Revere

REVERE
Official Logo
Background information
Origin	London, England, United Kingdom
Genres	Post-rock
Years active	Circa 2006–present
Labels	Albino Recordings
Associated acts	The Unrecorded, Gabby Young, Kat Flint
Website	http://www.revereonline.co.uk/
Members
Stephen Ellis Jonathan Fletcher Andrew Hawke Marc Rollins Ellie Wilson Kathleen McKie Nicholas Hirst
Past members
Nathaniel Mumford

Revere is a seven-piece, London-based band incorporating violin, cello, keys, trumpet and glockenspiel into a guitar-led sound. They touch on numerous musical reference points, combining elements of gypsy marches, klezmer, post-rock, film scores and gospel.

Biography

Photo by Gemma Hall

Formation & Early Years

Initially formed by Stephen Ellis and some school friends in the north of England, REVERE (named after a comic-strip in 2000AD).^[1] wrote and performed with a rotating line up until 2005 when Ellis, together with Andrew Hawke, relocated to London, after receiving an offer to record at Abbey Road Studios. Soon after, guitarist and songwriter Jonathan Fletcher would join the band. That same year, the core trio began to write and record material (which would later appear on the acoustic white label EP, As The Radars Sleep...) with eventual long-term producer Dave Moore. Later, and with more band members on board, REVERE began to perform more regularly, building up a solid grass-roots following. Towards the end of 2005 the Chloroform EP was released on the band's own imprint Albino Recordings - set up by Ellis and newcomer Nathaniel Mumford (Trumpet, etc.). The EP appeared in MOJO Magazine's reader playlist (No.8), being conspicuous as the only unsigned release in the list.

2006 saw the band release two singles. The first being Skin in June (which was supported by a fan-funded video directed by Nick Pittom, co-creator of MTVs Mighty Moshin' Emo Rangers).^[2] The second was a three track EP, featuring Learning to Breathe as a lead track, launched with a show at the Spitz in London to critical acclaim. ^[3]

2007 - 2010

Photo by Gemma Hall

Much of 2007 was spent experimenting in the studio as Revere put down demos for what would eventually become their début album Hey! Selim. Concurrently, the band recorded their second acoustic EP, A Soundless Tree, at Phoenix Sound Studios, located within the Pinewood Studios complex. The ranks of the band would shift and grow during this period to reflect a move towards a more ambitious and adventurous song-writing direction. Three more permanent members would join the group in 2007; Nicholas Hirst (Keyboards), Kathleen McKie (Cello) and Ellie Wilson (Violin).

2008 was largely spent on the road, as the band refined their sound. After being featured on iTunes Hotly Tipped for 2008^[4] Revere headlined at the Union Chapel. The show sold out largely through word of mouth.^[5] During that year Revere took to the festival circuit, playing Glastonbury after placing in the finals of the Glastonbury New Talent competition.^[6] The festival season ended with a well received performance at Standon Calling Festival.^[7][8] September '08 saw Ellis support Al Stewart on his US tour, along with Gabby Young, and again in the UK in May 2009 where he both supported and appeared on stage with Al (again alongside Gabby Young and Laurence Juber.^[9] The year ended with another headlining performance at Union Chapel, recorded for a podcast by Jukebox Review.^[10]

Photo by Gemma Hall

Whist completing recordings for the album Hey! Selim, Revere released two tracks as lead-up singles to the album, again on the band's own inprint Albino Recordings. The Escape Artist, released at the tail end of 2008, was again accompanied by a fan-funded video, this time directed by the winner of the 2007 4talent Best Director award Vanessa Caswill.^[11][12] Both The Escape Artist and its follow up As The Radars Sleep (unrelated to the EP of the same name), released in 2009, have been championed by Tom Robinson and his BBC Radio show Introducing. The band recorded an in-studio session for the 6music show^[13] and headlined Tom's Fresh on the Net Festival.^[14] After a quiet start to 2010 Revere embarked on a UK tour in April to promote the release of the third single from the forthcoming album Hey! Selim, called We Won't Be Here Tomorrow.^[15]

Stephen Ellis in concert - Photo by Anthony Mark Saul

It was at this stage that Marc Rollins would join the group on drums. Rollins had met Ellis on the club circuit in London. With the new line-up in place, and following the tour, a music video was shot for the single, jointly produced by Distilled Films and the band's own Albino Films.^[16] The video was shot around Trellick Tower and featured a number of the band's fans as extras.^[17] The single was released as a digital download on the 31st May^[18] and went on to win the BBC 6music Rebel Playlist - having been voted for by the public - resulting in the song being play-listed on 6music.^[19] Following this We Won't Be Here Tomorrow was featured in the Storm The Charts campaign on the week ending July 4, having again been voted in by the public.^[20] The song was also featured on The Word magazine's monthly cover-mount CD Now Hear This,^[21] The Best of Myspace pod-cast (chosen by NME Radio's Gill Mills)^[22] and Q Magazine's online Track of the Day (for 27 July) were further accolades the track picked up - all without any label backing or professional PR support.^[23]

Following on from these successes, Revere played Standon Calling festival for the third year running.^[24][25] September 2010 saw the release of the band's debut album Hey! Selim.

Release of Hey! Selim

Hey! Selim - Photo by Anthony Ellis

Also released on the bands' own Albino Recordings imprint, the album marked the first definitive artistic statement for Revere. The title of the début was taken from a film called Eternity and a Day (directed by Theo Angelopoulos)^[26]. A particular scene had captured the imagination of Stephen Ellis. The scene saw a group of stricken street children mourning the passing of their friend, Selim, by voicing their own fears in the form of a mantra - they would chant "Hey! Selim". Another scene found one of the children pretending to purchase new words for the main protagonist. Both these ideas resonated with Ellis - given his own work with children - which in turn had heavily inspired the lyrical themes of the album. The album's artwork features a photo (taken by Ellis' brother Anthony) of a poster of a matador in Madrid. The glass encasing the poster had been smashed, and it was the traces of a violent reaction to something purportedly celebrating a violent encounter that fascinated Ellis)^[27].

The album featured a fuller, more panoramic sound, and would incorporate more of the bands' unusual influences; including Ennio Morricone, Nick Drake and Godspeed You! Black Emperor. Epic arrangements and grandiose themes would hold sway throughout the record, and the accompanying live shows would benefit from enhanced imagery - making use of projections and on-stage imagery to great effect.

Photo by Anthony Mark Saul

This period would see Revere enjoying a marked increase in their grass-roots fan-base in London and abroad - with many album orders coming through from Europe and elsewhere. The group would frequently invite fans into their rehearsal studio for impromptu private shows, where they would perform covers from artists such as Scott Walker, Nick Drake, Tim Buckley and others ^[28].

The album featured numerous, almost cinematic hooks, a fact not lost on publishers and synchronisation companies. Several tracks would appear on numerous television stings, including Channel 5, Channel 4 and more.

Ultimately the success of the album would be tempered by a lack of an association with major music industry partners. The band had, up until this point, been content to drive things forward on their own steam - and had not been courting the attentions of major record labels, press agents and touring managers for promotion and support. Their fan base, thus far, had been attracted to them for their self-promoted releases and spectacular live shows. In that spirit, Revere would end 2010 with a sit-down set at The Tabernacle in Notting Hill, London. Supported by The Shadow Orchestra, the group would rework many of their songs into a more orchestral, concert-like format. The band's ranks would be swelled for the night by the addition of a harpist and a full brass section. The show was made memorable by an unexpected encore in which Ellis performed a solo rendition of 'Feed The Birds', from the Disney film Mary Poppins ^[29].

2011 - Present

After a short break, Revere would regroup to compose and rehearse more material. There would be a shift towards marrying up the grandeur and 'euphoric-melancholia' of their previous output with a leaner, more immediate sound - a direction hinted at by We Won't Be Here Tomorrow. An early demoing session with Anthony Theaker provided the first versions of tracks such as These Halcyon Days, Don't Look Up, Hannah! and A Road From A Flood ^[30] - all songs which had their first live airing at Revere's first show of 2011 at The Rhythm Factory in east London. This new musical direction would continue to be developed as the group entered a highly productive period of song-writing and experimentation. Many more new tracks would appear, and just as swiftly be performed live. The group's set at the Wychwood Festival (their second appearance) that year would be consist of yet more new tracks.

A new song, What Am I If I'm Not Even Dust, penned by Ellis towards the end of the previous year, would soon become a firm fan favourite after a stripped down, unplugged Revere performed the track on BBC Radio London's Sunday Sessions with Jo Good^[31]. The same paired down line-up was later to make an appearance at the Cambridge Folk Festival. This new musical adaptability and tendency to 'genre-hop' would serve to widen the band's appeal. Another appearance at Standon Calling that year would provide the chance for the group to give their new material another road test before returning to the rehearsal room for fine-tuning.

Still from the video shoot for 'These Halcyon Days' (Photo by Hasmik Movsisian).

In October the band released their first single since We Won't Be Here Tomorrow, entitled These Halcyon Days. The song was described by The Fly Magazine as being "instantly uplifting"^[32], and in accord with that, the song was licensed by Sky Sports for their weekly show 'Goals On Sunday'. The single launch event took place at the Hoxton Square Bar. With the set made up primarily of new material, it was a marker in the sand in terms of a new musical direction. In keeping with this, the group tendered out many of their earlier tracks to their musical peers for remixing and/or reworking. The resulting mixes and treatments would eventually be released towards the end of the year as a series of four digital EPs entitled Revere: Reworked #'s 1-4. Contributing artists included Aesoteric, Metamorphic, Neotropic, Ben Wiseman, The Unrecorded, Claudia Molitor, RAi, and Lunamoth. A host of guest artists would contribute original artwork for the respective EP covers^[33].

An invitation to tour the UK with the legendary Malian kora player, and 2-time Grammy winner, Toumani Diabaté followed in November. Initially viewed as a bizarre pairing, audiences and critics alike were soon won over by the obvious mutual respect and admiration that the artists had for one another. This camaraderie led to each act appearing during the other's set. One of the more notable collaborations which would emerge from the tour would be a haunting rendition of the Joy Division classic 'Love Will Tear Us Apart'. Ultimately, the tour would receive glowing reviews from The Guardian^[34], The Scotsman^[35], The Financial Times^[36], Songlines Magazine^[37], and the Herald^[38]. Towards the end of the tour, Revere and Diabaté would find a spare day in London to enter the studio to record several tracks, including the (by now) much talked about Joy Division cover^[39]. It was during that session that Toumani would hear the original Joy Division recording for the first time. He didn't care for it.... A video, made up of fan footage from the tour and in-studio reel would be compiled and released online only shortly after the session. The video would be picked up by numerous blogs and music news sites.

Revere would see out 2011 with a performance at The South Bank Centre's annual celebrations. Curated by Gabby Young & Other Animals, the show would culminate in the famed fireworks display on the banks of the Thames.

Ellis on stage with Vieux Farka Touré (2012) - Photo by Chris Walsh

In early 2012, Stephen Ellis would return to The South Bank Centre to accompany another Malian legend, Vieux Farka Touré on the track 'All The Same' (originally performed by Dave Matthews)^[40]. The various successes of melding with different musical idioms would result in Revere receiving an invitation to perform at Peter Gabriel's WOMAD Festival in 2012 (the festival's 30th Anniversary).

With a stream of new material continuing to be composed and refined, Revere would perform a secret unplugged show at The Finsbury in north London to a select group of fans, in order to give the new tracks an airing ahead of their scheduled appearances at Cargo (in Shoreditch) and the annual Field Day Festival in Victoria Park. The band would also take time before more festival dates to shoot a video for These Halcyon Days. Directed by Tom Allan and Nic Watkins, the video featured identical twins and was filmed at the famed south London venue The Globe, at the Bedford^[41].

A surprise win for the band came soon afterwards when it was announced that Channel 5 had selected the band over thousands of others for their 'Send Us Your Music' prize. The channel would fund and produce a music video, for which the band suggested a new track Keep This Channel Open^[42][43].

Press Reactions

"Revere have come a long way... mesmerising vocals and beautiful strings make for a compelling show. New single ‘These Halcyon Days’ has an infectious energy which instantly lifts” - The Fly

"Revere’s songs mix the epic and the melancholy... thoughtful and delicate" - The Guardian

"Revere encapsulate a euphoric melancholia" - Scotsman

"These Halcyon Days is our track of the week!" - This Is A Popscene

"Finely hewed, attractively harmonised chamber-folk-meets-Radiohead" - The Herald, Scotland

“Revere (inexplicably underrated) present aching songs of fragility and hope” - Financial Times

“Revere were the surprise of the evening... an unlikely and extraordinary pairing with Toumani Diabate... Ellis is a natural frontman” - Songlines

"[Revere has] a great live reputation, their cacophonous multi-layered sound along with stunning live visuals setting them apart" - Q Magazine

"Stunning, heartfelt sounds" - The Fly

"A storming, stirring new-band that genuinely takes your breath away" - Sunday Times

"It's big, it's loud … it is a mighty call to abandon care and live now … a commendable taste in non-core instrumentation and dramatic arrangements" - Word

"Epic widescreen melancholia" - Telegraph

"Their music is epic, emotive and exquisite" - Glam

"But the day’s real revelations lurked on the smaller stages, notably the eight-piece orchestral-rockers Revere, who combine the fiery melodrama of Muse with the rousing chamber-pop of Arcade Fire. They could, and should, be huge" - The Times

"An extraordinary widescreen, technicolor epic of a song...a stunning single by a stunning band..." - Tom Robinson, BBC 6Music

Discography

Albums

• Hey! Selim (2010)

EPs

• As the Radars Sleep... EP (2005)
• Chloroform EP (2005)
• A Soundless Tree EP (2007)
• Reworked #1 (2011)
• Reworked #2 (2011)
• Reworked #3 (2011)
• Reworked #4 (2011)

Singles

• "Skin" (2006)
• "Learning to Breathe" (2006)
• "The Escape Artist" (2008)
• "As the Radars Sleep" (2009)
• "We Won't Be Here Tomorrow" (2010)
• "These Halcyon Days" (2011)

Live Appearances

Noteworthy Performances

• Royal Festival Hall (New Year's Eve Celebration), UK (2011)
• Supporting Malian kora^{[disambiguation needed ]}-maestro Toumani Diabate on his UK concert hall tour (2011)
• Stephen Ellis performed the song All The Same alongside Malian guitar-hero Vieux Farka Touré at the Queen Elizabeth Hall (2012)
• Union Chapel, UK (2008 & 2009)
• Tabernacle, UK (2010)

Festivals

• Glastonbury, UK (2008)
• Standon Calling, UK (2008, 2009, 2010 & 2011)
• Wychwood Festival, UK (2009 & 2011)
• Cambridge Folk Festival (2011)
• Field Day, UK (2012)
• Larmer Tree, UK (2012)
• WOMAD, UK (2012)
• Latitude, UK (2012)

Band members

• Stephen Ellis - Vocals, Guitars
• Jonathan Fletcher - Guitars
• Andrew Hawke - Bass, Vocals
• Marc Rollins - Drums, Percussion
• Ellie Wilson - Violin, Vocals
• Kathleen McKie - Cello
• Nicholas Hirst - Keys, Vocals

Past/Part-Time Band members

• Nathaniel Mumford - Trumpet, Glockenspiel
• Camilla Pay - Harp
• Kat Arney - Harp

References

External links

• Official Site