We are influenced by every waking moment of the day, good or bad.
Boyfriends, girlfriends, work, unemployment, that feeling you get on a friday night, that feeling you get on a sunday morning, incompetance, crap gigs, crap bands, idiocy, monotony, fighting.
Anything sounding somewhere between Joy Division and Sonic Youth and any band that realises that music is supposed to be exciting, not a money making exercise.
The Chapman Family played their first gig on May 5th 2006 and have been preaching their own particular brand of family values up and down the country ever since. They've played over 300 gigs and supported the likes of We Are Scientists, 80s Matchbox B-Line Disaster and Future of the Left on the way.
Also in this time they have appeared on compilation CDs for Dance To The Radio, Artrocker Unsigned, NARC Magazine and Firestation Records in Germany as well as getting played on local, national, international and British Armed Forces radio including Radio One by Huw Stephens and Zane Lowe and XFM by Jon Kennedy. They have also had numerous features, reviews and interviews in Artrocker and the NME. In 2008 they recorded a session for Radio One at Maida Vale studios in London and were picked to play on the BBC Introducing Stage at the Glastonbury Festival where they played to one of the stage's biggest and most enthusiastic crowds.
At the turn of the year they were picked by NME magazine as one of their Top Ten Tips of 2009 and have continued to build momentum with features and interviews in NME, The Fly and Artrocker; radio play and sessions on Radio One and XFM; video play on MTV, NMEtv, and Virgin OnDemand; as well as securing slots at music festivals at home and abroad including Leeds/Reading Festival and Pukkelpop.
They are as much inspired by folk music as hardcore punk and their occasionally chaotic gigs can change from euphoric to apocalyptic in an instant. Equipment is often left damaged in a heap onstage, dripping with sweat and blood from being beaten to within an inch of its life long after the final note has been struck.
They are still unsigned.
This has all been done with a Citeron Estate, a Nissan Primera (now deceased), a Renault Clio, an infinite number of broken guitar strings, numerous broken distortion pedals, six damaged or destroyed electric guitars, three destroyed bass guitars, four damaged or destroyed bass players, two battered drum kits, three bass amps damaged beyond repair, four damaged guitar amps that undergone repair (one with its frequency settings permanently destroyed), one glittery dress, two desroyed relationships, fifteen black shirts, five black ties, some Doc Martins and a stereotypical northern working class work ethic.
RELEASES
The Chapman Family released a limited edition single on 27th April 2009. "Kids" is available on &" orange vinyl from all good independent record stores or via iTunes. It received its first airplay from Jon Kennedy on XFM on 18/03/09 and from Zane Lowe on Radio One on 23/03/09. It has also since been played by Tom Robinson and Steve Lamacq on BBC6 as well as being playlisted by XFM and NME Radio and has been played on MTV2 where it was number one for three consecutive weeks in the MySpace Chart. It was also listed as Number One in the Top Ten Tracks to Listen to This Week in the NME, 04/04/09.
NME RADAR TOUR 2009
In Spring 2009 The Chapman Family were chosen to be one of the four bands to go on NME Magazine's annual "new music" tour. The tour ran from April to May and called into Nottingham, Bristol, Wrexham, Oxford, Cardiff, Manchester, Leeds, Preston, Glasgow, Birmingham, Portsmouth, Stoke, Norwich and London. Also on the bill were electro popster La Roux, italo disco'd Heartbreak and the indie funky Magistrates.
CONTACT DETAILS
Feel free to message the band on MySpace about whatever you would like to talk about and they will get back to you as soon as possible but if you want to discuss management issues please contact mac@electrictoaster.net
If you want to offer a gig please contact our booking agent paul.bolton@helterskelter.co.uk and he will help you as much as he can.
For national press (UK) please contact jenny@toastpress.com
DONATE YOUR OLD GUITARS
The Chapman Family will gladly take any battered old guitars off your hands and destroy them live on stage for you. If you are interested in donating or selling an unused and/or unloved Christmas present that is gathering dust in the corner please contact kingsleyrocks@hotmail.co.uk
THE THINGS PEOPLE SAY
'Music that could change your life, if you're that way inclined.' NME, May 09
'Feel like punching walls? Listen to The Chapman Family instead. This Teesside foursome whip up a storm on this ferocious, white-noise fuelled debut, and in the process unleash a modern art-punk singalong for the disaffected youth. Grotty, snotty and utterly infectious.' The Fly's review of the Kids single, May 09
'If you like it when things implode and kill you in the face - and you probably do - then you'll love The Chapman Family...a welcome booster jab for everyone who thinks that making music's too easy right now.' NME, May 09
'The Chapman Family are just about the only interesting new band outside of London at the moment. You should really be listening to their stuff because it's rare to find a band who enjoy destroying, like, everything onstage but who do it with such obvious, subversive pop caperbilities.' NME, March 09
'The Chapman Family are set to make Stadium Rock great again!' Artrocker's assessment of the Spinnerette show, April 09
'Teesside's The Chapman Family have the unenviable task of being the first band on this monday night bill. Noisy and energetic, they are the battering ram that pushes at a wall of indifference. It is to their credit that they go some way to knocking down this wall.' Kerrang! review of supporting Brody Dalle in London, March 09
'It's do or die. And the thing is, if they do die, they'll have won anyway. As Pop puts it..."we fucking came from the bottom. You can't get any lower than where we came from. Everything now is an up."' NME, January 09
'The sound of death itself' NME, October 08
'Gloom-punk masterminds' NME, October 08
'They're an odd lot...initially they don't make much sense' NME, November 08
'A 'Holy Bible'-burning raqcket ensues with Kingsley wedging a drum stick behind his guitar strings before prising them upwards, ripping the yarns like ribs from a chest in a Saw flick. Pop crunches his axe in the floor and stamps on it, snapping the neck like an unwanted farm animal. The band stomp off, while we suddenly realise that, for all the destruction, the most captivating things we just witnessed were the tunes.' NME, November 08
'Their descent from buttoned-up Ian Curtis-lickers to Fucked Up-esque axe-smashers was one of the most captivating things I’ve seen in yonks...I especially liked it when the bassist stamped on his guitar, totalling it, then walked off enigmatically with his bandmates as the feedback rubbed into our ears. Then 30 seconds later walked back on, picked up his wrecked instrument forlornly and mouthed “FUCK…” to himself.' NME.com, November 08
'...magnificent north-eastern rockers The Chapman Family– who concluded their set but smashing their guitars to smithereens. Nice to see some proper rock 'n' roll behaviour and prove it isn't all drenched hippies eating fruit cake.' NME.com review of Glastonbury performance, June 08
'Next up...The Chapman Family who most would say were lacking in something, well… musical about their performance. It was like watching Sonic Youth on speed, spitting vocals, screeching bursts, feedback and basically just a lot of unwelcome sound. And I didn’t know Alex James, Ex Blur, started a new band? …Spitting image.' The Fly Magazine's review of us supporting We Are Scientists at the Old Blue Last in August 2008
'There's a time and a place for this kind of brash showmanship but it's not here, and it's not now' Leeds Music Scene, February 08
'The worst band I have ever seen...an abomination' Unnameable internet forum, November 07
'Gash.' Dognoise, July 06
WE LOVE YOU ALL
If you don't like MySpace why not try one of our facebook sites either here or here
Or visit Last FM for more (early) songs and demos.
Hi Kingsley Good to hear you are coming down to Brighton. You will get the tinternet no bother in Brighton. There is WiFi everyfuckinwhere. How long are you down for? Hope you enjoy the town and have a laugh. If you fancy dropping by for a cuppa that would be cool. We always have a Yorkshire Tea brew on the go! You certainly cant get it in any cafes in Brighton. Good luck with recording. Best wishes Claire XX
you know what i tihnk guys..i think people should moan less and dance more. people with good legs can dance higher than people with poor quality pins..cos noone likes bad legs. I also think that red lipstick is the best to be worn. everywher.e and that sometimes you shouldnt drink things that look poisonous. ill apologise in advance shall i? im a drunk twat,but i look fuckin good and your tunes are class. the end. we love you all. the end. x
Demon Summer plus The Woven Project Saturday 18th July 2009 The Studio Tower Street Hartlepool Cost:: £4.00 Tickets / Info - 01429 424440 www.studiohartlepool.com
