For the religious buildings, see Chapter house
| Chapterhouse | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Reading, England |
| Genres | Dream pop Shoegazing |
| Years active | 1987–1994 2008–present |
| Labels | Dedicated Records Cherry Red Records |
| Associated acts | Mojave 3 Slowdive Cuba Tunng Biocom Inner Sleeve The Bikinis |
| Members | |
| Andrew Sherriff Ashley Bates Russell Barrett Stephen Patman Simon Rowe |
|
| Past members | |
| Steve Wren Jon Curtis |
|
Chapterhouse are a British shoegazing band originally of the early 1990s, from Reading, Berkshire, England. Formed in 1987 by Andrew Sherriff and Stephen Patman, the band began performing alongside Spacemen 3. After the band split, Sheriff later formed Biocom.[1]
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The band comprised Andrew Sherriff (born 16 May 1969, Wokingham, England; guitar/vocals), Stephen Patman (born 8 November 1968, Windsor, Berkshire, England; guitar/vocals), Simon Rowe (born 23 June 1969, Reading, Berkshire; guitar), Dale Robertson (born 19 June 1970, Nottingham; guitar), Jon Curtis (bass) and Ashley Bates (born 2 November 1971, Reading; drums).
Chapterhouse took the unusual step of rehearsing and gigging for well over a year before recording even a demo tape. They were initially compared to the British acid rock scene, a mistake hardly rectified by the band's early performances supporting Spacemen 3. Chapterhouse eventually found themselves associated with the shoegazing groups of 1991 (with Lush, Ride, Moose and Slowdive).
Bassist Jon Curtis left early on to study, being replaced by Russell Barrett (born 7 November 1968, Vermont, United States) who also fronted his own garage band, the Bikinis. Chapterhouse eventually signed to the newly formed Dedicated label, releasing a series of singles, including "Pearl," which featured guest vocals by Rachel Goswell of Slowdive and reached #67 in the UK Singles Chart.[2]
Their first album, Whirlpool, released in 1991, has been cited as one of the genre's high points, but failed to capture a wider market despite reaching #23 in the UK Albums Chart.[2] In the same year, Chapterhouse also appeared in their home town Reading Festival immediately following Nirvana's performance.
Blood Music, stylistically different, was released in 1993. Two singles from this album, "She's a Vision" and "We Are the Beautiful", were relatively successful, but the album was withdrawn due to a sampling lawsuit. Global Communication reworked Blood Music for a remix album, Pentamerous Metamorphosis.
The band then released no further new material other than a double album, Rownderbout in 1996, compiling their singles, various B-sides, rarities and unreleased demos which featured Slowdive drummer Simon Scott. Sherriff went on to form Bio.com and Rowe went on to play guitar for Mojave 3. Bates formed Cuba and now plays in the British folktronica band Tunng, and Chapterhouse ceased to be for almost fifteen years.
The music of Chapterhouse was mostly out of print on CD until March 2006, when Cherry Red Records reissued the album Whirlpool with bonus tracks, and for the first time, lyrics.
The band played a version of "Love Forever" with Ulrich Schnauss on the Barn Stage at the 2008 edition of Truck Festival. In response to requests over the years, Chapterhouse played live at Club AC30's Reverence show at the ICA on 26 November 2009 along with Ulrich Schnauss and Kirsty Hawkshaw. This was preceded on 23 November by a warm up show at the Luminaire in Kilburn. The band also played at The Scala in London on 18 March 2010, and undertook on short tours of Japan in April 2010, and North America in May 2010.[3] The North American tour had to be postponed due to the Icelandic ash cloud cancelling flights, stranding Patman in Japan.[4] Chapterhouse rescheduled the North American tour for September and October 2010.[5]
| Year | Title | Chart Positions | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| US Modern Rock | |||
| 1991 | "Pearl" | 7 | Whirlpool |
| 1992 | "Mesmerise" | 21 | - |
| 1994 | "We Are the Beautiful" | 29 | Blood Music |
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