Brigadier Ambrose
Encyclopedia
Brigadier Ambrose are an alternative pop band from Chatham
, England
. After releasing a series of digital only singles, the band released their debut album Fuzzo on CD in early 2010 through their own Brigadier Records (distributed by Nova/Universal). Fuzzo was entered into the Mercury Music Prize for 2010.
, Kent
. The first year was spent playing low key gigs in the Medway Towns
, until a demo of the track Police made it onto Stuart Maconie
's Freak Zone show on BBC 6 Music
. More airplay followed, and the year ended with Alan McGee
inviting the band to play at his Death Disco club night at Notting Hill Arts Club
twice in consecutive months.
influenced How Popular You Are, started picking up radio and club airplay in the UK and the band decided to form their own record company, Brigadier Records, to release it as a single. The song, described by the BBC as "quirky guitar pop", was supported by Phill Jupitus
and Huw Stephens
and backed with a song from the same Jim Riley sessions, the chiming Back In The Old Days. The release saw the band's first artwork collaboration with Christoff Spurr, who has gone on to design all of the band's sleeves since. The single proved to be a big breakthrough for the band, who were then invited to record a Maida Vale
session for BBC Radio One. Brigadier Ambrose followed this up with a small tour of England, a highlight being the Latitude Festival
(travelling to which some of the band were involved in a motorway crash with a juggernaut).
The band then chose to turn down a series of record company offers, preferring instead to continue working independently by releasing their own material via Brigadier Records. They rounded off a hectic 2007 by recording and releasing a Christmas single, the chaotic Decembered, which was nominated for single of the week on Mark Radcliffe
and Stuart Maconie
's BBC Radio Two show. It was released on Brigadier Records on 10 December 2007.
2008 began with BBC Radio One including the then unreleased Mrs Peel We're Needed in their Introducing Tips For 2008. The song marked a change of pace for the band following their frantic opening singles and drew comparisons with the likes of Felt
and Pulp
. Mrs Peel We're Needed was written after the tagline in the cult 1960s series The Avengers
and featured The Cut Of Your Jib as a B-side. The band eventually released the single in April 2008, accompanied by a tour with BBC Introducing
and the fringe event of Radio 1's Big Weekend. Brigadier Ambrose released their 4th single, the double A side Police/There Has Been A Murder In Nasons, on 1 September 2008, which followed on in the footsteps of the previous singles, gaining significant national airplay and positive critical acclaim.
's seminal The Queen Is Dead clubnight at London's Borderline venue in December 2008 had to be cancelled due to an injury to drummer Karl Butler.
Despite receiving continual offers, the band have no plans to play live in the foreseeable future. Instead, Brigadier Ambrose are focussing on writing and recording new material in Rochester and London
.
Though digitally available from November 2009, the band released their debut album Fuzzo on CD in February 2010. The album was in the longlist for 2010's Mercury Music Prize but did not make the final shortlist.
There are no plans for new Brigadier Ambrose releases, though the as yet unreleased 2007 recording Jesus Christ, Meet A Wisher Hat is to be made available as a free download for charity through the arts organisation Medway Eyes in October 2010.
Chatham, Medway
Chatham is one of the Medway towns located within the Medway unitary authority, in North Kent, in South East England.Although the dockyard has long been closed and is now being redeveloped into a business and residential community as well as a museum featuring the famous submarine, HMS Ocelot,...
, England
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...
. After releasing a series of digital only singles, the band released their debut album Fuzzo on CD in early 2010 through their own Brigadier Records (distributed by Nova/Universal). Fuzzo was entered into the Mercury Music Prize for 2010.
Formation
Brigadier Ambrose formed in 2006 when school friends David Goggin, Matthew Boorman and Daniel Boorman began recording songs they had written at Goggin's house in Chatham. The band was completed when Goggin met Karl Butler through a university friend, and the foursome began rehearsing and writing in a studio in MaidstoneMaidstone
Maidstone is the county town of Kent, England, south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town linking Maidstone to Rochester and the Thames Estuary. Historically, the river was a source and route for much of the town's trade. Maidstone was the centre of the agricultural...
, Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
. The first year was spent playing low key gigs in the Medway Towns
Medway
Medway is a conurbation and unitary authority in South East England. The Unitary Authority was formed in 1998 when the City of Rochester-upon-Medway amalgamated with Gillingham Borough Council and part of Kent County Council to form Medway Council, a unitary authority independent of Kent County...
, until a demo of the track Police made it onto Stuart Maconie
Stuart Maconie
Stuart Maconie is an English radio DJ and television presenter, writer, journalist, and critic working in the field of of pop music and popular culture. He is currently a presenter on BBC 6 Music, where he hosts an afternoon show five times a week , alongside Mark Radcliffe, called the Radcliffe...
's Freak Zone show on BBC 6 Music
BBC 6 Music
BBC 6 Music is one of the BBC's digital radio stations, was launched on 11 March 2002 and originally codenamed Network Y. It was the first national music radio station to be launched by the BBC in 32 years....
. More airplay followed, and the year ended with Alan McGee
Alan McGee
Alan McGee has been a record label owner, musician, manager, and music blogger for The Guardian.McGee is best-known for co-forming and running the independent Creation Records label from 1983–1999, and then Poptones from 1999-2007...
inviting the band to play at his Death Disco club night at Notting Hill Arts Club
Notting Hill Arts Club
The Notting Hill Arts Club is a music and arts venue in Notting Hill, central London, England. The club holds clubnights every night of the week. Its range of events covers everything from interactive crafts to themed Soviet nights, but perhaps most famous is its Death Disco clubnight, which is run...
twice in consecutive months.
2007 and 2008
The band then spent some time recording songs with Jim Riley at his Ranscombe Studios in Chatham. A song from these sessions, the PavementPavement (band)
Pavement is an American alternative rock band that formed in Stockton, California in 1989. In their career, they achieved a significant cult following, and they were called the best band of the 1990s by prominent music critics Robert Christgau and Stephen Thomas Erlewine...
influenced How Popular You Are, started picking up radio and club airplay in the UK and the band decided to form their own record company, Brigadier Records, to release it as a single. The song, described by the BBC as "quirky guitar pop", was supported by Phill Jupitus
Phill Jupitus
Phillip Christopher Jupitus is an English stand-up and improvised comedian, actor, performance poet, musician and podcaster....
and Huw Stephens
Huw Stephens
Huw Stephens is a radio presenter currently broadcasting shows on BBC Radio 1.-Early life and career:Stephens was born in Cardiff, Wales, the son of the author and literary journalist Meic Stephens...
and backed with a song from the same Jim Riley sessions, the chiming Back In The Old Days. The release saw the band's first artwork collaboration with Christoff Spurr, who has gone on to design all of the band's sleeves since. The single proved to be a big breakthrough for the band, who were then invited to record a Maida Vale
Maida Vale Studios
Maida Vale Studios is a complex of seven BBC studios on Delaware Road, Maida Vale, London.It has been used to record thousands of classical music, popular music and drama sessions for BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 3 and BBC Radio 4 from 1946 to the present...
session for BBC Radio One. Brigadier Ambrose followed this up with a small tour of England, a highlight being the Latitude Festival
Latitude Festival
The Latitude Festival is an annual music festival that takes place in Henham Park, Southwold, Suffolk, England. It was first held in July 2006....
(travelling to which some of the band were involved in a motorway crash with a juggernaut).
The band then chose to turn down a series of record company offers, preferring instead to continue working independently by releasing their own material via Brigadier Records. They rounded off a hectic 2007 by recording and releasing a Christmas single, the chaotic Decembered, which was nominated for single of the week on Mark Radcliffe
Mark Radcliffe
Mark Radcliffe is an English broadcaster who has worked in various roles for the BBC since the 1980s and remains one of Britain's most recognised DJs. He is currently a presenter on BBC Radio 2 and BBC 6 Music, where he hosts an afternoon show five times a week alongside Stuart Maconie, called...
and Stuart Maconie
Stuart Maconie
Stuart Maconie is an English radio DJ and television presenter, writer, journalist, and critic working in the field of of pop music and popular culture. He is currently a presenter on BBC 6 Music, where he hosts an afternoon show five times a week , alongside Mark Radcliffe, called the Radcliffe...
's BBC Radio Two show. It was released on Brigadier Records on 10 December 2007.
2008 began with BBC Radio One including the then unreleased Mrs Peel We're Needed in their Introducing Tips For 2008. The song marked a change of pace for the band following their frantic opening singles and drew comparisons with the likes of Felt
Felt (band)
Felt were a 1980s British alternative rock band led by Lawrence, whose surname was never listed in any credits or press; the band's name was inspired by Tom Verlaine's emphasis of the word "felt" in the Television song "Venus"...
and Pulp
Pulp (band)
Pulp are an English alternative rock band formed in Sheffield in 1978. Their lineup consists of Jarvis Cocker , Russell Senior , Candida Doyle , Mark Webber , Steve Mackey and Nick Banks ....
. Mrs Peel We're Needed was written after the tagline in the cult 1960s series The Avengers
The Avengers (TV series)
The Avengers is a spy-fi British television series set in the 1960s Britain. The Avengers initially focused on Dr. David Keel and his assistant John Steed . Hendry left after the first series and Steed became the main character, partnered with a succession of assistants...
and featured The Cut Of Your Jib as a B-side. The band eventually released the single in April 2008, accompanied by a tour with BBC Introducing
BBC Introducing
BBC Introducing is the brand for new music programmes across the BBC radio stations, showcasing unsigned, self signed and other emerging musical talent primarily from the UK. Launched in 2007 the Introducing brand brings programming from across the BBC under a unified brand with each show retaining...
and the fringe event of Radio 1's Big Weekend. Brigadier Ambrose released their 4th single, the double A side Police/There Has Been A Murder In Nasons, on 1 September 2008, which followed on in the footsteps of the previous singles, gaining significant national airplay and positive critical acclaim.
Current activity
A gig at Alan McGeeAlan McGee
Alan McGee has been a record label owner, musician, manager, and music blogger for The Guardian.McGee is best-known for co-forming and running the independent Creation Records label from 1983–1999, and then Poptones from 1999-2007...
's seminal The Queen Is Dead clubnight at London's Borderline venue in December 2008 had to be cancelled due to an injury to drummer Karl Butler.
Despite receiving continual offers, the band have no plans to play live in the foreseeable future. Instead, Brigadier Ambrose are focussing on writing and recording new material in Rochester and 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...
.
Though digitally available from November 2009, the band released their debut album Fuzzo on CD in February 2010. The album was in the longlist for 2010's Mercury Music Prize but did not make the final shortlist.
There are no plans for new Brigadier Ambrose releases, though the as yet unreleased 2007 recording Jesus Christ, Meet A Wisher Hat is to be made available as a free download for charity through the arts organisation Medway Eyes in October 2010.
Members
- Daniel Boorman – bass, guitar, keyboards, vocals, harmonica
- Matthew Boorman – piano, organ, keyboards, vocals
- Karl Butler – drums, percussion, keyboards, vocals
- David Goggin – guitar, keyboards, vocals, theremin
Singles
- "How Popular You Are" (April 2007, Brigadier)
- "Decembered" (December 2007, Brigadier)
- "Mrs Peel We're Needed" (April 2008, Brigadier)
- "Police" / "There Has Been A Murder In Nasons" (September 2008, Brigadier)
- "Helium" (radio promo only) (October 2009, Brigadier)
- "Mind Reel" (radio promo only) (January 2010, Brigadier)
- "Yours, Danube Song" (radio promo only) (June 2010, Brigadier)
- "Uh-Oh" (radio promo only) (November 2010, Brigadier)
Albums
- Fuzzo (Digital release November 2009, Brigadier)
- Fuzzo (CD release February 2010, Brigadier)
External links
- Brigadier Ambrose official website
- Sentric Music the band's publishers
- Christoff Spurr Christoff Spurr (Brigadier Ambrose artwork and more)