BIOGRAPHY | PROFILE | GIGOGRAPHY | DISCOGRAPHY

SWEET BLACK ANGELS- BIOGRAPHY, Formed in 2003 form other working bands. Scott, Smoo, Dan, Mark and Chappers, a 5 piece rock band with extensive live and studio experience and an ever growing national and international fanbase. To date the band have supported the likes of the Dum Dums @ Worcester Uni and Laika Dog ( ex-Terrorvision) @ The Garage, London. They recorded their EP at the Levellers studio in Brighton went on tour to promote it. The EP Elevated Descent was limited to only 500 copies which all sold out during the tour. At the end of 2003 they came second in a competition, run by South West radio station Gemini FM to find the best band in Devon. In August 2004 the band were signed to a promotion and distribution deal by Matchbox Recordings in Oxfordshire and released their debut album Beneath Shadows In January 2005. They have released 2 download singles from this album which have been played on radio stations around the world, recently enjoying a long stay on ISON Live in Australia. Their first single I Know What Youre Thinking has been played on various internet radio stations and also Planet Rock while Envy the second single has also been played on various internet stations and XFM. In December they won Best Single Of the Year by listeners of Matchbox24 Radio for their track I Know What Youre Thinking. There was also a poll to find the best band on Matchbox, the band came second after only being with them for 3 months. In 2005 the band opened the Bulldog Bash in Stratford playing alongside Terrorvision, The Datsuns, Therapy and Alabama 3. They are due to play at the festival in 2006 alongside acts such as 100 Reasons, Pitchshifter and Breed 77. During the course of the year the band played over 60 gigs all over the UK and France. In late 2005 the band decided that the new year would mean changes. They decided to give up work and take the band on the road from January. The rest of the year was spent rehearsing and booking up gigs. Sadly this spelled the end for the original line up. Mark had decided that he couldnt take it to the next level due to other commitments and he left in December 2005. In 2006 the tour went under way with Smoo swapping the guitar for bass. They started a schedule of around 20 gigs a month starting in January. Things were further complicated by the sudden departure of Chappers in February. This meant that things were put on hold until replacements were found. The replacements came in the form of Ollie on drums and Lee on bass. With the new guys bringing in a fresh approach to the songs, a more exciting band has developed. So far this year the band played around 60 gigs and have had airplay on Saint FM in Southampton, Cotton Rock Radio in Mississippi and the VM Underground Show on HMR Radio in California. For the rest of the year the band are hoping to record a new album and will be playing more gigs, expanding their fanbase throughout the country and beyond. <p>Sweet Black Angels: Born out of frustration at the so called "English music scene" and the music industry in general, geared more towards manufactured boy/girl groups with low overheads and fast cash returns. With less chance of recognitions for true musicians and songwriters, the band felt compelled to try and re-establish what this country used to be famed for.</p> <p>We are five friends who came together to make music that we believe in, that we could share with others and maybe open their eyes to a different way of living or question the things we are led to believe. We sing about social issues such as jealousy, judgement, boredom and how in the big scheme of things, money, work and materialistic things just aren't that important.</p> <p>Without sacrificing good melody for coolness, we want to reach as many people as possible and help them realise that you don't have to get caught up in the system and that you can achieve what you believe in.</p> <p>We want to bring it to the attention of the world that nothing is written in stone, that no-one should govern the path you follow, that life should be full of venture and looked back upon with fulfilment and not regret... </p> <p>Don't be disturbed...</p> <p><strong>THE EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW</strong></p> <P><strong>What made you decide to form a band , tell us a bit about your musical history ?</strong></p> <p>The band was formed from several local working bands at the time and the best of all these bands ending up together to form ‘Sweet Black Angels’. This came about when Scott departed (over musical differences) from the band he was in with Smoo and Mark and setting up another band with Dan and Chappers. The two bands played on as normal but with neither really making progress and both knowing that for a real chance of success they needed each other. The band that Smoo and Mark were in soon split up (musical differences again!) and it was the perfect time to set up an alliance between the two bands. Everyone was more than happy with the new set up and the only thing we had to worry about then was the small thing of a band name and some songs!</p> <p><strong>Who or what are your influences?</strong></p> <p>Our musical influences include, The Black Crowes, The Stone Roses, Thin Lizzy, Pink Floyd, The Who, The Levellers and The Rolling Stones. This has helped give us our classis rock sound with melodic vocals and with a lyrical overview on social issues.</p> <p><strong>What bands do you like?</strong></p> <p>We are into bands from the 70’s classic rock era and the indie bands from the 90’s e.g. Led Zeppelin and The Verve. We’ve also taken interest in more recent bands such as Jet and Audioslave.</p> <p><strong>If you could choose to record a song with any other artist/band alive or Dead who would it be and why?</strong></p> <p>If we could record with any band it would have to be The Rolling Stones as this is probably the biggest influence on us, from the band name, right through to the band sound.</p> <p><strong>What inspires you to write your music ?</strong></p> <p>Our songs are usually inspired out of frustration at something we have witnessed or been apart of e.g. People with no ambition, dead end jobs and small town scuffles born out of not having anything else to do.</p> <p><strong>Name your all time fave song ie: desert island disc ?</strong></p> <p>Our all time favourite song would have to be (although played to death by every band that exists!) ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ by Lynard Skynard for several reasons. It not only represents the sound we are looking for (with great vocal melody and excellent lead guitar work) but it will always remind us of starting out as a covers band and bring back fond memories of playing in Nice at one of our favourite venues in the south of France.</p> <p><strong>What instruments do you use ?</strong></p> <p>The band consists of two guitarists, bass, drums and vocals (again inspired by the Stones). We also use acoustic guitars and harmonica on several tracks. We are currently experimenting with a voice box on the electric guitar and a dijeredoo, which we are hoping to use in our live performances soon.</p> <p><strong>What are your ambitions for your music. Where do you see yourself in 5 years ?</strong></p> <p>We’ve always been a very ambitious band and we want to take the band as far as we can in terms of building a good loyal fan base, gaining recognition in as many countries as possible and to be still recording quality albums for at least another 30 years. In 5 years time we’d like to have released at least 3 albums and to be recognised as one of the best UK bands to have broken through the ever growing difficult UK music industry.</p> <p><strong> How would you describe your music and what genre do you think it fits into ?</strong></p> <p>Our music is a 50/50 cross between classic rock and Indie. We’ve always liked the guitar sounds from the 70’s bands but weren’t always into the songs or the vocals. Where as the indie bands were pretty much the other way around, with great songs and vocals, but not very good guitaring. So we thought we’d take the best of both worlds and the ‘Sweet Black Angels’ were born!</p> <p><strong> Your new album has a very retro and classic but modern up to date Indie rock sound with catchy stadium sized big vocals. How did you get that sound ? Where was it recorded/produced ?</strong></p> <p>We recorded our EP ‘Elevated Descent’ at The Levellers studio in Brighton, we were happy with the sounds but not the mix; this was a result of the usual studio dilemma, money and time! So we decided that if we could re-create the sound quality ourselves for the new album, this would allow us unlimited mixing time and obviously better results. To do this we hired the help of our sound engineer, Sean Grayman Brown who had his own studio set-up and has worked in studios all his life. We felt that with this and Scott’s experience in music production, we would be able to get the results we were looking for and hence we did! To get the sounds we were looking for, we studied guitars from the 70’s that we felt would represent the sound we were looking for the best. We would play these songs back constantly until the desired sound was achieved. We used this same technique for bass, drums and recording in general. For the songs and vocals we would study arrangements and sounds from successful indie tracks from the 90’s and worked out why these songs had such an impact on people in the way that they did. Once we had the formula, we applied it to our songs and the album was well on its way!!</p> <p><strong>The Sweet Black Angels are:</strong></p> <p><strong>Scott Phillips</strong> (Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Harmonica, Percussion)</p> <p><strong>Daniel Phillips</strong> (Rhythm Guitar, Lead Guitar, Backing Vocals)</p> <p><strong>Andrew Wall</strong> (Rhythm Guitar, Lead Guitar, Backing Vocals)</p> <p><strong>Lee Hunt</strong> on Bass </p> <p><strong>Ollie Kirtley</strong> - Drums

BIOGRAPHY | PROFILE | GIGOGRAPHY | DISCOGRAPHY