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Mirrors (band)

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For other uses, see Mirror (disambiguation).
Mirrors
Background information
OriginBrighton, England
GenresSynthpop
Years active2008-present
LabelsPure Groove, Moshi Moshi, Skint Records, PIAS Recordings
MembersJames New
James Arguile
Josef Page
Past membersAlly Young
WebsiteOfficial Website

Mirrors are an English synthpop band originating from Brighton who formed in 2008. The band consists of James New (lead vocals and synthesizers),[1] James Arguile (synthesizers) and Josef Page (electronic drums). They prefer to describe their music as 'electronic soul'[2] and 'pop noir'[3] with their main instruments being analogue synthesizers.

Their brand of synthesizer driven pop music is commonly compared to the sound of bands such as Kraftwerk, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, Depeche Mode and Blancmange. They released their début album in February 2011 called Lights and Offerings[4][5][6] which was promoted by a number of singles in 2010 and 2011.

History

Formation (2008)

Mirrors were formed by James New and Ally Young after Mumm-Ra broke up in 2008.[7] The two met in Brighton in 2008 and started working on the idea of, according to them, the ideal group, in May 2008. James: "This ideal group would have visuals as part of their live experience. It would have things going on on pavements. It would play in the middle of a room."[8]
Once the basics were set, James Arguile[9] would soon join the group followed by Josef Page, leaving behind him a promising career in hospital administration, as the final member and they started working on their visuals which would include suits and ties and keeping control over their artwork and videos.

"Look at Me" / "Into the Heart" (2009)

Their first live performance was in May 2009 at New Hero in Brighton. After demoing some songs that year such as "Fear of Drowning", "Hide and Seek", "Searching in the Wilderness" and "Write Through the Night" (called "Organ Song" as a demo, because of the heavy usage of organ-soundlike synthesizers), the first single would become "Look at Me",[10] released through the Pure Groove label, supposedly to be limited to just 200 copies on a one-sided red vinyl 7".[11] Soon after their first release they signed up with Moshi Moshi and released their second single, "Into the Heart" in November, which also featured a new B-side called "Lights and Offerings", a title they would use in 2011 for their début album.

Lights and Offerings (2010-2011)

After this they came to the attention of Skint Records. Skint Records appeared to be an obvious choice, because the label is from Mirrors' home town Brighton, making face-to-face contact much easier.[12] The label also understand their goals and artistic direction.

Mirrors continued with performing the occasional gigs in the United Kingdom[13] until they headed into the studio in June 2010,[14] working on their début album. Having written most of the material already in 2009, the album sessions could be finishing in just one month. The first single from these sessions was "Ways to an End", released on August 23 as a download and 7" vinyl single. They toured as a support act for Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark in November 2010[15] and released two more singles and a special tour EP before their début album Lights and Offerings was released on February 28, 2011[16] in the UK and on March 18 in Europe.[17]

They started touring as a headline act on April 12, 2011 in Cologne, Germany and will be supporting Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark in Spain in June of this year.

A fourth single from the début album was released on 6 June 2011 being "Look at Me" with the double A-side "Perfectly Still".[18] The single was previously released in 2009 on the Pure Groove label. The new single features a new remix by Simon Thornton.

Mirrors' first documentary was aired on Channel 4 on 9 June 2011 at 0:35am GMT[19] as part of the 4Play program. On 8 July 2011 they performed live in Berlin, Germany, at the Michalsky Stylenite fashion show which was streamed live on the internet[20]

On 16 August 2011 Mirrors announced that they cancelled the September performances with OMD plus their performance at Bestival, Isle Of Wight, as they are currently working on new material.

Radioactive Man released a remix of the Mirrors' track "Ways to an End" on 12 September 2011. The digital bundle contains a remix and an instrumental version of that remix.

On October 13 Ally Young announced he was leaving the band.

Two new songs were made available on the band's Myspace account and SoundCloud on 19 October 2011. They also confirmed that the remaining three band members will continue and are back in the studio recording further tracks.

Skint released a digital compilation EP of previously released remixes plus a few new ones, entitled Deconstructed.

This Year, Next Year, Sometime . . . ? (2012-present)

Mirrors released a new digital EP on the 26th of January 2012, called This Year, Next Year, Sometime . . . ?, in order to finance their potential second studio album. The EP contains the two new songs that were made available in October 2011 plus 5 previously unreleased demos, which were recorded either in the last couple of months or during their first album session in June 2010.

Discography

Albums

EPs

Singles

Promotional releases

The releases below were issued on CD for promotional purposes only.

  • Coming 2010 (2009)
  • Remixes (03/2010)
  • Mixtape (07/2010)
  • Theme Time Radio Ear II (08/2010)
  • Theme Time Radio Ear III (09/2010)

Tour dates

Below is an overview of all known tour dates, including the cancelled shows.

Date City Country Venue Other acts at venue Notes
May 12, 2009 Brighton United Kingdom New Hero
May 20, 2009 London Hoxton Square Bar Giantess, Erik Hassle, Disco Bloodbath
May 31, 2009 Southsea Edge of the Wedge Mutiny on the Bounty, Venice Ahoy
July 11, 2009 Brighton Corn Exchange
July 19, 2009 Suffolk Latitude Festival Phoenix, Passion Pit, The xx
August 14, 2009 London The Garage
Ocotber 15, 2009 Barfly Camden Jay Bless da Riddum, Young Rebel Set
October 30, 2009 Cargo
November 20, 2009 Amsterdam The Netherlands Paradiso
January 7, 2010 London United Kingdom The Garage Delphic Support act
January 14, 2010 Norwich Norwich Arts Centre
January 15, 2010 Oxford O2 Academy Oxford
January 16, 2010 Sheffield The Leadmill
January 19, 2010 Brighton Audio
January 20, 2010 Wolverhampton The Slade Rooms
January 21, 2010 Liverpool The Kazimier
January 22, 2010 Glasgow King Tut's Wah Wah Hut
January 23, 2010 Leeds The Cockpit
February 6, 2010 London The Borderline Chew Lips, Charli XCX, Expatriate
February 9, 2010
May 30, 2010 Newcastle upon Tyne Evolution Festival Weekender Paolo Nutini, Delphic, The Horrors
June 29, 2010 London Barfly Camden Chakras, Hektor Red
July 7, 2010 Hoxton Square Bar
July 13, 2010 Madam Jojo's The Hundred In The Hands, MNDR
July 14, 2010 Brighton New Hero
July 16, 2010 Cleveland Ku Bar
July 17, 2010 Southampton Unit
July 23, 2010 London The Watershed
July 31, 2010 Proud Camden Run Toto Run, The Whip DJ Set
August 2, 2010 Glasgow King Tut's Wah Wah Hut
August 3, 2010 Leeds Oporto
August 4, 2010 Sheffield The Forum
August 5, 2010 Leicestershire The Musician
August 7, 2010 London Little London Fields Festival Anna Calvi, Kill It Kid, Don't Wait Animate
August 13, 2010 Birmingham The Digbeth
August 18, 2010 London The Lexington Fleur and LYS CLUB
August 20, 2010 Bristol Start The Bus
August 21, 2010 York The Basement
August 27, 2010 London KOKO
September 10, 2010 London The Monarch Royal Palms Cancelled
September 23, 2010 Farnham Farnham Student Union
September 25, 2010 Brighton Audio
October 5, 2010 Jam Mount Kimbie
October 7, 2010 Audio We Have Band, Bright Light Bright Light
October 16, 2010 Amiens France Nuit Blanche
November 3, 2010 London United Kingdom City and Arts Music Project Midnight Juggernauts
November 5, 2010 Electrowerx Ulterior, Rubicks, Lord Auch
November 11, 2010 Cologne Germany E-Werk Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark Support act
November 12, 2010 Hannover Capitol
November 13, 2010 Leipzig Haus Auensee
November 15, 2010 Stuttgart Stuttgart Theaterhaus
November 16, 2010 Munich Tonhalle
November 18, 2010 Berlin Tempodrom
November 19, 2010 Hamburg Docks Hamburg
November 21, 2010 Luxembourg Luxembourg Den Atelier
November 22, 2010 Brussels Belgium Ancienne Belgique
November 23, 2010 Amsterdam The Netherlands Paradiso
November 25, 2010 Paris France Casino de Paris
November 30, 2010 Birmingham United Kingdom Academy 3
December 2, 2010 Bristol Thekla Delphic Cancelled
December 3, 2010 London Ronnie Scotts
December 4, 2010 Brighton Audio
December 13, 2010 London XOYO Pnau
February 5, 2011 The Garage Fenech-Solar, Is Tropical
February 10, 2011 O2 Shephard's Bush Empire White Lies, Crocodiles
March 2, 2011 Birmingham Hare and Hounds Fugiya and Miyagi Support act
March 3, 2011 Salford Islington Mill
March 4, 2011 Leeds Brudenell Social Club
March 5, 2011 Bristol Fleece
March 8, 2011 London Heaven
April 2, 2011 Troxy's Gary Numan, John Foxx, Motor, DJ set Daniel Miller & Mark Jones Festival
April 12, 2011 Cologne Germany Gebäude 9
April 13, 2011 Berlin Comet Club
April 14, 2011 Hamburg Molotov
April 16, 2011 Frankfurt Yellowstage
April 20, 2011 Munich Atomic Cafe
April 22, 2011 Zurich Switzerland The Plaza
April 23, 2011 Vienna Austria Badeschiff
May 7, 2011 Vilagarcia Spain Festival do Norte Festival
May 11, 2011 Brighton United Kingdom Haunt
May 22, 2011 Brussels Belgium Les Nuits Botanique Suuns, The Crookes
May 28, 2011 Lewes United Kingdom Meadowlands Fest Festival
June 14, 2011 Madrid Spain Arena Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark Support act
June 15, 2011 Barcelona Apolo
June 18, 2011 Paris France La Flèche d'Or Modern English, Flying Turns, Destin
June 22, 2011 Ertfurt Germany Thuringen Halle Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark Support act
June 23, 2011 Leipzig Parkbühne
June 26, 2011 Glastonbury United Kingdom Glastonbury Festival Festival
July 1, 2011 Coventry Godiva Festival
July 2, 2011 Lancashire Beat Herder Festival
July 8, 2011 Berlin Germany Tempodrom Michalsky Fashion Show
July 29, 2011 London United Kingdom Vintage at the Southbank Festival
August 5, 2011 Salzburg Austria Rockhouse Cancelled
August 14, 2011 Hildesheim Germany M'era Luna Festival
September 1, 2011 Cologne Tanzbrunnen Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark Cancelled
September 2, 2011 Hamburg Stadtpark
September 5, 2011 Berlin IFA Sommergarten, Messe
September 6, 2011 Schwerin Freilichtbühne
September 10, 2011 Isle of Wight United Kingdom Bestival

References

  1. ^ "Q & A - MIRRORS - The Recommender". Retrieved 16 April 2011 (2011-04-16). {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  2. ^ "Mirrors, Audio, Brighton, Sep 25". Retrieved 16 April 2011 (2011-04-16). {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  3. ^ "This is Fake DIY album review". Retrieved 20 April 2011 (2011-04-20). {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  4. ^ "NME album review". Retrieved 12 May 2011 (2011-05-12). {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  5. ^ Price, Simon (February 6, 2011). "The Independent album review". London. Retrieved 12 May 2011 (2011-05-12). {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  6. ^ "Drowned in Sound album review". Retrieved 12 May 2011 (2011-05-12). {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  7. ^ "Mumm-Ra break-up". Retrieved 15 April 2011 (2011-04-15). {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  8. ^ "RCRD LBL: Mirrors - Ways To An End". Retrieved 15 April 2011 (2011-04-15) So the pair met up one day in May 2008 and plotted a strategy to transform all this disappointment into inspiration. They specifically talked about what an ideal group should be.. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  9. ^ Lester, Paul (March 13, 2009). "The Guardian: New band of the day". London. Retrieved 12 May 2011 (2011-05-12). {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  10. ^ "Drowned in Sound: Mirrors - 'Look At Me'". Retrieved 12 May 2011 (2011-05-12). {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  11. ^ "MIRRORS - Fan Questions". Retrieved 15 April 2011 (2011-04-15). {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  12. ^ "Interview: Mirrors". Retrieved 20 April 2011 (2011-04-20). {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  13. ^ "NME Mirrors set to play Club NME KOKO this Friday (August 27)". Retrieved 12 May 2011 (2011-05-12). {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  14. ^ "See page 1 in the Lights and Offerings CD booklet". {{cite web}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Missing or empty |url= (help)
  15. ^ "Drowned in Sound: OMD meet Mirrors: 30 years of electronic music". Retrieved 12 May 2011 (2011-05-12). {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  16. ^ "MIRRORS Lights And Offerings". Retrieved 15 April 2011 (2011-04-15). {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  17. ^ "Mirrors – Lights and Offerings (VÖ. 18.03. CD/Digital)". Retrieved 15 April 2011 (2011-04-15). {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  18. ^ "Facebook wall post". Retrieved 15 March 2011 (2011-03-15). {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  19. ^ "4Play - Episode Guide". Retrieved 6 June 2011 (2011-06-06). {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  20. ^ "Michalsky StyleNite LIVE". Retrieved 10 July 2011 (2011-07-10). {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  21. ^ http://www.zobbel.de/cluk/110312cluk.txt
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