Billy Mahonie is a British

post-rock Post-rock is a form of experimental rock characterized by a focus on exploring textures and timbre over traditional rock song structures, chords, or riffs. Post-rock artists are often instrumental, typically combining rock instrumentation with ...

band.

History

British instrumental rock quartet Billy Mahonie formed in London in 1997. The original line-up consisted of Gavin Baker (guitar), Howard Monk (drums), Hywell Dinsdale (bass and guitar) and Kevin Penney (bass). Their first release was on the

Fierce Panda Fierce Panda Records is a London-based independent record label, with its first release in February 1994. It also produced a small number of releases that year by now famous artists such as Ash, The Bluetones, Baby Bird and Supergrass. Fierc ...

record label, a split-single with

Rothko Mark Rothko (), born Markus Yakovlevich Rothkowitz (russian: Ма́ркус Я́ковлевич Ротко́вич, link=no, lv, Markuss Rotkovičs, link=no; name not Anglicized until 1940; September 25, 1903 – February 25, 1970), was a Latv ...

, followed by a release on the Fierce Panda offshoot Livid Meerkat and an EP on Gold Hole Recordings. At the start of 1999 the band signed with

Too Pure Too Pure was a London-based independent record label formed in 1990 by Richard Roberts and Paul Cox. The label gained prominence after the release of PJ Harvey's debut album '' Dry'' in 1992, and subsequently found further success in the late ...

, who released their debut album ''The Big Dig'' produced by Head. That year they also recorded their first of two

Peel Sessions John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...

, and toured Europe. In 2000 Mahonie moved to

Southern Records Founded 1992 by John Loder, Southern Records is an independent record label (Loder also ran the recording facility Southern Studios). It is based in London and until 2008 had offices in the United States, France and Berlin. The label is closel ...

and recorded their second album with

Toby Robinson Tobias Patrick Robinson (born 22 August 1996) is an English international swimmer. He has represented England at the Commonwealth Games. Biography Robinson trains out of Loughborough University and competed in the Open water swimming at the 20 ...

, Harvey Birrell and Head producing. The double album ''What Becomes Before'' was released in 2001. This was followed by a second european tour. The band took a few months off in 2002 but regrouped in the autumn with a new line up of Baker and Monk joined by Duncan Brown (bass) and Anthony Barratt (guitar). A third album ''Dust'' was released on Tritone Records in 2004. A collection of singles ''Found'' was released in 2005 on Oof Records and the band played shows in 2004, 2005 and 2006 with mixture of line-ups including all six members. They then took a break from live work. A compilation of demos, out takes and singles entitled ''Exhale on Mare Street'' came out on Unlabel in 2007 and was re-released in 2010 having been remastered with a couple of extra tracks. A fourth album ''BM'' came out in autumn 2009. This time the album was recorded by just Baker and Monk and was released on Static Caravan as a limited lathe-cut record and download. The original line-up of Baker, Dinsdale, Monk and Penney played selected shows in 2009, 2010 (Audioscope Festival) and 2014 (The End Festival). The original band reunited once more in 2017 for two shows and again in 2019, this time at Church Studios, London, where they recorded new material. They are currently working on a new album. At one time named best live band in Britain they have always attempted to put the 'rock' in 'post-rock'.

Lineup

* Gavin Baker – guitar, bass, mandolin, banjo, organ (1997–now) *Howard Monk – drums, percussion, telephone (1997–now) *Hywell Dinsdale – bass, guitar, drums, harmonica, melodica (1997–2001, 2005–now) *Kevin Penney – bass, guitar, keyboards (1997–2001, 2005–now) *Anthony Barratt – guitar, electronics (2002–2005) *Duncan Brown – bass (2002–2005)

Discography

Albums

*1999: ''The Big Dig'' (

) *2001: ''What Becomes Before'' (

) *2001: ''Tribute To Jet Johnson'' - an album of home recordings - (Day Release Records Singles Club) *2003: ''Dust'' (Tritone Records) *2005: ''Found'' - singles compilation - (Oof Records) *2007: ''Exhale On Mare Street'' - out takes and singles compilation - ( Unlabel) *2009: ''BM'' ( Static Caravan) *2010: ''Exhale On Mare Street'' - remastered with extra tracks - (Unlabel)

Singles and EPs

*1998: "Hoon" - split single with

(

) *1998: "Whistling Sam" - single ( Livid Meerkat) *1999: ''Little Feet'' - EP (Gold Hole) *1999: ''World Inaction'' - split EP with Jullander (Stupid Cat/Beau Rivage) *1999: ''Come On Billy Mahonie Give It Your Best Shot'' - 3 cd single set (Too Pure) *1999: ''One Thousand Years of Billy Mahonie'' - remix EP with Bows & Hefner (Too Pure) *2000: "Rot Of The Stars" - split single with

Seafood Seafood is any form of sea life regarded as food by humans, prominently including fish and shellfish. Shellfish include various species of molluscs (e.g. bivalve molluscs such as clams, oysters and mussels, and cephalopods such as octopus an ...

( Jonathan Whiskey) *2000: "Flume" - single (Speakerphone Recordings) *2004: ''Nightmare City'' - download EP (BM Recordings) *2006: "New Year's Eve Song" - split single with The Jesus Years (Theory of Nothing) *2006: ''Watching People Speaking'' - EP (Euphrate Records) *2007: "Nightmare City" - single (Euphrate Records)

References

External links

BandcampTwitterFacebookSoundcloudYoutubeSpotifyiTunes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Billy Mahonie English post-rock groups