In the beginning...
Defekt were formed in 2001 when bassist Sean Coughlan, bored of life in Hertfordshire suburbia decided form a band, with a guitarist friend and drummer from school, the band came up with some material but all was incomplete without a vocalist. We met singer/songwriter Simon Dorrington soon after who was bullying us into giving our lunch money to the charity he was working for, we said we couldn’t as we needed money for band and the rest was fate. Rehearsals began in the then guitarist’s garage where the magic flowed.
This included writing songs and working on pre-written material.
Defekt have always played original material, never seeing the need to fill a set up with covers except for an ill-received rendition of ‘knocking on heavens door’ which had the crowd both laughing and crying. But who needs covers when you can have the audience singing along to crowd favourite ‘Jelly monkey’ the only song where a whole room shouts ‘Play it again!!!’ after every performance. Possibly due to the beer to body weight ratio of most Green Room crowds.
To begin with, Defekt had teething trouble, trying out drummers and guitarists until the talented Ann Reed came on the scene, making the band a much tighter unit with her un-shakeable beats. This was soon followed by the arrival of Sam Kinsella from London punk bands such as ‘Bucket Cunts’ and ‘The Bad-Hats’. Sam and Sean soon discovered a musical rapport and began writing together to the early hours of the morning and have been doing so ever since.
Defekt practice every week without fail in Welwyn garden city at farm factory studios. Welwyn has a strong music scene, which has helped us to build up a strong fan base, and we play regularly at the Green Room in the Drs Tonic and in Hitchin.
We recently recorded our EP ‘Second Skin’ which has been getting good press and has had radio play, which was heard by Hitchin venue The Phoenix who loved the song and invited us to play a headline slot the following Saturday night. Defekt’s influence covers a wide range of musical styles and eras including 70’s blues-rock, and 90’s grunge, including a assuredly ‘healthy’ obsession for David Bowie. which are a big influence both stylistically and creatively.
Defekt are currently scouring the lands in search of a deal to let us play music and do the things we love for a living as we all look stupid in suits!
