Stornoway (band)
| Stornoway | |
|---|---|
 Stornoway zorbing in Dorset, to celebrate the release of their first single (20 July 2009) |
|
| Background information | |
| Origin | Oxford, Oxfordshire, England |
| Genres | Indie folk, indie rock, chamber pop, brit-pop |
| Years active | 2006–present |
| Labels | 4AD |
| Associated acts | The Head & The Heart, Sea Of Bees, Noah & The Whale, The Epstein, Beth Jeans Houghton, Ute, Mumford & Sons, Foxes!, Anton Barbeau, The Family Machine, Witches, Borderville |
| Website | Official website |
| Members | |
| Brian Briggs Jonathan Ouin Oli Steadman Rob Steadman with Adam Briggs Rahul Satija |
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Stornoway is a British alternative indie folk band from the Cowley area of Oxford. It consists of singer and guitarist Brian Briggs; multi-instrumentalists Jon Ouin and Oli Steadman, and the latter's brother Rob on drums. The band is usually joined by trumpeter Adam Briggs and violinist Rahul Satija. Named after the Scottish town of Stornoway on the Hebridean Isle of Lewis, which appears on all UK televised weather reports and shipping forecasts, the group incorporates string instruments and keyboards, supported by a typical pop backline of guitar, drums, and bass guitar. The band had never visited Stornoway when they decided to name themselves after the town. The band is signed to the British independent record label, 4AD.
On social networks the band are known by the title of an early song from one of their demo EPs: @TheOldBlindMan.
Contents |
[edit] Beachcomber's Windowsill 2005 - 2011
Stornoway's first radio play came in March 2006 with a demo version of "I Saw You Blink" on BBC Oxford Introducing.[1] Radio presenter Tim Bearder was an early champion of the band and was suspended from work after barricading himself in the studio and playing an hour of Stornoway songs from their demo EP The Early Adventures of Stornoway.[2][3]
The band self-released their first single "Zorbing" in July 2009, playing at a number of UK summer festivals including 6 sets at Glastonbury festival 2009, and wrote a series of articles about their experiences for the Daily Telegraph newspaper.[4] On 1 September 2009, they played a free concert at Tate Modern, London, supported by Reverend and The Makers, to celebrate the launch of the new climate change campaign 10:10.[5]
Second single "Unfaithful" was released on 28 September 2009 on CD, 7" vinyl and download, and the launch concert was held at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London on 21 September.[6] Their first UK tour took place from 16 to 30 October 2009, culminating in a concert at Oxford's Sheldonian Theatre, accompanied by the Oxford Millennium Orchestra.[7] They were the first non-classical group ever to play in the centuries-old building.
In November 2009 Stornoway became the first ever unsigned band to appear on Later... with Jools Holland, and performed alongside Sting, Norah Jones, Jay-Z, and Foo Fighters.[8] The attention gained by this appearance led to tens of thousands of views of their homemade YouTube videos, and the band were playlisted on the BBC's national radio stations. In December 2009, Stornoway were announced as entrants onto the longlist of the BBC's Sound of 2010 competition, having been selected by a panel of some 165 UK-based "tastemakers".[9] They toured Scotland and Ireland in March 2010 (dubbed the Highlands, Islands and Ireland tour), and signed their record deal in the castle grounds at Lews in Stornoway, after playing in their namesake town for the first time. The band signed to the independent record label, 4AD and announced their debut album, Beachcomber's Windowsill due to be released on 24 May 2010.[10] On 22 March they released their third single, "I Saw You Blink".
The band organised three small shows to 300 hometown fans at the A1 Pool Hall in Oxford in Summer 2010, just prior to the launch of their album. On 30 May 2010, Beachcomber's Windowsill entered the UK Albums Chart at number 14, spending five weeks in the UK Top 100.[11] An "unplugged" session of four songs was recorded for 4AD at the Rotunda, an abandoned doll's house museum in Iffley Village, Oxford in August 2010.[12] They played at Glastonbury Festival 2010 and Womad Charlton Park in July 2010, along with main-stage slots at a great number of UK and European festivals. The rest of the year saw the band tour England, North America and, in February 2011, Australia as part of the St Jerome's Laneway Festival. Their last performance in their home country for 2010 was in London at the Shepherd's Bush Empire, to a sold out crowd of 2,000, their biggest headline audience to date. The band performed the music from Beachcomber's Windowsill with extensions and additions to the instrumentation for many songs; in addition one older song and two new ones were performed, including two unplugged performances with acoustic instruments.[13]
Following a second successful German tour and their first performances in Italy, Luxembourg and Switzerland, Stornoway spent several weeks in early 2011 at home in Oxford writing towards their second album. In April it was announced that the band would be returning to Glastonbury for the third year in a row to open the Pyramid Stage on Saturday 25 June, one of their many festival billings for the summer. Returning to America in May 2011, they will then spend the rest of the year performing at home in the UK and recording in Oxford. Their home-coming concert for summer 2011 was at London's Somerset House on Saturday 9 July (with support from Cloud Control).[14] A secret Somerset House warm-up show (with support from Dry The River) was announced exclusively to fans in April.[15] The band's first concert in Oxford since November 2010 was held at the Regal, Cowley Road, on September 3rd alongside fellow Oxford bands, The Epstein and Dreaming Spires. Proceeds from the evening went to the Sumatran Orangutan Society, the Earth Trust, and the RSPB.
Stornoway are currently recording their second album, which will come out in mid 2012.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Studio albums
| Year | Album details | Peak Chart Positions | Certifications | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK | IRE | UK IND | |||
| 2010 | Beachcomber's Windowsill
|
14 | 43 | 3 | |
[edit] Singles
| Year | Single | Peak Chart Positions | Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK | UK IND |
BEL | |||
| 2009 | "Zorbing" | — | — | — | Beachcomber's Windowsill |
| "Unfaithful" | — | — | — | TBD | |
| 2010 | "I Saw You Blink" | 119[17] | 12 | — | Beachcomber's Windowsill |
| "Zorbing" (re-release) | 74[18] | 4 | 11 | ||
[edit] Music videos
| Year | Title | Director |
|---|---|---|
| 2009 | "Zorbing" | Hilary O'Hare |
| "Unfaithful" | Gina Hood | |
| 2010 | "I Saw You Blink" | Hilary O'Hare |
| "Watching Birds" | James Caddick |
[edit] References
- ^ Stornoway on BBC Music http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/artists/04073f0b-a1e5-4cef-9b36-c1978e5d7d23
- ^ Stornoway interview in Nightshift http://nightshift.oxfordmusic.net/2008/sep.pdf
- ^ BBC Oxford Introducing interview in Nightshift http://nightshift.oxfordmusic.net/2010/mar.pdf
- ^ Stornoway's Festival Diary http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/music-festivals/5933626/Stornoways-festival-diary-part-4-Truck-Festival-Oxfordshire.html
- ^ 10:10 campaign Twitter feed http://twitter.com/tentenuk
- ^ Stornoway at the ICA http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/live_reviews/article6846147.ece
- ^ Stornoway at the Sheldonian Theatre http://rhcblog.blogspot.com/2009/11/stornoway-sheldonian-theatre-oxford.html
- ^ bbc.co.uk http://www.bbc.co.uk/later/artists/stornoway/
- ^ BBC Sound of 2010 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8395789.stm
- ^ 4AD.com http://www.4ad.com/news/reveal-signing-t/
- ^ http://www.chartstats.com/albuminfo.php?id=14790
- ^ 4AD session filmed at the Rotunda http://4ad.com/sessions/004/
- ^ Stornoway are in for the long run http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/music/review-23899036-stornoway-are-in-for-the-long-run.do
- ^ Stornoway on the Somerset House Summer Series June–July 2011 http://www.somersethouse.org.uk/music/summer-series-2011/stornoway
- ^ Stornoway announce exclusive warm-up show at The Point, July 2011 http://www.thepointeastleigh.co.uk/whats-on/music/stornoway--guests.aspx
- ^ http://www.bpi.co.uk/certifiedawards/Search.aspx
- ^ "Official Singles Chart for the week ending 3 April 2010". ChartsPlus (Liverpool: UKChartsPlus) (449): 1–4.
- ^ "Official Singles Chart for the week ending 12 June 2010". ChartsPlus (Liverpool: UKChartsPlus) (458): 1–4.
