
- Order:
- Duration: 6:49
- Published: 07 Jun 2010
- Uploaded: 04 Aug 2011
- Author: subpoprecords
Name | Foals |
---|---|
Background | group_or_band |
Origin | Oxford, England |
Genre | Indie rock, dance-punk, post rock, alternative dance, math rock (early) |
Years active | 2005–present |
Label | Transgressive (UK) Sub Pop (USA) |
Associated acts | The Edmund Fitzgerald, Youthmovies |
Url | http://www.foals.co.uk |
Current members | Yannis Philippakis (Vocals, Guitar, Live Drums) Jack Bevan (Drums) Jimmy Smith (Guitar) Edwin Congreave (Keyboard, Backing Vocals) Walter Gervers (Bass, Backing Vocals) |
Past members | Andrew Mears (Vocals, Guitar) |
Foals are an English indie rock band from Oxford. They are currently signed to Transgressive Records in the UK and Sub Pop in the US. They released their debut album Antidotes on 24 March 2008 in the UK, and 8 April 2008 in the US. The band's second album, Total Life Forever, was released on the 10 May 2010 and was nominated for the 2010 Mercury Prize.
Walter and Jimmy were part of a small Oxford band called Face Meets Grill. They met at and were formed from members of Abingdon Boys School. They played gigs in and around Oxford and recording a debut EP in Hull. After playing Truck Festival in 2004 they separated to follow different paths and careers.
Guitarist Jimmy Smith is the only one of the band members to have completed his degree, at Hull University: each of the band members quit their respective universities including Yannis and Edwin leaving their English courses at Oxford University, when the band signed to Transgressive Records by Ben Mackereth.
The lead singer of Youthmovies, Andrew Mears, originally formed the band Foals, playing as guitarist and lead vocalist. He was present on the band's debut 7" single "Try This On Your Piano/Look At My Furrows Of Worry", but left shortly afterwards to concentrate on Youthmovies' debut album Good Nature.
The band likes to be self-sufficient, so all of the music videos are created by their friend Dave Ma and all of the artwork (excluding cover art of Total Life Forever) is also done by their friend Tinhead.
The band’s musical influences are varied, with the band members citing minimal techno, Arthur Russell, the Irish based math rock band The Redneck Manifesto, Krautrock bands such as Harmonia, and Talking Heads as well The Jester People (now known as For London)as their main sources of inspiration. Their musical style however can be more directly linked to various genres such as indie rock, dance-punk, post-punk and techno.
In early 2007, the band released the limited edition 7" singles Hummer and Mathletics, both produced by Gareth Parton. "Hummer" later featured on the Channel Four teen drama Skins.
On March 1, 2010, the promotional single "Spanish Sahara" was first played on Zane Lowe's show Radio 1. Foals' new website was updated that night with the release of a video for the track directed by longtime collaborator Dave Ma. On March 6, the Total Life Forever site was officially launched. Puzzles revealed images, lyrics and sound clips of songs from the album, which was all set up by Yannis' close friend Gary Gunn. The last clip appeared on March 12, and resulted with a password entry for the Foals' new website. The site was opened on March 13 and presented the whole new art concept and media including samples of songs, photos and videos. Lead single "This Orient" was released on May 3, 2010. The album was finally released on May 10, 2010.
"Spanish Sahara" was featured in trailers for Entourage 's seventh season, season four of Skins, and BBC One 's Outcasts. It was also used in the soundtrack of the second season of the E4 drama Misfits. It was released as a full physical single in September 2010, featuring an edited remix starring the strings of London Contemporary Orchestra.
The album was nominated for the 2010 Mercury Prize. The band was also nominated for five NME awards, including Best British Band, Best Live Band, Best Album, Best Track and Best Album artwork.
In an interview with online magazine Coup De Main, Jimmy Smith said how the band members live together on and off the road - heading to Australia to record demos for their next album together. "It's just like touring with your family, it's nice".
Category:English indie rock groups Category:English dance music groups Category:2000s music groups Category:Music from Oxford Category:Dance-punk musical groups
This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.