Drugstore (band)
Encyclopedia
Drugstore are a London
-based alternative
and dream pop
band
led by Brazilian singer-songwriter and bassist Isabel Monteiro (b. São Paulo, Brazil), who relocated to England in 1990s, with Dave Hunter (later replaced by Daron Robinson) on guitar and Mike Chylinski on drums. The band's name is taken from the 1989 Gus Van Sant
film, Drugstore Cowboy
.
. A number of singles earned them 'Single Of The Week' awards, as Drugstore's rise continued. The band came to prominence at the following year's Phoenix Festival, at which Monteiro took the stage in the national football strip of Brazil, followed by performances both at the Reading and Glastonbury
festivals. Tours with Radiohead
, Tindersticks
, Jeff Buckley
and The Jesus and Mary Chain
followed.
Following the sale of Go! Discs
to PolyGram
, the band released its second album, White Magic for Lovers
on Roadrunner
Records.
The 3rd album, Songs for the Jet Set
, was released by GlobalWarming Records in 2001, followed by a compilation of extra tracks in 2002, Drugstore Collector Number One (compilation of b-sides and out-takes).
Drugstore played at a protest in London which called for the extradition of the Chilean General Augusto Pinochet
. Their song "El President", a duet with Radiohead's Thom Yorke, is dedicated to former Chilean president Salvador Allende
, who was ousted in a 1973 coup d'état
in which Pinochet played a key role.
Drugstore's music has been featured on four film soundtrack
s. "Superglider", from the album Drugstore
, is used on All Over Me and House of America, both released in 1997. "Fader", also from Drugstore, is featured on the credits of the 2000 film Cherry Falls
. "Old Shoes", originally written and performed by Tom Waits
from the album Step Right Up: The Songs of Tom Waits
, is used in the 2004 film East of Sunset. The band's music was also featured throughout the BBC series This Life
, whose music producer was Ricky Gervais
.
In 2002 the band went into a seven-year hiatus:. They returned with a gig at Dingwalls, London, in September 2009.
Early in 2010, Monteiro announced a revamped line-up, which was unveiled at a sold-out gig, at the Institute of Contemporary Arts
(ICA) in London, on May 5, 2010.
In the summer of 2010 the band performed at Glastonbury Festival
, for the charity 'Attitude is Everything' and at the Secret Garden Party
Festival, in Huntingdon.
In October 2010 Drugstore signed a record deal with London based indie label Rocket Girl
, who previously released works by Robin Guthrie
, Television Personalities, A Place to Bury Strangers
and others.
The band spent 3 weeks in January 2011, at a remote studio in Platts Eyot
, recording material for a new album, Anatomy, which was released in the summer.
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 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...
and dream pop
Dream pop
Dream pop is a subgenre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom in the mid-1980s, when bands like The Passions, Dif Juz, Lowlife and A.R. Kane began fusing post-punk and ethereal experiments with bittersweet pop melodies into dreamy, sensual soundscapes. The term was almost...
band
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
led by Brazilian singer-songwriter and bassist Isabel Monteiro (b. São Paulo, Brazil), who relocated to England in 1990s, with Dave Hunter (later replaced by Daron Robinson) on guitar and Mike Chylinski on drums. The band's name is taken from the 1989 Gus Van Sant
Gus Van Sant
Gus Green Van Sant, Jr. is an American director, screenwriter, painter, photographer, musician, and author. He is a two time nominee of the Academy Award for Best Director for his 1997 film Good Will Hunting and his 2008 film Milk, both of which were also nominated for Best Picture, and won the...
film, Drugstore Cowboy
Drugstore Cowboy
Drugstore Cowboy is a 1989 crime drama directed by Gus Van Sant and written by Van Sant and Daniel Yost, based on a novel by James Fogle. Matt Dillon stars in the title role, and Kelly Lynch, Heather Graham, and William S. Burroughs are also featured. Drugstore Cowboy was filmed mainly around...
.
Career
The band was formed in 1993 by Monteiro, Hunter and Chylinski. Shortly before the release of their first single "Alive” in 1994, Hunter was replaced by Daron Robinson. Soon after this, the band signed a major record deal with Go! DiscsGo! Discs Records
Go! Discs was a Hammersmith, London based record label, launched in 1983 by Andy MacDonald and Lesley Symons. With artists like Billy Bragg, The Housemartins and later The Beautiful South, it became a prominent label. Go! Beat Records was launched as a subsidiary for dance artists like Beats...
. A number of singles earned them 'Single Of The Week' awards, as Drugstore's rise continued. The band came to prominence at the following year's Phoenix Festival, at which Monteiro took the stage in the national football strip of Brazil, followed by performances both at the Reading and Glastonbury
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...
festivals. Tours with Radiohead
Radiohead
Radiohead are an English rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke , Jonny Greenwood , Ed O'Brien , Colin Greenwood and Phil Selway .Radiohead released their debut single "Creep" in 1992...
, Tindersticks
Tindersticks
Tindersticks are an Indie rock band from Nottingham, England formed in 1991. They released six albums before singer Stuart A. Staples took on a solo career. The band reunited briefly in 2006, but more permanently the following year...
, Jeff Buckley
Jeff Buckley
Jeffrey Scott "Jeff" Buckley , raised as Scotty Moorhead, was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He was the son of Tim Buckley, also a musician...
and The Jesus and Mary Chain
The Jesus and Mary Chain
The Jesus and Mary Chain are a Scottish alternative rock band formed in East Kilbride, Glasgow in 1983. The band revolves around the songwriting partnership of brothers Jim and William Reid...
followed.
Following the sale of Go! Discs
Go! Discs Records
Go! Discs was a Hammersmith, London based record label, launched in 1983 by Andy MacDonald and Lesley Symons. With artists like Billy Bragg, The Housemartins and later The Beautiful South, it became a prominent label. Go! Beat Records was launched as a subsidiary for dance artists like Beats...
to PolyGram
PolyGram
PolyGram was the name of the major label recording company started by Philips from as a holding company for its music interests in 1945. In 1999 it was sold to Seagram and merged into Universal Music Group.-Hollandsche Decca Distributie , 1929-1950:...
, the band released its second album, White Magic for Lovers
White Magic for Lovers
White Magic for Lovers is an album by Drugstore. It further expanded their late-night druggy sound, with a slightly harder edge. The album was noted for the "Song for Pessoa", about the Portuguese modernist poet Fernando Pessoa, "The Funeral", for its poignant lyrics and the song "El President", a...
on Roadrunner
Roadrunner Records
Roadrunner Records is an American record label that concentrates primarily on heavy metal bands. It is currently a subsidiary of Warner Music Group.-History:...
Records.
The 3rd album, Songs for the Jet Set
Songs for the Jet Set
Songs for the Jetset is an album by London-based alternative band Drugstore. Recorded under two weeks, the band produced its best album to date. With sparse arrangements, creating an atmospheric and seductive vibe, perfect for the intimate vocals of singer-songwriter, Isabel Monteiro...
, was released by GlobalWarming Records in 2001, followed by a compilation of extra tracks in 2002, Drugstore Collector Number One (compilation of b-sides and out-takes).
Drugstore played at a protest in London which called for the extradition of the Chilean General Augusto Pinochet
Augusto Pinochet
Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte, more commonly known as Augusto Pinochet , was a Chilean army general and dictator who assumed power in a coup d'état on 11 September 1973...
. Their song "El President", a duet with Radiohead's Thom Yorke, is dedicated to former Chilean president Salvador Allende
Salvador Allende
Salvador Allende Gossens was a Chilean physician and politician who is generally considered the first democratically elected Marxist to become president of a country in Latin America....
, who was ousted in a 1973 coup d'état
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
in which Pinochet played a key role.
Drugstore's music has been featured on four film soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
s. "Superglider", from the album Drugstore
Drugstore (album)
Drugstore is the name of an album released by the British band Drugstore. It was their highly acclaimed debut album released in 1995 after four singles.- Track listing :# "Speaker 12"...
, is used on All Over Me and House of America, both released in 1997. "Fader", also from Drugstore, is featured on the credits of the 2000 film Cherry Falls
Cherry Falls
Cherry Falls is a 2000 horror/thriller film written by Ken Selden and directed by Geoffrey Wright. The film stars Brittany Murphy, Jay Mohr, Michael Biehn and Jesse Bradford.-Plot:...
. "Old Shoes", originally written and performed by Tom Waits
Tom Waits
Thomas Alan "Tom" Waits is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and actor. Waits has a distinctive voice, described by critic Daniel Durchholz as sounding "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car."...
from the album Step Right Up: The Songs of Tom Waits
Step Right Up: The Songs of Tom Waits
Step Right Up: The Songs of Tom Waits is the title of a tribute album to Tom Waits, released in 1995 by Manifesto Records. The songs are performed by various artists.-Track listing:All songs written by Tom Waits.#"Old Shoes" – [06:29] Drugstore...
, is used in the 2004 film East of Sunset. The band's music was also featured throughout the BBC series This Life
This Life
This Life is a BBC television drama that was produced by World Productions and screened on BBC Two. Two series were broadcast in 1996 and 1997 and a reunion special in 2007....
, whose music producer was Ricky Gervais
Ricky Gervais
Ricky Dene Gervais is an English comedian, actor, director, radio presenter, producer, musician, and writer.Gervais achieved mainstream fame with his television series The Office and the subsequent series Extras, both of which he co-wrote and co-directed with friend and frequent collaborator...
.
In 2002 the band went into a seven-year hiatus:. They returned with a gig at Dingwalls, London, in September 2009.
Early in 2010, Monteiro announced a revamped line-up, which was unveiled at a sold-out gig, at the Institute of Contemporary Arts
Institute of Contemporary Arts
The Institute of Contemporary Arts is an artistic and cultural centre on The Mall in London, just off Trafalgar Square. It is located within Nash House, part of Carlton House Terrace, near the Duke of York Steps and Admiralty Arch...
(ICA) in London, on May 5, 2010.
In the summer of 2010 the band performed at 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...
, for the charity 'Attitude is Everything' and at the Secret Garden Party
Secret Garden Party
The Secret Garden Party is an annual independent arts and music festival which takes place in Abbots Ripton near Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire. Part of the grounds of a Georgian farm house, the location has its own lake, river and landscaped gardens...
Festival, in Huntingdon.
In October 2010 Drugstore signed a record deal with London based indie label Rocket Girl
Rocket Girl Label
Rocket Girl is a London-based independent record label started up by Vinita Joshi in 1997. The label has an ecletic mix of alternative acts ranging from eletronica, alt-country, ambient and indie, and has released records by Robin Guthrie, God Is an Astronaut, Ulrich Schnauss and others.Before...
, who previously released works by Robin Guthrie
Robin Guthrie
Robin Guthrie is a musician best known as co-founder of the Cocteau Twins. During his career Guthrie has played guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, drums and other musical instruments, in addition to programming, sampling and sound processing...
, Television Personalities, A Place to Bury Strangers
A Place to Bury Strangers
A Place to Bury Strangers are a New York–based noise rock band composed of Oliver Ackermann , Dion Lunadon and Jay Space . The band plays a heavy, atmospheric wall of sound-influenced blend of psychedelic rock, shoegaze and space rock...
and others.
The band spent 3 weeks in January 2011, at a remote studio in Platts Eyot
Platts Eyot
Platts Eyot is an island on the River Thames at Hampton, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England, on the reach between Molesey Lock and Sunbury Lock....
, recording material for a new album, Anatomy, which was released in the summer.
Albums
- 1995 - DrugstoreDrugstore (album)Drugstore is the name of an album released by the British band Drugstore. It was their highly acclaimed debut album released in 1995 after four singles.- Track listing :# "Speaker 12"...
- UKUK Albums ChartThe 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...
#31 - 1998 - White Magic for LoversWhite Magic for LoversWhite Magic for Lovers is an album by Drugstore. It further expanded their late-night druggy sound, with a slightly harder edge. The album was noted for the "Song for Pessoa", about the Portuguese modernist poet Fernando Pessoa, "The Funeral", for its poignant lyrics and the song "El President", a...
- UKUK Albums ChartThe 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...
#45 - 2001 - Songs for the Jet SetSongs for the Jet SetSongs for the Jetset is an album by London-based alternative band Drugstore. Recorded under two weeks, the band produced its best album to date. With sparse arrangements, creating an atmospheric and seductive vibe, perfect for the intimate vocals of singer-songwriter, Isabel Monteiro...
- 2002 - Drugstore Collector Number One (compilation of b-sides and out-takes)
- 2011 - Anatomy
Singles
- "Alive" (1993) - [Honey Records HON1]
- "Modern Pleasure" (1993) - [Rough Trade Singles Club 45REV 24]
- "Starcrossed" (1994) - [Honey Records HONCD3 Go! Discs 857709-2]
- "Nectarine" (1995) - UK #105[Honey Records HONCD4 Go! Discs - 857891-2]
- "Solitary Party Groover" (1995) - UK #105 [Honey Records HONCD6 Go! Discs - 857965-2]
- "Fader" (1995) - UK #75 - [Honey Records HON7]
- "Injection" (1995) - UK #81 [Honey Records HON8]
- "Mondo Cane" (1996) - UK #92 [Honey Records HON10]
- "El President" (1998) - UK #20 - [Roadrunner]
- "Sober" (1998) - UK #68 - [Roadrunner]
- "Say Hello" (1998) - UK #148 [Roadrunner]
- "I Wanna Love You Like a Man" (2000) - UK #131 [Global Warming]
- "Baby Don't Hurt Yourself" (2001)
- "Song for the Lonely" (2001) - UK #147 [Global Warming]
- "Sweet Chili Girl" (2011)[rocket girl]
Fanclub releases
- "Driving" (one-sided 7 inch release Christmas 1994, limited to 1000 copies, Honey Records HON5)
- "Xmas at the Drugstore" (one-sided 7 inch release Christmas 1995, Honey Records DXMAS95)
Additional recordings
- The band also contributed tracks to a variety of compilations, of note the Volume Series.