Catfish and the Bottlemen

Catfish and the Bottlemen

Catfish and the Bottlemen at Lollapalooza

Catfish and the Bottlemen at Lollapalooza 2015
Background information
Origin Llandudno, North Wales, United Kingdom
Genres
Years active 2007 (2007)–present
Labels
Associated acts
Members
  • Ryan Evan "Van" McCann
  • Matthew Benjamin "Benji" Blakeway
  • Robert "Sideshow Bob" Hall
  • Johnny "Bondy" Bond
Past members

Catfish and the Bottlemen are a British rock band, formed in Llandudno, Wales in 2007.[2] Their debut album, The Balcony, reached number 10 in the UK Albums Chart. The band have toured in the UK, Europe, North America, and Australia and have featured in a number of festivals including Glastonbury, Latitude, Reading and Leeds, T in the Park, Governors Ball, and Bonnaroo. They won their first Brit Award for British Breakthrough act on 24 February 2016. On 27 May 2016, they released their second album, The Ride.

Ryan Evan "Van" McCann was born in Widnes, Cheshire, UK and travelled briefly to Australia as a child, while Benji Blakeway was born in Llandudno.[1][3][4][5][6] When questioned on the band's Llandudno origins, McCann responded that: "We lived there but we’re not actually Welsh."[7]

Background

Catfish and the Bottlemen, formerly known as "The Prestige",[8] were founded in April 2007, when Ryan Evan "Van" McCann and Billy Bibby began playing guitar together at Billy's parents home, a bed & breakfast in Llandudno, Wales.[9] Van's parents also ran a bed and breakfast in town[10] and Van was friends with Billy's younger brother, which is how Van and Billy met.[4] Van and Billy were joined by Benjamin Blakeway on bass as the third founding member of the band. Schoolmate Jon Barr followed shortly thereafter on drums.[11] Billy Bibby, who had been playing guitar since age 10, taught both Van McCann and Benji Blakeway how to play.[12] They promoted themselves by playing in car parks after other artist's gigs, including bands such as Kasabian.[11] Steve Lamacq first played an early demo on BBC Radio 6 Music in 2009.[13] During 2009, Catfish came runners up in the 'North Wales Battle of the Bands' having been beaten to the post by another local band The Fides who later closed the Conwy River Festival. Original drummer Jon Barr was replaced by Robert "Bob" Hall in 2010. Bob Hall was introduced to the band by a North Wales based producer who was working with the band at the time.[1][14]

Founding lead guitarist Billy Bibby suddenly and unexpectedly ceased performing with the band in the summer of 2014[15] and was replaced by Johnny "Bondy" Bond.[16] On 25 July 2014 the band cancelled three festival appearances due to "unforeseen personal circumstances".[17][18] On 13 August 2014 the band posted on Facebook: "Some of you will have noticed that we have been playing with a different guitarist over the past weekend. Unfortunately, due to some personal circumstances, Billy won't be touring with the band for the foreseeable future."[19] When asked about leaving the band, Billy Bibby comments, "Well to be honest after Catfish I had no plans. I didn’t know what I was going to do. I just started writing songs and it took off from there..."[20] and "I’m proud of what I did in Catfish and what I achieved and everything that came with it, but I’m just looking into the future now with my band and that’s all I’m focused on".[21] In autumn of 2015, Billy Bibby founded a new band, Billy Bibby & The Wry Smiles.

The band derives its name from McCann's first childhood musical memory: that of an Australian street busker in Sydney, playing beer bottles strung to a wire who goes by the name Catfish the Bottleman. He was called "Catfish" because of an unusually styled spiky beard he had when he first began playing in 2000.[22][23] Van was reunited with Catfish the Bottleman in January 2015 at the studios of Triple J radio in Sydney.

The band signed to Communion Records in 2013,[1] and released their first three singles "Homesick", "Rango" and "Pacifier" the same year. In 2014 the band signed to Island Records and on 17 March released their next single "Kathleen",[24] produced by Jim Abbiss (Arctic Monkeys, Kasabian, Adele). All the singles were premiered by Zane Lowe and added to the playlist on Radio 1. "Kathleen" ranked at number one on MTV's hottest tracks in April 2014.

In summer 2014, Catfish and the Bottlemen performed at a number of festivals in the UK and Europe including Reading & Leeds,[25] Latitude, Kendal Calling, Y Not Festival, Strawberry Fields Festival, T in the Park, Pinkpop and Ibiza Rocks. They also played at New York's Governors Ball.

On 19 June 2014, the band announced the release of their debut studio album The Balcony, which was released on 15 September 2014. Shortly afterwards the band also announced a UK tour. The album charted at No. 10 in the UK Albums Chart in the week ending 27 September 2014, was certified Silver in the UK on 9 January 2015, and was certified Gold on 20 March 2015.[26]

They won the BBC Introducing Award at the first BBC Music Awards in December 2014 and performed "Kathleen".[27]

The Balcony was released in the US on 6 January 2015. The day after, they performed on the Late Show with David Letterman.

In an interview with WOW247, McCann said that the band have "three albums written already". He continued to say that "I'm more excited for the second album than the first, because the workload is done now".[28]

At the 2016 Brit Awards, the band won in the British Breakthrough Act category. The band headlined Liverpool Sound City in May 2016, their first headline slot at a festival.

On 23 March 2016, the band announced via Twitter and Instagram that their second studio album would be entitled The Ride, which was released on 27 May 2016. On 3 June 2016 The Ride reached #1 in the Official UK Charts with unit sales of 38,000.[29]

On 8 July 2016 Catfish and the Bottlemen played their largest headlining show to date at Castlefield Bowl in Manchester, UK with Vant, Broken Hands, and Little Comets as support. The setlist consisted of all 11 of the songs from The Balcony, and six of the 11 songs from The Ride.[30]

Musical style

When reviewing The Balcony, Scott Kerr of AllMusic likened the band's sound to that of Johnny Marr, The Cribs, Feeder and Mystery Jets.[31] According to Ben Homewood of NME, McCann's vocal style is similar to The Kooks' frontman Luke Pritchard.[10] With respect to the musical approach to The Ride, McCann has stated, "I feel like everybody started thinking too outside the box trying to be arty and different. We wanted to stay inside the box."[32]

Concert tours

Discography

EPs

Year Title Label Format
2009 Poetry & Fuel Size CD, digital download
2010 Beautiful Decay Size CD, digital download

[34]

Studio albums

Title Album details Peak chart positions Certification Sales
UK
[35]		 AUS
[36]		 SCO
[37]		 US
[38]		 US
Alt.
[39]		 US
Rock
[40]
The Balcony 10 51 11 121 9 13
The Ride
  • Release: 27 May 2016
  • Label: Capitol
  • Format: CD, digital download, vinyl
 1 6 1
[43] 		28 2 3

Singles

Title Year Peak chart positions Album
UK
[44]		 UK
Indie
[45]		 BEL
[46]		 JPN
[47]		 US
Alt.

[48]

 US
Main.

[49]

 US
Rock

[50]

"Homesick" 2013 182 — — — — — — The Balcony
"Rango" — — — — — — —
"Kathleen" 2014 110 11 — 82 17 — 40
"Fallout" — — 142 — — — —
"Cocoon" 109 — 128 — 29 — 50
"Pacifier" — — — — — — —
"Hourglass" 2015 — — — — — — —
"Soundcheck" 2016 95 — — — 11 34 32 The Ride
"7" 81 — — — 22 — 35
"Glasgow" 128 — — — — — —
"Twice" 87 — — — — — —
"—" denotes a single that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Timeline

Awards and nominations

Year Organisation Award Nominated Result
2014 BBC Music Awards[51] BBC Introducing Award Catfish and the Bottlemen Won
2015 Q Awards[52] Best Live Act Catfish and the Bottlemen Nominated
2016 Brit Awards[53] British Breakthrough Act Catfish and the Bottlemen Won
NME Awards[54] Best British Band Catfish and the Bottlemen Nominated
Best Live Band Catfish and the Bottlemen Nominated
Best Fan Community Catfish and the Bottlemen Nominated
Q Awards[55] Best Track "Twice" Nominated

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Catfish and the Bottlemen Communion". BPI. January 2013.
  2. ↑ Blore-Bizot, Julie (28 October 2014). "[Interview] Catfish and the Bottlemen". indiemusic.fr. Indie Music.
  3. ↑ "Catfish And The Bottlemen's Van McCann: 'America thinks we're Oasis but with better manners'". Nme.com. Retrieved 2016-06-01.
  4. 1 2 "Gimme Your Answers: An Interview w/ Catfish And The Bottlemen". A Music Blog, Yea?.
  5. ↑ "Catfish and the Bottlemen and Polkadodge: Plug, Sheffield". Counterfeit Magazine.
  6. ↑ "Catfish & The Bottlemen". Stage Times.
  7. ↑ "Catfish and the Bottlemen entry on BPI". bpi.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-03-25.
  8. ↑ http://www.purevolume.com/theprestigeuk
  9. ↑ Gilroy, Nicola. "Billy Bibby Interview". BBC UK. BBC Radio Lincolnshire. Retrieved 29 July 2015.
  10. 1 2 Homewood, Ben (23 September 2014). "Catfish & The Bottlemen – 'The Balcony'". NME. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
  11. 1 2 Laban, Linda. "Catfish and the Bottlemen Luckily Sound Better Than That Band Name". Observer. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
  12. ↑ "The UMAs - The Unsigned Music Awards". Theunsignedmusicawards.com. Retrieved 2016-06-01.
  13. ↑ "BBC - BBC Introducing presents Catfish and the Bottlemen at the inaugural BBC music awards - Media Centre". Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-06-01.
  14. ↑ http://mikedolbear.com/story.asp?StoryID=884
  15. ↑ http://www.bestnewbands.com/interviews/billy-bibby-life-catfish/
  16. ↑ Blore-Bizot, Julie. "Billy Bibby is Back". XSNoize.com.
  17. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/catfishandthebottlemen/posts/10152993825227506
  18. ↑ http://www.tenementtv.com/news/catfish-bottlemen-reveal-new-track/
  19. ↑ "Some of you will have noticed that we... - Catfish and the Bottlemen". Facebook.com. Retrieved 2016-06-01.
  20. ↑ "Spotlight: Billy Bibby". Theunsignedmusicawards.com. Retrieved 2016-06-01.
  21. ↑ "Gig preview: Billy Bibby at Milo, Leeds". www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-03-25.
  22. ↑ http://catfishthebottleman.com/
  23. ↑ "10 Things You Never New About Catfish and The Bottlemen". NME.com. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  24. ↑ "Catfish and the Bottlemen Kathleen". Partisanpr.com. 3 April 2014.
  25. ↑ "Leeds Reading 2014". Readingfestival.com. April 2014.
  26. ↑ enter The Balcony in search window http://www.bpi.co.uk/certified-awards/search.aspx
  27. ↑ "Catfish and the Battlement Win BBC Introducing Award". dailypost.co.uk. January 2014.
  28. ↑ "Catfish and the Bottlemen interview: 'I can't wait to sell out'". WOW247.
  29. ↑ White, Jack. "Catfish and the Bottlemen hit albums Number 1: "We're made up!"". Officialcharts.com. Retrieved 2016-06-04.
  30. ↑ https://twitter.com/catbinfo/status/751574146782494720
  31. ↑ Kerr, Scott. "The Balcony – Catfish and the Bottlemen". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 13 January 2015.
  32. ↑ http://consequenceofsound.net/2016/05/album-review-catfish-and-the-bottlemen-the-ride/
  33. ↑ http://www.setlist.fm/setlists/catfish-and-the-bottlemen-63d03e63.html
  34. ↑ "Catfish and the Bottlemen, Dundee, GB". The DJ List.
  35. ↑ "Catfish and the Bottlemen" (select "Albums" tab). Official Charts Company. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
  36. ↑ Ryan, Gavin (31 January 2015). "ARIA Albums: Taylor Swift 1989 Spends 8th Week On Top". Noise11. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
  37. ↑ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100 21 September 2014 - 27 September 2014". Official Charts Company. 21 September 2014. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
  38. ↑ "Catfish and the Bottlemen – Chart History: Billboard 200". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
  39. ↑ "Catfish and the Bottlemen – Chart History: Alternative Albums". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
  40. ↑ "Catfish and the Bottlemen – Chart History: Rock Albums". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
  41. ↑ "BPI Certified Awards > Search". British Phonographic Industry. Archived from the original on 6 February 2013. Retrieved 2015-03-30.
  42. ↑ "Upcoming Releases". Hits Daily Double. HITS Digital Ventures. Archived from the original on April 30, 2016.
  43. ↑ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". 3 June 2016. Retrieved 5 June 2016.
  44. ↑ Peak chart positions for singles in the United Kingdom:
  45. ↑ Peak UK Indie Singles Chart positions for Catfish and the Bottlemen: "Kathleen": "Official Independent Singles Chart Top 20 April 2014 – 26 April 2014". 2011 Top 40 Independent Singles Archive. Official Charts Company. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
  46. ↑ "Discografie Catfish and the Bottlemen". ultratop.be. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
  47. ↑ "Catfish and the Bottlemen Singles Chart History - Japan Hot 100". Billboard. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
  48. ↑ "Catfish and the Bottlemen". Billboard.com. Retrieved 30 October 2014.
  49. ↑ "Catfish and the Bottlemen". Billboard.com. Retrieved 16 November 2016.
  50. ↑ "Catfish and the Bottlemen". Billboard.com. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
  51. ↑ "BBC Music Awards 2014: Winners in full". digitalspy.com. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  52. ↑ "Q Awards 2015 shortlist announced!". qthemusic.com. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  53. ↑ "Brit Awards 2016: full list of winners". telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  54. ↑ "The Libertines and Wolf Alice lead nominations for NME Awards 2016 with Austin, Texas". nme.com. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  55. ↑ "StubHub Q Awards 2016 shortlist announced!". qthemusic.com. Retrieved 3 November 2016.

External links

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