The Electric Soft Parade

Infobox musical artist
Name = The Electric Soft Parade


Img_capt =
Background = group_or_band
Origin = Brighton, England
Genre = Psychedelic/Orchestral/Pop
Years_active = 2001–present
Label = Truck Records (UK)
Better Looking Records (US)
Associated_acts = Brakes
URL = [http://www.electricsoftparade.com/ Official website]
Current_members = Alex White
Thomas White
Matthew Twaites
Damo Waters
Past_members = Mathew Priest
Matt Eaton
Joe Harling
Alan Grice
Alistair Gavan
Russell Gleason

The Electric Soft Parade are an English band from Brighton, comprising siblings Alex and Thomas White, who are the creative core of the band, as well as a number of other musicians who they record and perform live with, including Matthew Twaites from Restlesslist on bass and Mathew Priest from Dodgy on drums.

Alex and Thomas formed Fixed Ascent, which became The Feltro Media (with bassist Alistair Gavan, now of Diomedes and Russell Gleason, of Ladyboy), before renaming themselves The Soft Parade and signing to DB in early 2001 (without Gavan or Gleason). They added the 'Electric' part of their name shortly after their early singles began getting some attention in the rock press and they were threatened with legal action by a Doors tribute band if they did not change it. This did not halt their rise to (relative) fame at all, however, and their debut album, "Holes In The Wall", was issued in February 2002. They lost out later that year to Dizzee Rascal at the Mercury Music Prize, though they took home the Q Awards gong for Best New Act.

Their second album, "The American Adventure" appeared in October 2003 on BMG records. Seen by many as a departure from the straightforward pop sensibility of their debut, the album did however win the band many new fans on the continent, not least in France.

Towards the end of 2004, Alex and Thomas started a side-project in the form of Brakes with British Sea Power's ex keyboardist Eamon Hamilton and Marc Beatty of The Tenderfoot. So far, the band have released two critically acclaimed LPs for UK label Rough Trade, 2005's 'Give Blood' and 2006's 'The Beatific Visions', the latter released in the States through World's Fair. A 3rd Brakes album is scheduled for an early 2009 release, possibly on a new label. The White brothers have also been assisting/producing up-and-coming Brighton acts such as The Pipettes and Actress Hands.

The band returned in late 2005 with the six-track "The Human Body EP" on Truck Records. A third full-length LP was released in April 2007 - (titled "No Need to Be Downhearted", named after a lyric from a song called "15 Ways" by The Fall from the "Middle Class Revolt" album). A perfect middle point between the extremes of their first two records, the band had finally hit their creative stride.

The U.S. "Human Body EP" was released in May 2006 on Better Looking Records including the bonus track "The Captain". ESP made their first U.S. appearance at the South by Southwest Festival in March and played at The Great Escape Festival, Brighton in May.

Following their appearance at the Truck Festival, Oxford in July 2006 a track appeared on the festival compilation, titled "The Friday Before Christmas". They played Europa Music Festival, Rotterdam and End Of The Road Festival, Dorset in September, followed by a UK Tour in September/October that year.

They next released a 7" single, "Life in the Backseat", in November 2006, backed with Actress Hands' "Why the Sale?" (part of a limited series to mark the 10th anniversary of Truck Festival in 2007). The song also appeared on the "It's Not Like Christmas" compilation in aid of the Shelter charity.

In March/April 2007 they made their second visit to the South by Southwest Festival, took part in A Tribute To Billy MacKenzie at Shepherds Bush Empire in aid of Sound Seekers and played a UK tour. There was also an extensive USA tour in May/June 2007 with Brakes

Truck Records released the single "If That's the Case, Then I Don't Know" in April. "Misunderstanding" followed on July 23rd, on 7" single and download, including covers of "Blue It Is" by Billy MacKenzie and "Across The Universe" by The Beatles

July/August 2007 Electric Soft Parade made appearances at UK and European Festivals in Austria, France, Switzerland and Germany. September saw the band play at the re-scheduled Truck Festival

The final single to be taken from "No Need To Be Downhearted", "Appropriate Ending", was released on 26th November as a digital download. It includes two covers, "Happiness" by Elliott Smith and "Friends Of The Heroes" by The Aislers Set

The band toured during October to December 2007 with shows in France, Belgium, Spain, United Kingdom and Germany. The beginning of 2008 saw shows in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and France including dates supporting Ian Brown

On June 11th 2008, they played the final support to Sparks (band) at the 'Hello Young Lovers' show - the end of their run of 20 shows at Islington Academy, London. The band will reconvene later this year to begin work on a fourth album, bringing their current live band (drummer Damo Waters and bassist Matthew Twaites) into the studio for the first time.

Summer 2008 will see Thomas White releasing and touring his solo debut, a 10-track psych-folk LP entitled 'I Dream Of Black', released on July 14th through Drift Records in the UK, Better Looking Records in the US.

Alex is currently co-writing/arranging and drumming on a new Pipettes (band) album, due for release later this year.

The Electric Soft Parade's "Silent to the Dark" is included on the Dermot O'Leary compilation CD "The Saturday Sessions" released July 23rd 2007 and also features on the Isle Of Wight Festival 2004 DVD.

Discography

*"Holes in the Wall" (February 2002) UK #35
*"The American Adventure" (October 2003) UK #45
*"The Human Body EP" (December 2005)
*"No Need to Be Downhearted" (April 2007)

External links

* [http://www.electricsoftparade.com/ Official website]
*
* [http://www.electricsoftparade.org.uk/ ESP + Thomas White Fansite]
* [http://mog.com/electric_soft_parade Tom White's personal blog and music collection at MOG.com]
* [http://www.audiojunkies.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=44&Itemid=63 Audiojunkies interview with Electric Soft Parade]
* [http://www.twistedear.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=375&Itemid=29 Twisted Ear ESP Feature] – Story of the band from an interview in 2006
*
* [http://www.vmix.com/electricsoftparade/ ESP at vMix] Play tracks from the new album
* [http://thelineofbestfit.com/2007/04/18/electric-soft-parade-no-need-to-be-downhearted/ "No Need to Be Downhearted" album review] on The Line of Best Fit
* [http://punkcast.com/1166/ PUNKCAST#1166] live video from Maxwells NJ on Jun 15 2007. (RealPlayer), (mp4)
* [http://music-news.com/ShowReview.asp?nReviewID=2387&nType=4 Interview with Tom White] – Music News, July 2007