The Phantom Band
Encyclopedia
The Phantom Band is a Glasgow
-based band consisting of Duncan Marquiss (guitar), Gerry Hart (bass), Andy Wake (keyboards), Rick Anthony (vocals and guitar), Iain Stewart (drums) and Greg Sinclair (guitars). They are often generally described as indie-rock but are known to utilize a variety of genres and styles. The band's debut album Checkmate Savage
was released in January 2009 and the follow up The Wants
in October 2010.
.
Under the title of Robert Louis Stevenson, they played a number of exclusive live shows in Glasgow (Stereo, Nice'n'Sleazy) and Edinburgh (Wee Red Bar) and released a limited run of 150 audio cassettes under band member Nobodaddy (Andrew's DJing alter-ego) and Hugo Paris' home imprint, 'Sweat on Cassette'.
Regarding the band's early name changes vocalist Rick Anthony states:
In 2006 the band began using The Phantom Band as their name (apparently in reference to their elusive activities up to that point) and in 2007 released a 7" single Throwing Bones on London based Trial & Error Recordings. The critical acclaim of this single, their first fully distributed release, was the impetus for their signing to Chemikal Underground.
Prior to the release of their debut album the band appeared at a number of UK festivals including Hydro Connect 2008 (Your Sound Bandstand), Tales of the Jackalope 2007 (Unspecified Stage), The Wickerman Festival, 20 Jul 2007 (Solus Stage) and the Wye Fayre 2007, 07 Jul 2007 (Flying Monkey Stage) (Wye Fayre Review). They also played their first show outside the United Kingdom at the Crossing Border festival in Den Haag, the Netherlands in November 2008.
's studios in Govan. Checkmate Savage
was eventually released in January 2009 to critical acclaim and it peaked on the UK Albums Chart
at number 181 in February of that year.
The release of Checkmate Savage
led to several UK and European tours for the band including sell-out shows in Glasgow King Tuts, London Macbeth, Inverness Hootananny and Manchester Deaf Institute. They also played in venues across Germany, France, Ireland, Belgium, the Netherlands and Switzerland. Festival appearances during this period include: T in the Park, Belladrum, Stag and Dagger (which took place in Leeds, London and Glasgow), London Calling in Amsterdam, the Storasfestivalen near Trondheim, The Great Escape in Brighton, Sound City in Liverpool and, towards the end of 2009, the prestigious Transmusicales festival in Rennes.
Early in 2010 the band once again returned to Chem19 to begin work on their second album.
The Wants
was released in October 2010 to critical acclaim. On the day of its release the band travelled to the United States of America to appear at the CMJ festival in New York. Directly after this the band supported Frightened Rabbit
on a string of dates during their headline tour including shows in Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, New York and Chicago.
On returning to the United Kingdom the band embarked on a small tour of their own culminating in a sold out show at Oran Mor in Glasgow.
In March 2011 they completed a 2 month tour of Europe. Beginning in Ireland at the end of January the group then travelled through France, Switzerland, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Belgium, the Netherlands and Great Britain.
Throughout the summer of 2011 the band appeared on the stages of many UK and European festivals including: Latitude (Suffolk), The Great Escape (Brighton), Friends of Mine (Manchester), Walk the Line (Den Haag), A.F.F. (Genk), Tramlines (Sheffield), The Camden Crawl (London), Summer Sundae (Leicester), Belladrum (Inverness-shire) and T in the Park (Kinross-shire). At the T in the Park festival the band recorded a live acoustic version of the track "Everybody Knows it's True" for the final show of the BBC's festival coverage.
Singles
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
-based band consisting of Duncan Marquiss (guitar), Gerry Hart (bass), Andy Wake (keyboards), Rick Anthony (vocals and guitar), Iain Stewart (drums) and Greg Sinclair (guitars). They are often generally described as indie-rock but are known to utilize a variety of genres and styles. The band's debut album Checkmate Savage
Checkmate Savage
Checkmate Savage is the debut studio album by Scottish indie rock band The Phantom Band, released January 26, 2009 through Chemikal Underground Records to critical acclaim.The album was produced by Paul Savage, formerly of The Delgados.- Title :...
was released in January 2009 and the follow up The Wants
The Wants
The Wants is the second studio album by Scottish indie rock band The Phantom Band, released October 18, 2010, through Chemikal Underground Records.-Track listing:#"A Glamour" - 6:25#"O" - 4:31#"Everybody Knows It's True - 4:17#"The None Of One" - 8:19...
in October 2010.
Early history (2002-2008)
The band initially performed and released material under various names, never sticking with the same band-name for long: NRA, Les Crazy Boyz, Los Crayzee Boyz, Tower of Girls, Wooden Trees. In 2005, using the adopted name Robert Redford, the band released a one-off CDR titled The Mummy and Daddy Dance on their own temporary label "Extreme Nudity", self distributed to independent record outlets in the UK, before removing all reference to it from their online presence and reforming under a new name, Robert Louis Stevenson. The sought-after release now only changes hands on online auction sites, and the only element trackable from the band's current incarnation is the presence of the track "Crocodile" (formerly "Crocodile Dundee") on their 2009 album Checkmate SavageCheckmate Savage
Checkmate Savage is the debut studio album by Scottish indie rock band The Phantom Band, released January 26, 2009 through Chemikal Underground Records to critical acclaim.The album was produced by Paul Savage, formerly of The Delgados.- Title :...
.
Under the title of Robert Louis Stevenson, they played a number of exclusive live shows in Glasgow (Stereo, Nice'n'Sleazy) and Edinburgh (Wee Red Bar) and released a limited run of 150 audio cassettes under band member Nobodaddy (Andrew's DJing alter-ego) and Hugo Paris' home imprint, 'Sweat on Cassette'.
Regarding the band's early name changes vocalist Rick Anthony states:
We never really took things too seriously to start with so we didn’t think twice about changing our name so much, or asking promoters to pick ones for us. I guess it could be considered a little perverse, but it allowed us the freedom to experiment with different forms of music, and it was also kind of fun. I think we gradually realised that it was potentially as alienating for people as it was amusing for us, and once we had played a few shows under the name The Phantom Band, without anyone complaining, it made sense to stick with it. Also, by that point, we had reached a level of musical expression that was more in tune with what we were aiming for as a band, so I think we were all a bit more comfortable with the idea of settling on something.
In 2006 the band began using The Phantom Band as their name (apparently in reference to their elusive activities up to that point) and in 2007 released a 7" single Throwing Bones on London based Trial & Error Recordings. The critical acclaim of this single, their first fully distributed release, was the impetus for their signing to Chemikal Underground.
Prior to the release of their debut album the band appeared at a number of UK festivals including Hydro Connect 2008 (Your Sound Bandstand), Tales of the Jackalope 2007 (Unspecified Stage), The Wickerman Festival, 20 Jul 2007 (Solus Stage) and the Wye Fayre 2007, 07 Jul 2007 (Flying Monkey Stage) (Wye Fayre Review). They also played their first show outside the United Kingdom at the Crossing Border festival in Den Haag, the Netherlands in November 2008.
Checkmate Savage (2008-2010)
After signing with Chemikal Underground the band began recording their debut album early in 2008. Despite planning on recording the album in a few weeks in the labels Chem19 studios in Blantyre, the whole session ended up spanning many months and was mixed at Franz FerdinandFranz Ferdinand (band)
Franz Ferdinand are a Scottish post-punk revival band formed in Glasgow in 2002. The band is composed of Alex Kapranos , Bob Hardy , Nick McCarthy , and Paul Thomson .The band first experienced chart success when their second single, "Take Me Out", reached #3 in...
's studios in Govan. Checkmate Savage
Checkmate Savage
Checkmate Savage is the debut studio album by Scottish indie rock band The Phantom Band, released January 26, 2009 through Chemikal Underground Records to critical acclaim.The album was produced by Paul Savage, formerly of The Delgados.- Title :...
was eventually released in January 2009 to critical acclaim and it peaked on the UK Albums Chart
UK Albums Chart
The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...
at number 181 in February of that year.
The release of Checkmate Savage
Checkmate Savage
Checkmate Savage is the debut studio album by Scottish indie rock band The Phantom Band, released January 26, 2009 through Chemikal Underground Records to critical acclaim.The album was produced by Paul Savage, formerly of The Delgados.- Title :...
led to several UK and European tours for the band including sell-out shows in Glasgow King Tuts, London Macbeth, Inverness Hootananny and Manchester Deaf Institute. They also played in venues across Germany, France, Ireland, Belgium, the Netherlands and Switzerland. Festival appearances during this period include: T in the Park, Belladrum, Stag and Dagger (which took place in Leeds, London and Glasgow), London Calling in Amsterdam, the Storasfestivalen near Trondheim, The Great Escape in Brighton, Sound City in Liverpool and, towards the end of 2009, the prestigious Transmusicales festival in Rennes.
Early in 2010 the band once again returned to Chem19 to begin work on their second album.
The Wants (2010-2011)
The recording sessions for the band's second album were apparently quite difficult- even more so than the first record. Much of the music was written in the studio and under quite tight time constraints and this seems to have led to some difficulties within the band. Sometime in the summer of 2010, between the records completion and its release, the band parted ways with original drummer Damien Tonner. The band made a number of festival appearances around this time including the Commercial Alternative festival in Glasgow, the Standon Calling festival and the Electric Elephant festival in Croatia.The Wants
The Wants
The Wants is the second studio album by Scottish indie rock band The Phantom Band, released October 18, 2010, through Chemikal Underground Records.-Track listing:#"A Glamour" - 6:25#"O" - 4:31#"Everybody Knows It's True - 4:17#"The None Of One" - 8:19...
was released in October 2010 to critical acclaim. On the day of its release the band travelled to the United States of America to appear at the CMJ festival in New York. Directly after this the band supported Frightened Rabbit
Frightened Rabbit
Frightened Rabbit are a Scottish indie rock band from Selkirk, formed in 2003. The lineup consists of lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist and lyricist Scott Hutchison, guitarist and bassist Billy Kennedy, guitarist Andy Monaghan, drummer Grant Hutchison and guitarist and keyboardist Gordon Skene...
on a string of dates during their headline tour including shows in Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, New York and Chicago.
On returning to the United Kingdom the band embarked on a small tour of their own culminating in a sold out show at Oran Mor in Glasgow.
In March 2011 they completed a 2 month tour of Europe. Beginning in Ireland at the end of January the group then travelled through France, Switzerland, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Belgium, the Netherlands and Great Britain.
Throughout the summer of 2011 the band appeared on the stages of many UK and European festivals including: Latitude (Suffolk), The Great Escape (Brighton), Friends of Mine (Manchester), Walk the Line (Den Haag), A.F.F. (Genk), Tramlines (Sheffield), The Camden Crawl (London), Summer Sundae (Leicester), Belladrum (Inverness-shire) and T in the Park (Kinross-shire). At the T in the Park festival the band recorded a live acoustic version of the track "Everybody Knows it's True" for the final show of the BBC's festival coverage.
Discography
Studio albums- Checkmate SavageCheckmate SavageCheckmate Savage is the debut studio album by Scottish indie rock band The Phantom Band, released January 26, 2009 through Chemikal Underground Records to critical acclaim.The album was produced by Paul Savage, formerly of The Delgados.- Title :...
(2009) - The WantsThe WantsThe Wants is the second studio album by Scottish indie rock band The Phantom Band, released October 18, 2010, through Chemikal Underground Records.-Track listing:#"A Glamour" - 6:25#"O" - 4:31#"Everybody Knows It's True - 4:17#"The None Of One" - 8:19...
(2010)
Singles
- "Throwing Bones" (2007)
- "The Howling" (2009)