Maxïmo Park
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Maxïmo Park | ||
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| Background information | ||
| Origin | Newcastle upon Tyne, England | |
| Genre(s) | Indie Rock | |
| Years active | 2003–present | |
| Label(s) | Warp Records | |
| Website | http://www.maximopark.com/ | |
| Members | ||
| Paul Smith Duncan Lloyd Archis Tiku Lukas Wooller Tom English |
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Maxïmo Park are an English Indie Rock band, signed to Warp Records, who formed in 2003. Drawing comparisons to Pulp and Franz Ferdinand, Maxïmo Park were, along with cohorts The Futureheads, North-East England's response to the post-punk revival of the 2000s.
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[edit] History
The five-piece Maxïmo Park formed in Newcastle, Tyne and Wear in April 2003, their name adapted from Maximo Gomez Park, a Havana meeting place for Cuban revolutionaries. Initally, the four founding members were an avant-garde band without a singer who didn't play shows and rehearsed just for their own pleasure, frequently switching instruments. On the verge of splitting up, they instead decided to look for somebody to provide more of a focus – on stage and lyrically. Singer Paul Smith was discovered by the at-the-time-girlfriend of drummer Tom English in a pub while he was singing along to a Stevie Wonder's "Superstition". Having found someone with a stage presence, they started to write their first songs together, all despite the fact that the frontman never imagined himself as a frontman of a band. He'd never sung on stage beforehand, so it was a touch of luck that he turned out to be as well-suited to the role that he has grown into over the past few years.
Around March 2004, a friend funded 300 copies of a 7" red vinyl single with two of their tracks ("The Coast Is Always Changing"/"The Night I Lost My Head") that they’d recorded in their house in Fenham. After some time of doing gigs around their home town, Steve Beckett of the dance-electronic label Warp Records got hold of one of these records and decided to sign Maxïmo Park. In 2005, they swiftly rose to indie fame and their debut album, A Certain Trigger, was hailed by some critics as one of the best releases of the year and has led to an increasing devoted fanbase in the United Kingdom. The success of the album was re-enforced by a series of increasingly large tours and a support slot to the Kaiser Chiefs on the NME Rock & Roll Riot Tour. In July 2005 their debut album was nominated for the Mercury Prize. The band played the Glastonbury Festival and the Brixton Academy as part of Xfm's 2005 Winter Wonderland show [1], which sold out in ten minutes, and were headliners for the NME Awards Tour in early 2006. They also contributed a song to the War Child compilation Help: A Day in the Life.
In August 2006, the band announced that they have started working on their next album. The album is being produced by Gil Norton and will be recorded in London.
[edit] Members
Maxïmo Park consists of:
- Paul Smith (vocals)
- Duncan Lloyd (guitar)
- Archis Tiku (bass guitar)
- Lukas Wooller (keyboards)
- Tom English (drums)
[edit] Tom English
Drummer Tom English used to be in the band Field Music which he left to focus on work with Maxïmo Park. English is originally from the North West, attending school in Lancaster.
[edit] Duncan Lloyd
Lead guitarist Duncan Lloyd is originally from the South East and attended Northumbria University at Newcastle. In his first year he formed a student band with his friends which included Archis Tiku.
[edit] Paul Smith
Smith (born March 13, 1979) is the oldest of three children from Billingham in North East England. He briefly worked as an art teacher before he was asked to join the band. He is noted for his on-stage behaviour, particularly his dancing and handchops whilst singing. Such behaviour has seen him likened to Morrissey, Jarvis Cocker and Thom Yorke
He sings from his 'red book' when onstage, the inside of which few have seen; it contains his song lyrics, poems he's written and various diary entries. This red book went missing in May 2005, and messages were posted in the press and on the band's website asking eagle-eyed fans to look out for his bag on the waterfront in Newcastle [2]. Fortunately for the singer, his book was returned, and he continues to use it.
[edit] Archis Tiku
Bassist, one-time lead-vocalist and guitarist. Born in Mumbai in 1977 Archis moved to the UK with his parents aged one. He grew up in Wigan and attended Bolton School. In 1995 he moved to Newcastle upon Tyne to study medicine. Whilst in halls, Archis formed a band with three other friends, one of whom was Duncan Lloyd. Finding themselves with too many guitarists and no bassist, Archis stepped in to the breach. Not content with completing his studies and working as a locum doctor, Archis continued to appear with Dunc in various pub bands over the next few years, which ended in a fortuitous meeting with Lukas.
[edit] Lukas Wooler
Keyboard player and sometimes vocalist, Wooler is one of the original members of the Park. Hailing from Yorkshire, he attended Newcastle University to study music. As an undergraduate, Wooler was involved in the Newcastle music scene and performed in nearly all the North-East's smaller venues with bands such as Bozo, Neon, S22 and The Fallout Trust (including living with them for a while). Wooler has been an advertising executive and is a trained chorist.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
- 2005 A Certain Trigger #15 UK
- 2005 Missing Songs (a collection of b-sides previously only available on limited edition singles)
[edit] Singles
Chart positions are for the UK as compiled by The Official UK Charts Company.
- The Coast is Always Changing / The Night I Lost My Head (2004) 63
- Apply Some Pressure (21/2/2005) 20
- Graffiti (2/5/2005) 15
- Going Missing (18/7/2005) 20
- Apply Some Pressure (re-release) (24/10/2005) 17
- I Want You To Stay (20/2/2006) 21
- Our Velocity (11/2006)
[edit] DVD
- Found on Film (7/6/2006), which comes with a bonus BBC Sessions CD that contains some previously unreleased songs.
[edit] Other
- Their song "Wasteland" appeared on the War Child album Help-a Day in the Life in 2005.
- They were supposed to give away a special piece of vinyl hand-designed by Paul Smith at the T-Mobile Street Gig at London's Vinyl Factory on June 14 2006. Due to delays in designing and producing the vinyl, the 7" has now been mailed out to those who went to the gig, and contains the previous b-side, "A Year of Doubt" - the vinyl is etched with the lyrics to the above song and was received by guests at the gig and their +1s, on 21/07/06, through the post.
- They covered John Lennon's song "Isolation" for a free cd that was compiled of John Lennon cover versions and given away with a British monthly music magazine. This was also featured as a B-side and features on the B-sides album.
- Their song "Apply Some Pressure" has appeared on the Videogames Burnout Revenge, SSX on Tour and SingStar Rocks.
