Blakfish
| Blakfish | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Birmingham, England |
| Genres | Mathcore, Math Rock |
| Years active | 2000–2010 |
| Labels | Big Scary Monsters, Hassle Records, Zankyo, Richter Collective |
| Associated acts | &U&I, Vietwow!, †Hymns†, Greatest Hits, Vehicles, Teletext, Robert Fruit |
| Members | Thom Peckett Sam Manville Richard Lee Robert 'Wiz' Wisely |
Blakfish was a mathcore band, also described as 'death pop' by the NME, The band from Birmingham, England formed in the year 2000 after meeting and becoming friends at school, contrary to their frequent fabricated claims that they all met in juvenile prison.
The band was perhaps best known for its live shows and relentless touring schedule, which led to it being labeled by many as one of the hardest-working bands in the country. In 2007 Blakfish became the full-time job of the members, and in 2008 they went on to play over 200 shows in over 10 countries topping that in 2009 with another 200 shows in 16 countries. They played shows with, amongst others, Hell Is For Heroes (on their farewell tour) and Tubelord. In 2010 they achieved a support slot on the Biffy Clyro European tour, which ultimately lead to the demise of the band, which they announced on their Myspace blog. The band split up mid-tour following the departure of guitarist and vocalist Sam Manville. They had been scheduled to play shows in Tokyo and Osaka later in the year with 65daysofstatic. Plans were also shelved to record their 2nd album, again in Seattle with Chris Common. Only 7 instrumental demos were recorded in Lewes with producer Nick Kinnish, never to be released.
Blakfish recorded their first EP, Dirty Import, in 2004, and followed this up a year later with the 4-track myforteistimetravel. In 2007 they recorded a gapless 3-track EP named Gold. After this they signed to Big Scary Monsters, and in 2008 their fourth EP, See You In Another City was released, to a largely positive reception. See You In Another City was produced by Jason Wilson at Stakeout Studios. The track "Jeremy Kyle Is A Marked Man" featured on the computer game Colin McRae: Dirt 2, and the polish movie Suicide Room as well as receiving airplay from 4 different presenters on BBC Radio 1.
2009 saw the release of their one and only album, Champions, recorded by Chris Common at the Redroom Studios Seattle. The band were stopped at an airport along the way and were questioned about the content of their lyrics book, which contained the dark lyrics to "9th Base". This experience was visited in the album track "Randy Sage - True American Hero" (Randy Sage was an airline pilot they met at the airport). The album for the most part was widely praised; Kerrang! rated the album 4/5, and Rock Sound gave it a 9/10, whilst NME was amongst the minority that did not enjoy the album, giving it a 1/10 rating, despite naming the band as "ones to watch" in 2009. The album was later re-released in a limited edition known as 'French Champions'. Each unit was handmade and utilised real gold leaf for the cover art.
They also recorded a Christmas single for Christmas 2009 once again with Nick Kinnish, named "Missing You (The True Meaning Of Christmas)", in which Rich and Wiz both sang as well as Thom and Sam. The single was released for free download on their website, along with an accompanying video.
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