The Enemy (UK band)

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The Enemy
The Enemy playing at Elland Road Stadium, Leeds. in May 2008
The Enemy playing at Elland Road Stadium, Leeds. in May 2008
Background information
Origin Coventry, England
Genre(s) Indie rock
Years active 2006–present
Label(s) Warner Music Group Stiff Records (UK)
Website http://www.theenemy.com
Members
Tom Clarke
Liam Watts
Andy Hopkins
For other uses, see Enemy.

The Enemy are an English rock band formed in Coventry in 2006, signed to Warner Music Group (UK). In June 2007, The Enemy played twice at Glastonbury Festival, played the 'Guardian lounge' on Saturday and the much larger 'Other Stage' on Sunday. They also headlined on the Saturday night of T In The Park in the 'Futures' tent on 7 July 2007.

On July 16, 2007 the band's debut album: We'll Live and Die in These Towns went straight to Number 1 in the UK Albums chart on release.

Contents

[edit] History

The Enemy met their original manager John Dawkins under the Coventry City crest of the Ricoh Arena after a game between Coventry and Celtic for the Richard Shaw Testimonial. John had spoken to Watts at length about the band and had put them into the studio with untapped, up-and-coming producer, Matt Terry in Vada Studios, Stratford. Terry called Dawkins mid-session to express his excitement about the band; Dawkins received their demo tracks and promptly booked gigs for the band and became their manager. After approximately ten gigs, Dawkins sought the assistance of Grand Union Management, which quickly moved things forward.

In 2006 the band were the opening act at Coventry's Godiva Festival, and again played the event in July 2007 as second headliners beneath the Super Furry Animals the weekend in which their debut album went straight to number 1. On the back of their first appearance at Godiva, they were the first signing on the legendary Stiff Records label in 20 years; the band claimed that they'd signed a deal with Stiff. Some claim that this is a lie, however several singles have been released on special edition Stiff records - (they signed with Warner Records - who own Stiff - in early 2007).

They first gained acclaim when they were mentioned in NME as the act most likely to "break your windows" for 2007. Drummer Liam Watts is from the Keresley/Holbrooks area of Coventry. Bass player Andrew Hopkins is from the Eastern Green area of Coventry where he attended the Eastern Green Junior primary school and singer guitarist Tom Clarke is from the Castle Bromwich area of nearby Solihull and used to attend Park Hall School. All 3 members of the band studied music at Warwickshire College in Royal Leamington Spa.

They supported The Fratellis, Kasabian, Ash and Manic Street Preachers on their UK tours.[1] The band also supported Stereophonics on their November 2007 UK Tour.

Their single, "Away From Here" entered the charts at number 8 and its follow-up "Had Enough" entered the charts at number 4, their highest placing to date.

Building on their rapid success, The Enemy collaborated with NME on the 2007 Rock 'N' Roll Riot Tour, during September and October 2007. Friend of the band, rapper Lethal Bizzle, and The Wombats supported the band.

In August 2007 The Enemy supported The Rolling Stones on the last date of their European tour at the O2 Arena in London. The band played a fully electric gig with Dirty Pretty Things to a selection of inmates at HMP Pentonville to raise awareness of the problem of suicides in young males. Tom was quoted as saying that it was a real privilege to work for such a worthy cause.

In September 2007 The Enemy played the Jersey Live Festival along with The Fratellis and The Twang.

In October 2007, they won best new act at the Q Awards, and gave the award to a young fan who had been crushed at the front of their gig in Manchester.[citation needed]

In January 2008, The Enemy won the XFM award "Best British Debut Album Of 2007" with "We'll Live And Die In These Towns", the Xfm New Music Awards were held at Camden's KOKO venue.

In February 2008 they won the NME award for Best New Band.

March 2008 saw the band started production on their second album and playing six nights in a row at the London Astoria.

April 2008 saw the band play at Coventry's Ricoh Arena, with both nights selling out to a total of 16,000 fans.

May 2008 saw the band support the Kasier Cheifs at Elland Road Staduim, Leeds, to a crowd of over 36,000 people.

Tom, Andy and Liam still live in Coventry and say they have no short or long term plans to leave.

June 5th will see them headline a free gig in Coventry's memorial park to over 30,000 people.

[edit] Music Industry Awards

Q Awards - Best New Act (awarded October 2007)

XFM Awards - Best British Debut Album of 2007 (awarded January 2008)

NME Awards - Best New Band (awarded February 2008)

[edit] XFM Controversy

In September 2007, Alex Zane, presenter of the XFM Breakfast show broadcasted a statement declaring that the band would not be played on his show again. After playing their single "You're Not Alone" for seven seconds, he reasoned that altercations between himself and the band over a television interview meant that they would no longer be played by him. Lead singer Tom declared that no-one cared as everyone would be listening to The Chris Moyles Show anyway. XFM did not back this decision, and continued to play The Enemy's Records: stating Alex Zane to be highly childish as a result. He continues on the breakfast show at XFM. [2]

[edit] Members

As of 2007, The Enemy is composed of:

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

[edit] Singles

[edit] References

  1. ^ Dowling, Jordan. ""Reviews - Live - The Fratellis, The Enemy" .", Drowned in Sound, 17 February 2007. Retrieved on 2007-04-22. 
  2. ^ ""The Enemy vs Alex Zane: read the radio show transcript'" .", NME, 20 September He has since changed his mind and is now playing the Enemy during his breakfast show.2007. Retrieved on 2007-12-23. 

[edit] External links

v • d • e
The Enemy
Tom Clarke · Liam Watts · Andy Hopkins
Studio albums
Singles
"40 Days and 40 Nights" · "It's Not OK" · "Away From Here" · "Had Enough" · "You're Not Alone" · "We'll Live and Die In These Towns" · "This Song"
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