Ben Marwood is an English singer-songwriter from
Reading, Berkshire
Reading ( ) is a town and borough in Berkshire, Southeast England, southeast England. Located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the rivers River Thames, Thames and River Kennet, Kennet, the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 mot ...
, England.
As part of the contemporary London folk scene, Marwood has performed alongside
Frank Turner
Francis Edward Turner (born 28 December 1981), is an English punk and folk singer-songwriter from Meonstoke, Hampshire. He began his career as the vocalist of post-hardcore band Million Dead, then embarked upon a primarily acoustic-based sol ...
,
Chris T-T
Chris T-T (born Christopher Thorpe-Tracey, 16 September 1974) is a retired English singer-songwriter based in Brighton. In a 20-year career he released 10 studio albums, two live collections and a number of collaborations. He is also a speaker, ...
and
Emily Barker
Emily Barker (born 2 December 1980) is an Australian singer-songwriter, musician and composer. Her music has featured as the theme to BBC dramas ''Wallander'' and ''The Shadow Line''. With multi-instrumental trio the Red Clay Halo, she record ...
amongst others.
Musical career
Playing solo shows from 2002, in 2008 Marwood released his debut mini-album, ''
This Is Not What You Had Planned'' to some critical acclaim, followed by a three-way split album entitled ''Exclamation at Asterisk Hash'' which also featured friends
Oxygen Thief and Jim Lockey. Both were released on Broken Tail Records, a small indie label run by Marwood. The debut album ''
Outside There's A Curse'' was released on London-based
Xtra Mile Recordings
Xtra Mile Recordings are a British independent record label based in London, England. The label was founded in 2003 by Charlie Caplowe and they release an eclectic mix of genres with a focus on rock and folk.
History
The label first signed th ...
on 31 January 2011 to further critical acclaim, with ''
Kerrang!
''Kerrang!'' is a British weekly magazine devoted to rock, punk and heavy metal music, currently published by Wasted Talent (the same company that owns electronic music publication ''Mixmag''). It was first published on 6 June 1981 as a one- ...
'' awarding it a score of four out of a possible five Ks and ''
Rocksound
''Rock Sound'' is a British magazine that covers rock music. The magazine aims at being more " underground" and less commercial, while also giving coverage to better-known acts. It generally focuses on pop punk, post-hardcore, metalcore, punk, ...
'' awarding an eight out of ten. The album release was supported by two national headline tours alongside
Oxygen Thief, and a support slot with Frank Turner in May 2011. All undistributed copies of the album were subsequently destroyed in the arson attack on the
Sony DADC warehouse during the
2011 England Riots
The 2011 England riots, more widely known as the London riots, were a series of riots between 6 and 11 August 2011. Thousands of people rioted in cities and towns across England, which saw looting, arson, as well as mass deployment of police ...
in August 2011. Marwood is a good friend of Turner's and was part of his extended backing band at the
2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony
The opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics took place on the evening of Friday 27 July 2012 in the Olympic Stadium, London, during which the Games were formally opened by Queen Elizabeth II. As mandated by the Olympic Charter, the proce ...
, and also appeared in the video for Turner's single ''
Long Live the Queen''.
After unreleased material featured on a couple of compilation appearances towards the end of 2011, BBC News reported that Marwood was working on a second album. It was confirmed in a blog post on 23 December 2012 that the new album would follow in 2013 and was preceded by a five-song EP featuring re-recorded live takes of previous songs entitled ''Incidents/Accidents'', released via
Bandcamp
Bandcamp is an American online audio distribution platform founded in 2007 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with headquarters in Oakland, California, US. On March 2, 2022, Bandcamp ...
on a pay-what-you-like basis.
Following the Bandcamp release, two further digital EPs were released in February 2013 through Josaka Music, ''Demons'' and ''Ben Marwood & Quiet Quiet Band Lay Low'', a split with Reading band Quiet Quiet Band which had shortened to ''Lay Low'' by the time it reached retailers, after which
Rock Sound
''Rock Sound'' is a British magazine that covers rock music. The magazine aims at being more " underground" and less commercial, while also giving coverage to better-known acts. It generally focuses on pop punk, post-hardcore, metalcore, punk, ...
announced that the new album ''Back Down'' would be released on 13 May 2013 through
Xtra Mile Recordings
Xtra Mile Recordings are a British independent record label based in London, England. The label was founded in 2003 by Charlie Caplowe and they release an eclectic mix of genres with a focus on rock and folk.
History
The label first signed th ...
. A headline UK tour was subsequently announced which also featured prominent members of the underground UK acoustic scene, as well as a video for the single ''Under Lock and Key'', before heading to the US as opening support for Frank Turner.
Outside of performing, Marwood also hosts a monthly show on a weekly alternative podcast "edit radio".
Discography
Albums
*''
Outside There's a Curse'' (2011)
*''Back Down'' (2013)
*''Get Found'' (2017)
EPs
*''goodPROPAGANDA'' (2003)
*''Give Up.. just once, give up'' (2005)
*''
This Is Not What You Had Planned'' (2008)
*''Incidents/Accidents'' (2012)
*''Demons'' (2013)
Split EPs
*''Ben Marwood vs. Heartwear Process'' (7" vinyl – 2007)
*''Exclamation at Asterisk Hash'' (''w/Oxygen Thief & Jim Lockey and the Solemn Sun'' – 2009)
*''Lay Low'' (''w/Quiet Quiet Band'' – 2013)
Compilation appearances
*''Four By Four EP'' – "More Good Propaganda" (2007)
*''Four By Four More EP'' – "Question Marks?" (2008)
*''Xtra Mile High Club Vol. 3'' – "We Are No Longer Twenty-Five
ile High Version (2011)
*''Lamp Light the Fire'' – "Horatio Dies" (2011)
References
External links
Official siteBen Marwood on MyspaceBroken Tail Records on MySpace
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marwood, Ben
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
English male singer-songwriters
English singer-songwriters
English folk singers
English folk guitarists
Folk punk musicians