Biography

Created by author and Officer Kicks frontman Jamie Scallion -- and brought to life sonically in 2013 by Mark Sheehan and Danny O'Donoghue's pop-focused rock act, the Script -- the RockAteers are the focal point of The Rock 'n' Roll Diaries, a series of novels for young adults that chart the rise to fame of a high school-formed, London-based band. Comprised of self-confessed egomaniac Burt Windsor on vocals, Radiohead fan, talented songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Edward "Egg" Poacher on guitar, knowing, hip-hop-inspired bass player Michael "Tea" Twining, and solid and likable footballer Justin Lee Clipper on drums, the RockAteers were founded against a backdrop of impending final-year exams. Once their lineup was completed -- during an X Factor-style audition led by Windsor and Poacher in the music room of Greenhive School in Greenwich, London -- the RockAteers made a start at perfecting a set of classic rock covers from the back catalogs of Led Zeppelin and the Beatles, among others. Then, with Poacher naturally emerging as the band's key songwriter, they were spurred on by a rapturously received debut gig of wholly original material at Windsor's 16th birthday party. Inter-band fighting ensued but, in turn, a combination of determination, social media, and a gig at London's prestigious Borderline -- as well as Dean St. Studios-recorded demos of the upbeat "Bet on You," the piano-led ballad "Satellites," and the brooding "Love and War" -- led to a label war to sign the band. Inventively, back in the real world, demo clips of songs mentioned in book one, Making It, appeared online ahead of it being published. The Script took note of Scallion's descriptions of their music, adding an extra dimension to the RockAteers as a band, with both the music and the book ultimately supporting one another. ~ James Wilkinson, Rovi