Catfish and the Bottlemen

Catfish and the Bottlemen

Catfish and the Bottlemen at Lollapalooza

Catfish and the Bottlemen at Lollapalooza 2015
Background information
Origin Llandudno, Wales
Genres Alternative rock, indie rock, post-punk revival
Years active 2007 (2007)–present
Labels Island, Communion[1]
Website www.catfishandthebottlemen.com
Members Ryan Evan "Van" McCann
Johnny "Bondy" Bond
Benjamin "Benji" Blakeway
Robert "Bob" Hall
Past members Billy Bibby
Jon Barr

Catfish and the Bottlemen are a British rock band that formed in Llandudno, North Wales in 2007.[2] They have released one album that reached number 10 in the UK album chart. The band have toured in UK, Europe, North America, and Australia and have featured in a number of festivals including Glastonbury, Latitude, Reading and Leeds, T in the Park, Governors Ball, and Bonnaroo.

Background

Catfish and the Bottlemen were founded in 2007, when Ryan "Van" McCann and Billy Bibby began playing guitar together at Billy's parents home; a bed & breakfast in Llandudno, Wales.[3] Van's parents also ran a bed and breakfast in town[4] and Van was friends with Billy's younger brother, which is how Van and Billy met.[5] Van and Billy were joined by Benjamin Blakeway on bass as the third founding member of the band.[6] They promoted themselves by playing in car parks after other artist's gigs, including bands such as Kasabian.[6] Original drummer Jon Barr was replaced by Bob Hall in 2010, and founding lead guitarist Billy Bibby left the band in the summer of 2014 and was replaced by Johnny "Bondy" Bond.[7]

Ryan "Van" McCann was born in Cheshire, England[1] and spent time travelling in Australia with his parents as child before moving to Llandudno, Wales.[4] The band derives its name from McCann's first childhood musical memory: that of an Australian street busker in Sydney, playing beer bottles strung to a wire who went (and still goes)[8] by the name of Catfish the Bottleman.[9] Van was reunited with Catfish the Bottleman in January 2015 at the studios of Triple J radio in Sydney.[10]

The band signed to Communion Records in 2013[1] and released their first three singles "Homesick", "Rango" and "Pacifier" that year. In 2014 the band signed to Island Records and on 17 March released their next single "Kathleen",[11] produced by Jim Abbiss (Arctic Monkeys, Kasabian, Adele). All the singles were premiered as Zane Lowe’s "Hottest record in the world" and were playlisted on Radio 1. "Kathleen" ranked at number one on MTV's hottest tracks in April 2014.[12]

In summer 2014, Catfish and the Bottlemen performed at a number of festivals in the UK and Europe including Reading & Leeds,[13] Latitude, Kendal Calling, Strawberry Fields Festival, T in the Park, Pinkpop and Ibiza Rocks. They also played at New York's Governors Ball.

On 19 June 2014, the band announced the release of their debut album The Balcony, which was released on 15 September 2014. Shortly afterwards the band also announced a UK tour. The album charted at No. 10 in the UK Albums Chart in the week ending 27 September 2014 and was certified gold in the UK on January 9, 2015.

They won the BBC Introducing Award at the first BBC Music Awards in December 2014 and performed "Kathleen".[14]

The Balcony was released in the US on 6 January 2015. The day after, they performed on the Late Show with David Letterman.

In an interview with WOW247, McCann said that the band have "three albums written already". He continued to say that "I'm more excited for the second album than the first, because the workload is done now".

Musical style

When reviewing The Balcony, Scott Kerr of AllMusic likened the band's sound to that of Johnny Marr, The Cribs, Feeder and Mystery Jets.[15] According to Ben Homewood of NME, McCann's vocal style is similar to The Kooks' frontman Luke Pritchard.[4]

Band members

Current members
Former members

Discography

Studio albums

Title Album details Peak chart positions Certification
UK
[16]
AUS
[17]
SCO
[18]
US
[19]
US
Alt.

[20]
US
Rock

[21]
The Balcony 10 51 11 121 9 13

Singles

Title Year Peak chart positions Album
UK
[23]
[24]
UK
Indie

[25]
BEL
[26]
JAP
[27]
US
Alt.

[28]

US
Rock

[29]

"Homesick" 2013 The Balcony
"Rango"
"Kathleen" 2014 190 11 82 17 40
"Fallout" 142
"Cocoon" 128 29 50
"Pacifier"
"—" denotes a single that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Catfish and the Bottlemen Communion". BPI. January 2013.
  2. Blore-Bizot, Julie (28 October 2014). "[Interview] Catfish and the Bottlemen". indiemusic.fr. Indie Music.
  3. Gilroy, Nicola. "Billy Bibby Interview". BBC UK. BBC Radio Lincolnshire. Retrieved 29 July 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 Homewood, Ben (23 September 2014). "Catfish & The Bottlemen – 'The Balcony'". NME. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
  5. Thomas, Matt. "Gimme Your Answers - An Interview with Catfish and the Bottlemen". A Music Blog, Yea?. Retrieved 29 July 2015.
  6. 1 2 Laban, Linda. "Catfish and the Bottlemen Luckily Sound Better Than That Band Name". Observer. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
  7. 1 2 Blore-Bizot, Julie. "Billy Bibby is Back". XSNoize.com.
  8. "Catfish the Bottleman Home". Catfish the Bottleman. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  9. "10 Things You Never New About Catfish and The Bottlemen". NME.com. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  10. "Catfish Meets the Bottleman". Facebook. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  11. "Catfish and the Bottlemen Kathleen". Partisanpr.com. 3 April 2014.
  12. "MTV Hottest Tracks". Facebook.com. April 2014.
  13. "Leeds Reading 2014". Readingfestival.com. April 2014.
  14. "Catfish and the Battlement Win BBC Introducing Award". dailypost.co.uk. January 2014.
  15. Kerr, Scott. "The Balcony – Catfish and the Bottlemen". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 13 January 2015.
  16. "Catfish and the Bottlemen" (select "Albums" tab). Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 30, 2014.
  17. Ryan, Gavin (January 31, 2015). "ARIA Albums: Taylor Swift 1989 Spends 8th Week On Top". Noise11. Retrieved January 31, 2015.
  18. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100 21 September 2014 - 27 September 2014". Official Charts Company. 21 September 2014. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
  19. "Catfish and the Bottlemen – Chart History: Billboard 200". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
  20. "Catfish and the Bottlemen – Chart History: Alternative Albums". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
  21. "Catfish and the Bottlemen – Chart History: Rock Albums". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
  22. "BPI Certified Awards > Search". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 2015-03-30.
  23. "Catfish and the Bottlemen" (select "Singles" tab). Official Charts Company. Retrieved 30 October 2014.
  24. "Catfish and the Bottlemen Top 40 Chart Profile And Statistics - HOT40UK". HOT40UK. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
  25. Peak UK Indie Singles Chart positions for Catfish and the Bottlemen: "Kathleen": "Official Independent Singles Chart Top 20 April 2014 - 26 April 2014". 2011 Top 40 Independent Singles Archive. Official Charts Company. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
  26. "Discografie Catfish and the Bottlemen". ultratop.be. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
  27. "Catfish and the Bottlemen Singles Chart History - Japan Hot 100". Billboard. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
  28. "Catfish and the Bottlemen". Billboard.com. Retrieved 30 October 2014.
  29. "Catfish and the Bottlemen". Billboard.com. Retrieved 21 February 2015.

External links

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