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My Vitriol are an alternative rock band from London, England. The band name, which is often misinterpreted, is taken from the novel Brighton Rock by Graham Greene. The band is often credited with initiating a new wave of Shoegaze, sometimes referred to as Nu Gaze, which bears comparison to genres of 1990s rock music from both sides of the Atlantic; both by American grunge bands such as Nirvana and as well as British "shoegazing" bands like My Bloody Valentine and Slowdive.
The band currently comprises Som Wardner (vocals, guitar and lyrics), Ravi Kesavaram (drums), Seth Taylor (guitar) and Laura Claire (bass). The band had success in the early 2000s with 3 UK Top 40 hit singles and a UK Top 40 album, before announcing at hiatus at height of their success. The group started releasing new material again in 2007.
Beginnings (1998-1999)Ravi and Som met at UCL in early 1998. They lived opposite each other in halls and were both were studying similar degrees; Som studying Genetics and Ravi studying Biochemistry. They were both involved in the local music scene, but it wasn't for a year and a half until they played together. Som had written a few songs and a friend of theirs decided to help them record a demo as a project for his studio engineering course. Ravi played the drums, Som played the rest of the instruments and they put together an EP called "Delusions of Grandeur" in the space of just two days, using every free studio session they could.
About 250 CD-R copies of "Delusions Of Grandeur" were pressed but only about 30 actually worked, due to technical reasons
. However, one was handed to Radio One DJ Steve Lamacq at a gig. Within days, Lamacq had broadcast a track on the Session Unsigned slot, which led to greater publicity for the band in the form of the track' "Grounded" being used on the 'Organ Radio 5' compilation.
Ravi and Som needed to complete the line up of the band, to give them a fuller sound. They met guitarist Seth Taylor (bassist of Mint 400) at a Mint 400 gig and discovered Carolyn Bannister playing bass at another gig. The band soon released their début, double A-side single "Always: Your Way/Pieces", on Org Records on the 6th of December 1999.
Finelines (2000)In the last week of 1999, the band signed a deal with Infectious Records, home to other acts such as Ash and Garbage. Their first single under this new label was "Losing Touch", released in April 2000, and the second was "Cemented Shoes" which made number 65 in July of the same year. The single releases which followed displayed their growing popularity in the UK rock scene, ascending the chart with every release and eventually scoring 3 Top 40 singles.
Their third single, "Pieces", charted at 56, but the fourth, "Always Your Way", was the first to reach the Top 40, peaking at number 31. Soon after this, the band’s debut album, Finelines was released and it made number 24 in early March 2001. The final single from the album, and their also their biggest hit was "Grounded" which peaked at number 29. The single release includes an unexpected cover version of Madonna's 1989 song "Oh Father".
They landed support slots with many major acts, including Muse, Deftones, A Perfect Circle, Feeder, Placebo, Ash and the Manic Street Preachers. My Vitriol appeared numerous times on TV shows such as Top of the Pops, as well as festival performances such as Glastonbury, V Festival, T in the Park and
The band headlined their first festival stages in Holland on the mainstage in Rotterdam, and the indoor arena in Norway's Quart. They also performed across Europe at Roskilde in Denmark, Festimad in Spain, and to 20,000 people at Rock am Ring in Germany. At Summer Sonic in Japan, where Sony Music released their debut, they played to 18,000 people. Their first and only headline show in Tokyo sold out in hours and the venue had to be upgraded twice.
Despite being essentially an alternative act, the bands music eventually worked its way through to various mainstream TV shows such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer amongst others and were even offered Hollywood movie roles, and modeling jobs from the likes of Ralph Lauren, and Next along the way. Concerning this, "we thought it would be better to stick to what we knew best!" drummer Ravi Kesavaram joked.[ url=www.myspace.com/myvitriol ]
Betweenthelines (2001)Despite having only played outside of Europe in Japan, "Grounded" was a hit in South Africa and the band starting to gain interest from Asia and South America. This was partly due to the surprise circulation of "Delusions of Grandeur" EP. This buzz lead to the band signing the US release rights of the record to Sony/Epics for a reported $400,000 (£300,000 at the exchange rate at the time). Part of the deal was to remix/tweak the album with Guns N' Roses/Metallica producer Steve Thompson.
On hearing the US mixes, Infectious records made the decision to re-release this version in the UK as a double album format, including B-sides and rarities, forming the complete works of My Vitriol to date.
Hiatus (2002-2006)At the end of 2002, after 3 years of solid touring, lead singer Som Wardner announced My Vitriol's touring hiatus at Kerrang Festival, saying ''"We won't be around for a while. We're going to take a break and write a new record. Thanks for supporting us from the beginning."
Recent Activity (2007-2008)Despite their "hiatus", My Vitriol's popularity has persisted since the release of their debut record due to their loyal cult following. An unannounced "secret" show in Islington in January 2005 sold out all 1000 tickets months before the show, most probably due to word-of-mouth and via the internet.
A second one-off show took place at the 1500-capacity KOKO, Camden, London, on November 24 2006, sold out. To date My Vitriol have never played a London show which hasn't sold out. A number of new songs were played, although it was uncertain as to when the band would be releasing them.
March 2007 saw the release of the single 'This Time' under the pseudonym of 'A Secret Society' via Org Records, limited to 1000 copies, the single also features a cover of the Lemonheads 'It's a Shame About Ray'.
'A Pyrrhic Victory EP' was released via Xtra Mile records as limited release of 1500 in July 2007. The EP also sold out within days on play.com and amazon.co.uk leading to requested repressing.
My Vitriol performed at couple of festivals in the UK during 2007 to very positive crowd receptions and press reviews.
- Download Festival 2007 (Dimebag Darrell Stage on Saturday, June 9)
- Guilfest 2007 (Headlining the Rocksound Cave on Friday, July 13)
2008 and beyondThe band are announced as headlining the influential London-based Offset Festival, on a lineup that includes Gang of Four, Fightstar, Wire, The Maccabees and Young Knives.
On September 1 rock and metal website "Thrash Hits" stated that drummer Ravi Kesavaram had said the band were “planning on releasing a double-album later this year”. This has yet to be confirmed officially by the band however.
In November 2008 they played a four date sold out tour across the UK. No further suggestions of an album this year have been made - therefore one can only assume they are planning for a 2009 release.
On Jan14th, My Vitriol became one of the last bands to ever perform at the London Astoria, before it closed its doors forever.[1]
A release after the February European Tour and London gig has been confirmed by the band, but as yet no details have been given as the tracklisting.
Discography (UK)AlbumsSingles & EPsLive RecordingsTriviaTrivia - The band were one of the first unsigned bands to be playlisted on BBC Radio One and Xfm in the UK, with their single "Always: Your Way".
- Despite being credited with ushering in a new wave of effect-laden guitar bands in the UK, who all draw parallels to the early '90s Shoegaze scene, the band claim to only have one record from that era: 'Loveless' by My Bloody Valentine.
- The band recorded a cover of Elliott Smith's "Bottle Up & Explode!" upon the singer/songwriter's death in October 2003.
- The song "Always Your Way" was voted in 2002 as one of the best alternative songs written by Xfm listeners.
- The video for their 2nd top 40 hit single "Grounded", starred notorious cult figure Vincent Gallo.
- Three members of the band studied at University College London. Members from Coldplay, Keane, were in the years above and members from Suede and Elastica had also graduated from UCL in the '90s. (see full list of UCL Alumni).
- They were signed after only 7 shows, 7 months of being together and with only 7 songs. Their logo, the chemical symbol for vitriol resembles a backwards 7.
- When their track "Cemented Shoes" was used on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, none of the band had heard of the show.
- Almost every song on their debut 'Finelines' was recorded utilizing various unusual guitar tunings.
- The song "Always your way" was used in the motocross DVD "Heaven and Hell on Earth" starring Chris Brock and Gary Taylor.
- Taprobane, track 12 on Finelines, is the name ancient Greek geographers gave to Wardner's home country, Sri Lanka.
- The BBC reported that My Vitriol were the last band to ever play the Astoria, on the 14th Jan 2009, before the legendary London venue was closed due to the Crossrail development.
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