Honey Ryder: Biography

• Overview
• Discography
• Biography
• Related Artists

• Erin McCarley
• Gary Go
• The Script
• Will Young

Genre:

Rock Music

Decades Active:

2000's

Rejecting the traditional route in into the record industry, London based duo Honey Ryder have attracted just as much attention for their business strategies as for their actual music. Named after the Bond girl played by Ursula Andress, Martyn Shone and Lindsay O'Mahony began writing together after being introduced by mutual friends. Shone had been a jobbing guitarist whilst working as city banker while O'Mahony previously worked at MTV alongside Edith Bowman and Alex Zane. Using a similar model to several British film companies, the pair became involved in a unique business enterprise where shares in future profits from any income they expect to generate are sold to various investors. This unorthodox funding scheme caught the eye of former EMI CEO Eric Nicoli, who as well as investing in the idea, also became a personal mentor to the duo. Their debut album, Rising Up, produced by Goldust (Bryan Adams, Natasha Bedingfield) and featuring hit singles "Numb" 32) and "Fly Away," 31) was released in 2008. After supporting the likes of Michael Bolton, Will Young and Hue and Cry on their UK tours, the duo performed at the SXSW Festival in Texas, and were personally invited by the wife of O'Mahony's childhood hero, Roy Orbison, to appear at a tribute event for the late singer. The band also embarked on an innovative national schools tour, which involved recording and selling each show through their website and giving the profits back to the schools.

- Jon O'Brien, All Music Guide