Introducing New Indie/Rock Outfit - Escape Route
Influenced by the 70's to modern day rock, Escape Route was formed at the end of 2023 to not only perform in our own style with a set of catchy original songs, but to begin a journey to introduce their anthemic riffs and dirty blues sounds to the wider listeners in the UK whilst creating new memories along the way.
Escape Route comprising of:
Michael King - Vocals / Lead Guitar
David Hayzen - Rhythm Guitar / Vocal
Gareth Rhys - Bass
Chivs - Drumming Guru
"Easy listening, charismatic and modestly brilliant"
"We loved your set, quality and diverse rock band with their own muse"
"I saw Escape Route at thier first gig and knew they were an all originals band and was excited to see what they had been preparing. Dirty blues, rock, pop, jazz, all the riffs were there reminding me of all genres, but I just can't pigeonhole the their specific genre, all I know is that I really enjoyed the songs"
Go check us out via EscapeRouteUK on all social media platforms
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It would mean the world to help support us by adding us on Instagram, liking our Facebook page and following us on TikTok.
All links can be found via our website below
From The Beginning...
It all started one evening walking past a flat in Letchworth Garden City, Hertfordshire, hearing an arrangement of music being played in someone's living room, later would I realise the importance of meeting Leon Camfield.
I stopped, knocked on the door and was invited with open arms to sit and listen. It was like something I'd never heard before on Top Of The Pops or The Sunday Chart Show, this was raw talent and exposure. They called it improvisation and I was hooked!!
A couple of weeks later, Leon was giving me guitar lessons and teaching me about music of all genres.
I fell in love with music so much that I auditioned for North Hertfordshire College and found myself studying music and all of its complexities alongside an extra course in music technology where I explored the recording side of the industry.
Bands, Bands and more Bands
Since that day, music propelled itself into my life, performing with many bands that have influenced why and how I'm doing what I'm doing today:
'Served To Protect' - a rock cover band that involved lead singer/guitarist Nick Hughes belting out his voice whilst maintaining a classic rock riff on his flying V and my special limited-edition Ibanez
'Martha' - a psychedelic rock band where we played mostly original music written by Lee Clayden and myself. Drumming skills came from Ann Reid aka Moneypenny and bass from Neil Webb and Ben Bray (at different periods).
'Midnight Karma' - after Martha were no more, Ann, Ben and myself formed a a melodic rock band performing original songs with lots of riffs, fills and belting vocals. We ended up in a studio and recording a little EP however things again just weren't supposed to be and soon came to an end.
After 'Midnight Karma', work got in the way and I put my guitar down for 6 months, only to be strongly encouraged to, "not give up and rely on a band" but to start writing music as a solo artist. The year was 2006 and these strong words came from a gentleman called Stuart O'Connor.
Coming Home
After writing a lot of music, and moving back to Hitchin, Hertfordshire, I then formed a band called 'Robbing King Richard' with my brother, Jason King and 2 friends, Richard Booth and Robert Watson. We were a cover band that took songs, jazzed them up and put our own trio guitarist/bongo/accordion twist on them.
It was when Robbing King Richard split up in March 2013, that I decided to concentrate more on becoming a true solo performer and play songs I've wrote over the years about life, love and the world we live in.
10 years since going solo and it's been eventful, teaching me the industry and all of its wonders including song writing, musical composition and many aspects of performance /stage presence.
There are fond memories of writing my first original song 'Mirrored Smile', being the house musician for Saracens Rugby Club and playing StoneX Stadium every other week, playing Tottenham Hotspur Stadium which had an attendance of 54,000 people, multiple music festivals up and down the country (too many to mention) and many band tours abroad including to Ireland, France, Holland, Germany & Spain.
Supporting Legends
I've enjoyed supporting some great artists including James Bay, Freshly Ground, Paul Young, Sam Fender, Ocean Colour Scene, Embrace, Paulo Nutini, Bastille, Sophie Ellis Bexster, The Editors, Steriophonics, Suede, Becky Hill, Example, Anne-Marie, Nothing But Thieves, Declan McKenna, Kula Shaker, Neville Staple, CC Smugglers, Chas & Dave, Nadeem Leigh, The Brand New Heavies, The Shires and so many other musicians that are close to his heart including inspirational artist Stuart O'Connor.
Radio Play & Social Media
The last couple of years has also seen more social media growth and publicity with numerous radio stations including BBC Three Counties, Radio Verulam and Tropical FM which helped the debut EP reaching 38 in the Singer/Songwriter charts
Help support by following me on my socials:
Thank you to David Hayzen and DH Studios
But none of this would have been possible without the help, support and many hours of persistence of good friend David Hayzen. Without which the musical antics and random gigs wouldn't be as fun, and there definitely wouldn't be any "Mirrored Smile" EP that reached 38 in the iTunes Singer/Songwriter chart.
The "Mirrored Smile" EP was recorded at David's studio, DH Studios. One I would highly recommend for any music artist wanted to get their own music out there.
Now, go add me on my socials and see you at a gig soon.
MK
