Rockeby Venus

18/2/12. Rokeby Venus is a Brisbane trio who are quickly emerging into the Australian music landscape. The outfit is made up of three young musicians: David Balfe, the bass-playing truck driver with an attitude; Matt Barnes, the jazz influenced, baby faced drummer; and Michael Danby, the surfing singer/songwriter. It's a diverse range of personality, experience and ideas, and it's reflected clearly in their music.

Rokeby Venus has graced the airwaves of Nova FM, Triple M, Radar Radio, and a host of other community stations across the country. Both of their film clips got airplay on ABC Television's 'Rage', and the clip for 'I Can Tell You This' won an award for Outstanding Promotional Potential. The award allowed the band a series of mentoring sessions with Secret Service Agency's, Dew Process Records (Powderfinger, Sarah Blasko, Silverchair).

They also continued to play live and were offered numerous gigs by Austereo, including Riverfire on the Brisbane River, the Launch of Digital Radio in Brisbane's CBD, and the Ekka (The Royal Brisbane Show), playing alongside The Beautiful Girls. Rokeby Venus also played other shows with Marshall and the Fro and Tijuana Cartel. The boys were then given a residency at Steve Hammond's (Brisbane business entrepreneur) new hotel 'Tempo'.
The momentum continued as Surfing Australia requested 'The Party Song' to accompany five surfing videos of numerous events from around the globe. Other tracks were also used on the live internet feed of the Breaka World Qualifying Series Burleigh Beach Pro. Due to solid feedback, Rokeby Venus was then invited to play at the prestigious 2010 Bells Beach Rip Curl Pro. Not only was it a great chance to tour their music, but also a welcome break from a fairly hectic few months. The trip was a great opportunity to settle their frantic nerves and also inspire them for the musical journey ahead.