When Actors Attack! (Music)

Be it their need to further 'express themselves creatively', or the fact they're not getting enough attention in their day jobs, actors have been joining the 'I'm in a BAND' club in the droves. My research for this blog post has had me listening to some TRULY awful attempts at musicianship, leading me to believe there should be some sort of 'Cruelty To Fangirls' law, cause SHIT. To keep in line with our Fruitless Pursuits pop culture slant, I've picked out 10 sci-fi/fantasy actors with musical projects that you should totally check out (no, I'm not actually featuring Jared Leto's 30 Seconds to Mars, because that's far too obvious. I just...like Jared Leto).


John Barrowman (Torchwood/Doctor Who)
We'll ease into this. It'll all be ok. Our readers from the UK will be more than aware of John Barrowman's alternate career in the aural arts, but for the rest of the world who have only seen him as Captain Jack in Torchwood it may come as a bit of a surprise. Barrowman is a total Theatre Bro. He sings, he dances, he razzles and he dazzles. I will admit to owning one of his CDs and enjoying it totally unironically. I like me a bit of Barrowman.


Christopher Mintz-Plasse (Superbad/Kick Ass)
McLovin' is a drummer! In a band called The Young Rapscallions! Despite the fact the bass and vocals are distorted to shit on this video, they actually don't sound half bad. And he certainly has his 'drummer face' down pat.


Anthony Stewart Head (Buffy The Vampire Slayer)
Giles did get his croon on in an episode of Buffy (maybe more, I don't know, it's been years since last watched it through), so the fact he's released CDs and whatnot isn't a massive shock. Cash in on that already-established fanbase Tony! But did you know he also got his Rocky Horror on? I chose the following clip as it's totally rad, and way better than all the 'adult contemporary' (ie boring) stuff I found for him.


James Marsters (Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel/Torchwood)
I saw James live earlier this year at Supanova, and I think the best way to describe the experience was, well, different. Perhaps he's a bit more confident when fronting his band (called Ghost of the Robot, killer name), but the whole thing just seemed a bit awkward and weird. And being surrounded by salivating fangirls who didn't give a damn what he sounded like, as long as he was THERE, was a little offputting. This clip isn't too bad, but the song (about his then ~16 year old Buffy co-star Michelle Trachtenberg) is still a bit creepy.


Christian Kane (Angel/Leverage)
Now, country music isn't really a 'thing' in Australia (apart from Keith Urban, but we were perfectly happy to hand him over to America), so you'll have to excuse me for finding this strangely quaint in a totally redneck kind of way. So, stripper chicks are a cool thing in both country AND R&B music videos, is that right? And drinking alcohol is a Very Important Thing? I'm learning so much! The production values are pretty good on this video though. I like THAT bit!


Kevin Bacon (X-Men: First Class/Footloose/all that other stuff)
You know what, I'm not going to judge Kevin Bacon. He's Kevin Bacon. He can do whatever the hell he wants. Apparently what he wants is to form a band with his brother and play at county fairs and write songs about what cute girls have on their iPods. Go ahead Kevin Bacon. You've done way more awesome shit than most of us put together, so we can forgive you this one.


Arthur Darvill (Doctor Who)
It's RORY, you guys! I LOVE Rory! He's in a band called Edmund! EDMUND! How wonderful. I actually don't mind this song too much, and I promise my prior opinions re: Rory did not influence me. Much. Well, ok, maybe a little bit. But it's very standard Brit-rock, and that's totally my bag. So ner. The sync on this video is a bit horrendous, but it's the best live version I could find.


Billy Boyd (Lord of the Rings trilogy)
I'd always sort of assumed the bit in Return of the King where Pippin sings was just Billy Boyd miming along to someone else, but no! That was totally him. He's got a hell of a voice. If the acting thing went down the toilet he could always spike his hair up and front a Muse coverband for the rest of this life. His band is called Beecake (which I initially mis-read as Beefcake and thought he was a weirdo) and are probably the most genuinely GOOD out of all the bands I've featured in this post. I listened to a few of their tracks last night and liked the majority of them.


Gareth David-Lloyd (Torchwood)
When I found out GDL was in a prog metal band, I decided I'd just give it a go and not be too judgemental. I failed. One of his CDs was playing as house music during his VIP meet-and-greet thingo at Supanova, and we were all standing around thinking 'What IS this shit?' until he said it was his band. Oops. I still don't particularly like it, but the bit in this video where they start headbanging is bloody hilarious.


Tom Felton (Harry Potter series/Rise of the Planet of the Apes)
Aw. Felts. I'm going to take a punt and assume that Tom Felton listens to a LOT of The Fratellis and The Kooks etc. He's a much better guitarist than he is a lyricist, but this video was from 3 years ago when he was even more of a wee baby, so I'll let that slide. The main thing I have an issue with is that this video is from his official YouTube account, meaning that horrendous crackly sepia treatment was done by (or at least approved by) him. DUDE. WHY?