Echelon were a four-piece band hailing from

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Biography

Guitarist Mark Brandon, bassist Owain North and vocalist Paul Usher met at an early age and played together in various lineups, however became serious about a career as a band following the recruitment of drummer Andrew Grant. Following a series of local gigs, the band caught the ear of

Alan McGee Alan John McGee (born 29 September 1960) is a Scottish businessman and music industry executive. He has been a record label owner, musician, manager, and music blogger for ''The Guardian''. He co-founded the independent Creation Records label, r ...

in early 2004 who would subsequently sign the band to his

Poptones Poptones was a record label launched by Alan McGee after the demise of Creation Records in 1999. Its roster included The Hives, January, Arnold, Cherrystones, King Biscuit Time, Thee Unstrung, The Boxer Rebellion, Beachbuggy, Pure Reason Rev ...

label later that year. The band gained momentum, supporting bands such as The Others and

The Boxer Rebellion The Boxer Rebellion, also known as the Boxer Uprising, the Boxer Insurrection, or the Yihetuan Movement, was an anti-foreign, anti-colonial, and anti-Christian uprising in China between 1899 and 1901, towards the end of the Qing dynasty, by ...

and doing their own headline tour surrounding the release of their first single, "Plus". The single received airplay from renowned DJs such as

Steve Lamacq Stephen Paul Lamacq (born 16 October 1964), sometimes known by his nickname Lammo (given to him by John Peel), is an English disc jockey, currently working with the BBC radio station BBC Radio 6 Music. Early life He attended The Ramsey Academy ...

and

Tom Robinson Thomas Giles Robinson (born 1 June 1950) is a British singer, bassist, radio presenter and long-time LGBT rights activist, best known for the hits "Glad to Be Gay", "2-4-6-8 Motorway", and "Don't Take No for an Answer", with his Tom Robinson ...

, who made it single of the week on his

BBC Radio 6 Music BBC Radio 6 Music is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC, specialising primarily in alternative music. BBC 6 Music was the first national music radio station to be launched by the BBC in 32 years. It is available onl ...

evening show. The single also received airplay from XFM where the band did a live session. The debut single Plus was released on 8 November to positive reviews, and charted at Number 57 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. Cited as the 'kid brothers' of

Radiohead Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Greenwood (bass) ...

, Echelon moved into 2005 touring consistently and recording the follow-up to "Plus" and filming the corresponding video. After an appearance at

Glastonbury Glastonbury (, ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town, which is in the Mendip district, had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbury ...

the delayed follow up single "Windows Shut" / "This Room" (a double A-Side) was released on 17 October. Although appreciated by Radio One DJ

Zane Lowe Alexander Zane Reid Lowe (born 7 August 1973) is a New Zealand radio DJ, live DJ, record producer, and television presenter. After an early career in music creation, production and DJing, he moved to the UK in 1997. He came to prominence thro ...

the single failed to match the airplay of the debut, reaching number 12 in the

UK Indie Chart The UK Independent Singles Chart and UK Independent Albums Chart are charts of the best-selling independent singles and albums, respectively, in the United Kingdom. Originally published in January 1980, and widely known as the indie chart, the rele ...

. Echelon finished in 2006, briefly reforming as Mixed Business before Usher, Grant, and Brandon formed a new band called

Magistrates The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judici ...

Discography

* "Plus" - UK No. 57, UK Indie Chart No. 7 * "Windows Shut" / "This Room" UK No. 82, UK Indie Chart No. 12

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Echelon English rock music groups