65daysofstatic
(also known by the abbreviations 65dos
, 65days
, or simply 65
) are an instrumental post-rock band from Sheffield, England. The band is composed of Paul Wolinski, Joe Shrewsbury, Rob Jones and Simon Wright. The band has thus far released three albums: The Fall of Math
, One Time for All Time
, and The Destruction of Small Ideas
.
Initially, the band interspersed heavy, progressive, guitar-driven instrumental sections with live drums and off-beat sampled drums akin to those of Aphex Twin, although since their second album they have developed their work to include keyboard parts.
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65DAYSOFSTATIC TICKETS
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History
Formation and Lineup
The band was originally formed in 2001 as a three-piece, consisting of Joe Shrewsbury, Paul Wolinski, and Iain Armstrong. The lineup of the band has changed somewhat since its initial formation with Feedle (Graham Clarke), a fellow member of the
Tefosav collective, joining in March 2003, playing a part in writing the band's first single from
The Fall of Math
, "Retreat! Retreat!" and drummer Rob Jones making the band a five-piece before the departure of Armstrong in May and Feedle in July 2003. By the time of the release of their debut EP
Stumble.Stop.Repeat
in December 2003, Gareth Hughes had been recruited on bass, increasing the band to four members. Gareth left around the time of the release of their debut album
The Fall of Math
. Simon Wright took over on bass duties. Members of other bands, particularly The Mirimar Disaster and
Youthmovies, often join them in their live shows.
Name
In their early days the band was known as 65*daysofstatic, though this version (with asterisk) was never used on any release. The origin of the name is unclear, with the band once stating that they took their name from an unreleased
John Carpenter film called
Stealth Bomber
, starring
Kurt Russell, that they had formed to create the soundtrack to.
[1] However, the lack of any further information regarding the film's existence makes this unlikely. On July 20 2009, the band stated on
BBC Radio 1 that they were named after the last words of
Adolf Hitler. Other theories include that the band took their name from the
CIA's
1954 Guatemalan coup d'état during which the CIA put a white book instrument to use according to which 65 days of disabling the communication systems of a nation while spreading propaganda is enough to overthrow a country,
[2] or, as put forward by
New Statesman
, that the name was derived from
psychological experiments conducted in the 1950s to 1960s, in which it was found that exposure to 65 days of
white noise (or static) would render the listener insane.
[3]
Early years
Much of their early work consists of
remixes and
mash-ups of mainstream pop artists such as
Christina Milian,
Natasha Beddingfield and
Justin Timberlake. One such mash-up,
White Noise Christmas
(a video for which later appeared on
their DVD), featured on the first
Boomselection compilation cd. Some of these were unofficially released on Unreleased/Unreleasable
Volume 1 and
Volume 2 in 2003 and 2005 respectively. The band also wrote their own music, releasing their debut EP,
Stumble.Stop.Repeat
, in December 2003 on their own label, Dustpunk Records.
The Fall of Math
Their debut full-length release was released on 20 September 2004, to considerable critical praise. To promote the album, the band released a single, "
Retreat! Retreat!" in November 2004, and embarked on two tours, firstly around the time of release and then again in January and February 2005. Their second EP,
Hole
, was released in March 2005, with the title-track taken from
The Fall of Math and the band toured again in April and June of that year, the latter tour seeing the band play new material.
One Time For All Time
During the summer of 2005 the band returned to the studio intending to write an EP as a follow-up to
The Fall of Math
. However, the resulting tracks were ultimately released as their second album in October 2005. At the same time the band released a DVD, the third release in the
Unreleased/Unreleasable
series, entitled
Volume 3: The Kids Have Eyes. This DVD was their final release on Dustpunk Records. To promote this album, 65 embarked on another UK tour in October, their fourth of the year, with support again from
YMSS
.
Although Radio Protector was the only track released as a single (see below), a promotional video was also made for "Drove Through Ghosts To Get Here". This video was made by Medlo, their long-time collaborators, and Lord Bunn, an artist responsible for many of their t-shirt designs.
Radio Protector
Radio Protector was the only track from
One Time For All Time
issued as a single. Released on
7" in February 2006, it was limited to 1500 numbered copies, with the first 1000 having a unique
polaroid picture as the artwork. The remaining 500 have a digital copy of the thousandth picture as their artwork. An error in the numbering meant that each record is denoted as being
x of 3000 instead of 1500. The band auctioned off the copy numbered 1/3000 on
eBay, with the proceeds going to
Friends of the Earth. A further UK tour, entitled the "Radio Protector Tour", coincided with this release. This tour was sandwiched between further dates by the band where they supported
Hundred Reasons.
The Destruction of Small Ideas
After touring for most of 2006, 65 returned to the studio in December to record their third LP. Recording was completed shortly before Christmas, with mixing taking place in January 2007.
The Destruction of Small Ideas
, was released on 30 April 2007. The album features contributions by members of The Mirimar Disaster, Digitonal, and
Circle Takes the Square. The track "
Don't Go Down to Sorrow" was released as a single three weeks before this on 9 April,
[4] backed by a new song "Morning in the Knife Quarter" and a remix of "The Major Cities of the World Are Being Destroyed One by One by the Monsters", a version of which appeared as a b-side on the Retreat! Retreat! single. This single was released on 21 March, 2007 in Japan, while the album was released there on 23 April. The video for the single was made by Medlo.
The Distant and Mechanised Glow of Eastern European Dance Parties
An EP, "The Distant and Mechanised Glow of Eastern European Dance Parties", was released on 7 April 2008, containing four new tracks, two being alternate versions of the title track, itself taken from the 2007 album
The Destruction of Small Ideas
.
[5] An
ARG was launched to promote the release, while the band also played their first UK shows for six months.
In 2005, they remixed
Alkaline Trio's single "Burn" from the album
Crimson
. The track appears on one 7" vinyl out of a set of 2. In the same year, the band also remixed "...Spooks the Horse," a track by
Youthmovie Soundtrack Strategies, for inclusion on the reissue of their debut album,
Hurrah! Another Year, Surely This One Will Be Better Than the Last; The Inexorable March of Progress Will Lead Us All to Happiness
.
The band embarked on a short tour of the UK and mainland Europe in support of the EP that April, during the break between
The Cure's European and American tours, in which they are the main support act. In May and June 2008 they supported The Cure on their North American tour (a tour re-arranged from 2007). The band are currently writing their fourth as yet untitled album due for release in 2009.
Live
The band members have repeatedly stated that they enjoy playing live. Towards the end of 2005, in a mailout to subscribers of their newsletter, they said that they were "a little disappointed" only to have played 91 shows in that year. They have received critical acclaim from independent music websites, such as
Drowned in Sound, for their live shows.
In 2006, they played to their biggest crowd yet at that year's
Summer Sonic festival in Japan, alongside such bands as
Metallica,
Lostprophets,
Linkin Park and
Deftones. 2006 also saw their first European tour, playing in Belgium, Holland, Germany, Italy and France. They have performed frequently with live visuals from
Medlo, long time collaborators with the band. They appeared on a UK tour in 2006 and are set to tour with the band again in 2007. Medlo have also produced the majority of their music videos, including
Radio Protector,
Drove Through Ghosts to Get Here and
Don't Go Down to Sorrow.
Having played their first American shows at SXSW in March 2007, they embarked on their first American tour supporting
Fear Before the March of Flames [6] in July and August 2007. Following that was The Destruction Of Small Ideas Tour Part 2, which saw them play venues across Ireland, the UK, and several other European countries.
In May and June 2008, the band toured the US as the supporting act for
The Cure. During this same time period the band also performed as a headliner in smaller venues.
In early 2009, the band announced a series of live dates in the UK to preview new material for the follow up to 'The Destruction of Small Ideas', this was followed by the announcement of the new live album to be released on April 20, 2009, titled "Escape from New York".
In August 2009, 65 played at the
Festival Republic Reading and Leeds festivals.
65kids
Fans of the band are known, chiefly among themselves, as '65kids', although the band have also been known the use the phrase
[7]. The name is also used by a fansite, 65kids.com, which hosts, among other things,
torrents and mp3s of the Unreleasd/Unreleasable series and radio sessions, remixes and mash-ups by the band.
Discography
Albums
- The Fall of Math
(September 2004)
- One Time for All Time
(October 2005)
- The Destruction of Small Ideas
(April 2007) #151 UK
- Escape from New York
(Double disc - Live and DVD) (April 2009)
Singles and EPs
- Stumble.Stop.Repeat.
(EP) (December 2003)
- "Retreat! Retreat!" (November 2004)
- Hole
(EP) (March 2005)
- "Radio Protector" (February 2006)
- "Don't Go Down to Sorrow" (March/April 2007)
- "The Distant and Mechanised Glow of Eastern European Dance Parties" (April 2008)
Unreleased/Unreleasable
- Volume 1: 65's.late.nite.double-a-side.college.cut-up.trailers.for.the.looped.future. (May 2003)
- Volume 2: How I Fucked Off All My Friends (March 2005)
- Volume 3: The Kids Have Eyes (DVD) (October 2005)
B-sides and Rarities
- Volume 1: Then We Take Japan (CD + DVD) (November 2006) (Released in Japan only)
Unofficial
- RMXSCEE (2008) (A collection of remixes by the band) [8]
References
- 65daysofstatic. ''Drowned in Sound''. Retrieved on 4 August 2008.
- 65daysofstatic. Retrieved on 4 August 2008.
- Hancox, Dan. The download. ''New Statesman'', 24 October 2005. Retrieved on 4 August 2008.
- Happy Accidents. 65daysofstatic.com, 8 January 2007. Retrieved on 4 August 2008
- Till the fuel runs dry. 65daysofstatic.com, 1 February 2008. Retrieved on 4 August 2008
- Canadian Tour. marchofflames.com. Retrieved on 4 August 2008
- [1] 65daysofstatic.com/65board. Retrieved on 27 August 2009
- Till the fuel runs dry… » 2008 » August