Serafin (band)
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 | This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. The specific problem is: not encyclopedic. (March 2012) |
Serafin | |
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| Genres | Noise rock Alternative rock |
| Years active | September 2000–present |
| Labels | Taste Media |
| Members | Ben Fox Smith Christian Smith-Pancorvo Darryn Harkness Johanna Hoppe |
| Past members | Ben Ellis Ronny Growler Mike Clark Stuart Quinnel Richie Mills |
| Website | Official Website |
Serafin is a rock band from London who formed and began playing in September 2000. Often compared to almost anything in the rock industry, Serafin's sound is sometimes compared to bands like Pixies, Nirvana, The Smashing Pumpkins, Placebo, Radiohead, Blur and Jacob's Mouse.[citation needed]
History
The original band lineup didn't play live but the two members who have stayed throughout are Ben Fox Smith, and Darryn Harkness. The band itself was formed after the demise of Stony Sleep when Ben met Darryn at a Eurovision Song Contest party in Highbury, London. Darryn played on some John Peel Sessions before forming Serafin. They added Johnny Borrell (bass) and then Stuart Quinnell with Richie Mills (drums) from Cable. These line-ups were short lived (a few months) and their first gig had Ronny Growler on drums and Mike Clark on bass.
Stuart Quinnell appears to be the bass tech for Frankie Poullain from The Darkness and plays in the road crew band Onion Trump.
Mike Clark left to go back to Canada in 2002 and is now working on Ben Smith's acoustic-electronic solo project Young Sawbones. He was replaced by Ben Ellis who had been playing for Catherine Wheel who had decided to call it a day. It was this line-up on their debut album No Push Collide.
On the 26 August 2004 Serafin posted this note on their website: "We have replaced our drummer Ronny Growler with a guy called Lonely Blue boy. We love Ronny who is a fantastic drummer in his own right, but have had to realise our musical differences and preferences which, while considering the chemistry of the band and its future, became too great to continue with." Not too soon later did they announce that they had returned to the studio for their second album.
The new drummer was Ben's brother Christian Smith who had left Razorlight in March 2004.
Famous fans include Simon Pegg of Spaced and Craig Nicholls of The Vines.[citation needed]
On 23 October 2007, Serafin announced their new bassist: Johanna Hoppe from the New Telepathics who replaces Ben Ellis.
Releases
Although the band has been around for a few years, only two full albums have been released, No Push Collide (2003) on Taste Media, and To The Teeth 2008 on Our Rekords. They were produced by Dave Sardy in Los Angeles.[citation needed] and Ian Caple in London.
Two singles were released before the album, Things Fall Apart and Day by Day.[citation needed]
Serafin have released two four track EPs, also on Taste Media before No Push Collide. The first was in April, 2002, the second in August, 2002.[citation needed]
Taste Media was bought by Warner Music Group in 2004 which forced the band into legal limbo with no way to get out of their contract and no funding to promote To The Teeth.[citation needed] The management was fired and all four members spent more time on side projects (New Telepathics, French Car And The Bulimic Wizards, Young Sawbones and Triggerbox).[citation needed]
At the start of May 2005, Ben began releasing acoustic MP3s on their site, culminating in 21 ideas for songs free for download.[citation needed] The recording quality varies due to the nature of four-track recordings. They now have rough mixes of non-acoustic tracks on their Myspace page.
The Second album, 'To The Teeth', was released in December 2007, under their new record label 'Our Rekords'.
Discography
Albums
CD Taste Media (18 August 2003) |
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CD Our Rekords (24 December 2007) |
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Singles
2CD + 7" Taste Media (5 May 2003) #49 UK |
CD1
CD2
7"
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2CD + 7" Taste Media (4 August 2003)' #49 UK |
CD1
CD2
7"
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EPs
CD Taste Media (8 April 2002) |
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CD Taste Media (19 August 2002) |
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Compilations
- X-Ray CD 05 - Build High, Tear Low (Track 8) X-Ray, June 2003
- All Areas Volume 41 - No Happy (Track 2) Visions Magazine, July 2003
- X-Rock #01 - Thing Fall Apart (Track 4) X-Rock, 2003
- Peoplesound: Special Edition 4 - Day By Day (Track 1) Peoplesound, 2003
Appearances
They sold the most records in France on Naïve Records, 20,000 or so. They toured extensively playing the Reading and Leeds Festivals twice, once on the Carling Stage (2002) and once on the Radio 1 stage (2003). Played many festivals in other European countries and supported Frank Black, Muse and Feeder, on their tour in 2003 before the release of No Push Collide.
Serafin's Day By Day appeared on the Madden NFL 2004 video game.
There's a hype around the founding members Darryn and Ben Smith, which is evident in one song, they are both vegan.
External links
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