British Sea Power

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Biography

British Sea Power are an indie rock band based in Brighton , England , although three of the band members originally come from Kendal in Cumbria . The wide-ranging nature of their material has led critics to liken their sound to a variety of groups, from The Cure and Joy Division to the Pixies and Arcade Fire . The band are famed for their live performances, the unusual lyrical content of their songs and the adventurous choice of locations for some of their shows. British Sea Power's members are Yan (musician)|Yan (Scott Wilkinson; vocals, guitar), Noble (musician)|Noble (Martin Noble; guitar), Hamilton (musician)|Hamilton (Neil Hamilton Wilkinson; bass guitar, vocals, guitar), Wood (musician)|Wood (Matthew Wood; drums), Phil Sumner (cornet, keyboards) and Abi Fry (viola).

History

Early years and The Decline of British Sea Power

British Sea Power's Yan and Hamilton are brothers and were school friends with Wood in Kendal. They were in a number of bands together while at school, but after finishing his exams Yan moved to study at the University of Reading , where he met guitarist Noble, who was originally from Bury , Greater Manchester . A few years later, Hamilton and Wood joined them and formed a band.

They played some gigs and produced a 4 track demo in Reading as British Air Powers, before relocating to Brighton in search of a more active music scene. "British Sea Power" was actually the name of one of these demo tracks, and was eventually reworked into "Carrion". In Brighton, BSP amassed a strong local following, due mainly to their own club night called "Club Sea Power". The club nights featured many different support acts, including the Copper Family, a 200-year-old Sussex folk troupe, and other forms of entertainment such as a 1940s fashion show, and were most frequently hosted at the Freebutt and the Lift clubs.

Their first single, " Fear of Drowning ", was issued in limited numbers on their own Golden Chariot label. The artwork for the B side, "A Wooden Horse", borrows heavily from the dust cover of the 1950 book The Wooden Horse that details the escape of Allied POWs during World War II . Geoff Travis of Rough Trade Records , impressed by seeing the band live, signed them to his label in September 2001. Originally a four-piece, Eamon Hamilton was recruited to play keyboards and bass drum in autumn 2002.

The Decline of British Sea Power , the band's first album, was released in June 2003 to critical acclaim. A single from the album, " Carrion/Apologies to Insect Life|Carrion ", became the band's first Top 40 single. The album only charted in the lower reaches of the UK Album Chart but turned out to be a word-of-mouth success, selling well over 60,000 copies in the following two years and allowing them to play sell-out UK tours to audiences of over 1,000 people.

Open Season

British Sea Power had won the 2004 Time Out (company)|Time Out Live Band of the Year award and by this time had built a reputation for elaborate and well-thought out live shows. Stages were often decorated with foliage and plastic birds and shows would generally finish with a semi-improvised song called "Rock in A", which sometimes lasted for over 20 minutes. Various members would climb riggings and tear down the foliage, while Eamon would walk around the audience beating his marching drum. The encore would sometimes see an eight-foot bear, Ursine Ultra, join in the performance.

The stage antics have become one of the signatures of the band. Another is their choice of venues. Their tours have often included unusual locations such as the Scillonian Club on the Isles of Scilly , Grasmere Village Hall, the Czech Embassy in London and Carnglaze Caverns in Cornwall . They have also played in museums, libraries and sea forts.

The band has built up an eccentric image in interviews and press releases. This has included giving journalists grid reference s at which to meet them, and expressing obsessions with Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein|Field Marshal Montgomery and Birdwatching|bird watching . Similarly, they appeared on the TV show Countryfile in which they discussed their love of the countryside and played an outdoor performance of the track "Canvey Island".

At the beginning of 2006, it was announced that Eamon had left British Sea Power to concentrate on his own band Brakes (band)|Brakes .

Do You Like Rock Music? and Man of Aran

In October 2007, the band toured the east coast of United States|America to showcase their new 5-track EP Krankenhaus? . The November 2007 tour included a seaside cafe in Saltdean , East Sussex , a ferry across the River Mersey , in Liverpool ; All Saints' Church in Newcastle-upon-Tyne ; and , an indoor festival mixing live bands with unusual vaudeville acts.

Their Krankenhaus? EP was released digitally in October 2007 and on CD and vinyl on 20 November. Their third album, Do You Like Rock Music? was released on 14 January 2008 in the United Kingdom|U.K. and 12 February 2008 in the United States|U.S. Prior to their tour in support of Do You Like Rock Music? (visiting Ireland, UK, Belgium, Holland, Germany and US), Wood injured his back and had to be temporarily replaced by Tom White of Electric Soft Parade and Brakes (band)|Brakes .

In January 2008, keyboard and cornet player Phil Sumner was admitted to hospital in Leeds after being knocked unconscious when he attempted a stage dive from a 12-foot PA system . In spite of this, he returned to the stage with the rest of the band a day later.

In February 2008, the band appeared on Later with Jools Holland , playing " Waving Flags ", "Canvey Island" and " No Lucifer ". They were accompanied by members of the London Bulgarian Choir and a display of Cumberland and Westmorland wrestling|Cumbrian wrestling . The band also played at Glastonbury Festival|Glastonbury , Reading and Leeds , T in the Park and Bestival in 2008, amongst other festivals.

The band also played an intimate concert at The Monaco Hotel in Canvey Island as a nod to the 5th track on their new album. Prior to the gig, the band took part in a training session at Canvey Island F.C.|Canvey Island Football Club . They were joined on stage for their encore by Wilko Johnson of Canvey pub rock icons Dr. Feelgood . The performance was featured on BBC Two|BBC2's The Culture Show .

The band played " No Lucifer " on The Late Show with David Letterman on 12 March 2008 and had a concert filmed for the Canadian music series Beautiful Noise (TV series)|Beautiful Noise .

Violist Abi Fry toured with the band in 2008 and has since become a permanent member of the band.

On 22 July 2008, Do You Like Rock Music? was announced as one of the nominees for the 2008 Mercury Prize . To coincide with the nomination British Sea Power re-released their song Waving Flags on 8 September 2008, which they also performed at the award ceremony the following day.

In August 2008, the band hosted their own music festival, Sing Ye From The Hillsides!, at the Tan Hill, Yorkshire|Tan Hill Inn , the UK's highest pub. A second festival was held at the same location in May 2010.

On 23 January 2009, the band announced that they were recording a soundtrack to the documentary Man of Aran . They performed it in concert at the British Film Institute in April, and a CD/DVD was released in May. On 7 February 2009, they released a new 10-minute track, "The possibility of an island", on myspace.

Their live performances in the summer of 2009 included a show at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre in London.

Valhalla Dancehall

The band headlined the Festival Republic Stage at the 2010 Reading and Leeds Festivals , on 29 and 28 August respectively. They supported the Manic Street Preachers on their autumn 2010 tour of Britain.

The band released a 'Maxi EP' Zeus (EP)|Zeus , in October 2010, featuring songs recorded during the sessions for the forthcoming album.

The album Valhalla Dancehall , recorded on the isle of Skye in Scotland and at a farmhouse in East Sussex, was released in January 2011. Initial copies of the album sold by some independent music stores in the UK were accompanied with a bonus EP, Valhalla V.I.P. . The band toured the UK in the first three months of 2011, and a tour of the United States was planned for March, including an appearance on Late Show with David Letterman on March 21.

To mark the ten-year anniversary of their first single, " Fear of Drowning ", the band played three intimate shows at Berwick Village Hall in East Sussex in May 2011.

British Sea Power announced a number of forthcoming festival appearances for summer 2011, including Latitude Festival , Leefest , Get Loaded In The Park and the Port Eliot Festival . In addition, the band performed at Jodrell Bank Live at Jodrell Bank Observatory , with the The Flaming Lips , in July 2011. They also performed at festivals in Australia, China and Japan.

September 2011 saw the publication on Rough Trade Books of Do It For Your Mum by Roy Wilkinson (brother of Yan and Hamilton), an account of the author's experiences of managing the band and of how the family's octogenarian father became the group's most ardent fan.

In 2012 they announced that they would not be extensively touring, but would be playing at their own monthly club night, "Krankenhaus", in Brighton. . The band were also commissioned to make a soundtrack for the 1999 documentary Out of the Present , which follows Sergei Krikalev 's time on the space station Mir . It was screened at CERN in March 2012 as part of the Cineglobe International Film Festival.

Discography

Albums

Year	Album	Peak chart positions			Certification
Year	Album	UK	US Heats.	NL	Certification
2003	The Decline of British Sea Power	54	–	–	British Phonographic Industry\|UK : Silver
2005	Open Season	13	38	–	British Phonographic Industry\|UK : Silver
2008	Do You Like Rock Music?	10	5	97
2009	Man Of Aran	68	48	–
2011	Valhalla Dancehall	22	14	–

Singles

" Fear of Drowning " (2001)

" Remember Me (song, 2001)|Remember Me " (2001)

" The Lonely (song)|The Lonely " (2002) (UK #76)

" Childhood Memories " (2002) (UK #90)

Carrion/Apologies to Insect Life|"Carrion"/"Apologies to Insect Life" (2003) ( UK Singles Chart|UK #36)

" Remember Me (song, 2003)|Remember Me " (2003) (UK #30)

" A Lovely Day Tomorrow " (with Ecstasy of Saint Theresa (band)|Ecstasy of Saint Theresa ) (2004)

" It Ended on an Oily Stage " (2005) (UK #18)

" Please Stand Up " (2005) (UK #34)

Remember Me/I Am a Cider Drinker|"Remember Me"/"I Am a Cider Drinker" (with The Wurzels ) (2005)

" Waving Flags " (2008) (UK #31)

" No Lucifer " (2008)

" Living Is So Easy " (2010)

" Who's In Control " (2011)

EPs

Remember Me (EP)|Remember Me (2003)

The Spirit of St. Louis (EP)|The Spirit of St. Louis (2004)

Krankenhaus? (2007)

Zeus (EP)|Zeus (2010)

Valhalla_Dancehall#Valhalla_V.I.P._EP|Valhalla V.I.P. (2011)

BSP 1-6 (2012):

* BSP EP1 - 1) "French Pornographic Novel", 2) "Lullaby For What You Are", 3) "Baby Grey", 4) "A Light Above Descending", 5) "Fiery"

* BSP EP2 - 1) "Things Have A Way Of Working Out", 2) "Up Against It", 3) "Loving Animals", 4) "Machineries Of Joy", 5) "Motorway South"

* BSP EP3 - 1) "K Hole", 2) "What You Need The Most", 3) "When A Warm Wind Blows Through The Grass", 4) "Brand New Century", 5) "Evening Will Come We Will Sew The Blue Sail"

* BSP EP4 - 1) "Facts Not Right", 2) "Fingertips", 3) "Spring Has Sprung", 4) "Monsters of Sunderland", 5) "To The Show"

* BSP EP5 - 1) "Over Your Cities Grass Will Grow", 2) "Wishful Thinking", 3) "Radio Goddard", 4) "Did You Recognise Yourself", 5) "Scafell Hotel"

Compilation Appearances

"Waving Flags" – 2000 Trees – Cider Smiles Vol.2 , (Hide and Seek Records, 2009 )

"Waving Flags" - FM4 Soundselection 18 , (Col, 2008 )

Copyright Citations

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