Idlewild are a Scottish
rock band, formed in Edinburgh
, in 1995, comprising Roddy
Woomble (lead vocals), Rod
Jones (guitar, backing vocals), Colin
Newton (drums), Allan
Stewart (guitar) and Gareth
Russell (bass). To date, Idlewild have released six
full-length studio albums, with their latest,
Post Electric Blues, self-released
to fans in June 2009.
Initially, the band's sound obeyed the conventions of 1990s British
indie-punk guitar music, however, unlike
many of their contemporaries, it developed over time from an edgy
and angular sound (as heard in their early material—once described
by the
NME as
"the sound of a flight of
stairs falling down a flight of stairs") to a sweeping,
melodic rock sound as displayed on
The Remote Part and
Warnings/Promises. While Idlewild's
sound cannot be easily placed into a specific genre, they have
clearly been influenced by the likes of:
Gang of Four,
Pavement,
R.E.M.,
Blur and
Fugazi.
Part of Idlewild's early success can be attributed to their singles
gaining heavy rotation on
Steve
Lamacq's Evening Session on
BBC Radio
1. Alongside his all-round endorsement of the band, Lamacq
often cites them as one of his favourite bands.
History
Beginnings, Captain and Hope Is Important
(1995–1998)
Idlewild,
named after the quiet meeting place in Anne of Green Gables, formed in
December 1995 in Edinburgh, Scotland when 19
year-old Roddy Woomble met drummer
Colin Newton at a party. The two
discovered that they had much in common, including similar musical
interests and record collections. By the end of the night, they had
discussed forming a band together. On the same night, the two were
introduced to guitarist
Rod
Jones and the three kept in contact afterwards, meeting up to
listen to music. Soon, the trio began writing songs together, and,
in need of a bassist, they brought
Phil
Scanlon into the fold, due to the fact that he owned a bass
guitar.
Idlewild played their first show on 16 January 1996, at the Subway
Club in Edinburgh to a crowd of thirty friends, which led to many
more shows around Edinburgh throughout the course of the year. In
May, 1996 the band, now with over twenty songs written, entered
Split Level Studios to record.
The tape of these recordings earned the band
many bookings at various venues around Scotland, including Glasgow
.
Local publications that heard the tape reviewed it favorably.
Phil Scanlon decided to leave the band in February, 1997 to
concentrate on his studies.
Since leaving Idlewild, he has become a
highly successful chemical engineer and currently resides outside
San
Francisco
.
Woomble asked
Bob Fairfoull to replace
the departing bassist. Fairfoull had been present at every Idlewild
show since the summer of
1996, and had
impressed the others with his spoken-word, solo acoustic shows as
well as his performances with Edinburgh band, Pussy Hoover.
Fairfoull's debut with the band took place on
28 February at Glasgow bar, Nice N'
Sleazy's.
The band's debut single "
Queen of the Troubled Teens" was
released on 17 March 1997, and built upon the chaotic reputation of
their shows. Radio Scotland DJ
Peter
Easton, and influential Radio One DJ
Steve Lamacq, came across copies. Lamacq was
particularly impressed with the track "Self Healer" and asked, on
the air, that if anyone knew anything about the band, they should
contact him. In the summer of 1997, Idlewild played their first
London shows which were attended by the likes of Lamacq, and
representatives from
Deceptive
Records. Reviews at this time, in the pages of
NME and
Melody
Maker compared their live gigs to "a flight of stairs
falling down a flight of stairs". The band were soon asked to
record a single for
Fierce Panda and to
record an EP/mini-album with Deceptive Records. In October 1997,
the band spent six days with producer Paul Tipler in South London.
The result was
Captain,
which the band describes as "an innocent, frank nugget of noise pop
magic". After the release of the "
Chandelier" single, the band signed a deal
with
Food Records/
EMI in December. Following the record deal, the members
quit their respective jobs or university courses.
1998 marked the year where the public became
actively aware of Idlewild, who kicked off the year with their
first UK tour, supporting the band
Midget. The release of
Captain, on
January 18, received positive reviews in
the
NME,
Melody Maker and
Kerrang!. In February the band re-entered the
studio, once again with Paul Tipler to record their first
full-length album for
Food Records. Two
singles were released before the album's release, "
A Film for the Future" (compared to
"
Smells Like Teen Spirit" by
one journalist) and "
Everyone Says You're So
Fragile". Both singles helped to expand the band's growing
fanbase alongside notable appearances at summer festivals. October
marked the arrival of their debut album
Hope Is Important which the band now
describes as "a confused, skewered, noisy, sad pop record". Further
singles from the album included, "
I'm a
Message" and fan favorite, "
When I Argue I See Shapes". Tours
supporting
Ash,
Placebo and
Manic Street Preachers followed the
release.
100 Broken Windows (1999–2001)
Idlewild
eventually returned to Edinburgh in 1999 to begin writing new
songs, and contacted engineer Bob Weston,
from Chicago
, who
recorded six songs with them in London. These songs held a
more aggressive, emptier sound than those previously, and the band
were pleased with the results; however, they remained unsure of
their direction.
During the summer, Idlewild were invited to
play at the opening of the Scottish Parliament
in Edinburgh, a momentous day for Scottish
history. Scotland is where the band would remain for a
while, letting the surrounding environment influence their
songwriting and letting the songs represent the band as they were.
Hitting a stride, the band returned to the studio with producer
Dave Eringa and recorded "Little
Discourage" and "Roseability" in their first session. Very happy
with the results, the band continued to record what would become
their second full-length album,
100 Broken Windows. The song
"
Little Discourage" was released
in September and brought Idlewild a larger fan-base and much more
radio play.
Hope Is Important was released in America, and
to support it, the band performed a small number of tour dates on
the East Coast. The remainder of the year was spent mixing the new
album in Glasgow.
In
March the following year, the band
released "Actually it's Darkness" and embarked on their biggest UK
tour to date.
Jeremy Mills joined the
band on tour, playing guitar and keyboards. Their sound had now
evolved from simplistic punk-rock to a more mature sound resembling
R.E.M.,
Echo & the
Bunnymen, and
The Smiths.
100
Broken Windows reached silver status in the UK and the band
went on tour in Europe and North America. Further singles released
from the album included "
These Wooden
Ideas" and "
Roseability".
As
2001 began, the band entered the studio once
again, this time with producer
Stephen
Street to record songs written in the last half of
2000. While happy with the results the band put their
next album aside to tour America. American music magazine
Spin named
100 Broken Windows the
"number one album you didn't hear in 2000" and the album received
other rave reviews in the American press on its release in April.
Whilst touring the album in America,
Allan Stewart replaced Jeremy Mills
as touring guitarist.
The Remote Part (2001–2003)
Idlewild eventually moved up to the highlands of Scotland and began
the writing and demoing process of what would become
The Remote Part.
Both Allan and Jeremy
joined the band in a cottage in Inchnadamph, Sutherland
. Woomble began a friendship with Scottish
poet laureate Edwin Morgan who would eventually end up
on the song "Scottish Fiction," the album's closing track. The
remainder of the year was spent recording and mixing the album in
various locations with producer
Dave
Eringa. This period marked the band's longest absence from
performing.
The first single from the album, "
You Held the World in Your
Arms", became 'A-listed' on
Radio
One and entered the
UK Singles
Chart at number nine, marking the band's biggest hit to date. A
UK tour followed with
Ikara Colt
supporting and a second single, "
American English", was released. On
release,
The Remote Part entered the album charts at
number three, and was considered a record of considerable depth, as
well as one of the most melodic records of the year. The album went
gold in the UK and a third single, "Live in a Hiding Place", was
released as the band embarked upon a four-month European tour in
September, which included supporting dates with
Coldplay.
On 29 September,
Bob Fairfoull left
the band, following a show in Amsterdam. Fairfoull had become
increasingly distant from the band over the past year. The band and
Fairfoull remain friends, and Bob now plays bass with
Edinburgh-based band
Degrassi and
Paper Beats Rock. Longtime Irish friend,
Gavin
Fox, joined the band as his replacement, while touring
guitarist,
Allan Stewart, became a
permanent member of the band.
While Fox learned his parts in Dublin
, technician
and friend Alex Grant filled
in to assist the band.
2002 was Idlewild's most successful year, with
The Remote
Part entering many 'Best of the Year' lists.
With Gavin and Allan officially in the band, Idlewild spent January
of the following year writing songs and practising in an old
lighthouse outside Edinburgh. A final single from
The Remote
Part, "
A Modern Way of
Letting Go", introduced the new lineup to the UK via several
television appearances and another short tour of Britain and
Ireland.
The
Remote Part received its US
release in
March 2003 and the band embarked upon a cross-continent, nine-week
headline tour playing their biggest US shows in New York City
and Los
Angeles
. The band then returned to America in May at
the request of
Pearl Jam, who asked the
band to open one leg of their
Riot
Act world tour. These were the biggest venues Idlewild had
played in, and they found friends in Pearl Jam, even playing with
them onstage on the final night in Chicago. Subsequently, in June
2007 Pearl Jam requested Idlewild to support them for a one-off
date at Wembley Arena.
Warnings/Promises (2003–2005)
The band
then returned to Scotland to reflect upon the year, and soon headed
for a house in Glenelg
in the Scottish
Highlands to start working on songs for the next record.
Writing continued intermittently until early December (pausing only
to open for
The Rolling Stones in
September at Glasgow's SECC).
As 2004
began, Idlewild spent the first four months of the year writing and
demoing new songs up in the Scottish Highlands, and in Roddy's flat
in London
.
The band
chose to work with American producer Tony
Hoffer and flew out to Los Angeles and spent the next three months recording and
mixing the new songs. This marked the first time Idlewild
had recorded an album all in one go.
The band finished up the record in October 2004, in New York with
mixer, Michael Brauer. Roddy rented a room on the Lower East Side
and stayed there for the remainder of the year, listening to the
album they'd just made. 2004 became the first in the band's
existence devoted almost entirely to writing and recording an
album. At the end of this year they titled it
Warnings/Promises.
2005 began with a series of acoustic shows around the UK. The first
single from
Warnings/Promises, entitled "
Love Steals Us from
Loneliness", appeared in February and became Idlewild's fourth
Top 20 single. The album followed two weeks later and debuted
within the UK Top Ten.
Warnings/Promises received mainly
positive reviews; however, some critics and fans disliked the
band's direction with this album.
In the UK, the band embarked upon an extensive UK tour, changing
the setlist every night and revisiting songs from each of their
albums. In the summer, Idlewild played a number of festivals and
opened shows for
U2, R.E.M. and the
Pixies.
The year ended with a Christmas show at the
band's "spiritual home", famed venue the Glasgow Barrowlands
.
In November, the band announced that they had parted ways with
their record company
Parlophone after
fulfilling their contractual obligation over eight years, leaving
them without a record deal. However, despite rumors that they were
breaking up, the band claimed that they were looking forward to the
future.
After
their December Barrowlands gig, Gavin Fox left the
band and was replaced by former Astrid
bassist Gareth Russell.
Make Another World (2006-2007)
In July 2006, Roddy Woomble released an album of
folk music under his own name titled
My Secret is My Silence.
Woomble's solo material was written alongside Rod Jones, friend
Michael Angus and folksinger
Karine
Polwart, and produced by folk musician
John McCusker. Roddy toured the album in July
and August.
Rod Jones meanwhile worked on
an album with
Inara George called
George Is Jones
The band spent spent many months writing new material, which was
recorded with
100 Broken
Windows and
The Remote
Part producer
Dave Eringa in
their
rehearsal room.
In July 2006, it was announced Idlewild would sign to 1960s label
Sequel, which was reactivated by
music group
Sanctuary.
The album
Make Another
World was released on March 5, 2007. "
If It Takes You Home" was the first
single released from it and was available as a download and 7"
single. "
No Emotion" was the second
single released; it went to #36 in the UK Top 40 chart. "
A Ghost in the Arcade" was the next
single, released on 18 June, though only as an
internet-downloadable track and not available on physical CD.
At the 19 March 2007, Aberdeen concert on the Make Another World UK
Tour, Woomble announced the show was being filmed for a live DVD
release (included with special edition of the band's greatest hits
album
Scottish
Fiction - Best of 1997-2007). The band played a
twenty-three song setlist which included a considerable number of
songs from earlier albums such as
Hope is Important. It
was at this gig that the video for "A Ghost in the Arcade" was
filmed.
During their
16 May gig in The Liquid Room,
Edinburgh, Woomble announced an Idlewild 'Greatest Hits'
compilation would be released later in the year at the request of
former label Parlophone.
Scottish Fiction - Best of
1997-2007 was released on 1 October 2007 by Parlophone and
is a 17 track 'best of' compilation featuring career highlights,
and includes the aforementioned DVD.
A second compilation album was also released on
29 October.
A Distant History -
Rarities 1997-2007 included the band's early singles as
well as many B-sides and was available only through download
stores.
Post Electric Blues (2009)
In November 2007, writing on the band's
MySpace site, Woomble denied rumours Idlewild would
split, instead stating that they would shortly be beginning work on
their seventh studio album.In 2007 the band played at Edinburgh's
hogmanay celebrations and won the best festival act award at the
Tartan Clef awards. The band continue to play more gigs while
working on their next album. Meanwhile, Woomble has been writing a
column for Scottish newspaper
The
Sunday Herald and released an album with
Kris Drever and
John
McCusker, entitled
Before the
Ruin, in September 2008.
In December 2008 the band played five shows at
King Tut's Wah Wah Hut, playing each
of their studio albums in full. Roddy Woomble noted that the band
"are going to try to play every track [they've] ever written -
including B-sides - which has to be more than 100 songs."
In
February 2009, they announced that they would be staging a similar
residency at Dingwalls
in Camden
, London.
A new song, "City Hall", has appeared in a recent setlist, and the
band entered the studio in January 2009. On his online diary, Roddy
Woomble notes that he has: "been trying to work on lyrics for the
new Idlewild record. At the moment it has the possibility of being
about anything, so I've been trying to narrow that down a bit. I've
been re-reading
Jack Kerouac's novels
and following this US election, and keeping up with all the new US
groups, so maybe it'll take on a Stars and stripes theme. It'll
probably end up being about mountains and Islands though."
A further post read: "I've also been whittling away with the rest
of the band in our very cold practice space on songs for the new
album. Sometimes having no heating actually makes everyone work
harder (the temptation to sit around chatting over coffee and cakes
is never far away) but then other times I really just wish that we
had it, because it's a big old room and it's freezing. We have
about twelve good tunes now, but are planning on having fifteen by
the time we head into a recording studio in February (which has now
been booked). I imagine that they'll all be pulled into a different
shape by the time they make it onto a CD or LP, but that's part of
the interesting process of writing songs."
On 21 November the band sent an email to fans on the mailing list
offering them a chance to preorder the new album (along with
"exclusive packaging & including at least one bonus track") to
be "shipped within weeks of completion". All fans who bought the
album this way will also have their name appeear in the CD booklet
and on a roll call on the band's official website. The band
explained their reasoning behind this in the email, where they
said:
"After 11 years of recording and releasing records within the
constraints of the record industry we now fee that the time is
right and the technology exists for us to deal more quickly and
directly with the fans. It also allows us total control of our
music and will ultimately mean that should you choose to get
involved you will hear our music as soon as it is available.
Although the album will have a more traditional release some time
later in 2009 we hope you will support us in our efforts to try
something new and choose to pre-order the album now."
On May 9th 2009, Roddy confirmed in his online diary that the new
album will be entitled
Post Electric Blues. The album was
performed in full on May 19th.
Initial emails indicated a release date to fans who had pre-ordered
the album of mid-April, but the album was eventually mailed out on
June 10th 2009.
At the
Wickerman Festival,
Woomble revealed from the stage that the first single from the
album is to be "Readers & Writers", and that the album will see
an official release in October.
Members
Current
Former
Discography
Studio albums
- 1 Often considered to be a mini-album.
- 2 Charted at number 2 on the UK Indie Chart.
- 3 Self-released to fans through
idlewildmusic.com
Compilation albums
Singles
Other appearances
References
- isnakebite.com > interviews >
idlewild
- [1] [2]
- Idlewild deny split rumours | News | NME.COM
-
http://www.sundaymail.co.uk/tv-showbiz-news/music-news/music-reviews/2008/09/14/it-s-five-live-for-idlewild-78057-20735894/
- http://www.roddywoomble.com/
-
http://www.stereokill.net/2009/05/idlewild-perform-new-album-in-full/
-
http://stereokill.net/2009/07/29/idlewild-album-single-info/
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