Miss Black America (band)
Encyclopedia
Miss Black America (MBA) were a punk
-influenced rock
band based in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England. Its original line-up consisted of Seymour Glass (voice/guitar), Mike Smith (bass) and Neil Baldwin (drums).
night at The Junction in nearby Cambridge
in October 1999. Baldwin and Smith had been playing together for several years, having attended neighbouring schools (Baldwin attended St Benedict's Roman Catholic Upper School in Bury St Edmunds, whilst Smith attended County Upper School
nearby; the two would meet in the music practice rooms of County Upper School during lunch breaks). Glass (also a County Upper School alumnus) had been writing a fanzine entitled Planet Of Sound (after the Pixies song of the same name) alongside local singer-songwriter Greg McDonald
, who at that time was fronting folk
-influenced band The Hip Down; Glass briefly joined The Hip Down on bass guitar in late 2000. During this time, Glass took on the pseudonym
Seymour Glass, after a character from the stories of J.D. Salinger, in order to write for the fanzine with a degree of anonymity, but credited himself by this name on the very first MBA demo (recorded in March 2000 at Fat Music Studios in Southwold
); the name then stuck for the duration of his time in MBA. Following Glass's departure from The Hip Down, McDonald changed the name of his band to The Dawn Parade
.
The four demo tracks recorded at Fat Music Studios (Miss Black America, Strobe and Don't Speak My Mind) were distributed by the band throughout 2000 as the Miss Black America EP. Promo copies of this EP, featuring the edited and full-length versions of the song Miss Black America as well as a "secret" track entitled Leopardprint Lives, were sent to press and radio; the EP was never officially released but the edited version of Miss Black America featured on a 2000 Repeat Records
compilation entitled It Takes A Nation Of Miltons To Hold Us Back, whilst Don't Speak My Mind was released as a 7" single in October 2011 (the other tracks from the EP have not been reissued).
Miss Black America entered the Cambridge Band Competition in early 2000, also held at the Junction, and came runner-up. This led to a slot supporting The Dandy Warhols
, which earned the band a considerable local following. Following an industrial accident in September 2000, which resulted in Glass losing the little finger of his left hand (the digit was successfully sewn back on with partial loss of movement), Glass's school friend Gish was drafted in on guitar. Following success at another band competition (Burysound in Bury St Edmunds) in December 2000, Gish was made a full-time member of the band.
pushed the band on BBC Radio One. Second single Don't Speak My Mind (taken from the 2000 demo "EP") was also championed by Peel and attracted the attention of Bedford
-based Integrity Records
, who signed the band to a one-album deal. Key to the band's increased popularity during this time, in addition to national airplay, was support from many UK music fanzines and music websites, in particular Drowned In Sound
(DiS). Many DiS contributors submitted positive reviews of numerous MBA shows during 2001 and the band's progress was charted via regular news pieces and interviews on DiS.
Debut album God Bless Miss Black America
was recorded at the Magic Garden studio in Wolverhampton
between September 2001 and January 2002 (the recording process was punctuated by live dates, including the inaugural Drowned In Sound
tour with Antihero), with producer Gavin Monaghan at the helm. The first three singles from God Bless (Infinite Chinese Box, Talk Hard and Miss Black America) were well-received by the British Music Press and received moderate airplay in the UK. All three singles fared well on John Peel's Festive Fifty
at the end of 2002, with Talk Hard at #3. 2002 also saw MBA touring almost constantly, often supporting other "buzz bands" including The Libertines
, Parkinsons, Doves and Liars
.
and self-injury); this reportedly led to tensions within the band. The band's live performance received some poor reviews in the music press during this time. When God Bless Miss Black America was finally released in September 2002, it received poor reviews from the NME
and The Fly
; problems with distribution meant that many shops did not stock the album, and sales did not match those expected of such a relatively high-profile release. However, other UK magazines, (including Rock Sound
and Q Magazine) were more positive, and Rolling Stone
writers Michael Krugman and Jason Cohen voted God Bless... their Album of the Year 2002.
In October 2002, following a disastrous tour to promote God Bless Miss Black America (supported by Leeds
-based rockers Parva, later known as The Kaiser Chiefs) and on the eve of a performance at the Eurosonic Festival
in Groningen, NL (at the personal invitation of John Peel) and a UK tour supporting Kinesis
and Reuben
, the band underwent a radical shake-up, replacing all except Glass with Mat Anthony (guitar/voice), Jonny Steele (bass) and Simon Cooper (drums). Mike Smith and Neil Baldwin went on to form a new band fronted by Smith, My Hi-Fi Sister, and were later joined by Gish. Gish joined Bournemouth-based "noise collective" Krayon, releasing solo/band recordings on Dirty Demos, Sound Devastation and Krayon labels; he also joined Tex La Homa
(nom-de-guerre of Bournemouth-based songwriter Matt Shaw, who had produced MBA b-side All I Want Is Out) as live guitarist.
Miss Black America released two singles through Cambridge
-based Repeat Records
in 2003 (Drowning By Numbers and Beautiful Velocity) but these were not widely-promoted or particularly well-received. Further line-up changes came in October 2003, with Jonny Steele replaced by Ryan Banwell on bass. Then, in April 2004, Simon Cooper quit and was swiftly replaced by Simon Chapple, former drummer of Bury St Edmunds-based punk band Chevette
.
.
A first single from the album, Dot Dot Dot, was released through Repeat Records in April 2005 and was declared "Single Of The Month" in Rock Sound magazine. Terminal followed, also on Repeat Records, in May 2005. The album was largely ignored by the mainstream UK music press and radio stations, but eventually outsold the much-hyped God Bless.... The album was re-released (with an expanded CD booklet) by London
-based Ruby Slippers Records in November 2005.
Ongoing problems, both personal and financial, continued to cause instability within the band; in June 2005, Ryan Banwell was sacked as bassist and replaced by the returning Mike Smith. The band toured with additional live guitarist Richard Phillips (from fellow Bury St Edmunds band The Khe Sanh Approach) in October 2005. Then in December 2005 Smith, Simon Chapple and Richard Phillips all left the band. Remaining members Seymour Glass and Mat Anthony were joined by Laura Kidd (bass) and Dan Smart (drums) for a final UK tour in May, June and July 2006, (supported for the most part by We Start Fires
).
After a performance at the Camden Underworld
in support of the charity Liberty
on 31 July 2006, Miss Black America went on hiatus.
, on Saturday 29th March 2008. Posting on the Miss Black America Facebook
page on 26th October 2009, Seymour announced that "there's a possibility of a sort-of 'Best of' cheapy thing for iTunes"; to date there has been no further news on this project. However, on Saturday 9th October 2010, Seymour and Mat reunited a second time to play at set of MBA songs for John Peel
Day at London's Bloomsbury
Bowling Lanes.
Seymour (now going by the name Seymour Patrick), Mike Smith and Neil Baldwin reunited as rock band Ten City Nation in early 2007. Their eponymous debut album was released in May 2008 through Repeat Records
; a second album, At The Still Point, was released to some critical acclaim in August 2009 on Seymour's own imprint, Sturm Und Drang Recordings. Both albums are available to download from the Ten City Nation website. A song from the eponymous debut, TDK 90, was used on the soundtrack for a film by the SuicideGirls
, entitled The Suicide Girls Guide To Living, in late 2010. Former MBA guitarist Richard Phillips joined Ten City Nation (to date, as live guitarist only) in November 2010.
Seymour also released a solo album, Import/Export, under the name Open Mouth, through Repeat Records in May 2007. He has recently contributed guitars to the second album by former The Dawn Parade
frontman Greg McDonald
and occasionally plays bass guitar for country
band The Blazing Zoos, alongside journalist Andrew Mueller
and members of Jesus Jones
. In early 2011, details were announced of a new art rock
project, You Killed Me First, which features Seymour alongside present and former members of art rock bands Popular Workshop and William. Seymour currently presents The Painter's Radio Show, which broadcasts weekly on Shadwell
-based station
Xstream East Radio; the tagline for the show is, "Interesting stuff you might not have heard before".
Gish has continued to create music as a writer, performer and producer. He has been involved in numerous collaborations and installations, and continues to record and release as a solo artist.
Mat Anthony has since been involved in drum & bass
project Baron Greenback and a solo venture under the pseudonym Mat Hudson, as well as playing for Italian singer songwriter Elena. He currently fronts hard rock
band Alita's Curse.
Laura Kidd works as a session musician, filmmaker and photographer and released her debut solo album "Disarm" under the name She Makes War on 1st September 2010. Performing solo on Telecaster, ukulele and loop pedal her shows around the UK have been garnering critical praise and won her a slot at Ladyfest Ten in November alongside MEN, Catherine AD, Viv Albertine
and Mary Epworth
. A European InterRail tour is planned for early 2011 prior to the recording of album #2. It was recently announced that Laura will be supporting Carina Round
on her UK tour in June 2011.
As well as playing with Mike Smith in My Hi-Fi Sister, Neil Baldwin played drums for the Khe Sanh Approach until that band's demise in 2007; he also played bass guitar for three-piece Garage rock
band The Siamese Sluts. The Siamese Sluts recorded an album with MBA co-producer Andy Taylor; CD-R promo copies of the album (some copies of which were entitled Big Tiger whilst others were entitled The Best Of The Siamese Sluts) were circulated in late 2004, but the album has not to date seen an official release.
Simon Cooper went on to form a "crushing metal" band entitled Methods Of Punishment, who have since been renamed A Horse Called War.
Richard Phillips continued playing guitar for The Khe Sanh Approach until that band's demise in 2007, before joining live guitar for East London-based post-punk influenced three-piece Deep Sht alongside fellow Khe Sanh Approach member Tom Watson. In late 2010 he joined former MBA members Seymour Patrick, Neil Baldwin and Mike Smith as live guitarist for Ten City Nation. Richard currently plays in the touring band of singer Kate Jackson
, formerly of The Long Blondes
.
Simon Chapple currently plays drums in Bury St Edmunds-based hip hop
collective Scare The Normals.
Jonny Steele went on to join Bury St Edmunds band Opposite the Hotel until that band split in 2008. He currently runs the Ditchlicker Sound System.
They then reformed in November 2011. Hurrah!
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
-influenced rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band based in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England. Its original line-up consisted of Seymour Glass (voice/guitar), Mike Smith (bass) and Neil Baldwin (drums).
History
The band formed after a chance encounter between Glass and Smith at a drum and bassDrum and bass
Drum and bass is a type of electronic music which emerged in the late 1980s. The genre is characterized by fast breakbeats , with heavy bass and sub-bass lines...
night at The Junction in nearby Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
in October 1999. Baldwin and Smith had been playing together for several years, having attended neighbouring schools (Baldwin attended St Benedict's Roman Catholic Upper School in Bury St Edmunds, whilst Smith attended County Upper School
County Upper School
Bury St Edmunds County Upper School is a 13 to 18 co-educational comprehensive high-performing academy part of the Bury St Edmunds Academy Trust comprising County Upper School, Horringer Court Middle School and Westley Middle School. It is one of three 13-18 schools serving the town of Bury St...
nearby; the two would meet in the music practice rooms of County Upper School during lunch breaks). Glass (also a County Upper School alumnus) had been writing a fanzine entitled Planet Of Sound (after the Pixies song of the same name) alongside local singer-songwriter Greg McDonald
Greg McDonald
Greg McDonald is a British singer-songwriter who announced the forthcoming release of his debut solo album in 2008. He was the frontman of The Dawn Parade, a Bury St Edmunds based British indie band....
, who at that time was fronting folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
-influenced band The Hip Down; Glass briefly joined The Hip Down on bass guitar in late 2000. During this time, Glass took on the pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
Seymour Glass, after a character from the stories of J.D. Salinger, in order to write for the fanzine with a degree of anonymity, but credited himself by this name on the very first MBA demo (recorded in March 2000 at Fat Music Studios in Southwold
Southwold
Southwold is a town on the North Sea coast, in the Waveney district of the English county of Suffolk. It is located on the North Sea coast at the mouth of the River Blyth within the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The town is around south of Lowestoft and north-east...
); the name then stuck for the duration of his time in MBA. Following Glass's departure from The Hip Down, McDonald changed the name of his band to The Dawn Parade
The Dawn Parade
The Dawn Parade were a British rock band from Bury St Edmunds formed in 2000. Greg McDonald was the main songwriter, and also provided vocals and guitar....
.
The four demo tracks recorded at Fat Music Studios (Miss Black America, Strobe and Don't Speak My Mind) were distributed by the band throughout 2000 as the Miss Black America EP. Promo copies of this EP, featuring the edited and full-length versions of the song Miss Black America as well as a "secret" track entitled Leopardprint Lives, were sent to press and radio; the EP was never officially released but the edited version of Miss Black America featured on a 2000 Repeat Records
Repeat Records
Repeat Records is an independent record label, fanzine and music promoter based in Cambridge, UK.R*E*P*E*A*T fanzine was started in 1994 by Cambridge schoolteacher Richard Rose...
compilation entitled It Takes A Nation Of Miltons To Hold Us Back, whilst Don't Speak My Mind was released as a 7" single in October 2011 (the other tracks from the EP have not been reissued).
Miss Black America entered the Cambridge Band Competition in early 2000, also held at the Junction, and came runner-up. This led to a slot supporting The Dandy Warhols
The Dandy Warhols
The Dandy Warhols are an American alternative rock band formed in Portland, Oregon in 1994. The band was founded by singer-guitarist Courtney Taylor-Taylor and guitarist Peter Holmström, with keyboardist Zia McCabe and drummer Eric Hedford later joining. Hedford left in 1998 and was replaced by...
, which earned the band a considerable local following. Following an industrial accident in September 2000, which resulted in Glass losing the little finger of his left hand (the digit was successfully sewn back on with partial loss of movement), Glass's school friend Gish was drafted in on guitar. Following success at another band competition (Burysound in Bury St Edmunds) in December 2000, Gish was made a full-time member of the band.
Early career
MBA's self-financed début single, the Adrenaline Junkie Class-A Mentalist EP, sold out within weeks of release when John PeelJohn Peel
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, OBE , known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey, radio presenter, record producer and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly from 1967 until his death in 2004...
pushed the band on BBC Radio One. Second single Don't Speak My Mind (taken from the 2000 demo "EP") was also championed by Peel and attracted the attention of Bedford
Bedford
Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire, in the East of England. It is a large town and the administrative centre for the wider Borough of Bedford. According to the former Bedfordshire County Council's estimates, the town had a population of 79,190 in mid 2005, with 19,720 in the adjacent town...
-based Integrity Records
Integrity Records
Integrity Records is an independent record label based in Bedford, England. The label was founded in the early 1990s and specialised in discovering new bands in the rock/indie/punk genres....
, who signed the band to a one-album deal. Key to the band's increased popularity during this time, in addition to national airplay, was support from many UK music fanzines and music websites, in particular Drowned In Sound
Drowned in Sound
DrownedinSound.com or DiS is a UK based music webzine financed by artist management company Silentway . The site is an editorially independent music website.-History:...
(DiS). Many DiS contributors submitted positive reviews of numerous MBA shows during 2001 and the band's progress was charted via regular news pieces and interviews on DiS.
Debut album God Bless Miss Black America
God Bless Miss Black America
God Bless Miss Black America is a studio album released on by alternative rock band Miss Black America on Integrity Records. It was Miss Black America's debut album.-Tracklisting:-Production:...
was recorded at the Magic Garden studio in Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. For Eurostat purposes Walsall and Wolverhampton is a NUTS 3 region and is one of five boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "West Midlands" NUTS 2 region...
between September 2001 and January 2002 (the recording process was punctuated by live dates, including the inaugural Drowned In Sound
Drowned in Sound
DrownedinSound.com or DiS is a UK based music webzine financed by artist management company Silentway . The site is an editorially independent music website.-History:...
tour with Antihero), with producer Gavin Monaghan at the helm. The first three singles from God Bless (Infinite Chinese Box, Talk Hard and Miss Black America) were well-received by the British Music Press and received moderate airplay in the UK. All three singles fared well on John Peel's Festive Fifty
Festive Fifty
The Festive Fifty was originally an annual list of the year's fifty best songs compiled at the end of the year and voted for by listeners to John Peel's BBC Radio 1 show...
at the end of 2002, with Talk Hard at #3. 2002 also saw MBA touring almost constantly, often supporting other "buzz bands" including The Libertines
The Libertines
The Libertines were an English rock band, formed in London in 1997 by frontmen Carl Barât and Pete Doherty . The band, centred on the song-writing partnership of Barat and Doherty, also included John Hassall and Gary Powell for most of its recording career...
, Parkinsons, Doves and Liars
Liars (band)
Liars is a three-piece band formed in 2000 consisting of Angus Andrew , Aaron Hemphill , and Julian Gross...
.
2002-2004
Problems set in during a tour of the UK to promote Talk Hard, when constant touring and personal matters external to the band exacerbated Glass's mental health problems (including long-term problems with Bulimia nervosaBulimia nervosa
Bulimia nervosa is an eating disorder characterized by binge eating and purging or consuming a large amount of food in a short amount of time, followed by an attempt to rid oneself of the food consumed, usually by purging and/or by laxative, diuretics or excessive exercise. Bulimia nervosa is...
and self-injury); this reportedly led to tensions within the band. The band's live performance received some poor reviews in the music press during this time. When God Bless Miss Black America was finally released in September 2002, it received poor reviews from the 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...
and The Fly
The Fly (magazine)
The Fly is a free music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom. The magazine is published by the HMV owned MAMA Group.The magazine started as a listings leaflet in Camden, north London, for the Barfly music venue on Chalk Farm Road...
; problems with distribution meant that many shops did not stock the album, and sales did not match those expected of such a relatively high-profile release. However, other UK magazines, (including Rock Sound
Rock Sound
Rock Sound is a British magazine which champions rock music. The magazine aims at being more "underground" and less commercial, whilst also giving coverage to more well known acts.-History:...
and Q Magazine) were more positive, and 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...
writers Michael Krugman and Jason Cohen voted God Bless... their Album of the Year 2002.
In October 2002, following a disastrous tour to promote God Bless Miss Black America (supported by Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
-based rockers Parva, later known as The Kaiser Chiefs) and on the eve of a performance at the Eurosonic Festival
Eurosonic Festival
Eurosonic is Europe’s largest showcase festival and takes place on a yearly basis on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday previous to Noorderslag festival in the dutch city Groningen. Eurosonic is part of The European Music Conference and Showcase Festival Eurosonic Noorderslag. During the festival 250...
in Groningen, NL (at the personal invitation of John Peel) and a UK tour supporting Kinesis
Kinesis (band)
Kinesis were an alternative rock band from Bolton, England. The group formed in September 2000 whilst at school, and split after five years in June 2005. During this time they recorded two full studio albums, a mini album and several singles under three record labels.When Handshakes for Bullets was...
and Reuben
Reuben (band)
Reuben were an English three-piece musical group from Camberley, Surrey. Their music was a fusion of alternative rock and heavy metal, as their songs cover a variety of styles, ranging from heavy and upbeat, such as their 2005 single "Blamethrower" to slower, more melodic songs such as their 2004...
, the band underwent a radical shake-up, replacing all except Glass with Mat Anthony (guitar/voice), Jonny Steele (bass) and Simon Cooper (drums). Mike Smith and Neil Baldwin went on to form a new band fronted by Smith, My Hi-Fi Sister, and were later joined by Gish. Gish joined Bournemouth-based "noise collective" Krayon, releasing solo/band recordings on Dirty Demos, Sound Devastation and Krayon labels; he also joined Tex La Homa
Tex La Homa
Tex La Homa is a Dorset, UK-based post-rock project formed in the year 2000 by Matthew Shaw . The music combines "soft vocals with sort of distortion, surrounded by soft melodies, guitars and a bit of electronics to create almost pop-like modern ballads".-History:Tex La Homa released their first...
(nom-de-guerre of Bournemouth-based songwriter Matt Shaw, who had produced MBA b-side All I Want Is Out) as live guitarist.
Miss Black America released two singles through Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
-based Repeat Records
Repeat Records
Repeat Records is an independent record label, fanzine and music promoter based in Cambridge, UK.R*E*P*E*A*T fanzine was started in 1994 by Cambridge schoolteacher Richard Rose...
in 2003 (Drowning By Numbers and Beautiful Velocity) but these were not widely-promoted or particularly well-received. Further line-up changes came in October 2003, with Jonny Steele replaced by Ryan Banwell on bass. Then, in April 2004, Simon Cooper quit and was swiftly replaced by Simon Chapple, former drummer of Bury St Edmunds-based punk band Chevette
Chevette
Chevette can refer to one of the following models of cars, both based on the GM T platform*Chevrolet Chevette*Vauxhall Chevette...
.
2005-2006
The line up of Glass (guitar/voice), Mat Anthony (guitar/voice), Ryan Banwell (bass) and Simon Chapple (drums) went on to record a second album, Terminal, again at the Magic Garden with Gavin Monaghan once again producing. The album was part-funded by a grant from the Arts Council EnglandArts Council England
Arts Council England was formed in 1994 when the Arts Council of Great Britain was divided into three separate bodies for England, Scotland and Wales. It is a non-departmental public body of the Department of Culture, Media and Sport...
.
A first single from the album, Dot Dot Dot, was released through Repeat Records in April 2005 and was declared "Single Of The Month" in Rock Sound magazine. Terminal followed, also on Repeat Records, in May 2005. The album was largely ignored by the mainstream UK music press and radio stations, but eventually outsold the much-hyped God Bless.... The album was re-released (with an expanded CD booklet) by 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...
-based Ruby Slippers Records in November 2005.
Ongoing problems, both personal and financial, continued to cause instability within the band; in June 2005, Ryan Banwell was sacked as bassist and replaced by the returning Mike Smith. The band toured with additional live guitarist Richard Phillips (from fellow Bury St Edmunds band The Khe Sanh Approach) in October 2005. Then in December 2005 Smith, Simon Chapple and Richard Phillips all left the band. Remaining members Seymour Glass and Mat Anthony were joined by Laura Kidd (bass) and Dan Smart (drums) for a final UK tour in May, June and July 2006, (supported for the most part by We Start Fires
We Start Fires
We Start Fires are a female-fronted punk-pop rock 'n' roll band formed in Darlington in 2002. They consist of Becky Stefani , Melissa Marx , Nikki Vaughan , and Becky's younger brother Ashley Wade ....
).
After a performance at the Camden Underworld
Camden Underworld
The Camden Underworld is a music venue in Camden Town, London, England. The venue itself is a part of the World's End pub, being situated in the basement of the building.- History :...
in support of the charity Liberty
Liberty
Liberty is a moral and political principle, or Right, that identifies the condition in which human beings are able to govern themselves, to behave according to their own free will, and take responsibility for their actions...
on 31 July 2006, Miss Black America went on hiatus.
Post-Miss Black America
Seymour Glass and Mat Anthony reunited for a one-off acoustic gig at The Bell, a small pub in HoveHove
Hove is a town on the south coast of England, immediately to the west of its larger neighbour Brighton, with which it forms the unitary authority Brighton and Hove. It forms a single conurbation together with Brighton and some smaller towns and villages running along the coast...
, on Saturday 29th March 2008. Posting on the Miss Black America Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
page on 26th October 2009, Seymour announced that "there's a possibility of a sort-of 'Best of' cheapy thing for iTunes"; to date there has been no further news on this project. However, on Saturday 9th October 2010, Seymour and Mat reunited a second time to play at set of MBA songs for John Peel
John Peel
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, OBE , known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey, radio presenter, record producer and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly from 1967 until his death in 2004...
Day at London's Bloomsbury
Bloomsbury
-Places:* Bloomsbury is an area in central London.* Bloomsbury , related local government unit* Bloomsbury, New Jersey, New Jersey, USA* Bloomsbury , listed on the NRHP in Maryland...
Bowling Lanes.
Seymour (now going by the name Seymour Patrick), Mike Smith and Neil Baldwin reunited as rock band Ten City Nation in early 2007. Their eponymous debut album was released in May 2008 through Repeat Records
Repeat Records
Repeat Records is an independent record label, fanzine and music promoter based in Cambridge, UK.R*E*P*E*A*T fanzine was started in 1994 by Cambridge schoolteacher Richard Rose...
; a second album, At The Still Point, was released to some critical acclaim in August 2009 on Seymour's own imprint, Sturm Und Drang Recordings. Both albums are available to download from the Ten City Nation website. A song from the eponymous debut, TDK 90, was used on the soundtrack for a film by the SuicideGirls
SuicideGirls
SuicideGirls is a website that features softcore pornography and text profiles of goth, punk and indie-styled young women who are known as the "Suicide Girls"...
, entitled The Suicide Girls Guide To Living, in late 2010. Former MBA guitarist Richard Phillips joined Ten City Nation (to date, as live guitarist only) in November 2010.
Seymour also released a solo album, Import/Export, under the name Open Mouth, through Repeat Records in May 2007. He has recently contributed guitars to the second album by former The Dawn Parade
The Dawn Parade
The Dawn Parade were a British rock band from Bury St Edmunds formed in 2000. Greg McDonald was the main songwriter, and also provided vocals and guitar....
frontman Greg McDonald
Greg McDonald
Greg McDonald is a British singer-songwriter who announced the forthcoming release of his debut solo album in 2008. He was the frontman of The Dawn Parade, a Bury St Edmunds based British indie band....
and occasionally plays bass guitar for country
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
band The Blazing Zoos, alongside journalist Andrew Mueller
Andrew Mueller
Andrew Mueller is an Australian-born, London-based journalist and author. He is a contributing editor at Monocle, and also regularly writes for The Independent, The Independent on Sunday, The Financial Times, Esquire, The Guardian, Arena, The Times, Uncut, High Life, Harper's Bazaar, New Humanist,...
and members of Jesus Jones
Jesus Jones
Jesus Jones are a British rock band. The Wiltshire-based group, formed in late 1988, recorded and performed in the late 1980s, throughout the 1990s, and into the 2000s. They are best remembered for their track, "Right Here, Right Now", an international hit and subsequently globally appropriated for...
. In early 2011, details were announced of a new art rock
Art rock
Art rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom in the 1960s, with influences from art, avant-garde, and classical music. The first usage of the term, according to Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, was in 1968. Influenced by the work of The Beatles, most notably their Sgt...
project, You Killed Me First, which features Seymour alongside present and former members of art rock bands Popular Workshop and William. Seymour currently presents The Painter's Radio Show, which broadcasts weekly on Shadwell
Shadwell
Shadwell is an inner-city district situated within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets located on the north bank of the Thames between Wapping to the south and Ratcliff to the east...
-based station
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
Xstream East Radio; the tagline for the show is, "Interesting stuff you might not have heard before".
Gish has continued to create music as a writer, performer and producer. He has been involved in numerous collaborations and installations, and continues to record and release as a solo artist.
Mat Anthony has since been involved in drum & bass
Drum and bass
Drum and bass is a type of electronic music which emerged in the late 1980s. The genre is characterized by fast breakbeats , with heavy bass and sub-bass lines...
project Baron Greenback and a solo venture under the pseudonym Mat Hudson, as well as playing for Italian singer songwriter Elena. He currently fronts hard rock
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...
band Alita's Curse.
Laura Kidd works as a session musician, filmmaker and photographer and released her debut solo album "Disarm" under the name She Makes War on 1st September 2010. Performing solo on Telecaster, ukulele and loop pedal her shows around the UK have been garnering critical praise and won her a slot at Ladyfest Ten in November alongside MEN, Catherine AD, Viv Albertine
Viv Albertine
Viv Albertine is a British singer and songwriter, best known as the guitarist for the influential, all-female English punk group, The Slits....
and Mary Epworth
Mary Epworth
Mary Epworth is a singer and songwriter who makes music influenced by traditional English song, 60s west coast Psychedelia, and Greek Progressive Rock...
. A European InterRail tour is planned for early 2011 prior to the recording of album #2. It was recently announced that Laura will be supporting Carina Round
Carina Round
Carina Round is a British singer/songwriter from Wolverhampton in the West Midlands of England.Comparisons are frequently drawn to PJ Harvey, though Round would contend that she is more directly influenced by Patti Smith.- Background :...
on her UK tour in June 2011.
As well as playing with Mike Smith in My Hi-Fi Sister, Neil Baldwin played drums for the Khe Sanh Approach until that band's demise in 2007; he also played bass guitar for three-piece Garage rock
Garage rock
Garage rock is a raw form of rock and roll that was first popular in the United States and Canada from about 1963 to 1967. During the 1960s, it was not recognized as a separate music genre and had no specific name...
band The Siamese Sluts. The Siamese Sluts recorded an album with MBA co-producer Andy Taylor; CD-R promo copies of the album (some copies of which were entitled Big Tiger whilst others were entitled The Best Of The Siamese Sluts) were circulated in late 2004, but the album has not to date seen an official release.
Simon Cooper went on to form a "crushing metal" band entitled Methods Of Punishment, who have since been renamed A Horse Called War.
Richard Phillips continued playing guitar for The Khe Sanh Approach until that band's demise in 2007, before joining live guitar for East London-based post-punk influenced three-piece Deep Sht alongside fellow Khe Sanh Approach member Tom Watson. In late 2010 he joined former MBA members Seymour Patrick, Neil Baldwin and Mike Smith as live guitarist for Ten City Nation. Richard currently plays in the touring band of singer Kate Jackson
Kate Jackson (singer)
Kate Jackson, , is a British singer who was formerly the lead-singer with The Long Blondes. She now performs under the name Kate Jackson Group with David Venn, Steven Marsden, Richard Phillips and Duncan Morrison.-Biography:...
, formerly of The Long Blondes
The Long Blondes
The Long Blondes were a five-piece English indie rock band formed in Sheffield, United Kingdom in 2003 by Dorian Cox , Reenie Hollis , Emma Chaplin , Kate Jackson and Screech Louder .After several critically...
.
Simon Chapple currently plays drums in Bury St Edmunds-based hip hop
Hip hop
Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
collective Scare The Normals.
Jonny Steele went on to join Bury St Edmunds band Opposite the Hotel until that band split in 2008. He currently runs the Ditchlicker Sound System.
They then reformed in November 2011. Hurrah!
Singles
- "Miss Black America EP" (2000, CD only) (Self-release)
- "Adrenaline Junkie Class-A Mentalist EP" (2001, CD only) (R*E*P*E*A*T Records)
- "Don't Speak My Mind" (2001, 7" only) (Dental Records)
- "Infinite Chinese Box" (2001, CD/7") (Integrity Records)
- "Talk Hard" (2002, CD/7") (Integrity Records)
- "Miss Black America" (2002, CD/7") (Integrity Records)
- "Drowning By Numbers" (2003, 7" only) (R*E*P*E*A*T Records)
- "Beautiful Velocity" / "All I Want Is Out" (2003, 7" only) (R*E*P*E*A*T Records)
- "Dot Dot Dot" (2005, CD only) (R*E*P*E*A*T Records)
- "Drowning By Numbers" (2005, CD only) (Ruby Slippers Records)
- "Emotional Junkmail" (2006, 2-part CD only) (Ruby Slippers Records)
Albums
- God Bless Miss Black AmericaGod Bless Miss Black AmericaGod Bless Miss Black America is a studio album released on by alternative rock band Miss Black America on Integrity Records. It was Miss Black America's debut album.-Tracklisting:-Production:...
(2002, CD/vinyl) (Integrity Records (UK), Syft Records (Japan)) - Terminal (2005, CD only) (R*E*P*E*A*T Records)
- Terminal (2005, CD only) (Re-Issue, Ruby Slippers Records)