Bombay Bicycle Club biography
Bombay Bicycle Club are an English indie rock band from Crouch End, London. The band comprises Jack Steadman (lead vocals, guitar), Jamie MacColl (guitar), Ed Nash (bass) and Suren de Saram (drums).
The band were asked to play the opening performance of 2006's V Festival after winning Channel 4's "Road to V" competition. Following the release of two EPs and their debut single "Evening/Morning", the band recorded their debut album, I Had the Blues But I Shook Them Loose. The album was released on 6 July 2009.
History
Beginnings
Steadman, MacColl and de Saram met at secondary school and at age 15 began playing under the name
The Canals after performing together in a school assembly. They switched between various aliases until they picked Bombay Bicycle Club, named after a chain of Indian restaurants in Britain. The line-up changed regularly until summer 2006, when Ed Nash joined the band after they met him at a funeral. Initially they played gigs at small London venues such as The Old Blue Last, Lark in the Park and Jacksons Lane.
The band were entered into Virgin Mobile's "Road to V" competition on Channel 4 in 2006. They were announced as one of two winners of the competition on 16 August 2006, beating competition from fellow London band - and favourites to win the competition - The Holloways in the final round of fourteen bands. Previous participants include The Young Knives, who were winners of the inaugural competition one year before. They were given the opening slot of the 2006 V Festival, playing on the Channel 4 Stage in Chelmsford on 19 August, before opening the Staffordshire site the following day.
Progression
On 16 May 2007,
NME published an article naming Bombay Bicycle Club "...the hottest band to come from North London for quite some time". Bombay Bicycle Club released their debut EP,
The Boy I Used to Be, on 12 February 2007. The band released it on their own independent record label, Mmm... Records. The EP was produced by Jim Abbiss at his own personal request, and was recorded and mixed by Ewan Davies at Lincolnshire's Chapel Studios. To support the release of the EP they played a headline show at the Dingwalls in Camden as well as supporting fellow "Road to V" winners The Young Knives across some of their UK Tour. The band also played the Carling Stage at Reading and Leeds Festivals in 2007.
The band's second EP, How We Are, was released on 22 October 2007, again through Mmm... Records.
At the beginning of 2008, Bombay Bicycle Club appeared at the third annual Artrocker Festival, the Camden Crawl, and The Great Escape Festival in Brighton. The band also played the Shockwaves NME Awards Show at London's KOKO where they were main support for The Hold Steady.
I Had the Blues But I Shook Them Loose
In June 2008, the band officially finished higher secondary school education, which meant that the band could commit full time to music instead of having to juggle being in a band with studies. The band also headlined the first Club NME in Paris at La Fleche D'or venue, they were supported by Bitchee Bitchee Ya Ya Ya, with DJ sets coming from South Central, Shitdisco and Vicarious Bliss.
Biography from 
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