Faris Badwan | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Faris Adam Derar Badwan |
Born | Bexley, Kent, England | 21 September 1986
Origin | Leamington Spa/Rugby, England |
Genres | Neo-psychedelia, post-punk revival, shoegazing, garage rock revival, alternative rock, classical |
Occupation(s) | Musician, vocalist, artist |
Instrument(s) | Vocals, guitar, keyboards |
Years active | 2005–present |
Labels | Loog Stolen Transmission Polydor XL Recordings |
Faris Adam Derar Badwan [1] (born 21 September 1986) is an English musician, best known as the lead vocalist of the Horrors and as half of the duo Cat's Eyes. [2]
Born in Bexley, Kent [3] [4] on 21 September 1986 to a Palestinian father and English mother, Badwan grew up in Leamington Spa and Hillmorton, Rugby along with three brothers. [5]
Badwan attended the public school Arnold Lodge School in Leamington Spa before obtaining a scholarship in 1999 to the exclusive public boarding school Rugby School, [6] where he met future Horrors bassist and synthesiser player Tom Cowan, also known as Tom Furse. [7] [8] When Badwan was 12 he became friends with future music producer Sophie. [9] Continuing his education, Badwan moved to London to study illustration at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in 2004, eventually deferring from his studies to concentrate on his musical career with the band. [10]
Badwan is best known as vocalist for the Horrors, an alternative rock band formed in Southend-on-Sea in 2005. Their debut album, Strange House , was released in 2007. Badwan became notorious for his onstage activities, which have featured violence, the use of black paint to mark audience members, scaling anything available and using items found in the stage area to antagonise the audience. [11] Badwan and his band were thrown out of venue Great Scott in Boston in 2007 after he accidentally smashed a ceramic bust of Elvis Presley on stage. [12]
Prior to forming the Horrors, Faris took part in pseudo-punk band the Rotters, named after the novel The Rotters' Club by Jonathan Coe. [13]
Faris released a one-off single under the pseudonym of Lumina, teaming up with ex-Ipso Facto member Cherish Kaya to record a cover of the Black Lips song "I'll Be With You". [14] This recording appeared as a B-side on the Black Lips single "Drugs". [14]
Faris appeared on the TV show Soccer AM , scoring in the spot kick challenge. He talked about his love of football, confirming that he is a Blackburn Rovers supporter.
In early 2015, Faris and his brother Tarik Badwan (lead singer of Loom), [15] announced that they would be launching RAFT Records, in partnership with Vinyl Factory. They collaborated with designer Marc Donaldson to create the label's aesthetic. [16] The first release was a four-track double 7-inch EP featuring Skinny Girl Diet, Niqab, Puffer and Jet Black.
On September 21, 2020, American hyperpop artist Dorian Electra announced their project, My Agenda , with Badwan appearing as a featured artist on the track “Iron Fist”. The album was released on October 16, 2020. [17]
In 2011, Faris collaborated with Canadian opera singer Rachel Zeffira under the moniker Cat's Eyes, releasing the Broken Glass EP and a self-titled full-length album.
In February 2015, Cat's Eyes released the soundtrack for Peter Strickland's film The Duke of Burgundy . [18]
In 2016 Badwan produced "Stained", the debut single by acclaimed London-based band, HMLTD.
In February 2017, Hercules & Love Affair released the single "Controller", featuring Badwan on vocals. [19]
In 2018, the Norwich-based duo Let's Eat Grandma released their second album, "I'm All Ears", featuring two songs co-written and produced by Badwan and Sophie, "Hot Pink" and "It's Not Just Me". [20] The LP went on to win Album of the Year at the Q Awards, where Badwan presented the band with their award. [21]
Badwan's illustrations have also earned admiration; his artwork has been featured on releases by the Horrors, the Charlatans and Hatcham Social, [22] and in Vice magazine.
His "Drawing a Straight Number Nine" exhibition in London featured a drawing series of 100 new works by the frontman. [23] Due to its popularity, it was then taken to Milan, Italy. [22]
In September 2021, Badwan's new exhibition, "Call and Response", opened at the Masterpiece Gallery in Dubai. [24] A collection of paintings inspired by phone conversations during the pandemic, Badwan "utilised each call to document and decipher the unintentional interpretations of conversation". In an interview with Emirati publication The National, Badwan explained, “I’ve always been interested in the looseness and natural feeling of the drawings you make when you’re on the phone – when your mind is completely clear and you are having a conversation, meanwhile your hand is engaged in some parallel dialogue.” [25]
Black Devil, or Black Devil Disco Club, is an electronic disco music project by Bernard Fevre, a French musician who also released synthesizer compositions on library music albums under his own name and under the alias Milpatte.
The Rotters' Club is a 2001 novel by British author Jonathan Coe. It is set in Birmingham during the 1970s, and inspired by the author's experiences at King Edward's School, Birmingham. The title is taken from the album The Rotters' Club by experimental rock band Hatfield and the North. The book was followed by two sequels.
The Black Angels are an American psychedelic rock band from Austin, Texas. Formed in May 2004, they took their name from the Velvet Underground's "The Black Angel's Death Song." They have released six studio albums and one compilation album.
The Horrors are an English rock band formed in Southend-on-Sea in 2005 by lead vocalist Faris Badwan, guitarist Joshua Hayward, keyboardist and synthesizer player Tom Furse, bassist Rhys Webb, and drummer and percussionist Joe Spurgeon. Their music has been classified as garage rock, garage punk, gothic rock, shoegaze and post-punk revival.
"Count in Fives" is a song by English rock band the Horrors, released in October 2006 by Loog Records as a single from their debut album, Strange House.
Hercules and Love Affair is a dance music project created by American DJ, singer, composer, musician and producer Andy Butler in 2004. Consisting of a rotating cast of performers and musicians, the band work within the genres of house music, disco, techno and nu-disco.
Hatcham Social are an English indie pop band. The group first met and formed in New Cross, London in 2006 and have since released a string of singles on indie labels, followed by three studio albums. With the debut album, they made headway in the mainstream media with The Guardian describing them as "irrestistible" and Tim Burgess calling them "a wonderful pop group with the world's coolest drummer."
"Sea Within a Sea" is a song by English rock band the Horrors, released on 17 March 2009 by XL Recordings as a single from their second studio album, Primary Colours.
You Dig the Tunnel, I'll Hide the Soil is the debut album by Hatcham Social, released on 16 March 2009 on Fierce Panda Records in the UK and TBD Records in the US.
HTRK is an Australian band formed in 2003. The band is currently a duo of vocalist Jonnine Standish and guitarist Nigel Yang; bassist Sean Stewart was a member until his death in 2010.
Ou Est Le Swimming Pool was an English synthpop group from Camden, London, made up of Caan Capan, Charles Haddon, and Joe Hutchinson.
Rachel Zeffira is a Canadian soprano, composer and multi-instrumentalist, currently based in London, England. She is also one half of the duo Cat's Eyes, the other being Faris Badwan of the Horrors.
Cat's Eyes are an alternative pop duo formed in early 2011 by vocalist Faris Badwan and Italian-Canadian soprano, composer and multi-instrumentalist Rachel Zeffira.
Broken Glass is an EP released by alternative pop duo Cat's Eyes in 2011 on the Polydor record label as a download and two limited edition 7" singles in a gatefold sleeve.
Skying is the third studio album by British band The Horrors. The album was released on 11 July 2011 in the UK and on 9 August 2011 in the USA on XL Recordings.
Cat's Eyes is the self-titled debut album by London-based alternative pop duo Cat's Eyes, released on April 11, 2011 on the Polydor record label.
Skinny Girl Diet is a British political punk band, often described as riot grrrl, formed in London, England. The group consists of singer, songwriter and guitarist Delilah Holliday and drummer Ursula Holliday.
Treasure House is the second album by London-based alternative rock duo Cat's Eyes, released on 3 June 2016 on the Kobalt Label Services record label.
V is the fifth studio album by the English rock band the Horrors, released on 22 September 2017 by Wolf Tone and Caroline International.
The Duke of Burgundy (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the soundtrack to the 2014 film of the same name directed by Peter Strickland. Featuring the original music composed by the alternative pop duo Cat's Eyes, in their maiden film scoring debut, the album was released by RAF Records and Caroline Music Distribution on 16 February 2015, four days before the film's release. The music received critical acclaim and has been assessed as one of the best film scores of 2015.
Marc Donaldson designed RAFT's label aesthetic