Formation & Signing

Flightside were a UK-based lo-fi post-grunge

Post-grunge

Post-grunge is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged in the mid-1990s as a derivative of grunge, using the sounds and aesthetic of grunge, but with a more commercially acceptable tone...

 band formed in Uxbridge, England in 1992. The line up consisted of Sarah Eaglesfield (bass/vocals), Paul Cormack (guitar) and ex-Velveto drummer Mark Parton. Although Cormack and Eaglesfield had previously known each other in Birmingham, the three came together as a band whilst working on the 'flightside' (the area past the security checks) at Heathrow Airport.

Eaglesfield used her own publication Waxstreet Dive to raise awareness of the band and publicise their initial gigs. Showing influences such as The Birthday Party

The Birthday Party (band)

The Birthday Party were an Australian rock band, active from 1973 to 1983.Despite being championed by John Peel, The Birthday Party found little commercial success during their career...

, Crime and the City Solution

Crime and the City Solution

Crime and the City Solution was a rock music band formed by Australian singer and songwriter Simon Bonney.They had four distinct line-ups: Sydney in 1977–78, Melbourne in 1979, and two groupings in Berlin from 1985–1990. The only common member in all four line-ups was Bonney.Other members included:...

 and Einstürzende Neubauten

Einstürzende Neubauten

Einstürzende Neubauten is a German post-industrial band, originally from West Berlin, formed in 1980. The group currently comprises Blixa Bargeld , Alexander Hacke , N.U...

 their live shows soon received regular coverage in Kerrang!

Kerrang!

Kerrang! is a UK-based magazine devoted to rock music published by Bauer Media Group. It was first published on June 6, 1981 as a one-off supplement in the Sounds newspaper...

, Melody Maker

Melody Maker

Melody Maker, published in the United Kingdom, was, according to its publisher IPC Media, the world's oldest weekly music newspaper. It was founded in 1926 as a magazine targeted at musicians; in 2000 it was merged into "long-standing rival" New Musical Express.-1950s–1960s:Originally the Melody...

and NME

NME

The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...

. They won the award for Best Student Band in the 1992 UK University Unsigned Awards, which lead to them being signed by Bang Boom Krash.

Debut EP & European Tour

Their first EP, Circles, was released within 2 months of the signing, and received a great deal of airplay in rotation on the UK Student Radio Network due to band members being heavily involved in the UK Student Radio Association. BBC Radio 1

BBC Radio 1

BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...

 and stations in the Capital Radio Group also picked up on the release, and the increased exposure for the band led to a well-received European tour covering Germany, France, Italy, Austria and Denmark.

Digital Distrubition & Second EP

Flightside were most notable for their early adoption and use of digital media in promoting the band and distributing their music. In 1993 they became one of the first bands to make their music freely available online, advertising on Usenet newsgroups and using their student logins to establish an undercover website on Brunel University

Brunel University

Brunel University is a public research university located in Uxbridge, London, United Kingdom. The university is named after the Victorian engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel....

's academic web servers, long before webspace was freely available for home users. The URL was displayed on the cover of their second EP, M.C.K. (Middle Class Kid), which was released in 1994.

The band split in 1995 to concentrate on their final year studies.