The Answering Machine

The Answering Machine

Background information
Origin	Manchester, Great Britain
Genres	Indie rock
Years active	2005–2011
Labels	Heist Or Hit Records 2008-2011 Fastcut Records, Japan 2011 Universal Publishing 2006-2009 (publishing)
Website	Official Website Band MySpace

Members	Martin Colclough Pat Fogarty Gemma Evans Ben Perry Luke Bellis

Past members	Mustafa Beat

The Answering Machine were an indie rock band based in Manchester, England.

Biography

The band formed in October 2005 at the University of Manchester. Martin and Pat wrote songs together in their final year at university, and Gemma joined on bass shortly afterwards. Their first gig was at Retro Bar in Manchester on 1 March 2006. The band played as a 3-piece (Martin, Pat and Gemma) until August 2007. Until this point they used a drum machine called Mustafa Beat.^[1]

The Answering Machine released their first single, "Oklahoma" on 16 October 2006 through High Voltage Sounds. The single was limited to 500 vinyl copies, and sold out in 2 days. Second Single, "Silent Hotels" was released with High Voltage Sounds on 18 June 2007. The single was again limited to 500 vinyl copies. They released their third single, "Lightbulbs" on 5 November 2007 with Regal Records. The band released their single "Cliffer" in March 2009 with Heist Or Hit Records.

The band played at Glastonbury festival 2007 and SXSW festival 2008^[2] and again in 2011.^[3] They have performed a UK headline tour in May/June 2007, and a support tour with The Rumble Strips in October/November 2007. In April 2009, the band toured in the USA playing at the Viper Room and the Mercury Lounge in New York.^[4] In May 2009 the band toured extensively throughout the UK firstly with Twisted Wheel and later in the same month a major venue tour with Manic Street Preachers.^[5] In October 2009, the band visited the USA again to perform at CMJ Music Marathon and a month's residency at CoCo66 in Greenpoint, NY.^[6] In December 2009, the band played at British Anthems festival in Japan.^[7]

The Answering Machine completed recording their debut album produced by Dave Eringa at Warren House Farm Studios in Yorkshire and mixed at Beethoven Street Studios, London. The debut album Another City, Another Sorry was released on 15 June 2009.

Their song "It's Over! It's Over! It's Over!" is featured on the video game FIFA 10. The band also had two songs featured on the BBC TV show Gavin & Stacey during the second episode of the third series.

The Answering Machine announced they were disbanding on 16 May 2011.^[8]

Facts

The Answering Machine performed an acoustic version of "Obviously Cold" at BETA Records TV Studios in Hollywood, California in early 2009. The acoustic song segment was taken in June 2009 for the BETA Records Music TV Series, directed by Eric MacIver and produced by Chris Honetschlaeger.^[9]

Members

Martin Colclough - Vocals, Guitar
Pat Fogarty - Guitar, Backing Vocals
Gemma Evans - Bass, Backing Vocals
Ben Perry - Drums

Live Members

Luke Bellis - Guitar, Keys, Backing Vocals

Discography

Studio albums

Another City, Another Sorry (Heist Or Hit Records) - 2009
Lifeline (Heist Or Hit Records) - 2011

Singles

Oklahoma (High Voltage Sounds) - 16 October 2006
Silent Hotels (High Voltage Sounds) - 18 June 2007
Lightbulbs (Regal Records) - 5 November 2007
Cliffer (Heist Or Hit Records) - 3 March 2009
Obviously Cold (Heist Or Hit Records) - 1 June 2009
Oklahoma (Heist Or Hit Records) - 10 August 2009
It's Over! It's Over! It's Over!/Emergency (Heist Or Hit Records) - 23 November 2009
Animals (Heist Or Hit Records) - 17 October 2010
Lifeline (Heist Or Hit Records) - 14 February 2011