A biography
A are a British alternative rock band from Suffolk, England, that formed in 1993. They have released four albums, and two live mini-albums.
Shortly after releasing their fourth album, Teen Dance Ordinance in 2005, the band took a hiatus. In 2007 'A' reunited for a one-off gig, and have been touring sporadically ever since, most recently with Bowling for Soup, on their October 2010 UK tour.
History
The band known as 'A' formed in Suffolk, England in the late 80s, as 'Grand Designs'. The band was founded by twins, Jason and Adam Perry, and their friend Mark Chapman, with bassist Stevie Swindon, and the twins' younger brother Giles Perry joining in the early 90s. The members cited their influences as: Rush, The Beach Boys, Van Halen and the Beastie Boys.
How Ace Are Buildings and A vs. Monkey Kong
After changing their name to 'A' in 1993, and abandoning their early progressive rock-inspired sound for a more punk rock style, they signed a European recording contract with British (Warner Bros. Records) in 1996 and released their debut LP
How Ace Are Buildings in 1997. Also in 1997, the band briefly appeared in the music video for "Anthem" by The Wildhearts. The band found a healthy underground reception and even had a couple of low-charting singles in the UK. After the mild success brought to the band by
How Ace Are Buildings, bassist Stevie Swindon decided to quit the band. He was replaced by bassist and future BBC Radio 1 Rock Show DJ Daniel P Carter. A licensing agreement for the American music market was reached with the North Carolina-based Mammoth Records. Future releases would be distributed in the U.S. and Canada by Mammoth. A second album
'A' Vs. Monkey Kong followed in 1999. The band then toured the world and enjoyed a small degree of success worldwide, especially in Germany. They released a live album,
Exit Stage Right in 2000.
Hi-Fi Serious and commercial success
Hi-Fi Serious was their third album, released in 2002. It was preceded by their biggest single to date, "Nothing", which saw the band reach the UK top ten for the first time, hitting number 9, and the further top 20 hit "Starbucks", named after the coffee chain. The release of the album was highly anticipated, and charted at #18. The tour following
Hi-Fi Serious saw the band playing their largest venues to date, headlining the 5,000 capacity Brixton Academy as part of their 'Inner-City Sumo' Tour. At the end of the year they won the Kerrang! award for "Best British Band". In 2004, their single "Nothing" was added to Beyblade's
Let It Rip! official soundtrack. In 2007, "Something's Going On" and "The Distance" were added to the Surf's Up video game soundtrack.
'A' released their fourth album, Teen Dance Ordinance (TDO), on June 27, 2005. The album had been recorded two years earlier, but was heavily delayed due to Jason Perry's illness and disputes with the record company. It featured a more straight-rock sound and displayed an almost complete absence of the keyboards and sampling that marked the early sound of the band. Unlike their last two albums, Teen Dance Ordinance was not released in the US. Hollywood Records agreed early on to release it in the US, but ultimately did not. The album charted at a disappointing #95 on the UK charts.
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