These Four Walls Bio

Over four years ago, guitarist Gray Vickers posted an ad online looking for a singer to work with. He received a response from singer Steve Gibb and weeks later, when the two started jamming together in a tiny basement in Glenfield, the band These Four Walls was formed

Gray and Steve’s musical chemistry and songwriting talents were undeniable, and would be the driving force behind the band’s success. The other key factor in the rise of These Four Walls was their tight, heavy and energetic live performances, which immediately caught the attention of hundreds of music fans and continued to grow and evolve with the music.

By 2007, These Four Walls were ready to introduce themselves to a larger audience. Their first single Walk Away was released early in the year, and gradually built momentum on The Rock FM and Kiwi FM as well as local stations Bayrock and The Zone. When the music video was released in May, the momentum picked up and Walk Away received significant airplay on both Radio and Television. It broke into the NZ Top 40, was featured on the Rock FM top 30 for 12 weeks and in 2008 was featured at #965 in the Rock FMs ‘Rock 1000 Countdown’ as the only song by an unsigned artist.

The band’s next release, Under The Shadows, was equally successful when released in late 2007, peaking at #18 on the NZ Top 40 chart, continuing to gain the band airplay on Radio and Television, and marked the band’s first appearance on The Edge FM.

These Four Walls’ third release, Fly Home, was again successful in raising the profile of the group and, as the third consecutive single to break into the NZ Top 40 chart, was the song that helped to win the band a Phase 4 album grant from NZ on Air.

In late 2008 These Four Walls signed a Promotion & Distribution deal with Isaac Promotions/ Universal Music NZ to release their debut album Down Falls An Empire throughout New Zealand. They began pre-production in January 2009 with Chris Van De Geer (Stellar*, Solstate, Revolver) and in May began recording with Chris and veteran producer/ engineer Andrew Buckton (The D4, Steriogram, Midnight Youth.)

Down Falls An Empire is a bold, artistic statement from the band. It’s musically diverse, yet thematically consistent, taking the listener on a journey and presenting itself as a single piece of art as opposed to just a collection of songs. Ambitious for a debut album, the songs range in style from powerful guitar-driven anthems to melodic and beautiful passages but thoughout the band retain their individuality and identity.

The band’s devoted and constantly growing fanbase was hungry for new music, and when Down Falls An Empire was released for pre-sale through www.amplifier.co.nz they flooded to the site, setting a new record for online pre-sales in New Zealand.

The album was released on September 14, 2009 and debuted at #22 on the national album charts. The lead single Sweet December has performed extremely well on Radio and TV and has featured on the Rock Radio and NZ Top 40 charts for over 3 months.

Down Falls An Empire has been received extremely well by existing fans of the band, and has generated many new followers as well. The album has received a multitude of positive reviews in the media and has presented the band with a number of opportunities, including opening for Nickelback at Vector Arena, featuring Sweet December on the Jim Beam 40 Shots of Rock compilation and performing at the Big Sound 09 summit in Brisbane.

View These Four Walls’s EPK on SonicBids

Achievements

Chart Success

Down Falls An Empire was released on 14 September 2009. The album received significant attention prior to release and broke the record for online pre-sales in New Zealand - previously held by Fat Freddy’s Drop.
Down Falls An Empire debuted at #22 on the national album charts, #1 on the www.amplifier.com album chart and #14 on the JB Hi Fi album chart.
Sweet December is the bands 4th consecutive NZ Top 40 Airplay single along with Fly Home, Under The Shadows and Walk Away. Sweet December peaked at #14 on the NZ Top 40 Airplay Chart.
Sweet December also rose to #9 on the Rock Radio Airplay Chart.
In 2008 Walk Away was voted #965 on the list of the top 1,000 rock songs of all time by Rock FM listeners.
Sweet December was selected by Radio Hauraki to feature on the ‘Jim Beam 40 Shots Of Rock Vol II’ compilation in October 09.
Fly Home was the Fifth most played song on The Zone 89X in 2008

Live Achievements

These Four Walls have toured New Zealand extensively, playing over 300 live shows. The wide appeal of the band has seen them play alongside such diverse loacl acts as Op Shop, Pluto, Autozamm, Goodnight Nurse, and Midnight Youth.
These Four Walls were picked to support Nickelback (CANADA) at Vector Arena in November 2009.
These Four Walls were the headline act at the annual ‘Paddock’ rock festival in Whanagrei, November 2009.
In September 2009 These Four Walls supported BDO 2010 act Karnivool (AUSTRALIA) in Auckland.
These Four Walls were one of only four NZ acts selected to perform at the Big Sound 09 Music Industry summit in Brisbane.
On December 31 2009, These Four Walls are joining Luger Boa and Deja Voodoo at the inaugural DETONATE New Years Eve festival in Taranki

Other

These Four Walls are sponsored by Halfpast Streetwear