Sharp Practise plays melodic rock. Like the great classic rock groups, we want to be a credible act that is capable of having hit singles. From progressive rock we've taken the idea of trying to develop the quality of our playing to a good standard. Like punks we want to make our own opportunities when none already exist. And from the days of the great album bands, we want to use the studio as an additional instrument.
We have just released our fifth album, Steal with Pride. A video for Hard Heart, the first single from the album has also been released.
Albums released so far are Hiya (2000), Radiocity (2005), Banging the Rocks (2009) and Now You See Us (2010). The first three are studio albums, the fourth a live recording. The current line-up of Sharp Practise got together during the recording of Banging the Rocks and features Nigel Clothier (vocals and keyboards), Simon Foley (guitars), Ryan Lawson (bass) and Michael Elwood (drums).
We got our name from the first record company we worked with. Nigel had sent them some demos on which he had played all the instruments himself. They assumed they'd heard a band and wanted to sign that band. When Nigel confessed to this piece of "sharp practice" there was only one thing the band could ever be called.
Since Sharp Practise started we have:
* Appeared on Ground Zero TV in Australia
* Had a track featured on the Fila sportswear Rock for Athletes CD
in Italy
* Provided a song for the soundtrack to a DVD by a teen star in
Japan
* Won a Kweevak listeners' award in the USA
* Won a New Music Award in the UK
* Given a song to the Odyssey 2050 project that helps build young
people's awareness of environmental issues worldwide
* Had videos broadcast in Canada and across mainland Europe
* Played at several well-known venues including the Cavern Club
and the Troubadour.
Having enjoyed success with previous albums the globe-trotting, UK based melodic rock of Sharp Practise makes a welcome return with the launch of fifth album ‘Steal With Pride’.
The ten track album, road tested on a recent British tour, has been written and arranged by Nigel Clothier, the driving force behind Sharp Practise. Nigel explains ‘I write songs as an observer of life, inspiration comes from things that happen around me, things that I see or hear on my travels’.
Stirred by local news coverage of urban riots and a brief comment to a passer-by from the mother of a hoodie, Nigel penned ‘Jog On’ that opens Steal With Pride. The album’s journey continues from the viewpoint of a thoughtful spectator and is brought full circle in the last track ‘Justice’ where Nigel’s inspiration came from the desire for social justice expressed in the Arab Spring.
Nigel’s songs come from everyday life. The look on a child’s face seeing a raunchily dressed girl in the street (Fine Line); crashing at a mate’s house listening to music through the night (Keep It Dark); the power of female influence (Over To Caitlin’s) and the counter point that men too can abstain from acting on their sexual desires (Wish My Girlfriend Was A Vampire).
Nigel explains the Sharp Practise philosophy this way. ‘Telling a story in a lyric is very important to me – I’ve always listened to the stories writers like Phil Lynott, Bruce Springsteen and Neil Finn have told and wanted to make my lyrics capable of standing alone too’
‘Musically I try to keep the song structure simple and accessible while still allowing room for something clever to happen. That might be a guitar solo or three like in ‘Maybe (This Ain’t Right)’ or even a little vocal effect, like the blue note in the second verse of ‘Hard Heart’ on the word “blues”.
In an age of ever expanding musical genres and experimentation Sharp Practise stays true to the melodic rock style that continues to be loved by fans all over the world and which inspires them so much.
For more about Sharp Practise please visit their website at www.sharppractise.com
To contact Sharp Practise or acquire CDs please e-mail admin@sharppractise.com
Hear song previews from Steal With Pride at http://cdbaby.com/cd/sharppractise2
Watch the video for Hard Heart at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydyazaPwemU
To find out more about Sharp Practise please visit our website at www.sharppractise.com.
To get in touch with Sharp Practise please e-mail us at admin@sharppractise.com.
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