Mohair (band)

Mohair was a British rock band from Watford, England, that formed in 1998 and split after a final show at The Horn Reborn in St Albans on 28 September 2007.

Early Years

Mohair featured Pete Baker (drums, brass), Tom Billington (guitar, vocals), Alex Richards (keyboards, vocals), and Tim Slade (bass, vocals). The members of this rock quartet had played in various bands since their early teens, most notably a Commitments cover band. In 1998 the band started gigging locally in various line-ups, going by the name of Trooper. By 2001, they attracted the attention of a small indie label, M1 records – and after changing their name to Mohair (due to a Canadian band already having the name Trooper), the four childhood friends were eager to make their rock and roll dreams a reality.

After signing with M1 Records in October 2001, Mohair spent much of the next 3 years touring throughout the UK. In March 2002 the band made their USA debut with performances at The Cat Club and The Roxy in Los Angeles – and by summer 2004 the band had played over 300 gigs and appeared at every major UK festival. However, their first 2 'official' single releases (discounting their promo CD 'Octopus Chunks') arrived to little fanfare, resulting in the group parting ways with M1 Records in June 2004.

Small Talk

Mohair went on to form their own Ear Candy imprint in 2005; singles such as "End of the Line" and "Stranded (in the Middle of Nowhere)" arrived before the year's end - together with the band completing 3 UK tours. In spring 2006, Mohair performed several shows at the annual South By Southwest Convention in Austin, Texas, followed by shows in Chicago and New York.

Their debut album, Small Talk (produced by Mark Wallis and Dave Ruffy) was released in the UK on 24 April 2006 on the Ear Candy label - promoted by an appearance on The Album Chart Show for Channel 4 in the UK. The US version of the album was released on Grunion Records on 19 September 2006 (supported by a 9-week tour of the East coast of America). Upon returning to the UK, Mohair toured as the support act for Boy Kill Boy on their December 2006 UK tour.

2007 was initially a promising year for the band, with them supporting Razorlight on their February - April 2007 US and UK tours. They also co-headlined with The Holloways in Germany in May of that year. However, whilst the band enjoyed good fortune in terms of experience and exposure on the road, they did not find this translated into high album or single sales. Whilst the relationships within the band were strong, it was evident that Mohair was struggling to survive within the music industry.

Split

On 31 August 2007, Mohair announced that after nine years they were to split up. They played a handful of dates throughout the UK as part of a 'farewell' tour, finishing with a show at The Horn Reborn, St Albans on 28 September 2007.

Now

In 2010, Tom Billington recorded his first solo album 'Make No Bones' released on 24 May 2010. The follow up 'As Luck Would Have It' was released on 13 February 2012.

Pete Baker went on to play for Emmy The Great and fellow Watford band The Staves. Pete now plays drums for several acts including Younghusband and lives in London.

Alex Richards toured with The Bluetones from 2008–2010, also playing on their final studio album A New Athens. Along with members of Pimlico, he went on to form The Red Inspectors, whose debut album Are We The Red Inspectors? Are We? was released on Acid Jazz Records on 16 January 2012. Alex currently plays for The Overtures.

Tim Slade now lives in Brighton and works as a freelance bass player - most notably for Fields Of The Nephilim and Gary Numan.

Discography

Studio Albums

Singles

External links

• MySpace Page
• Fansite/Archive