Phil Sumner is a cornet, keyboard and guitar player for the Kendal/Brighton-based rock band Sea Power originally from Shrewsbury. Previous bands include Brighton/Stroud-based rock band Actress Hands, and appearances on record with Electric Soft Parade.
He first emerged with Sea Power on their September 2006 tour in which they first performed songs which would appear on their critically acclaimed 3rd album Do you like Rock Music?. He has since become a permanent replacement for previous keyboard player Eamon Hamilton who left to front Brighton-based rock band Brakes. His cornet playing however marks a new sound for the band.
On the release tour for Do You Like Rock Music? in January 2008, Sumner made musical headlines for an attempted stage dive at the Leeds Irish Centre which resulted in him being knocked unconscious and hospitalised. [1] [2] The band carried on performing during the spectacle, while many in the audience were visibly shocked and concerned for Sumner. Despite his injury Sumner performed with the band the very next day in their home town, Kendal. Sumner carried on a running tradition of eccentrically caused injury in the band, with previous incidents on tour including bass player and singer Hamilton breaking his arm after cutting off the branch he was sitting on, while looking for stage decoration. [3]
New Order are an English rock band formed in 1980 by vocalist and guitarist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook, and drummer Stephen Morris. The members regrouped after the disbandment of their previous band Joy Division due to the suicide of lead singer Ian Curtis. They were joined by Gillian Gilbert on keyboards later that year. New Order's integration of post-punk with electronic and dance music made them one of the most acclaimed and influential bands of the 1980s. They were the flagship band for Manchester-based independent record label Factory Records and its nightclub The Haçienda, and they worked in long-term collaboration with graphic designer Peter Saville.
Rush was a Canadian rock band that primarily comprised Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson (guitar) and Neil Peart. The band formed in Toronto in 1968 with Lifeson, drummer John Rutsey, and bass guitarist/vocalist Jeff Jones, whom Lee immediately replaced. After Lee joined, the band went through several line-up changes before arriving at its classic power trio lineup with the addition of Peart in July 1974, who replaced Rutsey four months after the release of their self-titled debut album; this lineup remained intact for the remainder of the band's career.
The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. Within a few months of their first gig, the line-up settled as Sting, Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland, and remained unchanged for the rest of the band's history. The Police became globally popular in the late 1970s and early to mid 1980s. Emerging in the British new wave scene, they played a style of rock influenced by punk, reggae, and jazz.
Richard Christopher Wakeman is an English keyboardist and composer best known as a member of the progressive rock band Yes across five tenures between 1971 and 2004, and for his solo albums released in the 1970s. AllMusic describes Wakeman as a "classically trained keyboardist extraordinaire who plied his trade with Yes and developed his own brand of live spectacular in a solo act."
Kansas is an American rock band that formed in 1973 in Topeka, Kansas, and became popular during the decade initially on album-oriented rock charts and later with hit singles such as "Carry On Wayward Son" and "Dust in the Wind". The band has produced nine gold albums, three multi-platinum albums, one other platinum studio album (Monolith), one platinum live double album, and a million-selling single, "Dust in the Wind". Kansas appeared on the US Billboard charts for over 200 weeks throughout the 1970s and 1980s and played to sold-out arenas and stadiums throughout North America, Europe and Japan. "Carry On Wayward Son" was the second-most-played track on US classic rock radio in 1995 and No. 1 in 1997.
Sea Power, previously known as British Sea Power and initially as British Air Powers, are an English alternative rock band. The group's original lineup consisted of Jan Scott Wilkinson, known as Yan; Martin Noble, known as Noble; and Alison Cotton. By the time the band had begun its recording career, Cotton had departed, and two new members had joined: Neil Hamilton Wilkinson, known as Hamilton, and Matthew Wood, known as Woody. Eamon Hamilton joined the band in autumn 2002. He left in 2006 and was replaced by Phil Sumner, with Abi Fry joining the band in 2008.
The Waterboys are a British-Irish folk rock band formed in London in 1983 by Scottish musician and songwriter Mike Scott. The band's membership, past and present, has been composed mainly of musicians from Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England. Mike Scott has remained the only constant member throughout the band's career. They have explored a number of different styles, but their music is mainly a mix of folk music with rock and roll. They dissolved in 1993 when Scott departed to pursue a solo career. The group reformed in 2000, and continue to release albums and to tour worldwide. Scott emphasises a continuity between the Waterboys and his solo work, saying that "To me there's no difference between Mike Scott and the Waterboys; they both mean the same thing. They mean myself and whoever are my current travelling musical companions."
The Electric Soft Parade are an English psychedelic pop band from Brighton, comprising brothers Alex and Thomas White, the creative core of the band, as well as a number of other musicians with whom they record and perform live, most recently including Andrew Mitchell and Damo Waters, as well as long-standing bass/keyboard player, Matthew Twaites.
Open Season is the second album from the Brighton-based English band, Sea Power, then known as "British Sea Power". It was released on 4 April 2005 to positive reviews. It showcased a more accessible, mainstream sound and reached No. 13 in the UK Albums Chart. Almost all of the songs on the album were recorded with Mads Bjerke, who had previously worked with the band on their 2003 album, The Decline of British Sea Power and also with Primal Scream, Girls Aloud and Spiritualized, and mixed by Bill Price, with the exceptions of "Please Stand Up" and "North Hanging Rock", which were produced and mixed by Graham Sutton and engineered by Phill Brown. "Oh Larsen B" was recorded by George Apsion and Tariq Zaid Al-Nasrawi. Two singles were released from the album, "It Ended on an Oily Stage" and "Please Stand Up".
Philip Cunningham is an English guitarist who is a member of the bands Marion, New Order, Bad Lieutenant, ShadowParty and, more recently in 2020, Sea Fever.
Brakes are an English rock band, formed in 2003 in Brighton. The band consists of vocalist/guitarist Eamon Hamilton, lead guitarist Thomas White, bassist Marc Beatty and drummer Alex White.
Clearlake were an indie rock band, based in Brighton, England. They released three albums between 2001 and 2006. The band has been inactive since 2009.
Eamon Hamilton is a frontman of Brakes and formerly played keyboards for Sea Power.
The Derek Trucks Band was an American blues rock group founded by young slide guitar prodigy Derek Trucks, who began playing guitar and touring with some of blues and rock music's elite when he was just nine years old. After experimenting as an adolescent with musicians he met between tours and recording sessions, Trucks founded The Derek Trucks Band in 1994. With family ties to The Allman Brothers Band, Trucks continued to experiment and play with others, carefully assembling his own band over a period of several years. Led by Trucks and loosely based in his family home in Jacksonville, Florida, the band generally consisted of six members.
The Works Tour was the tenth headlining concert tour by the British rock band Queen to promote their successful 1984 album The Works. During the tour, Queen participated in the Rock in Rio festival in 1985; the concert was released on VHS. The band released a DVD from a concert in Tokyo titled We Are the Champions: Final Live in Japan, but the name of the concert was incorrect as the band performed 2 further concerts after Tokyo in Nagoya and Osaka.
Arkells is a Canadian rock band, formed in Hamilton, Ontario. In 2006, they signed with Dine Alone Records, and have since signed with Universal Records Canada and Last Gang Records. They have released eight albums: Jackson Square (2008), Michigan Left (2011), High Noon (2014), Morning Report (2016), Rally Cry (2018), Blink Once (2021), Blink Twice (2022) and Laundry Pile (2023). The band has been nominated for over 15 Juno Awards; winning Rock Album of the Year for High Noon and Rally Cry, and six times for Group of the Year.
Man Of Aran is a soundtrack album from Brighton-based English indie rock band Sea Power, then known as "British Sea Power". It was released on 18 May 2009 in the UK. The CD album was released with an accompanying DVD of the 1934 film Man of Aran, to which the album serves as a score.
Kendal Calling is a music and arts festival, held annually at Lowther Deer Park in the Lake District, Cumbria in the North West of England. It has grown from a two-day, 900 capacity event in 2006 to a 25,000 capacity 4-day music festival. Kendal Calling has 9 stages and has featured live performances from notable artists such as Blondie, Pendulum, Doves, Dizzee Rascal, James, Mumford & Sons, Calvin Harris and British Sea Power. In 2010 Kendal Calling was awarded the Best Small UK Festival Award at the UK Festival Awards, as voted by the public. Kendal Calling also won the industry award 'Best Small Festival' at the LIVE UK awards 2011. Superstruct Entertainment, the live entertainment platform backed by Providence Equity Partners, owns the festival after it entered definitive agreement for the acquisition of several live music and entertainment festivals from Global Media & Entertainment and Broadwick Live.
Peter Hook and The Light are an English rock band, formed in May 2010 by bassist and vocalist Peter Hook, formerly of the influential post-punk bands Joy Division and New Order. The band also features Hook's son Jack Bates (bass), as well as Andy Poole (keyboards) and Paul Kehoe (drums), who both played with Hook as part of Monaco, one of Hook's previous groups. From the first gigs in May 2010, Nat Wason was the group's guitarist, however in July 2013 he was replaced by David Potts, another former member of Monaco.
Thomas Louis Chapman is a Franco-British musician, producer and songwriter, best known as being the bass guitarist of English rock band New Order. He is also one of the founding members of Anglo-American group ShadowParty and more recently in 2020, Sea Fever.