The Twang
Formed in 2001, the band rocketed to stardom when iconic British music magazine the NME hailed them as “Britain’s best new band”, igniting mass media frenzy. Along with this came huge interest from the music industry itself, with nearly all the major record labels flocking to sign this new and exciting act from Birmingham.
Despite numerous meetings with the ‘majors’, The Twang eventually signed with Independent record label B Unique.
The Twangs’ first single release was Wide Awake in March 2007, shortly followed by second single Either Way in May which reached #8 in the UK charts. In June of the same year the five friends from Birmingham realised their dream by releasing debut album Love it when I feel like this, which reached #3 in the UK charts. The album was recorded at Magic Garden studios in Wolverhampton by long time Twang associate, Gavin Monaghan. In August The Twang released their third single Two Lovers, which was accompanied by a video starring iconic British actor Danny Dyer and actress Jamie Winstone as the two dysfunctional sweethearts.
2007 proved to be a hugely successful year for The Twang, which included an “Either Way” remix and collaboration with The Streets legend, Mike Skinner, a headline Saturday night slot on the John Peel stage at Glastonbury, numerous T.V and radio appearances and a sold out show at London’s Brixton academy where they played to five thousand adoring fans.
In January 2008, following a rollercoaster year The Twang decamped to the isle of Anglesey, where they hired a private cottage and quietly began writing what would eventually be their second studio album. The band have described this period as a magical time in their career.
In March 2008, The Twang packed their bags and jetted out to Granada, Spain, to record their second album with Killing Joke bassist and music producer, ‘Youth’, credited with recording ‘The Verve’s’ iconic album ‘Urban Hymns’. Back in the UK they enlisted ‘Mint Royale’ whiz kid Neil Claxton and finished recording at ‘Blueprint’ Studio’s in Salford, Manchester, home of Mercury Prize winning band ‘Elbow’. A month later the album was complete and the title “Jewellery Quarter” was attached to it, a homage to the area in Birmingham in which the band were now resident. The artwork to ‘Jewellery Quarter’ was the idea of critically acclaimed Wolverhampton artist ‘Temper’ who, unknown to the band was also situated in the Jewellery Quarter. The piece depicts ‘The Twang’ all pulling a huge anchor, the symbol of the Jewellery quarter. The artwork, painted entirely with aerosol cans, stood at nearly six feet in height.
The first single Barney Rubble was released in July 2009 sampling the beat of 90’s classic dance track ‘Give it up’ by ‘The Good Men’. The band travelled to Montenegro to shoot the video.
The Twang’s second studio album was released in August 2009, charting at number twenty. They followed the album with second single ‘Encouraging sign’ the video to which was filmed at Birmingham’s 02 academy in front of a live audience.
In summer 2010, The Twang began writing and recording new material with long time friend and producer Jon ‘Simmo’ Simcox. With the introduction of Simcox on guitar, the Twang realised a fresh new sound and direction. They quickly recorded demos, and then later in 2010 recorded final versions of the songs due to be released as The Twang third album in the summer of 2011. Before the release of the as yet untitled third album they released a four song EP called ‘Guapa’ on February 7th 2011.
“Britain’s best new band” NME
“They've got the tunes to back up their cocksure swagger“ THE GUARDIAN
“They’ve amassed a collection of towering choruses which should see them working their set into a hits-heavy monster, most of which are faster, funkier and as full-on as their demeanour“ CLASH MUSIC
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Cast
Originally formed in 1992 from the ashes of two of the most legendary and lauded guitar bands of all time, The La’s and Shack, Cast released four albums, the second 'Mother Nature Calls' also went platinum (three of them top 10), and had ten top 10 singles, before disbandiNg in 2001. During that time, Noel Gallagher described watching Cast play live as “a religious experience”, and ‘All Change’ became the biggest selling debut album of all time for Polydor Records. After the band’s split, John Power released three solo albums, and has played intermittently since 2005 with the reformed La’s.
A decade later, and the original line-up of John Power (guitar/ vocals), Liam ‘Skin’ Tyson (lead guitar), Pete Wilkinson (bass) and Keith O’Neill (drums) have reunited with original producer John Leckie (Stone Roses, Radiohead, The Fall) for ‘Troubled Times’. The reinvigorated band have produced an album full of the anthemic, melodic and beautifully written songs for which they have always been loved by their fervent fanbase.
John Power says of the reformation: "Getting back with the band and working with John Leckie again after all these years apart was just how I envisioned it when I started writing the songs for this album. Then it was all about putting into words what it was I was feeling, about all the things I was seeing all around me and troubled times is what we found."
