Athlete

Music Home >> Music Genres >> Undetermined Music



< < < < < > > > > > More Info on Athlete Similar Undetermined Music Search Artistopia

Biography

Athlete are a United Kingdom|British alternative rock band formed in Deptford , London , comprising Joel Pott ( lead vocals and electric guitar|guitar ), Carey Willetts ( bass guitar|bass and backing vocalist|backing vocals ), Stephen Roberts ( Drum kit|drums and backing vocals) and Tim Wanstall ( electronic keyboard|keyboards and backing vocals). Recently, the quartet have recruited Jonny Pilcher of Weevil (band)|Weevil as a live guitarist.

The band had a brief period of high-profile domestic success in which their debut album Vehicles & Animals (2003) was a platinum seller in 2005 and Mercury Prize|Mercury Music Prize nomination. It was followed up by Tourist (Athlete album)|Tourist (2005) which reached #1 and sold over 500,000 copies allowing this album to also go platinum. Since then the band has continued to release records on regular basis. Their last two albums Beyond the Neighbourhood (2007) and Black Swan (album)|Black Swan (2009) sees the band exploring different styles, influenced by the works of The Beach Boys and Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds .

History

Formation and debut single (2000-2002)

Friends since the age of fourteen, Athlete took their wide ranging influences such as Grandaddy and The Flaming Lips and started jamming and practicing in the basement of The Bear, a pub which was converted into a church and sandwich bar, on Deptford High Street in 1999. They began recording there, before sending Demo (music)|demos out.

Signing with Regal Recordings, the band released their first single "Westside" in February 2002 released, which was a hit, garnering airplay on BBC Radio 1 and paving the way for another single, "You Got the Style" which cracked the Top 40 in June. Parlophone took notice and promptly signed the musicians, who entered the studio with producer Victor Van Vugt (Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Beth Orton) in late 2002 to record their first studio LP.

Critical and commercial success (2003–2006)

The band came to prominence in 2003 with their debut album, Vehicles and Animals , producing popular singles such as " You Got the Style " and " El Salvador (song)|El Salvador ". The album earned a Mercury Music Prize nomination and went on to sell over 250,000 copies. They played their first live session on UK radio on the ''Dermot O'Leary Show'' on BBC Radio 2. Following the release of the album in April 2003, the summer of that year was a particularly fruitful time. Shortly after Glastonbury and T in The Park festivals, the band were nominated for the Mercury Award. After nomination, the album went from silver (60,000 sales) to gold (100,000) in the space of two weeks. "I think there's an underdog waiting to be discovered by the Mercury every year," said Steve. "And that year it was us." "By the time we played V at the end of the summer it seemed like everybody there knew the record,' said Joel Pott. 'There was 20,000 people, all singing along.'

Their second album, Tourist (Athlete album)|Tourist , reached Number One in the 2005 in British music#Charts#Albums|UK Album Charts in its first week, following the huge success of single " Wires (song)|Wires ". The song was brought around when the lead singer's newborn baby was rushed to intensive care after a premature birth, and in 2006 it won them the Ivor Novello Award for "Best Contemporary Song". In the UK charts, the band has frequently been frustrated by singles just missing out on top 40 placings, due to inconsistent support by music television channels and radio stations. For instance, certain songs, such as "Wires" and " Half Light (song)|Half Light ", were played up to 10 times a day on larger UK radio stations, yet other singles such as " Westside (song)|Westside " and " Tourist (song)|Tourist " received little to no radio play whatsoever.

Tourist had a mixed critical reception, with some suggesting that Athlete had failed to sustain the unique style of their previous album, while others saw the new album as a logical progression from their old sound. Allmusic wrote that "Its art direction is a winning tribute to the striking cover art of Britpop past, but musically, Tourist settles for complacent."The supporting tour took place between 2005 and mid-2006.

Later releases and artistic development (2007–2009)

On 10 June 2007, it was announced that the title of their third album would be Beyond the Neighbourhood . The album was mixed by Ben Allen (musician)|Ben Allen and Michael Brauer, who also worked on Tourist . Released on 3 September 2007, Beyond the Neighbourhood was a self-produced collection of low-key songs, viewed as a disappointment by some, and an interesting sidestep by others. The album has a more low-key sound than the band's two previous efforts, having been recorded by the band themselves in their own studio. Jonny Pilcher contributes additional guitar on 7 tracks. Pilcher then played live with the band on the subsequent tour. It entered at #5 on the UK album chart. Singles included Beach Boys-influenced " Hurricane (Athlete song)|Hurricane ", charting disappointingly at number 30, also " Tokyo (Athlete song)|Tokyo " which missed the Top 100 (number 198) and " The Outsiders EP ", which didn't chart at all.

They embarked on tours of the UK in late 2007 and early 2008 in support of the album. They also played during the 2008 Isle of Man TT|TT motorcycle racing festival on the Isle of Man .

Black Swan (album)|Black Swan is the fourth studio album produced by the band. Athlete recorded this album while temporarily unsigned. American producer Tom Rothrock collaborated with the group long distance after hearing only a few acoustic demos. In April they announced a 29 date tour of the UK to promote their new album. The tour took place throughout June and July. On 2 June 2009 it was announced that the band had parted ways with Parlophone Records and signed up with Fiction Records, who released Black Swan on 24 August 2009. The first single from the album "Superhuman Touch" was released on 17 August 2009, entering the UK charts at #74, climbing to #71 a week later. On the 12th of June 2009, Athlete released the song "Summer Sun" as a free download for email-subscribers. The song is not included in the track listing confirmed by band member Carey Willetts, and is likely to be considered as a b-side from the upcoming album. The first single to be released in United States|America is "The Getaway". On the 9th of November 2009, Athlete released " Black Swan Song " as a single.

End of decade and future plans (2010-present)

Singles 1-10 was the first compilation album released by the band. Many of the bands big hits, including "El Salvador" and " Wires " appear on this album. The selection of tracks spans the past 10 years. There is one previously unreleased song on the album entitled "Back Track." After the release Athlete completed a tour of Britain, Europe and North America from March till December 2010, performing the hits from the non bonus edition.The band toured in July across Britain, and in August headlined Union Chapel , and also took the stage at Bingley Music Live and Brownstock Festival in 3 and 4 September, 2011.

The band are planning to release a live album of the final Union Chapel "stripped back" date, recorded on August 2nd. The band has been talking about this release for the few months in the run-up to Christmas and say the delay is due to "doing it right". They are currently in the artwork and mastering stage according to their Facebook and Twitter accounts. The release date is unknown, however pre-ordering is available in the first week of February.

In an interview in September 2011 with keyboardist Tim Wanstall said "it’s been every two years on the odd numbers since 2003 so this is the first year to break that cycle. Actually we’re all exploring individual paths at the moment so the if/how/when of another album is a pretty open book."

Discography

Vehicles & Animals (2003)

Tourist (Athlete album)|Tourist (2005)

Beyond the Neighbourhood (2007)

Black Swan (album)|Black Swan (2009)

In popular culture

Copyright Citations

This article is licensed under the GNU License
Click here for original article: Athlete


1. Bob Bennett 2. Doug Brown 3. Greg Brown 4. The Go-Betweens 5. Thomas Hampson 6. Horsepower 7. Allen Iverson 8. Junior Varsity 9. Ronan Keating 10. Ashley MacIsaac 11. Mayte 12. John McDermott 13. Monaco 14. John Parr 15. Paul Robeson 16. John Taylor 17. Youngstown 18. Sailor 19. Mike Scott 20. The Frenz Experiment 21. Australia 22. Germany 23. Puerto Rico 24. Sweden 25. Soup

Undetermined Music Artists