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Crackout consists of :-
The Band Starts (1997 to 1998)
Crackout were formed during 1997 in Bicester, Oxford. Steve and Nick met at school, and decide to form a band. Steve, having remembered a bassist who performed at one of the auditions he attended, asked Rachel to join the group. They started out their career playing the Oxford Punt and some fairs, their first gig was at Oxford United Football Social Club. Their local performances caught the eye of a Shifty Disco rep, who in-turn led them to sign a deal with Shifty Disco. At this point in time, they were made up of Steve (Vocals, Guitar), Rachel (Bass), Nick (Drums). In January 1998 they recorded their first EP, on the Shifty Disco Label, and also recorded an album at Shifty Disco, which was never used, and will probably never be released, as Crackout then signed to Symposium's manager, who in turn told Shifty Disco that they could never release this album. Whether we will ever hear this album is an unknown, maybe when Crackout are headlining their own stadium tour across the world, Shifty Disco may make a small fortune on it! After this the trace went cold, no-one heard of them for a while.
Modern Day (1999 onwards)
Things went a bit quiet, for a little while. Jack joined the band in 1999 when Rachel parted ways with them. They worked with Jack for a while before performing their first gig with Jack, at the Symposium Fan Club on April 16th 1999. They continued to work hard, grabbing attention of the event organizers locally. Their agent got Crackout on to their first commercial tour, with the Bluetones, their hard work had paid off and Crackout had finally got their break.
In the year 2000, Crackout made a triumphant entrance into the UK rock community, Their first commercial gig was in support of the Bluetones at Guildford Civic, and they continued this tour, gaining fans along the way. Things then picked up for the newly outfitted Crackout, with Steve (Vocals, Guitar), Jack (Bass), Nick (Drums). They toured relentlessly for the next 8 months. They appeared on the Lost Weekend bill on Sunday 2nd of July in the company of Skunk Anansie, and Machine Head, and continued touring with the likes of King Adora, My Vitriol, Raging Speedhorn, Sick of it All, 28 Days, Easyworld, Amen, Sunna, and Miocene. They also appeared on Radio 1, with an evening session, in which they performed "Last In Line", "I Am The One", "Caught Out There" - a cover of that oh so annoying Kelis song (by the way, the Crackout version is much more enjoyable!)' and 'Over My Head.' They also gained some airplay on the Steve Lamacq show, The Last in Line promo they gave him must have taken his fancy.
Along the way, during the Year 2000 and early 2001 they gained a small but loyal database of fans. After 8 months of touring with only a self released gig tape to show for their work, they decided to release their first EP, on the newly formed Precious Cargo Records. "EP1", a limited edition ‘500 copies ever made’ single, sold out in stores in the first week. On the 15th of April 2001, the band took a 6 week trip to Texas to record their first full length album. Jack seemed to have fun getting started on by every other red-neck, but apart from that they appeared to have a lot of fun, and made a solid album.
After Returning from America, new album recorded and all, they went on their first UK headlining tour, a milestone for the band. It was in support of "EP2", another limited edition 500 copies only release that had fans searching the breadth of the country for! In support on Crackout's first headlining tour were Ross Robinsons babies Vex Red who will probably grow to be as big as one of his other projects, umm I forget their name now, something that rhymes with shit pot! After their tour, they commenced to work on B-sides, and mixing the album. Then came the festivals. Crackout embarked on their first Reading/Leeds/Gig and got warm crowd reactions everywhere they went. Whether or not they picked up any extra fans will be revealed on their next tour, again with Vex Red. After the festivals Crackout went straight to work with promoting their first album entitled 'This is Really Neat' and their first unlimited EP 'You Dumb Fuck.'
