David Carnegie (Drums) Adam Kent (Keys, Electronica) Beccy Owen (Vocals, Keys) Ian Paterson (Double Bass) Nick Pride (Guitar) Louise Taylor (Viola) Rebecca Topping (Cello)
Influences
Bjork, Mahler, Selima Hill, Cocteau Twins, Elizabeth Fraser, Low, Chopin, Tom Waits, Dusty Springfield, Neville Clay, Ivor Cutler, Roni Size, Dolly Parton, Bach, Dylan Thomas, Kate Bush, Burt Bacharach, Pixies, Everything But The Girl, Nina Simone, Massive Attack, Carole King, June Tabor, Matthew Herbet, Flaming Lips, Lhasa, John Adams, Portishead, David Holmes, Joni Mitchell, David Bowie, The Beta Band, Arcade Fire, Lisa Hanigan, Rachmaninov, Sylvia Plath, Elbow, CSS, Danny Elfman, John Williams, Lamb, The Smiths, Robert Plant, Beck, Jeff Buckley, Merlin Shepherd, Soul II Soul, Zoey Van Goey, India Arie, PJ Harvey,Joy Division, Tori Amos, Sigur Ros, Joan As Policewoman,Rage Against The Machine, Frank Zappa, British Sea Power, Mates of State, Sebadoh, Leonard Cohen, Mumford and Sons, Goldfrapp, Talking Heads, Queen, Beth Gibbons and Rustin Man, The Boss, Spiritualized, Peter Gabriel, Aphex Twin, Bright Eyes...
Sounds Like
"Amazing. A visual analogy for me when I was listening and watching this band is that they're so intricate and complex and yet beautiful, it's like watching the most amazing figure skating when somebody does those triple salcos...you have that trust that they're going to sound amazing whatever they do."
Tony Moore (Promoter at The Bedford in Balham and ex-Cutting Crew keyboardist).
"I was genuinely transfixed throughout Sharks Took The Rest’s debut headlining gig...From the opening Too Late For Logic through the memorable Go For Blood and Abstinence and all the way to the beautiful encore Isobel, there was a widespread feeling we were witnessing the start of something special.
Beccy’s voice has always been a pure delight, but there’s something about this ensemble which offers more than she – and her oh-so-talented bandmates – have offered before. They are definitely more than the sum of its Sharks. I predict things will go swimmingly from here on in.
As we left the building, I heard someone describe the Sharks experience as "sublime bliss". I’m not even going to try to better it."
Sam Wonfor, JournalLive
"Amazing performance, without doubt the best live performance i've seen..Looking forward to hearing the album!! = )"
Christopher Brown, NE1FM
"Beccy Owen has the voice of an angel; an angel who has maybe drank a little too much gin one night, gotten home and decided to watch Casablanca on DVD but the disc was in the wrong box and has shoved Begman’s Through A Glass Darkly into the player and watch that instead, unaware of the mistake"
Sharks took the Rest are a North-East based band brought together by songwriters Beccy Owen and Adam Kent. The band make original music that takes a certain influence from many different genres, including pop, alternative rock, ambient, electronic, classical, folk and trip hop.
What is your sound?
(Beccy writes)
We're a pretty new band so we're still working ourselves out I think. Adam and I have been talking about this question recently. We're at a bit of a tipping point in some ways, because we've now got quite a lot of songs (more to be added here soon) and they seem to fall into two distinct 'categories' in terms of sound...
Fundamentally, as a band we're built to serve the songs. It's me and Adam (Kent) writing them, so I think there's a quality to the lyrics and music that's built on songwriting and storytelling as a first love. There's also a life force in the songs that's driven by the need to translate an inner geography - so they're still pretty personal songs in some ways, but because there are six other people in the band who are all helping to translate and transcend that personal experience - there's a new alchemy involved, and inevitably a new sound, compared to my solo stuff, for example.
Whatever we end up with, I think there's always an initial commitment to an aesthetic beauty - even if that beauty is a bit mutated or unconventional.
I think that's at the heart of it, but ask me in a month cos we might have moved on by then - who knows?
The band describes itself as:
“Having our head in the clouds and feet on the ground.”
After you've finished here, you may like to hear this folk-carol on myspace... Poem 230 of 230, WalkaboutsVerse (see my blog for details): CHRISTMAS SUNG SIMPLY
As gospellers have said, Beneath signalling skies, On land dusty to tread, A trough in a stable Was the strawy first-bed Of a divine baby - The forgiving Godhead.
A season for new hope - There then and here now; The yuletide of goodwill - There then and here now.
In respect of this chance, Beneath bright or dark skies, Faith's the star that we glance Attending Christ's churches And trying to enhance, With singing and ritual, Our God-loving stance.
Its been selling faster than we expected, and we currently only have around a quarter of our stock left - so we thought we'd better you all know that if you want a copy then now would be a good time to pick one up! If you buy it from the link above then you're buying it direct from us, the label aren't taking a cut - so its a bit like Fair Trade for struggling musicians.
International mail-order is available, just follow the instructions.
Thank you very much, and sorry for making a mess of your profile. If its any kind of consolation, we don't have a MySpace bot, so I'm leaving these comments the old fashioned way. Three -and-a-half thousand of them. My life is so exciting.
