Feeder (band)
Feeder | |
|---|---|
| File:Feeder2005.jpg | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Wales, UK |
| Members | Grant Nicholas Taka Hirose Mark Richardson (2002-present) Jon Lee (1992-2002) Dean Tidey (Live Guitarist) |
Feeder is an independent rock band who formed in London, England in 1992. The band are Welsh singer/guitarist/songwriter Grant Nicholas, Japanese bass guitarist Taka Hirose, and English drummer Mark Richardson. The band's original drummer, Jon Lee, committed suicide in 2002. There is also an "unofficial fifth member of Feeder", a phrase coined by the close-knit Feeder fanbase referring to touring guitarist Dean Tidey, whom many fans regard as a member of Feeder, despite only appearing in music videos containing live footage due to only being known to play with the band live. Dean also has his own band, the Sandstone Veterans.
History
The band's first release was the 1995 Two Colours EP which was a limited edition of 1500 and is now quite valuable. After this was the 6-track mini-album, Swim, originally released in June 1996 and later re-released with bonus tracks in 2001. This was followed by their first full-length effort, Polythene. The band's second release, Yesterday Went Too Soon, met with little more mainstream success than their first. However, in 2001, their third full-length album Echo Park hit the big-time. Singles from the album soared into the charts, with songs such as Buck Rogers and Seven Days in the Sun receiving extensive radio play. Buck Rogers also appeared on the soundtrack to the film Behind Enemy Lines.
In 2001, they won the Kerrang! award for "Best British Live Act", beating Muse in the category who won the Best British Band award the same night. The award was seen as a surprise as Muse sold out bigger venues than Feeder that year, and sold more copies of their then newest album Origin Of Symmetry.
Echo Park was also voted in 25th place in a Kerrang! magazine readers poll in 2005 to discover the top 100 British Rock albums of all time. Also, Polythene was Metal Hammer magazines #1 album of 1997, and Yesterday Went Too Soon featured in many end of year lists in various music magazines in 1999, including a #6 in Metal Hammer's list and the highest from a British album. Polythene is only a handful of debut albums to appear at #1 in any magazines end of year lists, including at least one 10/10 review rating.
The B-side to the famous Seven Days in the Sun - Just A Day - featured as the main track for the PAL version of the popular video game Gran Turismo 3. It is a little known fact that they in fact appear on versions 1, 3, and 4 of the PAL edition of the game, with one track or another, most recently, though, a b-side to Tumble and Fall on Gran Turismo 4 - Shatter, similarly to Just a Day, was later released as a single in its own right - as a Double-A side with the track Tender from their most recent album. This was partially due to a petition started by Feeders UK fanbase to have the track released (The names on the petition were included as a special feature of the DVD release of the single). The song also features in the soundtrack to the Russian film Nightwatch, and the video contains the band members featuring in notable scenes from the movie.
Feeder's next album, Comfort in Sound is commonly mistaken as having been written 'for' the deceased drummer Jon Lee, however the drummer committed suicide in the January of 2002 having finished most of the demoing for the forthcoming album. The songs featured on the album were already of a melancholy tone, but the ex-member's death seemed to hang like a cloud through each anthemic instalment, the album rife with despair. The album was highly rated by the critics with many positive reviews and featured also in many end of year lists in music mags.
Before the release of the album, Feeder played their first show after Jon's tragic death at the Wedgewood Rooms in Portsmouth, which was a warm-up for the Reading/Leeds festivals. The Reading/Leeds shows were played in the Radio 1 Evening Session tent on the 23rd and 24th August, filling the tent way beyond it's capacity on both occasions. Grant later on revealed in a Channel 4 television documentary, that at Reading he could see people outside the tent trying to get a good view of the gig.
When they went on tour the following year to promote the album, they sold out every date selling 55,000 tickets in total. This then encouraged them to go on an arena tour at the end of the year.
Earlier on in 2003, they won the Kerrang! award for Best British Band, once again amazingly beating Muse but this time in a higher category. At the time their forthcoming album Absolution was getting a lot of pre-orders, and so came as an even more astonishing achievement, as well as beating a band who are more Kerrang!-band-based in their sound, with most of Feeder's tracks at the time being mellow. Also, in 2001 they lost out on the award to them, and were not totally expected to beat them second time round.
Their next album, Picture of Perfect Youth, was a collection of 36 b-sides and other tracks, including Just A Day (which had previously been a b-side on the Seven Days In The Sun single). The album was only available on the band's website, and only a limited number of copies were produced.
Their latest full release, Pushing the Senses, was released in the UK on Jan 31st 2005 after a very long gap which had been made primarily for touring Europe and the United Kingdom. The album was their highest charting in the UK to date, and its lead single Tumble and Fall made the top 5 despite some critical reviews - undoubtedly its chart position has helped by being released in the traditionally quiet chart weeks of January, which the band has used to its advantage several times. The band had to postpone the last few dates of their 2005 Winter UK tour, after Grant was diagnosed with a throat infection.
A Greatest Hits album entitled Feeder: The Singles was released on the 15th of May 2006, featuring a collection of singles from throughout their history, plus three new tracks: Lost and Found, Burn The Bridges (which was first played in the Winter Tour 2005) and Save Us. Lost And Found was released as a single on 1st of May, to promote the album. The limited edition version of the album includes a DVD of 26 videos, running from the Lost and Found promo back to original release Stereo World, as well as extensive sleeve notes by long-time collaborator Ben Johncock, a freelance writer and author. It seems unlikely that they will tour to promote this new singles collection, however they have been announced to play at the 2006 Reading and Leeds festivals, as well as several other European festival dates. Save Us was released as the second single from the greatest hits album and reached a peak of #34 in the UK singles chart.
Feeder have announced also that they plan to make one last record with their current label Echo (due for release early 2007) and then change labels for future records.
Awards and achievements
Awards
- 1997 Metal Hammer Magazine Album Of The Year (Polythene)
- 2001 Kerrang Award- Best British Live Act
- 2003 Kerrang Award- Best British Band
- 2003 IMA Award- Best Video (Just The Way I'm Feeling)
- 2005 Pop Factory Award- Best Album (Pushing The Senses)
Nominations
- 2001 MTV Europe Music Award for Best UK and Ireland Act
- 2003 Brit Award for Best British Rock Act
- 2005 Pop Factory Award for Best Live Act
- 2005 Pop Factory Award for Best Band
- 2005 DMA Awards for Best British Band
- 2005 DMA Awards for Peoples Choice Award
- 2005 DMA Awards for Artist of the Year
- 2005 Kerrang Award for Best British Band
Other achievements
- Over 2.0 million chart-elegible albums sold in the UK.
- 4.0 million singles, albums, b-side albums and mini-albums combined sold worldwide, with best seller being the Comfort In Sound album on 600,000 copies.
- Ranked at position #559/7,500 estimated chart acts in the latest edition of the Guinness British Hit Singles & Albums book.
- In the Welsh acts all-time ranking based on UK single and album chart weeks, they are ranked at #10.
- #1 In South Africa with Buck Rogers in the near-halfway point of 2001.
- #1 in the UAE Radio 4 international artist airplay chart with 7 Days In The Sun.
- Their albums Echo Park and Comfort In Sound are two of the biggest UK independent albums of all time both clocking up over 100 weeks on the UK indie albums top 50.
- Buck Rogers is an established UK rock anthem, still getting airplay on alternative music TV channels.
- The video for Just a Day despite it's mixed reception has a fiercely loyal following and is defined by many as a music video breakthrough, and appears on many all-time lists.
- In 2003 they achieved arena tour status, and sold 10,000 tickets at their Wembley Arena gig.
- In 2005 Echo Park, Comfort In Sound, Yesterday Went Too Soon and debut Polythene were voted in Kerrang! magazines Top 100 British Rock Albums of All-Time list, with the albums coming in at #25, #32, #73 and #87.
- Also in 2005, they became one of a few artists to appear on the soundtrack to the biggest grossing film in any one country. Their UK top 20 hit Shatter/Tender both feature on the soundtrack of the biggest-grossing Russian film of all time titled Night Watch, which is often dubbed "The Russian Matrix".
- They have also supported the likes of REM, Coldplay, The Rolling Stones and U2.
Feeder have been the headline main act or highly billed for a number of festivals including-
- 2002 Leeds/Reading Festival, Radio 1 Tent - Headlined
- 2002 Gig On The Green- second stage- Headlined
- 2003 Glastonbury Festival- billed 3rd
- 2003 V Festival, 2nd Stage - Headlined
- 2005 Download Festival- Headlined
- 2005 Live on the Lawn - Headlined
- 2005 ISLE OF WIGHT FESTIVAL - billed 4th
- 2006 The Full Ponty - Headlined
- 2006 Wakestock - Headlined
- 2006 Kerrang Festival - Headlined
- 2006 Newquay Boardmasters - Headlined
- 2006 Lets Rock Edinburgh - Headlined (event cancelled)
They are also an established main-stage act at the hugely sucsessful Reading/Leeds festivals, but have not played at Glastonbury since their main stage debut in 2003.
Feeder was also one of the main acts at the Scottish Live 8 concert in 2005.
Discography
Albums and EPs
| Cover | Title | Released | Chart Position |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Two Colours EP | November, 1995 | #178 (after copies ended up in Indie stores) (Limited edition EP of 1000)UK |
| File:Swim.gif | Swim EP | June, 1996 | - |
| File:Polythene.jpg | Polythene | May, 1997 | #65 UK (Silver) |
| File:YWTS.jpg | Yesterday Went Too Soon | August, 1999 | #8 UK (Gold) |
|
Echo Park | April, 2001 | #5 UK (Platinum), #25 Ireland |
| File:Swim2.gif | Swim (re-release) | July, 2001 | #91 |
|
Comfort in Sound | October, 2002 | #6 UK (Platinum), #27 Ireland, #98 Japan |
|
Picture Of Perfect Youth | August, 2004 | Internet only release |
|
Pushing the Senses | January, 2005 | #2 UK (X2 Gold), #16 Ireland, #62 Austria, #75 Switzerland, Top 100 Flanders, #59 Japan, #80 Netherlands, #11 Europe, #59 World Chart, Top 200 France |
|
Feeder The Singles | May, 2006 | #2 UK (Platinum), #13 Ireland, #37 Japan, #13 Japanese International Chart , Top 100 Flanders, #10 Europe, #1 iTunes Chart, #32 World Chart |
Singles
| Year | Title | Chart Positions | Album | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK Singles Chart | UK Download | US Modern Rock | US Mainstream Rock | European Singles Charts | Irish Singles Charts | Other Charts | |||
| 1996 | "Stereo World" | #128 | - | - | - | - | - | - | Swim |
| 1997 | "Tangerine" | #60 | - | - | - | - | - | - | Polythene |
| 1997 | "Cement" | #53 | - | - | #31 | - | - | - | Polythene |
| 1997 | "Crash" | #48 | - | - | - | - | - | - | Polythene |
| 1997 | "High"* | #24 | - | #24 | #36 | #77 | - | - | Polythene |
| 1998 | "Suffocate"* | #37 | - | - | - | - | - | - | Polythene |
| 1999 | "Day in Day Out" | #31 | - | - | - | - | - | - | Yesterday Went Too Soon |
| 1999 | "Insomnia"* | #22 | - | - | - | #85 | - | - | Yesterday Went Too Soon |
| 1999 | "Yesterday Went Too Soon"* | #20 | - | - | - | #70 | - | - | Yesterday Went Too Soon |
| 1999 | "Paperfaces" | #41 | - | - | - | - | - | - | Yesterday Went Too Soon |
| 2001 | "Buck Rogers"* | #5 | #58 | - | - | - | - | #1 South Africa | Echo Park |
| 2001 | "Seven Days in the Sun"* | #14 | - | - | - | - | - | #1 UAE (Int Artist) Top 40 South Africa | Echo Park |
| 2001 | "Turn"* | #27 | - | - | - | - | - | - | Echo Park |
| 2001 | "Piece by Piece" | - | - | - | - | - | - | #5 Studio Brussel Chart | Echo Park |
| 2001 | "Just A Day"* | #12 | #85 | - | - | - | #47 | #99 World Chart | Picture of Perfect Youth |
| 2002 | "Come Back Around"* | #14 | - | - | - | - | #45 | - | Comfort in Sound |
| 2003 | "Just the Way I'm Feeling"* | #10 | #96 | - | - | #34 | - | - | Comfort in Sound |
| 2003 | "Forget About Tomorrow"* | #12 | - | - | - | #52 | - | - | Comfort in Sound |
| 2003 | "Find the Colour" | #24 | - | - | - | - | - | - | Comfort in Sound |
| 2003 | "Comfort In Sound"* | - | - | - | - | - | - | #8 UAE (Int Artist) | Comfort in Sound |
| 2005 | "Tumble And Fall"* | #5 | - | - | - | #20 | #26 | - | Pushing the Senses |
| 2005 | "Feeling A Moment"* | #13 | #35 | #32 | - | #42 | - | #32 Australia | Pushing the Senses |
| 2005 | "Pushing the Senses"* | #30 | - | - | - | #90 | - | - | Pushing the Senses |
| 2005 | "Shatter / Tender"* | #11 | #32 | - | - | #38 | - | - | Feeder - The Singles / Pushing the Senses |
| 2006 | "Lost and Found" | #12 | #20 | - | - | #41 | - | - | Feeder - The Singles |
| 2006 | "Save Us" | #34 | #125 | - | - | DNC | - | - | Feeder - The Singles |
* Also appears on Feeder - The Singles
Trivia
- When bassist Taka turned up for his audition to the band, he met frontman Grant at Camden Station in London and took him back to his apartment for a cup of tea.
- Grant Nicholas was a member of Band Aid 20, singing backing vocals in the chorus.
- Jon Lee once was a journalist for the South Wales Argus, the country's most popular newspaper.
- Mark Richardson was also a member of cult rockers Little Angels, playing drums on their last album Jam and the first three tracks of the remastered Too Posh To Mosh (Too Good To Last).
- They are one of many acts to give a reference to the late actor Steve McQueen. In the song Under The Weather on Echo Park, one of the lines in the first verse is I wish I was still fifteen, Debbie Harry or Steve McQueen.
- They once appeared on the UK TV show The Friday Night Project as the weeks guest band, and played instrumentals for 5 seconds each into every link of the programme and advert breaks. They ended the show playing Just a Day, and played the instrumentals of Shade, Lost and Found, Descend and Buck Rogers.
- Radio 1 DJ Chris Moyles is a massive notable celebrity fan of the band, along with his mother. He plays their music virtually every time on his show The Chris Moyles Show whenever they are on the playlist, and once said they are one of the best live bands around.
- The band have a hugely loyal following, with many of their fans travelling to the UK or mainland Europe for gigs.
- Despite making #1 in South Africa with Buck Rogers, none of their albums have gone Gold or Platinum over there. However Echo Park possibly might have gone Silver.