Echobelly
Encyclopedia
Echobelly were a Britpop
band
, debuting in 1994 with their album
Everyone's Got One
. They were often compared to Blondie
and were influenced by Morrissey
, who himself was a fan
of the group.
The most prominent part of Echobelly's success formula was vocalist Sonya Madan, who was also the group's primary lyricist
. Born in Delhi
, India
, before moving to England
at the age of two, Madan had an unusual background for a pop
star
. Her rigid upbringing made rock music taboo for her as a youngster, and she did not attend her first rock concert until she was in college. In 1990 she met Glenn Johansson, a guitarist from Sweden
who was pursuing a career in music. Johansson had previously edited a Swedish pornographic magazine called Eros, which may have contributed to the band's focus on sexual issues in many of their songs. He and Madan dated for a while, then remained friends after breaking up.
's band. Guitarist Debbie Smith
, formerly of Curve
, came on board in 1994. According to the Epic Records
' website, the group came up with the name Echobelly from the notion of "being hungry for something". With Madan and Johansson serving as songwriters, they recorded
their debut EP
, Bellyache, on the independent Pandemonium label in late 1993.
The favorable response to Bellyache helped Echobelly secure a recording contract
with Rhythm King, which was then part of Epic
. Once on board the label
, the group released the "I Can't Imagine the World Without Me" single
in June 1994. The group then recorded the album Everyone's Got One
, which included the single "Insomniac
" and reached number eight on the UK Albums Chart
.
As their music received more airplay, Echobelly won admiration from other artists as well. Madonna
expressed interest in putting them on her Maverick label, and R.E.M.
requested the group as the opening act for their upcoming tour. The band returned to the studio
in 1995 to create their next album, On
, produced by Shaun Slade and Paul Kolderie, who had also produced Hole
and Radiohead
.
Madan's lyrics
often ventured into the seamy side of life, such as the milieu of prostitution and homelessness addressed in King of the Kerb. "I wanted to challenge myself as a lyricist on a different level on this album," Madan said in Rolling Stone
. "I want people to tell me what they thought the lyrics are about. I'm not a politician. I'm not interested in changing everybody around me. I'm interested in myself."
While many of the songs lamented the state of things, others on the On album celebrated the endless possibilities of the human spirit. In "Great Things", Madan sang "I want to do great things/I don't want to compromise/I want to know what love is/I want to know everything." The album's mostly optimistic feel provides an intriguing contrast with its serious subject matter. As Pareles wrote, "Both music and lyrics examine the tension between order and liberty". Listeners in the UK
responded favourably to the album, driving three singles from the release into the Top 30 of the UK Singles Chart
. Sales of the album rose to over 150,000 in the UK, nearly double that of Everyone's Got One.
Health and legal problems interrupted the success of Echobelly in 1995 and 1996. Madan had a serious thyroid
problem during her world tour that was potentially life-threatening, but was later cured. Bass guitarist James Harris joined after Keyser defected because of personal and artistic differences. The group also had disagreements with Rhythm King after the label moved to Arista. The band chose to stay with Epic. In 1996 Madan also ventured away from the group when she sang on a recording of the club band, Lithium. Smith left the band before the release of Lustra, which was issued in November 1997. A single from the album, "The World is Flat", was released in August of that year.
A four-year hiatus was brought to an end in 2001 when the band returned with the Digit EP and their fourth album, People Are Expensive
, which were released on their own Fry Up label. Two further singles, "Tell Me Why" and "Kali Yuga" (a remix
ed version of the album track) followed.
In 2004 Echobelly released a fifth album - again through their own Fry Up label, Gravity Pulls
.
on 9 July 2009 at MoHo Live, supported by Spyglass.
New material was demoed during this show which turned out to be part of an upcoming album that had already commenced recording which was to be co-produced and mixed by Jono Buchanan. "Silence on the Radio" and "Mind over Matter" were two songs previewed on the producers website. The album was given the name I Seek Identity and was initially recorded under a new band name of "Calm of Zero".
Alex Reeves was brought in to record the drumming and percussion for the album.
Jono Buchanan later reported on 1 December 2009 on his twitter site that he had spoken to "Glenn of Calm of Zero fame" who revealed that the new album was to be released under the band name Echobelly after all, to save potential confusion amongst fans. On 23 January however, Jono Buchanan advised - again, on his twitter page - that the name "Calm of Zero" was to remain after all, making I Seek Identity the new venture's debut album.
Another song, "Molotov", became available for playback on Echobelly's official Myspace page during January.
After Echobelly's second album, Keyser went on to join Dragstripper and was replaced by James Harris. Harris was soon swapped in for Ruth Owen, after their third album, when Debbie Smith left; Smith is now a DJ
on London
's gay scene, and has also played in Snowpony
, a supergroup
containing members of My Bloody Valentine and Stereolab
.
Britpop
Britpop is a subgenre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom. Britpop emerged from the British independent music scene of the early 1990s and was characterised by bands influenced by British guitar pop music of the 1960s and 1970s...
band
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
, debuting in 1994 with their album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
Everyone's Got One
Everyone's Got One
Everyone's Got One is the debut album from English alternative rock band Echobelly. Gaining a favourable response from critics, the album reached number 8 in the UK Albums Chart.-Tracklisting:All songs written by Sonya Madan and Glenn Johansson....
. They were often compared to Blondie
Blondie (band)
Blondie is an American rock band, founded by singer Deborah Harry and guitarist Chris Stein. The band was a pioneer in the early American New Wave and punk scenes of the mid-1970s...
and were influenced by Morrissey
Morrissey
Steven Patrick Morrissey , known as Morrissey, is an English singer and lyricist. He rose to prominence in the 1980s as the lyricist and vocalist of the alternative rock band The Smiths. The band was highly successful in the United Kingdom but broke up in 1987, and Morrissey began a solo career,...
, who himself was a fan
Fan (person)
A Fan, sometimes also called aficionado or supporter, is a person with a liking and enthusiasm for something, such as a band or a sports team. Fans of a particular thing or person constitute its fanbase or fandom...
of the group.
The most prominent part of Echobelly's success formula was vocalist Sonya Madan, who was also the group's primary lyricist
Lyricist
A lyricist is a songwriter who specializes in lyrics. A singer who writes the lyrics to songs is a singer-lyricist. This differentiates from a singer-composer, who composes the song's melody.-Collaboration:...
. Born in Delhi
Delhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, before moving to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
at the age of two, Madan had an unusual background for a pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
star
Celebrity
A celebrity, also referred to as a celeb in popular culture, is a person who has a prominent profile and commands a great degree of public fascination and influence in day-to-day media...
. Her rigid upbringing made rock music taboo for her as a youngster, and she did not attend her first rock concert until she was in college. In 1990 she met Glenn Johansson, a guitarist from Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
who was pursuing a career in music. Johansson had previously edited a Swedish pornographic magazine called Eros, which may have contributed to the band's focus on sexual issues in many of their songs. He and Madan dated for a while, then remained friends after breaking up.
Career
In 1993 Madan and Johansson teamed up with bass guitarist Alex Keyser and drummer Andy Henderson, who had previously played with PJ HarveyPJ Harvey
Polly Jean Harvey is an English musician, singer-songwriter, composer and occasional artist. Primarily known as a vocalist and guitarist, she is also proficient with a wide range of instruments including piano, organ, bass, saxophone, and most recently, the autoharp.Harvey began her career in...
's band. Guitarist Debbie Smith
Debbie Smith (musician)
Debbie Smith is a British guitar and bass player who has been in several bands from the 1990s to the present, including Curve, Echobelly, Nightnurse, Snowpony, Bows, The Nuns , and SPC ECO .Smith was interviewed for the book Never Mind the Bollocks: Women Rewrite Rock by...
, formerly of Curve
Curve (band)
Curve was an English music group formed in 1990 chiefly around the collaboration of singer/songwriter Toni Halliday and bassist/guitarist/programmer Dean Garcia.-History:...
, came on board in 1994. According to the Epic Records
Epic Records
Epic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Though it was originally conceived as a jazz imprint, it has since expanded to represent various genres. L.A...
' website, the group came up with the name Echobelly from the notion of "being hungry for something". With Madan and Johansson serving as songwriters, they recorded
Sound recording and reproduction
Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...
their debut EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
, Bellyache, on the independent Pandemonium label in late 1993.
The favorable response to Bellyache helped Echobelly secure a recording contract
Recording contract
A recording contract is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist , where the artist makes a record for the label to sell and promote...
with Rhythm King, which was then part of Epic
Epic Records
Epic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Though it was originally conceived as a jazz imprint, it has since expanded to represent various genres. L.A...
. Once on board the label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
, the group released the "I Can't Imagine the World Without Me" single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
in June 1994. The group then recorded the album Everyone's Got One
Everyone's Got One
Everyone's Got One is the debut album from English alternative rock band Echobelly. Gaining a favourable response from critics, the album reached number 8 in the UK Albums Chart.-Tracklisting:All songs written by Sonya Madan and Glenn Johansson....
, which included the single "Insomniac
Insomniac (song)
"Insomniac" is a song by the Britpop band Echobelly. It was released as a single in March 1994 and was included on the band's album, Everyone's Got One. The song, written by Sonya Madan and Glenn Johansson, is primarily about drug abuse....
" and reached number eight on the UK Albums Chart
UK Albums Chart
The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...
.
As their music received more airplay, Echobelly won admiration from other artists as well. Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
expressed interest in putting them on her Maverick label, and R.E.M.
R.E.M.
R.E.M. was an American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry. One of the first popular alternative rock bands, R.E.M. gained early attention due to Buck's ringing, arpeggiated guitar style and Stipe's...
requested the group as the opening act for their upcoming tour. The band returned to the studio
Recording studio
A recording studio is a facility for sound recording and mixing. Ideally both the recording and monitoring spaces are specially designed by an acoustician to achieve optimum acoustic properties...
in 1995 to create their next album, On
On (Echobelly album)
On was the second album from English alternative rock band Echobelly. Gaining a favourable response from critics the album reached number 4 in the UK Albums Chart.-Tracklisting:All songs written by Sonya Madan and Glenn Johansson.# "Car Fiction" - 2:31...
, produced by Shaun Slade and Paul Kolderie, who had also produced Hole
Hole (band)
Hole is an American alternative rock band that originally formed in Los Angeles in 1989. The band is fronted by vocalist/songwriter and rhythm guitarist Courtney Love, who co-founded Hole with former songwriter/lead guitarist Eric Erlandson...
and Radiohead
Radiohead
Radiohead are an English rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke , Jonny Greenwood , Ed O'Brien , Colin Greenwood and Phil Selway .Radiohead released their debut single "Creep" in 1992...
.
Madan's lyrics
Lyrics
Lyrics are a set of words that make up a song. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist or lyrist. The meaning of lyrics can either be explicit or implicit. Some lyrics are abstract, almost unintelligible, and, in such cases, their explication emphasizes form, articulation, meter, and symmetry of...
often ventured into the seamy side of life, such as the milieu of prostitution and homelessness addressed in King of the Kerb. "I wanted to challenge myself as a lyricist on a different level on this album," Madan said in Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
. "I want people to tell me what they thought the lyrics are about. I'm not a politician. I'm not interested in changing everybody around me. I'm interested in myself."
While many of the songs lamented the state of things, others on the On album celebrated the endless possibilities of the human spirit. In "Great Things", Madan sang "I want to do great things/I don't want to compromise/I want to know what love is/I want to know everything." The album's mostly optimistic feel provides an intriguing contrast with its serious subject matter. As Pareles wrote, "Both music and lyrics examine the tension between order and liberty". Listeners in the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
responded favourably to the album, driving three singles from the release into the Top 30 of the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
. Sales of the album rose to over 150,000 in the UK, nearly double that of Everyone's Got One.
Health and legal problems interrupted the success of Echobelly in 1995 and 1996. Madan had a serious thyroid
Thyroid
The thyroid gland or simply, the thyroid , in vertebrate anatomy, is one of the largest endocrine glands. The thyroid gland is found in the neck, below the thyroid cartilage...
problem during her world tour that was potentially life-threatening, but was later cured. Bass guitarist James Harris joined after Keyser defected because of personal and artistic differences. The group also had disagreements with Rhythm King after the label moved to Arista. The band chose to stay with Epic. In 1996 Madan also ventured away from the group when she sang on a recording of the club band, Lithium. Smith left the band before the release of Lustra, which was issued in November 1997. A single from the album, "The World is Flat", was released in August of that year.
A four-year hiatus was brought to an end in 2001 when the band returned with the Digit EP and their fourth album, People Are Expensive
People Are Expensive
People Are Expensive is the fourth studio album by English alternative rock band Echobelly.-Tracklisting:All songs written by Sonya Madan and Glenn Johansson.# "Fear of Flying"# "Tell Me Why"# "Down to Earth"# "People Are Expensive"# "Digit"...
, which were released on their own Fry Up label. Two further singles, "Tell Me Why" and "Kali Yuga" (a remix
Remix
A remix is an alternative version of a recorded song, made from an original version. This term is also used for any alterations of media other than song ....
ed version of the album track) followed.
In 2004 Echobelly released a fifth album - again through their own Fry Up label, Gravity Pulls
Gravity Pulls
Gravity Pulls was the fifth and final album by English alternative rock band Echobelly. No singles were released from the record.-Tracklisting:All songs written by Sonya Madan and Glenn Johansson.# "Gravity Pulls"# "To Get Me Thru the Good Times"...
.
2009 acoustic show & future
Madan and Johansson performed an acoustic show featuring brand new songs and older Echobelly songs in ManchesterManchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
on 9 July 2009 at MoHo Live, supported by Spyglass.
New material was demoed during this show which turned out to be part of an upcoming album that had already commenced recording which was to be co-produced and mixed by Jono Buchanan. "Silence on the Radio" and "Mind over Matter" were two songs previewed on the producers website. The album was given the name I Seek Identity and was initially recorded under a new band name of "Calm of Zero".
Alex Reeves was brought in to record the drumming and percussion for the album.
Jono Buchanan later reported on 1 December 2009 on his twitter site that he had spoken to "Glenn of Calm of Zero fame" who revealed that the new album was to be released under the band name Echobelly after all, to save potential confusion amongst fans. On 23 January however, Jono Buchanan advised - again, on his twitter page - that the name "Calm of Zero" was to remain after all, making I Seek Identity the new venture's debut album.
Another song, "Molotov", became available for playback on Echobelly's official Myspace page during January.
Band members
The original line-up consisted of:- Sonya Madan (vocalsHuman voiceThe human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal folds for talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, etc. Its frequency ranges from about 60 to 7000 Hz. The human voice is specifically that part of human sound production in which the vocal folds are the primary...
) - Glenn Johansson (guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
) - Debbie SmithDebbie Smith (musician)Debbie Smith is a British guitar and bass player who has been in several bands from the 1990s to the present, including Curve, Echobelly, Nightnurse, Snowpony, Bows, The Nuns , and SPC ECO .Smith was interviewed for the book Never Mind the Bollocks: Women Rewrite Rock by...
(guitar) - Alex Keyser (bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
) - Andy Henderson (drumDrumThe drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
s)
After Echobelly's second album, Keyser went on to join Dragstripper and was replaced by James Harris. Harris was soon swapped in for Ruth Owen, after their third album, when Debbie Smith left; Smith is now a DJ
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
on London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
's gay scene, and has also played in Snowpony
Snowpony
Snowpony are a British indie rock supergroup initially formed in 1996 by Katharine Gifford and Debbie Googe.-History:Gifford, who at the time was in Moonshake, gave Googe a tape of songs she had been working on before Moonshake went on a US tour. Googe, who then had recently left My Bloody...
, a supergroup
Supergroup (music)
In the late 1960s, the term supergroup was coined to describe "a rock music group whose performers are already famous from having performed individually or in other groups"....
containing members of My Bloody Valentine and Stereolab
Stereolab
Stereolab are an alternative music band formed in 1990 in London, England. The band originally comprised songwriting team Tim Gane and Lætitia Sadier , both of whom remained at the helm across many lineup changes...
.
Albums
- Everyone's Got OneEveryone's Got OneEveryone's Got One is the debut album from English alternative rock band Echobelly. Gaining a favourable response from critics, the album reached number 8 in the UK Albums Chart.-Tracklisting:All songs written by Sonya Madan and Glenn Johansson....
(1994) UKUK Albums ChartThe UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...
#8 - OnOn (Echobelly album)On was the second album from English alternative rock band Echobelly. Gaining a favourable response from critics the album reached number 4 in the UK Albums Chart.-Tracklisting:All songs written by Sonya Madan and Glenn Johansson.# "Car Fiction" - 2:31...
(1995) UK #4 - LustraLustra (album)Lustra was the third album from English alternative rock band Echobelly. The album was delayed due to label difficulties, line-up changes and the health problems of singer Sonya Madan...
(1997) UK #47 - People Are ExpensivePeople Are ExpensivePeople Are Expensive is the fourth studio album by English alternative rock band Echobelly.-Tracklisting:All songs written by Sonya Madan and Glenn Johansson.# "Fear of Flying"# "Tell Me Why"# "Down to Earth"# "People Are Expensive"# "Digit"...
(2001) - Gravity PullsGravity PullsGravity Pulls was the fifth and final album by English alternative rock band Echobelly. No singles were released from the record.-Tracklisting:All songs written by Sonya Madan and Glenn Johansson.# "Gravity Pulls"# "To Get Me Thru the Good Times"...
(2004)
Compilation albums
- I Can't Imagine The World Without Me (2001)
- The Best of Echobelly (2008)
Singles
- "Bellyache" (November 1993)
- "InsomniacInsomniac (song)"Insomniac" is a song by the Britpop band Echobelly. It was released as a single in March 1994 and was included on the band's album, Everyone's Got One. The song, written by Sonya Madan and Glenn Johansson, is primarily about drug abuse....
" (March 1994) UKUK Singles ChartThe UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
#47 - "I Can't Imagine the World Without Me" (June 1994) UK #39
- "Close… But" (October 1994) UK #59
- "Great Things" (August 1995) UK #13
- "King of the Kerb" (October 1995) UK #25
- "Dark Therapy" (February 1996) UK #20
- "The World is Flat" (August 1997) UK #31
- "Here Comes the Big Rush" (October 1997) UK #56
- "Digit" (January 2001)
- "Tell Me Why" (May 2001) UK #111
- "Kali Yuga" (October 2001) UK #175
External links
- Echobelly home page
- Echobelly at Myspace music