Bitterside, have always been described by many as a band, which writes catchy songs, that anyone can sing-a-long and relate to easily. In fact a year after the band’s birth, 2001, the band focused only in writing hit songs. Bitterside churned out hits such as ‘Fire in my pockets’, ‘Drop of wine’ and ‘Fear (the fast song)’ to name a few. The boys gigged a lot, particularly in 2004 where ‘Somehow Different’, Bitterside’s debut album, was released. An album with pop rock tilted guitars, sweet harmonies and packed with sing-a-long melodies. It sold relatively well and even won the band a Best Band award at the BMA awards in 2004.
Bitterside created a high profile for themselves and their music. By October 2005, the band completed their heavy gigging schedule and concentrated only in writing new material, which had to be fresh and innovative. Daniel had a lot of material up his sleeve and the rest of the band, listened to the new ideas for a whole month before dedicating themselves on particular songs. This was quite a rough time for the band because nobody was actually sure what the new material had to sound like. There was quite some tension and collision of opinions in the band’s studio. Then came ‘Shutters’. When Daniel played the song to the rest of the band, the boys realised that it was something special and immediately started working on the song’s production and ended up recording a mighty song, which demonstrates Daniel’s emotional song writing capabilities and the rest of the band’s skill of adapting their sound to it.
The new sound marked a new era for the band and gave them a sign that all they wanted to do is to write heart-felt, personal tunes that soothe the soul. ‘Shutters’ was released in June 2006 and presented the band with a whole new image and musical direction. The fans realised that Bitterside’s sound and song-writing had matured and the band was showered with extremely positive emails on their website and myspace portal. ‘Shutters’ managed to climb up to number 6 on the XFM top 40. The song was described as anthemic since during the band’s live appearances they sometimes ended up playing it three times!
After the successful run of ‘Shutters’ the band released ‘Vs Life’, a song which is more of a lament to God about an undeserved life. It received a lot of radio airplay and also landed another best band award for the band. Thus one can easily say that the boys ended up 2006 in style! Once 2007 started, the band took on seasoned bassist Cliff Smith and decided to dedicate all their energy on writing new songs for the forthcoming album. Bitterside still managed to participate in major events like the P1 Power Boat Grand Prix, the XFM Music festival, the Fete de la Musique Festival and the Farsons Great Beer Festival.
During the summer, Bitterside produced three songs to be included in the next album. One of the songs recorded was ‘Start Again’ which was an immediate hit for the band, making it to the number 1 spot on the XFM top 40 and number 3 in Bay Radio’ s Top 40. Like the larger part of Bitterside's music, ‘Start Again’ is fundamentally British in musical inclination, Maltese in composition and international in appeal. Unlike the anthemic ‘Shutters’, however, the new single is more flowing, upbeat and in a sense, even "poppier" on some level. As in the song ‘Vs life’, ‘Start Again’ is inspired by the idea of someone living a life they want out of and the frustration of dealing with it. The song possesses an energy that reflects a band freshly motivated and certain of how they should sound like.
Bitterside also landed some gigs in Vienna, Austria between the 7th and the 11th November, playing at 3 venues: Shelter, Replugged and most importantly Planet. The latter is the third largest venue in Vienna and popular bands such as The Rasmus, Star Sailor, Ash, Paradise Lost, Sugababes and a lot more have performed there. On this occasion Bitterside supported a popular Austrian band "Herbstrock".
29 May 2008 saw the release of Bitterside second opus, "Underrated".
The album was preceded by the single "A Selfish Cry", an acoustic track which has quite a fresh feel to it; ideal for the torrid summer months! The song went down very well with the Maltese public, reaching top spot on Malta's Top Ten for 2 consecutive weeks.
Apart from the new single, the album also includes top-hits, “Shutters” and “Start Again”! All the songs have a different attitude but keep the BITTERSIDE edge throughout!
2009 sees Bitterside embarking on a new and very interesting journey to say the least! Besides shifting the set-up to a trio, since the bass player decided to fulfill other commitments, Bitterside have been presented with a very exciting opportunity which can take the band to places that really, really matter. The band is currently focusing on producing an acoustic version of 'Start Again' and a video for it as well, for promotional purposes. Besides, new songs are being piled up like tons of haystacks in a barn!! More exciting information will be given out little by little as this journey unfolds!! Get ready...
Red Electrick live once again!! This time at Remedy, on top of Coconut in Paceville.The band will be performing their full electric set which consists of all the material for their upcoming album, which is set to be released later on this year, along with some covers.
Tickets cost 5Euro, call us on 99141141 to get yours, hurry because there is a limited amount of tickets!!
Next Saturday, 13th June X-Vandals shall be hitting the stage at Remedy for the release of their 2nd CD entitled "Breach The Silence". It will also be the nite who shall feature our new entry, Mark Zlayer as our second guitarist.
Guest bands for the gig are Victims of Creation and Thy Legion. Entrance for the gig is for only 7 Euros and includes 3 live band shows by X-Vandals, Victims of Creation and Thy Legion + FREE CD of Breach The Silence + Free shooter. Yeah you're reading well all of this for only 7 Euros.
Mark that calendar and leave the 13th June free so you'll join us for this particular nite. Spread out the word and bring along your friends too!
thanks lowdz for d bday wishes guys!!! how is your musical career getting along? (obviously very well - stupid question hehe) I have just moved to Guildford to study singing and acting - but thanks to myspace I hope to keep hearing your music!!! :) Rach x
