Tricky Nixon was a four-piece band from Manchester

Manchester

Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 and was a former band of The Joy Formidable

The Joy Formidable

The Joy Formidable are a three-piece band formed in 2007 in North Wales and currently located in London, England. The band consists of Ritzy Bryan , Rhydian Dafydd , and Matt Thomas ....

's vocalist/guitarist

Guitarist

A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...

 Ritzy Bryan and bassist

Bassist

A bass player, or bassist is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass, bass guitar, keyboard bass or a low brass instrument such as a tuba or sousaphone. Different musical genres tend to be associated with one or more of these instruments...

 Rhydian Dafydd. Their music has been described as "sleazy Breeders guitar thrash and tasty harmonies, with sugar and spike boy-girl vocals and pummelling Pixies bass and drums. Their Welsh language song "Paid A Gofyn" was citied by Hefin Thomas on the BBC Radio Cymru

BBC Radio Cymru

BBC Radio Cymru is BBC Cymru's Welsh-language radio station, broadcasting throughout Wales from studios in Cardiff, Bangor, and Aberystwyth on FM since 1977. At the time of its launch it was one of the few FM-only radio services in the UK...

website as "one of their top 10 favourite Welsh tracks of the decade" in 2009.

Formation

Tricky Nixon formed in summer 2003 as Super 8's after the three founder members vocalist/guitarist

Guitarist

A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...

 Rhydian Dafydd, bassist

Bassist

A bass player, or bassist is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass, bass guitar, keyboard bass or a low brass instrument such as a tuba or sousaphone. Different musical genres tend to be associated with one or more of these instruments...

 Joe Fairclough and drummer

Drummer

A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...

 Peter Gray recruited Ritz Bryan as the second guitarist.

Shows and early recordings

The band initially put out a demo made up of three songs "Taxman", "All Over You" and "In My Head" that the band had already recorded for an album length demo.

During the In the City

In The City (festival)

In The City is an annual music industry conference and festival founded by the late Tony Wilson, formerly of Factory Records and Granada Television, and his partner Yvette Livesey....

 festival in Manchester, 2003, the band name changed from Super 8's to Tricky Nixon.

In 2004 the first release from Tricky Nixon was an EP

Extended play

An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...

 featuring three new tracks "Takin The Bait", "Jelly" and "You're So Money".

The EP was well received and the band were able to secure a national tour supporting Ariel X in April and several good support slots, most notably with Kaiser Chiefs

Kaiser Chiefs

Kaiser Chiefs are an English indie rock band from Leeds who formed in 1996. They were named after the South African football club Kaizer Chiefs....

.

During that summer the band recorded a cover of The Smiths

The Smiths

The Smiths were an English alternative rock band, formed in Manchester in 1982. Based on the song writing partnership of Morrissey and Johnny Marr , the band also included Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce...

' "Panic" for Concrete Recordings' Ten From Ten compilation album.

Mclusky tour and Kick EP

In November 2004 the band embarked on their highest profile tour to date supporting alternative rock

Alternative rock

Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...

 band Mclusky

Mclusky

Mclusky , originally known as Best, were a three-piece post-hardcore group formed in Cardiff, Wales. The group consisted of Englishman Andy "Falco" Falkous from Newcastle Upon Tyne, Jonathan Chapple and Jack Egglestone , who replaced previous drummer Matthew Harding in late...

.

The band's final release was six track Kick EP through Fuzzbox on 21 November 2005.

Breakup and post-Tricky Nixon

In January 2006 drummer Peter Gray quit the band.

The remaining three members of the band formed New Wave

New Wave music

New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...

/post-punk

Post-punk

Post-punk is a rock music movement with its roots in the late 1970s, following on the heels of the initial punk rock explosion of the mid-1970s. The genre retains its roots in the punk movement but is more introverted, complex and experimental...

 band Sidecar Kisses and following Sidecar Kisses' dissolution, Ritzy Bryan and Rhydian Dafydd went on to form art rock

Art rock

Art rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom in the 1960s, with influences from art, avant-garde, and classical music. The first usage of the term, according to Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, was in 1968. Influenced by the work of The Beatles, most notably their Sgt...

/indie pop

Indie pop

Indie pop is a genre of alternative rock music that originated in the United Kingdom in the mid 1980s, with its roots in the Scottish post-punk bands on the Postcard Records label in the early '80s, such as Orange Juice, Josef K and Aztec Camera, and the dominant UK independent band of the mid...

 band The Joy Formidable

The Joy Formidable

The Joy Formidable are a three-piece band formed in 2007 in North Wales and currently located in London, England. The band consists of Ritzy Bryan , Rhydian Dafydd , and Matt Thomas ....

.

Peter Gray joined surf music

Surf music

Surf music is a genre of popular music associated with surf culture, particularly as found in Orange County and other areas of Southern California. It was particularly popular between 1961 and 1965, has subsequently been revived and was highly influential on subsequent rock music...

/sci-fi group The VCs.

Demos

• Benedict (2003) (CD)
• Super 8's EP (2003) (CD)
• Takin The Bait EP (Jan 2004) (CD)

Compilations

• Panic (1 November 2004) (CD/vinyl/download)
• Paid a Gofyn (19 October 2005) (download)