Razorlight biography
Razorlight are a British based indie rock band formed in 2002 by lead singer and rhythm guitarist Johnny Borrell. The band are primarily known in the UK, having topped the charts with the 2006 single "America" and its parent self-titled album, their second. Along with Borrell, the band currently consists of drummer David Mulcahy, bass player Freddie Stitz and lead guitarist Gus Robertson.
History
Formation and early years (2002-2003)
At the beginning of their career Johnny Borrell's new outfit spent six months rehearsing in a decaying factory space in east London. After his earlier incarnation as a solo acoustic singer/songwriter supporting bands like The Libertines, Johnny Borrell fashioned Razorlight as an intense electric rock band with hooky songs and took the band out on the road. On 17 September 2002 they played their first show with all four founder member, Johnny Borrell (vocals, guitar) Carl Dalemo (bass), Christian Smith-Pancorvo (drums) and Björn í…gren (guitar), at Dingwalls, supporting The Von Bondies. Ex NME journalist Roger Morton, who had been managing the band from the beginning, began looking to get the band into a recording studio and a session was booked by A&R man Justin Cross at Liam Watson's Toe Rag Studios to record early versions of tracks "Rip It Up", "Rock 'n' Roll Lies" and "In the City". Collaborating alongside Watson and Cross on production was John Fortis. Off the back of these tracks they began getting serious A&R heat due to the songs' success on radio stations such as John Kennedy Show on XFM.
Following a singing race the band finally settled with Mercury Records and then were steered by A&R Richard O'Donovan. The band started to become very popular on the London music scene.
Up All Night (2004-2005)
Razorlight debut album,
Up All Night, was released on 28 June 2004, reaching number 3 in the UK album charts. The critical reception was generally good, receiving good reviews from
NME,
Q magazine and
Billboard, although they were also accused of lack of imagination and unoriginality for allegedly borrowing ideas from other influential bands such as The Strokes. Following the successful release of their debut album, drummer Christian Smith-Pancorvo left the group and was replaced by Andy Burrows.
Up All Night was re-issued in April 2005, including the previously unreleased single "Somewhere Else", which peaked at Number 2.
In July 2005, the band performed at Hyde Park, London as part of the Live 8 series of concerts. However, the band came under fire for being the only band that did not donate their extra revenue to charity. The band subsequently claimed that due to their "fledgling status", they were unable to make such a commitment.
Razorlight contributed the song "Kirby's House" to the War Child charity album Help!: A Day in the Life. The song, which was originally over 4 minutes long, was later cut down almost in half and re-mastered, appearing as the eighth track on the band's second album, Razorlight.
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