The Enemy (English rock band)
The Enemy | |
|---|---|
 The Enemy live at Wembley Stadium in July 2009 | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Coventry, England |
| Genres | Indie rock, punk rock, Alternative rock |
| Years active | 2006–present |
| Labels | Cooking Vinyl Stiff Records (UK) |
| Members | Tom Clarke Liam Watts Andy Hopkins Chris Allen |
| Website | www.theenemy.com |
The Enemy (The Enemy UK in the United States) are an English indie rock band formed in Coventry in 2006). The band's debut album We'll Live and Die in These Towns (2007) went straight to Number 1 in the UK Albums chart on release. Their second album Music for the People (2008) went to Number 2 on the UK Albums chart.
History
Formation and Early Recordings (2006–2007)
Drummer Liam Watts and bass player Andy Hopkins originate from Coventry, while frontman and multi-instrumentalist Tom Clarke is originally from Birmingham, later moving to Coventry. Clarke and Hopkins attended Finham Park Secondary School in the city, while Watts studied at Cardinal Newman secondary school.
The Enemy met their original manager, John Dawkins, because Watts' aunt worked with one of Dawkins' family members. Dawkins asked producer Matt Terry to do him a favor and give the band cheap studio time. Terry then produced their first set of three songs: 'Heart Attack', 'Had Enough' and '40 Days and 40 Nights'. Dawkins then forwarded the demos to David Bianchi at A&R Warner.
In 2006 the band were the opening act at Coventry's Godiva Festival, an event they would play for the next 2 years, making their way to the headline slot.
We'll Live and Die In These Towns (2007–2008)
They first gained acclaim when they were mentioned in NME as the act most likely to "break your windows" for 2007. They supported Oasis, The Fratellis, Kasabian, The Paddingtons, Ash, Manic Street Preachers and Stereophonics on their UK tours.[1]
In June 2007, The Enemy played twice at Glastonbury Festival, first in the 'Guardian Lounge' on Saturday and then the much larger 'Other Stage' on Sunday. They also headlined on the Saturday night of T in the Park in the 'Futures' tent on 7 July 2007.
Their single, "Away From Here" entered the charts at number 8 and its follow-up "Had Enough" entered the charts at number 4. Building on their rapid exposure, The Enemy appeared on the NME 2007 Rock 'N' Roll Riot Tour during September and October 2007 along with Lethal Bizzle and The Wombats as well as the Jersey Live Festival. They also supported The Rolling Stones on the last night of their European tour at the O2 Arena.
In September 2007, Alex Zane, presenter of the Xfm Breakfast Show broadcast a statement declaring that the band would not be played on his show again. After playing their single "You're Not Alone" for seven seconds, he reasoned that altercations between himself and the band over a television interview meant that they would no longer be played by him.[2][3] However, during the Xfm Review of 2008, the presenters Sunta Templeton and Matt Dyson commented on the band and Zane making up.
"Aggro" is featured in the video game Guitar Hero World Tour. 'Pressure' was used to advertise the third series of The Sarah Jane Adventures, a popular children's drama produced by the BBC. 'We'll Live and Die In These Towns' was used in the advert for KitKat during the 2010 World cup.
Music for the People (2008–2009)
March 2008 saw the band start production on their second album and playing six nights in a row at the London Astoria. In April 2008 the band played at Coventry's Ricoh Arena, selling out two nights. The next month they supported Kaiser Chiefs at Elland Road Stadium. They then headlined the Godiva Festival on 5 July 2008, a 30,000 capacity free gig in Coventry's War Memorial Park. They played Reading & Leeds Festivals on the main stage in August.
Along with Kasabian and Twisted Wheel, The Enemy supported Oasis on their 2009 Dig Out Your Soul Tour, which included the Ricoh Arena gig in The Enemy's hometown of Coventry. In March and April 2009 the band embarked on their own UK & Ireland tour, playing to 70,000 people, with Twisted Wheel as support as well as Kid British. Birmingham singer Emma Skipp joined them on "No Time for Tears". The Enemy were forced to pull out of Oasis's Heaton Park concert on 4 June due to lead singer/guitarist Tom Clarke suffering from food poisoning. Although the band returned the following night they were replaced on the middle night of Oasis' Wembley Stadium three night run by Reverend and The Makers. The Coventry trio said that they were forced to pull out of their performance on 11 July because their singer Tom fell ill due to lily poisoning.
"Be Somebody" is featured in the video game FIFA 10, and is the theme music to ITV Sport's coverage of the 2009–10 FA Cup, 2010–11 FA Cup and 2011–2012 FA Cup. A clip of their song "No Time For Tears" was used on the BBC advert for Lost Land of the Volcano. 'No Time For Tears' was also featured in the Wii video game Need for Speed: Nitro. "Be Somebody" is currently used for the title sequence of ITV's FA Cup football coverage.
Streets In the Sky (2012 – present)
After they finished touring Music for the People, the band took a two year break before commencing work on their third album, playing the occasional show in the form of secret gigs.
The Enemy announced in 2011 that work had begun on their third album and had around 30 songs already written. They revealed the album was set to be released around late spring 2012, and also revealed that they had returned to their more original style of debut album 'We'll Live And Die In These Towns'. The band have signed to the Cooking Vinyl record label, working with original manager John Dawkins and new album producer Joby Ford (The Bronx). Tracks for the third album were recorded in London and Los Angeles – the band will be touring later in 2012.
On 21 February 2012, in a blog post made by lead singer Tom Clarke, the band announced the title of the album would be 'Streets In The Sky', and that they would be releasing a free single, 'Gimme The Sign'.[4] The album is also set to include tracks such as 'This Is Real' (which the band put on their website in demo form), 'Saturday', '1-2-3-4' and 'Bigger Cages (Longer Chains)' .The album will be released on 21 May 2012, the same day as the first of two gigs in the ruins of Coventry Cathedral.[5] On 15 May 2012 the venue was changed to the Kasbah nightclub because of health and safety issues.[6]
On 10 April it was announced that The Enemy would perform at the FA Cup Final at Wembley stadium on 5 May.[7] They are set to play two songs from the third album 'Streets In The Sky' before the match, from the roof of the stadium.[7] This was also broadcasted live as part of ESPN's 'Talk Of The Terrace' show, along with the game.
In June 2012 they announced a UK Tour, beginning on the 28th September in Weston-super-Mare and concluding on the 26th October in Birmingham, with the band appearing in many major UK cities.[8]
Styles and Influences
The Enemy specialise in music about friendship and social commentary like The Jam & The Libertines. Tom Clarke has said that bands such as The Clash and Oasis have had a "huge influence on our friendships within the band and with our families. These bands taught us to open our hearts".
Line up
- Tom Clarke – lead vocals, Lead guitar, piano, strings on album
- Liam Watts – drums
- Andy Hopkins – Bass guitar, vocals
- Chris Allen - Rhythm guitar
Discography
Studio albums
- We'll Live and Die in These Towns (2007, No. 1 UK – BPI: Platinum)
- Music for the People (2009, No. 2 UK – BPI: Gold)
- Streets in the Sky (2012, No. 4 UK)
Singles
- "It's Not OK" (2007, Limited Edition Vinyl)
- "Away from Here" (#8 UK)
- "Had Enough" (2007, No. 4 UK)
- "You're Not Alone" (2007, No. 18 UK)
- "We'll Live and Die in These Towns" (2007, No. 21 UK)
- "This Song" (2008, No. 41 UK)
- "No Time for Tears" (2009, No. 16 UK)
- "Sing When You're in Love" (2009, No. 122 UK)
- "Be Somebody" (Download Only) – (2009, No. 193 UK)
- "Gimme The Sign" (free download) (2012)
- "Saturday" (2012)
Music Industry Awards
- Q Awards – Best New Act (awarded October 2007)
- XFM Awards – Best British Debut Album of 2007 (awarded January 2008)
- NME Awards – Best New Band (awarded February 2008)
References
- ^ Dowling, Jordan (17 February 2007). ""Reviews – Live – The Fratellis, The Enemy" ". Drowned in Sound. Retrieved 22 April 2007.
- ^ "The Enemy vs Alex Zane: read the radio show transcript". Retrieved 22 January 2009.
{{cite web}}: Text "NME.COM" ignored (help); Text "News" ignored (help) - ^ "Alex Zane Bans The Enemy From Xfm's Breakfast Show – What Really Happened". Retrieved 22 January 2009.
- ^ http://www.tomclarkeofficial.blogspot.com/2012/02/gimme-sign-radio-1-tickets.html
- ^ "Enemy's Plans Lie In Ruin". Coventry Telegraph. 3 April 2012. p. 5.
{{cite news}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help) - ^ "The Enemy's cathedral gigs moved to new Coventry venue". BBC News. BBC. 15 May 2012. Retrieved 15 May 2012.
- ^ a b "The Enemy confirm Wembley Stadium gig for FA Cup final". Radio 1 Newsbeat. BBC. 11 April 2012. Retrieved 20 April 2012.
- ^ http://www.nme.com/news/the-enemy/64207