Idlewild (band)

Idlewild are a Scottish rock band formed in December 1995, by Roddy Woomble (vocals), Rod Jones (guitar), Phil Scanlon (bass), and Colin Newton (drums).

Initially their sound obeyed the conventions of 1990s British indie-punk guitar music, but unlike many of their contemporaries, it developed over time, from an edgy and angular sound approaching post-hardcore, 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 different, sweeping melodic rock sound as displayed on 'The Remote Part'. Idlewild are a truly independent band, in that they do not fit into any specific scene, though their sound has clearly been influenced by bands like Fugazi, early Pixies and more recently R.E.M..

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, as well as his all-round endorsement of them - the diminutive DJ often cites them as one of his favourite bands.

As of 21 November 2005, Idlewild announced that after eight years and four albums they were parting ways with their record label Parlophone/EMI. Part of the band statement reads 'The band had fulfilled their record contract and it seemed like a good time to move on.'

History

Beginnings, Captain and Hope Is Important (1995–1998)

Idlewild, named after the quiet meeting place in Roddy Woomble's (vocals) favourite book at the time, Anne of Green Gables, formed in December of 1995 in Edinburgh, Scotland when the then 19 year-old Woomble met Colin Newton (drums) at a party. The two discovered they had much in common, including similar musical interests and record collections (including the likes of Sonic Youth, Bob Dylan and R.E.M.); by the end of the night, they had discussed forming a band together. Also that evening, the two were introduced to Rod Jones (guitar) and the three kept in contact afterwards. They would meet up to listen to music, and began to write songs together. In need of a bassist, they brought Phil Scanlon into the fold due to the fact that he owned a bass guitar. The four began practising late in the year in a room that has been described as "so cold that all the early songs were written with gloves on".

Idlewild played their first show on 16 January 1996 in 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 of 1996 the band, now with over twenty songs written, entered Split Level Studios to record "Home Alone", "Suicide" and "Paranoid". The tape of these recordings earned the band many bookings at various venues around Scotland, including the city of Glasgow. Local publications that heard the tape reviewed it favourably. In October the band recorded three other songs, "Self Healer", "Queen of the Troubled Teens", and "Faster", at Chamber Studios, owned by producer Jamie Watson. These songs helped build the strong buzz surrounding the band when they were released on seven inch vinyl.

Phil Scanlon decided to leave the band in February 1997 to concentrate on his studies. Since leaving Idlewild, he has became a highly successful chemical engineer and currently resides in Detroit. Roddy Woomble soon asked his friend 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 involvement with Edinburgh's 'Pussy Hoover'. Bob's debut with the band took place on February 28th at Glasgow bar Nice and 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 River Studios (located 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/I Want to Be a Writer" single, the band signed a deal with Food Records/EMI in December, since the band liked Blur a lot, who were already signed to the label. 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 the 18 January 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 "Everybody 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 favourite "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 they took a different approach to how they worked in the studio. Eventually the band 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 number of fans 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, they released the single "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 REM, Echo and the Bunnymen, and Smiths. 100 Broken Windows became silver 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 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. Allan and Jeremy both joined the band in a cottage in Inchnadamph, Sutherland. Woomble began a friendship with Scottish poet laureate Edwin Morgan who wrote some words for the band. These 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 band re-entered the public's minds in 2002 when the single "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. Eventually The Remote Part was released, and entered the album charts at number three. The album was considered their best by many, being 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.

29 September 2002 became an interesting date in the band's history when Bob Fairfoull left the band, following a show in Amsterdam. Fairfoull had been increasingly distant from the band over the past year and his time in Idlewild had run its course. The band and Fairfoull remain friends to this day, and Bob now plays guitar with Edinburgh-based band Degrassi. Gavin Fox, longtime Irish friend, joined and a fifth member was found in Allan Stewart, who became a permanent member after years as a touring guitarist. While Fox learned the bass parts in Dublin, technician and friend Alex Grant filled in to assist the band.

2002 was Idlewild's most successful year by far, with The Remote Part entering many 'Best of the Year' lists and the Scottish Sunday Herald naming Idlewild "Band of the Year."

With Gavin and Allan officially in tow, the new version of 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.

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 songs had a different feel to them, and the band decided to start the record afresh, choosing American producer Tony Hoffer to man the controls. The band then headed over to Los Angeles toward the end of May and spent the next three months sorting out, 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 in the UK Top Ten. Warnings/Promises received mainly positive reviews; however, some critics and fans greatly disliked the direction taken with this album, with its more quiet, reflective mood.

In the UK, the band embarked upon an extensive UK tour, changing the setlist every night and revisiting songs from all their albums. In the summer, Idlewild played a number of festivals and opened shows for U2, REM and the Pixies. The year ended with a Christmas show at the band's "spiritual home", famed venue the Glasgow Barrowlands.

After a very busy year with much touring, the band announced in November 2005 that they had been dropped by their record company Parlophone after eight years, leaving them without a record deal. However, despite rumors that they were breaking up, the band claimed the split with the record company was amicable and that they were looking forward to the future. ^*^*

The future

Currently Idlewild is working on a large number of songs, which they are recording with 100 Broken Windows and The Remote Part producer Dave Eringa in their rehearsal room. Gavin Fox left the band after their December 2005 Glasgow Barrowlands gig, and was replaced by former Astrid bass player Gareth Russell. ^*

As opposed to creating a double album filled with harder songs and slower numbers, Roddy Woomble has recorded an album of folk music material under his own name titled My secret is my silence which will be released on 24 July 2006; whilst Idlewild will record heavier material. Roddy's solo material was written alongside guitarist Rod Jones, friend Michael Angus and folksinger Karine Polwart, and produced by folk musician John McCusker. Woomble performed alongside the acclaimed Polwart for three songs at the Celtic Connections Festival in Glasgow in January 2006 and will tour the album in July/August 2006. ^*

Line-up

Current

Roddy Woomble - Vocals (1995-present)
Rod Jones - Guitar (1995-present)
Colin Newton - Drums (1995-present)
Allan Stewart - Guitar (2001-present)
Gareth Russell - Bass (2006-present)

Gavin Fox - Bass (2003-2005)
Alex Grant - Bass (2002)
Bob Fairfoull - Bass (1997-2002)
Jeremy Mills - Guitar (1999-2001)
Phil Scanlon - Bass (1995-1997)

Discography

Albums

Singles

Year / Month	Single Title	UK Singles Chart	Album
1997 March	Queen of the Troubled Teens	-	-
1997 December	Chandelier	-	-
1998 February	Satan Polaroid	-	Captain
1998 April	A Film for the Future	53	Hope Is Important
1998 July	Everyone Says You're So Fragile	47	Hope Is Important
1998 October	I'm a Message	41	Hope Is Important
1999 February	When I Argue I See Shapes	19	Hope Is Important
1999 September	Little Discourage	24	100 Broken Windows
2000 March	Actually It's Darkness	23	100 Broken Windows
2000 June	These Wooden Ideas	32	100 Broken Windows
2000 October	Roseability	38	100 Broken Windows
2002 April	You Held the World in Your Arms	9	The Remote Part
2002 June	American English	15	The Remote Part
2002 October	Live in a Hiding Place	26	The Remote Part
2003 February	A Modern Way of Letting Go	28	The Remote Part
2005 February	Love Steals Us from Loneliness	16	Warnings/Promises
2005 May	I Understand It	32	Warnings/Promises
2005 July	El Capitan	39	Warnings/Promises
2006 January	As if I Hadn't Slept	(cancelled)	Warnings/Promises

External links

Rock music groups | Scottish musical groups

idlewild | idlewild | idlewild

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