The Furze

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The Furze
Also known as Kid Galahad, Kid G
Origin Maidenhead, UK
Genre(s) Indie
Years active 2001-Present
Label(s) Ignition, Three-Sixty
Website www.thefurze.net
Members
Ash Bull
Dave Ody
Paul Seaman
"Wookie" Strows

The Furze are a British indie band from Maidenhead. The members of the band have been recording together for more ten years, and the same line-up have previously performed under the name Kid Galahad. The band’s current name is a reference to Furze Platt, the suburb of Maidenhead where all the members hail from. Their eclectic music style has been compared to that of Beck and Jane's Addiction.[1] The band have supported a number of prominent bands and artists at concerts around the world, including Kaiser Chiefs, Supergrass, Oasis, Kings of Leon and Elliott Smith.[2] The band have bemoaned the lack of live music venues and outlets for local talent in the Maidenhead area, and as a result have invested in Denmark Studios in the town.[3]

Contents

[edit] Kid Galahad

The four band members met in 1997, whilst they all attended Furze Platt School in Maidenhead.[4] The band honed their skills in live performances and homemade recordings. One of their early demos was given to long-time friend and DJ, James Lavelle, who championed the band to, amongst others, the independent, Ignition record label, whom the band signed to in 2000.[5] Their recordings for the label were produced by Jim Abbiss (who had previously worked with The Music, DJ Shadow and UNKLE amongst others), and the band’s first studio release was the Stealin’ Beats EP in May 2001. As well as Abbiss’ work on the title track, this EP also contained two live tracks and an original demo recorded in lead singer Ash’s back garden. This EP was critically acclaimed and was made "single of the week" by NME magazine and BBC Radio 1.[6]

Kid Galahad’s second release was the Where’s my Gold? EP in July 2001. Like it’s predecessor, this EP showed off the band’s eclectic style and mixed studio and live recordings, and was also given a single of the week stamp of approval, this time by MTV.[2] Finally, a trio of limited edition EP releases was completed in November 2001, with the release of the Runaway Train EP. These releases also coincided with the band touring with bands such as Vex Red, Tetra Splendour and The Electric Soft Parade.

Kid Galahad’s debut album Gold Dust Noise was released on 20th May, 2002. The album was critically well received, though some journalists regarded the album with a little disappointment given the strength of the EPs previously released.[1][7] A further single “Swimming to Shore” was released on 10 June 2002 to promote the album, however the album failed to make the Top 100 on the UK album chart.

Spitting from Ignition records, the band took some time off to work on some new songs and the soundtrack to the film Happily Even After. These two albums were both released in 2006 on the Three-Sixty record label. The first album, The Bedroom Tapes, was released on 20th Feb 2006, and was described as "experiments in stereo recording".[8] The film soundtrack was released later in June the same year.[9]

These albums were released without any publicity from the members of the band, only a tongue-in-cheek statement on the record label website stating that the band had gone missing in Cornwall, “All that was found in the car was a pair of Wallace and Gromit Boxer shorts and a tape in the player of their Triumph Herald.”[10] This story facilitated the transformation and relaunch of the band as The Furze.

[edit] The Furze

To mark this re-branding of the band, just a month after the final Kid Galahad release, the first single by The Furze, "Carry me Home" was released on Three-Sixty records. This was followed in March 2007 by the single "I'm on Fire" and then the album Subterranean Kicks in May 2007. The press release suggesting the band had gone missing in Cornwall may have also have been a reference to the fact that the bend went to the Sawmills Studios on the banks of the River Fowey to record Subterranean Kicks.[11]

[edit] Music use in other media

  • "Stealin' Beats" was used in the Konami PS2 game Dancing Stage MegaMix,[12] that sold more than 500,000 copies world-wide.
  • A number of Kid Galahad tracks were used in the UK comedy drama Teachers, including "Stealin Beats" (series two, episode two), "Distant Sunshine" and "Pack it In" (series two, episode five), "Runaway Train" (series two, episode eight), "I Don't Wanna Play" (series three, episode one), "Distant Sunshine" (series three, episode two) and "Swimming to Shore" (series three, episode four).[13]

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

As Kid Galahad

  • 2002 - Gold Dust Noise
  • 2006 - Happily Even After
  • 2006 - The Bedroom Tapes

As The Furze

  • 2007 - Subterranean Kicks

[edit] Singles/EPs

As Kid Galahad

As The Furze

  • 2006 - "Carry me Home"
  • 2007 - "I'm on Fire"

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Kate Price. "Kid Galahad: Gold Dust Noise", Drowned In Sound, 2001. Retrieved on 2008-04-15. 
  2. ^ a b "Kid Galahad", Download.com. Retrieved on 2008-04-15. 
  3. ^ Chris Travis. "The Furze Interview", musiconair.biz, 2006. Retrieved on 2008-04-19. 
  4. ^ "Kid Galahad Biography", Angloplugging, 2001. Retrieved on 2008-04-15. 
  5. ^ "Kid Galahad", Drowned In Sound, 2001. Retrieved on 2008-04-15. 
  6. ^ "Kid Galahad", Download.com. Retrieved on 2008-04-15. 
  7. ^ Peter Mattinson. "Kid Galahad "Gold Dust Noise"", noripcord.com, 2002-07-25. Retrieved on 2008-04-15. 
  8. ^ "Kid Galahad News", Three-Sixty records. Retrieved on 2008-04-15. 
  9. ^ "Kid Galahad Happily Even After soundtrack", Three-Sixty records. Retrieved on 2008-04-15. 
  10. ^ "Kid Galahad News", Three-Sixty records, 2005-10-30. Retrieved on 2008-04-15. 
  11. ^ "The Furze Profile Page", Musicemissions.com. Retrieved on 2008-04-19. 
  12. ^ "Dancing Stage Megamix (Europe) Song List". Retrieved on 2008-04-17. 
  13. ^ "Kid Galahad News", Three-Sixty records. Retrieved on 2008-04-17.