Two Blokes, Two Ukes: Many Talents

A long time ago, in a far away place - last year, in Allston, MA - my roommate and I nursed pipe dreams of forming a band together. Our instrument of choice: the keyboard. She would sing; I would play; we would be famous.

Naturally, we wanted to call ourselves "Two Girls, One Keyboard".

But, thankfully we never did get around to bringing that vision to fruition. Turns out, there are two talented gentlemen in the UK who have adopted an eerily similar namesake for themselves. Enter our quirky Youtube duo: Two Blokes, Two Ukes.

This blurry pic depicts the gentlemen (formally known as Ian and Stevo) at the genesis of their internet musical career under their new moniker. In case you didn't recognize the ridiculous standard pattern of all bus seat covers, these two pals birthed their Youtube project while on a 30 hour bus trip to Switzerland.

Due to the length of the trip, all electronics died and they were left to entertain themselves with Stevo's Sponge Bob-themed ukulele and Ian's non-Sponge Bob uke. Thankfully they were surrounded by their music-loving peers on this band tour. By the end of the trip, Ian and Stevo's unwitting audience was egging them to film videos for Youtube. And thank goodness they did, 'cause they are fantastically charming and musically precocious. Check their collaborative cover of "School of Rock", their personal favorite cover so far (they're the two guys with the ukuleles, of course):

What makes this pair fantastic is their vast knowledge of music and their clear passion. These two have mastered 7 different instruments between them, not including the old ukulele. They say "[b]oth of us has been heavily involved with music for many years now. Ian started off playing the drums when he was ten, but quickly moved onto clarinet when he was twelve, which became his main instrument. Stevo has played drums for over ten years. He has now moved to London and is a professional session drummer."

While they love to play together, obligatory schooling has prevented them from doing so more often. They make up for this by joining forces in the summer to play festivals with something they call a "Uke Box". Just like a Jukebox, they take requests for covers. They say this is most successful in pubs amongst an intoxicated audience. In such events, they can make up to 200 pounds in two hours, which is like $400 for us folk on the unfortunate side of the currency conversion. 

So, what started as an experiment on Youtube turned into something bigger. After getting cover requests from people they didn't know, the pair decided to keep going. They turned the videos into a personal competition to make better and better covers. 

Currently, Ian and Stevo are using more professional equipment to "take advantage of all the instruments [they] can both play to make multi-instrumental tracks." A lovely, seamless example of this is their cover of Muse, "United States of Eurasia":

Whether they're Two Blokes with ukes, pianos, or drums, this pair is undeniably talented. Their quirky Youtube creations have even earned them a spot on an advertisement for THE GRAMMY'S. If that isn't an awesomely big deal, I don't know what is!

If you like what you see/hear from this British duo, be sure to check them out:

Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/browian01

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TwoBlokesTwoUkes
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/tbtu

Lastly, THANK YOU to Ian and Stevo for your contributions!