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Mumm-Ra (band)

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Mumm-Ra
OriginSussex, England.[1]
GenresIndie rock
Years active2000–2008
LabelsColumbia
Past membersJames "Noo" New
James Arguile
Oli Frost
Niall Buckler
Gareth Jennings
Tommy Bowen
WebsiteOfficial Myspace

Mumm-Ra were an English indie rock band originated from Bexhill on Sea. Niall Buckler was only fourteen years old when he formed the band, which took their name from Mumm-Ra the Ever-Living, the main villain of the 1980s cartoon, Thundercats.[2] They first rose to public attention when they performed with the NME Awards Indie Rock Tour alongside The Automatic, The View and The Horrors, and were featured in the January 2007 edition of NME as one of ten bands who were "guaranteed to soundtrack" 2007.[3]

Recording history

The band released their debut album on May 28, 2007, with three singles, Out Of The Question, What Would Steve Do? and She's Got You High. Mumm-Ra's song She's Got You High was music in the hit movie, (500) Days of Summer. Starlight had been slated to be the fourth single but it was ultimately never released. The band was in the process of writing material for their second album, and had trialled some new tracks live on their tour of Japan and then on what transpired to be their final UK tour, but no further details of their second album was ever released. Gareth Jennings came back to Bexhill on July 15, 2007 to appear on radio station Bexhill FM. A whole hour was dedicated to Mumm-Ra, where the breakfast show presenter Richard Harris played a whole hour of their music, as well as their inspirations and their second album. The interview was also conducted by Declan Nye and Jonathan Higgins.

Live performances

In addition to co-headlining the NME tour, Mumm-Ra also opened for several other acts. In October 2006, Mumm-Ra performed at the MTV2 Gonzo show with The View and The Kooks. In November of that same year, Mumm-Ra supported the Kaiser Chiefs for two shows in Berlin and Munich. March 2007 saw the band supporting The Killers for dates in Amsterdam, Cologne, Berlin, and Frankfurt.

  • Les Inrock Tour, France, November 9–13, 2006
  • O2 Wireless Festival 2007
  • Glastonbury Festival, June 2007, playing the John Peel Stage
  • Shockwaves NME Award Indie Rock Tour 2007, along with The Horrors, The View and The Automatic
  • Great Escape Festival, Brighton, May 17–19, 2007
  • UK Tour, April 14 - May 10, 2007
  • T in the Park, July 2007
  • V Festival August 2007
  • Mumm-Ra performed "Song B" on MOJO HD's show London Live.

Mumm-Ra had a toy duck as the band's mascot named "Matthew the Duck," who lead singer James New often used as a prop in live events.

From late 2006 Mumm-Ra was joined by Tommy B on keyboards for live performances only. He played all subsequent gigs, missing only one, Hertford Marquee, in March 2008, and played his final gig with the band in Cambridge at the end of March 2008.

Mumm-Ra also supported the 'The Mentaloids' on their 2007 tour of the North West of England. However the band left the tour 3 dates early due to a dispute between James and Mentaloids drummer Dan Stockton. Further details of the incident are unknown, however one source claiming to have witnessed the ruckus first hand, said Stockton was caught performing an ‘indecent act’ upon the bands mascot 'Matthew the Duck' in the dressing room before the live performance was meant to take place in Rochdale.

Breakup

On April 17, 2008, the band unexpectedly released a statement announcing that they had split, posting the following on their MySpace page:

"After 7 years, 11 months and 21 days of writing and playing music together us Mumm-ra boys have decided our journey as a band has come to an end. It has without doubt been the most fantastic adventure any of us could possibly have imagined all those years ago when the rather niave(sic) idea to form a band sprang from our young minds and led us to the nearest practise room.


Since then we have eaten in skyscrappers in tokyo, danced with tottenham fans in cologne, made a video in hollywood, posed with the playboy bunnies in barcelona, met real life rednecks in texas, had street fights with the view, played glastonbury, rocked the nme tour to pieces, supported the killers, the kooks and the kaiser chiefs around europe and generally just had the most incredible time along the way.


We would like to thank every single person who has supported us over the years whether it be through buying our album, coming to our gigs or just giving us a listen. No doubt various members will have new projects up and running in the near fututre. But until then......


Mumm-ra fur immer,


Mumm-Ra"

An official reason for the band's split was never given, giving rise to some speculation as to record company pressure (Columbia cancelled the proposed fourth single, Starlight, after the release date had been arranged and a promotional video had been completed). The band's official website was closed shortly after the split was announced, effectively ending any further discussion on the reasons behind the band's demise. The band members are now pursuing other musical projects, except for drummer Gareth who enrolled at University. Keyboard player Tommy has gone on to become the keyboard player backing UK band White Lies when playing live. Noo and Tate are now part of the band Mirrors. Before the split, it was mentioned on a MySpace blog that Mumm-Ra cancelled the remaining dates of their UK tour so they could work on a new album, which never emerged. Only four of the planned second album tracks are believed to have been played live - "Sticks and Stones", "Secrets" (which later appeared as a Mirrors track on their debut album), "Jeremy" (later changed to "Jenivive"), and "Clowns". A demo version of "Clowns" was recorded but never released in full, while "Sticks and Stones" was recorded live at Wireless 2007, being the only clear audio of a live performance of any of the unreleased songs intended for the second album. At their Hertford Marquee show in March 2008, a song titled "Organ" (later changed to "Organ Song") appeared on the setlist but was not played. It however appears on the Mirrors debut album under the name "Write Through the Night".

Members

Discography

Mumm-Ra discography
SinglesOut of the Question, What Would Steve Do?, She's Got You High

EPs

  • The Dance in France (self-released 8 track EP 2005)
  • The Dance on the Shore (self-released 8 track EP 2006)
  • What Would Steve Do? (self-released 7", April 2006)
  • Black Hurts Day and the Night Rolls On (CD + 10", July 2006)

Other contributions

References

  1. ^ "Mumm-Ra split up". NME. Retrieved 2011-09-04.
  2. ^ "Natives Of The Third Earth - Mumm-Ra". Gigwise.com. Retrieved 2011-09-04.
  3. ^ "Mumm-Ra:These Things Move In Threes". NME. Retrieved 2011-09-04.
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