Guillemots (band)

Guillemots (stylized as gUiLLeMoTs) were a British indie rock band formed in November 2004. The band consisted of three members: Fyfe Dangerfield, Aristazabal Hawkes, and Greig Stewart. MC Lord Magrão, a former member, left the band in June 2013.

The band is based in London, with its members coming from England, Scotland, Brazil and Canada. Their first album, '' Through the Windowpane'', was nominated for a Mercury Music Prize in 2006. The band experienced some chart success, with their single " Get Over It" reaching number 20 in the UK Singles Chart in March 2008. Their second album, ''Red'', reached number 9 in the UK Albums Chart in the same month. After touring throughout 2008 and Dangerfield releasing a solo record, the band released their third record, '' Walk the River,'' on 18 April 2011. The band's fourth album, '' Hello Land!,'' was released 7 May 2012.

History

Formation and early years (2004–2006)

Fyfe Dangerfield began writing songs in his native Birmingham and then in Bromsgrove. His early band, Senseless Prayer, recorded a session for John Peel's Radio 1 show in 1999. Dangerfield then began songwriting under the name "Fyfe Dangerfield and the Accident", and in 2004 he was featured alongside Misty's Big Adventure, Mike in Mono, Dreams of Tall Buildings, and X Is Greater Than Y on a promotional CD that was offered free with ''The Birmingham Post'', called ''Broader Than Broad Street''. He then joined old school friend, Paul "Booby" Tooby, on his "Ragamuffin Blues but Holes in my Shoes" tour.

Dangerfield had moved to Bromsgrove, attending Bromsgrove School in 1988; he moved to London in 2002, where he recruited the current line-up. He also became a music teacher for Cranbrook College.

The name of the band is the plural of the name of a group of seabirds (but most often meaning the common guillemot, ''Uria aalge'') and should be pronounced 'gillimott' (without a French accent). The four-piece have often been joined by two saxophone and woodwind players, Alex Ward and Chris Cundy, who are known as the "Bridled Guillemots" (a real-life variation of the band's namesake). Guillemots often uses quirky musical instruments, such as the sound of a typewriter in the song "Who Left The Lights Off, Baby?", and MC Lord Magrao has used industrial power tools to create new sounds on their records.

Dangerfield, Ward and Cundy are also founding members of the jazz ensemble Gannets.

Birds are the source of inspiration for the band not just in name. For example, their 2006 EP '' From the Cliffs'' continues the Guillemot theme, the bird's natural habitat being steep sea cliffs. In their MySpace entry their influences are given as 'BIRDSONG first and foremost', although the only artist that all the band members have publicly stated as being an influence is Björk. Their first album features recordings of red-throated diver (''Gavia stellata'') and European robin (''Erithacus rubecula''), as well as the line 'flitting like a flycatcher', a reference to the mercurial movements of these birds, and the song "Redwings", after the thrush species of the same name. In June 2007, the band appeared on the BBC Four documentary, ''Why Birds Sing'', contributing their musical talents to a Birdsong-inspired collaboration called "The Twitch".

The band was initially signed to Fantastic Plastic, who released their debut album in 2006, but after offers from several majors, they eventually moved to Polydor.

The band released their debut EP, ''I Saw Such Things in My Sleep'', in September 2005; all 1000 copies sold out on the day of release. The band ended 2005 opening for Rufus Wainwright's sold-out UK tour and began 2006 by being awarded fifth place in the BBC
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