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| Alterkicks |
Based in Liverpool, the 'Alterkicks' band members originated from a variety of
places via recruitment adverts placed in shops across Merseyside and
Cheshire. Their five-piece line-up became Martin Stilwell on vocals,
Gareth Padfield on rhythm guitar and vocals, Mike Oates on guitar and vocals,
Mark Karin on bass guitar and Oliver Hughes on drums. Describing themselves as a 'standard format' 5-piece band, but
definitely "not retro", they became an indie band on the rise. The band were one of the North West's best kept secrets at the time with shows
around Liverpool being guaranteed sell outs
alongside their own massively successful 'Little Big Man' night club nights in the
city. However they came to the attention of a much bigger audience when DJ Zane Lowe played their demo in November 2004. Once the demo was played record companies pricked up their ears and in tandem, more and more fans registered with the site and started a campaign for the band to play in the South of England - a request
that would be fulfilled when they supported 'Thirteen Senses' at Shepherd's Bush Empire on Monday, March 7.
They released their debut single, 'Do Everything I Taught You', through the internationally
renowned first home for all decent talent, Fierce Panda in 2005, and the limited release sold out. This saw them wooing crowds of three thousand people on tour with
'Thirteen Senses' at Shepherd's Bush Empire and led them to move to the bigger label Moshi Moshi for their second release 'Oh Honey'. They also toured with 'The Automatic' and 'Larrikin Love' and had cited their influences as David Bowie, 'The Kinks' and 'Pixies'. In addition to the influence of these artists, their sound was described as containing elements of 'The Doors', 'Gomez',and 'Sonic Youth'. They received further exposure by Steve Lamacq and Dermot O'Leary who,
so impressed with their early singles, invited the band to do a live set
on his BBC Radio 2 show.
They later signed a long term contract to B-Unique Records, home to 'Kaiser Chiefs' and 'The Ordinary Boys' amongst others, and were picked as one of the 'Hot 100' bands for 2007 in Rock Sound magazine. Their single, 'On A Holiday', was released in November 2006 with their follow up single, 'Good Luck', released in March 2007.
In August 2007, the band released their debut album, 'Do Everything I Taught You'
. One reviewer stated, "
This
is an album of pure genius and each track is unmissable, which is a
rarity in music these days. It is so easy on the ears and all the songs
will get stuck in your head. This band needs the
recognition they deserve. An album for soft indie/rock lovers
everywhere!"
The band split up on the 30th of October 2007. Band member
Oli Hughes reportedly commented on the split in 2019, saying, "I don't
want to do down our punk-rock spirit, but basically, nobody bought our
album and we couldn't be arsed after that."
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