- The Immediate
Infobox musical artist
Name = The Immediate
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Origin =Dublin ,Ireland
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Genre = Rock
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Years_active = 19??–2007
Label =Fantastic Plastic Records
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Current_members =David Hedderman
Conor O'BrienPeter Toomey Barra Heavey
Past_members = Oliver Reid
Notable_instruments =The Immediate were an Irish rock quartet, based in
Dublin , who made a considerable impact on the Irish music scene despite releasing only one album ("In Towers and Clouds ") during their lifetime. The album received generally positive critical feedback and was nominated for the 2007Choice Music Prize . Alongside their sole album, several EPs and singles were released by the band.The final line-up of the band band consisted of Conor O'Brien (vocals, guitar, drums),
David Hedderman (vocals, guitar, bass),Peter Toomey (vocals, drums, bass), andBarra Heavey (keys, guitar, bass, drums, backing vocals). The band was known for swapping instruments regularly throughout sets.Background
The band came together at
St. Conleth's College inBallsbridge ,Dublin , finding a musical mentor in the guise of their school caretaker, who was responsible for introducing Conor and Dave to bands and musicians such asThe Velvet Underground , Love, Can, andSerge Gainsbourg . Other influences includedPink Floyd ,Bob Dylan , andThe Kinks . Peter, whose interests derived from 1960s pop music includingJacques Brel , Scott Walker andThe Shangri-Las , arrived soon after. The band took their name from their favourite adjective- "immediate".Among the venues for early gigs were hotel function rooms and a church. The band then spent their college years taking a more direct approach to making themselves known to a wider audience, playing parties and college balls, and occasionally organizing their own shows in Eamonn Dorans, a small pub venue in the centre of Dublin. A CD was thrown onstage at a
Manic Street Preachers gig to a bemusedNicky Wire and another was even slipped intoBeck 's bag with a purchase at aDublin bookstore. The band spent these formative years honing their craft, with David and Conor focusing on developing their songwriting skills, and Peter on his live performance, which was to become a particularly electrifying aspect of the group's live shows. At this time, guitarist Eoin O'Reilly completed the line-up of the group, and a self-released EP called 'Don't Get Lost' (2003) was made available from a select amount of independent Dublin record stores.Breakthrough
One of their demos was heard by london-based indie label
Fierce Panda Records and early in 2005 that label released The Immediate's debut single, "Never Seen/Say This", as a limited edition double A-side 7".XFM andBBC Radio One played the track, and the DJ duoQueenz Of Noize included the band on a compilation, leading to numerous shows inLondon . It wasn't long before the band signed to another independent label,Fantastic Plastic Records , where they were to record their debut album. For reasons unknown, guitarist Eoin O'Reilly fell out with the group and was soon replaced by friend Barra Heavey, a regular collaborator who, with the introduction of keyboards, brought an electronic edge to the band which honed the overall sound of The Immediate.Finally, in the second half of 2005, the band entered
Jacobs Studios inSurrey where they recorded their debut longplayer with US producerChris Shaw (who has previously worked withWilco ,Super Furry Animals , Public Enemy,Bob Dylan ). The first recordings from this session were released in April 2006 as the acclaimed "make our devils FLOW", a 4 track EP on CD and 7" double-pack.The album was then released on
August 18 2006 to widespread approval. OnAugust 25 , "In Towers & Clouds" debuted in the Irish album charts at No 33. Three weeks later, it was still in the Top 75 (at No 67). "In Towers & Clouds" is now regarded as the finest Irish debut album of the past decade. [http://www.ireland.com/theticket/articles/2006/0915/1158001563479.html]Following the album's nomination for the Choice Prize in 2007 (which led to a performance at the awards ceremony on
February 28 ), the band also performed at the 2007 Meteor Awards. Prior to this (in 2006), The Immediate had headlined the 2fm 2moro 2our.Split
To the surprise of their fans, the band announced their shock split at what was to be their last gig, the 2007 Trinity Ball on Friday
May 11 2007. This was confirmed by a post on theirMySpace page onMay 13 . [http://www.muse.ie/music-ireland-music_news-irish_news/the-immediate-split-up-/spId/89E50F81-F7D1-A715-417F1D3656EC3ED6.html] Meanwhile the band had on the Friday been announced on the officialOxegen website as playing at the 2007 festival. In a press release the band cited "existential differences" as the reason for the split. Later that year, on November 09 2007 the Irish Independent's entertainment suppliment 'Day & Night' published an article by band member Barra Heavey, explaining his take on why the band ended [http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/music/the-immediate-end-of-days-1215884.html] .One final song, "The Mist Above the Mind", was made available to fans for free download also via MySpace. [http://www.muse.ie/music-ireland-music_news-irish_news/the-immediate-release-one-more-tune/spId/A0339008-BC09-74F8-4FA3BC94B9307C20.html] Soon after the band's split numerous critics regarded them as the new Irish act with the most international potential, and agreed that they will be sorely missed.
External links
* [http://www.myspace.com/theimmediate Official MySpace of The Immediate]
* " [http://www.ireland.com/theticket/articles/2006/0915/1158001563479.html Charting a cautionary tales of two albums] " -Irish Times article
* [http://www.muse.ie/music-ireland-music_news-irish_news/the-immediate-split-up-/spId/89E50F81-F7D1-A715-417F1D3656EC3ED6.html The Immediate split up!]
* [http://www.muse.ie/music-ireland-music_news-irish_news/the-immediate-release-one-more-tune/spId/A0339008-BC09-74F8-4FA3BC94B9307C20.html The Immediate release one more tune]
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