Blood Red Shoes

Blood Red Shoes

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Blood Red Shoes

Blood Red Shoes are an alternative rock duo from Brighton, England. They have released three full-length albums, Box of Secrets (2008), Fire Like This (2010), and In Time to Voices (2012) as well as numerous early singles on limited 7" vinyl pressings.

Overview

Formation

Blood Red Shoes formed in late 2004, after Steven Ansell and Laura-Mary Carter's previous bands (Cat On Form and Lady Muck respectively) broke up and they decided to "have a jam".[1] In an interview in Berlin, Laura-Mary explained that the band's name was taken from a Ginger Rogers/Fred Astaire musical, in which Ginger Rogers had turned a pair of white dancing shoes red with blood due to the amount of dancing she had done practising for the role.[2]

The band cite a large swathe of US-based underground punk and rock music as their primary influence, drawing inspiration from Babes in Toyland, Nirvana, Queens of the Stone Age, Q and not U, Pixies, Fugazi and Sonic Youth, although they also regularly highlight English artists Blur and PJ Harvey as music heroes. The band frequently distance themselves from current English guitar music and consider themselves to be a punk band, in ethos and attitude, if not in their immediate musical style. Blood Red Shoes deal with themes of frustration, anger, alienation, boredom, doubt, psychosis, confusion, escape and ultimately the hope of freedom or change, in their lyrics.

The band openly support anti-fascist campaigns such as Love Music Hate Racism,[3] contributing on the second CD of the 2007 LMHR compilation album with the track "Can't Find the Door",[4] and have also played the feminist festival Ladyfest in the past.[5]

Early singles

They released their début single "Victory for the Magpie" on 18 July 2005, followed by the double A-side "Stitch Me Back / Meet Me at Eight", "A.D.H.D", and "You Bring Me Down" in 2006. After playing over 300 live shows around the UK,[6] they were signed to V2 in April 2007 with whom they released the singles "It's Getting Boring By The Sea" (11 June 2007) and "I Wish I Was Someone Better" (29 October 2007), as well as the singles compilation album I'll Be Your Eyes on 25 June 2007.

The band featured on both days of the 2007 Camden Crawl,[7] playing the Purple Turtle and the Earl of Camden respectively, and also headlined the inaugural 2007 Red Stripe Music Awards alongside Yourcodenameis:Milo.[8] They were one of four bands to play the NME New Music Tour 2007, with The Little Ones, Pull Tiger Tail and The Rumble Strips.[9] The summer of 2007 saw the band playing several festival spots, including T in the Park, the inaugural Underage Festival,[10] and the Electric Gardens festival. They also supported a wide range of bands, such as Biffy Clyro, Maxïmo Park,[11] Panic At The Disco, Lightning Bolt, The Gossip, Siouxsie Sioux and Rage Against the Machine.

Box of Secrets

Following the sale of V2 to Universal Music Group, the band's début album Box of Secrets was released on Mercury Records on April 14, 2008.[12] It was leaked to private torrent trackers in November 2007, several months before its retail release date. The band have commented that although they have no issue with file sharing and downloading free music, having their début album become available outside of their control and without the intended artwork and lyric booklet was a disappointment. Laura-Mary from the band has designed the record sleeve for every release by the band.

They played a nine-date tour of the UK,[13] in support of the album, followed by dates across mainland Europe and Japan. They played major international festivals including Reading and Leeds, Summer Sonic, Pukkelpop, Lowlands, Melt! and many more.

Fire Like This

After their autumn-winter tour of 2008, which covered over 12 countries, the band took a performance stop in the first months of 2009 to write songs for their next record. They began touring again in March 2009,[14] introducing new songs at every gig, sometimes including unfinished songs or those without lyrics. They opened for Foals in Brighton in 2009 to road-test some new material by playing all new songs except for "It's Getting Boring By The Sea" and "This Is Not For You". On 17 May 2009, the band played All Tomorrow's Parties (ATP festival), having been invited to play by The Breeders.[15] The band recorded their second album with Mike Crossey at the Motor Museum studio in Liverpool. They also contributed an instrumental track called "Carry Knots" on a compilation CD for Audioscope, in aid of the homeless charity Shelter, which was released in October 2009.[16]

On 25 November 2009, the band made a new track, "Colours Fade", available to download from their website.[17] Independent music webzine The Music Magazine commented that the band's sound had been boosted. Author Jamie Smith wrote: "It takes the tried and tested BRS formula and as they say, turns it up to eleven. Its seven minutes long. It pretty much defines epic. It sounds HUGE."[18]

The album's first single "Light It Up" premiered on 5 January 2010 on Radio 1 by Huw Stephens filling in for Zane Lowe. The single was released on 22 February, one week before the release of their second album Fire Like This on 1 March 2010. Further singles "Don't Ask" and "Heartsink" were released in May and August respectively, which was followed by a European and North American tour in October. In September 2010, the band recorded a few new songs which they hope to release as an EP.

In 2010, the band's song "It's Getting Boring By The Sea" featured in the film Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. It is in the film's official soundtrack and the band attended the UK premiere in London. The song was included because the director of the film, Edgar Wright, is a fan of the band and got the idea of including it after seeing them live.

In Time To Voices

The band spent most of 2011 writing new songs. After spending the summer playing various festivals, they played their last show of 2011 on 17 September and began recording the album a few weeks later at The Motor Museum studio in Liverpool, again with Mike Crossey, who also produced Box of Secrets and Fire Like This. Recording started on 18 October 2011.[19] On 12 December 2011, the band revealed the first teaser from the album on their website, with a video from the studio, with 3 more videos to be revealed before the album's release. During early January 2012, the band recorded b-sides, bonus tracks and alternate versions of songs for the album's release.[20]

On 24 January 2012, the band's new single, "Cold" was premiered on BBC Radio 1 by Zane Lowe and their third album, In Time to Voices, was officially announced with a release date of 26 March 2012.[21] The album's first single, "Cold", is due to be released on 19 March.[22]

In a press release, Carter described the album: With this album we totally threw out the rulebook of how we write and record. We decided we wanted to make a really ambitious record, not something which reflects our live show but something which is only limited by our imaginations and not by how many instruments we use onstage. We figured the best way to push ourselves forward was to write the best possible songs and melodies we could - once you have that as your foundation, you have the freedom to go anywhere with the sounds you use. We feel like a totally different band now. We feel like we're shooting for the stars.[23]

The band announced a UK and European tour for April and May 2012, with added worldwide tour dates yet to be announced.

Discography

Studio albums

Year Album UK NL BE Record Label Format
2008 Box of Secrets 47 73 58 Mercury Records(UK)/V2 CD, LP, Digital download
2010 Fire Like This 95 48 42 V2 CD, LP, Digital download
2012 In Time to Voices 61 78 79 V2 CD, LP, Digital download

Singles

Year Single Peak chart positions Album
UK
2005 "Victory for the Magpie"
2006 "Stitch Me Back / Meet Me at Eight"
"A.D.H.D"
"You Bring Me Down" I'll Be Your Eyes
2007 "It's Getting Boring by the Sea"
"I Wish I Was Someone Better" 186 Box of Secrets
2008 "You Bring Me Down" (re-release) 64
"Say Something, Say Anything" 79
"This Is Not for You"
2010 "Light It Up" Fire Like This
"Don't Ask / We Get Bored"
"Heartsink / Into The Night"
2012 "Cold" In Time To Voices
"In Time To Voices"

Compilations

  • I'll Be Your Eyes - (V2 Records) 25 June 2007

Equipment

Laura-Mary Carter

Laura-Mary Carter uses thick 1 mm Jim Dunlop plectrums, and thick "skinny top heavy bottom" Ernie Ball strings. On her Telecasters she uses standard tuning. On the Springtime, she uses an alternate tuning.

  • Fender American Telecaster
  • Fender Japanese '62 Reissue Telecaster (sold on eBay)
  • Springtime
  • Marshall DSL50 JCM2000 Head
  • Marshall 1960TV Cabinet
  • Boss DD-6
  • Boss TU-2
  • Marshall Guv'nor GV-2 Plus
  • Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi
  • Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Memory Man
  • Electro-Harmonix Micro Synth

Steven Ansell

Steven uses a 4-piece drum kit and only 3 Cymbals.

  • Tama Superstar Custom Drum Kit (13" rack tom, 16" floor tom, 22" bass drum)
  • Zildjian Cymbals (14" fast hats, 18" K Custom dark crash, 20/21" K ride)
  • Ludwig Black Beauty Snare Drum (14")
  • Roland SPD-S sample pad

Sometimes on live shows, Steve plays guitar and Laura plays drums for their B-Side "Surf Song".

References

  1. bloodredshoes.co.uk: Biography
  2. Blood Red Shoes Interview
  3. Love Music Hate Racism Stars Come Out In Support Of Brighton And Sussex Anti-Racist Campaign. Lovemusichateracism.com (2011-06-18). Retrieved on 2012-04-01.
  4. Pete Doherty and Carl Barat reunite on anti-racism CD | News. Nme.Com (2007-10-16). Retrieved on 2012-04-01.
  5. Gig poster for Ladyfest benefit gig
  6. Official website biography
  7.  %time%. Archive - 2007 Line Up | The Camden Crawl 2012. Thecamdencrawl.com. Retrieved on 2012-04-01.
  8. Leeds band The Hair make the final of the Red Stripe Music Awards. Leedsmusicscene.net (2007-04-29). Retrieved on 2012-04-01.
  9. Topman links with NME. Music Week (2007-03-21). Retrieved on 2012-04-01.
  10. www.virtualfestivals.com Underage Festival 2007 line-up
  11. Home |. Bloodredshoes.co.uk. Retrieved on 2012-04-01.
  12. Box of Secrets: Blood Red Shoes: Amazon.co.uk: Music. Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved on 2012-04-01.
  13. NME article: Blood Red Shoes announce UK tour, May 13, 2008
  14. Clash magazine, Blood Red Shoes: March tour, 13 February 13 2009
  15. Home |. Bloodredshoes.co.uk. Retrieved on 2012-04-01.
  16. Blood Red Shoes website, News Archive, 5 September 2009
  17. Blood Red Shoes official site. bloodredshoes.co.uk (2009-11-25). Retrieved on 2009-11-25.
  18. Free Blood Red Shoes gig and download. themusicmagazine.co.uk (2009-11-25). Retrieved on 2009-11-25.
  19. we are successfully.... Facebook. Retrieved on 2012-04-01.
  20. we're spending the.... Facebook. Retrieved on 2012-04-01.
  21. In Time to Voices on iTunes
  22. New Blood Red Shoes single
  23. Drowned In Sound album announcement

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Blood Red Shoes

  • Official Website
  • Blood Red Shoes France
  • Private BRS collection
  • Interview with TMF prior to release of Fire Like This
  • Blood Red Shoes Gig Review at Aberdeen Cafe Drummonds 18 October 2008 with photographs
  • Blood Red Shoes Gig Review at Manchester Academy 3 16 October 2008
  • Interview, February 2010
  • Interview At Rock City (Nottingham) By Scorpio Review - March 2010
This page was last modified 11.08.2012 23:50:48

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