Introducing...The Gresham Flyers!
- John 'Waz' Waring
- vocals, guitar (plus bass, drums, keyboards)
- Sharon Leach
- vocals, keyboards (plus bass, glockenspiel)
- Martin Hall
- guitar (plus bass, omnichord)
- Thom Allott
- bass, vocals (plus guitar, keyboards, drums)
- James Agnew
- drums, vocals (plus guitar, bass)
Formed in 2005, London-based powerpop misfits The Gresham Flyers started life as a septet of friends brought together by the internet. This proves that despite what The Daily Mail says, it does do some good. Since then, the band have been through different lineups into their current five-piece configuration in order to realise their manifesto; the firm belief that pop music should be; FUN, ENTHUSIASTIC, THOUGHTFUL and GENUINE. With four songwriters and three singers, the sound is diverse, but always exciting.
To say that The Gresham Flyers have a wide breadth of influence is an understatement; they may not agree on which bands are primary influences (indeed, there is not one band that they all agree on liking), but what they create reflects the best part of their record collections. Initially likened to Belle & Sebastian due to lead singer/ songwriter John Waring's focus on kitchen-sink minutae and indiepop-based sound (a comparison the band now shun), a closer description would now be somewhere between Pulp's claustrophobic, synthetic sleaze and The Arcade Fire's anthemic histrionics, with a dash of Prolapse's dual vocal approach thrown in for good measure.
Following the release of the Shiftwork 7" in 2006 ("a cracking little single that is sure to announce the band to the wider world" – Rough Trade), and numerous appearances on compilation CDs (see discography), the band released debut album Sex With Strangers in July 2008. The album was picked up by Cherryade Records, and has drawn much acclaim as "well crafted indie pop with a bite" and "genuine pop bliss…melding some of the finest indie pop of the last 20 years into their own form".
Live, the band have picked up a devoted following thanks to their outstanding performances with bands such as Bearsuit, Saturday Looks Good To Me, Lucky Luke, Ladybug Transistor, Persil, MJ Hibbett, The Loves and Kristeen Young. The belief that the current configuration is their best yet is borne out by their improved live performances; Martin, Thom and James provide a fearsome backline, while Sharon and John offer dual vocals leading the fray with wit, charm and enthusiasm, adhering to the manifesto of providing pop music with a smile. While the instrument-changing sets of the previous six-piece lineup have settled down, there are still plenty of opportunities for members to swap roles, each being proficient multi-instrumentalists.
Currently working towards their second album, The Gresham Flyers are constantly working up new material, both in the studio and on stage. With plans for further tours and releases in the interim, their star can only shine brighter.
A Timeline
2000 [click to expand]
- Friends from school, Windsor-based musicians Thom Allott and Dan Morton form a band (playing bass and drums respectively) with their friend Tim, mostly playing covers. It goes nowhere, but they decide to make a new band when Thom finishes his law degree at Bournemouth uni in 2001.
2001 [click to expand]
- Thom and Dan form Cartell (nee Crack Mansion) with Stu Anderson and Nathan Sparks. They play a few gigs to a mostly indifferent audience, including covers of Weezer, The Beatles and the theme from 'The Magic Roundabout'.
- Sharon Leach moves to London.
2002 [click to expand]
- Sharon, a Rochdale civil servant, advertises for new flatmate. Jess Shaw, a friend of a friend, moves in. Through Jess, Sharon also meets Andrew Newman, a Swindon-based friend from university.
- Through an internet-based project put together by Sally Irvine, Sharon also meets John Waring, a Sheffield exile with an encyclopaedic knowledge of pop trivia and a history of bands such as Inflatable Lord Mayor and The Bronx Hats. Their first social outing together is a Bearsuit gig.
2003 [click to expand]
- Whilst travelling around Australia, Thom shares a Sydney hostel dormitory with James Agnew, and both end up as cleaners, giving the hostel a good scrub in exchange for free board. Weston-super-Mare native James is a drummer, having just left Scaramanga Six, the band fronted by his twin cousins. His replacement is Stuffy, later of Graham Coxon's band. James gives Thom a CD of their debut album. They neglect to exchange details and both go their separate ways.
- John and Sharon continue their friendship, and take a holiday to Nashville with some friends.
- Andrew, Sharon, Jess and John continue to meet up within the same circle of friends, and start going out to indie clubs, particularly How Does It Feel To Be Loved in Brixton and The Penelope Tree in Camden.
- After returning to the UK, Thom meets John and Sharon at a Belle & Sebastian gig in December.
2004 [click to expand]
- A Penelope Tree clubnight in London puts Andrew, John, Sharon and Thom in the same room for the first time. John DJs and plays Duran Duran.
- Leicester lad in London Martin Hall, bored of not doing anything with his guitar, places an advert on Bowlie.com, an indie messageboard, looking for like-minded musicians to form a band with. Thom and John reply, as do Andrew and Jess, Thom asks Dan if he'd be interested in playing some drums. Sharon also expresses an interest, and offers to learn keyboards. They realise that between the seven of them, they have three drummers, four bass players, five guitarists, four keyboard players, five singers and a saxophone player.
2005 [click to expand]
- The band hold their first rehearsal in January at Enterprise studios, Denmark Street. This is the first time all seven have been in a room together. The first song they play is a cover of Echo Beach with Andrew and Martin on guitar, Thom on bass, John on keyboards, Jess on saxophone, Dan on drums and Sharon on vocals. They also try The The's Uncertain Smile and New Order's Dreams Never End. That evening, all of the band (except Martin) go to a brilliant house party in East Ham.
- After a few rehearsals and embryonic versions of Falling Down, Shiftwork and Cat Hits Car, Jess decides she can't commit to weekly rehearsals and leaves the band. The remaining six members solidify their musical positions, with John playing guitar, and Sharon playing keyboards, both co-fronting the band. Thom and Dan make up the rhythm section, Martin and Andrew offering support on guitar and keyboards. There are still many alternate configurations, with Andrew also playing drums, bass and guitar and Thom covering guitar and keyboards. A set of original songs from John, Thom and Dan is gradually built. The band agree that they should record and release a single at some point.
- The first Gresham Flyers lineup is solidified:
- John Waring: Guitar, Bass, Vocals
- Martin Hall: Guitar, Bass
- Sharon Leach: Keyboard, Vocals, Bass
- Andrew Newman: Keyboards, Drums, Bass, Guitar
- Thom Allott: Bass, Guitar, Keyboards
- Dan Morton: Drums, Keyboards, Guitar
- Jess marries Andrew Rowson. Andrew, Thom and Sharon all attend the ceremony.
- The band play their first gig in late July, supporting The Chemistry Experiment and Wintergreen at The Pleasure Unit, Bethnal Green. They play eight songs – three from John, three from Thom, two from Dan. Of these eight, three end up on the debut album.
- Further gigs ensue, including a support slot for Saturday Looks Good To Me in London, and a tour of Edinburgh and Glasgow. However, they also play a gig to six people in an overpriced pub in South Kensington, playing the same set twice and encoring with a set of five improvised cover versions (including Common People, Transmission and Sit Down) because all the other bands dropped out.
- Two songs – Shiftwork and Falling Down – are recorded in a rehearsal studio by John's friend Stuart Perry. Although the tracks are not good enough to release as a single, they are pressed up and sold as a tour EP for the Scottish dates. All the EPs are sold and not even the band have copies.
- In December, two songs are recorded at Soup Studios in Bounds Green. These songs, Shiftwork and Cat Hits Car, are to be released as a single in 2006.
2006 [click to expand]
- A year after the first rehearsal, Dan tenders his resignation in order to travel the world. An emotional farewell gig is played at The Pleasure Unit to much acclaim.
- Before leaving, Dan and Thom interview Kerry Edmonds, a drummer from West Drayton, and invite her to rehearse with the band. Kerry impresses immediately, offering up beat-perfect renditions of Falling Down and Cat Hits Car.
- Dan returns to the band briefly to record Blackpool, and his own composition Plastic Bag. While the former is put out later in the year, the latter remains unreleased.
- Sharon and Thom go and see Sparks. Also accompanying them is James, who Thom reconnected with via MySpace as a potential replacement for Dan. However, by the time James and Thom meet up, Kerry is already in place, and James is playing with Spearmint offshoot tELLEY.
- The Mk II Gresham Flyers begin gigging in April, with most complements being directed towards the stunning drum work of Kerry and how much tighter the band has become. New songs are debuted, including Factory Records Museum, which sees Thom moving to drums, and Martin's compositional debut Everyone Has To Meet Somewhere.
- After much to-ing and fro-ing with the manufacturers, the debut single Shiftwork/ Cat Hits Car is released in June 2006. A blue 7" vinyl on the band's own Barryland Records (named after the Steely Dan song Barrytown, and Dan's habit of naming everyone Barry), the sleeve is hand-numbered and designed by Sarah Carter. The two songs draw attention from many indie radio stations, showcasing the versatile musicianship and styles the band can offer.
- Blackpool, the final recording made with Dan, is released on The Kids At The Club, a compilation of up-and-coming indie bands compiled by Ian Watson of How Does It Feel Records. The compilation is the first release for the new label, named after Ian's famous club night. Blackpool remains a popular live favourite for all gigs and continues to remain in the band's set.
- Further recordings take place at the newly-located Soup on Brick Lane, and by the end of the year, thirteen tracks have been recorded for possible inclusion on an album.
- A short tour is undertaken in autumn, highlighting the rapidly-evolving sound of the band's new material.
- Thom joins The Horses Of Instruction, a side-project band fronted by James, and featuring James's tELLEY cohort Silvi.
- Through mutual agreement, Kerry leaves the band. The last gig of the Mk II lineup is at Barden's Boudoir in Stoke Newington in December 2006, complete with a free giveaway CD compiled by the band of their favourite tunes. Despite numerous requests for her to make a guest appearance at subsequent gigs, Kerry insists that she has stopped playing drums and has not been to see the band since her departure.
2007 [click to expand]
- Two re-recordings are made as a quintet following Kerry's departure, one being Shiftwork, the other Factory Records Museum (the first version deemed unfit for release). This version of Shiftwork is added to the album, while Factory Records Museum is dropped again.
- James Agnew joins the band as Kerry's replacement, initially on a temporary basis (with a possible view to Dan returning once he ends his global travels), but once it becomes apparent that this lineup works well, James (who also plays keyboards and guitar) joins permanently.
- John releases his first solo album as part of the annual RPM challenge, wherein participants must create an entire album with the month of February. Under the moniker Chandler D Obelisk, the Slapstick Tragedy CD is well-received by all who hear it.
- After two gigs with the new lineup in Brighton and London, Andrew leaves the band. Finding the weekly travel from his home in Swindon to London too exhausting and not being able to commit to more dates, he moves to Wintergreen, whose schedules are less demanding. As a result, the remaining five members continue in a new format, restricting their instrument-swapping during live dates.
- As a warmup for the Indietracks Festival, Fortuna Pop's head honcho El Presidente offers a slot on a bill with Bearsuit and Persil at the Buffalo Bar. The gig is considered a stormer and widely agreed to be the finest yet played, proving that the new lineup are doing something right.
- A gig at the inaugural summer IndieTracks festival leads to a conversation with Manchester-based Cherryade Records, who express an interest in the band, initially as a one-off contribution to the label's annual Christmas compilation. Further discussions lead to an agreement to release the now-completed album in 2008.
- The first recordings of the quintet start in October, with James's first contributions being drums and backing vocals to John's Diamond White Chirstmas. This track is donated to the Cherryade annual compilation A Very Cherry Christmas. At six minutes long, the epic track includes multiple bass, drums, guitars, keyboards and a massed vocal choir, showing that while the instrument-swapping live shows may have been toned down, there is still much experimentation to be had in the studio.
- James proffers a CD of demos intended for The Horses of Instruction, which are soon adapted to become Gresham Flyers songs. The first of these is Those Are Not My Arms, which is debuted in November.
- Following the annual disastrous show at the Kentish Town Bull & Gate (this time nearly resulting in a punch-up with the support band), the year ends on a high note with four new songs being demoed (Berry Buck Mills Stipe, Blackwall Tunnel, Rat Atack and The Little Sisters Of The Poor), all of which become staples in the band's future sets.
2008 [click to expand]
- With James providing material as a fourth songwriter, regular trips are made to the studio, with a view to collecting at least 20 songs before deciding on a tracklist for the second album. By July, there is enough material for an entirely new album.
- John's second Chandler D Obelisk album, Social Exclusion Unit is worked up for the RPM challenge, again in the space of a month. It contains Visions Of Rihanna, John's own paean to the 'Umbrella' singer, which is often requested during Flyers sets.
- James's chosen profession as a video editor helps with the creation of a live-in-the studio film clip of Berry Buck Mills Stipe, John's tribute to REM. The clip is created with the intention of gaining a support slot with Sparks during their 21-date London residency. It doesn't work, but it still looks great.
- Gigs become scarce due to Sharon's commitment to her PGCE teacher training. However, the few gigs that are played are well received, including a slot with Kristeen Young at Water Rats, and a headlining slot with Simon Armitage's band The Scaremongers playing their debut show as support. This is filmed for the BBC Culture Show.
- Debut album Sex With Strangers is released in July on Cherryade, again to positive reviews. The 11 tracks are all recorded during the Mk II lineup, and still remain popular in the live sets. By the time the album comes out, however, the new songs outnumber the older material in the live set.
- As a salutary farewell to the Bowlie website that spawned the band, an August all-dayer is organised to Thom, Sharon and John with band photographer Sally Irvine, featuring Bowlie- related bands. A free 10" white label single with two tracks from The Gresham Flyers and two from Wintergreen is given away free to all attendees. The Flyers contributions are a third, definitive version of Factory Records Museum, and a cover of Tubeway Army's synth-pop classic Are 'Friends' Electric.
- Following on from Diamond White Christmas on Cherryade’s Very Cherry Christmas compilation, 2008’s compilation features another seasonal Flyers contribution, entitled Perfect Christmas Snow (Perfect Christmas Kiss). Once again an epic six-minute track, it features James singing a verse and chorus alongside John and Sharon.
- The year is rounded off with the band’s first performance in Manchester alongside other Cherryade luminaries such as Ste McCabe and The Lovely Eggs. Originally part of a short tour to promote the Very Cherry Christmas compilation, cancellations meant that only the Manchester date remained. Undeterred, the weekend was spent staying with Sharon’s dad and watching Sizzle Beach.
2009 [click to expand]
- After a revitalizing Christmas break, a new single release on the legendary US-based Cloudberry Records in announced. Alongside tracks from The Pale Corners, the single offers two tracks first introduced at the end of 2007 – Berry Buck Mills Stipe, and Blackwall Tunnel. Only 120 of these singles are made, making them very scarce and collectable.
- The band continue the first half of the year with a notable increase in gigs, both inside London and in previously unvisited towns and venues. The shows include many new songs scheduled for inclusion on the band's second album, and an intervening EP.
- A cover of Bruce Springsteen's Magic is released on the 'Play Some Pool, Skip Some School, Act Real Cool' tribute album, released in August. A headline slot at the album launch gig at The Buffalo Bar sees support from nine acts including Darren Hayman.
- James resurrects his pre-Gresham Flyers group tELLEY, alongside long-time collaborator and Spearmint guitarist Jim Parsons. Their album 'Now I'm the Big Sister' features Sharon on backing vocals. For the tELLEY live band, both Thom and Sharon are recruited into the lineup.
- August 2009 sees the band's first international gig, supporting Pocketbooks in Berlin. Finding a suitably enthusiastic fanbase in Germany, plans are made to perform in Europe on a larger scale in 2010.
- Plans are hatched for three further releases in 2009 - a cover version for an upcoming Jonathan Richman tribute album, a third consecutive Christmas song for the annual Cherryade compilation, and a four-track EP of new songs.
- James, Sharon and Thom continue with tELLEY, resulting a some well-received gigs and radio play on BBC 6Music for album track "All The Girls Want To Love You"
- A third consecutive Christmas track is recorded, this year written and sung by James. 'Mistletoe Misadventure' features a brass band (played by James on his iPhone) and receives further acclaim, including radio play from WRIR in Richmond, Virginia, ending the year on a high.
2010 [click to expand]
- Despite the heavy snowfall that keeps many housebound, a near-riotous reception for an otherwise normal gig in in London starts 2010 in fine style.
- The band realise one of their aims and support the much acclaimed Features at Kings Cross Water Rats. The gig also serves as a launch for the new EP, entitled There's Been A Murder, given away free to attendees. Another rapturous response to the gig only increases confidence
- February is spent writing and recording a new album for the RPM Challenge. Fully co-written by the band, and recorded as usual in Soup Studios (with extra work done at Studio Klank), the resulting album is planned for a download-only release with limited CDs to be pressed up.
- Tom Robinson plays new single Taggart on his BBC 6Music Introducing show. The song, along with three others, forms the new EP, and is released on April 5th on Cherryade Records
- A video for Taggart is created by James, along with cohort James Parsons from tELLEY
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