11iq@surfy.net
Eleven IQ are a 4-peice punk rock band from South-East London. The Lineup is: Dan (19) on guitar and vocals. Ben (19) on guitar and vocals. Joe (19) on bass and vocals. George (17) on drums.
We gig around New Cross alot and draw our influences from many bands including The Clash, greenday, and other pop/punk bands. We like to think our mucic is catchy, melodic, fast, fun and exciting. We have three vocalists, singing lead and backing on different tracks. We write songs about girls, politics, saying oi, and one song about shakespeare...
Spiritual Teachings and Preachings.
All the way up to Eleven, The IQ story.
(A giant rollercoaster of a novel in four hundred sizzling chapters. A searing indictment of domestic servitude in the eighteenth century, with some hot gypsies thrown in; E. Blackadder)
The story of Eleven IQ began in the summer of 2001 in a small pub in Mullion Cornwall, think The Slaughtered Lamb with a friendly atmosphere and more dancing round th" whisky. Dan had been learning guitar for just six embryonic months but already had some far-flung ideas on playing music in a band. Those present at the table that evening were Dan, his longtime sidekick Joe and Fin Mitchell, all of whom were perennial visitors to Cornwall. It was here that the formation of a band was first discussed. Dan put the idea into the air; Joe lacking at this time an instrument to call his own was equally enthusiastic. However Fin, an already talented drummer was quieter on the matter, could it have been that his mind already belonged to the Baculum Corporation?
This grand scheme did not take hold until the autumn of 2001, parallel with the terrorist strikes on America and U.S retaliation on Afghanistan. In this atmosphere of fire and brimstone Eleven IQ was born (however it would be some time before the band united under this legend). Immediately our fledgling heroes already faced a rather irksome issue; Joe did not play anything, except the fool on occasions and hadnt touched a musical instrument since year six recorder lessons. There was talk of bongos and Maracas, but Joe unable to bring himself to adopt the Bez mould, flatly rejected it. Too loyal to turf him out of the "band", and seeing that they could not survive without Joes support Dan, half heartedly suggested the bass guitar. Under Dans Jedi like tutelage Joe learnt such classic anthems as Warning and The James Bond theme. Despite these meager origins something had been stirred, Joe took to the bass like Peter Parker to an unrealistic spider and quickly was twanging out the hooks. Not only did he now have a grasp of an important instrument, significantly for the band, Joe was now creating songs and lyrics that would form some of the foundations for toadys set lists.
However the bands line up was far from complete and at this point its time to introduce a new character. Ben Weddell had been a friend of Dans since primary school, and had already got to know Joe through watching Charlton Athletic tread water in the Premiership. He was an outsider to most in the John Roan corps, a bit of a Maverick who played by his own rules. Ben had been strumming for about the same time as Dan and shared the musical ambitions of his friends. Ben was self taught, but enthusiastic and driven; and he also added to the bands songwriting department meaning that there was now three "visionaries" as Derek Smalls would put it, willing to write music and lyrics for the band. Eleven IQ were still a drummer down but decided not to pursue a candidate whilst there was no obvious choice, and began to practice and write songs on weekends.
The hazy days of year 11 were spinning by, days of underage drinking, poor quality coursework and impulsive crushes; in this hurley burley of modern life our heroes toiled at their work. At this time a pop/grunge outfit by the name of Baculum were rising to prominence fast, they provided both an ally and a rival for Ben Dan and Joe as they continued. However by this time the members were beginning to demand direction, therefore debate over both the name of the band and who should be the drummer raged. "Fifth Wave" was the early contender until Joe pointed out it was shit, however the bassist could not add any constructive suggestions to the pool, his best being "The Tropics" and "The Four Musketeers" names that history will judge, The problem remained unsolved for the time being. There was a breakthrough with the completion of the lineup however, the catalyst was the annul John Roan Skiing Trip 2002. it was a fun time for all, Dan and Joe went, accompanied by Fin from Baculum, and other JR legends such as Baldeep, Jesse and Scott. Though it was someone else who was about to stand out to the answer to all of the Teams problems.
George Allonby had always had reputation for style and panache; on the skiing trip he rose to prominence due to his prodigious snow boarding talents, he also developed firm friendships with Dan and Joe. It was on the slopes of Switzerland that George was first invited to join the band. He demonstrated an enthusiastic driven personality and also a sense of Camaraderie that was so important to Team IQ. He also turned out to be a useful drummer. George officially joined the band a couple of months later and it was only then did things finally begin to formulate.
The story behind the name Eleven IQ is long and pointless, a bit like this whole story (If youve got this far you might as well carry on until the end; we know it isnt exactly Motley Crue). It is a big let down so the people at the IQ propaganda office have spun a lie that Stalin would have been proud of; Our heroes, fully aware of the Many witticisms of Spinal Tap engineered a band name that was a delicious play on, on the scene with Nigel Tufnells Amp that "goes all the way up to eleven".
The death throes of 2002, Baculum (remember those guys) offered Eleven IQ their first ever gig. The 6th of December 2002 saw IQ at the Greenwich forum. It went about as swimmingly as it could of in the circumstances, and although the sound was raw it was definitely a beginning. Other gigs at John Roan and the Hatchem Liberal Club and Carnival 365 soon followed. A silver medal at the "clash of the accociation" Battle of the bands (one point behind yes, you guessed it, Baculum) was the most tangible reward for the endeavor put in by Joe, George, Dan and Ben.
Integration into the "New Cross Scene" was probably the most notable progression made by the band in the next two years. Eleven IQ joined the ranks of Junior Asthma Club, Colonel Mustard, The Ubernators, Gebus and Growling at the Badger in entertaining SE14 in Venues such as The Amersham Arms, The New Cross Inn and The Montague Arms. The influences and scope of the music also expanded, with the band playing longer sets and writing better songs. More influences, such as The Misfits, Green Day and The Clash were being incorporated into the overall sound. This was in between playing/watching/discussing/arguing over football and many frames of Shove piggy shove.
In December 2004 Team IQ took to Scream Studios, Croyden to record what would become their first "proper" EP. In actual fact it took until next summer to complete this but it went down very well with the troops, who were especially pleased with Razorblade Girl, Die For The Flag, Scarlet Silhouette and Penerly Road. The EP also featured a cover of Police and Thieves By The Clash as a tribute to a leading influence of the bands.
It is now 2006 and the band have continued in much the same vane, gigging around New Cross and basically just hanging out as good friends do. Other bands have burned up, faded away or simply changed their name to an awful alternative, yet Team IQ are still in there, and long may it continue. There is now talk of a second EP and the gigs will continue. Eleven IQ have certainly come a long way since that night the Pub on The Lizard in Cornwall.