Biography
The Clientele are a London-based
British band with Alasdair MacLean on vocals
and guitar,
Mark Keen on drums,
James Hornsey
on bass and Mel Draisey on violin, keyboards, backing vocals and percussion.
The band have experienced greater success in the United States, where
they are signed to Merge Records, home of bands such as Lambchop and Spoon, than in their native Britain. They have conducted
several extensive U.S. tours.MacLean and Hornsey both grew up in Hampshire, England, and began
collaborating musically while still in school, after MacLean saw that
Hornsey had written the name of the band Felt
on his pencil case. The band formed in 1991, with the current lineup
along with Innes Phillips, who shared singing and songwriting duties
with MacLean; their original name was The Butterfly Collectors.
The band recorded an album's worth of material but failed to get any
label interest. Innes left the band (and would go on to found The Relict);
the rest of the group re-formed in 1997, after which they moved to
London and released a number of singles that were eventually collected
on Suburban Light (2000). That compilation won the band glowing
reviews; SF Weekly said the band "offers a brand of appealingly
melancholy pop that might just sur that of its forebears." [1] The Violet Hour
(2003) was their first album proper, which again saw great acclaim,
but, as yet, little commercial success.
August 2005 saw the release of their second full album, Strange Geometry, the first the band recorded with a
producer, Brian O'Shaughnessy, who had previously
produced Primal Scream. It was notable for a much
cleaner production sound than the reverb-heavy sound that had previously
been their defining characteristic; it was also the first time the band
had used a strings section on one of their records. The task of writing
these arrangements was given to Louis Philippe. Only one single,
"Since K Got Over Me", was released from the album, which failed to
reach the Top 75 in the UK. Another song from the album, "(I Can't Seem)
To Make You Mine", was featured on the soundtrack of the film The Lake House.
Strange Geometry was quickly followed by a collection of
recordings from 1991 to 1996, featuring Innes Phillips, called It's
Art, Dad. After a U.S. tour in August 2006, The Clientele became a
four-piece again, adding Mel Draisey (on violin, keys and percussion),
who became their first female member. They then recorded the album God Save The Clientele with producer Mark Nevers,
known for his work with Merge labelmates Lambchop; the album again featured several Louis
Philippe-composed string arrangements. God Save The Clientele was
released in May 2007 in the United States.- Wikipedia
British band with Alasdair MacLean on vocals
and guitar,
Mark Keen on drums,
James Hornsey
on bass and Mel Draisey on violin, keyboards, backing vocals and percussion.
The band have experienced greater success in the United States, where
they are signed to Merge Records, home of bands such as Lambchop and Spoon, than in their native Britain. They have conducted
several extensive U.S. tours.MacLean and Hornsey both grew up in Hampshire, England, and began
collaborating musically while still in school, after MacLean saw that
Hornsey had written the name of the band Felt
on his pencil case. The band formed in 1991, with the current lineup
along with Innes Phillips, who shared singing and songwriting duties
with MacLean; their original name was The Butterfly Collectors.
The band recorded an album's worth of material but failed to get any
label interest. Innes left the band (and would go on to found The Relict);
the rest of the group re-formed in 1997, after which they moved to
London and released a number of singles that were eventually collected
on Suburban Light (2000). That compilation won the band glowing
reviews; SF Weekly said the band "offers a brand of appealingly
melancholy pop that might just sur that of its forebears." [1] The Violet Hour
(2003) was their first album proper, which again saw great acclaim,
but, as yet, little commercial success.
August 2005 saw the release of their second full album, Strange Geometry, the first the band recorded with a
producer, Brian O'Shaughnessy, who had previously
produced Primal Scream. It was notable for a much
cleaner production sound than the reverb-heavy sound that had previously
been their defining characteristic; it was also the first time the band
had used a strings section on one of their records. The task of writing
these arrangements was given to Louis Philippe. Only one single,
"Since K Got Over Me", was released from the album, which failed to
reach the Top 75 in the UK. Another song from the album, "(I Can't Seem)
To Make You Mine", was featured on the soundtrack of the film The Lake House.
Strange Geometry was quickly followed by a collection of
recordings from 1991 to 1996, featuring Innes Phillips, called It's
Art, Dad. After a U.S. tour in August 2006, The Clientele became a
four-piece again, adding Mel Draisey (on violin, keys and percussion),
who became their first female member. They then recorded the album God Save The Clientele with producer Mark Nevers,
known for his work with Merge labelmates Lambchop; the album again featured several Louis
Philippe-composed string arrangements. God Save The Clientele was
released in May 2007 in the United States.- Wikipedia
