Declan Bennett

Declan Bennett
Born	March 20, 1981 (1981-03-20) (age 30) Coventry, England
Genres	Acoustic, Pop/Rock, Alternative
Occupations	Singer-songwriter
Instruments	Singing, Guitar, Keyboards, Flute
Labels	Warner Music Group, Covboy Records
Website	declanbennett.co.uk

Declan Bennett is an English singer/songwriter, from 2001 to 2006 appearing under the name Sumladfromcov, now performing under his own name. As a teenager he was a member of pop/rock band Point Break, and he has also performed lead roles in shows in London's West End and throughout the United States.

Early life

As a teenager, Declan performed with the Belgrade Youth Theatre and the Coventry Youth Operetta Group (YOG) Coventry, including appearances in Willy Russell’s Our Day Out in September 1996,^[1] and in Boy Band, which featured a number of his own compositions.^[2] He also performed with the National Youth Music Theatre, in The Kissing-Dance 1999.^[3]

Subsequent career

In May 1999, Declan was one of nine teenagers chosen to sing live on the British morning TV show This Morning in a feature that put together a boy band. Following his appearance, he was contacted in the studio by another band, Point Break, which featured Brett Adams and David ‘Ollie’ Oliver from UK children’s TV programme Byker Grove, who were signed to Warner Music, and who were looking for a new member. The band released five singles, four of which made the UK top 20, and an album,which was number one in three countries in southeast Asia, including Japan, and made the UK top 40. Declan left the band in December 2000.^{[citation needed]}

In January 2002, Declan was given the part of Guru Dazzle in Boy George’s West End show Taboo which received four Olivier Award nominations and he later took over one of the lead roles, Billy, playing alongside Matt Lucas, Boy George, and Julian Clary among others till the show closed in London in April 2003.^[4]

Declan also played the role of Billy in the UK tour of the show from December 2003 to 2004.^{[citation needed]}

In January 2005, Declan released his first solo album The Painters Ball under the pseudonym Sumladfromcov on his own record label Covboy Records. This was followed by a limited-edition EP The Kitchen in May 2006.^{[citation needed]}

In September 2006, Declan took over the role of Roger Davis in the American national tour of Broadway rock opera Rent. He completed a nine-month tour of the United States from September 2006 to May 2007.^{[citation needed]}.^[5] He would reprise the role on Broadway from October 2007 till May 2008^{[citation needed]}.

Now performing as a singer-songwriter under his own name, in March 2007, Declan released a five-track iTunes-only EP 10 Nelson Road.^{[citation needed]} His second full-length album, entitled An Innocent Evening Of Drinking, was released on 14 April 2008.^{[citation needed]}m An iTunes-only single "Therapy" packaged with two remixes (Olivia's Mix and New York Live Studio Mix) was released in the USA on 27 April 2009, in the rest of the world on 23 March 2009.

On January 31, 2010, Declan performed on the Grammy Awards with Green Day as a cast member of American Idiot the musical. The rock opera opened on Broadway on April 20, 2010. Declan was a member of the ensemble, understudying the roles of Will and Rock and Roll Boyfriend.

Declan released his latest album record:BREAKUP on April 25, 2011.

Discography

With Point Break

Year	Title	Notes
1999	Do We Rock	Warner Music, single.
1999	Stand Tough	Warner Music, single.
2000	Freaky Time	Warner Music, single.
2000	You	Warner Music, single.
2000	Apocadelic	Warner Music, album.
2000	What About Us	Warner Music, single.

Solo releases

Year	Title	Notes
2005	The Painters Ball	Covboy Records, album. Released under the name Sumladfromcov, ref COVBCD01, on 24 January 2005.
2006	The Kitchen	Covboy Records, EP. Limited release under the name Sumladfromcov and sold at gigs and through the official website only.
2007	10 Nelson Road	Covboy Records, EP. Download-only release through iTunes on 5 March 2007.
2008	An Innocent Evening of Drinking	Covboy Records, album, ref COVBCD002. Released on 14 April 2008.
2009	Therapy	Covboy Records, single. Download-only release through iTunes on 23 March 2009.
2011	record:BREAKUP	Covboy Records, album, ref COVBCD003. Released on 25 April 2011.

References

1. ^ Willyrussell.com (2007). Excerpt of newspaper reviews of Our Day out. Retrieved on July 1, 2007.
2. ^ Coventry Internet Developments Ltd (1995-2000). Belgrade Theatre Press Release: Boy Band. Retrieved on July 1, 2007.
3. ^ Howard Goodall (2007). The Kissing-Dance. Retrieved on July 1, 2007.
4. ^ Albemarle-London.com (2006). Archive page for Taboo. Retrieved on July 1, 2007.
5. ^ Playbill (2007), Playbill article by Kenneth Jones. Retrieved on October 31, 2007.

External links

• Reviews of Our Day Out on Willy Russell's Official-Unofficial website
• Article on Boy Band on website CWN News & Information for Coventry & Warwickshire
• Article and reviews about The Kissing-Dance on the composer's official site
• Theatre's webpage about Taboo London production
• Official Declan Bennett website
• Official Declan Bennett myspace page

Persondata
Name	Bennett, Declan
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1981-03-20
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death