Shed Seven
| Shed Seven | |
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Shed Seven performing at the V Festival
Weston Park, 2008 |
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| Background information | |
| Origin | York, England |
| Genres | Britpop, alternative rock, indie rock |
| Years active |
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| Labels |
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| Website | Official website |
| Members |
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| Past members |
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Shed Seven are an English alternative rock band, formed in York in 1990. One of the groups which contributed to the Britpop music scene of the 1990s, they never received the degree of mainstream success achieved by the likes of Oasis and Blur. They originally comprised singer Rick Witter, guitarist/keyboardist Joe Johnson, bassist Tom Gladwin and drummer Alan Leach. Johnson was later replaced by Paul Banks.
They belonged to the post-Smiths wave of British musicians such as The Sundays and Marion, with a sound relying heavily on complex guitar arpeggios often in a minor key, and wailing vocals. At the height of their popularity between 1994 and 1999 they had fifteen Top 40 singles and four Top 20 albums in the UK. The band officially broke up in 2003, but reformed for a greatest hits tour in July 2007. Shed Seven have continued to play shows around Britain periodically but have not released a new studio album.
Shed Seven formed in 1990 from the ashes of Brockley Haven, a band featuring frontman Rick Witter, guitarist and songwriter Paul Banks, bassist Tom Gladwin, Magnus Thompson and John Leach, brother of Alan Leach. Both Witter and Banks had also previously played together in a band named ENAM, performing to German exchange students in Banks's front room. The band's name derived from a railway shed during a return trip to York; as they approached York railway station, they noticed a small shed on the sidings labelled "Shed 7". Prior to signing a six-album deal with Polydor Records in October 1993, guitarist Joe Johnson left the line-up and was replaced by Paul Banks. The band twice entered the local Fibbers/Evening Press Battle of the Bands competition, twice failing to win, whilst in September 1993, still unsigned, they were voted the third best live act at London's Inner City Festival. The initial press attention enjoyed by the band came as a result of the positive reviews of their live shows, coupled with complimentary comparisons to The Smiths. In March 1994, an article by Dave Simpson of Melody Maker, charting the aspirations of "the UK's brightest hopes", stated that; "...Shed Seven's beautifully posed, epic music is different. Not so much New Wave of New Wave as post-Smiths, they're taking the insular bedsit angst of Morrissey's early music and subverting it with a brash and insensitive sexual narcissism."
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Wikipedia