Turin Brakes biography
Turin Brakes are a modern folk duo, comprising Olly Knights and Gale Paridjanian, hailing from Balham, London. They had a UK top 5 hit with their song "Painkiller (Summer Rain)".
History
1999-2003
The band was started by longtime friends Knights and Paridjanian. The two met at a young age and spent much of their childhood together. Although they split after Knights went to film school and Paridjian attempted to form a band in Toronto, Canada, they soon reunited and collaborated on what would later become their first EP,
The Door, which was eventually released through Anvil Records in 1999 as a limited vinyl release. This led to the band attracting the attention of larger record labels. Source Records would eventually release two more EPs,
The State of Things EP and
Fight or Flight, prompting
NME to proclaim "Turin Brakes inhabit a space which is entirely their own, fully-formed and brutally emotive... give them the devotion they deserve."
Source reissued the song "The Door" before releasing their first album, The Optimist LP, in 2001. The album, which was released in the United States by Astralwerks, was greeted with critical praise, spawned two modestly successful UK singles, "Underdog (Save Me)" and "Emergency 72", and received a nomination for the Mercury Music Prize. A planned tour of the United States opening for the Stereophonics and Matthew Jay, was canceled due to the September 11 terrorist attacks.
Their second album, Ether Song, was a departure from the acoustic sound that had brought them success with their first album. Recorded in Los Angeles, California, it was popular enough to reach number 4 in the UK Albums Chart upon its release in 2003. and received various bonus discs between regions and versions. The band was on record as being unhappy with the way the record company was treating them and the fans regarding the release.
2004-2007
Following the success and stress of
Ether Song, the band took a short break, but not before releasing the non-album single "5 Mile (These Are the Days)" (which resulted in another re-release of "Ether Song") and releasing a DJ mix album for Azuli Records'
Late Night Tales series. The mix album (2004) was a collection of some of their favorite songs, and also contained The Rolling Stones song "Moonlight Mile" as a cover. The band have done some DJ sets in the London area over the years.
Their third album, Jackinabox, was released to critical acclaim much like their prior efforts when it was released in early June 2005. Preceded by the single "Fishing for a Dream," which did not do as well as the band hoped (charting at 35), perhaps because of the similarity to Ben Folds Five's "Battle of Who Could Care Less". Despite the lack of airplay or a hit single JackInABox still sold quite well, entering the Top 10 of the UK Albums Chart in its first week. The album was supported by the group's first full-band tour of the United States, as well as the single "Over and Over," which was serviced to U.S. radio.
Biography from 
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