The Destroyers | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Birmingham, England |
| Genres | Folk punk, Gypsy punk |
| Years active | 2006–present |
| Labels | Destruction Records, Transition Records |
| Website | www |
The Destroyers are a 15-strong music collective from Birmingham, England, that plays gypsy and balkan inspired "turbo-folk". [1] The band has released 3 long play albums and regularly plays live gigs and music festivals.
The group was founded by Louis Robinson in 2006 in the area of Speedwell Road, Birmingham, [2] and features a line-up that typically includes c. 13-15 members, comprising brass, string, wind, percussion and gong sections. [3] A number of the band members had studied at the Birmingham Conservatoire. [4] From 2006 to 2012 the poet and musician Paul Murphy, who was known for his signature fez and being the founder of the Songwriter's Cafe in Birmingham, was the lead singer of the group. In 2016 Murphy, aged 66 years, died from cancer. [5]
The band have been called "“doom-pah” folk-punk legends", and their sound compared to that of Bellowhead, Gogol Bordello, and Loose Tubes. [6] [7] [8] The Destroyers are known for their live performances, playing c. 20-40 gigs per year, and have played at a number of festivals including Glastonbury, Womad, Wychwood Festival, and the Cambridge Folk Festival. They were featured on BBC West Midlands in 2010. [1] [3] [9] [10] [11] In 2022 they performed at the opening ceremony for the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. [12]
The Destroyers' first single, "Out of Babel", was written by Murphy and released in 2009. It was called a "riotous celebration of multicultural Birmingham", and one of the songs "least likely to be adopted as an anthem by the BNP". [2] Their similarly named first album, Out of Babel, was released the same year and according to the music website The Line of Best Fit it "positively enlightened the British press with its originality and energy", though in their own review Daniel Offen stated that while the Destroyers are "insane and we love them", the novelty did tend to "wear off". [13] [14]
Their second album, Hole In The Universe was released in 2012 to positive critical reception. Journalist Sid Smith stated that, while an "album probably isn’t the best medium through which to experience their brand of wryly manufactured mayhem", that Paul Murphy's "gravel-voiced insights are both humorous and thought-provoking". [7] [8] [15] The Destroyers' third album, The Massive Gong, has been reported as "critically acclaimed". [12]
"World music" is an English phrase for styles of music from non-English speaking countries, including quasi-traditional, intercultural, and traditional music. World music's broad nature and elasticity as a musical category pose obstacles to a universal definition, but its ethic of interest in the culturally exotic is encapsulated in Roots magazine's description of the genre as "local music from out there".
Muse are an English rock band from Teignmouth, Devon, formed in 1994. The band consists of Matt Bellamy, Chris Wolstenholme, and Dominic Howard.
Julian Lloyd Webber is a British solo cellist, conductor and broadcaster, a former principal of Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and the founder of the In Harmony music education programme.
Joan Anita Barbara Armatrading is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist. Her first major commercial success came with her third and fourth albums, Joan Armatrading (1976) and Show Some Emotion (1977), and she continues to play live and record studio albums. A three-time Grammy Award nominee, Armatrading has also been nominated twice for BRIT Awards as Best Female Artist. She received an Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Contemporary Song Collection in 1996.
Cerys Elizabeth Matthews is a Welsh singer, songwriter, author, and broadcaster. She was a founding member of Welsh rock band Catatonia and a leading figure in the "Cool Cymru" movement of the late 1990s.
Róisín Marie Murphy is an Irish singer, songwriter and record producer who first became known in the 1990s as one half of the pop duo Moloko alongside the English musician Mark Brydon. After the breakup of Moloko, Murphy embarked on a solo career and released her debut solo album Ruby Blue (2005), which she wrote and produced with the experimental musician Matthew Herbert, to critical praise. Her second solo album Overpowered was released in 2007.
"Spider" John Koerner was an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He was best known as a guitarist and vocalist in the blues trio Koerner, Ray & Glover, with Dave Ray and Tony Glover. He also made albums as a solo performer and with Willie Murphy, and was an important mentor to the young Bob Dylan.
Errollyn Wallen is a Belize-born British composer and musician, who moved as a child with her family to London, England.
The Outcast Band are a folk-rock band from Stroud, Gloucestershire. The band have played over 500 shows to audiences from London to Berlin, at festivals including Glastonbury, Guilfest, Wychwood, Trowbridge, The Acoustic Festival of Britain, and Heineken Big Tops, as well as a 52 date UK university tour and a number of European festivals.
Julian Argüelles is an English jazz saxophonist.
TG Collective are an eclectic British-based ensemble, evolving from the successful acoustic guitar trio, Trio Gitano, in 2006. The TG Collective are based in Birmingham, England. Their sound draws on many influences, in particular Flamenco, Gypsy Jazz, Jazz and contemporary Classical music, with interchanging shapes and sizes of ensemble within a performance. The group is centered on two guitarists, set alongside a core of double bass, flute and violin and percussion, whilst also featuring flamenco dance in some performances.
Mumford & Sons are a British folk rock band formed in London in 2007. The band consists of Marcus Mumford, Ted Dwane, and Ben Lovett.
Julian Smith is an English saxophonist and music teacher from Birmingham, England. He is also known by his stage name Joolz Gianni. He has made guest appearances alongside artists such as Tony Hadley, Gwen Dickey, Hamish Stuart and Steve Ferrone, and has performed on national television together with Chris Rea, M People, and Dina Carroll. In 2003, he released a solo album, Chilled 2 the Sax, which features Acker Bilk, Dina Carroll, and Ola Onabule. Smith became better known after appearing on the third series of Britain's Got Talent in 2009 and finished in third place behind singer Susan Boyle and winning dance troupe Diversity.
Julian H. Siegel is a British jazz saxophone and clarinet player, and a composer and arranger, described by MOJO Magazine as "One of the UK's most creative saxophonists"
The Arcadian Kicks were an indie rock band from Kinver in South Staffordshire, who formed in 2006. They have described their sound as "Spectoresque, Fleetwood Mac, Led Zeppelin... a bit of light shoegaze and Yeah Yeah Yeahs mixed up". They finished recording their debut album, Making Lovers, in 2010.
Di Xiao is a classical piano soloist originally from China, named in the top 10 up and coming Chinese pianists by International Piano Magazine in 2009. Di Xiao is currently based in the UK.
Babel is the second studio album by British folk rock band Mumford & Sons. As with Sigh No More, the album was produced by Markus Dravs. The vinyl LP version of the record was pressed by United Record Pressing in Nashville, Tennessee. It was released on 21 September 2012 in Ireland, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Norway, Australia and New Zealand. It was released on 24 September 2012 in the United Kingdom, Scandinavia, Spain, Italy, Eastern Europe, South America, and on 25 September 2012 in the United States and Canada.
Roving Crows are a four-piece Irish folk rock band, based in Worcestershire, England. Since forming in 2009, they have released three albums and received a number of awards.
Erica Nockalls is an English violinist, vocalist, songwriter, and visual artist. She is best known as the violinist in The Wonder Stuff, one-half of acoustic duo Miles Hunt & Erica Nockalls, and as a live fiddle player for The Proclaimers. Nockalls is also the lead vocalist, violinist, and guitarist in her self-titled art-rock band.
Martin Speake is a British saxophonist. He teaches at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in Greenwich, at the Royal Academy of Music and at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Speake has recorded eighteen albums as leader, including Change Of Heart (2006) with Paul Motian, Bobo Stenson and Mick Hutton.
Most of The Destroyers band studied at Birmingham Conservatoire and have since built up a large following for their infectious, genre-busting music they call MegaFolk.
| International | |
|---|---|
| Artists | |
