Art Brut (band)

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Art Brut

Background information
Origin	Deptford/Bournemouth, England
Genre(s)	Alternative rock Indie rock Punk rock
Years active	2003-present
Label(s)	Downtown Records Fierce Panda Records Mute Records
Associated acts	The Art Goblins Macaca Mulatta
Website	ArtBrut.org.uk
Members
Eddie Argos Ian Catskilkin Jasper Future Freddy Feedback Mikey B
Former members
Chris Chinchilla

Art Brut are an English alternative rock band. Their debut album, Bang Bang Rock and Roll, was released on May 30, 2005, with its follow up, It's A Bit Complicated, set for release in June this year.

1 Biography
2 Members
3 Discography
- 3.1 Albums
- 3.2 Singles
4 External references

[edit] Biography

The band was formed in 2003 and played its first gig in May of that year. The band recorded Brutlegs later in 2003 containing the first versions of "Formed a Band", "Modern Art" and "Moving to LA" and made it available. Angular Recording Corporation put out a compilation featuring "Formed a Band". A journalist heard the song and sent an MP3 to Rough Trade and the label offered Art Brut a deal to release it as a single.

"Formed a Band" was released in the UK as a single in May 2004 reaching #52 on the charts. It also appeared on the soundtrack to FIFA Street 2 - a game for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, Gamecube and Playstation Portable. Blender described them as the best unsigned band in the UK. During the rest of 2004, they played gigs throughout the UK including a first anniversary gig at the Tate Modern.

Another bootleg EP Brutlegs 04 was recorded featuring "Good Weekend", "Bang Bang Rock and Roll", and an acoustic version of "Moving to LA". A double A-side was released in December 2004 on Fierce Panda reaching #49 on the charts. The album Bang Bang Rock and Roll was released in May 2005 with "Emily Kane" as the first single. The latter missed the UK Top 40 by two sales, yet remains the highest-charting single on Fierce Panda. Bang Bang Rock and Roll was produced by John Fortis, who has also worked with artists such as Razorlight, Maxim Reality, The Pipettes, Neneh Cherry and Assembly Now.

Art Brut have a quite widespread following of "franchises", whose names range from AB0 (the original Art Brut) to AB3.14/Pi or even to AB1978. The band We Are Scientists are also an Art Brut franchise, AB47. These franchises often record and play Art Brut songs during performances.

Chris Chinchilla amicably left the band for personal reasons in September 2005 forming new band Macaca Mulatta. He was replaced by Jasper Future, guitarist from Eddie Argos' old band, The Art Goblins. The band appeared on the cover of the German edition of Rolling Stone magazine in September 2005.

Spikey-haired lead guitarist, Ian Catskilkin (real name Ian Wilson), is the cousin of Ray Wilson, who was the lead singer in Stiltskin before joining prog rockers Genesis as the singer in 1997.

Art Brut performed at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, on April 30, 2006, at Pitchfork Music Festival in June 2006, and at the Festival Internacional de Benicàssim and the Dour Festival in Belgium, in July 2006. Art Brut also released a split 7" with We Are Scientists, which was only released in America. On this single Art Brut recorded a cover of 'The Great Escape' by We Are Scientists. We Are Scientists returned the idea and covered Art Brut's song 'Bang Bang Rock and Roll' on the single. Their version of "Bang Bang Rock and Roll" is also available on their b-sides album Crap Attack.

The band are currently preparing their second album, It's A Bit Complicated, for release on Mute Records. According to Argos^[1], among the songs intended for inclusion are "Direct Hit", "People In Love", "Blame It On The Trains", "End Of The Weekend", "Post Soothing Out", "I Will Survive", "Nag Nag Nag Nag", "St Pauli", and "Pump Up The Volume". The first single to be taken from the album, "Nag Nag Nag Nag", was released on 20th November 2006, featuring the b-side "I Found This Song in the Road" and 5 live tracks from the Eurockéennes de Belfort Festival 2006. The song made Single of the Week in The Guardian's "The Guide" section.