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Turin Breaks - Emergency 72 Previously courted by Heavenly, Domino, Mowax and Skint, London's Turin Breaks gently dispel the Jeff Buckley copyists mould. Live streams of current single, 72 also featured.

29/10/01

TURIN BREAKS

TURIN BRAKES released a new single, 'Emergency 72', on Source records earlier this month. Their album The Optimist LP has just turned Gold, selling over 100,000 copies in the UK alone. Following the success of their last single 'Mind Over Money', which went to number 31 in the singles chart (and before that 'Underdog' which went to 39), the album has been continually in the top-30 album chart.

In July the album was nominated along with 11 others for the Technics Mercury Music Prize.

Persistently portrayed by the perpetrators of the NAM noose as 'quiet Jeff Buckley copyists', Turin Brakes have resisted all derision and pigeonholing. With a predominantly 'word of mouth' promotional campaign they have succeeded so far beyond all expectation.

Turin Brakes will play a headline tour of the UK throughout October:

For Olly Knights and Gale Paridjanian it was always going to be about the music. Olly: "We went on a school trip and everyone had to do a play. We cut out two cardboard guitars and drew strings on them and sang Johnny B Good." Over the years the two wrote and played music both separately and together.

Whilst at film school Olly asked Gale to collaborate on a score for his student film and before long the two were making music again, on a digital four track originally intended for mixing film soundtracks. Olly: "After graduating I felt a little lost and began writing songs on a guitar. These songs felt very close to my filmic ideas and as they developed they seemed more successful in communicating these feelings than film had, perhaps because they were more immediate and less intellectual." Olly and Gale decided after a trip to New York to take these "skeletal songs" and continue developing the atmospheric music from their film score time by combining the two forms. "I guess it was around this moment that Turin Brakes was born although we had no name. Gale was developing a really cool mixture of slide, rhythm and lead guitar which slipped into these songs perfectly; it gave them a very distinct atmosphere." Together they restructured and rewrote a whole batch of material until it was time to start playing live. Gale: "We were only making this music for ourselves and our friends, so when Anvil Records turned up and wanted to release an EP we were totally blown away." They needed a name to release under and after much discussion Turin Brakes was settled on. Gale: "We thought up many terrible names but this one stuck. We liked its openness. It felt like we could move anywhere under this name." 'The Door EP' was released in summer '99.

Turin Brakes began performing live at venues like the 12 Bar and the Social. "We have been big fans of Chris Whitley's music for years and his one man live shows were an inspiration. He performed with such primal power he could stun an audience into silence, and we loved the idea of doing that."

After much label interest from the likes of Mowax, Heavenly, Domino and Skint they decided to sign to Source. "We liked Source straight away. Philippe has a great passion for music and he had a clear vision of how we could fit in, he wasn't just obsessed with the UK. He has a more universal approach which really appealed." The deal was signed on a Friday and they started working in the studio on the next Monday.

So where do these songs come from? Olly: " I spent years listening to Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen from a very early age. I wasn't always sure of what they were saying, but they still made me feel extremely emotional. I knew these were people confessing fears and ideas in a beautiful way, they were painting pictures with words. I'm attempting something similar, I guess. Musically what me and Gale do is quite organic - it has something to do with our relationship, it's an instinctive thing."

In August 2000 Turin Brakes released the 'State of Things' EP and played their first ever gigs with a full live band at the Reading and Leeds festivals. Gale: "It was always heading towards a full band sound. It took a while to find the right people though." They then released their third EP, 'Fight or Flight', in October. Dates supporting Kathryn Williams and Doves and a tour with Lowgold followed.

In February a new version of 'The Door' was released as a single, followed swiftly by Turin Brakes' debut album, 'The Optimist LP', which entered the top 40."We produced it ourselves; we didn't want any filtering of our sound. We kept in the things that a lot of producers would probably cut out."

In March Turin Brakes played their first ever headline tour of the UK, then went straight back on the road as support to Stereophonics. They headlined the Source 'Alone In London' festival at the beginning of April, and a second single, 'Underdog (Save Me)' followed at the end of the month. It entered the UK Top 40 and earned them their debut performance on Top of the Pops.

When 'Mind Over Money' was released at the end of July, the third single to be taken from 'The Optimist LP', it charted at 31 and the band again appeared on Top of the Pops. Amongst other festival appearances this summer they played Dublin's Witnness, T In The Park, V2001 and Glasgow On The Green.

In the week that they sold out their largest ever London headline show at The Astoria, Turin Brakes 'The Optimist LP' was nominated for The Technics Mercury Music Prize; the winner will be announced on September 11th.

During October Turin Brakes will headline their own UK tour. After this they will play Europe, with some dates as double bills with I Am Kloot, some as guests to Travis

A fourth single, '72', will be released on October 15th and Turin Brakes play London Shepherd's Bush Empire on 20th and 21st October

Tour dates:
October
Thu 11 Sheffield, LEADMILL
Fri 12 Manchester, MDH
Sun 14 Cambridge, JUNCTION
Mon15 Norwich, WATERFRONT
Tue16 Brighton, CORN EXCHANGE
Wed17 Exeter, UNIVERSITY
Fri 19 Bristol, ANSON ROOMS
Sat 20 London, SHEPHERDS BUSH EMPIRE
Sun 21 London, SHEPHERDS BUSH EMPIRE

Late October through to early December will be spent touring in Europe, some double bills with I Am Kloot, some as guests to Travis

 
 
 

 

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