Enter Shikari

Enter Shikari
Live at Heaven Nightclub, London in 2009.
Background information
Origin	St Albans, Hertfordshire, England, United Kingdom
Genres	Post-hardcore,[1] electronicore,[2] metalcore [3]
Years active	1999–2003 (as Hybryd) 2003–present
Labels	Ambush Reality, Tiny Evil, PIAS Recordings, Hopeless
Website	entershikari.com
Members
Rou Reynolds Rory Clewlow Chris Batten Rob Rolfe

Enter Shikari are a British band, that combine post-hardcore with elements of various electronic genres, formed in 2003 in St Albans, Hertfordshire.^[4][5] The band is named after a boat belonging to Roughton "Rou" Reynolds' uncle, and a character in a play which he wrote before forming the band, both of which are named Shikari.^[6] Shikari also means 'Hunter', in Marathi, Persian, Hindi, Nepali, Urdu, Punjabi and Bengali.^[7] Their debut album, Take to the Skies was released on 19 March 2007 and reached #4 in the Official UK Album Chart. Their second album, titled Common Dreads, was released on 15 June 2009 and debuted on the UK Albums Chart at 16.^[8] Their third studio album, A Flash Flood of Colour will be released on 16 January 2012.

Biography

Beginnings and Take to the Skies (1999–2008)

Main article: Take to the Skies

In 1999 a band named Hybryd formed consisting of Rou on guitar, Chris on bass and Rob on drums. They released an EP under the name 'Commit No Nuisance' and featured the tracks 'Perfect Pygmalion' and 'Fake'. In 2003, Hybryd became Enter Shikari. They revolutionised their sound by recruiting Rory to play Guitar so that Rou could concentrate on electronics. Enter Shikari formed in St Albans, England in 2003. The band features Roughton "Rou" (/raʊ/) Reynolds on vocals and electronics, Liam Clewlow (known by his middle name 'Rory') on guitar, Chris Batten on bass guitar and Rob Rolfe on drums. All four members are from St Albans.^[4]

During 2003 and 2004, the band released three demo EPs that were available from their gigs and their website. They had another demo EP planned for release in 2005, (although no such EP materialized only recordings surfaced online) for this the first versions of Return To Energiser and Labyrinth were recorded, early versions of Ok Time For Plan B and We Can Breathe In Space were also recorded around this time but it's unclear if these were destined for the EP. In August 2006 they released a video of, the (only 100 copies) single "Mothership" which became the single of the week on the iTunes store. Their first physical single featured re-recorded versions of "Sorry You're Not a Winner/OK Time for Plan B", which had previously been featured on one of the demo EPs. It was released on 30 October 2006. It was limited to 1000 copies of each format and sold out within the first week of release. In mid January 2007, Enter Shikari's first single, "Mothership", entered the UK singles chart for one week at number 151, on Downloads only (despite its physical formats not being eligible for charts [at the band's request]). This was followed a week later by "Sorry You're Not a Winner/OK Time for Plan B", which charted at number 182 on the singles chart (despite its physical formats being ineligible for charts [at the band's request]) and number 146 in the Download Chart. In addition "Sorry You're Not a Winner/OK Time for Plan B" featured on EA Sports video game title NHL 08 and also Madden 08. Enter Shikari secured a spot on the Gibson/MySpace stage at 2006's Download Festival. They have also had interviews with popular music press such as Kerrang! and Rock Sound. On 4 November 2006, they became only the second unsigned band to ever sell out London Astoria (the first being The Darkness).

They also made the NME's "New Noise 2007", a list of the bands it considers most likely to achieve success in the coming year (previous years lists have included the likes of Arcade Fire, Hot Chip and Bloc Party).

The next single released was "Anything Can Happen in the Next Half Hour", on 5 March 2007. This was the band's second single to be released from their forthcoming debut album. It contained a re-recorded version of the song "Anything Can Happen in the Next Half Hour". It reached 27 in the Official UK chart. The band's debut album, Take to the Skies, was released on 19 March 2007 and on 25 March it reached number 4 in the UK Official Album Charts. It contained re-recordings of many of the songs that had featured on the demo EPs and singles that were released prior to the release of the album.

During the month of March 2007 it was announced they would be playing at Download Festival, Reading and Leeds Festivals, Give it a Name, Glastonbury Festival, Oxegen festival in Ireland and Rock am Ring in Germany. On 30 March 2007, Enter Shikari announced that their next single would be "Jonny Sniper"^[9] and would be released on 18 June. The song's video was premiered on 21 May. The single received bad reviews from NME.^[10]

On 6 June 2007 they performed a live show on BBC Radio 1 for Zane Lowe at BBC Radio Theatre.

They played an eleven date headline tour in October/November 2007 including their biggest ever headline gig in the 4,921 capacity Carling Academy Brixton. The band released a compilation EP titled The Zone on 12 November.

Enter Shikari have performed over 500 gigs as of 2007 and played on the Gibson/MySpace stage at 2006's Download Festival. On 14 May 2007, Enter Shikari started their first North America tour. This followed into three more North American tours.

In January 2008, Enter Shikari performed in Australia and New Zealand for the first time as part of the Big Day Out Festival. The band also did a number of side-shows in Australia, including two sold out shows at the Hi-Fi Bar in Melbourne.

They played at Projekt Revolution in Milton Keynes on 29 June 2009, alongside Linkin Park, Jay-Z, N.E.R.D, The Bravery, InnerPartySystem and Pendulum.

On 13 May 2008, the band released the first in a series of videos called "Enter Shikari: In the 'Low". The videos, posted on the band's YouTube page, showcased the band as they recorded their new single, "We Can Breathe In Space, They Just Don't Want Us To Escape", and demoed new material. One of the new songs set to feature on the album was 'Step Up', which was first performed at Milton Keynes Pitz on 28 June 2008, the warm up show to Projekt Revolution the following day.

On 8 August 2008, it was announced that "We Can Breathe In Space, They Just Don't Want Us To Escape" would be released as a single. It was said to be a drastic re-working of the song originally demoed by the band back in 2005, but was not to be included in the band's second album.

They completed a tour of the UK and Ireland which took place over the course of 6 weeks; from 30 September to 4 November 2008; and consisted of 28 shows. A DVD compilation of live footage filmed by band / crew along with some TV footage was to be released to coincide with the tour according to a Kerrang! interview with the band, but has not been released as of yet.

Common Dreads (2009–2010)

Main article: Common Dreads

It was confirmed by NME that Enter Shikari had finished working on their second album, Common Dreads, in March 2009 and announced that they would tour the UK and Europe during 2009. They also made available a free download of a new song, Antwerpen from their website.^[11] On 15 April 2009 Juggernauts was played on Radio 1 as Zane Lowe's "Hottest Track in the World" and was released as a single on 1 June 2009. The B-side of the single is "All Eyes On The Saint". The band also had help from musician Danny Sneddon who helped with the recording of Juggernauts.^[12] On 1 May Kerrang featured their track-by-track of the album. Metal Hammer were the first to review the album online with a track-by-track.^[13] Since it was announced in an interview with Andy Copping on Scuzz on their "The Digital Darkside: Download Special" that there would be 2 secret bands playing at Download Festival 2009, it has been heavily speculated that Enter Shikari would play one of these slots. They were confirmed to be one of the secret bands on 9 June 2009.^[14] Enter Shikari also featured at Reading and Leeds Festivals on 29 and 30 August 2009, playing songs from Common Dreads, as well as acoustic variations of 'Juggernauts', 'No Sleep Tonight' and 'Adieu' from Take To The Skies.

Common Dreads was released through Ambush Reality on 15 June 2009 and debuted at #16 on the UK top 40 album chart. The second single that has been released from Common Dreads was No Sleep Tonight.^[15] The 7" vinyl, CD single and MP3 download was released on 17 August 2009. A slightly modified version of the song "Wall" was released as a radio single, and a video for the song "Zzzonked" made of clips of a live show which was played at Norwich UEA, was also released.

A 2-disc version of Common Dreads was due to be released in January 2010.^[16] Frontman Rou Reynolds announced that “We’ve got a different artist for each single from Hospital Records to do drum ‘n’ bass remixes so we’ll be releasing that as a 12". Then we're doing the same thing with (dubstep label) True Tiger who've done a dubstep remix of each single.” however it was later said in a Radio 1 interview that in fact they were only having their main singles remixed.

The new single "Thumper"^[17] was released on 19 January 2010, on BBC Radio One, As well the new single "Tribalism", which was first played on Radio 1, 16 February 2010. These songs come off the new B-sides and remixes album Tribalism, which was released on 22 February 2010.

Since March 2009, drummer Rob Rolfe has not been able to perform at United States shows due to a denial of a visa. Rob has chosen Fellsilent drummer, Christopher Mansbridge to fill in for these dates.^[18] Although, on 9 July 2010 Rob stated in a Twitter post that he had obtained a visa. On 30 September 2010 Rob passed through customs at an airport in Houston for Enter Shikari's North American tour in October/November, and confirmed this in a Twitter post stating simply "America, I'm back".

Throughout February–March 2010, Enter Shikari joined the Australian summer festival Soundwave along with other bands such as A Day to Remember and Architects, playing shows in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth. The band then continued to tour Japan with A Day to Remember and Escape the Fate and in April–May 2010, they served as a support act, along with August Burns Red and Silverstein on A Day to Remember's Toursick.

Live From Planet Earth and A Flash Flood of Colour (2010–present)

On 14 June 2010, Enter Shikari announced that they had returned to the studio to do a "one off new track" called "Destabilise" which was released as a download on 26 October 2010, and a limited edition coloured 7" vinyl on 29 November 2010.

During June and July 2010, the band took part in the Warped Tour in USA and afterwards, they played a few festivals such as headlining Redfest and supporting The Prodigy at Milton Keynes Bowl. Following this, they performed an exclusive show at the venue Underworld situated in Camden which was filmed and recorded and features on the live DVD, 'Live From planet Earth'.

In August 2010, Enter Shikari returned to Australian shores for a headlining national tour, playing sold out shows in Adelaide, Sydney and Melbourne and near-sellout shows in Perth and Brisbane. On 2 October 2010, the band went on their headlining "Destabilise" Tour in North America with Haste the Day, Sleeping With Sirens, MSWHITE, and Lights Go Blue.^{[citation needed]} The band then supported 30 Seconds to Mars on their Into The Wild Tour leg of UK arenas in November and December 2010.^[19]

Also, at the end of 2010, the band collaborated with UK drum and bass band The Qemists on their single Take it Back which was released on 28 March 2011.

On 21 March 2011, it was confirmed that Enter Shikari will be playing at the Reading and Leeds festivals in late August and on 26 April 2011, the band confirmed a mainland European tour starting in Kiev, Ukraine on 7 September, and ending in Tilburg, Holland on 3 October 2011. Also, on 14 June 2011, the band confirmed a UK and Irleand tour which will take part during the month of October. Support for these two tours will be provided from Your Demise and letlive.

In May 2011, the band traveled to Bangkok, Thailand to record their third studio album. Recording began on 8 May 2011, and finished on 14 June 2011. On 19 May 2011, they released the single; "Quelle Surprise". It was originally planned to be the first single released from the new album however, Rou Reynolds has since confirmed that it won't feature, and instead will be a stand alone single much like Destabilise.^[20]

In June 2011, the band signed to Hopeless Records in the US, and embarked on the Vans Warped Tour for the second year in a row.^[21]

On 11 July 2011, the band released their third live album and first DVD, bundled together as Live From Planet Earth. Distribution of the non limited edition version of Live From Planet Earth and other Enter Shikari stock has been affected however following a fire at the PIAS distribution warehouse in London, after it was set on fire by rioters following the 2011 England riots. This was announced via the bands' Facebook after many fans discovered that the fire had affected the bands' label Ambush Reality, and Rou confirmed a majority of the stock had indeed gone up in flames in an interview with Rocksound.^[22]

In the fall and winter of 2011, Enter Shikari will embark on a US tour called "The Dead Throne Tour" with The Devil Wears Prada, Whitechapel, and For Today.

On 8 September 2011, the band announced that the first single from their 'as yet untitled' third album will be called "Sssnakepit." The single was announced for release on 20 September 2011 along with a video recorded for the track at Dingwalls Club in Camden Town, London. ^[23] A video of the first live performance of the song posted on the band's Facebook shows the rap hardcore influences in the song, as well as the title suggests a further political theme. The band had also been playing another new song live entitled "Arguing with Thermometers", during their European fall tour. The debut performance of this song took place on 12 September in Warsaw, Poland.

During the band's show in St.Petersburg, Russia, on 8 September 2011, bassist Chris Batten has revealed that the band's third album is set for release in January 2012.

On 19 September 2011, Sssnakepit was played twice in a row on Zane Lowes show as his 'Hottest Track In The World'. The music video (produced by Stand Your Ground Media) for Sssnakepit was released the same week. 'Arguing with Thermometers' was announced to be on the new album on Lowe's show, when a live studio session was played. ^[24]

A leak from UK Magazine Rock Sound revealed that Enter Shikari's third studio album will be titled "A Flash Flood of Colour" and will be released on January 9th 2012, however, due to shipping issues the band has since moved the release date back a week to January 16th. It was also revealed in the leak that the band are planning a March 2012 UK tour.

Band members

• Roughton "Rou" Reynolds — lead vocals, programming, keyboards, synthesizers, acoustic guitar
• Liam "Rory" Clewlow — guitars, backing vocals
• Chris Batten — bass, backing vocals
• Rob Rolfe — drums, percussion, backing vocals

Discography

Main article: Enter Shikari discography

• Take to the Skies (2007)
• Common Dreads (2009)
• A Flash Flood of Colour (2012)

Ambush Reality

Ambush Reality is an independent record label started in July 2006 that currently only releases music by Enter Shikari. It is co-owned and run by the members of the band and their friends.^[25] The band has decided that, in order to tour in the United States, they will have to sign with a major record label in America.^[26] On 28 August 2007, Ambush Reality said that Take to the Skies came out in North America in October 2007, with Ambush Reality joining Interscope Records imprint Tiny Evil. Ambush Reality signed a distribution deal with Warner Music in order to make the album Common Dreads and future releases more accessible outside the UK and also more widely advertised and promoted.^[27] As of 8 December 2010 Enter Shikari / Ambush Reality have left distribution through Warner and will distribute throughout UK/Europe/Japan/Australia via PIAS.

Side projects

Reynolds has produced music as part of a side project with the name "Rout"[3], which he sometimes performs in small venues and before shows. He previously used the names "Shark & Blitz" and "Routron 5000".^[28] The music develops on his penchant for electronics, resulting in a drum and bass/jungle/dubstep sound. Some songs feature samples of Rou and friends fooling around as well as iconic lines from movies or songs.

Frontman Rou Reynolds has also set up his own clothing company Step Up Clothing [4].

Drummer Rob Rolfe also performs as a DJ under the alias "Sgt. Rolfy" specialising in freeform hardcore music.

Enter Shikari promoted the film Zeitgeist: Moving Forward through their website, encouraging their fans to join the Zeitgeist Movement, stating: "Single-handedly the biggest influence on all that is Enter Shikari!".

Reynolds was also involved in hardcore side project JBM along with his friend Matt Pendell.

Awards

Award	Status	Reference
Kerrang! Awards: Best British Newcomer 2006	Nominated	[29]
NME Awards: John Peel Award for Musical Innovation 2007	Won	[30]
Rock Sound Magazine's poll for 'who will make it in 2007'	Won	[31]
Kerrang! Awards: Spirit Of Independence 2007	Won	[32]
Kerrang! Awards: Best Live Band 2007	Won	[33]
BT Digital Awards: Breakthrough Artist of the Year in association with BBC 6Music	Won	[34]
Kerrang! Awards: Best Live Band 2009	Nominated	[35]
Kerrang! Awards: Best British Band 2010	Nominated	[35]

References

1. ^ Ankeny, Jason. "Enter Shikari - AllMusic". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/enter-shikari-p857147/biography. Retrieved 15 February 2011. 
2. ^ Mawer, Sharon. "Take to the Skies - Enter Shikari". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/album/take-to-the-skies-r1027348/review. Retrieved 15 February 2011. 
3. ^ Carino, Paul. "Common Dreads - Enter Shikari". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/album/common-dreads-r1596479. Retrieved 15 February 2011. 
4. ^ ^{a b} "Enter Shikari Biography - AOL Music". Music.aol.com. http://music.aol.com/artist/enter-shikari/biography/514438. Retrieved 2011-03-12. 
5. ^ "Enter Shikari Announce Australian Tour | News". Kill Your Stereo. http://www.killyourstereo.com/news/6857/enter-shikari-announce-australian-tour/. Retrieved 2011-10-26. 
6. ^ Access All Areas.net.au. "Enter Shikari | Artist Interviews". Access All Areas. http://www.accessallareas.net.au/artists/Enter_Shikari.php. Retrieved 2011-03-12. 
7. ^ "shikari - definition of shikari by the Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia". Thefreedictionary.com. http://www.thefreedictionary.com/shikari. Retrieved 2011-03-12. 
8. ^ "Radio 1 - The Official Chart with Reggie Yates - The Official UK Top 40 Albums Chart". BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/chart/albums.shtml. Retrieved 2011-03-12. 
9. ^ Enter Shikari Announce New Single! - Smash Music
10. ^ "Enter Shikari - Enter Shikari - Track Reviews". Nme.Com. http://www.nme.com/reviews/enter-shikari/8672. Retrieved 2011-03-12. 
11. ^ "Enter Shikari finish new album, confirm tour dates". http://www.nme.com/news/enter-shikari/43312. 
12. ^ [1]^{[dead link]}
13. ^ "Enter Shikari Review: ‘Common Dreads’ Track-By-Track". http://www.metalhammer.co.uk/uncategorized/enter-shikari-review-common-dreads-track-by-track. 
14. ^ [2]
15. ^ "Enter Shikari announce dates". idiomag. 24 June 2009. http://www.idiomag.com/peek/89879/enter_shikari. Retrieved 2009-08-28. 
16. ^ "Exclusive: Enter Shikari Announce Remix Records". http://www.rocksound.tv/news/article/exclusive-enter-shikari-announce-remix-records. 
17. ^ Zane Lowe (19 January 2010). "Zane Lowe's Hottest Records blog: Hottest Record - Enter Shikari - Thumper". BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/zanelowe/2010/01/hottest_record_enter_shikari_t.html. Retrieved 2011-03-12. 
18. ^ http://www.smashmusic.co.uk/news/650/Enter_Shikari_Drummer_Rob_Rolfe_Denied_Visa_For_US_Tour_Dates
19. ^ "Enter Shikari to support 30 Seconds To Mars". http://www.kerrang.com/blog/2010/06/enter_shikari_to_support_30_se.html. Retrieved 11 July 2011. 
20. ^ "punkrockvideos.com - enter shikari warped tour interview video". http://www.punkvideosrock.com/news/?p=1276. Retrieved 18 July 2011. 
21. ^ Jentzen, Aaron (27 June 2011). "Vans Warped tour sizzles in San Antonio". San Antonio Express-News. http://www.mysanantonio.com/default/article/Vans-Warped-tour-sizzles-in-San-Antonio-1441269.php. Retrieved 2011-06-29. 
22. ^ "Enter Shikari Frontman Comments On PIAS Fire And UK Riots". http://www.rocksound.tv/news/article/enter-shikari-frontman-comments-on-pias-fire-and-uk-riots. Retrieved 14 August 2011. 
23. ^ "Enter Shikari announce new single 'Snakepit' | News". Nme.Com. 2011-09-08. http://www.nme.com/news/nme/59108. Retrieved 2011-10-26. 
24. ^ Bhamra, Satvir (2011-09-24). "Enter Shikari – “Sssnakepit” Music Video". Amplified.tv. http://amplified.tv/2011/09/24/enter-shikari-sssnakepit-music-video/. Retrieved 2011-10-26. 
25. ^ "MySpace.com - Ambush Reality - St Albans /, UK - Rock / Hardcore / Trance - www.myspace.com/ambushreality". Profile.myspace.com. http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=94438211. Retrieved 2011-03-12. 
26. ^ Up for Discussion Jump to Forums. "U.K.'s Enter Shikari Scores Without Label". Billboard.com. http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003566805. Retrieved 2011-03-12. 
27. ^ Enter Shikari Official Forum • View topic - USA Label Update?^{[dead link]}
28. ^ UK. "Routron 5000 (S&B UP NOW!) | Gratis muziek, tourneedata, foto's, video's". Myspace.com. http://www.myspace.com/routron5000. Retrieved 2011-03-12. 
29. ^ "Kerrang! Awards 2006 Blog: Best British Newcomer". Kerrang.typepad.com. http://kerrang.typepad.com/kerrang_awards_2006_blog/2006/08/best_british_ne.html. Retrieved 2011-03-12. 
30. ^ Mike Diver. "NME Awards: winners in full". http://drownedinsound.com/news/1689011-nme-awards--winners-in-full. 
31. ^ http://www.rock-sound.net/view_news.php?headline=ENTER-SHIKARI-WIN&id=2004102713
32. ^ http://blog.kerrangawards.com/2007/08/spirit_of_independence.html#more
33. ^ http://blog.kerrangawards.com/2007/08/best_live_band.html#more
34. ^ "Muse win BT Digital Music Award". http://www.nme.com/news/muse/31529. 
35. ^ ^{a b} http://blog.kerrangawards.com/2009/2009/08/best_british_band.shtml

External links

• Official website