User:Benji the dogg/Royce

Royce is a dance/rock band formed 1994 in Chicago IL when high school friends Justus Roe, Jamie Clemmons and Conor Klaus bought a used Royce brand drumset, set it up in Conor's basement and named the band Royce since the name was already on the bass drum.

Early Years
The trio of Roe Clemmons and Klaus played friends' parties, battle of the bands and the usual high school band shows. Things took a hiatus when the three split up to go to seperate colleges. Justus to the University of Illinois, Jamie Clemmons to the University of Iowa and Conor Klaus to Grinnel(?). While at the University of Illinois Justus met and formed a short-lived band named Chatbiz with Ben Spannaus who would later join Royce.

After college Jamie, Justus and Conor moved back to Chicago and reformed Royce along with another high school friend Ross Vegas. Justus became a hip-hop producer for the Galapagos 4 label and Royce became the only non-hip-hop group on Galapagos 4.

The Galapagos 4 years
Galapagos 4 had many well-known hip-artists but never a band until Royce. Royce's first release on Galapagos 4 was Subtleties of the Game; a relaxed dance/rock album that cemented their relationship with the Chicago hip-hop community. Royce became a staple of underground and progressive hip-hop shows in Chicagoland playing with everyone from Typical Cats to Kool Keith at venues including the Empty Bottle, the Abbey Pub and the Metro. After the release of the album Royce toured Europe with Galapagos 4 artists Qwel and...

Tuff Love was Royce's second album released on Galapagos 4. This album featured Qwel and (?) on multiple tracks. The song "Girl on Bikes" was popular in Western Europe and DJs in the United States. The song was also a featured download on iTunes in the "European" catagory. Tuff Love was number 10 on the college charts for a month.