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Enter Shikari

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Enter Shikari

Enter Shikari (Template:PronEng) are a British post-hardcore band that make heavy use of synthesised sound effects. They formed in 2003 in St Albans, Hertfordshire where all four members are from, as an evolution from an earlier band, Hybryd. The band is named after one of the band member's relative's boats, called Shikari. Shikari also means 'Hunter', in Persian, Hindi, Nepali, Urdu and Punjabi.[1] Their debut album, Take to the Skies was released on March 19 2007 and reached #4 in the Official UK Album Chart.


Biography

The band has managed to gain some success within the music industry despite turning down offers from many of the large record companies, and instead deciding to 'go it alone' signed to their own independent record label Ambush Reality, with assistance from their distributor.

File:Hybryd Enter Shikari.jpg
Hybryd, with Rou, Rob, and Chris.

During 2003 to 2004, the band released three demo EPs, that were available from their gigs and their website. In August 2006 they released the download only single "Mothership" which became the single of the week on the iTunes store. Their first physical single featured re-recorded versions of "Sorry You're Not a Winner" and "OK Time for Plan B", which had previously been featured on one of the demo EPs. It was released on October 30, 2006 and was limited to 1000 copies of each format and sold out within the first week of release. In mid January 2007, Enter Shikari's first single, "Mothership" entered the UK singles chart for one week at number 151, on Downloads only. This was followed a week later by "Sorry You're Not a Winner/OK Time for Plan B", which charted at number 182 on the singles chart (despite its physical formats being chart ineligible at the band's request) and number 146 in the Download Chart.

In January 2007, Enter Shikari came 5th in BBC online's "Sound of 2007" poll, which compiles the views of numerous music critics on who they predict will achieve success in 2007.[2] They also made the NME's "New Noise 2007", a list of the bands it considers most likely to achieve success in the coming year (previous years lists have included the likes of Arcade Fire, Hot Chip and Bloc Party).

The next single released was "Anything Can Happen in the Next Half Hour", on March 5, 2007. This was the band's first single to be released from their forthcoming debut album, it contained a rerecorded version of the song "Anything Can Happen in the Next Half Hour". It reached 27 in the Official UK chart. The band's debut album, Take to the Skies, was released on March 19 2007 and on March 25 it reached number 4 in the UK Official Album Charts. It contained re-recordings of many of the songs that had featured on the demo EPs and singles that were released prior to the release of the album.

During the month of March, 2007 it was announced they would be playing at, Download Festival, Reading and Leeds Festivals, Give it a Name, Glastonbury Festival, Oxegen festival in Ireland and Rock am Ring in Germany. On March 30, 2007, Enter Shikari announced that their next single would be "Jonny Sniper"[3] and would be released on June 18th. The song's video was premiered on May 21st.

On June 6,2007 they performed a live show on BBC Radio 1 for Zane Lowe at BBC Radio Theatre.

They played an eleven date headline tour in October/November 2007 including their biggest ever headline gig in the 4,921 capacity Carling Academy Brixton. The band released a compilation album titled The Zone on November 12

In November, 2007, Rou reported that his laptop containing ideas for the new album and his side project Routron5000 was stolen backstage from the Camden Electric Ballroom gig on 7th November 2007. The laptop was recovered according to Ambush Reality.[citation needed].

Live

Enter Shikari live in 2006

Although some of the band's early shows were [4] poorly received, the band soon gained a large fan base due to their frequent gigging and publicity using their MySpace page.[citation needed] The band are also known to have used fingerlights at their shows. To make the shows energetic, sometimes, the band dance to an instrumental track made by Rou before various songs. During 'Sorry You're Not a Winner', the band sometimes asks the crowd to create a human pyramid.[5] Enter Shikari have performed over 500 gigs to date.[6] This helped the band secure a spot on the Gibson/MySpace stage at 2006's Download Festival. November 4 2006, Enter Shikari became the second unsigned band ever to sell out the London Astoria (the first being The Darkness). On May 14, 2007, Enter Shikari started their first North America tour. This followed into three more North American tours and are set to play SXSW in March.[7] Pyrotechnics were used for the first time by the band, at the London Astoria in February 2008.

Discography

Albums

Date of release Title
March 19 2007 Take to the Skies

Compilations

Date of release Title
November 12 2007 "The Zone"

EPs

Sold at shows and via website prior to the release of "Take to the Skies"

Date of release Title
June 2003 "Nodding Acquaintance EP"
September 2003 "Sorry You're Not a Winner EP"
August 2004 "Anything Can Happen in the Next Half Hour EP"

Singles

Date of release Title Chart Positions Album
UK Singles Chart UK Download Chart UK Rock Chart UK Indie Chart
2006 "Mothership" 151 - - - Take To The Skies
2006 "Sorry You're Not a Winner/OK Time for Plan B" 166 146 - - Take To The Skies
2007 "Anything Can Happen in the Next Half Hour" 27 - 1 1 Take To The Skies
2007 "Jonny Sniper" 75 - 1 - Take To The Skies

Other tracks

There are several demo versions of many of the songs featured on the Take to the Skies album that were released in the years up to the release of the album. Below is a list of songs that aren't featured on any of the singles, EPs or the album:

  • "Warm Smiles Do Not Make You Welcome Here" (also known as "Intro (Things Will Be Different)") (2004)
  • "Ask Me No Questions And I'll Tell You No Lies"
  • "Idiolect"
  • "Eden"
  • "We Can Breathe In Space (They Just Don't Want Us To Escape)"

Videography

  • "Anything Can Happen in the Next Half Hour"
  • "Mothership"
  • "Sorry You're Not a Winner" (2006 version)
  • "OK! Time for Plan B"
  • "Anything Can Happen in the Next Half Hour" (2007 version)
  • "Jonny Sniper"

Ambush Reality

Ambush Reality is an Independent record label started in July 2006. Originally set up due to lack of interest from Major record labels and media coverage of the band. Enter Shikari decided to 'go it alone'[citation needed], however in order to gain good distrubution, they needed a record label, hence them creating AR.[citation needed] For the time being, Ambush Reality will only be releasing music by Enter Shikari, their hope is to represent other bands as time goes by.[citation needed] Ambush Reality is co-owned and run by the members of Enter Shikari and their friends.[8] The band has decided that, in order to tour in the United States, they will have to sign with a major record label in America.[9] On August 28, 2007, Ambush Reality said that Take to the Skies will come out in North America in October, with Ambush Reality joining Tiny Evil Records.[10]

Achievements

  • Kerrang! Awards: Best British Newcomer nomination (2006)
  • Kerrang! Awards/Readers Poll: Best Unsigned Band (2006)
  • Live performance given 4/5 stars by Guardian writer Helen Pidd[11]
  • Achieved the Number 1 spot on MTV2's Rock Top Ten in November 2006 and March 2007 with "Sorry, You're Not A Winner" and "Anything Can Happen In The Next Half Hour..." respectively.
  • NME Awards: John Peel Award for Musical Innovation (2007) - The award was given to the band when they supported lostprophets at an NME Awards Show on February 15, 2007.
  • Won Rock Sound Magazine's poll for 'who will make it in 2007'[12]
  • HMV described Enter Shikari as 'one of the fastest-rising unsigned bands' in their Artists to watch in 2007 list[13]
  • Took over MTV Two, on "Enter Shikari Takeover" on March 8th 2007.
  • Take To The Skies debuted at #4 on the official UK album chart on its first week of release.
  • Kerrang! Awards: Spirit Of Independence (2007)
  • Kerrang! Awards: Best Live Band (2007)
  • BT Digital Awards: Breakthrough Artist of the Year in association with BBC 6Music
  • Total Guitar Worst Band Award (2007)

Contributions to video games

References

  1. ^ SuicideGirls > Interviews > Enter Shikari
  2. ^ BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Sound of 2007: Enter Shikari
  3. ^ Enter Shikari Announce New Single! - Smash Music
  4. ^ http://jonathandeamer.com/2005/01/16/live-review-loki-magdala-enter-shakari/
  5. ^ Enter Shikari Astoria DVD. If you also go on YouTube, various videos show the band asking to do a human pyramid
  6. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6193215.stm
  7. ^ http://www.myspace.com/entershikari
  8. ^ MySpace.com - Ambush Reality - St Albans /, UK - Rock / Hardcore / Trance - www.myspace.com/ambushreality
  9. ^ U.K.'s Enter Shikari Scores Without Label
  10. ^ Enter Shikari Official Forum • View topic - USA Label Update?
  11. ^ Enter Shikari | Live reviews | Guardian Unlimited Music
  12. ^ http://www.rock-sound.net/view_news.php?headline=ENTER-SHIKARI-WIN&id=2004102713
  13. ^ HMV.com: Music CDs, DVDs, Games & More
  14. ^ Xbox.com | Soundtracks - Enter Shikari
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