Stornoway (band)
Encyclopedia
Stornoway is a British
alternative
indie folk
band from the Cowley area of Oxford
. It consists of singer and guitarist Brian Briggs; multi-instrumentalists Jon Ouin and Oli Steadman, and the latter's brother Rob on drums. The band is usually joined by trumpeter Adam Briggs and violinist Rahul Satija. Named after the Scottish town of Stornoway
on the Hebridean Isle of Lewis, which appears on all UK televised weather reports and shipping forecast
s, the group incorporates string instruments and keyboards
, supported by a typical pop backline of guitar
, drums
, and bass guitar
. The band had never visited Stornoway when they decided to name themselves after the town. The band is signed to the British independent record label
, 4AD
.
On Twitter the band is known by the title of an early song from one of their demo EPs: @TheOldBlindMan.
. Radio presenter Tim Bearder was an early champion of the band and was suspended from work after barricading himself in the studio and playing an hour of Stornoway songs from their demo EP The Early Adventures of Stornoway.
The band self-released their first single "Zorbing" in July 2009, playing at a number of UK summer festivals including 6 sets at Glastonbury festival 2009
, and wrote a series of articles about their experiences for the Daily Telegraph newspaper. On 1 September 2009, they played a free concert at Tate Modern
, London
, supported by Reverend and The Makers
, to celebrate the launch of the new climate change
campaign 10:10
.
Second single "Unfaithful" was released on 28 September 2009 on CD, 7" vinyl and download, and the launch concert was held at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London on 21 September. Their first UK tour took place from 16 to 30 October 2009, culminating in a concert at Oxford's Sheldonian Theatre
, accompanied by the Oxford Millennium Orchestra. They were the first non-classical group ever to play in the centuries-old building.
In November 2009 Stornoway became the first ever unsigned band to appear on Later... with Jools Holland, and performed alongside Sting, Norah Jones
, Jay-Z
, and Foo Fighters
. The attention gained by this appearance led to tens of thousands of views of their homemade YouTube videos, and the band were playlisted on the BBC's national radio stations. In December 2009, Stornoway were announced as entrants onto the longlist of the BBC's Sound of 2010 competition, having been selected by a panel of some 165 UK-based "tastemakers". They toured Scotland and Ireland in March 2010 (dubbed the Highlands, Islands and Ireland tour), and signed their record deal in the castle grounds at Lews in Stornoway, after playing in their namesake town for the first time. The band signed to the independent record label, 4AD
and announced their debut album
, Beachcomber's Windowsill
due to be released on 24 May 2010. On 22 March they released their third single, "I Saw You Blink".
The band organised three small shows to 300 hometown fans at the A1 Pool Hall in Oxford in Summer 2010, just prior to the launch of their album. On 30 May 2010, Beachcomber's Windowsill entered the UK Albums Chart
at number 14, spending five weeks in the UK Top 100. An "unplugged" session of four songs was recorded for 4AD at the Rotunda, an abandoned doll's house museum in Iffley Village, Oxford in August 2010. They played at Glastonbury Festival 2010 and Womad Charlton Park
in July 2010, along with main-stage slots at a great number of UK and European festivals. The rest of the year saw the band tour England, North America and, in February 2011, Australia as part of the St Jerome's Laneway Festival
. Their last performance in their home country for 2010 was in London at the Shepherd's Bush Empire, to a sold out crowd of 2,000, their biggest headline audience to date. The band performed the music from Beachcomber's Windowsill with extensions and additions to the instrumentation for many songs; in addition one older song and two new ones were performed, including two unplugged performances with acoustic instruments.
Following a second successful German tour and their first performances in Italy
, Luxembourg
and Switzerland
, Stornoway spent several weeks in early 2011 at home in Oxford writing towards their second album. In April it was announced that the band would be returning to Glastonbury for the third year in a row to open the Pyramid Stage on Saturday 25 June, one of their many festival billings for the summer. Returning to America in May 2011, they will then spend the rest of the year performing at home in the UK and recording in Oxford. Their home-coming concert for summer 2011 was at London's Somerset House
on Saturday 9 July (with support from Cloud Control
). A secret Somerset House warm-up show (with support from Dry The River) was announced exclusively to fans in April. The band's first concert in Oxford since November 2010 was held at the Regal, Cowley Road, on September 3rd alongside fellow Oxford bands, The Epstein and Dreaming Spires. Proceeds from the evening went to the Sumatran Orangutan Society, the Earth Trust, and the RSPB.
Stornoway are currently recording their second album, which will come out in mid 2012.
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...
alternative
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...
indie folk
Indie folk
Indie folk is a music genre that arose in the 1990s from singer/songwriters in the indie rock community showing heavy influences from folk music scenes of the 50s, 60s and early 70s, country music, and indie rock. A few early artists included Lou Barlow, Beck, Jeff Buckley and Elliott Smith...
band from the Cowley area of Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
. It consists of singer and guitarist Brian Briggs; multi-instrumentalists Jon Ouin and Oli Steadman, and the latter's brother Rob on drums. The band is usually joined by trumpeter Adam Briggs and violinist Rahul Satija. Named after the Scottish town of Stornoway
Stornoway
Stornoway is a burgh on the Isle of Lewis, in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland.The town's population is around 9,000, making it the largest settlement in the Western Isles and the third largest town in the Scottish Highlands after Inverness and Fort William...
on the Hebridean Isle of Lewis, which appears on all UK televised weather reports and shipping forecast
Shipping Forecast
The Shipping Forecast is a four-times-daily BBC Radio broadcast of weather reports and forecasts for the seas around the coasts of the British Isles. It is produced by the Met Office and broadcast by BBC Radio 4 on behalf of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency. The forecasts sent over the Navtex...
s, the group incorporates string instruments and keyboards
Keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
, supported by a typical pop backline of guitar
Guitar
The 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...
, drums
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, and bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
. The band had never visited Stornoway when they decided to name themselves after the town. The band is signed to the British independent record label
Independent record label
An independent record label is a record label operating without the funding of or outside the organizations of the major record labels. A great number of bands and musical acts begin on independent labels.-Overview:...
, 4AD
4AD
4AD is a British independent record label that was started in 1979 by Ivo Watts-Russell and Peter Kent, funded by Beggars Banquet Records, and is still active today...
.
On Twitter the band is known by the title of an early song from one of their demo EPs: @TheOldBlindMan.
Beachcomber's Windowsill
Stornoway's first radio play came in March 2006 with a demo version of "I Saw You Blink" on BBC Oxford IntroducingBBC Oxford Introducing
BBC Oxford Introducing is a local music show in Oxfordshire, and part of the main BBC Introducing brand. The show is broadcast between 9 and 10pm on Sunday nights on BBC Oxford and is presented by Dave Gilyeat and Sam King.- History :...
. Radio presenter Tim Bearder was an early champion of the band and was suspended from work after barricading himself in the studio and playing an hour of Stornoway songs from their demo EP The Early Adventures of Stornoway.
The band self-released their first single "Zorbing" in July 2009, playing at a number of UK summer festivals including 6 sets at Glastonbury festival 2009
Glastonbury Festival 2009
The 2009 Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts was held from 24–29 June 2009.- Registration :In a similar way to previous festivals, tickets for the 2009 event required pre-registration through the festival website...
, and wrote a series of articles about their experiences for the Daily Telegraph newspaper. On 1 September 2009, they played a free concert at Tate Modern
Tate Modern
Tate Modern is a modern art gallery located in London, England. It is Britain's national gallery of international modern art and forms part of the Tate group . It is the most-visited modern art gallery in the world, with around 4.7 million visitors per year...
, 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...
, supported by Reverend and The Makers
Reverend and The Makers
Reverend and The Makers are an indie pop band based in Sheffield, England and signed to Wall of Sound. The band is fronted by Jon McClure, nicknamed "The Reverend"...
, to celebrate the launch of the new climate change
Climate change
Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
campaign 10:10
10:10
Drono Acharya composed the film's songs and Ritam Sen, Sandip Chakrabarty, Padmanabha Dasgupta, Rana Basu Thakur and Rangeet wrote the lyrics.-External links:* IMDB Title* * *...
.
Second single "Unfaithful" was released on 28 September 2009 on CD, 7" vinyl and download, and the launch concert was held at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London on 21 September. Their first UK tour took place from 16 to 30 October 2009, culminating in a concert at Oxford's Sheldonian Theatre
Sheldonian Theatre
The Sheldonian Theatre, located in Oxford, England, was built from 1664 to 1668 after a design by Christopher Wren for the University of Oxford. The building is named after Gilbert Sheldon, chancellor of the university at the time and the project's main financial backer...
, accompanied by the Oxford Millennium Orchestra. They were the first non-classical group ever to play in the centuries-old building.
In November 2009 Stornoway became the first ever unsigned band to appear on Later... with Jools Holland, and performed alongside Sting, Norah Jones
Norah Jones
Norah Jones is an American singer-songwriter and occasional actress.In 2002, she launched her solo music career with the release of the commercially successful and critically acclaimed album Come Away With Me, which was certified a diamond album in 2002, selling over 20 million copies...
, Jay-Z
Jay-Z
Shawn Corey Carter , better known by his stage name Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and occasional actor. He is one of the most financially successful hip hop artists and entrepreneurs in America, having a net worth of over $450 million as of 2010...
, and Foo Fighters
Foo Fighters
Foo Fighters is an American alternative rock band originally formed in 1994 by Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl as a one-man project following the dissolution of his previous band. The band got its name from the UFOs and various aerial phenomena that were reported by Allied aircraft pilots in World War...
. The attention gained by this appearance led to tens of thousands of views of their homemade YouTube videos, and the band were playlisted on the BBC's national radio stations. In December 2009, Stornoway were announced as entrants onto the longlist of the BBC's Sound of 2010 competition, having been selected by a panel of some 165 UK-based "tastemakers". They toured Scotland and Ireland in March 2010 (dubbed the Highlands, Islands and Ireland tour), and signed their record deal in the castle grounds at Lews in Stornoway, after playing in their namesake town for the first time. The band signed to the independent record label, 4AD
4AD
4AD is a British independent record label that was started in 1979 by Ivo Watts-Russell and Peter Kent, funded by Beggars Banquet Records, and is still active today...
and announced their debut 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...
, Beachcomber's Windowsill
Beachcomber's Windowsill
Beachcomber's Windowsill is the debut album by Stornoway. The title is that of an early, unreleased song by the band. It was released in 24 May 2010 on the 4AD label...
due to be released on 24 May 2010. On 22 March they released their third single, "I Saw You Blink".
The band organised three small shows to 300 hometown fans at the A1 Pool Hall in Oxford in Summer 2010, just prior to the launch of their album. On 30 May 2010, Beachcomber's Windowsill entered 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...
at number 14, spending five weeks in the UK Top 100. An "unplugged" session of four songs was recorded for 4AD at the Rotunda, an abandoned doll's house museum in Iffley Village, Oxford in August 2010. They played at Glastonbury Festival 2010 and Womad Charlton Park
Womad Charlton Park
WOMAD Charlton Park is the name given to the World of Music Arts and Dance festival held in Charlton Park in Malmesbury, Wiltshire, England, since 2007...
in July 2010, along with main-stage slots at a great number of UK and European festivals. The rest of the year saw the band tour England, North America and, in February 2011, Australia as part of the St Jerome's Laneway Festival
St Jerome's Laneway Festival
Known simply as the Laneway or St. Jerome's Festival, the music festival began in Caledonian Lane in Melbourne in 2004. Emerging as an indie music event, the Laneway Festival has grown rapidly in popularity, receiving favourable reviews in music press....
. Their last performance in their home country for 2010 was in London at the Shepherd's Bush Empire, to a sold out crowd of 2,000, their biggest headline audience to date. The band performed the music from Beachcomber's Windowsill with extensions and additions to the instrumentation for many songs; in addition one older song and two new ones were performed, including two unplugged performances with acoustic instruments.
Following a second successful German tour and their first performances in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
and Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, Stornoway spent several weeks in early 2011 at home in Oxford writing towards their second album. In April it was announced that the band would be returning to Glastonbury for the third year in a row to open the Pyramid Stage on Saturday 25 June, one of their many festival billings for the summer. Returning to America in May 2011, they will then spend the rest of the year performing at home in the UK and recording in Oxford. Their home-coming concert for summer 2011 was at London's Somerset House
Somerset House
Somerset House is a large building situated on the south side of the Strand in central London, England, overlooking the River Thames, just east of Waterloo Bridge. The central block of the Neoclassical building, the outstanding project of the architect Sir William Chambers, dates from 1776–96. It...
on Saturday 9 July (with support from Cloud Control
Cloud Control
Cloud Control are an alternative rock band originating from the Blue Mountains near Sydney, Australia. The band is currently signed to the Australian label Ivy League Records, in which they released their debut album Bliss Release, and to Infectious Music in the UK/Europe...
). A secret Somerset House warm-up show (with support from Dry The River) was announced exclusively to fans in April. The band's first concert in Oxford since November 2010 was held at the Regal, Cowley Road, on September 3rd alongside fellow Oxford bands, The Epstein and Dreaming Spires. Proceeds from the evening went to the Sumatran Orangutan Society, the Earth Trust, and the RSPB.
Stornoway are currently recording their second album, which will come out in mid 2012.
Studio albums
| Year | Album details | Peak Chart Positions | Certifications | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK 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... |
IRE Irish Albums Chart The Irish Albums Chart is the Irish music industry standard albums popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on its behalf by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured electronically... |
UK IND UK Indie Chart The UK Independent Chart or Indie Chart is a chart of the best-selling independent record releases in the UK.- History :In the wake of punk, small record labels began to spring up, as an outlet for artists that were unwilling to sign contracts with major record companies, or were not considered... |
|||
| 2010 | Beachcomber's Windowsill Beachcomber's Windowsill Beachcomber's Windowsill is the debut album by Stornoway. The title is that of an early, unreleased song by the band. It was released in 24 May 2010 on the 4AD label...
|
14 | 43 | 3 |
British Phonographic Industry The British Phonographic Industry is the British record industry's trade association.-Structure:Its membership comprises hundreds of music companies including all four "major" record companies , associate members such as manufacturers and distributors, and hundreds of independent music companies... : Silver |
Singles
| Year | Single | Peak Chart Positions | Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK 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 ... |
UK IND UK Indie Chart The UK Independent Chart or Indie Chart is a chart of the best-selling independent record releases in the UK.- History :In the wake of punk, small record labels began to spring up, as an outlet for artists that were unwilling to sign contracts with major record companies, or were not considered... |
BEL Ultratop Ultratop is an organization which generates and publishes the official record charts in Belgium, and it is also the name of most of those charts... |
|||
| 2009 | "Zorbing" | — | — | — | Beachcomber's Windowsill |
| "Unfaithful" | — | — | — | TBD | |
| 2010 | "I Saw You Blink" | 119 | 12 | — | Beachcomber's Windowsill |
| "Zorbing" (re-release Reissue A reissue is the repeated issue of a published work. In common usage, it refers to an album which has been released at least once before and is released again, sometimes with alterations or additions.... ) |
74 | 4 | 11 | ||
Music videos
| Year | Title | Director |
|---|---|---|
| 2009 | "Zorbing" | Hilary O'Hare |
| "Unfaithful" | Gina Hood | |
| 2010 | "I Saw You Blink" | Hilary O'Hare |
| "Watching Birds" | James Caddick | |