| BIOGRAPHY |
| The Malcontents started about summer 2000. Bumming around Cheltenham, Jeremy and Huw were introduced. After discovering that Huw drummed and Jeremy was a guitarist, they proposed a jam sometime. "Yeah, yeah, sure, that would be cool" etc, we forgot about it straight away. Perhaps a month later a kid called Alex asked Huw to join his band. For some reason the fact that he's an annoying wanker escaped Huw, and instead of making some weak excuse, he agreed to a practise at his house. In an effort to minimise contact with him, Huw didn't ask who the singer or guitarist was. On the day, Jeremy turned up. After setting up a couple of amps across the drum room, he confidently started "right, this is the first verse bla bla bla...". As a song began to poke it's head out of the mass of fucked-up drum beats, snapped strings and Alex's terrible bass playing, "I'd Never Understand" was born and Huw realised that he was in the presence of someone who actually knew how to play their instrument, which was a novelty, so didn't tell Alex to stick the band up his overweight arse (though that would have been witty), and the fate of the world was decided. Kinda. After that, we decided it was best to practise somewhere outside of Huw's drum room, and started at the Landsdowne Recording Studios. A few weeks later we decided Alex had to go, and he was unceremoniously kicked out. He didn't take it too well, and, in a fit of rage, erm, threw his lighter at Jeremy's head. Ouch. Dickhead... The only problem was finding a new bassist. It seems Cheltenham is devoid of those vital fou-string plucking bastards. After being forced to have Alex back for a few practices (and rebuking his attempts to weasel his way back in), our mate Jack (Athlete's Foot bassist) suggested a friend of his, also called Jack. He in fact played guitar, but was up for learning bass. This Jack turned up to a practice at the studios. Immediatly there seemed a chemistry, and he was swiftly christened a Malcontent. Around October 2002, after a few gigs, we did our first recording, "Oi Grebo!". On reflection, we recorded way way too soon, and it shows. We weren't ready as a band, and it was mixed terribly. So at the beginning of 2003 we went back into the studio for a day with the legendary Lee Chaos, re-recorded three tracks off "Oi Grebo!" and added two new ones. Recording didn't exactly go smoothly: we were minus one guitar amp, wasted a lot of time getting hold of one, and didn't have time to work on "One Man Demonstration" as we'd have liked, and we went home disappointed. But when mixing came, Lee wasted his talent and worked his magic on the bollocks we'd spewed, and we were all happy with the end result. A few weeks later, when Jeremy was in Canada for a month, Jack decided that it was the end of his run with the band, and left to pursue new musical roads in the Shake It Bravoes. Best of luck to him, he could go far. So once more we were bass-less. Bugger. The threat of another month of scouring Gloucestershire for a four-string loomed ominously, and with Jeremy in Canada and a lazy bastard in the UK, with a string of gigs rapidly approaching, things were looking grim. And it was then that Jeremy, using the subtle tactic of cruising MSN with username "Malcontents need new bassist", struck gold, in the form of a Mr Sam Piper. Using the powers of Jeremy's womanly voice and the offer of beer, we nicked him from his old bands, for whom he played guitar and drums, and told him to learn bass. Oh and he did. Soon, we were safely back on track and putting the 'shite' back in 'shite-core' once again. And then the shit hit the fan again. All was going well, we had our first gig with Sam at Peppers on the re-opening night, a load of gigs lined up with the likes of B*Movie Heroes and [spunge]: and Huw got his arm broken by the pigs at a protest. Bugger. A mate of huw's (charlie- mudfite drummer) offered to fill in and during those couple of month with Charlie the band decided it would be best to keep him and spoke to Huw, who wished us luck (Thanks for not pullin an Alex Teranium on us Huw). Upon the arrival of Charlie in the band we recorded out third e.p "Land of hope and glory". So here we are. The band gives us something to keep us sane, and allows us to have our say in a world increasingly spoon-fed by MTV and a constant parade (or should that be 'charade'?) of made-for-TV rock stars with nothing for real people to connect with. It is a constant inspiration to people around us breaking down the 'professionals-only' bullshit and fucking making their own noise, burning the media-inforced myth that people are born into music and it's untouchable for us, saying what they see, not what the market desires. We don't claim to be the best fucking band in the world. We're not revolutionising music. But we're doing what we want to do, saying what we want to say, because we believe in punk as more than a fashion or a fucking elitist dogma, that punk is rejecting what is handed down to us by this corrupt and unjust farce of a society, questioning values making your own fucking values but keeping an open mind, not falling into the bondage of an ideology, going your own way, fuck what you're told is acceptable or appropriate or possible. Something that gives ANYONE a method of expression, however they want to use it. If you don't like what you see, TRY AND CHANGE IT. If you don't like what you hear on the radio and MTV, make something better for YOU. If you don't like us, form your own band and blow us out of the water. Make your own opinion. Make your own racket. D.I.Y. See ya in the pit... |