Twisted Wheel (band)
Encyclopedia
Twisted Wheel are an indie rock
band from Oldham
, Greater Manchester
, England
.
The band signed to Columbia Records in January 2008(against their will). Their first single, "She's A Weapon", was released in April 2008 to high acclaim by Radio 1's Zane Lowe, NME and Q. Their follow-up record, a four-track EP entitled You Stole The Sun, was released in July 2008. The band’s debut album Twisted Wheel, produced in Los Angeles by Dave Sardy (producer of Oasis’ ‘Dig Out Your Soul’ and Don’t Believe The Truth) was recorded in June 2008 and released on 13 April 2009. The first single from the album, "Lucy The Castle", was released in November 2008, with the follow-up, "We Are Us", released in March 2009.
The album received mixed reviews, but has seen gained them a huge following throughout the UK. A huge headline gig at Manchester's Academy 1 in particular. On 10 April 2010, Twisted Wheel announced that the unreleased song Tell The World was to become available as a free download to all of the fans on their mailing list, as a thank you for the support they have received on their current tour.
The band have spent the last three years on the road building a massive loyal audience without major radio play. Despite no immediate follow-up to the album, the fan base has continued to grow at a rapid rate. Twisted Wheel have also supported heavyweight rock bands like Kasabian, The View, The Enemy and were the main support acts of Oasis in the homecoming tour of 2009.
They have also supported Paul Weller (a big fan) on a couple of tours and played at Reading, Leeds, T in the Park, Glastonbury and many other large UK festivals. The band were met with an emphatic reception whilst on tour in Japan, both during support shows with Jet as well as headline shows. They were voted PRS second most gigged band in 2009.
The band describe themselves as a mixture of 70s punk (Sex Pistols, The Clash, Stiff Little Fingers) and 60s rock and roll (Rolling Stones, Kinks, The Who) with a pinch of Oasis thrown in. They also say that their music is energetic, truthful and raw and captures the energy of their punk souls and personalities. Other influences of the band include The Jam, The Stooges, Small Faces, The Smiths, The Happy Mondays and The Stone Roses.
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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 from Oldham
Oldham
Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amid the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers Irk and Medlock, south-southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of the city of Manchester...
, Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 2.6 million. It encompasses one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United Kingdom and comprises ten metropolitan boroughs: Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan, and the...
, 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...
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Formation and debut album
Twisted Wheel formed in February 2007 in Saddleworth, Oldham, Greater Manchester by guitarist and singer Jonny Brown and bassist Rick Lees, later joined by drummer Adam Clarke. Frontman Jonny Brown heard the name in a Paul Weller track "Into Tomorrow", where the lyrics say “Round and round like a twisted wheel, Spinning in attempt to find the feel” and thought it really suited the music. Twisted Wheel were booked as one of the support acts for Oasis's 2009 Heaton Park concerts. Embraced for their original, strong melodies, random, psychedelic themes and Brown’s irreverent poignant lyrics, the band soon gained a following amongst old mods/punks and younger heads looking for music which represented their generation. Their ferocious and lo-fi style along with intense live sets quickly labelled them as punk rock although influences span folk and 50s/60s bands too. Twisted Wheel cite Davy Graham, Bob Dylan, The Stooges The Small Faces, The Who, The Jam, The Rolling Stones and Oasis among their main influences.The band signed to Columbia Records in January 2008(against their will). Their first single, "She's A Weapon", was released in April 2008 to high acclaim by Radio 1's Zane Lowe, NME and Q. Their follow-up record, a four-track EP entitled You Stole The Sun, was released in July 2008. The band’s debut album Twisted Wheel, produced in Los Angeles by Dave Sardy (producer of Oasis’ ‘Dig Out Your Soul’ and Don’t Believe The Truth) was recorded in June 2008 and released on 13 April 2009. The first single from the album, "Lucy The Castle", was released in November 2008, with the follow-up, "We Are Us", released in March 2009.
The album received mixed reviews, but has seen gained them a huge following throughout the UK. A huge headline gig at Manchester's Academy 1 in particular. On 10 April 2010, Twisted Wheel announced that the unreleased song Tell The World was to become available as a free download to all of the fans on their mailing list, as a thank you for the support they have received on their current tour.
The band have spent the last three years on the road building a massive loyal audience without major radio play. Despite no immediate follow-up to the album, the fan base has continued to grow at a rapid rate. Twisted Wheel have also supported heavyweight rock bands like Kasabian, The View, The Enemy and were the main support acts of Oasis in the homecoming tour of 2009.
They have also supported Paul Weller (a big fan) on a couple of tours and played at Reading, Leeds, T in the Park, Glastonbury and many other large UK festivals. The band were met with an emphatic reception whilst on tour in Japan, both during support shows with Jet as well as headline shows. They were voted PRS second most gigged band in 2009.
New material
The follow-up to the band's debut album will be released some time this year following a change in the band’s line-up. Eoghan Clifford is now on drums and Stephen Evans plays bass and provides backing vocals. The band have been creating "more hardcore rock n roll punk melodies” with a focus on authentic texture of sound and lyric – a return to structure and immediacy missing from recent rock output. A sold-out short UK tour was announced on 30 September until late December 2010, featuring the new line-up in full for the first time and introducing several of the new songs (‘Better Man’, “New Boy’, the already favourite ‘UK Blues’, ‘iPod Generation’, ‘Poppy Love’ and ‘Do It Again’) from the forthcoming album. The band are currently recording this with a headline tour planned from April 17, 2011 and the release of the second album later this year. Jonny Brown says he wants the sound this time to be as visceral as possible, reminiscent of the texture found in early rock recordings from the 50s and 60s and to avoid over-production at all costs.Musical style
Their sound has been described as old school gritty rock 'n' roll reminiscent of the early Jam and the Clash. The band have been noted as "a breath of fresh air" by Liam Gallagher. They also have a fan in Paul Weller, who came to watch them at London's 100 Club and subsequently invited the band on his summer forest tour in 2009. He has also offered the use of his studios for any recordings. They have also done successful, commercially-used covers of The Jam’s ‘That’s Entertainment’ and The Zombies ‘She’s Not there’. Their music ranges from the poignant ballads of real characters and situations (‘Strife’, ‘Bouncing Bomb’) to the raucous war cries of frustrated 21st century youth and timeless punk anthems like ‘Oh What Have You Done’.The band describe themselves as a mixture of 70s punk (Sex Pistols, The Clash, Stiff Little Fingers) and 60s rock and roll (Rolling Stones, Kinks, The Who) with a pinch of Oasis thrown in. They also say that their music is energetic, truthful and raw and captures the energy of their punk souls and personalities. Other influences of the band include The Jam, The Stooges, Small Faces, The Smiths, The Happy Mondays and The Stone Roses.
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Band members
- Jonny Brown: vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
, guitarElectric guitarAn electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
. - Eoghan Clifford: drumsDrum kitA 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 ....
- Steve Evans: Bass
Former members
- Adam Clarke: drums - 2007 - 2010
- Rick Lees: bass - 2007 - 2010
- Anthony Collyer: nips - 2007 - 2009
Discography
Studio albums- Twisted WheelTwisted Wheel (Album)Twisted Wheel is the self-titled debut album by English rock band Twisted Wheel, released in 2009. The album spawned three singles and peaked at 45th on the UK Albums Chart....
(2009) - Untitled (2011)