The Duke Spirit are an English rock band formed in London in 2003 and now based between the UK and Australia. Their sound has been seen as a melding of influences ranging from alternative rock bands such as The Jesus and Mary Chain and Spiritualized, the tremulous rock'n'roll of bands such as The Gun Club and The Patti Smith Group, to distinctive rhythmic Atlantic soul and Motown influences. Singer Liela Moss has released several solo records and also performs together with Toby Butler in the electro-rock duo Roman Remains. Drummer, Olly Betts is also an established record producer.
History
The band was formed in London in 2003 by Liela Moss (vocals), Luke B. Ford (guitar), Toby Butler (bass) and Dan Higgins (guitar).
Ford and Moss met at art college in Cheltenham where he was studying photography and Moss was taking a Fine Art course. After moving to London and a short period writing and performing as Solomon (in which they were later joined by Butler) they formed The Duke Spirit. Along with guitarist Dan Higgins they set about writing, recording and self-producing a group of songs that formed the basis of their first single and EP. Higgins also created the woodcuts that served as the band's early artwork.
The band released their second single "Darling You're Mean/Bottom of the Sea" in May on the City Rockers label. The line-up was completed by drummer Olly "The Kid" Betts, and the band played their first show at the Brixton Windmill later that year. They released the Roll, Spirit, Roll EP toward the end of 2003, which won the band critical acclaim from publications such as NME.
They moved over to Loog Records/Polydor and released their first full-length album, Cuts Across The Land in the UK on 16 May 2005. The album's producers were Simon Raymonde (formerly the bass player in The Cocteau Twins, and now Bella Union Label boss) and Flood, who had produced many artists that the band admired, such as Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and PJ Harvey. performance at the Coachella 2006 festival, California.
The only release of 2006 was a downloadable EP and limited 7" single entitled Covered in Love, released through the band's own Velo Recordings. This was a collection of songs, recorded to 8-track by the band, written by the recently deceased (Arthur Lee, Desmond Dekker and Jessie Mae Hemphill).