U.K. Cabaret-Electronic Rock Group Dawn Of The Gecko Release Debut EP, "Raised In The Gecko"

Phil Jourdan of the musical duo Dawn Of the Gecko announced today that their debut album "Raised in the Gecko," has been released and is currently available for purchase on iTunes and other online retailers. The five track EP features a delightful assortment of cabaret-electronic rock songs mixed with comical lyrics and beats that don't disappoint.

Describing their genre, Jourdan said, "If it's melodramatic, campy and upbeat, you're halfway there. If you incorporate a look of theatrical nonsense into the music and you tell a story, you're even closer. But I'd say the main thing is to be faithful to the spirit of cabaret, with its grotesqueness and its creepy vibe." Jourdan, along with partner Sam Folkes, is creating music that serves the dual purpose of both sounding great and making you laugh.

Their second EP, "Gecko! Echo! Echo!" is already in the process of being completed, and is expected to be released in late March, 2011. Dawn Of The Gecko currently performs in local bars, but have their sights set on other venues as well.

The pair met in 2010 through a friend, to whom they have since dedicated a song ("Jim's Girl"), and discovered they both liked to make music. Their friendship was solidified when they became roommates after Folkes decided to move to Leamington. Though they didn't know it at the time, a musical match made in heaven was about to be born.

Though both were musicians prior to meeting, neither had the passion that they now both have with Dawn Of The Gecko. Jourdan commented, "I've been playing guitar and bass since high school, though I never took it very seriously and prefer to sing when possible. We both like to geek around with sounds, though Sam's been at it far longer than I have. I used to play little one-man comedy gigs — then I stopped for several years. It was only after meeting Sam that I decided to play live again. We play a gig weekly here in Leamington Spa, where we also live."

Folkes studied Music Composition and Technology at the University of Hertfordshire and has had a lifelong interest in music. He began playing the piano at age fifteen as a result of being such a huge fan of Boogie-Woogie.

While the pair came up with the band's name in five minutes by randomly choosing words, selecting their sound took a bit longer. "Initially, we simply wanted to make funny cabaret songs, but given Sam's love for electronic music and my interest in heavy rock, we quickly expanded the sound and different things until we were happy with the "Gecko sound". That "Gecko sound" consists of Jourdan on guitar, bass, and singing vocals, with Folkes on piano and doing the programming and mixing.

Coming up with the concept of doing Cabaret-electronica music was a somewhat natural evolution of things that the Dawn of the Gecko band members had been doing on their own. "We were mostly interested in doing stupid pantomime-style stuff when we started out. The comedy bit seemed obvious — we both like not to take our music too seriously. The electronica influences (as well as the occasional industrial influences) came later, when we tried to make the songs sound more original, more relevant to our interests. Not all of our songs are meant to be hilarious, but they're all pretty stupid lyrically, and they incorporate silly little melodies.

"Raised In The Gecko" can be purchased at: http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/raised-in-the-gecko/id408009704