Tall Ships (band)

Tall Ships
Tall Ships live at Common People, Southampton 2016
Background information
Origin	Falmouth, Cornwall, England
Genres	Alternative rock, indie rock, math rock
Years active	2009–present
Labels	Big Scary Monsters Blood and Biscuits FatCat Records
Website	wearetallships.co.uk
Members	Ric Phethean Matt Parker Jamie Bush James Elliot Field

Tall Ships are an English indie rock band, formed in 2009 in Falmouth and now based in Brighton. The band consists of lead singer/guitarist Ric Phethean, bassist/backing vocalist Matt Parker, drummer Jamie Bush and keyboardist James Elliot Field.

The band released two EPs and their debut album Everything Touching via Big Scary Monster Records before disappearing for three years. They released their second album Impressions in March 2017.

Formed whilst studying at Falmouth University, Phethean and Bush grew up together just outside of Brighton, and Parker grew up in Worcester.. Whilst touring their debut album, they enlisted producer James Elliot Field, initially as a live member and now a permanent member of the band.

The band released their self-titled EP on Big Scary Monster Records in early 2010, with their second EP ‘There is Nothing But Chemistry Here’ being released in October 2010 on Big Scary Monsters and Blood and Biscuits. They released their debut album Everything Touching on 8 October 2012 via Blood and Biscuits/Big Scary Monsters. The band received notable airplay from Huw Stevens and Zane Lowe at the BBC, and headlined the BBC Introducing Stage at the Reading and Leeds Festivals in 2012.

The band then disappeared, with bassist Matt Parker later stating that "there was a lot of emotional, financial and physical hindrance to all of us to varying degrees, so we just needed a break. We had to go and work and pay off all those debts" and that "the mental health of me and Ric needed a bit of attention". Phethean later revealed that in downtime from the band, he worked as a barman, builder, landscape gardner and grave digger. More recently, he worked as a flower arranger on a photo shoot for Vogue.

They re-appeared in May 2015 with the limited editon 7"-only single Will To Life via Too Pure. The single displayed a change in direction from math rock to a more general indie/alternative rock sound. In September 2016, the band announced that they had signed to FatCat Records and released new single Meditations on Loss. In October 2016, the band toured the UK supporting Lonely The Brave. In March 2017, the band released their second album Impressions. Commenting on the change in direction, Parker stated that "our earlier stuff was quite tied into that math rock and looping stuff but we’re all suckers for 4/4 and pop songs and we grew up listening to that sort of music so I guess it was a natural progression". Delayed from the original early-February release due to a delay in production for the vinyl LP pressing, the band undertook a short UK in late February/early March. The first 2 dates of the tour were postponed until May, with further dates added to form another short tour.