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British Theatre | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Manchester, England |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 2011–present |
| Members | Mike Vennart Richard "Gambler" Ingram |
| Website | britishtheatre |
British Theatre are an English electronic rock band from Manchester, formed in 2011 by former Oceansize members and current Biffy Clyro touring musicians, Mike Vennart and Richard "Gambler" Ingram.
Vennart and Gambler had been playing together in Oceansize for the full thirteen years of the band's existence. In 2016, Vennart recalled "we got together straight off the back of Oceansize. Often in Oceansize there were disagreements about direction: there was one camp that wanted the band to be strictly ‘heavy’ and another that was up for experimenting. We were both in the latter camp. It was obvious it was gonna happen 'cos we’ve been mates longer than we’ve been mates with anyone else." [1] Consequently, British Theatre was conceived as a departure from Oceansize's approach.
The project was initiated and predominantly shaped by Gambler, with Vennart stressing "this is mainly his world. I'm just having a wee holiday." [2] Gambler drew on his experiences of electronic music, initially from having heard Jean-Michel Jarre's Oxygène album when very young, followed by his own experiments with keyboards and recording, as well as his past work as Oceansize's occasional keyboard player (a role he'd taken over following the departure of original bassist/electronics player Jon Ellis in 2006). Contemporary electronic dance music only began to make an impression on the project circa 2011, [2] with Gambler noting "towards the end of Oceansize’s career my tastes had veered towards more left-field electronic music and sound design." [3]
Gambler: "The original idea for British Theatre was born before Oceansize split up. I started doing this weird solo stuff and I thought I could get Mike to sing over some of it. I came up with the name but not much else. Then when Oceansize split up, I started to concentrate on this." [2] [3]
Vennart: "We got to the point where we'd been writing for about a year, just fiddling about with ideas but we'd finished fucking nothing! I was reading a book about Pavement at the time and how in their early days they'd put out 7" records themselves, which inspired us to kick things into gear. I said to Gambler, 'Fuck it, in two weeks' time, let's put three songs out, just for the hell of it', and that became the first EP." [2]
The duo released an untitled EP on 25 February 2012, exactly one year on from their former band's break-up. [4] Having judged that they "felt OK" [2] about the initial results, British Theatre released a second EP, Dyed in the Wool Ghost, on 20 August 2012 as a digital download and on 12-inch vinyl. Vennart recalls that "those EPs were mainly us just spinning our wheels, getting back on the horse as it were," [2] with Gambler adding "I think the first two EPs were us trying to figure out what worked and what didn't." [3]
Following this, the British Theatre project faltered due to Vennart’s commitments to Biffy Clyro tours (with Gambler also joining the touring band). When the duo picked up on the project again a few years later, there were changes and readjustments prior to the release of the full-length debut album, Mastery in 2016. [5] At the time of release, Vennart commented “when we did return to it, we realised that we didn’t like much of the material any more, so we’ve started all over again and it’s turned into something else again.” [6]
Vennart: "We didn't want to do anything that screams 'rock band goes electro!' We made the decision that I wouldn't play guitar on this; sure there's a little bass guitar on a couple of tracks but there's no real drums, no guitar, even the singing's pretty different to anything I've done before. Gambler wrote a lot of the vocal melodies and he doesn't sing, so he doesn't know how the voice fucking works, so I had to sing these weird lines that didn't really make much sense!" [2]
Regarding the duo’s practical approach, Vennart revealed "in terms of guitar, I tried to use only sounds which sounded nothing like guitar. So there's some stuff buried in Dinosaur thanks to this spluttering, glitchy Dwarfcraft fuzz. Really horrible. There's a lot of POG/synth-y guitar in "Gold Bruise". Actually, Gambler plays quite a bit in "Favour the Brave" and some lap steel in "Mastery". There’s actually very little guitar on the whole record!... Vocally, yes, it was quite challenging. I can sometimes be a little set in my ways; I've got a couple of tricks I'm quite good at in terms of singing. But Gambler... didn't really know about what range I can pull off... So, stuff like "Cross the Swords" and "The Cull" were a little uneasy, but came off great." [1]
Mastery was finally released in April 2016. At around the time of the album, Vennart confessed to Prog magazine “I’ve never done anything like it. It’s very electronic, the singing on it is ridiculous. Some of it’s just completely wrong and it shouldn’t work. I think it’s brilliant.” [6] In an interview with The Independent, he added "we wanted to make it as different as possible to anything that we've done before but I didn't realise quite how different it was going to be. I was worried about that at first, to the point where it put me into some sort of paralysis. I couldn't get anything finished but in hindsight, that was a good thing. If we’d finished these songs and put them out as an album two years ago, it wouldn't be anywhere near as good as what we've got now." [2]
Never intended as a touring band, British Theatre only played a single concert (at the Arctangent Festival in Compton Martin UK, on 22 August 2015, at which they were described by Prog magazine as "ambitious, reaching towards the romantically charged, lush experimentalism of Radiohead." [7] While not formally dissolved, the band has been inactive since 2016, with Vennart and Gambler continuing to work together in the "Vennart" project, both live and in the studio.
Biffy Clyro are a Scottish rock band that formed in Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire, composed of Simon Neil and twin brothers James and Ben Johnston. Currently signed to 14th Floor Records, they have released nine studio albums, and following their first three albums, the band expanded their following significantly in 2007 with the release of their fourth album Puzzle, which peaked at No. 2 on the UK Albums Chart and was awarded a Platinum certification by the BPI.
Oceansize were an English rock band from Manchester, formed in 1998. The band consisted of Mike Vennart, Steve Durose, Richard "Gambler" Ingram, Mark Heron (drums) and Jon Ellis for the majority of its career, with Steve Hodson replacing Ellis on bass guitar in 2006.
On The Turn is the second and final studio album by Irish alternative rock outfit Kerbdog, released on Fontana Records in the UK on 31 March 1997. It was produced by GGGarth who had previously worked with Rage Against the Machine.
"We did one record with a band named Kerbdog, and we started off with about 25 cabinets and amps. It took about two days just to go through 'em all, but we got the best sounds that we have ever gotten. We used old Les Pauls, old Strats and Teles, different strings, different pickups."
GGGarth
Chris Sheldon is an English record producer, particularly of rock music based in London, England. He has produced or mixed records for the Foo Fighters, Garbage, Big Country, Feeder, Therapy?, Biffy Clyro, Oceansize, Pixies and Shed 7. He lives in London, is married and has two daughters.
Simon Alexander Neil is a Scottish singer, guitarist and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist and guitarist for rock band Biffy Clyro. In 2003, Neil formed the side project Marmaduke Duke with JP Reid, releasing two studio album's The Magnificent Duke (2005) and Duke Pandemonium (2009). Another side project fronted by Neil, Empire State Bastard, released their debut studio album Rivers of Heresy in September 2023, reaching number three in Scotland, forty six in the United Kingdom, number three on the UK Rock & Metal Albums Charts and sixty-nine in Germany.
"Folding Stars" is a song by Scottish band Biffy Clyro from their 2007 album, Puzzle. It was released as the third physical single from Puzzle, on 16 July 2007 and reached number 18 on the UK Singles Chart.
Frames is the third studio album by British progressive/alternative rock band Oceansize, released on 1 October 2007 on Superball Music. The album marks the first appearance of bassist Steven Hodson, following the departure of Jon Ellis in 2005.
Only Revolutions is the fifth studio album by Scottish alternative rock band Biffy Clyro, released 9 November 2009 on 14th Floor Records. As with its predecessor, Puzzle, the album was produced by Garth Richardson. Upon release, Only Revolutions was a critical and commercial success. The album entered at No. 8 on the UK Album Chart and was then certified gold by the BPI shortly afterwards. It was certified platinum by the BPI in June 2010 for shipments of 300,000 copies in the UK, making it the band's largest selling album. In September 2010, the album achieved a new peak position of No. 3. It was the 26th biggest selling album of 2010 in the UK with sales of 377,900. It was nominated for the 2010 Mercury Prize, which is awarded annually for the best album in the UK or Ireland, and Rock Sound declared it third in its list of the 75 best albums of 2009.
Amputee EP is the first release by British rock band Oceansize, and it was released in 1999. It features early recordings of the songs Amputee and Saturday Morning Breakfast Show, which were featured on the album Effloresce. The song Heaven Alive was re-recorded for Everyone Into Position, and Ebb was re-recorded as Relapse for the Relapse (EP).
Relapse is an EP by British rock band Oceansize, released in October 2002 on Beggars Banquet Records. It was produced by Tim Smith of the band Cardiacs, and Sel Balamir of the band Amplifier contributed to mixing. Two of the EP's tracks, "Amputee" and "You Wish", were re-recorded in 2003 for Effloresce. An earlier version of "Relapse" appeared as "Ebb" on the Amputee EP.
Home & Minor is an EP by Manchester-based alternative rock band Oceansize, released on 26 October 2009 on Superball Music. The release is limited to 3000 copies. Regarding the EP, vocalist and guitarist Mike Vennart states, "we thought we’d try and make a mini-album of more reserved songs that have something in common with each other. It's our acoustic-like record, only there are no acoustic instruments and it’s not an album!"
Self Preserved While the Bodies Float Up is the fourth and final full-length studio album by the progressive/alternative rock band Oceansize. It was released in September 2010 on Superball Music. It has received near unanimous acclaim from critics.
The Vertigo of Bliss is the second studio album by Scottish rock band Biffy Clyro. Produced with the band by Chris Sheldon, it was released by Beggars Banquet Records on 16 June 2003. The album reached number 48 on the UK Albums Chart, and spawned four singles. A deluxe remastered edition was released in 2012, which featured, in addition to the original 13 album tracks, a number of B-sides from the album's singles.
Revolutions: Live At Wembley is the first full-length live album by Scottish alternative rock band Biffy Clyro, released on 27 June 2011 on 14th Floor Records. The album was recorded live on 4 December 2010 at the Wembley Arena date of their UK tour.
Opposites is the sixth studio album by Scottish alternative rock band Biffy Clyro, which was released on 28 January 2013. A double album, Opposites was originally announced as a pair of albums, The Land at the End of Our Toes and The Sand at the Core of Our Bones, which later became the names of the individual discs of the album. The album features 20 songs across two discs. There is also a single disc version with 14 selected tracks. As of July 2016, the album has sold 260,720 copies in the UK.
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Balance, Not Symmetry is a soundtrack album by Scottish alternative rock band Biffy Clyro to the film of the same name, co-written by the band's frontman Simon Neil. Recorded at AIR Studios in England, Monnow Valley Studio in Wales and ICP Studios in Belgium with co-producer Adam Noble, it was released on 17 May 2019 by Warner Bros. Records. Initially available only for digital download and streaming, the album was also issued as a vinyl record on 26 July 2019.
The Myth of the Happily Ever After is the ninth studio album by Scottish rock band Biffy Clyro, released on 22 October 2021 through 14th Floor and Warner Records. It is said to be the 'sister album' to their 2020 album A Celebration of Endings. It entered the UK album chart at number 4.
Rivers of Heresy is the debut album by British duo Empire State Bastard, consisting of Simon Neil of Biffy Clyro and Mike Vennart of Oceansize, released on 1 September 2023 through Roadrunner Records. The album also includes Dave Lombardo on drums.
Michael James Vennart is an English musician, best known as a guitarist and singer. He is the leader of the eponymous band Vennart, as well as being a member of British Theatre and Empire State Bastard. He is also known as the former frontman of Oceansize, and as a longtime touring guitarist for Biffy Clyro.
