Switches (band)
Encyclopedia
Switches were an English
indie rock
band, consisting of members Matt Bishop (lead vocals
and guitar
), Ollie Thomas (guitar
and backing vocals), Thom Kirkpatrick (bass guitar
) and Steve Godfrey (drums
).
, Surrey
. When Matt was young, he wrote songs and made music in his Essex
home. After meeting and befriending the other band members, they did some gigs and got publishing interest before finding a manager. Meanwhile, the boys where experimenting with different band names in order to "conjure something non-cliché, something simple and bold". They cite many artists as their main influences, all of whom can be seen here: http://www.myspace.com/weareswitches.
They released their debut EP
on Degenerate Records, entitled Message from Yuz on 10 July 2006. It was produced by Paul Schroeder. Their debut single (limited to 500 copies), "Lay Down the Law" appeared in September 2006. The band began recording their debut album in August 2006 at Sunset Sound Studios in Los Angeles
, where Prince
recorded some of his classic 1980s material. The album was recorded by record producer
Rob Schnapf
and engineer Doug Boehm
.
Switches toured with The Rakes
, The Automatic
, childhood hero Graham Coxon
and played the Reading and Leeds Festivals. The band released their second single 'Drama Queen', their first official release with Atlantic Records
, on January 29, 2007.
The band's debut album, Heart Tuned To D.E.A.D.
, was released on 23 April 2007, preceded by their second official single, a re-recording of "Lay Down The Law". The album reached #64 on the UK Albums Chart
.
The band made their Glastonbury debut in the summer of 2007, opening Saturday's Other Stage. At the start of 2008, Thom Kirkpatrick (bass) and Steve Godfrey (drums) replaced original members Max Tite and James Gardiner. Switches released their first American album, Lay Down the Law, on 18 March 2008 upon completion of their US tour with New York-based band, The Bravery
.
They received modest critical acclaim in the US, though this has not translated into any kind of success. However, the group had several songs from the album being featured in US television and films, including the track "Lay Down the Law", which was featured in the film
, Jumper
, but is not present on the soundtrack album.
TV appearances include: The Album Chart Show' (UK), Transmission (UK) and Jimmy Kimmel (US).
The group disbanded in late 2008. Founding members Matt Bishop and Ollie Thomas have since formed the band Flash Fiktion
.
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...
indie rock
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...
band, consisting of members Matt Bishop (lead vocals
Lead vocalist
The lead vocalist is the member of a band who sings the main vocal portions of a song. They may also play one or more instruments. Lead vocalists are sometimes referred to as the frontman or frontwoman, and as such, are usually considered to be the "leader" of the groups they perform in, often the...
and 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...
), Ollie Thomas (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...
and backing vocals), Thom Kirkpatrick (bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
) and Steve Godfrey (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 ....
).
Career
The band initially met whilst at university in GuildfordGuildford
Guildford is the county town of Surrey. England, as well as the seat for the borough of Guildford and the administrative headquarters of the South East England region...
, Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
. When Matt was young, he wrote songs and made music in his Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
home. After meeting and befriending the other band members, they did some gigs and got publishing interest before finding a manager. Meanwhile, the boys where experimenting with different band names in order to "conjure something non-cliché, something simple and bold". They cite many artists as their main influences, all of whom can be seen here: http://www.myspace.com/weareswitches.
They released their debut EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
on Degenerate Records, entitled Message from Yuz on 10 July 2006. It was produced by Paul Schroeder. Their debut single (limited to 500 copies), "Lay Down the Law" appeared in September 2006. The band began recording their debut album in August 2006 at Sunset Sound Studios in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, where Prince
Prince (musician)
Prince Rogers Nelson , often known simply as Prince, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Prince has produced ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career. Prince founded his own recording studio and label; writing, self-producing and playing most, or all, of...
recorded some of his classic 1980s material. The album was recorded by record producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
Rob Schnapf
Rob 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...
and engineer Doug Boehm
Doug Boehm
Doug Boehm is an American record producer and sound engineer who specializes predominantly in the rock music genre and has worked in collaboration with Rob Schnapf on a number of occasions. He produced the releases of the American group French Kicks and served as the recording engineer for Dr...
.
Switches toured with The Rakes
The Rakes
The Rakes were an English indie rock band from London. They split up in October 2009.-History:The Rakes formed in 2004. Since coming to fame in 2005, they were associated with the British post-punk/art rock scene, a genre shared by bands such as Bloc Party, Maxïmo Park, and The Futureheads...
, The Automatic
The Automatic
The Automatic , are a Welsh rock band. The band is composed of Robin Hawkins on vocals, bass and synthesizers, James Frost on guitar, synthesizers, backing vocals and occasional bass, Iwan Griffiths on drums and Paul Mullen on vocals, guitar and synthesizer - since 2007...
, childhood hero Graham Coxon
Graham Coxon
Graham Leslie Coxon is an English singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and painter. He came to prominence as the lead guitarist, backing vocalist and occasional lead vocalist of rock band Blur, and is also a critically acclaimed solo artist, having recorded seven solo albums...
and played the Reading and Leeds Festivals. The band released their second single 'Drama Queen', their first official release with Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
, on January 29, 2007.
The band's debut album, Heart Tuned To D.E.A.D.
Heart Tuned to D.E.A.D.
Heart Tuned to D.E.A.D. is the only album by the British indie rock band Switches. It was released in the UK on 23 April 2007. The album was released in the US as Lay Down the Law on March 18, 2008, with the omission of "Give Up the Ghost"....
, was released on 23 April 2007, preceded by their second official single, a re-recording of "Lay Down The Law". The album reached #64 on 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...
.
The band made their Glastonbury debut in the summer of 2007, opening Saturday's Other Stage. At the start of 2008, Thom Kirkpatrick (bass) and Steve Godfrey (drums) replaced original members Max Tite and James Gardiner. Switches released their first American album, Lay Down the Law, on 18 March 2008 upon completion of their US tour with New York-based band, The Bravery
The Bravery
The Bravery is an American rock band from New York City that consists of Sam Endicott , Michael Zakarin , John Conway , Mike Hindert , and Anthony Burulcich...
.
They received modest critical acclaim in the US, though this has not translated into any kind of success. However, the group had several songs from the album being featured in US television and films, including the track "Lay Down the Law", which was featured in the film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
, Jumper
Jumper (film)
Jumper is a 2008 American science fiction film, loosely based on the 1992 science fiction novel of the same name by Steven Gould. The film is directed by Doug Liman and stars Hayden Christensen, Samuel L. Jackson, Jamie Bell, Rachel Bilson, Max Thieriot, AnnaSophia Robb, and Diane Lane...
, but is not present on the soundtrack album.
TV appearances include: The Album Chart Show' (UK), Transmission (UK) and Jimmy Kimmel (US).
The group disbanded in late 2008. Founding members Matt Bishop and Ollie Thomas have since formed the band Flash Fiktion
Flash Fiktion
Flash Fiktion are an Anglo-Croatian alternative rock band from London, United Kingdom. They are currently signed to Split Records. Their sound has been compared to the likes of MGMT, Blur and Berlin-era David Bowie. They released their debut album in 2011....
.
Albums
- Heart Tuned to D.E.A.D.Heart Tuned to D.E.A.D.Heart Tuned to D.E.A.D. is the only album by the British indie rock band Switches. It was released in the UK on 23 April 2007. The album was released in the US as Lay Down the Law on March 18, 2008, with the omission of "Give Up the Ghost"....
23 April 2007 (UK #64) - Lay Down the LawHeart Tuned to D.E.A.D.Heart Tuned to D.E.A.D. is the only album by the British indie rock band Switches. It was released in the UK on 23 April 2007. The album was released in the US as Lay Down the Law on March 18, 2008, with the omission of "Give Up the Ghost"....
18 March 2008 - Alternate Route To D.E.A.D. (A collection of demos and rarities)
Singles
| Date | Single | Peak position | |
|---|---|---|---|
| UK | US | ||
| October 2006 | "Lay Down the Law" | ||
| January 2007 | "Drama Queen" | ||
| April 2007 | "Lay Down the Law" (re-issue) | ||
| March 2008 | "Drama Queen" |
External links
- Switches on MySpace
- Message from Yuz – Switches single video (Released July 10th 2006)
- Drama Queen - Switches UK single video
- Lay Down The Law - Video
- Switches in Hollywood caught in a Terra NaomiTerra NaomiTerra Naomi is an alternative, rock, and pop artist, who rose to fame through a performance of her song "Say It's Possible" on the video sharing site YouTube...
video (1:05 into video)