Bombay Bicycle Club
are an indie rock band from Crouch End, London. The band is composed of Jack Steadman (lead vocals, guitar), Jamie MacColl (lead guitar, backing vocals), Ed Nash (bass guitar, keyboards) and Suren de Saram (drums, backing vocals).
The band were asked to play the opening performance of 2006's V Festival after winning Channel 4's "Road to V" competition. Following the release of two EPs and their debut single "Evening/Morning", the band have recorded their debut album, I Had the Blues But I Shook Them Loose
. The album was released on 6 July 2009.
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BOMBAY BICYCLE CLUB TICKETS
EVENT | DATE | AVAILABILITY |
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Bombay Bicycle Club Tickets 4/30 | Apr 30, 2024 Tue, 7:00 PM | | Bombay Bicycle Club Tickets 5/1 | May 01, 2024 Wed, 7:00 PM | | Bombay Bicycle Club Tickets 5/3 | May 03, 2024 Fri, 9:00 PM | | Bombay Bicycle Club Tickets 5/4 | May 04, 2024 Sat, 9:00 PM | | Bombay Bicycle Club Tickets 5/5 | May 05, 2024 Sun, 8:00 PM | |
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History
Beginnings
Steadman, MacColl, and de Saram were 15 when they started playing under the name 'The Canals,' cycling through various aliases until they picked 'Bombay Bicycle Club.' The line up changed regularly until summer 2006, when Nash joined the band. They played gigs at school and at small London venues such as Lark in the Park and Jacksons Lane.
The band were entered into
Virgin Mobile's "Road to V" competition on Channel 4 in 2006.
[1] They were announced as one of two winners of the competition on 16 August 2006, beating competition from fellow
London band - and favourites to win the competition -
The Holloways in the final round of fourteen bands.
[2] Previous participants include
The Young Knives, who were winners of the inaugural competition one year before. They were given the opening slot of the 2006
V Festival, playing on the
Channel 4 Stage in
Chelmsford on 19 August, before opening the
Staffordshire site the following day.
Progression
On 16 May 2007,
NME
published an article naming Bombay Bicycle Club "...the hottest band to come from North London for quite some time".
[3] Bombay Bicycle Club released their debut
EP,
The Boy I Used to Be
, on 12 February 2007. The band released it on their own
independent record label, Mmm... Records.
[4] [5] The EP was produced by
Jim Abbiss at his own personal request, and was recorded and mixed by Ewan Davies at
Lincolnshire's
Chapel Studios. To support the release of the EP they played a headline show at the Dingwalls in Camden as well as supporting fellow "Road to V" winners
The Young Knives across some of their UK Tour.
[6] The band also played the Carling Stage at
Reading and Leeds Festivals in 2007.
The bands second EP,
How We Are
, was released on 22 October 2007, again through Mmm... Records.
The EP was produced by
Jim Abbiss and was recorded and mixed by Richard Wilkinson at Konk Studios. The band headlined their first UK tour
in support of this release and the EP debuted at #2 on the UK Indie Singles Chart 5 November 2007.
[7]
At the beginning of 2008, Bombay Bicycle Club appeared at the third annual
Artrocker Festival,
[8] the Camden Crawl,
[9] and The Great Escape Festival in Brighton.
[10] The band also played the
Shockwaves NME Awards Show at London's
KOKO where they were main support for
The Hold Steady.
[11]
Leaving School
In June 2008, the band officially finished higher secondary school (
University College School) education, which meant that the band could commit full time to music instead of having to juggle being in a band with studies
[12]. The band also headlined the first Club NME in
Paris at La Fleche D'or venue, they were supported by Bitchee Bitchee Ya Ya Ya, with DJ sets coming from
South Central,
Shitdisco and
Vicarious Bliss.
[13]
The band's first single, "Evening/Morning", was released on 4 August 2008 through Young and Lost Club
[14]. The single was produced by Jim Abbiss and was recorded and mixed by Richard Wilkinson at The Garden, London. The band embarked on a 23 date UK tour throughout July and August; this included festival appearances at the 2008
Reading and Leeds Festivals, the 2008
T in the Park Festival,
The Edge Festival in
Edinburgh,
Scotland and the second
Underage Festival.
In September 2008, Bombay Bicycle Club took part in the
Levi's Ones to Watch 5 Night Revue at The Macbeth in London.
[15] The band opened the first night with support from Sky Larkin and an interview and highlights from the show were broadcast on
Channel 4 on 9 October 2008.
Bombay Bicycle Club's debut album was recorded between late October and late November 2008 at Konk Studios in London.
The album was produced by Jim Abbiss. The band also played the Levi's Ones To Watch tour at the end of October, which included dates in Brighton, London, Birmingham, Liverpool, and Glasgow.
At the end of 2008 Bombay Bicycle Club signed a deal with Island Records to release future singles and albums with the record label. All releases will be published through the Mmm...Records/Island Records offprint, the first release being the single "
Always Like This"
[16]. The single was released in April 2009 and reached #97 on the
UK Singles Chart.
[17] The band toured throughout April in support of the release
[18].
Discography
Albums
Release Date
| Name
| Record Label
| Chart position
|
6 July 2009
| I Had the Blues But I Shook Them Loose
| Island Records
| 46
|
Singles
Release Date
| Name
| Album
| Format
| Record Label
| Chart position
|
4 August 2008
| "Evening/Morning"
| I Had the Blues But I Shook Them Loose
|
| Young and Lost Club
| N/A
|
13 April 2009
| "Always Like This"
| I Had the Blues But I Shook Them Loose
|
| Island Records
| 97
|
29 June 2009
| "Dust on the Ground"
| I Had the Blues But I Shook Them Loose
|
| Island Records
| N/A
|
EPs
Release Date
| Name
| Tracklist
| Format
| Record Label
| Chart position
|
12 February 2007
| The Boy I Used to Be
| 01 "The Hill"
02 "Sixteen"
03 "Open House"
04 "Cancel On Me"
|
- Digital Download
- Limited Edition 10"
- CD
| Mmm...Records
| N/A
|
29 October 2007
| How We Are EP
| 01 "How Are You"
02 "Ghost"
03 "Maybe More"
04 "Pedestal"
|
- Digital Download (released 22 October 2007)
- Limited Edition 7"
- CD
| Mmm...Records
| #2 UK Indie Chart
|
References
- Bombay Bicycle Club - Dust On The Ground
- Bombay Bicycle Club - MusicOMH
- [1] NME: Bombay Bicycle Club
- Zunior.com - the little digital music store
- Bombay Bicycle Club
- [1] - Channel 4 Interview with Bombay Bicycle Club
- Bombay Bicycle Club, The Roundhouse, London - Live Reviews, Music Magazine - The Independent
- Artrocker 3rd annual festival 15th-19th Jan | Artrocker
- Camden Crawl Line-Up Is Announced - GIGWISE
- more acts for Great Escape - Pete And The Pirates, Bombay Bicycle Club, and many more
- NME.COM - Shockwaves NME Awards 2008
- MySpace.com - Bombay Bicycle Club - crouch end/highgate/TUFFY P, UK - Indie / Alternative / Rock - www.myspace.com/bombaybicycleclub
- MySpace.com - Club NME Paris - FR - Indie / Electronica / Rock - www.myspace.com/clubnmeparis
- Young and Lost Club
- Levis Ones To Watch
- - MySpace.com Blogs - New single - Bombay Bicycle Club MySpace Blog
- UK Singles Chart info Chartstats.com. Retrieved 1 August 2009.
- - Bombay Bicycle Club announce UK tour | News | NME.COM