Nine Black Alps
Encyclopedia
Nine Black Alps are an English
alternative rock
band formed in Manchester
, named after a line in The Couriers by Sylvia Plath
and fronted by Sam Forrest
.
in Los Angeles.
In 2005, having completed the album recording, Nine Black Alps toured the UK extensively, promoting the release of their debut album, Everything Is
on 13 June 2005. The band supported the Kaiser Chiefs
for part of their UK tour in April 2005, and later Weezer
in August. The band also performed at 2005's Glastonbury festival
, T in the Park
, V Festival
, and the Reading and Leeds Festival. Also in 2005 Nine Black Alps performed in Japan at the winter SonicMania Festival in February, and later that year returned to play the Club Quattro Venues in Tokyo and Osaka. The band also spent time touring northern Europe, including France, Holland and Germany and also supported the Kaiser Chiefs
in Scandinavia
. The band also ventured to the US, playing at the South by Southwest Festival in Austin
, Texas
, and making a short tour of the north east. During February 2006 Nine Black Alps set off for a final 'Everything Is' UK tour with their Manchester friends The Longcut
as support. This was Nine Black Alps' largest and most successful UK tour to date, and included sold-out headline shows at Manchester Academy and an NME Shockwaves Awards Show at Hammersmith Palais.
Their first U.S.
single was "Cosmopolitan"; their album Everything Is
was released in America
on 28 February 2006, and to support the album release Nine Black Alps toured the US extensively during 2006, including several performances at the South by Southwest Festival in Austin
, Texas
and a performance at the Coachella Festival on 28 April that year.
On 18 October 2006, NME.com reported that they were working on the follow-up to Everything Is, recording with Oasis
and Jet
producer Dave Sardy
in Los Angeles
, California
: "According to a posting on Nineblackalps.com the band and Dave Sardy will 'furrow their brows, vent their spleens and bleed their hearts into the production of a glorious technicolour audiophonic dreamscape'".
Nine Black Alps played on the NME Stage at Reading and Leeds Festival and Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival, Invernesshire, in August 2007. The band's first release of 2007 came in the form of "Pocket Full of Stars", a song written by the band and Hayley Hutchinson
for inclusion in the movie soundtrack to Surf's Up
. The first single taken from the new album was "Burn Faster" released on 23 July and the second single, "Bitter End", was released on 15 October.
The band's second album, Love/Hate
, was released on 29 October 2007.
In November 2007 Nine Black Alps supported Biffy Clyro
on the Scottish leg of their tour and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
, two of their most prestigious support tours. On the back of this, Nine Black Alps brought the 'Love/Hate' era and their partnership with Island Records to a close with a successful UK headline tour in January and February 2008.
Having spent much of 2008 writing new material, Nine Black Alps finished recording their third full-length album in February 2009 with producer Dave Eringa
in North Wales' Bryn Derwen Studio.
In April 2009, Nine Black Alps released a free download song on NME.com and their own website. The track, called 'Buy Nothing', was the first release from their forthcoming third album, Locked Out from the Inside. The band's third studio album, Locked Out from the Inside
was released on October 5, 2009, and was promoted by a UK-wide tour.
The band have repotedly written their fourth album which is due out later this year and started demoing the new material as a 3 piece in early May in the West Yorkshire
village of Linthwaite
. Bass player Martin Cohen left the band in early 2011 to purusue his solo project Milk Maid with whom he is signed to Brighton
based label Fat Cat Records.
As said on their official website, "We find ourselves back in the studio, a year older, wiser and rustier - recording a bunch of new songs that may or may not find their way onto some form of album."
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...
alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
band formed in Manchester
Manchester
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...
, named after a line in The Couriers by Sylvia Plath
Sylvia Plath
Sylvia Plath was an American poet, novelist and short story writer. Born in Massachusetts, she studied at Smith College and Newnham College, Cambridge before receiving acclaim as a professional poet and writer...
and fronted by Sam Forrest
Sam Forrest
Sam Forrest is the lead singer and guitarist for Nine Black Alps, a member of The Sorry Kisses and a solo singer-songwriter. Forrest previously played bass in The Halcyon Band....
.
Career
From their inception in late 2003, the band's energetic live performances earned them a hardcore fanbase after playing for only a few months on the Manchester music scene. In 2004 the band were signed to Island records and spent the year touring the UK and recording their first studio album with producer Rob SchnapfRob Schnapf
Rob Schnapf is an American record producer and musician. He was the co-producer of Elliott Smith's albums Either/Or, XO , Figure 8 and From a Basement on the Hill, for which he was recruited by Smith's family to complete after Smith's death.Schnapf, along with Rothrock and partner...
in Los Angeles.
In 2005, having completed the album recording, Nine Black Alps toured the UK extensively, promoting the release of their debut album, Everything Is
Everything Is
Everything Is is the debut album by English alternative rock band Nine Black Alps. The album generally received favorable reviews among critics, and heralded acclaim from portions of the British music press, earning the band a loyal fanbase following in the UK. The single Unsatisfied was featured...
on 13 June 2005. The band supported the Kaiser Chiefs
Kaiser Chiefs
Kaiser Chiefs are an English indie rock band from Leeds who formed in 1996. They were named after the South African football club Kaizer Chiefs....
for part of their UK tour in April 2005, and later Weezer
Weezer
Weezer is an American alternative rock band. The band currently consists of Rivers Cuomo , Patrick Wilson , Brian Bell , and Scott Shriner . The band has changed lineups three times since its formation in 1992...
in August. The band also performed at 2005's Glastonbury festival
Glastonbury Festival
The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, commonly abbreviated to Glastonbury or even Glasto, is a performing arts festival that takes place near Pilton, Somerset, England, best known for its contemporary music, but also for dance, comedy, theatre, circus, cabaret and other arts.The...
, T in the Park
T in the Park
T in the Park is a major British music festival that has been held annually since 1994. It is named after its main sponsor, the brewing company Tennents. It was originally held at Strathclyde Park, Lanarkshire but since 1997 has been held at a disused airfield in Balado, Kinross-shire...
, V Festival
V Festival
The V Festival is an annual music festival held in England during the penultimate weekend in August. The event is held at two parks simultaneously which share the same bill; artists perform at one location on Saturday and then swap on Sunday. The sites are located at Hylands Park in Chelmsford and...
, and the Reading and Leeds Festival. Also in 2005 Nine Black Alps performed in Japan at the winter SonicMania Festival in February, and later that year returned to play the Club Quattro Venues in Tokyo and Osaka. The band also spent time touring northern Europe, including France, Holland and Germany and also supported the Kaiser Chiefs
Kaiser Chiefs
Kaiser Chiefs are an English indie rock band from Leeds who formed in 1996. They were named after the South African football club Kaizer Chiefs....
in Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
. The band also ventured to the US, playing at the South by Southwest Festival in Austin
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, and making a short tour of the north east. During February 2006 Nine Black Alps set off for a final 'Everything Is' UK tour with their Manchester friends The Longcut
The Longcut
-Members:* Stuart Ogilvie - vocals, keyboard, drums* Lee Gale - guitar* Jon Fearon - bass-Career:The Longcut formed in Manchester in 2002, while attending the University of Manchester. Originally a four-piece, their vocalist left soon after the band started and the remaining members intended to...
as support. This was Nine Black Alps' largest and most successful UK tour to date, and included sold-out headline shows at Manchester Academy and an NME Shockwaves Awards Show at Hammersmith Palais.
Their first U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
single was "Cosmopolitan"; their album Everything Is
Everything Is
Everything Is is the debut album by English alternative rock band Nine Black Alps. The album generally received favorable reviews among critics, and heralded acclaim from portions of the British music press, earning the band a loyal fanbase following in the UK. The single Unsatisfied was featured...
was released in America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on 28 February 2006, and to support the album release Nine Black Alps toured the US extensively during 2006, including several performances at the South by Southwest Festival in Austin
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
and a performance at the Coachella Festival on 28 April that year.
On 18 October 2006, NME.com reported that they were working on the follow-up to Everything Is, recording with Oasis
Oasis (band)
Oasis were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1991. Originally known as The Rain, the group was formed by Liam Gallagher , Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs , Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan and Tony McCarroll , who were soon joined by Liam's older brother Noel Gallagher...
and Jet
Jet (band)
Jet are an Australian rock band formed in 2001 while attending St Bede's College Mentone in Melbourne, . The band consists of lead guitarist Cameron Muncey, bassist Mark Wilson, and brothers Nic and Chris Cester on vocals/rhythm guitar and drums respectively...
producer Dave Sardy
Dave Sardy
David Sardy is a Brooklyn born-and-raised composer, musician, songwriter, and record producer- Biography :...
in Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
: "According to a posting on Nineblackalps.com the band and Dave Sardy will 'furrow their brows, vent their spleens and bleed their hearts into the production of a glorious technicolour audiophonic dreamscape'".
Nine Black Alps played on the NME Stage at Reading and Leeds Festival and Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival, Invernesshire, in August 2007. The band's first release of 2007 came in the form of "Pocket Full of Stars", a song written by the band and Hayley Hutchinson
Hayley Hutchinson
Hayley Hutchinson is a folk/acoustic rock singer from the Yorkshire Wolds, England, who has released four solo albums and is also a member of The Sorry Kisses.-Biography:...
for inclusion in the movie soundtrack to Surf's Up
Surf's Up (film)
Surf's Up is a 2007 American computer-animated mockumentary family comedy film directed by Ash Brannon and Chris Buck. It stars the voices of Shia LaBeouf, Jeff Bridges, Zooey Deschanel and Jon Heder among others....
. The first single taken from the new album was "Burn Faster" released on 23 July and the second single, "Bitter End", was released on 15 October.
The band's second album, Love/Hate
Love/Hate (album)
Love/Hate is the second album by English rock band Nine Black Alps. It was recorded by Dave Sardy in L.A. and is the follow-up to debut album Everything Is and was released on October 29, 2007....
, was released on 29 October 2007.
In November 2007 Nine Black Alps supported Biffy Clyro
Biffy Clyro
Biffy Clyro are a Scottish rock band from Kilmarnock, comprising Simon Neil , James Johnston and Ben Johnston...
on the Scottish leg of their tour and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club is an American rock band from San Francisco, California, now based in Los Angeles. BRMC is known for their garage rock, blues, folk revival, neo-psychedelia sound. They are influenced by bands such as: The Brian Jonestown Massacre, The Verve, The Rolling Stones, Oasis, T...
, two of their most prestigious support tours. On the back of this, Nine Black Alps brought the 'Love/Hate' era and their partnership with Island Records to a close with a successful UK headline tour in January and February 2008.
Having spent much of 2008 writing new material, Nine Black Alps finished recording their third full-length album in February 2009 with producer Dave Eringa
Dave Eringa
Dave Eringa is an English record producer from Essex who has engineered, mixed, produced, and played on albums by such bands as Manic Street Preachers, Ocean Colour Scene, Idlewild, 3 Colours Red, South and Johnny Boy...
in North Wales' Bryn Derwen Studio.
In April 2009, Nine Black Alps released a free download song on NME.com and their own website. The track, called 'Buy Nothing', was the first release from their forthcoming third album, Locked Out from the Inside. The band's third studio album, Locked Out from the Inside
Locked Out from the Inside
Locked out from the Inside is the third studio album by Manchester-based alternative rock band Nine Black Alps, released on October 5, 2009. The album was released digitally with the purchase of tour tickets on August 6, 2009...
was released on October 5, 2009, and was promoted by a UK-wide tour.
The band have repotedly written their fourth album which is due out later this year and started demoing the new material as a 3 piece in early May in the West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of 2.2 million. West Yorkshire came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972....
village of Linthwaite
Linthwaite
Linthwaite is a village in West Yorkshire, England. It is situated 4 miles west of Huddersfield, on the A62 in the Colne Valley...
. Bass player Martin Cohen left the band in early 2011 to purusue his solo project Milk Maid with whom he is signed to Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
based label Fat Cat Records.
As said on their official website, "We find ourselves back in the studio, a year older, wiser and rustier - recording a bunch of new songs that may or may not find their way onto some form of album."
Line-up
- Sam ForrestSam ForrestSam Forrest is the lead singer and guitarist for Nine Black Alps, a member of The Sorry Kisses and a solo singer-songwriter. Forrest previously played bass in The Halcyon Band....
- vocals, guitar, bass - David Jones - guitar, bass
- James Galley - drums, vocals
Albums
- 2005: Everything IsEverything IsEverything Is is the debut album by English alternative rock band Nine Black Alps. The album generally received favorable reviews among critics, and heralded acclaim from portions of the British music press, earning the band a loyal fanbase following in the UK. The single Unsatisfied was featured...
(UK #51) - 2007: Love/HateLove/Hate (album)Love/Hate is the second album by English rock band Nine Black Alps. It was recorded by Dave Sardy in L.A. and is the follow-up to debut album Everything Is and was released on October 29, 2007....
(UK #69) - 2009: Locked Out from the InsideLocked Out from the InsideLocked out from the Inside is the third studio album by Manchester-based alternative rock band Nine Black Alps, released on October 5, 2009. The album was released digitally with the purchase of tour tickets on August 6, 2009...
- 2011: TBA
Singles
- "Cosmopolitan" (2004) (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 ...
#101) - "Shot Down" (2005) (UK #25)
- "Not Everyone" (2005) (UK #31)
- "Unsatisfied" (2005) (UK #30, UK RockUK Rock ChartThe UK Rock Chart usually refers to the Top 40 Rock Singles and the Top 40 Rock Albums Chart compiled by the Official Charts Company from physical record sales in British retail outlets with larger than average genrespecific sales....
#1) - "Just Friends" (2005) (UK #52, UK Rock #1)
- "Burn Faster" (2007) (UK #42)
- "Bitter End" (2007)
- "Buy Nothing" (2009)
Soundtracks/compilations
- "Surf's Up: Music From The Motion Picture" (Pocket Full of Stars)
- "Class aA: Beyond Entertainment" (Over the Ocean)