- Mirrors (band)
-
Mirrors Background information Origin Brighton, England Genres Synthpop Years active 2008-present Labels Pure Groove, Moshi Moshi, Skint Records, PIAS Recordings Associated acts Mumm-Ra Website Official Website Members James New
(synthesizer & vocals)[1]
Ally Young
(synthesizer & vocals)
James Arguile
(synthesizer)
Josef Page
(electronic drums)Mirrors are an English synthpop band originating from Brighton who formed in 2008. The band consists of James New (lead vocals and synthesizers), Ally Young (synthesizers and vocals), James Arguile (synthesizers) and Josef Page (electronic drums). They prefer to describe their music as 'electronic soul'[2] and 'pop noir'[3] with their main instruments being analogue synthesizers.
Their brand of synthesizer driven pop music is commonly compared to the sound of bands such as Kraftwerk, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, Depeche Mode and Blancmange. They released their début album in February 2011 called Lights and Offerings[4][5][6] which was promoted by a number of singles in 2010 and 2011.
Contents
History
Formation (2008)
Mirrors were formed by James New and Ally Young after Mumm-Ra broke up in 2008.[7] The two met in Brighton in 2008 and started working on the idea of, according to them, the ideal group, in May 2008. James: "This ideal group would have visuals as part of their live experience. It would have things going on on pavements. It would play in the middle of a room."[8]
Once the basics were set, James Arguile[9] would soon join the group followed by Josef Page, leaving behind him a promising career in hospital administration, as the final member and they started working on their visuals which would include suits and ties and keeping control over their artwork and videos."Look at Me" / "Into the Heart" (2009)
Their first live performance was in May 2009 at New Hero in Brighton. After demoing some songs that year such as "Fear of Drowning", "Hide and Seek", "Searching in the Wilderness" and "Write Through the Night" (called "Organ Song" as a demo, because of the heavy usage of organ-soundlike synthesizers), the first single would become "Look at Me",[10] released through the Pure Groove label, supposedly to be limited to just 200 copies on a one-sided red vinyl 7".[11] Soon after their first release they signed up with Moshi Moshi and released their second single, "Into the Heart" in November, which also featured a new B-side called "Lights and Offerings", a title they would use in 2011 for their début album.
Lights and Offerings (2010-present)
After this they came to the attention of Skint Records. Skint Records appeared to be an obvious choice, because the label is from Mirrors' home town Brighton, making face-to-face contact much easier.[12] The label also understand their goals and artistic direction.
Mirrors continued with performing the occasional gigs in the United Kingdom[13] until they headed into the studio in June 2010,[14] working on their début album. Having written most of the material already in 2009, the album sessions could be finishing in just one month. The first single from these sessions was "Ways to an End", released on August 23 as a download and 7" vinyl single. They toured as a support act for Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark in November 2010[15] and released two more singles and a special tour EP before their début album Lights and Offerings was released on February 28, 2011[16] in the UK and on March 18 in Europe.[17]
They started touring as a headline act on April 12, 2011 in Cologne, Germany and will be supporting Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark in Spain in June of this year.
A fourth single from the début album was released on 6 June 2011 being "Look at Me" with the double A-side "Perfectly Still".[18] The single was previously released in 2009 on the Pure Groove label. The new single features a new remix by Simon Thornton.
Mirrors' first documentary was aired on Channel 4 on 9 June 2011 at 0:35am GMT[19] as part of the 4Play program. On 8 July 2011 they performed live in Berlin, Germany, at the Michalsky Stylenite fashion show which was streamed live on the internet[20]
On 16 August 2011 Mirrors announced that they cancelled the September performances with OMD plus their performance at Bestival, Isle Of Wight, as they are currently working on new material.
Radioactive Man released a remix of the Mirrors' track "Ways to an End" on 12 September 2011. The digital bundle contains a remix and an instrumental version of that remix.
On October 13th Ally Young announced he was leaving the band.
Discography
Albums
- Lights and Offerings (2011) (UK chart peak: #161)[21]
EPs
- Broken by Silence (2010)
Singles
- "Look at Me" (2009)
- "Into the Heart" (2009)
- "Ways to an End" (2010)
- "Hide and Seek" (2010)
- "Into the Heart" (2011)
- "The White EP"' (2011)
- "Look at Me" (2011)
- "Ways to an End" (2011)
Promotional releases
The releases below were issued on CD for promotional purposes only.
- Mirrors 2010 (unknown)
- Remixes (03/2010)
- Mixtape (07/2010)
- Theme Time Radio Ear II (08/2010)
- Theme Time Radio Ear III (09/2010)
Tour dates
Below is an overview of all known tour dates, including the cancelled shows.
Date City Country Venue Other acts at venue Notes May 12, 2009 Brighton United Kingdom New Hero May 20, 2009 London Hoxton Square Bar Giantess, Erik Hassle, Disco Bloodbath May 31, 2009 Southsea Edge of the Wedge Mutiny on the Bounty, Venice Ahoy July 11, 2009 Brighton Corn Exchange July 19, 2009 Suffolk Latitude Festival Phoenix, Passion Pit, The xx August 14, 2009 London The Garage Ocotber 15, 2009 Barfly Camden Jay Bless da Riddum, Young Rebel Set October 30, 2009 Cargo November 20, 2009 Amsterdam The Netherlands Paradiso January 7, 2010 London United Kingdom The Garage Delphic Support act January 14, 2010 Norwich Norwich Arts Centre January 15, 2010 Oxford O2 Academy Oxford January 16, 2010 Sheffield The Leadmill January 19, 2010 Brighton Audio January 20, 2010 Wolverhampton The Slade Rooms January 21, 2010 Liverpool The Kazimier January 22, 2010 Glasgow King Tut's Wah Wah Hut January 23, 2010 Leeds The Cockpit February 6, 2010 London The Borderline Chew Lips, Charli XCX, Expatriate February 9, 2010 May 30, 2010 Newcastle Upon Tyne Evolution Festival Weekender Paolo Nutini, Delphic, The Horrors June 29, 2010 London Barfly Camden Chakras, Hektor Red July 7 2010 Hoxton Square Bar July 13, 2010 Madam Jojo's The Hundred In The Hands, MNDR July 14, 2010 Brighton New Hero July 16, 2010 Cleveland Ku Bar July 17, 2010 Southampton Unit July 23, 2010 London The Watershed July 31, 2010 Proud Camden Run Toto Run, The Whip DJ Set August 2, 2010 Glasgow King Tut's Wah Wah Hut August 3, 2010 Leeds Oporto August 4, 2010 Sheffield The Forum August 5, 2010 Leicestershire The Musician August 7, 2010 London Little London Fields Festival Anna Calvi, Kill It Kid, Don't Wait Animate August 13, 2010 Birmingham The Digbeth August 18, 2010 London The Lexington Fleur and LYS CLUB August 20, 2010 Bristol Start The Bus August 21, 2010 York The Basement August 27, 2010 London KOKO September 10, 2010 London The Monarch Royal Palms Cancelled September 23, 2010 Farnham Farnham Student Union September 25, 2010 Brighton Audio October 5, 2010 Jam Mount Kimbie October 7, 2010 Audio We Have Band, Bright Light Bright Light October 16, 2010 Amiens France Nuit Blanche November 3, 2010 London United Kingdom City and Arts Music Project Midnight Juggernauts November 5, 2010 Electrowerx Ulterior, Rubicks, Lord Auch November 11, 2010 Cologne Germany E-Werk Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark Support act November 12, 2010 Hannover Capitol November 13, 2010 Leipzig Haus Auensee November 15, 2010 Stuttgart Stuttgart Theaterhaus November 16, 2010 Munich Tonhalle November 18, 2010 Berlin Tempodrom November 19, 2010 Hamburg Docks Hamburg November 21, 2010 Luxembourg Luxembourg Den Atelier November 22, 2010 Brussels Belgium Ancienne Belgique November 23, 2010 Amsterdam The Netherlands Paradiso November 25, 2010 Paris France Casino de Paris November 30, 2010 Birmingham United Kingdom Academy 3 December 2, 2010 Bristol Thekla Delphic Cancelled December 3, 2010 London Ronnie Scotts December 4, 2010 Brighton Audio December 13, 2010 London XOYO Pnau February 5, 2011 The Garage Fenech-Solar, Is Tropical February 10, 2011 O2 Shephard's Bush Empire White Lies, Crocodiles March 2, 2011 Birmingham Hare and Hounds Fugiya and Miyagi Support act March 3, 2011 Salford Islington Mill March 4, 2011 Leeds Brudenell Social Club March 5, 2011 Bristol Fleece March 8, 2011 London Heaven April 2, 2011 Troxy's Gary Numan, John Foxx, Motor, DJ set Daniel Miller & Mark Jones Festival April 12, 2011 Cologne Germany Gebäude 9 April 13, 2011 Berlin Comet Club April 14, 2011 Hamburg Molotov April 16, 2011 Frankfurt Yellowstage April 20, 2011 Munich Atomic Cafe April 22, 2011 Zurich Switzerland The Plaza April 23, 2011 Vienna Austria Badeschiff May 7, 2011 Vilagarcia Spain Festival do Norte Festival May 11, 2011 Brighton United Kingdom Haunt May 22, 2011 Brussels Belgium Les Nuits Botanique Suuns, The Crookes May 28, 2011 Lewes United Kingdom Meadowlands Fest Festival June 14, 2011 Madrid Spain Arena Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark Support act June 15, 2011 Barcelona Apolo June 18, 2011 Paris France La Flèche d'Or Modern English, Flying Turns, Destin June 22, 2011 Ertfurt Germany Thuringen Halle Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark Support act June 23, 2011 Leipzig Parkbühne June 26, 2011 Glastonbury United Kingdom Glastonbury Festival Festival July 1, 2011 Coventry Godiva Festival July 2, 2011 Lancashire Beat Herder Festival July 8, 2011 Berlin Germany Tempodrom Michalsky Fashion Show July 29, 2011 London United Kingdom Vintage at the Southbank Festival August 5, 2011 Salzburg Austria Rockhouse Cancelled August 14, 2011 Hildesheim Germany M'era Luna Festival September 1, 2011 Cologne Tanzbrunnen Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark Cancelled September 2, 2011 Hamburg Stadtpark September 5, 2011 Berlin IFA Sommergarten, Messe September 6, 2011 Schwerin Freilichtbühne September 10, 2011 Isle of Wight United Kingdom Bestival References
- ^ "Q & A - MIRRORS - The Recommender". http://therecommender.net/2009/07/07/q-a-mirrors/. Retrieved 16 April 2011.
- ^ "Mirrors, Audio, Brighton, Sep 25". http://www.theargus.co.uk/leisure/music/musicpreview/8416836.Mirrors__Audio__Brighton__Sep_25/#. Retrieved 16 April 2011.
- ^ "This is Fake DIY album review". http://www.thisisfakediy.co.uk/articles/albums/mirrors-lights-offerings. Retrieved 20 April 2011.
- ^ "NME album review". http://www.nme.com/reviews/mirrors--2/11867. Retrieved 12 May 2011.
- ^ Price, Simon (February 6, 2011). "The Independent album review". London. http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/album-mirrors-lights-and-offerings-skint-2206089.html. Retrieved 12 May 2011.
- ^ "Drowned in Sound album review". http://drownedinsound.com/releases/16008/reviews/4142138. Retrieved 12 May 2011.
- ^ "Mumm-Ra break-up". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumm-Ra_%28band%29#Breakup. Retrieved 15 April 2011.
- ^ "RCRD LBL: Mirrors - Ways To An End". http://rcrdlbl.com/artists/Mirrors/track/Way_To_An_End_. Retrieved 15 April 2011 So the pair met up one day in May 2008 and plotted a strategy to transform all this disappointment into inspiration. They specifically talked about what an ideal group should be..
- ^ Lester, Paul (March 13, 2009). "The Guardian: New band of the day". London. http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009/mar/13/new-band-mirrors. Retrieved 12 May 2011.
- ^ "Drowned in Sound: Mirrors - ‘Look At Me’". http://drownedinsound.com/in_depth/4137511-this-weeks-singles--03-08-2009?relevant-artist. Retrieved 12 May 2011.
- ^ "MIRRORS - Fan Questions". http://mirrors.fanbridge.com/fan_questions/?page=3. Retrieved 15 April 2011.
- ^ "Interview: Mirrors". http://lazybrighton.co.uk/interviews/interview-mirrors. Retrieved 20 April 2011.
- ^ "NME Mirrors set to play Club NME KOKO this Friday (August 27)". http://www.nme.com/news/mirrors--2/52637. Retrieved 12 May 2011.
- ^ "See page 1 in the Lights and Offerings CD booklet".
- ^ "Drowned in Sound: OMD meet Mirrors: 30 years of electronic music". http://drownedinsound.com/in_depth/4141688-omd-meet-mirrors--30-years-of-electronic-music?relevant-artist. Retrieved 12 May 2011.
- ^ "MIRRORS Lights And Offerings". http://www.electricity-club.co.uk/html/2011_preview.html. Retrieved 15 April 2011.
- ^ "Mirrors – Lights and Offerings (VÖ. 18.03. CD/Digital)". http://www.pias.com/de/mirrors-lights-and-offerings/. Retrieved 15 April 2011.
- ^ "Facebook wall post". http://www.facebook.com/theworldofmirrors/posts/201240513228737. Retrieved 15 March 2011.
- ^ "4Play - Episode Guide". http://www.channel4.com/programmes/4play/episode-guide. Retrieved 6 June 2011.
- ^ "Michalsky StyleNite LIVE". http://www.dhl-brandworld.com/en/activities/world-class-partnerships/224-michalsky-stylenite-2011.html. Retrieved 10 July 2011.
- ^ http://www.zobbel.de/cluk/110312cluk.txt
External links
- Official Website
- Ten Times Top Five To Mirrors Mirrors presents their top 5 lists.
Studio albums and singles Lights and OfferingsLook at Me • Into the Heart • Ways to an End • Hide and Seek • Into the Heart • The White EP • Look at MeEPs Broken by SilenceOther songs and singles The White EPRelated articles Categories:- Mirrors
- Synthpop groups
- English pop music groups
- British electronic music groups
- Musical groups established in 2008
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