Fonzie - Gotta Get Away

Beginning in 1996 in Portugal, João, David and Hugo met at school, sharing their taste in music along with a love for skating and surfing. Their favourite bands were Pennywise, Descendents, NOFX, Bad Religion and Millencolin and it wasn't long before they set up their punk rock band FONZIE, taking their name from the popular TV series 'Happy Days'.

After a few months of rehearsing and song writing, the first promo tape (Bring me up) saw the light of day. Consisting of 4 songs, it caught the attention of Ataque Sonoro, a music publisher who invited the band to record a CD .

After many years of building a following in their home country, they took a giant step in 2001 by travelling to Sweden to record their first album produced by Pelle Saether (Hives, No Fun At All, International Noise Conspiracy and Millencolin). The album 'Built to Rock', included special guest Ingemar Janson, lead singer of the No Fun At All.

'Built to rock' caught the attention of several international publishers and agents, leading FONZIE to sign a number of recording deals in 2002 including Jumpstart Records for the US, followed by Movieplay in Portugal, Barulho Records in South Africa, ULF Records in Japan, Godschild Records in Hong Kong and Punk Nation in Belgium. 'Built to rock' was released in Portugal in April of that year. 'Rock my Heart', 'Drive My Vespa to the Movies', 'I Miss Ya' and 'Secret Spot' all became hits with a busy summer festivals season with performances on the Deconstruction Tour, Sudoeste, Ilha do Ermal and Carviçais Rock where they performed alongside bands as Slipknot, Nickelback, Jimmy Eat World, Soulfly, Therapy, International Noise Conspiracy, Pennywise, Millencolin, Lagwagon, Midtown and the Mighty Mighty Bosstones.

Thanks to the worldwide popularity of 'Built to Rock', FONZIE embarked on their first world tour which in 2002 took them to the US and then, in 2003, to Brazil, Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore. When they returned to Portugal, FONZIE were greeted by the news of their having been nominated in the European MTV Music Awards, for 'Best Portuguese Act'.

Until the end of 2003, FONZIE holed up in the recording studio preparing their followup album, returning to Sweden to record 'WAKE UP CALL' with producer Pelle Saethe and special guests including Millencolin vocalist Nikola Sarcevic. In November, FONZIE accepted an invitation from the cable TV programme, Sol Música, to perform at the Lisbon Hard Rock Cafe for the 'Hard Rock Café Live' TV show, and made good use of the opportunity to play, for the first time live, some of their new material from "WAKE UP CALL", including "GOTTA GET AWAY", the album's lead single.

In January 2004, FONZIE once again packed their bags and left for Los Angeles to shoot the video for "GOTTA GET AWAY" with producer Darren Doane (Deftones, Blink 182, Pennywise) and to shoot the images for the album with photographer, Joanne Smetts better know for working with Incubus on the album 'Morning View'. In 2004, the band secured a deal with new Australian record label GETUP records, with 'WAKE UP CALL' being released in August, followed by a tour from the band slated for October/November.

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