The Servant was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

alternative Alternative or alternate may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Alternative (''Kamen Rider''), a character in the Japanese TV series ''Kamen Rider Ryuki'' * ''The Alternative'' (film), a 1978 Australian television film * ''The Alternative ...

band, formed in London in 1998. They are popular in

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as well as other

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an countries. The band received coverage in the

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

. French cultural magazine ''

Les Inrockuptibles ''Les Inrockuptibles'' () is a French cultural magazine. Started as a monthly magazine in 1986, it became weekly in 1995. Now it is a monthly again, since 2021. In the beginning, rock music was the magazine's primary focus, though every issue in ...

'' and posthumously in

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

which described the band as having "flirted with international success over their decade-long career before finally splitting in 2007" in a feature on lead singer

Dan Black Daniel Black (born 16 November 1975) is an English singer-songwriter and vocalist. He was a member of alternative rock band The Servant (band), the Servant, before their split in 2007. He is also a vocalist for the Italian British group Plane ...

, by then a solo artist. Black, Fisher and Sharpe were originally guitarist, bassist, and drummer in Minty, the former band of the late

Leigh Bowery Leigh Bowery (26 March 1961 – 31 December 1994) was an Australian performance artist, club promoter, and fashion designer. Bowery was known for his flamboyant and outlandish costumes and makeup as well as his (sometimes controversial) perform ...

. Minty were involved in the

Romo Romantic Modernism, more commonly known as Romo, was a musical and nightclubbing movement, of glam/style pop lineage, in the UK circa 1995–1997, centred on the twin homes of Camden-based clubnight Club Skinny and its West End clone Arcadia ...

scene in 1995-1997; Sharpe also played drums for another Romo band, Plastic Fantastic. They produced two EPs and two albums between 1999 and 2006. The band split up in 2007. A compilation album was released in 2014.

History

Their first introduction to an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

audience was in the trailer of the film ''Sin City'' with the instrumental version of their song "Cells". This version of "Cells" is not on the ''Sin City'' soundtrack, but it can be downloaded via their website ("Cells" was also used in the film ''

The Transporter ''The Transporter'' (French: ''Le Transporteur'') is a 2002 action-thriller film directed by Corey Yuen and Louis Leterrier (who is credited as artistic director on the film), and written by Luc Besson, who was inspired by BMW Films' ''The Hire ...

and

Transporter 2 ''Transporter 2'' (French: ''Le Transporteur 2'') is an English-language French 2005 action-thriller film directed by Louis Leterrier. Written by Robert Mark Kamen and co-producer Luc Besson, it is the sequel to ''The Transporter'' (2002), as well ...

'', along with their song, "Body"). Since the ''Sin City'' trailers, there has been significant U.S. interest in their records and demands for live concerts. Before achieving commercial success in 2004 with their self-titled album, released by Prolifica Records in the UK and by Recall Group in France, The Servant released two EPs: ''Mathematics'' in 1999 and ''With the Invisible'' in 2000. The band released their fourth album entitled ''How To Destroy A Relationship'' in 2006. On 26 November 2007, the band announced on their blog at MySpace that they were splitting up "to move on to pastures new". On 8 September 2014, to mark the 10 years since the release of their first album, The Servant released a 'Best Of' compilation, called "Collection", for digital download world-wide. The compilation album features previously unreleased tracks, such as "Away". The single "Away", recorded with producer Jim Lowe (Stereophonics, The Charlatans) was released on 23 June 2014.

Members

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass guitar ...

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

laptop A laptop, laptop computer, or notebook computer is a small, portable personal computer (PC) with a screen and alphanumeric keyboard. Laptops typically have a clam shell form factor with the screen mounted on the inside of the upper li ...

* Chris Burrows -

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

* Matt Fisher -

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

* Trevor Sharpe -

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

Dan Black

was the lead singer for the band; he also played guitar and wrote many of the band's songs. He is also known as a guest vocalist for the Italian group

Planet Funk Planet Funk is an Italian electronic band. The group is composed of Marco Baroni, Domenico "GG" Calipari, Alex Neri, Dan Black and formerly Sergio Della Monica who died in February 2018. In addition a number of guest vocalists joined the group, i ...

. Black has since begun a solo career releasing Billboard single

Symphonies A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning com ...

and touring across the United States.

Discography

Studio albums

* ''

The Servant A servant is a person working within an employer's household. Servant or servants may refer to: Places * Servant, Puy-de-Dôme, France Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''The Servant'' (1963 film), a British drama * ''The Servant'' (1989 ...

'' (2004) * '' How to Destroy a Relationship'' (2006)

Extended Plays

* ''Mathematics'' (1999) * ''With the Invisible'' (2000)

Singles

* "The Apes and the Chimpanzees" * "In a Public Place" * "Milk Chocolate" (Promo) * "Orchestra" * "Liquefy" * "Cells" * "I Can Walk in Your Mind" (Promo) * "How To Destroy a Relationship" * "(I Should Be Your) Girlfriend" * "Hey Lou Reed"

References

External links

Allmusic biographyObviously The Servant
{{DEFAULTSORT:Servant, The Musical groups established in 1998 Musical groups disestablished in 2007 English indie rock groups Musical groups from London