The Maccabees

Initially formed of Orlando Weeks (guitar/vocals), Hugo and Felix White (guitars/backing vocals), Rupert Jarvis (bass) and Robert Dylan Thomas (drums), the band released their debut single, "X-Ray," on Promise Records, which caught the attention of XFM-Radio, gaining substantial airplay. This led to The Maccabees being chosen as the support slot for an Arctic Monkeys tour. The Maccabees moved to Fierce Panda Records to release their second single, "Latchmere," which was to be a success, bolstered by the support of Radio 1 DJ Steve Lamacq. The accompanying video became popular on YouTube and also received significant airplay on MTV2.

The band then moved to major label, Fiction Records, to release their debut album, "Colour It In," which came out in May 2007. The album was a success, receiving widespread positive acclaim, charting at number 24. Their first single off the album, "First Love," entered the Top 40 in the UK. Their second, "About Your Dress," also breached the Top 40, peaking at number 33 in the UK charts. They then embarked on a US tour with Bloc Party and performed a sold-out show at the Roundhouse in London, UK.

Thomas left the band in 2008, being replaced by Sam Doyle on drums. In 2009, "Wall of Arms" was released, produced by Arcade Fire's Markus Dravs. The album built on the success of their debut, reaching number 13 in the UK Albums chart, receiving high praise from music critics, with Artrocker magazine naming it joint number one album of the year in 2009, alongside Yeah Yeah Yeah's "It's Blitz."

The band's popularity was displayed by their selection for main stage slots at Reading and Leeds Festival in the UK. After touring in support of their second album, The Maccabees spent two years writing and recording for their third offering, "Given to the Wild," released in 2012, featuring the lead single, "Pelican." The album received a Mercury Award nomination for album of the year.

For their fourth studio album, the band naturally found themselves taking a more introspective approach. Hiding themselves away in an anonymous two-storey building in Elephant & Castle, South London, and focussing on a more stripped-back band dynamic, they later sought an outside perspective in the form of much-admired producer Laurie Latham (Ian Dury & the Blockheads amongst others). The resulting LP Marks to Prove It was released on 31st July 2015 and shot straight to No. 1 in the UK album chart. Following another busy summer of festivals, the band will soon embark on an extensive US tour before returning to the UK in November.

Prior to setting up their own lo-fi, analogue studio, Springtime Studios, as a recording outlet for the band, The Cribs had debuted at a family party in the late ’80s, when all the brothers were younger than 10. Growing up on the same diet of the Beatles, Sex Pistols and the Smiths, the trio became finely tuned with one another and recorded well-received demo. The demo caused a stir and along with successful performances at the likes of Leeds’ Brudenell Social Club and the Metro in London, the band signed with indie-label Wichita Recordings in 2003.

The band re-recorded a number of the songs on their demo, working with avant-garde musician Bobby Conn and music engineer Ed Deegan. It wasn’t long before the Cribs became highly revered by music publications, notably NME, and their self-titled debut, recorded in seven days, perked the ears of many in the industry. The album led to an extensive period of touring, including significant slots at the festivals Reading and Leeds and T in the Park, which garnered the band an intensely devoted following.

The Cribs’ next released came in 2005 with the album “The New Fellas”, this time working with Orange Juice singer-songwriter Edwyn Collins. The album, like its predecessor has an unpolished lo-fi approach to it and features the singles “Hey Scenesters” and “Haunted”, the latter of which was recorded on Scarborough beach in the UK. The band’s subsequent release “Men’s Needs, Women’s Needs, Whatever” in 2007, features a who’s who of esteemed collaborations including Alex Kapranos of Franz Ferdinand, Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth, and mixed by Andy Wallace. The single “Men’s Needs”, reached No. 17 on the UK Singles Chart and marked the Cribs’ first breakthrough onto mainstream radio.

By this time the Cribs had become a high-profile indie rock band and were afforded the luxuries of headlining and main stage festival slots. By chance, Gary of the band met Johnny Marr, at the time member of Modest Mouse, who went on to officially join the band for their subsequent release “Ignore the Ignorant” in 2009. On top of appearing on the recording, which became the Cribs’ first Top Ten UK hit, Marr joined the band on tour, including dates in Australia and New Zealand and at Reading and Leeds.

Johnny Marr announced his more than amicable departure from the band in 2011, and the Cribs subsequently released the albums “In the Belly of the Brazen Bull” in 2011 and “Payola” in 2012, the latter of which features the single “Leather Jacket Love Song” released in 2013.