The Courteeners

The Courteeners
The Courteeners performing at the OXEGEN '08 festival in Ireland (taken by Peter Branigan)
Background information
Origin	Middleton, Greater Manchester, England
Genres	Alternative rock, Indie rock
Years active	2006–present
Labels	Polydor
Website	http://www.thecourteeners.com/
Members
Liam Fray Michael Campbell Daniel Conan Moores Mark Cuppello

The Courteeners are an indie rock band formed in Manchester, England in 2006 by Liam Fray (guitar/vocals), Michael Campbell (drums/backing vocals), Daniel Conan Moores (Guitar), Mark Cuppello (bass).

All five band members hail from the Middleton area of Greater Manchester.^[1]

History

The band members have known each other since they were ten years old. Liam and Conan attended Cardinal Langley RC High School in Middleton, although Mark Cuppello also attended St Monica's RC High School in nearby Prestwich. Michael Cambell attended St Cuthberts RC HIgh school (Rochdale)

Formation and St. Jude

While at the University of Salford (studying Creative Writing), Liam Fray started to perform acoustic sets as a singer-songwriter around bars and at open-mic nights in Manchester. After getting positive reactions from the crowd, Fray decided to leave University and form a band. Liam first recruited long time friend Michael Campbell, who at the time had never played the drums before in his life. They continued to play under the name 'Liam Fray' until Conan Moores (Guitar) and Mark Cuppello (Bass) joined to form the entire band.^[2] They had their first gig at the Manchester Roadhouse in October 2006, and quickly went from strength to strength within Manchester, largely through a word of mouth following brought on by extensive gigging and television publicity. The Courteeners released their debut single "Cavorting" on 6th August 2007 by Loog Records.^[3] A second single, "Acrylic" was released on 22nd October 2007 reaching number 44 in the UK Chart.^[4]

The Courteeners were approached by legendary producer Stephen Street of Smiths, Blur and Morrissey fame through their label Polydor about the posiblity of them working with each other and together they set about working on the Courteeners' debut album.^[5] They first released the single, entitled "What Took You So Long?" on the 14th January 2008, the song reached #20 in the United Kingdom.^[6] Debut album, St. Jude, was released on 4th April 2008 on Polydor Records. Then, the album itself reached the No.4 position in the UK Charts,^[7] and has since gone on to achieve gold status. The album was preceded by the release of single "Not Nineteen Forever" on 31st March 2008,^[8] entering at #19 and becoming their highest charting single to date. A fifth single, "No You Didn't, No You Don't" was released on 23rd June 2008.

That Kiss and Second Album

A new single "That Kiss" was released on 6th October 2008, with Stephen Street once again taking producer duties. ^[9] The song was released as a stand alone track and is not expected to appear on the second album.

In January 2009, Liam Fray confirmed in an interview with the Daily Star ^[10] that the band has completed at least nine songs for the band's second album. He added that there may be a difference of opinion between the band and their record label with regard to the choice of possible future singles, stating that the record label would prefer the band to release songs that "sound like Snow Patrol".

Fray also confirmed that the following 3 tracks will "almost certainly appear on the album": 'Bojangles', which the band have recently started playing live,^[11] 'Revolver', described by Fray as a "long lost tale about being stabbed in the back" and^[12] 'Three Months' described by Fray to be "about how three months is the point in a relationship where you can tell if it’s got a future or not"^[10] Also speculated for inclusion on the new album is a song featuring a guitar solo from Rascals frontman Miles Kane.

Other titles rumoured for the album include "Good Times are Calling", "Sycophant", "You Over Did It Doll" and the ferocious "Tear Me Apart". More recently, Fray has confirmed in multiple fan mail that a song called "Tokyo Crows" will feature on the album.

New songs were played by the band during the 2009 festivals, they opened the 2009 Coachella Festival in Indio, California and performed on the Festival's Main Stage along with Paul McCartney, Morrissey, and Franz Ferdinand. In the UK the band played the 2009 Reading/Leeds Festival on the Main Stage along with Arctic Monkeys, The Prodigy, and Ian Brown.

They also be appeared at the 2009 T In The Park Festival as second headliners in the King Tut's Wah Wah Tent. The album was recorded at ICP in Belgium and produced by Ed Buller (White Lies, Pulp, Suede). The first song to be released from the album will be "Cross My Heart and Hope To Fly" - it will be released as a free download through their official website on 7th December 2009 as well as a seven-inch version with a B-side. The album is set to be released in February 2010.^[13]

Praise

Morrissey

Morrissey has mentioned his love for the Courteeners on numerous occasions. After seeing the Courteeners in Camden, Morrissey played their song "What Took You So Long" on American radio station KRCW, where he heaped praise on the band saying that "Every song was very strong and full of hooks and full of dynamics and I thought, 'this is great' and that so many groups in England, they're hyped and they're huge and they're all over the press and they don't really actually have any songs, they don't really have anything to offer... but it's different with The Courteeners, they actually do have very good, strong songs." Morrissey added to his praise that "I think they will make it here [in the US] and I think you'll come across them."^[14] On 30 December it was announced that the Courteeners would be joining Morrissey on his American tour in Spring in support of his new album "Years of Refusal".

Equipment

Liam Fray has used a number of guitars in the past but the only one that has stayed throughout is his Cherry Red Epiphone Riviera, which he has had since he was a teenager. He has also used an Epiphone Casino and two different Fender Telecasters (one Nashville edition and another standard American Telecaster). Conan used to use a black Gibson Les Paul but has since progressed onto a range of Fender American Telecasters, usualy a blonde Telecaster on most songs. Fray usually uses Fender amps whereas Conan uses Vox and Peavey amps. Mark Cuppello can be found playing a Rickenbacker 4003 jetglo bass through a Trace Elliot rig.

Awards and nominations

• Guardian First British Album Award 2008
  • Guardian First British Album Award - "St. Jude" - Winners

Discography

Albums

• St. Jude - 7 April 2008 #4 UK

EPs

• Here Come The Young Men - 16 January 2008 [Japan only]
• Live At Manchester Apollo - 10 October 2008 [7Digital download only]

Singles

Use of Tracks

'Fallowfield Hillbilly' appeared on ITV Granada's 'Soccer Night' programme during the goals/highlights round-up (season 2006-07) before the band had actually released any material.

'No You Didn't, No You Don't' features on Match of The Day 2 on BBC2 during the goals/highlights round-up (season 2007-08).

'What Took You So Long' was used for a series of television advertisements circa-Winter 2008 for the UK DCSF (Department for Children, Schools and Families) 'Science and Maths' campaign aimed at 11-16 year olds to showcase the interesting and exciting jobs taking Science and Maths can lead young people to.

'Acrylic' was used as the backing track for a series of Vodafone television advertisements circa-Winter 2008.

'That Kiss' was used in the 90210 episode 'There’s No Place Like Homecoming' (at the end of the episode during Ethan and Annie's first kiss).

'Not 19 Forever' is the backing track for the brand new 2009 promotional video for the North West Development Ageny (NWDA) video to promote tourism in the North West of England online and on TV [3]

'Coronation Street' the majority of The Courteeners' tracks have also featured on UK soap opera 'Coronation Street' as background music on the jukebox in the Rovers Return pub. The band were also referenced in a story line between characters David Platt and girlfriend Tina McIntyre when David attempts to win back his girlfriend's affections by buying her tickets to watch the band.^[15]

'Shameless' Channel 4's comedy drama which is set in Manchester has featured 'Bide Your Time' and 'Acrylic' in the latest (sixth) series in episodes seven and eight. The songs were played as background music during several scenes in the fictionary pub, The Jockey.

Band members

• Liam Fray: vocals, guitars, songwriter.
• Daniel Conan Moores: Guitar.
• Michael Campbell: drums, backing vocals.
• Mark Cuppello: Bass

References

1. ^ bbc.co.uk The Courteeners at Joshua Brooks
2. ^ Drowned in Sound interview
3. ^ Banquet Records
4. ^ Acrylic Chart Position
5. ^ Stephen Street produces Debut Album
6. ^ What Took You So Long reaches top 40
7. ^ Courteeners score high chart entry
8. ^ Courteeners to release Not Nineteen Forever
9. ^ Stephen Street reprises his role
10. ^ ^{a b} [1]
11. ^ bbc.co.uk Courteeners preview new songs
12. ^ bbc.co.uk Courteeners want The Rascals
13. ^ Courteeners to give away free new album download
14. ^ Morrisey Praises The Courteeners
15. ^ [2]

External links

• The Courteeners Official Site
• The Courteeners Myspace site
• The Courteeners Live review
• The Courteeners Forum
• The Courteeners Live Footage