Deaf Havana

Deaf Havana
Deaf Havana at Birmingham O2 Academy in April 2012
Background information
Origin	Hunstanton and King's Lynn, Norfolk, United Kingdom
Genres	Alternative rock, folk rock, post-hardcore (early)
Years active	2005–present
Labels	A Wolf at Your Door Records, BMG, Razor & Tie, So Recordings
Associated acts	Young Guns, Lower Than Atlantis, You Me At Six
Website	deafhavanaofficial.com
Members	James Veck-Gilodi Lee Wilson Tom Ogden Matthew Veck-Gilodi Max Britton
Past members	Ryan Mellor Chris Pennells Sebastian Splitz

Deaf Havana are an English alternative rock band from Hunstanton and King's Lynn in Norfolk. The band was formed in 2005 at the King's Lynn campus of The College of West Anglia.

Deaf Havana was formed when the original members met at the King's Lynn campus of The College of West Anglia. The band's roots can, however, be traced back much further with Ryan Mellor, James Veck-Gilodi and Lee Wilson all attending Smithdon High School and playing together in various local scene bands. At college, these members were joined by Tom Ogden and Sebastian Spitz. This early lineup saw Veck-Gilodi singing and Mellor taking guitar and vocal duties. The name "Deaf Havana" came from former guitarist Sebastian Spitz, however the name itself has no literal meaning. The band wrote songs and a demo White Lines But No Camera was recorded in August 2006 at The Lodge, Northampton. The band toured this lineup until Chris Pennells replaced Spitz. Pennells was formerly a member of the band Something About Dave. Around the same time, Mellor handed over guitar parts to Veck-Gilodi, and took on the lead role.

In late 2006, the band began writing songs for their debut EP, entitled Evangeline. Two songs were roughly recorded, titled "The Smiles Were Forced" and "Where It Begins", which were uploaded onto the band's Myspace page. The EP was soon recorded, with "The Smiles Were Forced" being dropped from the EP's track listing. Its artwork is by Josh Brown who later had a song dedicated to him by the band called "Josh Brown, Don't Talk to Strangers", which was actually an early demo for the song "They Call It the Easy Life", featured on It's Called the Easy Life. "For Stories Sake" was previously featured on the band's debut digital EP White Lines But No Camera with the slightly altered title "For the Stories Sake". "Tell Me More Georgie Boy" is the only song from any previous release to make it onto Meet Me Halfway, at Least, and is now called "Another Day in This House".

Beginning in October 2007, the band began work on new songs, which eventually were released on It's Called the Easy Life. On 21 June 2008, the band announced signing a deal consisting of one EP and two albums with Wolf at Your Door Records, as well as the recording date for said debut EP, now titled It's Called the Easy Life. The EP was eventually recorded by Jonny Renshaw from Devil Sold His Soul and was mixed by Matt O'Grady (You Me at Six, Architects) and released in October 2008. The EP received strong reviews from various musical publications, following which the band begin to receive some recognition. January 2009 saw the band complete a UK wide tour with We Are the Ocean and The Urgency, and the release of their first music video for the song "Oh Howard, You Crack Me Up".