| Feeder |
Live
at the Roundhouse in aid of War
Child.
November
6, 2006
|
| Background information |
| Origin |
Newport, Wales |
| Genre(s) |
Alternative
rock
Indie
rock |
| Years active |
1992 – present |
| Label(s) |
Echo |
| Website |
FeederWeb.com |
| Members |
Grant
Nicholas
Taka
Hirose
Mark Richardson |
| Former members |
| Jon Lee (deceased) |
Feeder are an award-winning Welsh/Japanese rock band
that formed in Newport,
South
Wales. With the lead single "Buck Rogers" from their 2001
album Echo Park,
Feeder entered the mainstream, around a time manufactured
pop was frequently accomodating the top 10. After their breakthrough
year, their drummer
Jon Lee
comitted suicide in his Miami home in January 2002. The band vowed to continue and would then
in October
2002 release "Comfort in Sound", an album
musically and lyrically focused around the bands emotions at the time
which was well-recieved by critics. Former Skunk
Anansie and Little Angels drummer Mark Richardson
joined the band in August
2002. Alongside Jon, the band were originally comprised of Grant
Nicholas (lead vocals, guitar, piano), Taka
Hirose (bass).
The band have released five studio albums and two
compilations, including the platinum-selling singles album. In total
they have three platinum albums, two gold albums and
one silver in the UK.
Their only sales award outside the UK is that of a gold award in the Republic
of Ireland for their singles album.
As of of December 2006, according to the ranking
system in the Guiness Book of
British Hit Singles and Albums, Feeder are one
of the most sucsessful UK chart acts of all-time based on the
combination of single and album
chart weeks, as they rank at #500 or above at #457. To date they have
twenty-three top 75 singles, and five top 10 albums.
|
Contents
- 1 Formation
- 2 Two
Colours - Swim (1995-1996)
- 3 Polythene
(1997-1998)
- 4 Yesterday
Went Too Soon (1999)
- 5 Echo
Park (2000-2001)
- 6 Comfort
In Sound (2002-2003)
- 7 Pushing
The Senses (2004-2005)
- 8 The
Singles - present day (2006-2007)
- 9 Awards
- 10 Discography
- 11 References
- 12 External
links
|
Formation
At the age of 14, singer and guitarist Grant Nicholas joined a
band called 'Sweet Leaf', named after a Black
Sabbath song- the first band Grant had seen play live.
At this time bassist Taka Hirose along with drummer Jon Lee, were both
playing in different covers bands before they would meet Grant.
While both playing in different bands on the Newport unsigned
gig circuit, Grant and Jon became friends and would take part what was
described by the frontman as a "friendly rivalry".
They decided to train to become sound engineers, but were interested
in playing in bands as opposed to recording them.
They formed a band called 'Rain Dancer' after Jon left Newport band The
Darling Buds during the previous year,
the formers sound was described by Grant as that of The
Waterboys.
However, before then they formed an electronic
duo
called 'Temper Temper' and like 'Rain Dancer', they failed to work out.
Going back to the drawing board, they formed a three piece
band called 'Reel' in which they fired their bass player before
changing their name to 'Real'.
During this time they recruited Japanese bassist Taka Hirose via an
advert in Loot.
The band then changed their name to Feeder named after Grant's pet goldfish.
They won their recording contract with Echo
after sending a demo tape and then completed the deal
after an employee from the label witnessed one of the bands gigs.
A track from the demo titled "Don't Bring Me Down", appeared as a
b-side on the "Day in Day Out" single, but uses an
electric guitar as opposed to an acoustic as heard on the released
version.
In 2006 a demo tape of their early demos surfaced on eBay, selling for £180
pounds.
It contains the recording of "Suffocate under the name of "Give",
alongside an unreleased track titled "Believe".
"Give" is reportedly "slightly different musically and lyrically" from
that of "Suffocate".
Two Colours - Swim (1995-1996)
Feeder's first official release was the 2 track Two
Colours EP in 1995, which was only available at the bands
first gigs. It was limited to 1500 CD's and 1000 7" vinyls and today is
valued at £40-60.
In 1996, the
band released their first commercially available release the Swim
EP, on Echo. The record had six tracks on it with a running time of 22
minutes, with a 2001 re-issue including b-sides and two videos from the era of their
debut album proper. The EP was given a 4/5 review in Kerrang!
magazine (KKKK).
Shortly before the record was released, a tape called Two
Tracker was given away free with Kerrang! magazine and
contained the tracks "Sweet 16" and "Waterfall", the latter was
described in the inlay card as one of the tracks that was on their
forthcoming debut album proper then entitled Here In The
Bubble (which soon changed it's name to Polythene).
Some of the photography for the EP's inlay was produced by Grant
himself, while Chris Sheldon produced the album.
The band released "Stereoworld" from the record as it's only single,
after appearing at the Reading festival as one
of the first bands on the 4th stage.
The year also seen the band participate in a tour, visiting seaside
towns like Newquay.
Polythene (1997-1998)
After building a strong fanbase with the release of Swim,
the following year the band released their first full album. The result
Polythene is now widely regarded as a classic by
Kerrang! magazine readers, as they voted it the 87th best British rock
album of all time in a January 2005 issue,
and was also Metal Hammer magazine's album of 1997, in which it
scored a mark of 10/10 in it's review.
Two tracks from "Swim" were used for the album with those being
"Descend" and "Stereoworld".
After the recording sessions were completed, the album's first
single "Tangerine" was released and
charted at #60 in the UK charts. This was followed by "Cement" charting
at #53 and then the release of the album in which it charted at #65.
Two more singles were released either side of their main stage debut at
the Reading festival of 1997, with "Crash"
making #48 and a new song entiled "High"
charted at #24.
The album as of March 2003, has been certified silver by the BPI for shipments of
60,000 units. They also re-issued the album in October of 1997
with "High" included and the "Stereoworld" b-side "Change" replacing
"Waterfall" from the original tracklist. Also included as an enchanced
element was the video for "High". The album caused many critics to
label the band "The UK's answer to the Smashing Pumpkins",
and also draw comparisons to The Pixies and also Talk
Talk.
The bands tour of the album took part in April before the release of the "Cement"
single, and would also tour after the release of the album. The bands
earlier sound on the album was once described by Grant as "heavy but
melodic rock".
In early 1998,
following the band's final 1997 tour in support of Polythene,
the band travelled to the USA as a support act for Everclear.
During the tour the band released back home in the UK a re-worked
version of "Suffocate" from their album
which charted at #37. After their return to the UK, they played their
own headline tour with Everclear this time in the support slot.
Later on in the year Feeder then started to play various music
festivals in the States, before a tour took place with "High" being
released to radio stations and charting at #24 on the rock chart as a
result, and was the follow up to "Cement" which charted at #31.
During the first US tour, Grant said he used to get very tired and
sometimes couldn't wait to return home to work on the next album.
Alongside a broken ankle and other injuries,
he also said he used to find it hard to sleep at nights, which inspired
him to write "Insomnia" which appeared on
their second album.
They stayed in the US for the majority of the year, with a trip back to
the UK for their V98 appearance. It was during their gigs
of 1998 they introduced as a live guitarist Dean Tidey who plays at the
band's gigs, and has his own band called the Sandstone Veterans.
Grant said in a 1998 interview in Kerrang!, that he was considering
bringing in another guitarist for their live gigs. Polythene
sold 25,000 copies in the States during 1998.
Yesterday Went Too Soon (1999)
For 1999's
"Yesterday Went Too Soon",
the band decided to self-produce the album and brought in Matt Sime for
engineering duties,
while the album was mixed in New York by Andy Wallace.
"Dry" was re-recorded as a full band version after the original
acoustic version appeared on "Suffocate" as a b-side. That single's
b-sides featured tracks from their sessions for the album, and
therefore gave an idea on how this album was going to sound.
The working title for the album was originally A Life Through
Headphones,
and was originally planned to be a double album.
The name change was due to former Take That singer Robbie
Williams releasing his solo debut album Life
Thru a Lens, and did not want to be associated
with him.
When the album was released, the bands awareness raised and it
would enter the UK charts at #8. Before then the band released the
albums first single "Day in Day Out" in March 1999 which
charted at #31, which was followed by "Insomnia" at #22 and was their
first appearance on TOTP. A week before the band played once again the
main stage at the Reading/Leeds festival, the title track from the
album charted at #20 and the album was then released on August 30, 1999. Only one single
was lifted from the album afters, in which a re-recorded version of "Paperfaces"
charted at #41.
Some of the album's lyrical themes were that of Grant writing
from a persons perspective of working daily in a menial supermarket job
("Day In Day Out"), his experiences after gigs on their US tour
("Insomnia"), releationships ending (the title track and "Dry"),
journeys back to Wales via the M4 ("Hole in My Head"), relationships
("You're My Evergreen" and "Anasetic") amongst others.
Musically the album employed an indie rock feel to it which also
featured extended appearances of an acoustic
guitar on some of its tracks.
Prior to the album's release it was delayed from June to
August, which was due to Grant writing material after it was originally
completed that they felt was too good to leave off the album, and was
then included.
When it got it's release the UK music press imediately warmed to the
album, in which Rob Fitzpatrick then of Melody
Maker citing "An absolute stormer it is. unmissable. absolutely", and
also receiving the magazine's "Album of the Week" accolade,
with Metal Hammer awarding the album a 10/10 mark.
The year ended with a support slot at the Millenium
Stadium supporting the Manic Street Preachers,
and also before that Red Hot Chilli Peppers at Wembley
Arena shortly before the "Paperfaces" release. As of March 2003, the album has
gone gold shipping 100,000 units in the UK.
Echo Park (2000-2001)
The following year, Feeder spent most of 2000 at Great Lindford
Manor studios writing and recording for their next album. During the
year the band also played festivals around the country previewing the
new material they were working on, such as V2000 and Glastonbury,
but would end the year promoting "Buck
Rogers"- their first single since November 1999, and then playing a mini-tour
at the end of the year to mainly showcase the new material. The same
night the band played the Leeds Cockpit in December 2000,
they were told earlier on in the day that their new single has made the
radio
1 A-list, meaning the single would be given a high degree of airplay
rotation.
The release of the single on January 8 2001 was coupled with a signing
session at London's now closed Tower Records store, and then TV
appearances on Top of The Pops
and The Pepsi Chart Show due to the singles midweek
performance.
This seen the band become forced to cancel two signing sessions as a
result.
The single charted at #5 becoming the bands first top 10 entry in that
chart. In South Africa, the track reached #1 on
the 5FM top 40
and would headine a one-day event celebrating the station's 26th
birthday.
In relation to the public reaction to "Buck Rogers", Grant was
asked in an April
2001 edition of a Feederweb fanzine if he felt under pressure to
deliver another radio-friendly song, in reply he said:- "Not really, I
think with the radio thing you have to be really careful; at the end of
the day Feeder's not a typical daytime radio band, but what we've done
is that we've proved that a guitar band - a British guitar band, and a
band that doesn't have the profile of U2 or someone can still get into the top ten. It
is possible!, it just seems to be that it's always the big Amercian
bands who sort of dominate the top ten; a Limp
Bizkit or whatever, but saying that I think the whole Travis
and Coldplay
thing has been really good as sort of a stepping stone, and also I
think people are getting fed up of just seeing Westlife
or Steps
on the TV. I think people are finding rock, and real bands again - I
think that the market is currently so bombarded with pop stuff that
we're just quite refreshing. Rock never went away, but it never really
got the exposure. Hopefully it'll get "Seven
Days in the Sun" away...".
Grant once said that the song is about a relationship
ending but also uses humour,
with the name for the song originating from a keyboard piece Grant
created which sounded "futuristic", and named it "Buck Rogers".
In a 2005 interview in Q Magazine
he said of the song- "It's funny, I don't even particularly like that
song, I've always thought I was a pretty dark songwriter, and what do I
finally get known for?. A throwaway pop song. But I really shouldn't
complain, should I?. If it wasn't for "Buck Rogers", I probably
wouldn't be here talking to you now".
Grant wrote the track for an American band called 'Radio Star', but
was convinced by producer Gil Norton not to give the song away as
he felt Feeder themsevles could have a hit with it.
The single appears in many all-time lists generated by XFM and Kerrang!, with a
2004 peak of
#25 in the annual XFM list.
"Buck Rogers" is featured on the soundtrack of the 2001 film Behind
Enemy Lines starring Owen Wilson.
After a sell-out tour of two legs, ending at the London
Astoria the said album Echo
Park entered and peaked at #5 in the UK album
charts, and reached gold sales stautus. A third single "Turn"
reached #27, before festival season in which the band played the main
stages of Reading/Leeds and also T in the Park. "Just a
Day" a b-side
from "Seven Days in the Sun" reached #12.
The album saw the band take on much more of a commercially
influenced sound, and also the appearance of Moog
synthesizers,
while being lyrically focused on a comedy approach like with "Seven
Days in the Sun", but also dark emotions such as those shown on "Turn",
"Oxygen" and "Satellite News". It was during the campaign for Echo
Park, that the band played another slot on the main stage at
the Reading/Leeds festival. As of March 2003, the album has shipped
300,000 units in the UK, and therefore is certified platinum.
Grant said in a Melody Maker interview that if the album
didn't sell the band would probably split up, in which he said at the
time "It's the same with any band. That's just the way the music
business is. There is only a certain amount of money a label will put
into a band. I'm just being realistic. We've been around for seven or
eight years and I am not planning on giving up, but we're putting
everything into this record and I'm just hoping that people like it".
The album was voted the 25th best British rock album of all-time by
Kerrang! readers, and was the highest placed Feeder album in the list.
On August
28, 2001 the band won "Best British Live Act" at the 2001 Kerrang!
awards,
and would end the year supporting the Stereophonics
before releasing "Just a Day".
Comfort In Sound (2002-2003)
The following year their drummer, Jon Lee, took his own life
in his Miami
home,
meaning that the band kept out of the public eye for most of the
following year. Grant started to write songs regarding his feelings at
the time and these songs would form the bands fourth album Comfort
in Sound. The band drafted in former Skunk
Anansie and Little Angels member Mark Richardson
for drum duties.
The album focused mainly on themes such as loss, depression, grievance,
and positivity while dedicating "Quickfade" to Jon.
The album was released in October of the same year to widespread
critical acclaim in the British music
press with Kerrang!
stating "Comfort in Sound
harnesses the anthmetic appeal of a latter day U2 ... and a quality that
propels Feeder from the confines of the everyday into the neighbourhood
of everyman ..." and giving the album their "Album of the Week" award,
alongside the heavy rock magazine Metal Hammer giving the album the
similar accolade of "Album of the Month" while citing "an album they
should rightfully be proud of ... ".
The band decided to play at the Reading/Leeds festivals that
year, making a low-key appearance by playing the second stage. Comfort
in Sound was voted by Kerrang!
readers as one of their top 100 British rock
albums of all-time at #32.
Musically, the album was much more mellow with the use of a string
orchestra on "Forget About Tomorrow". Other
tracks on the album also used an accordion, trumpet and a piano played by their manager Matt Page,
with "Godzilla" being one of two tracks on the album to use loud
guitars. This caused many fans to say it didn't fit in with the main
feel of the album, with Feeder Fan Site suggesting "As a package CIS is
almost as well formed as Yesterday Went Too Soon.
The playlist is spot on (Godzilla being the only track that sits, not
entirely sure if it really belongs)".
The album was their first to receive a platinum sales award, (with Echo
Park also going platinum as a result). It also spawned their
second top 10 single with "Just the Way I'm Feeling"
in January 2003 and is seen by Grant as the single that made the album
successful, once saying- "It’s one of the best songs I’ve done, but we
nearly didn’t do it. I wrote it right at the end of making Comfort
in Sound, and our producer Gil Norton said he
wasn’t sure we really needed another mid tempo song. But when we played
it, we all thought that it definitely did have something. Lyrically
it’s quite dark but it’s still an uplifting song. This was the single
that really made the album a success. It’s the kind of song I’d like us
to be remembered for".
In December of the same year they took on their first and only arena tour to date,
after the albums first tour sold all of its 60,000 tickets.
The album's final single wasn't available to buy commercially
but was limited to 3,000 CD copies on their 2003 arena tour,
Four singles were released commercially with those being "Come
Back Around" (#14), "Just The Way I'm Feeling" (#10), "Forget
About Tomorrow" (#12) and "Find the Colour" (#24) which was
released after their V2004 appearance and Kerrang! award win for "Best
British Band", in which Grant dedicated the award to Jon saying it was
the award he always wanted the band to win.
Pushing The Senses (2004-2005)
After the "Comfort in Sound" campaign, Feeder kept a low
profile for most of the year, and worked on the new album. In 2004 they made only
one live appearance, which was at the Hammersmith
Apollo and got back to the studio not long after.
At the show they previewed two new tracks for the first time while they
were still in the demo stages. These were "Bitter Glass", and
"Victoria" even though Grant didn't mention the name of the second song
when introducing it.
The former appeared on the album and the latter was a b-side on "Tumble
and Fall", which was the albums first single. The only other public
appearance during the rest of the year, was their crediting on the Band Aid
20 single which was the years best-seller.
The album was seen by Grant as more of an extension to Comfort
in Sound, as it focused on the same lyrical themes and
musical styles,
with Grant Nicholas also saying that it had more of an organic sound,
and more upbeat tracks added into the mix. It also seen a number of
piano driven tracks, with "Frequency" being an example.
"Frequency" was produced by Coldplay producer Ken
Nelson. For the rest of the album, Gil Norton was on production duties.
As a result, 2005's Pushing the Senses
received criticism from long time fans and critics,
although the album was Feeder's highest charting release at #2 on the
UK album chart, received a gold certification
and created their third top 10 and second top 5 single ("Tumble and
Fall"). Press response to the album was mixed with Paul Brannigan of Q Magazine
citing the album as "An album that could finally establish Feeder as
major league players",
and Chris Heath of Dotmusic dismissing the album saying Pushing
the Senses is by no means soppy, but Feeder's young fanbase
might need some convincing". Kerrang! gave the album 2/5,
and in reponse Grant said the review was unfair and done by the wrong
person, in which he said on their radio station:- "You know, being like
brutally honest with you I was a bit p*ssed off with the Kerrang!
review. I thought it was a very unfair review, and reviewed by the
wrong person. If a different journalist had done it, we might have had
a great review. I only cared about it as it was a magazine we've been
with for a very long time".
The album helped them win a headline slot at the Download
Festival,
shortly before supporting U2 for a brief period on their Vertigo
tour, which was followed by an appearance at the Live 8 concert in Edinburgh.
The album in total spawned four UK top 40 singles, which included the
#11 single "Shatter" that was a double A-side
with "Tender". Other singles, apart from the top 5 hit "Tumble and
Fall" included "Feeling a Moment" (#13) and "Pushing the Senses" (#30).
"Tender" and "Shatter" both featured on the European release
of the Russian
film Night Watch,
with the latter getting fanbase attention after appearing as a b-side
on "Tumble and Fall" and a successful petition followed to see its
release as a single in its own right.
The album has shipped 200,000 copies in the UK as of May 2005.
In September of 2005, Grant Nicholas was misquoted in
an interview that the band were set to split, which caused the rumour
to be reported on music television and radio. The bands website soon
denied the claims made in an official statement that read "Contrary to
inaccurate reports in the press and on the radio, Feeder are not
recording their last album, nor set to split. An over-enthusiastic
reporter seems to have put 2 and 2 together and come up with 43. Indeed
the group are looking forward to the release of new single
"Shatter"/"Tender" in October and a Far East and UK tour in November. They have already started
writing new material for a Singles Album to be released in the New Year
and a further studio album to follow the current
album Pushing the Senses".
Soon later in a Kerrang! interview, Grant said that the interviewer
misquoted him, and that he said the next album would be Feeder's last
album on their current deal with Echo, before deciding to either
re-sign or look for a new label.
Feeder would end the year seeing their then latest album
appear at #39 on Q Magazine's end of year list,
and win an award for the album at the Pop
Factory Awards in Wales.
However the day before, they postponed a winter tour after Grant picked up bleeds on
his vocal
chords.
The Singles - present day
(2006-2007)
The following year in 2006 Feeder returned to the studio with
this time Stephen Street working as the bands
producer, to record three new tracks to appear on their then
forthcoming singles collection The
Singles.
Following the backlash created by Pushing the Senses,
Feeder returned to their heavier roots of Echo Park
and approved mellow approach of Comfort in Sound
with Grant claiming that they "hint at where we’re going". "Lost
and Found" (which Grant described as "an urban love song"
) became the first single to promote the collection, and would reach
#12 in the UK singles chart in May 2006, after
completing their delayed winter tour. The Singles,
released in the same month of "Lost and Found" was the first Feeder
album to have involvement from a major label, with EMI talking part in a
one-off collaboration with Echo as the albums distributor.
The album reached #2 on the UK albums chart, after a previous
weeks debut of #3. The number of top 10 weeks would total to four, and
was certified platinum in almost three months from its release date
including a gold certification in Ireland. Save Us
was the second and final single from the album charting at #34 in late
July. A version of the album included a DVD of all their videos filmed up to that point,
and extensive sleevenotes by Ben Johncock- a freelance author and
writer.
Feeder returned to the Reading/Leeds festival after a four
year break, having a late slot on the Main Stage,
before ending the year with a small tour of London playing The
Roundhouse and The Coronet. Two of these three gigs
seen guest appearances from The Sugababes and Jamelia
which were in aid of War Child, who the band are
patrons of and earlier in the year visited The Congo as
part of their work for the charity.
The band have talked about their new album during the course of the
year, stating in an interview on XFM that the album will be more heavier echoing
the sound of their earlier efforts.
It is expected to be released in January 2008.
In Summer 2007 the band will headline the inaugural Redbourn
Music Festival along with Dirty Pretty Things,
The
Automatic and The Ordinary Boys. Also
on 29th June 2007 Feeder released a teaser edited by Taka of their
recording sessions for their new album on myspace.
According to the all-time ranking system in the Guiness Book
of British Hit Singles and Albums, Feeder are now as of December 2006
ranked at #457.
Awards
| Year |
Award |
Category |
| 2001 |
Kerrang!
Awards |
Best British Live Act |
| 2003 |
Kerrang!
Awards |
Best British Band |
| 2003 |
IMA |
Best Music Video Online ("Just The Way I'm Feeling") |
| 2005 |
Pop Factory Awards |
Best Album ("Pushing The Senses") |
Discography
-
Main article: Feeder
discography
- Polythene (May 31, 1997) UK #65 Certified
Silver (UK)
- Yesterday Went Too Soon
(August
30, 1999) UK
#8 Certified Gold (UK)
- Echo Park (April 23, 2001) UK #5; Ireland
#54 Certified Platinum (UK)
- Comfort in Sound
(October
21, 2002) UK
#6; Ireland #27 Certified 2X Platinum (UK)
- Pushing the Senses
(January
31, 2005) UK
#2; Ireland #16 Certified 2X Gold (UK)
References
External links
| v • d • e Feeder |
| Grant Nicholas | Taka
Hirose | Mark Richardson |
| Former Members: Jon Lee |
| Albums
and EPs |
Two Colours EP
| Swim EP | Polythene
| Yesterday Went Too Soon
Echo Park
| Comfort in Sound
| Pushing the Senses |
| Compilations |
| Swim
(re-release) | Picture of Perfect Youth
| Feeder The Singles |
| Singles |
Stereo World | Tangerine
| Cement | Crash
| High
| Suffocate
| Day in Day Out
| Insomnia
Yesterday Went Too
Soon | Paperfaces
| Buck Rogers
| Seven Days in the Sun
| Turn
Piece by Piece
| Just
a Day | Come
Back Around | Just the Way I'm Feeling
Forget About Tomorrow
| Find the Colour
| Comfort in Sound
| Tumble and Fall
Feeling a Moment
| Pushing the Senses
| Shatter / Tender
| Lost and Found
| Save
Us |
