Steadman (band)
Steadman | |
---|---|
Origin | Hastings, England |
Genres | Britpop, Indie, Alternative |
Years active | 1998–2005 |
Labels | None |
Members |
Simon Steadman Russel Field David Walton James Board Chris Murphy |
Steadman is a British indie rock band, formed in Hastings in 1998. The band's original name was The Dharmas, but they changed the name after they canceled their contract with the label Arista, and signed with lead singer Simon Steadman's own label, Freeloader Recordings. Steadman's first album, Loser Friendly, was released in the United Kingdom in 2000. Steadman released their second album, Revive, in 2003, which was produced by Alain Johannes and Natasha Shneider. The last iteration of the lineup employed lead singer Simon Steadman, guitarist James Board, bass guitarist David Walton, drummer Russel Field, and keyboardist Chris Murphy.
Steadman's sound is clearly influenced by the Britpop-bands Oasis and Radiohead. The band has also been compared to Richard Ashcroft's band The Verve. Though Steadman has not seen much success, the band has got many good reviews, most notably from Sir Paul McCartney, who endorsed the band in a handwritten note handed to them after showing up at one of their gigs in the United Kingdom.
Mid 2005 Steadman said "Steal this Music!!" and released their music as free downloads on their website under a Creative Commons licence.
Discography
The Dharmas album (unreleased, pre-Steadman era)
Recorded for Arista, but never released due to internal problems. Though not officially a Steadman album, it featured mostly the same personnel.
Track listing
- Natural Satisfaction
- Fly Again
- Lifelong Shiner
- Save Them
- Letters To A Loved One .m
- All Our Summer Days
- What If
- Book Inside You
- High Altitude
- Whole Earth (Live)
- Raise Yer Head (Live) .mp
- Shake Up
- Channel Hopper
- If It Happens Again
- No Time To Celebrate
- 1000 Points Of Light
Loser Friendly (2000)
Loser Friendly the band's first album as Steadman. This album was released by Steadman's own label, "Freeloader Recordings", in 2000. Loser Friendly sold approximately 2000 copies through Freeloader Recordings.
Track listing
- Cut Me Loose
- Let Down
- No Control
- Life of Leisure
- Oceans of You
- World Too Late
- Satellite
- Whirlwind
- No Big Deal
- stml [Short-Term Memory Loss]
- Saviour
- Love/Hate Everything
- Come Alive
Personnel
- Simon Steadman (current lead vocals and guitar)
- Russel Field (current drums and vocals)
- David Walton (current bass)
- Paul Phillips (former guitar)
- Ellie Wyatt (former strings and keyboard)
- review on all-music guide
Revive (2003 album)
Revive has, thus far, been Steadman's most popular album to date. The track "Wave Goodbye" on this album has been featured in television shows, movies, and soundtracks such as Smallville, and New York Minute. The track "No Big Deal" has also been featured on Charmed.
This album has also garnered much attention from the world-renowned Sir Paul McCartney. McCartney expressed his interest in the band's song "Carried" above all others. A written quote from McCartney is posted on the Steadman website, it reads:
"The band Steadman have the songs, the musicianship, the energy and the enthusiasm to blow the top off any club, or arena, and if given a listen, have that rare quality
--the ability to deliver!--
I like this band!
P. McCartney"
Track listing
- The Bitter End
- Carried
- No Big Deal
- Good to Go
- Wave Goodbye
- Live It Up
- Come Alive
- Sun Lotion
- Two Together
- Create Your Fate
- Next Life
- Revive
- City of the Living Dead ["hidden" track"]
Personnel
- Simon Steadman (current lead vocals and guitar)
- Russel Field (current drums and vocals)
- David Walton (current bass)
- James Board (current guitar)
- Chris Murphy (current keyboard)
- review on all-music guide
The Sims 2: University
Under contract with Electronic Arts, Steadman released a song called "Come On" for the College Rock radio songs for The Sims 2: University.
The song has yet to be commercially released in an English-language format.
There.com
Steadman played a concert in a virtual world MMORPG known as There in November, 2003. The concert promoted the online world as well as Steadman's latest CD, 'Revive'. The band played their songs on a stage in the There Headquarters while their corresponding avatars played virtual instruments and sang in There. The concert was streamed through Shoutcast radio stations so people could hear it even if they weren't at the HQ at the time of the concert.
The band's avatar names are:
Superlungs (Simon Steadman)
Drummer_Queen (Russel Field)
Tiger_Tiger (David Walton)
BILLYBOBBOAB (James Board)
Baby_Gravy (Chris Murphy)
The concert took place on November 16, 2003 at the "Steadman" Funzone on a wooden stage.
Shortly after the concert, the avatar Virtual_Vikki released a music video of their performance of the song "Sun Lotion." Virtual_Vikki took various clips and screenshots throughout the concert and during rehearsals to attain the clips and pictures used in the video. The video can be viewed on Steadman's website.
The entire concert can be streamed from the Steadman page:
Television/Media Appearances
Steadman has appeared on several television shows, talk shows, radio shows, and other forms of media.
Talk Shows
Television Shows
- American Dreams (As the Dave Clark Five)
- Smallville (As themselves)
- Charmed (As themselves)
- Las Vegas
- Judging Amy
- Black Sash
Radio
- Napster Radio (Los Angeles)
- Sirius Satellite Radio (New York)
- KPRI (San Diego)
- KRSH (Santa Rosa)
- WBOS (Boston)
Movie/Cinema
- Love Wrecked (Featured Song: Wave Goodbye)
- New York Minute (Featured Song: Wave Goodbye)
- Failure to Launch (Featured Song: Forget My Heart)
- Slither (Featured Song: Sad World)
- According to Spencer (Featured Song: Come Alive)
Other
- Clear Channel
- Extra Lounge
Steadman have played with
- Jason Mraz
- Jet
- Ash
- Ian McCulloch (Vocalist of Echo & the Bunnymen)
- Feeder
- Michelle Branch
- Stereolab
- Junior Senior
- Year of the Rabbit
- Josh Kelley
- Michael Tolcher
Noteworthy Performances
Below are listed some of Steadman's auspicious performances.
- Live at Hotel Cafe (2005-11-01)
- Live at The Wiltern Theatre (2003-11-07)
- Live at Bridges Auditorium, Claremont Colleges (2003-11-09)
- Live at The Wiltern LG (2003-11-07)
- Live at Ryder Center, Saginaw Valley State University (2003-10-25)
- Ball State University, Indiana (Halloween)
- Live at the Viper Room
External links
- Steadman's Myspace page
- Steadman collection at the Internet Archive's live music archive
Interviews
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