Biography

I forge songs in a furnace and temper them with icy lyrics. It’s raw and honest. It’s music from the edge. I am an independent songsmith crafting music for everyone sick of the mainstream hype machine. They’re songs for the bold and brave. It’s music that embraces a DIY attitude, no autotune, no record labels. I call it Fringe Rock.
Dazzle Rebel

The fiercely independent DIY artist Dazzle Rebel is leading the Fringe Rock charge with vigorous songs filled with dark humour and a potent post-punk demeanour. Combining the sounds of 80s and 90s era alternative rock with a devil-may-care songwriting approach, his music is a refreshing departure from the autotuned and time-aligned cookie-cutter contemporary rock scene. He is on a mission to prove that you don’t have to fit in with the rest of the crowd in order to create compelling guitar-based music.

Born in Luton on the cusp of the Generation X and Millennial cohorts, Dazzle Rebel lives in a void between generations. Existing outside of conventional time and space he refuses to follow five-minute trends. His music mixes retro rock and the avant-garde. It’s a sound that is heavily influenced by the alternative rock scene of the 1990s and rock legends that dared to colour outside the lines, such as David Bowie and Warren Zevon. After all fashion changes but creativity knows no bounds and a good song is timeless.

He was a founding member and Bass Guitarist for the London-based sleaze rock band Red Star Rebels and a former bass player for underdog Leicester rockers New Generation Superstars. For more than a decade he has been based in Nottingham, a city he fell in love with when touring the UK with his former bands. From this adopted hometown he has been surprising seasoned journalists with his homemade music recorded in his attic, with Planet Mosh giving a glowing 5-star review of his sophomore EP Condor Leader.

His lyrics range from politically aware social satire to heartfelt introspectives and everything in between, often with a healthy sprinkling of dark humour. He is not afraid to push buttons or take satirical pokes at subjects many consider taboo. In a world where too many artists fear being cancelled it’s a refreshing perspective to take.

He released his debut solo EP, The Attic Transmission during the first UK Covid Lockdown in May 2020. A double-EP if truth be known. Disc one is The Attic Transmission, a series of demo recordings dating back to 2013, plus the single “Fortitude” written in the first weeks of lockdown. Disc two, The Attic Sessions is a series of demos recorded between leaving Red Star Rebels in 2007 and joining New Generation Superstars in 2010.

This was followed by Condor Leader, a release that he refers to as a mini-album based on the fact that it’s longer than a standard EP but shorter than a standard album. Condor Leader was recorded entirely by Dazzle Rebel on an ageing computer running obsolete software in his attic. It was then mixed by John JJ Watt and released to critical acclaim with Planet Mosh even giving the release full 5 stars. An acoustic version, Condor Dealer was released in March 2022 and was recorded in less than 24 hours.

Another totally self-produced EP is due for release later in 2022 and will be proceeded by three singles. The first of these singles “Cookin’ in the Sun”, an upbeat, sunkissed post-punk romper was released on 13th May 2022. A much darker follow-up single, Let Me In, is due for release on 22nd July.

He is also working on another rock project with Wildside RIOT’s Gaz Wilde on drums and The City Kids’ John JJ Watt on guitar. The first single is in the works and looks set for a 2023 release.