The Stone Roses were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1983. One of the pioneering groups of the Madchester movement in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the band's classic and most prominent lineup consisted of vocalist Ian Brown, guitarist John Squire, bassist Mani and drummer Reni.
My Bloody Valentine are an Irish-English rock band formed in Dublin in 1983 and consisting since 1987 of founding members Kevin Shields and Colm Ó Cíosóig, with Bilinda Butcher and Debbie Googe (bass). Their music is characterized by dissonant guitar textures, androgynous vocals, and unorthodox production techniques. They are credited with pioneering the 1990s genre shoegaze.
Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of motor and town, has become a nickname for Detroit, where the label was originally headquartered.
Evanescence is an American rock band formed in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1995 by singer and musician Amy Lee and guitarist Ben Moody. After recording independent EPs as a duo in the late 90s, and a demo CD, Evanescence released their debut studio album, Fallen, on Wind-up Records in 2003. Propelled by the success of hit singles like "Bring Me to Life" and "My Immortal", Fallen sold more than four million copies in the US by January 2004, garnering the band two Grammy Awards out of six nominations. The band released their first live album and concert DVD, Anywhere but Home, in 2004, which sold over one million copies worldwide.
Alan John McGee is a Scottish businessman and music industry executive. He has been a record label owner, musician, manager, and music blogger for The Guardian. He co-founded the independent Creation Records label, running it from 1983 until its closure in 1999.
The Black Keys are an American rock duo formed in Akron, Ohio, in 2001. The group consists of Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney (drums). The duo began as an independent act, recording music in basements and self-producing their records, before they eventually emerged as one of the most popular garage rock artists during a second wave of the genre's revival in the 2000s. The band's raw blues rock sound draws heavily from Auerbach's blues influences, including Junior Kimbrough, R.L. Burnside, Howlin' Wolf, and Robert Johnson.
WTII Records is an independent record label created in 2001 by former Wax Trax! Records employee Bart Pfanenstiel, and David Schock.
Republic Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). Based in New York City, it was founded by Avery Lipman and Monte Lipman as an independent label in 1995, and was acquired by UMG in 2000. Republic was initially an imprint of the Universal/Motown Records Group, and was renamed Universal Republic Records after a reorganization in 2006 before going back to its original name in 2012.
Imogen Jennifer Heap is a British musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. Her work has been considered pioneering in pop and electropop music.
Hitomi Yaida 矢井田瞳 is a Japanese pop/folk rock singer-songwriter and guitarist. She often goes by the nickname Yaiko. Her musical style is often called "heart rock" by her fans. Yaida is an established musical artist in Japan and has also had minor club hits in the United Kingdom.
Bullet for My Valentine, often abbreviated as BFMV, are a Welsh heavy metal band from Bridgend, formed in 1998. The band is currently composed of Matthew Tuck, Michael Paget, Jason Bowld (drums) and Jamie Mathias. Former members include Michael Thomas, Jason James and Nick Crandle; the latter were on bass. They were formed under the name Jeff Killed John and started their music career by covering songs by Metallica and Nirvana. Jeff Killed John recorded six songs which were not released; two of these tracks were reworked later in their career as Bullet for My Valentine. A change of style from that of Jeff Killed John led the band to change their name. In 2002, the band secured a five-album deal with Sony BMG. The band has stated that their music is influenced by classic metal acts such as Metallica, Iron Maiden and Slayer. The band is part of the Cardiff music scene.
Pendulum is an Australian electronic rock band founded in 2002. Pendulum originally formed in the city of Perth, Western Australia, by Rob Swire, Gareth McGrillen and Paul "El Hornet" Harding. The band was later expanded to include members Ben Mount, Peredur ap Gwynedd and KJ Sawka. Members Swire and McGrillen also formed the electro house duo Knife Party. The group is notable for its distinctive sound, mixing electronic music with hard rock and covering a wide range of genres.
The Cribs are a British indie rock band originally from Wakefield, West Yorkshire, that formed in 2001. The band consists of twins Gary and Ryan Jarman and their younger brother Ross Jarman. They were subsequently joined by ex-The Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr who was an official member of the group from 2008 until 2011.
Gossip was an American indie rock band formed in Searcy, Arkansas, originally active from 1999 until 2016. For most of their career, the band consisted of singer Beth Ditto, multi-instrumentalist Brace Paine, and drummer Hannah Blilie. After releasing several recordings, the band broke through with their 2006 studio album, Standing in the Way of Control. A follow-up, Music for Men, was released in 2009. The band played a mix of post-punk revival, indie rock, and dance-rock. Their last album, A Joyful Noise, was released in May 2012.
An independent music scene is a localized independent music-oriented community of bands and their audiences. Local scenes can play a key role in musical history and lead to the development of influential genres; for example, no wave from New York City, Madchester from Manchester, and grunge from Seattle.
Daniel O Kelly, known as Dan Kelly, is an Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist. He has released music as part of Dan Kelly and the Alpha Males.
Amy Lynn Lee is an American singer-songwriter and musician. She is the co-founder, lead vocalist, lead songwriter and keyboardist of the rock band Evanescence. Alongside her contributions with the band, Lee has also participated on other musical projects, including Nightmare Revisited and Muppets: The Green Album, composed the soundtrack to the films War Story (2014) and Indigo Grey: The Passage (2015) with cellist Dave Eggar, and the song "Speak to Me" for the film Voice from the Stone (2017). She has also collaborated with other artists such as Korn, Seether, Bring Me the Horizon, and Lindsey Stirling. A classically trained pianist, Lee possesses a mezzo-soprano vocal range.
MGMT is an American indie rock band formed in 2002 in Middletown, Connecticut. It was founded by singers and multi-instrumentalists Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser. Alongside VanWyngarden and Goldwasser, MGMT's live lineup currently consists of drummer Will Berman, bassist Simon O'Connor, and guitarist and keyboard James Richardson.
LAB Records is an independent record label operating from Manchester, England, and founded by Mark Orr and Nathen McVittie in 2007. The company also has a creative and distribution division, LAB Exposure, as well as a New York-based management company, LAB Partners.
Hurts are an English musical duo formed in Manchester in 2009, consisting of singer Theo Hutchcraft and multi-instrumentalist Adam Anderson. They have released five studio albums: Happiness (2010), Exile (2013), Surrender (2015), Desire (2017) and Faith (2020). Their first two albums both reached the top 10 in several countries.
