Youthmovies biography
Youthmovies (previously known as YMSS or Youthmovie Soundtrack Strategies) were an English rock quintet, comprising Andrew Mears (guitar and vocals), Al English (guitar), Graeme Murray (drums), Stephen Hammond (bass) and Sam Scott (brass and keys). On 29 December 2009 the band announced that, save for a final tour in March 2010, they will cease to make music together.
Simon Jones, drummer from the band Hope of the States originally played drums in Youthmovies. However, just prior to Hope of the States being signed to Sony BMG in 2004, Jones was replaced by current drummer Graeme Murray.
Their earlier sound touched upon noise, brooding soundscapes, samples, feedback and drone, though with their mini-album Hurrah! Another Year, Surely This One Will Be Better Than the Last; The Inexorable March of Progress Will Lead Us All to Happiness and the subsequent single "Ores" their sound suggested they were moving into a more ambitious and musically accomplished sound.
The band has toured extensively with Hope of the States, Adam Gnade, 65daysofstatic and ¡Forward, Russia!. They have also played at the Truck Festival, Latitude Festival, All Tomorrow's Parties, Bestival, Cambridge Film Festival and the Reading and Leeds festivals.
The band have developed a reputation as a compelling live act, touring regularly as well as playing improvisations, collaborations and live film soundtracks in art galleries, theatres and forests.
In October 2007 the band released a 5-track EP in collaboration with Adam Gnade entitled Honey Slides on guitarist Al English's label Try Harder.
Between April and June 2007 the band recorded their first full-length album, Good Nature, at the Seamus Wong studio in Leicester, released on Drowned in Sound Recordings on 17 March 2008. Ant Theaker, former guitarist with Hope of the States, produced the album, which was mixed at the Strongroom Studios in east London, and mastered in Chicago by Bob Weston of Shellac. The album introduced "a new attention to melody"[
] and is the first recording to feature the trumpet playing of Sam Scott.
Youthmovies side projects include: guitarist and singer Andrew Mears' solo project pet moon, the debut album is currently being recorded with long-time youthmovies producer Ant Theaker (Hope of the States). (Andrew Mears was also a founding member of Foals).
Guitarist Al English co-runs a record label, Try Harder, which has released recordings by Foals, Blood Red Shoes, Adam Gnade, Blanket, Tired Irie and Jonquil amongst others. Jonquil and Youthmovies together form Vertical Montanas.
Forming in 2002 at university, Youthmovies (née Youthmovie Soundtrack Strategies) began as a two-person affair, utilising tape decks and delay pedals to flesh-out a fledgling sound. Founders English and Mears - attracted to one another's abilities by a shared fondness for left-of-centre alternative music; the pair would book shows for the likes of Kid606 and Part Chimp while at university - soon sought assistance, and Hammond's arrival and the employment of Simon Jones on drums, later to commit full-time to Hope Of The States, formed a temporarily finished article.
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