The Automatic
The Automatic |
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The Automatic (known as The Automatic Automatic in the U.S. and Canada[1][2]) are a Welsh post punk rock band. Formed in Cowbridge, Vale of Glamorgan but now based in Cardiff[3], the band are influenced heavily by acts such as Jarcrew, Muse, Blur and The Blood Brothers.[4]
History
1988-2005
The members first met at Primary school, in the early nineties, and formed a band at the age of 13. This was without ex-member Alex Pennie, who was asked to join 5 years later.[5][6] Originally known as White Rabbit [7], they renamed themselves The Automatic because they believe that music is the antidote to "the automatic life".[8] They signed a 5 album record deal [9] with B-Unique Records[10](home of Kaiser Chiefs) in their gap, they are managed by Martin Bowen.
Not Accepted Anywhere (2006-2007)
In November 2005, the band released their first single, "Recover", prior to the release of their debut album Not Accepted Anywhere, this single however was not chart eligible since only 1,500 copies were released on vinyl and only 3,500 on CD. Also in 2005, The Automatic won The Pop Factory award for "Best New Band".
On March 27, 2006, the band's next single, "Raoul", was released, reaching #32 in the UK Singles Chart. The third single, "Monster", was released on June 5, 2006 and reached #4, but entered the UK Singles Chart at #23 the week before based on download sales alone. "Monster" has also been re-mixed into a dance track by Fatboy Slim, and some football teams use the song as an anthem.[11] Former Keyboardist Alex Pennie has expressed his thoughts on football fans singing their song "Monster", and does not see it as a good thing, nor does he get any thrill out of them singing it, also stating "I'm not the biggest fan of football, I class it a waste of time," in an interview with MTV.co.uk [12]
Not Accepted Anywhere, was released on 19 June, 2006, which they celebrated with a signing and performance in Oxford Street's HMV.
On July 17, 2006 shortly after the UK release of Not Accepted Anywhere, the Raoul EP was released, containing a number of early songs and b-sides to Not Accepted Anywhere. The EP also included the original versions of "Recover" and "Raoul".[13]
The Automatic have been heavily criticised for their follow-ups to their chart hit "Monster", which peaked at #4 in UK charts. The band has been accused of being a "one-hit wonder"[14][15][16] Not Accepted Anywhere was also criticised for the tracks sounding too similar to one another.[17][18][19]
The fourth single was a full release of "Recover", and is actually a re-recorded version of the song which the record label felt to be a more fully-realised performance. Generally it is heavier in sound, features more synths from Pennie and a sharper guitar sound for Frost's solo.
16 August 2006 saw the band's second EP, titled Live at the 100 Club, the EP was recorded at the 100 Club, in London and made exclusive to iTunes.[20]
The fifth single, a re-release of "Raoul", was released on January 8, 2007. The single fared worse than its original release, however received higher plays on MTV, Kerrang and other music stations.[21]
On June 26, 2007 the band released their debut album, Not Accepted Anywhere in the U.S. and Canada. This comes prior to their attendance at the Vans Warped Tour, 2007. Their first U.S. single, "Monster", was released on April 24, 2007.[22]
Departure of Alex Pennie
On 18 September 2007 it was announced by The Automatic that Alex Pennie (synths player) had left the band due to finding the last year increasingly unenjoyable and growing apart from the rest of the band. It was later revealed that Alex had wanted to leave the band since January 2007.[23]
So you all know today we announced that keyboard player Alex Pennie has left the band.
Alex Pennie, who’s been in The Automatic since 2003, played his last gigs with the band at the recent Get Loaded In The Park festival (25th-26th August) and has left after due to finding the last year increasingly unenjoyable and growing apart from the rest of the band
The three members of The Automatic – Rob Hawkins, James Frost and Iwan Griffiths – will soon be flying to the USA to start recording the follow up to their debut album ‘Not Accepted Anywhere' and are looking forward to announcing more news soon.[24]The Automatic
In November NME reported that the band have had no direct contact with former band mate Alex Pennie since the split, which also took place earlier than the official split according to his former band mates, Rob has exchanged MySpace messages with Pennie however, reporting that he is doing ok, and that he now has a new punk band, and a new girlfriend.[25]
Second album, future album (2007 - present)
We want to just make it sound rawer, make it sound heavier because we felt the first album got pretty poppified and it was quite rushed so we didn’t get to do a lot of the ideas we had. So hopefully we’ll get a bit more time to make it more of an album where you have to listen to the whole album. You know like with some albums, you only listen to one track but you feel like you have to listen to whole album. We want it to be like that,” says the sticksman of the direction he thinks the whole band should make out with each other. “I think it’ll be more in the potty direction, more in the vein of Foo Fightery type , kind of thing but keeping in what we do now. We don’t want to be perceived as this pop band which we do at the moment, we seem to be a bit pushed into this corner, but when you come to our gigs you sort of see that we’re a rock band.
—Ukmusic interview[26]
In late February guitarist James Frost was interviewed and stated that a non-album single would be released around March 2007. However it was never released, nor was it ever officially said what song was going to be released, although it was speculated to be Revolution.[27]
So far the official details on a second album are limited; however, new songs have been showcased on the NME tour, including "Steve McQueen" and "Revolution"[28]. Also in playmusic magazine it is suggested that the sound on the second album will change. "Our record is a bit too pop for my liking," says Alex Pennie in the interview, however they have said in other interviews that there will be no drastic changes in the genre for the second album. However Alex Pennie has since left the band prior to the recording of the album. They have also stated that they will start writing this album when they go out to America, for the Vans Warped Tour 2007, and it is expected to be released early 2008.[29]
I'm much more excited about the second record, its shaping up to be quite dark and sinister and my vocals are getting better as well.[30]
Alex Pennie
After Warped we have a few gigs planned, but were mainly going to be concentrating on writing and recording our second album![31]
Iwan Griffiths
On 26th July 2007 theautomatic.co.uk was changed for the first time since the UK release of Not Accepted Anywhere, from the Not Accepted Anywhere Theme into a new lighter flash aided design, the design may or may not have relevance to the forthcoming Untitled Second Album scheduled for a late 2007/early 2008 release. A US site was also released, the style only slightly differs with The Automatic UK site featuring a new logo, the USA site uses the logo from Not Accepted Anywhere.[32]
On October 19 2007 it was reported by Rock Sound that former yourcodenameis:milo vocalist Paul Mullen would be replacing Pennie.[33][34][35]
It was officially reported from the automatics website on October 22 2007 that Paul Mullen was to the join the band, however he is not the direct replacement for Pennie, in fact Paul will be acting as the bands rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist. The band also are reported to have 20 songs demoed and ready to record, half of which were written with Alex Pennie [36], and the other half have been wrote with Paul Mullen. The new album will however feature just as much keyboards according to James Frost, however synths and keyboards will be split between the four band members.[37]
The band plan to go back on tour promoting the second album from March 1 2008, although dates, support and venues have yet to be announced.[38]
The new songs apparently are poppier than before, with some heavier songs and some more mellow songs.[39]
Currently the band are slated to begin recording in January 2008, with a March 2008 tour, and the album release in May 2008[40]
Live performances
The Automatic are well known for their extremely energetic on stage performances, the constant microphone swinging from keyboardist Alex Pennie, as well as crowd surfing from guitarist James Frost. As well as these features the band are well known for their performances of Gold Digger, which on numerous ocasions they have been joined by various guests when performing the cover, including Newton Faulkner on the Warped Tour, and Goldie Lookin Chain at reading festival[41]. The band as well as covering this have taken to covering The Talking Heads classic, Life During Wartime [42][43]. In more recent times the band have performed Personal Jesus, originally by Depeche Mode, however the song is performed in the same manner as Marilyn Manson's 2004 cover.[44][45] The Automatic's most notable touring appearances are at Reading Festival 2006 [46], NME Awards Indie Rock Tour 2007[47], and Vans Warped Tour 2007[48]. Since 2005 the band have been requesting shrines for David Hasselhoff at the venues they perform at.[49]
Musical style
The band are often descried as Electro-Disco-Punk Rock[50], with synthesizers and keyboards backing up a firm punk rock sound. With influences such as Jarcrew, Muse, Blur and The Blood Brothers [51], and a joint love for bands such as Radiohead and Ash [52]
TV, radio, and online appearances
The band has appeared on television and radio a number of times; notably, they were first ever band to make a return performance on The Friday Night Project.[53] They have also appeared on BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge, playing "Monster" along with "Gold Digger".[54]
In the spring of 2006, Frost and Pennie destroyed some of the equipment whilst performing "Monster" on GMTV. Although the band have not been expressly banned from performing on GMTV, there were threats of legal action from a crew member who received a glancing injury during the act.[55]
The band have been featured in a number of magazines, the most notable being NME, Kerrang, Playmusic, Q Magazine, and Rock Sound
On four separate occasions the band have appeared on the T4 show Popworld. After the broadcasting in an interview the band stated that if The Kooks and Razorlight got into a fight then they would support The Kooks, saying that Johnny Borrell has a lot of people who already dislike him. This came after their appearance on Top Of The Pops[56], as were The Kooks, and ironically Lostprophets, which they felt was awkward considering Fearne Cotton had previously been dating Luke Pritchard and Lostprophets frontman Ian Watkins, during the interview with popworld Iwan made jokes of how Fearne was giving Frost the eye[57]
On November 16, 2006, Alex Pennie appeared as a guest on panel show, Never Mind The Buzzcocks.[58]
On January 9, 2007, Robin Hawkins and Alex Pennie stood in on the Zane Lowe show on BBC Radio 1, hosting a two hour show, with tracks from Frank Turner and Viva Machine, The View, and several other artists.[59]
On January 11, 2007 the band appeared in Habbo Hotel UK.[60]
July 2007 Rob was interviewed on The Vinnie Langdon Show [61] USA TV Show in Sacramento, California.[62]
The Automatic are a sexy band
just look @ rob, hahaha
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Band members
The Automatic, as of 2007, is composed of:
- Rob Hawkins (lead vocals, bass guitar)
- James Frost (guitar, vocals, synths&keyboards)
- Iwan Griffiths (drums)
- Paul Mullen (rhythm guitar,vocals, synths&keyboards)
Touring
- Jamie Allen (Bass Guitar, Guitar Tech)
Former Members
- Alex Pennie (synths, keyboards, vocals)(2003-2007)
Awards
Won
- The Pop Factory Awards 2005 - Best New Act
- The Pop Factory Awards 2006 - Best Performance Award[63]
- The Pop Factory Awards 2006 - Rock 'n' Roll Excess Award[64]
- Vodafone Music Awards 2006 - Best British Breakthrough Act [65]
- T4 Popworld Artist of the Year 2006[66]
- The Pop Factory Awards 2007 - Best International Band/Export
Nominated
- The Pop Factory Awards - 2007 - Best International Artist/Export [67]
Discography
Albums
| The Automatic discography | |
|---|---|
| Singles | Recover, Raoul, Monster, Recover (Re-Release), Raoul (Re-Release), Monster (USA release) |
| The Automatic discography |
|---|
References
- ^ The Automatic AutomaticThe Automatic being promoted as 'The Automatic Automatic'
- ^ fusetvVarious USA interviews talking about the name The Automatic Automatic
- ^ "If only success was Automatic" by Claire Rees, icWales, October 14, 2005, retrieved November 10, 2006.
- ^ The Automatic Myspace - influences of the band.
- ^ NME 19 May 1998
- ^ The Automatic at HayStackThe Automatic
- ^ MTVThe Automatic biography at MTV
- ^ "The Automatic interview" by Nat Davies and Susie Wild, BBC Wales, 2005, retrieved January 4, 2007.
- ^ SoundNationInterview with sound nation in September 2005 - Retrieved December 11, 2007
- ^ B-Unique Records
- ^ "Top 10 Football Chants of 2006" BBC Sport 2006, retrieved February 9, 2007
- ^ Don't Mention MonsterMTVUK News 2006, retrieved April 3, 2007
- ^ Raoul EP
- ^ MonsterThe Automatic 'Monster'
- ^ Soundgenerator.comThe Automatic Review
- ^ beatsurrender.comReview Liverpool NME Tour
- ^ Raoul Re-Release Chart Blog
- ^ Guardian Art.Guardian slates Not Accepted Anywhere.
- ^ Drowned In Sound Review of Not Accepted Anywhere
- ^ iTunes/Coke The Automatic Live at the 100 Club
- ^ Raoul Re-Release
- ^ The Automatic Automatic Not Accepted Anywhere USA Release
- ^ ICWALESPennie leave the automatic
- ^ NMEPennie leave the automatic
- ^ NME 3 November 2007 News
- ^ UkMusicUkMusic interview further details on the second album
- ^ James FrostRadio interview James Frost talks about NME, America and The Second Album (5:16 Details on a new single)
- ^ New Songs On TourNME News Thread 2006, retrieved February 9, 2007
- ^ HighSoc.com Interview With The Band
- ^ NME 19th May 2007 page 35
- ^ Tour.net Iwan Interviewed By Warped Tour.net
- ^ theautomatic.co.ukThe Automatic re-designed website.
- ^ Rock SoundPaul Mullen replaces AAlex Pennie
- ^ PorlacarretaPaul Mullen pennies replacement
- ^ NMEPaul Mullen joins the automatic
- ^ NME 19th May 2007 page 35
- ^ TheAutomatic James Frosts blog
- ^ theautomatic -gigstheautomatic.co.uk gigs
- ^ NME 3 November 2007 News
- ^ icwalesrelease details for the automatic - retrieved December 01 2007
- ^ Gold DiggerThe Automatic Live Performance Of Gold Digger, Originally by Kanye West.
- ^ Life During WartimeThe Automatic Life During Wartime Cover
- ^ SXSW Life During WartimeSXSW Festival Youtube Performance
- ^ Personal Jesus Cover of 'Personal Jesus' YouTube video
- ^ Personal Jesus Marilyn Manson's Cover, similar to The Automatics cover
- ^ LastFM Past Events2006 Tour History
- ^ NME News ArticalNME Indie Rock Tour Line-up 2007
- ^ Vans Warped Tour2007 Band Lineup
- ^ contactmusicRob Hawkins explains David Hasselhoof shrines Retrieved December 07 2007
- ^ "bbc theautomatic not accepted anywhere". bbc. Retrieved 2007-10-29.
- ^ "theautomatic influences". The Automatic (Myspace). Retrieved 2007-10-29.
- ^ "theautomatic the sound". theautomatic.co.uk. Retrieved 2007-10-29.
- ^ The Automatic IMDBThe Automatic Filmography
- ^ Live Lounge CDDetails and Track Listing for BBC Radio 1 live lounge cd.
- ^ "The Automatic Facing Legal Action", Contactmusic.com, August 2, 2006, retrieved November 10, 2006.
- ^ BBCBBC Top Of The Pops interview Monster - Retrieved - December 4 2007
- ^ PopworldInterview with The Automatic - Retrieved December 4 2007
- ^ Alex Pennie on N.M.T.BKeyboardist Alex Pennie Appears on Never Mind the Buzzcocks
- ^ Zane Lowe On Holiday"Robin Hawkins and Alex Pennie stand in for Zane Lowe", January 9, 2007
- ^ The Automatic In Habbo Hotel
- ^ vinnielangdonshow
- ^ YoutubeTVVinnie Langdon Show, youtube clip
- ^ Pop Factory Awards 2006
- ^ Pop Factory Awards 2006
- ^ Contact Music2006 Vodafone Music Awards
- ^ T4 Popworld Popworld artist of the year interview -Retrieved December 4th 2007
- ^ Wales Pop Factory Awards 2007 Nominations