| British Sea Power | |
|---|---|
Yan (left) and Hamilton (right) in Paris in 2008 |
|
| Background information | |
| Origin | Brighton, England; Kendal, England |
| Genres | Indie rock |
| Years active | 2000–present |
| Labels | Rough Trade |
| Associated acts | Brakes |
| Website | britishseapower.co.uk |
| Members | |
| Yan Noble Hamilton Wood Phil Sumner Abi Fry |
|
| Past members | |
| Eamon | |
British Sea Power are an indie rock band based in Brighton, England, although three of the band members originally come from Kendal in Cumbria. The wide-ranging nature of their material has led critics to liken their sound to a variety of groups, from The Cure and Joy Division to the Pixies and Arcade Fire.[1][2][3][4] The band are famed for their live performances, the unusual lyrical content of their songs and the adventurous choice of locations for some of their shows. British Sea Power's members are Yan (Scott Wilkinson; vocals, guitar), Noble (Martin Noble; guitar), Hamilton (Neil Hamilton Wilkinson; bass guitar, vocals, guitar), Wood (Matthew Wood; drums), Phil Sumner (cornet, keyboards) and Abi Fry (viola).
Contents |
British Sea Power's Yan and Hamilton are brothers[5] and were school friends with Wood in Kendal. They were in a number of bands together while at school, but after finishing his exams Yan moved to study at the University of Reading, where he met guitarist Noble, who was originally from Bury, Greater Manchester. A few years later, Hamilton and Wood joined them and formed a band.
They played some gigs and produced a 4 track demo in Reading as British Air Powers, before relocating to Brighton in search of a more active music scene. "British Sea Power" was actually the name of one of these demo tracks, and was eventually reworked into "Carrion". In Brighton, BSP amassed a strong local following, due mainly to their own club night called "Club Sea Power". The club nights featured many different support bands, and other forms of entertainment such as a 1930s fashion show, and were most frequently hosted at the Freebutt and the Lift. (The latter has now closed down.)
Their first single, "Fear of Drowning", was issued in limited numbers on their own Golden Chariot label. The artwork for the B side, "A Wooden Horse", borrows heavily from the dust cover of the 1950 book The Wooden Horse that details the escape of Allied POWs during World War II. Geoff Travis of Rough Trade Records saw the band live and in September 2001 signed them to his label. A number of singles were issued on the label, and Eamon Hamilton was recruited to play live keyboards in autumn 2002.
The Decline of British Sea Power, the band's first album, was released in June 2003 to critical acclaim. A single from the album, "Carrion", became the band's first Top 40 single. The album only charted in the lower reaches of the UK Album Chart but turned out to be a word-of-mouth success, selling well over 60,000 copies in the following two years and allowing them to play sell-out UK tours to audiences of over 1,000 people.
The follow-up, Open Season, was released in early April 2005, and also enjoyed wide critical praise. It showcased a more accessible, produced sound and charted at #13 in the UK Albums Chart. The lead single, "It Ended on an Oily Stage", charted at #18 in the UK Singles Chart a week earlier.
British Sea Power had won the 2004 Time Out Live Band of the Year award and by this time had built a reputation for elaborate and well-thought out live shows. Stages were often decorated with foliage and plastic birds and shows would generally finish with a semi-improvised song called "Rock in A", which sometimes lasted for over 20 minutes. Various members would climb riggings and tear down the foliage, while Eamon would walk around the audience beating his marching drum. The encore would sometimes see a ten-foot bear, Ursine Ultra, join in the performance.
The stage antics have become one of the signatures of the band. Another is their choice of venues. Their tours have often included unusual locations such as the Scillonian Club on the Isles of Scilly, Grasmere Village Hall, the Czech Embassy in London and Carnglaze Caverns in Cornwall. They have also played in museums, libraries and sea forts.
The band has built up an eccentric image in interviews and press releases; some of which is based on fact, other times merely whimsical building of outward personas. This has included giving journalists grid references at which to meet them, and expressing obsessions with Field Marshal Montgomery and bird watching. Similarly, they appeared on the day time TV show Countryfile in which they discussed their love of the countryside and played an outdoor performance of the track "Canvey Island".
At the beginning of 2006, it was announced that Eamon had left British Sea Power to concentrate on his own band Brakes [1].
In 2007, American Laundromat Records announced that British Sea Power would record a version of the Pixies' "Caribou" for an album called Dig For Fire - A Tribute To Pixies.
In October 2007, the band toured the east coast of America to showcase their new 5-track EP Krankenhaus?. The November 2007 tour included a seaside cafe in Saltdean, East Sussex; a ferry across the River Mersey, Liverpool; the Tan Hill Inn, the UK's highest inn; All Saints' Church in Newcastle-upon-Tyne; and White Mischief, an indoor festival mixing live bands with unusual vaudeville acts.
Their Krankenhaus? EP was released digitally in October 2007 and on CD and vinyl on 20 November. Their third album, Do You Like Rock Music? was released on 14 January 2008 in the U.K. and 12 February 2008 in the U.S. Prior to their tour in support of Do You Like Rock Music? (visiting Ireland, UK, Belgium, Holland, Germany and US), Wood injured his back and had to be temporarily replaced by Tom White of Electric Soft Parade and Brakes.
In January 2008, keyboard and cornet player Phil Sumner was admitted to hospital in Leeds after being knocked unconscious when he attempted a stage dive from a 12-foot PA system .[6] The press department at Rough Trade Records reported "The impact knocked him out. Thankfully an ambulance was quickly summoned and he was whisked away, bloody and unconscious and despite a concussion, a broken molar and a maze of stitches in his chin." In spite of this, he returned to the stage with the rest of the band a day later.
In February 2008, the band appeared on Later with Jools Holland, playing "Waving Flags", "Canvey Island" and "No Lucifer". They were accompanied by members of the London Bulgarian Choir and a display of Cumbrian wrestling. The band also played at Glastonbury, Reading and Leeds, T in the Park and Bestival in 2008, amongst other festivals.[7]
The band also played an intimate concert at The Monaco Hotel in Canvey Island as a nod to the 5th track on their new album. Prior to the gig, the band took part in a training session at Canvey Island Football Club. They were joined on stage for their encore by Wilko Johnson of Canvey pub rock icons Dr. Feelgood.[8] The performance was featured on BBC2's The Culture Show.
The band played "No Lucifer" on The Late Show with David Letterman on 12 March 2008, performed and were interviewed on Countryfile, and had a concert filmed for the Canadian music series Beautiful Noise.
Violist Abi Fry toured with the band in 2008 and has since become a permanent member of British Sea Power.
The band played a free show in Oklahoma at the First Annual Norman Music Festival on April 26, 2008, and on June 21, 2008, played a concert at the Natural History Museum in London, some of which was filmed.[9]
On 22 July 2008, the band was announced as one of the nominees for the 2008 Mercury Prize. To coincide with the nomination they re-released their song Waving Flags on 8 September 2008,[10] which they also performed at the award ceremony the following day.[11]
On 23 January 2009, the band announced that they were recording a soundtrack to the documentary Man of Aran. They performed it in concert at the British Film Institute in April, and a CD/DVD was released in May.[12] On 7 February 2009, they released a new 10-minute track, "The possibility of an island", on myspace.
The band headlined the Festival Republic Stage at the 2010 Reading and Leeds Festivals, on 29 and 28 August respectively.[13] They supported the Manic Street Preachers on their autumn 2010 tour of Britain.
The band's next album was initially expected during 2010.[14] In January, the band announced on their blog that recording for it had been taking place in East Sussex and on Skye and was 95% finished. The album was eventually scheduled for release in January 2011.
The band first released a 'Maxi EP' (one featuring 8 songs), entitled Zeus, in October 2010,[15] featuring songs recorded during the sessions for the forthcoming album.
The album Valhalla Dancehall was released in January 2011.[16] Initial copies of the album sold by some independent music stores in the UK were accompanied with a bonus EP, Valhalla V.I.P.. The band toured the UK in the first three months of 2011, and a tour of the United States was planned for March, including an appearance on Late Show with David Letterman on March 21.
British Sea Power announced a number of forthcoming festival appearances for summer 2011, including Latitude Festival, Leefest, Get Loaded In The Park and the Port Eliot Festival. In addition, the band performed at Jodrell Bank Live at Jodrell Bank Observatory, with the The Flaming Lips, in July 2011.[17] They also performed at festivals in Australia, China and Japan.[18]
September 2011 saw the publication on Rough Trade Books of Do It For Your Mum[19] by Roy Wilkinson (brother of Yan and Hamilton), an account of the author's experiences of managing the band and of how the family's octogenarian father became the group's most ardent fan.[20]
| Year | Album | Peak chart positions | Certification | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [21] |
US Heats. [22] |
NL | |||
| 2003 | The Decline of British Sea Power | 54 | – | – | |
| 2005 | Open Season | 13 | 38 | – | |
| 2008 | Do You Like Rock Music? | 10 | 5 | 97 | |
| 2009 | Man Of Aran | 68 | 48 | – | |
| 2011 | Valhalla Dancehall | 22 | 14 | – | |
|
|||||||||||||||||