Feeder
Live at the Roundhouse in aid of War Child. November 6 2006
Background information
Origin	Newport, Wales
Genre(s)	Rock Indie rock Alternative rock Pop rock
Years active	1992 – present
Label(s)	Echo
Website	FeederWeb.com
Members
Grant Nicholas Taka Hirose Mark Richardson Jon Lee (deceased)

Feeder are a Brit-nominated Welsh rock band who formed in Newport, South Wales in 1992. With the lead single "Buck Rogers" from their 2001 album Echo Park, Feeder entered the top 10 of the UK single charts for the first time. After their breakthrough year, their drummer Jon Lee committed suicide in his Miami home in January 2002. The band vowed to continue and would then in October 2002 release Comfort in Sound, an album musically and lyrically focused around the band's emotions at the time which was well-received by critics. Former Skunk Anansie and Little Angels drummer Mark Richardson joined the band in August 2002. Alongside Jon, the band were originally comprised of Grant Nicholas (lead vocals, guitar, piano) and Taka Hirose (bass).

The band has released five studio albums and two compilations, including the platinum-selling singles album. In total they have three platinum albums, two gold albums and one silver all in the UK. Their only sales award outside the UK is that of a gold award in Ireland for their singles album.

Although Feeder have not reached #1 on any sales-based chart with any of their own releases so far, they are the 457th most successful UK chart act of all time as of December 2006 according to the ranking system that was used in the Guinness Book of British Hit Singles & Albums, based on the combination of single and album chart weeks. To date they have twenty-three top 75 singles, and seven top 75 albums.

History

Formation

Typeset cassette inlay of a Feeder demo tape, recorded under the name of "Real".

At the age of 14, singer and guitarist Grant Nicholas joined a band called 'Sweet Leaf', named after a Black Sabbath song- the first band Grant had seen play live. At this time bassist Taka Hirose and drummer Jon Lee were playing in different covers bands.

While playing in different bands on the Newport gig circuit, Grant and Jon became friends. They decided to train to become sound engineers, but were interested in playing in bands as opposed to recording them. They formed a band called 'Rain Dancer' after Jon left Newport band The Darling Buds during the previous year. The formers sound was described by Grant as that of The Waterboys. However, before then they formed an electronic duo called 'Temper Temper' and like 'Rain Dancer', they failed to work out.

Going back to the drawing board, they formed a three piece band called 'Reel' in which they fired their bass player before changing their name to 'Real'. During this time they recruited Japanese bassist Taka Hirose via an advert in Loot. The band then changed their name to Feeder named after Grant's pet goldfish.

They won their recording contract with Echo after sending a demo tape and then completed the deal after an employee from the label witnessed one of the bands gigs. A track from the demo titled "Don't Bring Me Down", appeared as a b-side on the "Day in Day Out" single, but uses an electric guitar as opposed to an acoustic as heard on the released version.

In 2006 a demo tape of their early demos surfaced on eBay, selling for £180 pounds. It contains the recording of "Suffocate" under the name of "Give", alongside an unreleased track titled "Believe". "Give" is reportedly "slightly different musically and lyrically" from that of "Suffocate".

Two Colours - Swim (1995-1996)

Feeder's first release the Two Colours EP.

Feeder's first official release was the 2 track Two Colours EP in 1995, which was only available at the bands first gigs. It was limited to 1500 CDs and 1000 7" vinyls and today is valued at £40-60. In 1996, the band released their first commercially available release the Swim EP, on Echo. The record had six tracks on it with a running time of 22 minutes, with a 2001 re-issue including b-sides and two videos from the era of their debut album proper. The EP was given a 4/5 review in Kerrang! magazine (KKKK).

Shortly before the record was released, a tape called Two Tracker was given away free with Kerrang! magazine and contained the tracks "Sweet 16" and "Waterfall", the latter was described in the inlay card as one of the tracks that was on their forthcoming debut album proper then entitled Here In The Bubble (which soon changed its name to Polythene). Some of the photography for the EP's inlay was produced by Grant himself, while Chris Sheldon produced the album. The band released "Stereoworld" from the record as its only single, after appearing at the Reading festival. The year also saw the band participate in a tour, visiting seaside towns like Newquay.

Polythene (1997-1998)

Feeder in 1997. From left to right: Taka Hirose, Grant Nicholas and Jon Lee.

After building a strong fanbase with the release of Swim, the following year the band released their first full album. The result Polythene is now widely regarded as a classic by Kerrang! magazine readers, as they voted it the 87th best British rock album of all time in a January 2005 issue. Two tracks from "Swim" were used for the album with those being "Descend" and "Stereoworld".

After the recording sessions were completed, the album's first single "Tangerine" was released and charted at #60 in the UK charts. This was followed by "Cement" charting at #53 and then the release of the album in which it charted at #65. Two more singles were released either side of their main stage debut at the Reading festival of 1997, with "Crash" making #48 and a new song entitled "High" charted at #24.

The album as of March 2003, has been certified silver by the BPI for shipments of 60,000 units. They also re-issued the album in October 1997 with "High" included and the "Stereoworld" b-side "Change" replacing "Waterfall" from the original tracklist. Also included as an enhanced element was the video for "High". The album caused many critics to label the band "The UK's answer to the Smashing Pumpkins", and also draw comparisons to The Pixies including Talk Talk. The bands tour of the album took part in April before the release of the "Cement" single, and would also tour after the release of the album. The bands earlier sound on the album was once described by Grant as "heavy but melodic rock".

In early 1998, following the band's final 1997 tour in support of Polythene, the band travelled to the USA as a support act for Everclear. During the tour the band released back home in the UK a re-worked version of "Suffocate" from their album which charted at #37. After their return to the UK, they played their own headline tour with Everclear this time in the support slot. Later on in the year Feeder then started to play various music festivals in the States, before a tour took place with "High" being released to radio stations and charting at #24 on the rock chart as a result, it was the follow up to "Cement" which charted at #31. During the first US tour, Grant said he used to get very tired and sometimes could not wait to return home to work on the next album. Alongside a broken ankle and other injuries, he also said he used to find it hard to sleep at nights, which inspired him to write "Insomnia" which appeared on their second album. They stayed in the US for the majority of the year, with a trip back to the UK for their V98 appearance. Feeder later introduced as a live guitarist Dean Tidey who plays at the band's gigs, Grant said in a 1998 interview in Kerrang!, that he was considering bringing in another guitarist for their live gigs. Polythene sold 25,000 copies in the States during 1998.

Yesterday Went Too Soon (1999)

Feeder performing on Top of the Pops for the first time in their career, with their #22 single "Insomnia".

For 1999's "Yesterday Went Too Soon", the band decided to self-produce the album and brought in Matt Sime for engineering duties, while the album was mixed in New York by Andy Wallace. "Dry" was re-recorded as a full band version after the original acoustic version appeared on "Suffocate" as a b-side. That single's b-sides featured tracks from their sessions for the album, and therefore gave an idea on how this album was going to sound. The working title for the album was originally A Life Through Headphones, and was originally planned to be a double album. The name change was due to former Take That singer Robbie Williams releasing his solo debut album Life Thru a Lens, and did not want to be associated with him.

When the album was released, the bands awareness raised and it would enter the UK charts at #8. Before then the band released the albums first single "Day in Day Out" in March 1999 which charted at #31, which was followed by "Insomnia" at #22 and was their first appearance on TOTP. A week before album release the band played once again the main stage of the Reading/Leeds festival, while the title track from the album was at #20 in the singles chart and the album was then released on August 30, 1999. Only one single was lifted from the album afters, in which a re-recorded version of "Paperfaces" charted at #41.

Some of the album's lyrical themes were that of Grant writing from a persons perspective of working daily in a menial supermarket job ("Day In Day Out"), his experiences after gigs on their US tour ("Insomnia", "You're My Evergreen"), relationships ending (the title track and "Dry"), the music industry ("Hole in My Head") and "fear of commitment in relationships" ("Anaesthetic") amongst others. Musically the album employed an indie rock feel to it, which also featured extended appearances of an acoustic guitar on some of its tracks.

The album was due for release in June but this was delayed until August to include material written after its completion which the band felt was too good to leave off. On its release the UK music press immediately warmed to the album with Rob Fitzpatrick, then of Melody Maker, citing "An absolute stormer it is. unmissable. absolutely", and also receiving the magazine's "Album of the Week" accolade. This enthusiasm was shared by Metal Hammer who awarded the album a 10/10 mark. The year ended with the band providing support for Red Hot Chili Peppers at Wembley Arena and for the Manic Street Preachers at the Millennium Stadium. As of March 2003, the album has gone gold shipping 100,000 units in the UK.

Echo Park (2000-2001)

Feeder in 2001. Left to right: Jon Lee, Grant Nicholas and Taka Hirose.

The following year, Feeder spent most of 2000 at Great Lindford Manor studios writing and recording for their next album. During the year the band also played festivals around the country previewing the new material they were working on, such as V2000 and Glastonbury, but would end the year promoting "Buck Rogers"- their first single since November 1999, and then playing a mini-tour at the end of the year to mainly showcase the new material. The same night the band played the Leeds Cockpit in December 2000, they were told earlier on in the day that their new single has made the radio 1 A-list, meaning it would be given a high degree of airplay rotation. The release of the single on January 8, 2001 was coupled with a signing session at London's now closed Tower Records store, and then TV appearances on Top of The Pops and The Pepsi Chart Show due to the singles midweek performance. This seen the band become forced to cancel two signing sessions as a result. The single charted at #5 becoming the bands first top 10 entry in that chart. In South Africa, the track was very well received by radio DJ's, by reaching #1 on the 5FM top 40 and would headine a one-day event celebrating the station's 26th birthday.

Not really, I think with the radio thing you have to be really careful; at the end of the day Feeder's not a typical daytime radio band, but what we've done is that we've proved that a guitar band - a British guitar band, and a band that doesn't have the profile of U2 or someone can still get into the top ten. It is possible!, it just seems to be that its always the big Amercian bands who sort of dominate the top ten; a Limp Bizkit or whatever, but saying that I think the whole Travis and Coldplay thing has been really good as sort of a stepping stone, and also I think people are getting fed up of just seeing Westlife or Steps on the TV. I think people are finding rock, and real bands again - I think that the market is currently so bombarded with pop stuff that we're just quite refreshing. Rock never went away, but it never really got the exposure. Hopefully it'll get "Seven Days in the Sun" away...

— Grant Nicholas in Feederweb fanzine, responding to a question asking if he felt under pressure to create another radio-friendly song.

Grant once said that the song is about a relationship ending but also uses humour, with the name for the song originating from a keyboard piece Grant created which sounded "futuristic", and named it "Buck Rogers". Grant wrote the track for an American band called 'Radio Star', but was convinced by producer Gil Norton not to give the song away as he felt Feeder themselves could have a hit with it. The single appears in many all-time lists generated by XFM and Kerrang!, with a 2004 peak of #25 in the annual XFM list. "Buck Rogers" is featured on the soundtrack of the 2001 film Behind Enemy Lines starring Owen Wilson.

After a sell-out tour of two legs, ending at the London Astoria the said album Echo Park entered and peaked at #5 in the UK album charts. A third single "Turn" reached #27 before festival season, in which the band played the main stages of Reading/Leeds and also T in the Park. "Just a Day" a b-side from "Seven Days in the Sun" reached #12.

The album saw the band take on much more of a commercially influenced sound, and also the appearance of Moog synthesizers, while being lyrically focused on a comedy approach like with "Seven Days in the Sun", but also dark emotions such as those shown on "Turn", "Oxygen" and "Satellite News". It was during the campaign for Echo Park, that the band played another slot on the main stage at the Reading/Leeds festival. As of August 2003, the album has shipped 300,000 units in the UK going platinum.

Grant said in a Melody Maker interview that if the album did not sell well enough the band would probably split up, in which he said at the time "It's the same with any band. That's just the way the music business is. There is only a certain amount of money a label will put into a band. I'm just being realistic. We've been around for seven or eight years and I am not planning on giving up, but we're putting everything into this record and I'm just hoping that people like it". The album was voted the 25th best British rock album of all-time by Kerrang! readers, and was the highest placed Feeder album in the list. On August 28, 2001 the band won "Best British Live Act" at the Kerrang! awards, before ending the year supporting the Stereophonics on their UK tour, and then releasing the "Just a Day" single in December.

Comfort in Sound (2002-2003)

Feeder's first album release after the loss of their drummer Jon Lee.

The following year in 2002, the bands drummer Jon Lee committed suicide in his Miami home, resulting in the band keeping out of the public eye for most of the year. It was during this time Grant Nicholas wrote a series of songs relating to their emotions and reactions to Jon's death, which formed their fourth album Comfort in Sound. The band brought in former Skunk Anansie and Little Angels member Mark Richardson for drum duties. The album focused mainly on themes such as loss, depression, grievance, and positivity while dedicating "Quickfade" to Jon. The album was released in October of the same year to widespread critical acclaim in the British music press with Kerrang! stating "Comfort in Sound harnesses the anthemic appeal of a latter day U2 ... and a quality that propels Feeder from the confines of the everyday into the neighbourhood of everyman ..." and giving the album their "Album of the Week" award, alongside the heavy rock magazine Metal Hammer giving the album the similar accolade of "Album of the Month" while citing "an album they should rightfully be proud of ... ". The band decided to play at the Reading/Leeds festivals that year, making a low-key appearance by playing the second stage. Comfort in Sound was voted by Kerrang! readers as one of their top 100 British rock albums of all-time at #32.

It’s one of the best songs I’ve done, but we nearly didn’t do it. I wrote it right at the end of making Comfort in Sound, and our producer Gil Norton said he wasn’t sure we really needed another mid tempo song. But when we played it, we all thought that it definitely did have something. Lyrically it’s quite dark but it’s still an uplifting song. This was the single that really made the album a success. It’s the kind of song I’d like us to be remembered for

— Grant Nicholas on the second Comfort in Sound single, "Just the Way I'm Feeling".

Musically, the album was much more mellow with the use of a string orchestra on "Forget About Tomorrow". Other tracks on the album also used an accordion, trumpet and a piano played by their manager Matt Page, with "Godzilla" being one of two tracks on the album to use loud guitars. This caused Feeder Fan Site to suggest it didn't fit in with the main feel of the album, by citing "As a package CIS is almost as well formed as Yesterday Went Too Soon. The playlist is spot on (Godzilla being the only track that sits, not entirely sure if it really belongs)". The album brought them onto the list of platinum-selling bands in the UK, making it their first to receive such a sales award, (with Echo Park going platinum later on). It also spawned their second top 10 single with "Just the Way I'm Feeling" in January 2003. In December of the same year they took on their first and only arena tour to date, after the albums first tour sold all of its 60,000 tickets.

The album's final single, was only available to buy as a limited edition of 3,000 CD copies on their 2003 arena tour. Four singles were released commercially with those being "Come Back Around" (#14), "Just The Way I'm Feeling" (#10), "Forget About Tomorrow" (#12) and "Find the Colour" (#24) which was released after their V2004 appearance and Kerrang! award win for "Best British Band", in which Grant dedicated the award to Jon saying it was the award he always wanted the band to win. They later went on to win an Internet Music Award for their "Just The Way I'm Feeling" video. Their efforts also helped them receive their only Brit-award nomination to date, in the "Best British Rock" category at the 2004 event, before making their only appearance in the charts that year as part of Bob Geldof's Band Aid 20 charity ensemble. Although only Grant appeared on the recording, he is still credited under the Feeder name while the single was the Christmas #1, and becoming 2004's biggest UK-selling single.

Pushing the Senses (2004-2005)

Grant Nicholas performing with Feeder at the Islington Academy, promoting the Pushing The Senses album, as part of the XFM live session series.

Feeder returned to the studio to record their fifth album. The album was seen by Grant as more of an extension to Comfort in Sound, as it focused on the same lyrical themes and musical styles, and also said that it had more of an organic sound, and more upbeat tracks added into the mix. It also seen a number of piano driven tracks, with "Frequency" being an example. "Frequency" was produced by Coldplay producer Ken Nelson. For the rest of the album, Gil Norton was on production duties.

As a result, 2005's Pushing the Senses received criticism from long time fans and critics. The album was Feeder's highest charting release at #2 on the UK album chart, while receiving a gold certification. Press response to the album was mixed with Paul Brannigan of Q Magazine citing the album as "An album that could finally establish Feeder as major league players", and Chris Heath of Dotmusic dismissing the album saying "Pushing the Senses is by no means soppy, but Feeder's young fanbase might need some convincing".

It's funny, I don't even particularly like that song, I've always thought I was a pretty dark songwriter, and what do I finally get known for?. A throwaway pop song. But I really shouldn't complain, should I?. If it wasn't for "Buck Rogers", I probably wouldn't be here talking to you now.

— Grant Nicholas talking about "Buck Rogers" in a 2005 edition of Q Magazine.

The album helped them win a headline slot at the Festival appearing above Garbage in the billing order, shortly before supporting U2 for a brief period on their Vertigo tour, which was followed by an appearance at the Live 8 concert in Edinburgh (the second charity event the band played that year after Tsunami Relief in Cardiff). The album in total spawned four UK top 40 singles, which included "Shatter"- a reworked version of the "Tumble and Fall" b-side that became a double A-side with "Tender" (#11). Other singles apart from "Tumble and Fall" (#5), included "Feeling A Moment" (#13) and "Pushing The Senses" (#30). "Tender" and "Shatter" both featured on the European release of the Russian film Night Watch, a fan-petition was launched to see its release as a single in its own right.

In September 2005, Grant Nicholas was misquoted in an interview that the band were set to split, which caused the rumour to be reported on music television and radio. The bands website soon denied the claims made in an official statement that read "Contrary to inaccurate reports in the press and on the radio, Feeder are not recording their last album, nor set to split. An over-enthusiastic reporter seems to have put 2 and 2 together and come up with 43. Indeed the group are looking forward to the release of new single "Shatter"/"Tender" in October and a Far East and UK tour in November. They have already started writing new material for a Singles Album to be released in the New Year and a further studio album to follow the current album Pushing the Senses". Soon later in a Kerrang! interview, Grant said that the interviewer misquoted him, and that he said the next album would be Feeder's last album on their current deal with Echo, before deciding to either re-sign or look for a new label.

Feeder would end the year seeing their then latest album appear at #39 on Q Magazine's end of year list, with "Feeling a Moment" voted at the 98th best song of the year by their readers, before winning an award for the album at the Pop Factory Awards in Wales. However, the day before they postponed a winter tour, after Grant picked up bleeds on his vocal cords.

The Singles (2006-2007)

Feeder's singles album, which became their third UK platinum seller.

I’ve had people coming up to me saying that they liked the earlier singles but didn’t realise it was us that did them. It’s introduced a lot of our earlier singles to people. We’d had success early on but we weren’t huge. I thought the record had good tracks and the three new tracks made it completely new for our older fans. It took me a long time to sequence the album to make sure it flowed together properly. It wasn’t just a matter of shoving a load of singles on there.

— Grant Nicholas talking in 2006 on the sales performance of The Singles.

The following year in 2006 Feeder returned to the studio with this time Stephen Street working as the bands producer, to record three new tracks to appear on their then forthcoming singles collection The Singles. "Lost and Found" (which Grant described as "an urban love song") became the first single to promote the collection, and would reach #12 in the UK singles chart in May 2006, after completing their delayed winter tour. The Singles, released in the same month of "Lost and Found" was the first Feeder album to have involvement from a major label, with EMI talking part in a one-off collaboration with Echo as the albums distributor. The album reached #2 on the UK albums chart, and was certified platinum in under three months including a gold certification in Ireland. "Save Us" was the second and final single from the album charting at #34 in late July. A version of the album included a DVD of all their videos filmed up to that point, and extensive sleevenotes by Ben Johncock- a freelance author and writer.

Feeder returned to the Reading/Leeds festival after a four year break, having a late slot on the main stage, before ending the year with a small tour of London playing The Roundhouse and The Coronet. Two of these three gigs seen guest appearances from The Sugababes and Jamelia which were in aid of War Child, who the band are patrons of and earlier in the year visited The Congo as part of their work for the charity. In Summer 2007 the band headlined the Redbourn Music Festival along with Dirty Pretty Things, The Automatic and Ghosts, after also headlining the Loch Lomond festival in Scotland.

New studio album (2008)

The band spoke about their new album during the course of 2006, stating in an interview on XFM that the album will have a heavier sound than their previous two albums. On 29 June 2007 Feeder released a teaser edited by Taka of their recording sessions for their new album on MySpace. A later video was released also edited by Taka on the 7 November 2007. Both can also be found on YouTube. Feeder will be playing the Isle of Wight and T in the Park festivals in 2008.

On 3 March 2008, a clip of a new song entitled "Miss You" was added to the band's website, and the full version was also made available to . The album, as of yet, is untitled. The song showcases the band's return to their original rockier sound. Along with the free song , they also launched a brand new mini-website, which included a new blog area for members of the band.

Awards and achievements

Although Feeder never gained mainstream recognition in their earlier days, the band did during this time gain a lot of accolades from various alternative music publications. For example, their debut album Polythene was Metal Hammer's #1 album of 1997, and also appeared at 6th place in Kerrang!'s list. The follow up Yesterday Went Too Soon in 1999, was Melody Maker's 24th top album of the year, with Metal Hammer placing the album in 6th spot and Kerrang! in 16th.

According to the all-time ranking system that was used in the Guinness Book of British Hit Singles & Albums, Feeder were as of December 2006 ranked at #457, making them one of the most successful acts in UK chart history under Guinness ranking rules, as they appear at the position of #500 or above to qualify. Feeder have also won acclaim from the voters of various music award polls, mainly at the Kerrang! Awards:-

• Kerrang! Awards – Best British Live Act – 2001
• Kerrang! Awards – Best British Band – 2003
• Internet Music Awards – Best Music Video Online – "Just The Way I'm Feeling" – 2003
• Pop Factory Awards – Best Album – "Pushing The Senses" - 2005

Discography

Main article: Feeder discography

• Polythene (May 31, 1997) UK #65 Certified Silver (UK)
• Yesterday Went Too Soon (August 30, 1999) UK #8 Certified Gold (UK)
• Echo Park (April 23, 2001) UK #5; Ireland #54 Certified Platinum (UK)
• Comfort in Sound (October 21, 2002) UK #6; Ireland #27 Certified Platinum (UK)
• Pushing the Senses (January 31, 2005) UK #2; Ireland #16 Certified 2X Gold (UK)

References

External links

• Feeder's official website
• Feeder's MySpace profile
• Feeder "Miss You" Made Available Free by the band in 2008

Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia; from the article "Feeder". Image Credit.

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