|
We first started out of the ashes of our short-lived school band in early Autumn 2002, practicing in Fred's garage (that still remains to be our practice room). We played our first few shows at homely local venues to a mass of friendly faces and from this started to build our reputation in the south-coast scene.
With Will at the forefront we recorded 'If It Calls Out to You', a three track demo, at Reading's Outhouse Studios. Needless to say it was a learning curve. We were all inexperienced musicians out of our depth trying to express ourselves musically. Without the pretence of trying to create something original we wrote and tracked three songs. After we had the finished product, coming home from the long (yet short amount of) days was special. We traveled back in the car all swapping CD players listening to the tracks full volume, surprised that we wrote what was playing back to us.
It didn't take long for us to send it off to labels in the UK, and in vain, some labels abroad. At this point we were picking up speed and playing shows as and when they were offered. One of which was with Tribute to Nothing (Lockjaw Records) who fondly took a liking to the chaos and relative inexperience of our musicianship. Things turned out pretty well since Tribute are the founders of Lockjaw Records who then, after receiving our demo, offered us a deal to sign.
This gave rise to the writing of our first release 'Rewrites Won't Cover-up', a fusion of undefined genres that sits snugly under the broad range that is rock music. The 6 track mini-album, with James now taking lead vocals, was recorded December 2003 with the infamous Ray Tibbets. Still, everything for us was a learning curve and this was one of those times where the rubber hit the road. Everything changed in the studio... the songs gained tempo and riffs, rhythms and melody all took a turn for the better as parts were finished off in spur moment takes. We were lucky and for us as a band it was a time that we're never going to forget.
In 2004 we got off to an amazing start by setting up short tours to do whenever we had a holiday from college. I can't say at the time we experienced it enough but we learnt what an empty show was like... however, every low had its high and we got the opportunity to play infront of sold-out crowds and experience what it felt like to be a touring band. Downside was getting driven around in estate cars by concerned parents... the taste of rock and roll had been soured. July saw the release of 'Rewrites Won't Cover-up'. The wait for it was over... (for reviews head over to the promo section.) Rounding off 2004 we played tours in October and December, enjoying liberation from estate cars.
2005...With some fairly important (for some) exams midway through 2005 we had a slight break from extensive touring, and whilst we played a few shows we spent most of our time writing the bulk of our debut full-length. With the end of 2005 came freedom from education and a huge sigh of relief as we finally got the chance to really experience life on the road, as yet again many changes took place. Possibly the largest was evolving from a four to a five-piece as Simon Bray, a long term friend and debatable musical genius, joined our ranks on keys. With new help our songs progressed and grew in directions that we'd never ventured. Whilst our writing style stayed similar, we felt the drive of having studio time booked and waiting for us. In November we toured for the first time as a five-piece (and in our own renault Espace!) with soon to be friends Adzuki, and whilst a number of shows were sadly cancelled on a very last minute scale (turning up to one show to just find a written note saying: shows cancelled, sorry boys), this was our longest tour to date with 16 shows in total.
2006... After what seemed a lifetime of writing in the claustrophobic, cramped and often sauna-like conditions of our band room, we took the two-and-a-bit hour journey up to the Malvern’s to finally start recording. We had the musical expertise of Jim Turner behind the desk and we felt at home in the studio. In our true fashion the amount of studio time needed was greatly underestimated. Eventually after sixteen solid days of recording and mixing (which included five guest appearances) we had the finished article, and once again we felt as though we’d surpassed our own expectations. However we felt deprived of touring, and come March/April time we set off for a string of dates with American band The Hint and soon afterwards ventured abroad for the first time with long-term friends Tribute to Nothing, again, took us under their wing and put us as support for three shows in Germany. From a band point of view and individually, this remains one of our favorite experiences as Second Monday. And we truly can’t wait to go back there.
Simon has left to pursue his education (in music, no less) and we’ve now gathered the help of long-time friend and multi-talented musician Jon Howe who now plays keys, guitar and vocals with us. We still have the goal to write music that we love. If you haven't seen us live yet, we're touring around the country as and when we can, in the biggest car we could afford! If you know someone in the insurance industry... let them know we need a good deal on a van! We appreciate your support so much, without anyone listening to us we wouldn't be able to make this dream a reality. We hope you'll stick with us... and buy our album! Also, we hate our name. |
|
|
| Website: |
| http://www.secondmonday.net |
|
| Dooload: |
| https://www.dooload.de/secondmonday |
|
|
|
|
 Einflüsse |
|
|
|
|
