Chapterhouse

Last updated

Chapterhouse
Chapterhouse press kit photo.jpg
Chapterhouse c. 1991
Background information
Origin Reading, England
Genres Shoegazing, alternative rock, dream pop
Years active1987–1994, 2008–2010
Labels Dedicated Records, Cherry Red
Associated acts Mojave 3, Slowdive, Cuba, Tunng, Biocom, Inner Sleeve, The Bikinis
MembersAndrew Sherriff
Ashley Bates
Russell Barrett
Stephen Patman
Simon Rowe
Past membersSteve Wren
Jon Curtis

Chapterhouse were a British shoegazing/alternative rock band from Reading, Berkshire, England. [1] Formed in 1987 by Andrew Sherriff and Stephen Patman, the band began performing alongside Spacemen 3. [1] They released two albums entitled Whirlpool (1991) and Blood Music (1993). After the band split in 1994, Sherriff later formed Biocom. [2] The group temporarily reformed in 2008 after being asked to join Ulrich Schnauss onstage to perform his cover version of their song "Love Forever" at the Truck Festival in Oxfordshire. [3] The band finished the brief reunion with two gigs in London (2009–2010) and tours in North America and Japan in 2010. [4]

Contents

Career

The band comprised Andrew Sherriff (born 16 May 1969, Wokingham, England; guitar/vocals), Stephen Patman (born 8 November 1968, Windsor, Berkshire, England; guitar/vocals), Simon Rowe (born 23 June 1969, Reading, Berkshire; guitar), Jon Curtis (bass) and Ashley Bates (born 2 November 1971, Reading; drums). [1]

Chapterhouse took the unusual step of rehearsing and gigging for well over a year before recording even a demo tape. [1] Initially lumped in with the British acid rock genre, this became modified to shoegazing, despite early sojourns including supporting Spacemen 3. They were deemed to have joined fellow shoegazers such as Lush, Moose, Ride and Slowdive. [1]

Bassist Jon Curtis left early on to study, being replaced by Russell Barrett (born 7 November 1968, Vermont, United States). [1] Chapterhouse signed to the newly formed Dedicated label, releasing a series of singles, including "Pearl", [1] which featured guest vocals by Rachel Goswell of Slowdive and reached No. 67 in the UK Singles Chart. [5]

The band's first album, Whirlpool , released in 1991, [1] has been cited as one of the genre's high points, but failed to capture a wider market despite reaching No. 23 in the UK Albums Chart. [5] In the same year, Chapterhouse also appeared in their home town Reading Festival immediately following Nirvana's performance.

The band's second album Blood Music , stylistically different, was released in 1993. [1] Singles from the album, "She's a Vision" and "We Are the Beautiful", were relatively successful. Some copies of Blood Music included a bonus disc "retranslated" by Global Communication, called Pentamerous Metamorphosis that was withdrawn due to a sampling lawsuit, but later reissued in a slightly altered version.

The band then released no further new material other than a double album, Rownderbowt in 1996, compiling their singles, various B-sides, rarities and unreleased demos which featured Slowdive drummer Simon Scott. Sherriff went on to form Bio.com and Rowe went on to play guitar for Mojave 3. Bates formed Cuba and now plays in the British folktronica band Tunng, and Chapterhouse ceased for almost fifteen years.

The music of Chapterhouse was mostly out of print on CD until March 2006, when Cherry Red Records reissued the album Whirlpool with bonus tracks, and for the first time, lyrics.

The band played a version of "Love Forever" with Ulrich Schnauss on the Barn Stage at the 2008 edition of Truck Festival. In response to requests over the years, Chapterhouse played live at Club AC30's Reverence show at the ICA on 26 November 2009 along with Ulrich Schnauss and Kirsty Hawkshaw. This was preceded on 23 November by a warm up show at the Luminaire in Kilburn. The band also played at The Scala in London on 18 March 2010, and undertook short tours of Japan in April 2010 and North America in May 2010. [6] The North American tour had to be postponed due to the Icelandic ash cloud cancelling flights, stranding Patman in Japan. [7] Chapterhouse rescheduled the North American tour for September and October 2010. [8] No plans were made for any other shows and the band ended the brief reunion in 2010. [4]

Since 1997, Sherriff has been working as a composer/sound designer for an Emmy Award-winning music production company Adelphoi Music. Patman and Bates joined him later in 2001. [9]

Discography

Studio albums

Compilations

EPs

Singles

YearTitlePeakAlbum
UK US Alt
1991"Pearl"677 Whirlpool
1992"Mesmerise"–21Non-album single
1994"We Are the Beautiful"6029 Blood Music

Related Research Articles

Shoegaze is a subgenre of indie and alternative rock that emerged in the United Kingdom in the late 1980s. It is characterized by its ethereal mixture of obscured vocals, guitar distortion and effects, feedback, and overwhelming volume. The term shoegaze was coined by the British music press to describe the stage presence of a wave of neo-psychedelic groups who stood still during live performances in a detached, introspective, non-confrontational state with their heads down. This was because the heavy use of effects pedals meant the performers were often looking down at the readouts on their pedals during concerts.

Spacemen 3

Spacemen 3 were an English alternative rock band, formed in 1982 in Rugby, Warwickshire, by Peter Kember and Jason Pierce, known respectively under their pseudonyms Sonic Boom and J Spaceman. Their music is known for its brand of "minimalistic psychedelia".

Slowdive

Slowdive are an English rock band that formed in Reading, Berkshire in 1989. The band consists of Rachel Goswell on vocals and guitar, Simon Scott on drums, Neil Halstead on vocals and guitar, Nick Chaplin on bass and Christian Savill on guitar. Several other drummers also briefly played with the band, including Adrian Sell, Neil Carter and Ian McCutcheon. Halstead is the band's primary songwriter.

Ulrich Schnauss German musician

Ulrich Schnauss is a German electronic musician and producer based in London, England. In 2014, he became a member of Tangerine Dream.

Televise were an electronic shoegazing band formed by former Slowdive and Lowgold drummer Simon Scott in 2004.

Rachel Goswell

Rachel Ann Goswell is an English singer-songwriter and musician who rose to prominence as vocalist and guitarist of the shoegaze band Slowdive, which formed in 1989. Goswell, along with Neil Halstead, Ian McCutcheon and former Chapterhouse member Simon Rowe became Mojave 3 when Slowdive transitioned to a more country/folk rock style. She released a solo album in 2004, titled Waves Are Universal on 4AD Records.

Longview were a British indie rock band from Manchester, England.

Peter Kember

Peter Kember, also known by his stage name Sonic Boom, is an English singer and record producer. He was a founding member, vocalist, guitarist and keyboardist of alternative rock band Spacemen 3, lasting from 1982 until the band's dissolution in 1991. He is now based in Sintra, Portugal.

<i>Chrome</i> (Catherine Wheel album) 1993 studio album by Catherine Wheel

Chrome is the second studio album by English alternative rock band Catherine Wheel, released on 20 July 1993 by Fontana Records in the United Kingdom and Mercury Records in the United States. It was produced by former Pixies producer Gil Norton.

<i>Blue Skied an Clear</i> 2002 studio album by Various Artists on Morr Music

Blue Skied An' Clear is a two-disc compilation, featuring various artists from Morr Music covering songs from the shoegazer band Slowdive on the first disc and composing songs "inspired" by Slowdive on the second disc. It was released in 2002 by Morr Music, and was the label's 30th release. In addition to serving as a showcase of the Morr Music roster, this release serves as a testament to the resurgence or revival of the shoegazing sound in this particular realm of electronica or IDM.

Manual is the performing name of electronic musician, Jonas Munk Jensen, from Odense, Denmark. He makes music in the style of ambient dream pop and indietronica. His sound tends to contain a mix of software synthesizers, guitars, and various digital signal processing effects. Mixing elements of pop, glitch, and indie music, Manual is compared to artists ranging from IDM artists, such as Boards of Canada, as well as shoegazer groups like Blonde Redhead.

Simon Scott (drummer)

Simon Scott is an English musician, best known as the drummer in Slowdive and formerly of Lowgold and The Charlottes. He also fronted Inner Sleeve/Televise, and has released ambient music as a solo artist.

<i>Whirlpool</i> (Chapterhouse album) 1991 studio album by Chapterhouse

Whirlpool is the debut album by British shoegaze band Chapterhouse. The album was reissued on 6 June 2006, on the label Cherry Red, with seven bonus tracks taken from three EPs released in the same time frame as the album. The Cherry Red reissue also included, for the first time, lyrics to all of the songs. The album spent 3 weeks in the UK Album chart in 1991, peaking at number 23.

Revolver were a London-based guitar band in existence from 1990 until 1994, comprising Mat Flint (guitar/vocals), Hamish Brown (bass) and Nick Dewey (drums). Flint and Dewey had been in school bands together, and when the two moved to London in the autumn of 1990 met Brown who completed the line-up.

<i>Ask Me Tomorrow</i> 1995 studio album by Mojave 3

Ask Me Tomorrow is the debut album by Mojave 3, released by 4AD on 16 October 1995 in the UK and on 16 January 1996 in the US. The album was released roughly eight months after the release of Pygmalion, the third studio album by Mojave 3 founders Neil Halstead, Rachel Goswell, and Ian McCutcheon's previous band Slowdive.

<i>Blood Music</i> (Chapterhouse album) 1993 studio album by Chapterhouse

Blood Music is the second and last studio album by British shoegazing band Chapterhouse. Early copies of this album, as well as North American and Japanese editions, include the bonus remix CD Pentamerous Metamorphosis by Global Communication. Cherry Red re-issued the album in 2008, prefaced by songs from the "Mesmerise" and "We Are The Beautiful" CD singles.

<i>The Best of Chapterhouse</i> 2007 greatest hits album by Chapterhouse

The Best of Chapterhouse is a greatest hits compilation album by English Shoegazing band Chapterhouse released in 2007 on CD. The inner sleeve features a brief history of Chapterhouse written by Michael Heatley.

<i>Sunburst</i> (EP) 1990 EP by Chapterhouse

Sunburst is an EP by English shoegazing band Chapterhouse. It features in the reissue of Chapterhouse's debut album Whirlpool, released in 2006. Sunburst contains a track produced by Robin Guthrie of Cocteau Twins, as well as a cover version of The Beatles' song "Rain".

The Hope Slide is a Canadian band formed in 2008 in Vancouver. The Hope Slide is named after the Hope Slide, a rock slide that occurred early in the morning of January 9, 1965.

The discography of Slowdive, an English alternative rock band, consists of four studio albums, three compilation albums, five extended plays, five singles, four music videos and various compilation releases.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Colin Larkin, ed. (2000). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Nineties Music (First ed.). Virgin Books. pp. 83/4. ISBN   0-7535-0427-8.
  2. ↑ [ dead link ]
  3. ↑ "Biography". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
  4. 1 2 "The Official Chapterhouse Website". Archived from the original on 14 January 2016. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 100. ISBN   1-904994-10-5.
  6. ↑ "TicketWeb - independent music concert tickets and more". Ticketweb.uk. Archived from the original on 2 March 2010. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
  7. ↑ "Chapterhouse Battles Eyjafjallajökull, Postpones North American Tour". Popmatters.com. 4 May 2010. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
  8. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 3 October 2010. Retrieved 7 October 2010.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. ↑ "Story — Adelphoi Music". Adelphoimusic.com. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.