timothy Henwood (Guitars), Cameron McGlinchey (Drums) and Natalie Bassingthwaighte (Lead Vocals). The group's original members (James Ash, Steve Davis) met in London in 1989. Before forming Rogue Traders, Ash and Davis worked together on many projects, most notably as dance act Union State. Davis still contributes to the band and is still an active part of the songwriting process. The band's name came from the movie Rogue Trader.

Vicious Grooves - Debut Album

In 2003 Rogue Traders (James Ash, Steve Davis) released their debut album We Know What You're Up To. Their debut single "Need You To Show Me" did not enter the Top 100 but reached #16 on the ARIA Top 40 Club Chart.

The second single released from the album, "Give In To Me", was a minor Australian ARIAnet top 100 chart single peaking at #67. Their third single was a lot more successful. They remixed/covered INXS's "Need You Tonight", renaming it "One Of My Kind". The track peaked at #10 in Australia -- giving them the recognition they needed. A fourth single, "Stay?", gave them another minor top 100 chart single peaking at #60.

The Rogue Traders won an ARIA award for Best Dance Track for the song "One Of My Kind". They were nominated for two APRA awards in 2003 for "Give In To Me" and in 2004 for "One Of My Kind" but lost in both years.

A New Beginning - Here Come The Drums

They returned in 2005, with their new album Here Come The Drums, a new record contract with music giant SonyBMG along with new band member Neighbours' Natalie Bassingthwaighte. The first single “Voodoo Child”, reached number #4 in Australia, and #7 in New Zealand (their biggest hit yet). The second single from the album, "Way To Go" reached #7 in Australia, while "Watching You", which was their second single to reach the top 5, peaked at #5 in Australia. Like many other modern music acts, the Rogue Traders use elements of old songs in their music. However, rather than sampling the original songs, they re-record the relevant parts. "Voodoo Child" contains a re-recorded riff from "Pump It Up" by Elvis Costello. "Watching You" contains re-recorded elements of "My Sharona" by The Knack.

2006 saw the Rogue Traders' continuing success in Australia as released singles and their second album continued to do well in the Australian charts. Amongst rumours of Natalie Bassingthwaighte planning to leave her role as Izzy Hoyland in Neighbours, the band revealed a deal with the UK arm of SonyBMG, intending to release music in the country in the summer of 2006. They also won the 2006 MTV Australian Video Music Award for Best Video for "Voodoo Child".

In June 2006 the Rogue Traders won their first APRA Award, with "Way To Go!" taking out the "Most Performed Dance Work" category. They have previously been nominated for two APRA awards in the same category, in 2003 for their single "Give In To Me" and in 2004 for "One Of My Kind", which also won an ARIA award. Also in June 2006, the Rogue Traders announced they were releasing their second album Here Come The Drums again, as a Limited Edition 2 CD Remix Set. The second CD contained remixes from all their smash singles and the album included new artwork. It was released on June 10th, the same day of their 4th single "We're Coming Home." On June 18, 2006, Natalie Bassingthwaighte and James Ash announced on Video Hits that the band are currently in the process of writing their third studio recorded album.

Breakout In Europe - Here Come The Drums

The Rogue Traders announced early 2006 that they have signed with the European division of Sony BMG and were to be releasing their second album Here Come The Drums and singles from the album later in the year. It was later announced that Voodoo Child was to be again the first single in the UK as it was in Australia. Voodoo Child was then given a UK release of July 10 and the album July 24. A gig was also announced for the UK at Shepherds Bush Empire in London for July 11th - one day after the release of Voodoo Child, which was for hopes to get the debut of Voodoo Child high in the charts. Numerous radio stations across the UK started to play Voodoo Child 6 weeks before its release.

The video clip for Voodoo Child started to receive airplay on programs across UK such as The Box, The Hits and MTV Dance. The clip stayed the same as the Australian version. It reached top 5 positions on the programs and #1 on some Radio Stations as well. The song received a lot of positive reviews from Radio Stations, TV Programs and music critics. Some called it a 'Summer Anthem for 2006' and some named it either 'Record of the Week/Month.' The video and single was then put onto iTunes UK for buy. The video reached #2 on the iTunes Video Chart and stayed in the top 5 for a few days, while the single was selling itself into the top 10 and days later into the top 5.

Voodoo Child was released on July 10th in the UK but debuted in the chart the week before at #18 due to download sales. After its official release, Voodoo Child rocketed into the top 10 at #3 with sales of over 21,000. Due to its success Voodoo Child is due to be released in several European countries including the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg.

Rogue Traders Official Website