Banks & Wag
Encyclopedia
Banks & Wag are award-winning composer
s based in London
.
Chris Banks and Wag Marshall-Page studied Commercial Music together at the University of Westminster
(1996-1999). After graduation, Chris studied Composition For Sceen at the Royal College of Music
(1999-2000), continuing to perform with Wag as members of indie band, Nnook. The group disbanded in 1999, and the pair went on to work with major pop acts including McFly
, Sugababes
, Busted, Blue, and Sophie Ellis-Bextor
; and Wag joined electro rockers Infadels
as bassist.
As composers, they have written for shows as diverse as The X Factor, ZingZillas
, Year Dot, Strictly Dance Fever
, The National Lottery Awards, Ross Noble
, Dead Ringers
, and Spain
's Tele Madrid News, winning a Silver Broadcast Design Award for Best News Theme.
Their title song for the acclaimed How To Start Your Own Country
was described as "brilliant" by the Radio Times
, "dangerously catchy" by Bella Online, and "worthy of Top of the Pops
" by the Daily Mirror. The series went on to win two BAFTAs
and spawned an iTunes
#1 single in 2005.
Banks was also behind the highly-acclaimed CBeebies
series Space Pirates
, whose theme tune topped the iTunes Children's Chart for 11 weeks in 2007-2008.
In 2010, they wrote and produced all the music for the hit CBeebies series, ZingZillas
. On 30th August 2010, the series' first single "Do You Didgeridoo?" was released, reaching #1 in the iTunes Children's Chart.
The X Factor
Walk On The Wild Side
ZingZillas
Ross Noble's Australian Trip
Ross Noble: Nobleism
Ross Noble: Randomist
Ross Noble: Unrealtime
Awkward Situations For Men
Gastronuts
Year Dot
Sorry, I've Got No Head
Danny Wallace's
How To Start Your Own Country
Busted: A Ticket For Everyone
Dave Gorman
's Important Astrology Experiment
Strictly Dance Fever
Strictly African Dancing
National Lottery Awards
ITV Sport
Lip Service
Stick To What You Know
Space Pirates (Banks)
Nuzzle and Scratch
(Banks)
Happy Birthday Brucie! (Banks)
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
s based in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
Chris Banks and Wag Marshall-Page studied Commercial Music together at the University of Westminster
University of Westminster
The University of Westminster is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom. Its origins go back to the foundation of the Royal Polytechnic Institution in 1838, and it was awarded university status in 1992.The university's headquarters and original campus are based on Regent...
(1996-1999). After graduation, Chris studied Composition For Sceen at the Royal College of Music
Royal College of Music
The Royal College of Music is a conservatoire founded by Royal Charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, England.-Background:The first director was Sir George Grove and he was followed by Sir Hubert Parry...
(1999-2000), continuing to perform with Wag as members of indie band, Nnook. The group disbanded in 1999, and the pair went on to work with major pop acts including McFly
McFly
McFly are an English pop rock band who first found fame in 2004. The band consists of Tom Fletcher , Danny Jones , Dougie Poynter and Harry Judd . They were signed to the Island Records label from their 2004 launch until December 2007, before creating their own label, Super Records...
, Sugababes
Sugababes
The Sugababes are an English pop girl group based in London, consisting of members Heidi Range, Amelle Berrabah and Jade Ewen. The Sugababes were formed in 1998 with founding members Siobhán Donaghy, Mutya Buena and Keisha Buchanan. Their debut album, One Touch, was released in 2000 under London...
, Busted, Blue, and Sophie Ellis-Bextor
Sophie Ellis-Bextor
Sophie Michelle Ellis-Bextor is an English singer, songwriter, model and occasional DJ. She first came to prominence in the late 1990s, as the lead singer of the indie rock band Theaudience. After the group disbanded, Ellis-Bextor went solo, achieving widespread success in the early 2000s...
; and Wag joined electro rockers Infadels
Infadels
Infadels are a London-based indie-electro band signed to the Wall of Sound record label. Their debut album, We Are Not the Infadels, was produced by Jagz Kooner and released in January 2006. A second album, the Martin "Youth" Glover produced Universe In Reverse, was released in June 2008...
as bassist.
As composers, they have written for shows as diverse as The X Factor, ZingZillas
ZingZillas
ZingZillas is a television programme aimed at young children, broadcast on the BBC pre-school channel CBeebies.-Overview:ZingZillas is a music show aimed at the under sixes....
, Year Dot, Strictly Dance Fever
Strictly Dance Fever
Strictly Dance Fever is a British television programme, broadcast on BBC One on Saturday evenings. It was an amateur dance talent competition, hosted by Graham Norton, which ran during Spring 2005 and Spring 2006. It was, in many ways, similar to the BBC's popular Strictly Come Dancing, a celebrity...
, The National Lottery Awards, Ross Noble
Ross Noble
Ross Markham Noble is an English stand-up comedian, brought up in Cramlington, Northumberland, England.Noble rose to mainstream popularity through making appearances on British television, particularly interviews and on celebrity quiz shows such as Have I Got News for You...
, Dead Ringers
Dead Ringers (comedy)
Dead Ringers is a UK radio and television comedy impressions broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and later BBC Two. The programme was devised by producer Bill Dare and developed with Jon Holmes, Andy Hurst and Simon Blackwell. It starred Jon Culshaw, Jan Ravens, Phil Cornwell, Kevin Connelly and Mark Perry...
, and Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
's Tele Madrid News, winning a Silver Broadcast Design Award for Best News Theme.
Their title song for the acclaimed How To Start Your Own Country
How to Start Your Own Country (TV series)
How To Start Your Own Country was a six-part BBC Television documentary comedy series aired between August and September 2005. The show was presented by British writer/comedian Danny Wallace and followed his quest to start his own country in his flat in Bow, London...
was described as "brilliant" by the Radio Times
Radio Times
Radio Times is a UK weekly television and radio programme listings magazine, owned by the BBC. It has been published since 1923 by BBC Magazines, which also provides an on-line listings service under the same title...
, "dangerously catchy" by Bella Online, and "worthy of Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops, also known as TOTP, is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly from 1 January 1964 to 30 July 2006. After 25 December 2006 it became a radio program, now hosted by Tony Blackburn...
" by the Daily Mirror. The series went on to win two BAFTAs
British Academy of Film and Television Arts
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is a charity in the United Kingdom that hosts annual awards shows for excellence in film, television, television craft, video games and forms of animation.-Introduction:...
and spawned an iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
#1 single in 2005.
Banks was also behind the highly-acclaimed CBeebies
CBeebies
CBeebies is the brand used by the BBC for programming aimed at children 6 years and under. It is used as a themed strand in the UK on terrestrial television, as a separate free-to-air domestic British channel and used for international varients supported by advertising, subscription or both...
series Space Pirates
Space Pirates (series)
Space Pirates is a British children's television series originally shown on CBeebies. It is a mixture of live action and animation, set aboard a space ship which orbits Earth. It stars Luke Toulson as Captain DJ, and features the voice of Radio 1 newsreader Dominic Byrne as an alien...
, whose theme tune topped the iTunes Children's Chart for 11 weeks in 2007-2008.
In 2010, they wrote and produced all the music for the hit CBeebies series, ZingZillas
ZingZillas
ZingZillas is a television programme aimed at young children, broadcast on the BBC pre-school channel CBeebies.-Overview:ZingZillas is a music show aimed at the under sixes....
. On 30th August 2010, the series' first single "Do You Didgeridoo?" was released, reaching #1 in the iTunes Children's Chart.
Compositions
Banks and Wag have composed music for the following television programmes:The X Factor
Walk On The Wild Side
ZingZillas
ZingZillas
ZingZillas is a television programme aimed at young children, broadcast on the BBC pre-school channel CBeebies.-Overview:ZingZillas is a music show aimed at the under sixes....
Ross Noble's Australian Trip
Ross Noble: Nobleism
Ross Noble: Randomist
Ross Noble: Unrealtime
Awkward Situations For Men
Gastronuts
Year Dot
Sorry, I've Got No Head
Sorry, I've Got No Head
Sorry, I've Got No Head is a CBBC children's sketch comedy. The programme's cast originally consisted of William Andrews, David Armand, James Bachman, Marcus Brigstocke, Anna Crilly, Justin Edwards, Mark Evans, Mel Giedroyc, Marek Larwood and Nick Mohammed...
Danny Wallace's
Danny Wallace (humourist)
Daniel Frederick Wallace is a British filmmaker, comedian, writer, actor, and presenter of radio and television. His notable works include the books Join Me, Yes Man, and the TV series How to Start Your Own Country.He lives in London, with his wife, an Australian publicist...
How To Start Your Own Country
Busted: A Ticket For Everyone
Dave Gorman
Dave Gorman
David James Gorman is an English author, stand-up comedian and presenter. He has performed comedy shows on stage in which he tells stories of extreme adventures and presents the evidence to the audience in order to prove to them that they are true stories...
's Important Astrology Experiment
Strictly Dance Fever
Strictly African Dancing
National Lottery Awards
ITV Sport
ITV Sport
ITV Sport is a sport producer and brand name owned by ITV plc. It was formed from the amalgamation of Granada Sport, Carlton's sports department and ISN, the sports division of London News Network. The company produces Champions League and FA Cup Football, along with coverage of England's national...
Lip Service
Lip Service (TV series)
Lip Service was a programme broadcast in the UK on ITV2.Holly Willoughby, of ITV's Dancing on Ice, and Spencer Brown take a look at the best, weirdest and funniest bits from celebrity chat shows around the world....
Stick To What You Know
Space Pirates (Banks)
Nuzzle and Scratch
Nuzzle and Scratch
Nuzzle and Scratch is a British children's television programme, shown on CBeebies.It stars two eponymous puppet alpacas created and developed by Barry Quinn and Alan Robinson and written by various writers.-Information:...
(Banks)
Happy Birthday Brucie! (Banks)