Magistrates were a pop band hailing from South Woodham Ferrers in Essex, England.

Members

History

Paul and Mark played in various bands whilst growing up together, including performing under the name

Echelon ECHELON, originally a secret government code name, is a surveillance program (signals intelligence/SIGINT collection and analysis network) operated by the five signatory states to the UKUSA Security Agreement:Given the 5 dialects that use ...

in 2006 with Andrew Grant. After a change to the current line-up and a change of name in mid-2007, Magistrates signed to

XL Recordings XL Recordings is a British independent record label founded in 1989 by Tim Palmer and Nick Halkes. It has been ran and co-owned by Richard Russell since 1996. It forms part of the Beggars Group. Although only releasing an average of six album ...

in the June 2008. The band released two singles, "Make This Work" (August 2008) and "Heartbreak" (May 2009). Magistrates played the 2009 Samsung ''NME'' Radar Tour alongside

La Roux La Roux ( ) is an English synthpop act formed in 2008 by singer Elly Jackson and record producer Ben Langmaid. The act's debut album ''La Roux'' (2009) was a critical and commercial success, winning a Grammy Award and producing hit singles suc ...

, Heartbreak and the Chapman Family. Magistrates also played the HMV Forum, Kentish Town, London on 15 May 2009, as a support band for

Friendly Fires Friendly Fires are an English indie rock band from St Albans, Hertfordshire, England. They are currently signed to XL Recordings. Their self-titled debut album was released on 1 September 2008, and was announced as one of the shortlisted twelv ...

alongside Wax Stag. Magistrates supported Blur for two of their 2009 'comeback' gigs at the

Cliffs Pavilion Cliffs Pavilion is a theatre and concert venue on Station Road in Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, England, a town within the city of Southend-on-Sea. It seats 1,630 and offers an assortment of variety acts. Building Work began on the original Cliff ...

Westcliff-on-Sea Westcliff-on-Sea (often abbreviated to Westcliff) is an inner city area of the city of Southend-on-Sea, in the City of Southend-on-Sea, in the ceremonial county of Essex, England. It is on the north shore of the lower Thames Estuary, about 34 m ...

and (civic hall, Wolverhampton), and La Roux at Chinnerys,

Southend-on-sea Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authority area with borough status in southeastern Essex, England. It lies on the north side of the Thames Estuary, east of central London. It is bordered ...

. Magistrates also played a gig at Wakestock festival 2009, they were met by huge support from many fans there. In August 2009, Magistrates performed a set at the Big Chill festival in Herefordshire as well as featuring on the Festival Republic stage at the

Reading and Leeds The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual music festivals that take place in Reading and Leeds in England. The events take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend. The Reading Fest ...

festivals. On 21 December 2009, Magistrates announced their split up via

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and

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. On 11 February 2011, Magistrates announced via their

page they would once again be making music. Magistrates played their first gig after reforming at the Queen of Hoxton, London in August 2011. Shortly after this, the band made their first festival appearance in two years by supporting headliners

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at the Brownstock Festival. This also marked a rare appearance in their 'hometown' of

South Woodham Ferrers South Woodham Ferrers is a town and civil parish in the borough of Chelmsford, in the English county of Essex. It is approximately from London and southeast of the city of Chelmsford, and had a population of 16,453 at the 2011 Census, a decr ...

, and were introduced onto the stage by

Jon Morter Jonathan Morter (born 4 October 1974) is an English radio DJ, social media pioneer and campaigner. He helped launch various internet campaigns. He launched the Condescending Corporate Brand Page, a page that harshly ridicules corporate social ...

. Magistrates returned in 2013 with the singles "B.T.P.A" and "When We Are Apart". The video for "When We Are Apart" was shot in East London and was directed by VH/Yes. The video uses stock footage from an '80s dating video re-edited to appear as though it is lip-synced. In 2014, they released the album ''When We Are Apart''. The band decided to split at the end of 2014. Paul is now a songwriter for many artists and Mark has his own project called Model Man.

References

External links

XL Recordings

NME

Magistrates on Myspace
{{DEFAULTSORT:Magistrates British indie rock groups Musical groups from Essex Musical groups established in 2006 Musical groups disestablished in 2009 XL Recordings artists