Ska-Punk in a Wiltshire stylee..or so they say! That's how the band described themselves on their debut 5 track demo. Although one excited DJ described them as 'Green Day meets Pennywise and Sublime with the lyrical innocence of Eminem' which at the time sounded a bit grand, but now make your own mind up!Formed by ex-manic and mad members of Uncle Brian - Robb (guitar & vocals) and Glenn (bass) who left for darker pastures as Uncle Brian went firmly towards a lighter sound, and augmented by Jay on drums the band recorded their 'Wiltshire Stylee' demo in early 2001. The demo led to an instant deal with Moon Ska Europe. As Robb said at the time 'I think Moon Ska offered us a deal 5 minutes after receiving the demo'.The band took to the road instantly and built up a large and solid fan base in the South of England taking in numerous support slots to the likes of The Pilfers, King Prawn and Capdown amongst others, which led to the band being offered the special guest slot on the massive 32 date Spunge 2001winter UK tour.To coincide with that tour Moon Ska Europe released the bands debut limited edition single the '260' CD EP which was recorded and mixed in true punk rock style in 2 hours at the ridiculous price of £60, hence the EP title. The EP contains early studio versions of the songs 'Alison' and 'Hydrant' as well as live versions of 'Listed' and 'Famous Last Words' and successfully contains enough expletives to guarantee absolutely no radio play whatsoever! But what the EP did highlight is that Whitmore were not just another UK Ska-Punk band. Whitmore were a Punk band who can rock out with the best So-Cal Punkers, whilst taking more than a leaf out of Sublime's heady Ska-Reggae sound.
After the Spunge tour the band returned to the studio to record their second single 'Nine Bar Blues' featuring the title track and the ridiculously named '*' (Star Thing), it also featured '1000 Bongs' from their 'Wiltshire Stylee' demo. Again this second limited edition single was not available in the shops and was only available at gigs and through the Moon Ska Europe website and like the first EP sold over 2000 copies this way before being deleted.January and February 2002 saw the band added to the King Prawn 30 date UK tour, followed by special guest slots on the Toasters and Reel Big Fish UK outings. The band rejoined King Prawn for another 30 dates on the Prawn's early Summer 2002 album tour as the main support act. By the end of that tour both Whitmore's limited edition singles had sold out. To meet demand, Moon Ska Europe packaged them with a new exclusive single 'The Hat Club' together in a limited edition three CD EP box set entitled 'Pack Of Three - Electronically Tested'. In June and July 2002 Robb, Glenn and Jay put the finishing touches to their debut album 'Smoke The Roach' at Supernature Studios in Kent with producers Lordy and Ju, before setting off in early August 2002 to join Zen Baseballbat and King Prawn on the UK band 'Ska Punk Attack' tour of Germany and Switzerland.
'Smoke The Roach' was released on Moon Ska Europe on September 9th 2002 and was supported by a 39 date UK tour 'Golfing On The Moon' sponsored by the labels Moon Ska Europe and Golf Records and featured co-headliners Whitmore and their good pals Golf Records signings 4Ft Fingers.In January 2003 Whitmore's video 'Alison' from the 'SmokeThe Roach' album reached the number one spot on the British music TV channel P-rock TV and was to be the most voted for video on that channel. Later in the year the bands second video 'On The Ceiling' also from their debut album also made it to the number one position on P-rock TV. In May 2003 the band embarked on their first headline tour of the UK taking with them fellow Moon Ska acts Solabeat Alliance, Graveltrap, and Mixtwitch. This sold out 28 date UK club tour culminated in two sell out River Thames boat trips.the first time a Punk band had taken to the river since the Sex Pistols.The bands third video from Smoke The Roach' the Pop-Ska song 'Scones' recently spent two weeks at number one as the most most voted video on British Sky TV channel, Scuzz TV.Whitmore recently competed a second headline UK tour. Their album has now sold over 10,000 copies in the UK alone. The band has just finished recording their fourth single 'Two Little Too Late' which will only be available as a free Mp3 from the Moon Ska Europe website in December 2003. The single is being released in this way, as the band requested as a 'thank you' to their fans who have supported them since forming in early 2001.
