The Potbelleez were formed in Sydney in 2003 as an electro-house and dance music group. Both founders David Greene (a.k.a. Dave Goode) and Jonathon Murphy (Jonny Sonic) were born in
Dublin, Ireland. They worked as
DJs and
producers. By 2002 they had independently relocated to Sydney and met each other by late that year. In 2003 Brisbane-born rapper Blue MC (Marisa Lock) was working in London as one half of a
beatbox duo Streetbox with MC Xander on drum machine and vocals. By 2005 The Potbelleez were working in Sydney and when Blue MC returned to Australia she joined the group. Soon after the trio begun playing live in 2006 Ilan Kidron (a.k.a. iKid) joined on vocals. During 2006 the quartet began recording tracks in a terrace house in
Darlinghurst. At the end of that year The Potbelleez signed to the
Vicious Records label. In April 2007 their debut extended play,
In the Junkyard, was issued with "Junkyard" and "Duurty Dreemz" spawned as singles. "Junkyard" is co-written by Greene, Murphy and Lock; while "Duuurty Dreemz" was co-written by Greene, Murphy, Kidron and H Walker. The Potbelleez are managed by Myles Cooper and signed to his Phat Planet Music Media company. The track was produced by The Potbelleez with
Sam Littlemore, It reached No. 1 on both ARIA's Club and Dance Charts. In February 2008 it peaked at No. 5 on the Singles Chart. The single also charted in New Zealand, peaking in the top 20 on the
RIANZ Singles Chart. It appeared in the top 60 on both The UK and the
German Singles Chart. The music video was directed by two-time ARIA Award-winning film maker James Hackett and was shot on location in Kings Cross inside the Moulin Rouge nightclub. Also in 2008, The Potbelleez, performed in the Big Top at the
Homebake festival. Their music has been featured on
TV shows including
Blood, Sweat and Gears,
Crunch,
So You Think You Can Dance and ''
Australia's Next Top Model''. Their tracks "Junkyard" and "Duuurty Dreemz" became the unofficial theme tunes to
Channel Ten's
Big Brother Up-Late show. In 2007 The Potbelleez performed "Don't Hold Back" at the
Big Brother Australia finale to an audience of 1.9 million people, In 2008, The Potbelleez generated their first DJ mix CD for
Ibiza super-club Pacha, which was released in Australia through
Central Station Records. The Potbelleez later mixed for
Ministry of Sound Australia's Sessions Five, which was released in June 2008 in Australia. This release was certified Platinum with sales over 100,000. The Potbelleez' follow-up single to "Don't Hold Back" was "Are You with Me", which was released in Australia on 31 May 2008 and was the Most Added Song to Australian radio on it debut. They performed the song at many live events, including on TV show
Rove Live. Their single "Trouble Trouble" was aired on the Hot 30 Countdown exclusively on 25 September 2008. When speaking to Cam St Clair of Sea FM, Kidron announced that the single would hit shelves mid-October. It hit digital stores at the same time as the album. A music video has been made for the single. The video is of The Potbelleez at a wild party. The video can be seen on
YouTube and has appeared frequently on
Channel V. On 1 November 2008, The Potbelleez released their self-titled debut album. Also that month, Lars Brandle of
Billboard described them as one of three key Australian electronica-dance groups that were receiving international recognition – alongside Melbourne-based bands
Cut Copy and
Midnight Juggernauts. At the
ARIA Music Awards of 2008, "Don't Hold Back" was nominated in three categories, 'Best Dance Release', 'Breakthrough Artist – Single' and 'Highest Selling Single'. In January 2009, The Potbelleez performed songs from their album for the annual
Maccabi Junior Carnival at
Fox Studios, Sydney. Lead singer, Ilan Kidron, also judged the carnival's
talent quest. In February that year the group performed at the
Good Vibrations Festival. Also that year, their single "Junkyard" appeared as the soundtrack for the
Kia Soul "Hamster" TV commercial which aired in the US and Canada. in 2010 The Potbelleez "Don't Hold Back" was first used in TV commercial for Jeep Motor Cars Australia. Jeep "Don't Hold Back" has since become one of the most successful and longest running TV Synch campaigns in Australia currently running for over 8 years. Their song "
Hello" was used as the
GO! TV channel's identification theme song from late 2010 to early 2011. In March 2011, The Potbelleez began a 14-date sold-out tour with American R&B singer
Usher on his
OMG Tour. The tour included sold-out shows at Burswood Dome Perth, Rod Laver Arena Melbourne, Acer Arena Sydney, Brisbane and Newcastle Entertainment Centres and was their biggest tour to date. On 27 May 2011 The Potbelleez issued their second album,
Destination Now. The lead single, "Hello", hit Australian radio ahead of the album in July 2010, whilst the second single, "Shake It", appeared in October that year. The band performed both tracks live at the
AFL Grand Final Footy Show, held at
Rod Laver Arena,
Melbourne,
The NRL Footy Show Grand Final Show at the
Opera House and at the
Los Angeles Galaxy vs
Newcastle Jets soccer match, held at
EnergyAustralia Stadium,
Newcastle. The singles "Hello" and "
From The Music" both charted in the top 20 of the ARIA Singles Chart at No. 19 and No. 16 respectively, while the album peaked at No. 17 on the related albums chart. In September 2016, "
Shout (Say That You Want Me)" was recorded and performed by The Potbelleez themselves, and was also used in ads for
Kmart. Ilan explained how the track came together: "We were in Nashville at a song writing camp and we were playing around with some big vocal tracks and got talking about iconic Australian anthems and 'Shout'. It was the incredible Isley Brothers who originally wrote and recorded 'Shout', but it was Australia's first rock n roll super star Jonny O’Keefe and his version in the early '60s that went on to become an Australian anthem! We were so excited to put our own spin on this classic belter". ==Side projects==