British India (band)

British India
British India performing in the Regal Ballroom at the High Vibes festival, Northcote on 23 September 2007
Background information
Origin	Melbourne, Australia
Genres	Indie rock, garage rock[1]
Years active	2004–present
Labels	Flashpoint, Shock Liberation Records
Website	britishindiaofficial.com
Members	Declan Melia Nic Wilson Will Drummond Matt O'Gorman

British India are an Australian indie rock band, from Melbourne Australia. The band comprises lead vocalist, guitarist Declan Melia, guitarist Nic Wilson, bassist Will Drummond and drummer Matt O'Gorman.^[2] They have released five studio albums.

History

Formation

The members of British India met at high school in 2004 whilst attending St. Bede's College, in Melbourne Australia. ^[3] Reportedly social misfits throughout high school, the band would converge during school lunchtimes and study periods to rehearse and compose in the school music room. The band later relocated to drummer Matt O'Gorman's parents shed.

1st Recording

The band's first studio recording was a vinyl single called 'Outside 109'. Recorded with producer Lindsay Gravina at his Birdland studio. The song's inspiration came from a quip made by Mick Jagger in an interview in 1964, when asked if he would ever play any Lennon/McCartney numbers he told the interviewer that the Beatles had offered The Stones the song 'Outside 109', Jagger should have said 'One after 909' The single was sent to Australia's youth radio station Triple J,^[4] where it received some spot airplay, enough to start a buzz in the music industry.

Harry Vanda

In 2006 the band met future manager and producer Glenn Goldsmith who was working with music legend Harry Vanda. Harry & Glenn had recently produced a number one hit for supergroup The Wrights, a remake of Stevie Wright's classic 'Evie part 1,2&3. This had been an all star cast assembled by Jet vocalist Nic Cester. Harry & Glenn were looking for a young band to work with.

An invite to see the band play live from the band's original management team, Neil Wedd and Tim Bull led to a demo session. Glenn invited the boys to a studio in Melbourne to record several tracks. He took the recordings to Harry in Sydney. Harry liked the band's name and he liked the raw sound of the demos, he agreed to finance and produce their debut album on album by album production deal. The team's first effort, a 4 track EP missed the mark, but was quickly corrected with the recording of their debut album 'Guillotine'.

On completion of the recording EMI Records Sydney offered the band a record deal. EMI had intended to sign two acts at this time, British India and quirky pop band Operator Please. EMI quickly rescinded their offer to British India, citing cut backs due to falling CD sales worldwide, choosing to sign only the latter Operator Please.

'Guillotine' was shelved for several months and the band's morale sank. Without a label or demand for live gigs things looked bleak. Glenn Goldsmith attempted to shop 'Guillotine' to Australian record companies but to no avail, it appeared the buzz had come and gone. A choice was made to release the album independently through Flashpoint Music operating as the record company. Harry agreed to advance marketing money and Glenn locked in a distribution deal with Shock Records in Melbourne.

In January 2007 Flashpoint Music hired publicist Stephen Stavrakis and they released their first single from 'Guillotine' the punk anthem 'Black & White Radio' This time triple J radio did not hesitate adding the song to rotation. With popular drive time announcer Myf Warhurst proclaiming "What a great comeback from this band"

British India had parted ways with their management and Glenn Goldsmith agreed to manage the band. In April they released their 2nd single from the forthcoming album 'Tie Up My Hands' and things began to change rapidly. A budget video clip filmed in the front bar of the Town Hall Hotel in North Melbourne hit the top spot on the now defunct jtv television show.' Tie Up My Hands' became a nightly favourite on the triple Js request line. The band geared up for their first national headline tour, 11 dates in support of the album release. '

Guillotine' was released in July 2007 to little fanfare, debuting at number 51 in the national ARIA chart, however the ground level things were different. The band sold out all 11 shows on the 'Guillotine' tour and by the year's end had sold 20,000 Cd's. British India were now the youngest and most popular garage band in the country. Guillotine was nominated for Triple J's J Award in 2007, and won the Australian Independent Record (AIR) Award for Best New Independent Artist.^[5]

The band continued to play sold out shows and music festivals including Big Day Out, Homebake and Golden Plains. They continued recording demos with Glenn at Flashpoint studios in Melbourne. In April 2008 they again travelled to Sydney to begin recording their 2nd album Thieves. with Harry Vanda at Flashpoint. The 2nd album released exactly one year after their debut showed the band's forward momentum, this time entering the ARIA Album Chart at No. 5. and featuring the tracks 'God Is Dead' 'You Will Die & I Will Take Over' and "I Said I'm Sorry". Thieves sold 25,000 Cds, over the coming months.

British India embarked on their biggest tour to date in support of 'Thieves'. Popular Television host 'Dicko' announced that British India were one of his favourite Australian bands because "they did things the old school way" touring up and down the country taking their music to the people. At this time British India earned the reputation as the hardest working band in the country.

Shock & the UK

In 2009 a dispute over business management resulted in British India parting ways with Flashpoint Music. Glenn Goldsmith made the decision to stay on as the band's manager and produced their 3rd album 'Avalanche' at Sing Sing Studios in Melbourne. The song "Vanilla" was released exclusively to triple J radio as a free download and proved to be one of the band's most popular songs to date. Avalanche released in March 2010 debuted in the ARIA top 10 and sold in excess of 20,000 copies. This however turned out to be a bitter sweet year. Following the release of 'Avalanche' the band's distributor Shock Records fell into receivership, owing the band over $30,000 in unpaid royalties. Interest from Warner Music UK saw the band head over to the UK for a series of gigs. A showcase at London's Borderline in the west end sold out and Warner's A&R were impressed with the band. Unfortunately the head of Warner Music was not convinced that guitar bands were the way forward in 2011 and the international deal never eventuated.

Mushroom Music and Liberation

In February 2011 the band headed back to the studio to record a new single 'March Into The Ocean' released in March 2011 both the song and a film clip produced by the band's guitarist Nic Wilson, received a great reaction at radio and on music television. The boys played a 30 date national tour, however by mid year were heading into an uncertain future. Their rehearsal space of 6 years had flooded and they were forced to close it down. Without a workspace to meet daily as is their custom and without Shock Records the band felt adrift. In an effort to pull it back together Glenn found a vacant shop in the outer suburb of Preston. The band signed a two year lease and set about building a studio space. It was at this time they began talks with Liberation Records.

Over the next 6 months the band continued talks and exchanged demos and ideas with Liberation. In 2012 they signed a two album deal and a publishing contract with Mushroom Music. With new vigour and impetus from the label they returned to the studio to record their fourth album "Controller" Released in 2013 'Controller' saw the band achieve their first gold record for the single "I Can Make You Love Me", Along with a video clip directed by Oh Yeah Wow, the song became the bands most popular record to date. Other singles from the album included "Summer Forgive Me", "Plastic Souvenirs" and "Blinded". The album received extensive national airplay, including Triple J and for the first time Triple M radio. The band continued working in 2014, touring, playing festivals and recording tracks for their 5th album scheduled for release early in 2015. When not on the road they were at their studio in Preston.

The Rolling Stones

There could be no greater news to end 2014 than to be told British India had been picked to play main support for The Rolling Stones at Hanging Rock in Victoria. Playing with The Stones is something you don't expect would happen in your lifetime. Hanging Rock is an iconic spot in Victoria's landscape and an awesome live concert setting. Everyone in Melbourne was going to the rock. British India were asked to play main support in Victoria with Sydney band The Preachers playing the opening spot, British India would then switch to opening support in NSW. The night before Hanging Rock the Rolling Stones were forced to cancel, Mick Jagger contracted a throat infection. The highest high became the lowest overnight. There was some consolation, British India got to play NSW and have their picture taken with The Stones.

Nothing Touches Me

2015 began with news that the band would be releasing their 5th album in March. The album again debuted at Number five. Singles 'Suddenly' and 'Wrong Direction' received high rotation on national radio. The 'Nothing Touches Me' tour sold out 17 shows in row around the country. British India were picked as the last minute replacement to the Black Keys at Byron Bay Bluesfest, playing the coveted main stage spot at 7.30 Friday night. 2015 turned into the bands biggest touring year and cemented British India's position as one of Australia's most established rock bands.

Forgetting The Future

In 2016 the band continued touring and writing. They re located to Sing Sing studios for several months and teamed up with emerging producer Oscar Dawson early in 2017 to work on their 6th album. They stopped touring in 2017 and spent their time in the studio. Their new single 'Precious' was released in July 2017 and the new album 'Forgetting The Future' will be released on September 22. The band will embark on a 34 date national tour following the release of the album to end the year.

Discography

Albums

• Guillotine (30 June 2007)AUS 51
• Thieves (19 July 2008) AUS #5
• Avalanche (30 April 2010) AUS #10
• Controller (22 March 2013) AUS #10
• Nothing Touches Me (13 March 2015) AUS #5
• Forgetting the Future (22 September 2017)^[6]

EPs

• Counter Culture - 21 November 2005

Singles

• "Outside 109 / Automatic Blitzkrieg" (2005)
• "Black & White Radio" (2006)
• "Tie Up My Hands" (2007)
• "Run the Red Light" (2007) AUS#50 / AUS#22 (ARIA Physical Singles Chart)
• "I Said I'm Sorry" (2008)
• "God Is Dead, Meet the Kids" (2009)
• "Vanilla" (2009)
• "Beneath the Satellites" (2010)
• "Avalanche" (2010)
• "March Into the Ocean" (2011)
• "I Can Make You Love Me" (2012) - #70 AUS, ARIA Gold^[7]
• "Summer Forgive Me" (2013)
• "Plastic Souvenirs" (2013)
• "Blinded" (2013)
• "Wrong Direction" (2014)
• "Suddenly" (2015)
• "I Thought We Knew Each Other" (2016)
• "Precious" (2017)

Compilation appearances

• Discoveries (2007) – "Black & White Radio"
• Triple J Hottest 100 Vol.15 (2007) - "Tie Up My Hands"
• Triple J's Like a Version 4 (2008) - "And I Was a Boy from School"

Music videos

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to British India (band).

• Official British India MySpace
• British India - Live & Acoustic