XUK: Bio
XUK - a biography
XUK started life in 2003 as a four piece rock band with a traditional line up - vocals/guitar/bass/drums - principally formed to play the material of British singer/songwriter Simon Holden. A key member of the band from the earliest days was Simon's son, Robin Holden (22 years old at the time), who first played drums, then bass for the band. Viola player Eric Summer was introduced to the band by a mutual friend in 2004 and XUK's unique, symphonic sound was born. Robin Holden went on to play bass for another Los Angeles-based British band, The King Cheetah (TKC), while remaining on drums for XUK as well as engineering and producing XUK's debut CD. After XUK's CD was released in August 2005, Matt Peter of The Letter Openers stepped in to play bass for XUK's live shows. Robin remained on drums until October 2005 when he left the band to concentrate on his bass role in TKC. At that time Simon's friend Ron Pak (Maple Mars, Double-Naught Spies, Drive-Thru Jesus) joined as the drummer. In September 2006 Johnny K, former band mate of Ron's in Drive-Thru Jesus, took over the bass duties.
XUK regularly play live, mostly in the Los Angeles area, as well as touring the Western US. XUK played the South-By-Southwest music festival in Austin for the first time in March 2006. Local venues include The Viper Room, The Mint, The Joint, The Cat Club, The Gig, Zen Sushi, El Cid, Highland Grounds, M Bar, Mister T's Bowl.
The band is currently rehearsing for bookings for late 2006/early 2007 and working on material for their follow-up album.
XUK was brought to the attention of thousands of online listeners at iSound.com in June of 2005 and XUK have occupied the Number One spot in the website's Top 100 Unsigned Artists Chart. Registering over 16,000 page views and more than 11,000 song plays in three months, XUK is attracting a growing fan base around the world from the US & Canada to the UK, from the Phillipines to Australia. XUK music is now available on most major music download sites including iTunes.
Producer Robin Holden was honoured with the 2006 DIY Producer of the Year Award for his work on "Love Hits", XUK's 21 song debut double album.
XUK was a runner-up in the 2006 Singer/Songwriter Awards.
Simon Holden - vocals/guitar
Simon is from a little post-industrial town in the North of England called Accrington. The same place as Jon Anderson, the lead singer of the prog-rock group Yes! Simon's first instrument was drums when he was thirteen and he learned three chords on the guitar in the boy scouts in England. He never really progressed any further but that didn't stop him being in a few pub bands in the UK. He is only member of his family with no formal musical training. He considers himself a singer/songwriter but not really a musician.
Simon is really a visual artist who just enjoys karaoke and good quality hair gel. He usually wears a kilt when performing with XUK. Here's the answer to the question everyone seems to ask... "Of course not!"
Simon lives with two females in North Hollywood, California.
Eric Summer - viola
Originally from Missoula, Montana, Eric started playing viola at age ten for an undisclosed reason. He is 30 now and has a lot more hair. He also has a Master's Degree in viola performance from USC which is obvious when you hear him play. After years of classical playing with many chamber groups and symphonies (as well as concerts with performers such as Stevie Wonder, Quincy Jones, Louie Bellson, and Wayne Shorter), he decided to switch gears and play some rock and roll. After meeting Simon and joining XUK Eric has been invited to play on the recordings of several other local Los Angeles bands.
Eric likes British comedy, video games (which he gets paid real money to play), cartoons, and chocolate milk.
Ron Pak - drums
Ron began playing music at the age of six. His first instrument being the violin but after a summer of playgrounds and soccer violin fell by the wayside. After a couple of years banging on pots and pans drums became the way. Ron is a classicaly-trained musician with Bachelors in Music from CSUN but has maintained his street smarts when it comes to music. He has played in numerous bands in the LA area. Most noteably Double Naught Spies, Maple Mars, Drive Thru Jesus, and now with XUK. Toured the US and UK.
Ron's a great cook and is going to have his own restaurant one day. His favourite electronic device is the Turkey iPod.
JK - bass
Johhny K just joined XUK so we'll have to have him write something here soon... All we know is that he like beer, barbecue and bass. He used to be in a band with Ron, Drive-Thru Jesus... Watch this space!
Katie Adams - 2nd viola
Katie is a girl who occasionally plays the viola with XUK. She likes to rock 'n roller skate. She refuses to elaborate because that would take away some of the mystery. Katie's other band is called The Prisoner's Dilemma based in Long Beach, California.
Robin Holden - Producer
The multi-talented son of Simon Holden, XUK's singer/songwriter, Robin not only produced and engineered XUK's debut double album "Love Hits ...like a cricket bat-out-of-hell" (gaining the 2006 DIY Producer of the Year Award in the process) but he also played bass, most of the drums and percussion, sang most of the backing vocals and some of the guitar (most notably on XUK's cover of David Bowie's 1972 song "Janine").
Robin was born in Hammersmith, London. He spent his formative years north of London and in Suffolk. When he was eight years old he spent half the year in the US and the other half in the UK. He retains his British sense of humour and accent.
He is the bass player in the British band The King Cheetah, based in Los Angeles.