Bitterside
Encyclopedia
Bitterside, founded in 2000, is an alternative
, indie
, pop
band composed of three members, all coming from Malta
. Daniel Genius is the vocalist and also a guitarist, J.J. Galea plays the guitar and Kenneth Vella plays the drums.
Then, in true Rock’n’Roll style things took a turn for the worse and tension ripped through the band as their future musical direction caused an epic fallout. It spelled the end for Bitterside, who had begun to take their band name literally, but remarkably all was saved by a song penned by frontman Daniel. The track was called "Shutters" and displayed a much matured emotional side to Daniel’s songwriting that inspired the band to once again pull together and concentrate on producing the music the best they could. This marked a new era for Bitterside, and the emotional drive behind Shutters became the basis of their new sound. Described as anthemic by a growing fan base, it wasn’t uncommon at this stage in the band’s career for them to play the song up to three times in one show to satisfy the crowd’s demands which included playing major events like the P1 Power Boat Grand Prix, the XFM Music festival and the Fete de la Musique Festival.
Fast forward to now and the Bitterside sound has evolved into something altogether more polished. The band signed a contract with the label Hyperphonica in 2009. The debut UK release of single ‘Start Again’ in January 2010 still clearly displays the guitar based backbone of the band whilst the production and arrangement gives it all the studio sheen it needs to sit comfortably in today’s charts. In the words of Daniel, ‘Start Again’ is a lament about not getting what you deserve, being close to losing the person you love, difficult situations - all part of a melancholic, sad mood. The album is like a journey in different aspects of a particular mood and ‘Start Again’ contains these bitter words that are sweetened by a sing-along melody. If their track record is anything to go by the slick vocal melodies and instant hooks of Start Again will soon be taking the UK by storm, and this is just the beginning.
Unfortunately, by late 2010, things were not going very well in the Bitterside camp. Partly, the label had failed to reach the goals it had in mind even though the band was putting a lot of demos on the table. This time it was really tension. The band went into a hiatus in December 2010.
‘Satisfying Spin’ - AudioScribbler
‘We sure hope to see these guys in the our charts in the near future!’ - Storm FM
“Love it! Great little intro and the vocals are fantastic!” - 1449am URB
“An uplifting rhythm and killer on the dance floor!” [Start Again Remix] - Ram Air
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
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
, 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...
band composed of three members, all coming from Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
. Daniel Genius is the vocalist and also a guitarist, J.J. Galea plays the guitar and Kenneth Vella plays the drums.
Career
Since releasing their debut album Somehow Different in 2004, Bitterside have carved out quite a profile for themselves in Europe from winning awards in the Mediterranean and topping the radio charts to playing the Planet venue in Vienna.Then, in true Rock’n’Roll style things took a turn for the worse and tension ripped through the band as their future musical direction caused an epic fallout. It spelled the end for Bitterside, who had begun to take their band name literally, but remarkably all was saved by a song penned by frontman Daniel. The track was called "Shutters" and displayed a much matured emotional side to Daniel’s songwriting that inspired the band to once again pull together and concentrate on producing the music the best they could. This marked a new era for Bitterside, and the emotional drive behind Shutters became the basis of their new sound. Described as anthemic by a growing fan base, it wasn’t uncommon at this stage in the band’s career for them to play the song up to three times in one show to satisfy the crowd’s demands which included playing major events like the P1 Power Boat Grand Prix, the XFM Music festival and the Fete de la Musique Festival.
Fast forward to now and the Bitterside sound has evolved into something altogether more polished. The band signed a contract with the label Hyperphonica in 2009. The debut UK release of single ‘Start Again’ in January 2010 still clearly displays the guitar based backbone of the band whilst the production and arrangement gives it all the studio sheen it needs to sit comfortably in today’s charts. In the words of Daniel, ‘Start Again’ is a lament about not getting what you deserve, being close to losing the person you love, difficult situations - all part of a melancholic, sad mood. The album is like a journey in different aspects of a particular mood and ‘Start Again’ contains these bitter words that are sweetened by a sing-along melody. If their track record is anything to go by the slick vocal melodies and instant hooks of Start Again will soon be taking the UK by storm, and this is just the beginning.
Unfortunately, by late 2010, things were not going very well in the Bitterside camp. Partly, the label had failed to reach the goals it had in mind even though the band was putting a lot of demos on the table. This time it was really tension. The band went into a hiatus in December 2010.
‘Satisfying Spin’ - AudioScribbler
‘We sure hope to see these guys in the our charts in the near future!’ - Storm FM
“Love it! Great little intro and the vocals are fantastic!” - 1449am URB
“An uplifting rhythm and killer on the dance floor!” [Start Again Remix] - Ram Air
Other singles
- Left Alone
- Underrated
- Versus Life
- Start Again
- Shutters
- Fear (the fast song)
- In Me
- So Lovely