The Servant (band)

Last updated

The Servant
The Servant 20061014 Fnac 01.jpg
Autograph session at Fnac Saint-Lazare (Paris, France)
Background information
Origin London, United Kingdom
Genres Alternative rock, indie rock, indie pop
Years active19982007
Labels Prolifica, Recall Group
Past members Dan Black
Matt Fisher
Chris Burrows
Trevor Sharpe

The Servant was an English alternative band, formed in London in 1998. They are popular in France, Spain, Switzerland as well as other European countries.

Contents

The band received coverage in the NME. [1] French cultural magazine Les Inrockuptibles [2] and posthumously in The Guardian which described the band as having "flirted with international success over their decade-long career before finally splitting in 2007" in a feature on lead singer Dan Black, by then a solo artist. [3]

Black, Fisher and Sharpe were originally guitarist, bassist, and drummer in Minty, the former band of the late Leigh Bowery. Minty were involved in the Romo scene in 1995-1997; Sharpe also played drums for another Romo band, Plastic Fantastic.

They produced two EPs and two albums between 1999 and 2006.

The band split up in 2007. A compilation album was released in 2014.

History

Their first introduction to an American audience was in the trailer of the film Sin City with the instrumental version of their song "Cells". This version of "Cells" is not on the Sin City soundtrack, but it can be downloaded via their website ("Cells" was also used in the film The Transporter and Transporter 2 , along with their song, "Body"). Since the Sin City trailers, there has been significant U.S. interest in their records and demands for live concerts.

Before achieving commercial success in 2004 with their self-titled album, released by Prolifica Records in the UK and by Recall Group in France, The Servant released two EPs: Mathematics in 1999 and With the Invisible in 2000.

The band released their fourth album entitled How To Destroy A Relationship in 2006.

On 26 November 2007, the band announced on their blog at MySpace that they were splitting up "to move on to pastures new".

On 8 September 2014, to mark the 10 years since the release of their first album, The Servant released a 'Best Of' compilation, called "Collection", for digital download world-wide. The compilation album features previously unreleased tracks, such as "Away". The single "Away", recorded with producer Jim Lowe (Stereophonics, The Charlatans) was released on 23 June 2014.

Members

Dan Black

Dan Black was the lead singer for the band; he also played guitar and wrote many of the band's songs. He is also known as a guest vocalist for the Italian group Planet Funk. Black has since begun a solo career releasing Billboard single Symphonies and touring across the United States.

Discography

Studio albums

Extended Plays

Singles

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Beta Band</span> Scottish musical group

The Beta Band were a Scottish musical group formed in 1996. Their style was described as being a blend of folk, psychedelia, electronica, post-rock and trip hop, often involving stylistic experimentation and occasional humour. They were praised by members of both Radiohead and Oasis, the former of which chose them to open for their concerts in 2001. The band's music was featured in High Fidelity and It's All Gone Pete Tong.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thousand Yard Stare (band)</span>

Thousand Yard Stare are an English band from Slough, Berkshire, England, active during the early 1990s, prior to the Britpop explosion. Supporting popular bands on the indie circuit such as James and Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine, the band also released several EPs. Reformed in 2015, the band played a sold-out show at London's Borderline on 6 June, at the Nottingham Rock City Wake-Up Indie Alldayer on 17 October 2015, and at the Shiiine On Weekender festival at Butlins Minehead on 6 November 2015. More dates were scheduled for 2016 and they released full-length record in 2020 and 2022.

Romantic Modernism, more commonly known as Romo, was a musical and nightclubbing movement, of glam/style pop lineage, in the UK circa 1995–1997, centred on the twin homes of Camden-based clubnight Club Skinny and its West End clone Arcadia, as well as concerts by the chief associated bands.

Sheep on Drugs are a British techno/industrial music group, formed by Duncan X (vocals) and Lee Fraser (guitar/keyboards), and currently composed of Fraser and Johnny Borden (vocals/keyboards).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dan Black</span> British singer-songwriter

Daniel Emmett Black is an English singer-songwriter and vocalist. He was a member of alternative rock band the Servant, before their split in 2007. He is also a vocalist for the Italian British group Planet Funk. After releasing his breakthrough song "HYPNTZ", he signed to The:Hours, releasing his first two singles – "Alone" and "Yours" – in 2008. The following year, he released his most commercially successful single to date, "Symphonies".

Gravenhurst was the musical pseudonym of the English singer-songwriter, record producer, multi-instrumentalist and journalist Nicholas John Talbot. Talbot, from Bristol, England, signed to Warp Records. He died aged 37. His cause of death is undisclosed.

Mütiilation is a French black metal project, traditionally known as a group, but later slimmed to a solo act that consisted solely of founder William "Meyhna'ch" Roussel who maintained activity under the name until its closing in 2017. He later reactivated the band as of March 2024. Mütiilation has released six full-length albums and appeared on several EPs and compilations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paint It Black (band)</span> American hardcore punk band

Paint It Black is a Philadelphia-based modern hardcore punk band. Their music is often described as melodic hardcore, which is characterized by fast tempos, catchy melodies, and emotionally charged singing and shouting. They have released three full-length albums, CVA, Paradiseand New Lexicon on Jade Tree Records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Taake</span> Norwegian black metal band

Taake is a Norwegian black metal band from Bergen, formed in 1993 and originally named Thule. The band's one continuous member is Hoest, who writes all and records most of the music. Taake has released eight full-length albums and several EPs. The band describes itself as "True Norwegian black metal", and Hoest said he wants to "awaken national pride and cultural nostalgia" in Norwegian listeners as well as to remind people "that Hell is right here on Earth and that humans can be demons". All lyrics are in Hoest's native dialect and are printed in Norse runes. Taake is the old spelling of the Norwegian word tåke, meaning "fog".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boy Kill Boy</span> English rock band

Boy Kill Boy were an English rock band based in Leytonstone, East London. The band produced two studio albums and six singles before splitting in 2008. Their highest-charting single was "Suzie", which reached #17 in the UK singles chart in 2006.

The Longcut are an English rock band, formed in 2002 in Manchester.

<i>The Servant</i> (album) 2004 studio album by The Servant

The Servant is the debut album of the London-based alternative band The Servant in 2004, released on the Prolifica Records label. The limited edition contained 15 tracks and totalled an hour in length.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Wombats</span> English indie rock band

The Wombats are an English indie rock band formed in Liverpool in 2003, consisting of Matthew Murphy, Tord Øverland Knudsen, and Dan Haggis. They have sold over 1 million albums worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cities in Dust</span> 1985 single by Siouxsie and the Banshees

"Cities in Dust" is a song by English rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees from their album Tinderbox (1986). It was released on 18 October 1985 as the album's lead single.

Kult ov Azazel is an American black metal band, briefly known as Azazel.

Forgotten Tomb is an Italian metal band from Piacenza. It was founded in 1999 by Ferdinando "Herr Morbid" Marchisio as a one-man black metal project after the disbanding of his previous black metal band Sacrater. The lyrical themes of the band's early albums revolve mostly around depression and suicide, while the recent albums' lyrics deal with negativity and nihilism.

Naer Mataron is a Greek black metal band which draws on imagery from Greek mythology. The band was formed in 1994 after splitting from Nar Mataron, and was soon signed to Black Lotus Records, with whom they released four studio albums. Moving through numerous line-ups, the band has seen influences from other genres of music, including a traditional black metal release and songs featuring elements of melodic black metal and industrial music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ancestral Legacy</span>

Ancestral Legacy is a Norwegian gothic metal-band, started in 1995 as Permafrost.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Esben and the Witch (band)</span> British rock band

Esben and the Witch are a British three piece rock band formed in Brighton in 2008. consisting of Rachel Davies, Thomas Fisher (guitar), and Daniel Copeman. Their name comes from the Danish fairytale, "Esben and the Witch".

<i>C86</i> 1986 compilation album by various artists

C86 is a cassette compilation released by the British music magazine NME in 1986, featuring new bands licensed from British independent record labels of the time. As a term, C86 quickly evolved into shorthand for a guitar-based music genre characterized by jangling guitars and melodic power pop song structures, although other musical styles were represented on the tape. In its time, it became a pejorative term for its associations with so-called "shambling" and underachievement. The C86 scene is now recognized as a pivotal moment for independent music in the UK, as was recognized in the subtitle of the compilation's 2006 CD issue: CD86: 48 Tracks from the Birth of Indie Pop. In 2014, the original compilation was reissued in a 3CD expanded edition from Cherry Red Records; the 2014 box-set came with an 11,500-word book of sleevenotes by one of the tape's original curators, former NME journalist Neil Taylor.

References

  1. NME (12 September 2005). "Mathematics". NME. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  2. "The Servant - lesinrocks.com". 25 February 2004. Archived from the original on 25 February 2004. Retrieved 31 March 2023.
  3. "First sight: Dan Black". the Guardian. 4 September 2008. Retrieved 29 November 2022.