ROCK / ALTERNATIVE / EXPERIMENTAL

Citizen’s journey began in early 2008 when two passionate musicians came together after the breakup of a previous band. They began writing songs with the hope of ultimately forming a band. Mark Freese and Joshua Blackwell had worked together in numerous bands and found their taste in music as well as their hopes and aspirations were similar. Very soon they began speculating about the possibility of asking the previous band’s bass guitarist to unite with them to form a powerful three piece band. Soon after, John Monk was part of Josh and Mark’s master plan.

They continued to write songs and build on the originals Josh and Mark had already written. The three of them soon found that they were lacking a title. After much thought and deliberating, they decided on the name “Citizen”. They now had a decent collection of originals with plenty more up their sleeves so they agreed it was time to do some recording.
With these recorded songs they entered the competition “Next Big Thing”. Out of 140 entries they were 1 of 49 that were selected to go onto the heats. Although they did not achieve a place in their heat, it did not stop them. They went back to the drawing board and pushed on. They played a few school gigs and people began to take a liking to their different but captivating style of music. Soon they were offered a gig at HQ Leederville where they played alongside many other local bands. HQ Leederville was impressed with the boy’s originality and creativity.
Citizen has been offered more gigs at HQ Leederville and intends to play regular gigs at this venue to gain exposure. Citizen was then asked by one of their friends to do some free recording for him as part of a TAFE project. They used the opportunity to lay down some of their newer creations and gain more recording experience.

Although there are only three of them, they still deliver a powerful, driving sound that appeals to a broad audience. These three young musicians are very passionate about their music and endeavour to be innovative and achieve success.