Young Guns are an English

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

band from

High Wycombe High Wycombe, often referred to as Wycombe ( ), is a market town in Buckinghamshire, England. Lying in the valley of the River Wye surrounded by the Chiltern Hills, it is west-northwest of Charing Cross in London, south-southeast of Ayl ...

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

. The members, working with each other in various musical interests throughout the 2000s, formally formed the band in 2008, and rose to prominence after their debut EP, ''

Mirrors A mirror or looking glass is an object that reflects an image. Light that bounces off a mirror will show an image of whatever is in front of it, when focused through the lens of the eye or a camera. Mirrors reverse the direction of the ima ...

'', earned them spots opening live shows for

Bon Jovi Bon Jovi is an American Rock music, rock band formed in 1983 in Sayreville, New Jersey. It consists of singer Jon Bon Jovi, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, guitarist Phil X, and bassist Hugh McDonald (American musician), Hugh McD ...

and

Guns N' Roses Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1985. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band comprised vocalist Axl Rose, lead guitarist Slash, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff McKa ...

. Their debut album, ''

All Our Kings Are Dead ''All Our Kings Are Dead'' is the debut studio album by English alternative rock band Young Guns. It was released on 12 July 2010 and includes the singles "Winter Kiss", "Sons of Apathy", "Crystal Clear" and "Stitches", as well as " Weight of the ...

'', on 12 July 2010. Their second album, ''

Bones A bone is a rigid organ that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the various other organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells, store minerals, provide structure and support for the body, a ...

'', was released in February 2012. Their single "

" reached no. 1 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Active Rock Active rock is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations across the United States and Canada. Active rock stations play a balance of new hard rock songs with valued classic rock favorites, normally with an emphasis on the harder edge o ...

charts in the US in May 2013. Their third album, '' Ones and Zeros'', was released on 9 June 2015. The band's fourth album, '' Echoes'', was released on September 16, 2016.

History

'' Mirrors ''EP and'' All Our Kings Are Dead ''(2008–2010)

While members of the band had been together dating back to 2003, during these years, they were more identified as just a number of musicians who shared a similar passion for music in the same London underground music scene, and did not form as a serious band until 2008. The band's lineup, upon becoming a formal band, consisted of Gustav Wood as the lead vocalist, Fraser and John Taylor both as guitarists, Simon Mitchell as the bassist, and Ben Jolliffe on drums. The band began playing local live shows at bars and small events featuring music from a variety of different music genre. They eventually began to garner more attention by securing spots in support of

post-hardcore Post-hardcore is a punk rock music genre that maintains the aggression and intensity of hardcore punk but emphasizes a greater degree of creative expression. It was initially inspired by post-punk and noise rock. Like post-punk, the term has been ...

bands

Funeral for a Friend Funeral for a Friend are a Welsh post-hardcore band from Bridgend, formed in 2001 and currently consists of Matthew Davies-Kreye (lead vocals), Kris Coombs-Roberts (guitar, backing vocals), Gavin Burrough (guitar, backing vocals), Darran Smit ...

and We Are the Ocean. This exposure granted them the opportunity to work with

Dan Weller Dan Weller (born 3 April 1980) is a producer/mixer/writer and guitarist, known for his work in rock and metal. He was born in Liverpool and moved to Hertfordshire at age 6. At 15 he began playing guitar and formed a band with school friends. Th ...

and Justin Hill, from the influential

progressive metal Progressive metal (sometimes shortened to prog metal) is a broad :Fusion music genres, fusion music genre melding heavy metal music, heavy metal and progressive rock, combining the loud "aggression" and amplified electric guitar, guitar-driven s ...

band Sikth, as

producers Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

. The resulting work, the band's debut release, the EP ''

'', was released on 22 June 2009. A single to promote the release, "In the Night", was also released in the same month. Despite touring and working with people from the hardcore and progressive metal music scene, the release contained more of a straightforward, melodic

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

sound. The EP was not an immediate success, selling only 500 copies in its opening week, but the band continued to push forward with extensive touring. Mirroring the EP's sound, the band began touring with more mainstream rock bands, eventually leading to popular Welsh rock band

Lostprophets Lostprophets (stylised as lostprophets) were a Welsh rock band from Pontypridd, formed in 1997 by singer and lyricist Ian Watkins and guitarist Lee Gaze. The band was founded after their former band Fleshbind broke up. They later recruited Mike ...

approaching Young Guns to open for them. The touring, couple with positive coverage in the press, including a nomination from ''

Kerrang ''Kerrang!'' is a British weekly magazine devoted to rock, punk and heavy metal music, currently published by Wasted Talent (the same company that owns electronic music publication ''Mixmag''). It was first published on 6 June 1981 as a one-of ...

'' magazine for "Best Newcomer Award" for 2009, greatly raised the band's public profile, leading to an opening spot for

at their residency at

The O2 Arena The O2 Arena, commonly known as the O2 (stylised as The O2 arena), is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the centre of the O2 entertainment complex on the Greenwich Peninsula in southeast London. It opened in its present form in 2007. It has the s ...

, and

at that year's

Reading Festival 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 Festiv ...

. The band's unexpectedly quick rise to popularity left them in a rush to create more music to sustain their frequent touring. In January 2010, the band began work on their first full album. The band once again chose to work with Weller as a producer, and recorded their first full album while still continuing their extensive touring. Their first order was to record and release a single right away to capitalize on their recent high-profile live shows, which ended up being the track "Winter Kiss", released in the same month. The song was well-received, with

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

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 ...

praising it as "The Hottest Record in the World". Further singles "Sons of Apathy" and "Crystal Clear" were released in April and July respectively while the band worked on completing the album. The debut album, ''

'', was released under their own label called Live Forever on 10 July 2010 and peaked at No. 43 in the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

, and No. 3 in both the UK Rock and

Indie Indie is a short form of "independence" or "independent"; it may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Gaming *Independent video game development, video games created without financial backing from large companies *Indie game, any game (board ...

album charts. Additional singles "Stitches" and " Weight of the World" were also released in promotion of the album. While all the singles received moderate radio play, both "Crystal Clear" and "Weight of the World" managed to chart, peaking at ninth and twenty-seventh respectively on the UK Rock Singles chart. To promote the album's release, the band played at some of the UK's largest festivals, including

Download Festival Download Festival is a British-created rock festival created by Terrance Gough, held annually at the Donington Park motorsport circuit in Leicestershire, England (since 2003); in Paris, France (since 2016); at Parramatta Park, Sydney (since 201 ...

and opening the main stage of the

. This was preceded by a European tour supporting

Danko Jones Danko Jones is a Canadian hard rock trio from Toronto. The band consists of Danko Jones (vocals/guitar), John 'JC' Calabrese (bass), and Rich Knox (drums). In February 2011, the band supported

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with

Yellowcard Yellowcard is an American rock band that formed in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1997 and was based in Los Angeles beginning in 2000. The band is recognized for having a distinct sound in their genre, primarily due to the prominent use of a violin ...

on another European Tour which ended in the UK, visiting venues such as the

O2 Academy Brixton Brixton Academy (originally known as the Astoria Variety Cinema, previously known as Carling Academy Brixton, currently named O2 Academy Brixton as part of a sponsorship deal with the O2 brand) is a mid-sized concert venue located in South Wes ...

. On 10 July 2011, the album was re-released as ''All Our Kings Are Dead: Gold Edition'', including a bonus DVD containing three acoustic sessions, three live videos, a documentary and the music videos for all five singles.

'' Bones ''(2011–2013)

The band traveled to Karma Sound Studios in Thailand to start work on a second studio album in July 2011, again working with Weller as a producer. The first single from the sessions, "Learn My Lesson", was released four months later in October 2011, being debuted on Zane Lowe's Radio 1 show. The following month, the band announced the new album would be titled ''

'', and would be released on 6 February 2012 in Europe. After the initial European release, the band proceeded to tour across Europe for six months while working on securing a distribution deal for the album in the US - which they eventually did with

Wind-Up Records Wind-up Entertainment was an American independent record label founded by Alan and Diana Meltzer in 1997. It was based in New York City and was distributed by BMG Distribution. Wind-up's best-selling artists worldwide were Creed and Evanescence ...

. The first leg of the tour was labeled the ''Bare Bones Club Tour''; contrary to the band's large stadium shows with Bon Jovi, the initial shows were a number of intimate shows at small locations that the band had played in their earlier years. ''Bones'' was released in the US on 4 September 2012. Prior to the US release, the band had released a second single, "

", 20 February 2012. The song, the band's first single in the US, started off modestly in Europe, but upon release in the US, steadily grew until, after 32 weeks on the chart, topped the US ''

chart. The song also hit number 2 on the UK Rock charts. With the song being a massive hit, the band spent over two years touring in support of the album in total., including a North American tour with rock band Seether in late 2012, and additional touring with 10 Years, Bullet For My Valentine and

Halestorm Halestorm is an American rock band from Red Lion, Pennsylvania, consisting of lead vocalist and guitarist Lzzy Hale, her drummer brother Arejay Hale, guitarist Joe Hottinger, and bassist Josh Smith. The group's self-titled debut album was re ...

in 2013. Additional promotion came in the form of the song "Bones" being chosen as one of the main theme songs for

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...

's 29th annual

Wrestlemania WrestleMania is a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event held annually between mid-March and mid-April by WWE, the world's largest professional wrestling promotion. Since premiering in 1985, 37 editions followed, mos ...

event,

WrestleMania 29 WrestleMania 29 (billed in print ads as WrestleMania NY/NJ) was the 29th annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by WWE. It took place on April 7, 2013, at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. N ...

, on 7 April 2013. Further singles "Dearly Departed", "Towers (On My Way)", and "You Are Not (Lonely)" were also released, the latter two charting more modestly at 31 and 33 on the US Active Rock charts.

'' Ones and Zeros ''(2014–2015)

It was announced in February 2014 that the band had signed to the

Virgin EMI Virgin EMI Records was a British record label owned by the Universal Music Group that was formed in 2013. In June 2020, the label was rebranded as EMI Records, and operates Virgin Records as an imprint of the new EMI Records. History Virgin ...

record label and that they would be flying to San Francisco to work on the follow up to ''Bones'' with the producer

Dan the Automator Daniel M. Nakamura better known by his stage name Dan the Automator, is an American record producer from San Francisco, California. He is the founder of the publishing company Sharkman Music and the record label 75 Ark. Early life Nakamura was bo ...

. Unfortunately, while the band found the sessions interesting, they ultimately felt their sound was incompatible Dan the Automator's hip-hop background and approach to music, with the band instead choosing to work with

Steve Osborne Stephen John "Steve" Osborne (born 1963) is a British record producer, living in Bath, England. He has worked with a wide variety of musicians, including Suede, the B-52s, A-ha, New Order, Elbow, U2, Happy Mondays, Placebo, Gregory Porter, Do ...

. The band spent 6 months straight on writing and recording the album, without touring, a rarity for the band. In August 2014, the band announced their plan on releasing a new album in early 2015, and debuted the first single for their third album, "I Want Out", on BBC Radio 1 UK

's Hottest Record The single hit number one on the iTunes Rock Chart, and eventually peaked at number 16 on the ''Billboard'' Mainstream Rock chart. Later in the month, a music video for "I Want Out" was also released. Work on the album continued through the rest of the year, with the band taking occasional breaks to perform live shows, most notably supporting

Bring Me the Horizon Bring Me the Horizon (often abbreviated as BMTH) are a British Rock music, rock band formed in Sheffield in 2004. The group consists of lead vocalist Oliver Sykes, guitarist Lee Malia, bassist Matt Kean, drummer Matt Nicholls and keyboardis ...

for a sold out show at

Wembley Arena Wembley Arena (originally the Empire Pool, now known as OVO Arena Wembley for sponsorship reasons) is an indoor arena next to Wembley Stadium in Wembley, London, England, used for music, comedy, family entertainment and sport. The 12,500-sea ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

in December. In February 2015, the band announced that the album's name would be '' Ones and Zeros'', and that its release was pushed back to June 8, 2015. The band started the promotion for the album at the same time, releasing the second single "Speaking In Tongues". and embarking on that years

Kerrang! Tour ''Kerrang!'' is a British weekly magazine devoted to rock, punk and heavy metal music, currently published by Wasted Talent (the same company that owns electronic music publication ''Mixmag''). It was first published on 6 June 1981 as a one-o ...

. Following that, they began a tour of their own around the UK. In April 2015 they began touring with

Breaking Benjamin Breaking Benjamin is an American Rock music, rock band from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, formed in 1999 by lead singer and guitarist Benjamin Burnley and drummer Jeremy Hummel. The first lineup of the band also included guitarist Aaron Fink an ...

for the first leg of their US Tour with dates set through August. The band wrapped up their touring in support of the album in October 2015. Shortly after, the band amicably parted with their drummer, Ben Jolliffe, stating that Jolliffe and the band were heading in "different directions", later being revealed that he wanted to focus on his family life. The band recruited a new drummer, Chris Kamrada, and immediately began working on writing new material through the end of the year.

''Echoes'' and future releases (2016–present)

The band, presented with the opportunity to work with music producer

David Bendeth David Jonathan Bendeth (born 17 June 1954) is a multi-platinum award-winning record producer. Early life David Bendeth was born on 17 June 1954 in Stoke Newington, Hackney, London, England. He attended Parkhill School in Ilford, London and in ...

, decided to move quickly into recording another album, with sessions starting in February 2016 at the House of Loud studio. The sessions wrapped up in May 2016, and the band announced that the album was tentatively scheduled for release around August or September. To promote the release, the album's first single, "Bulletproof", was released in June 2016, while the second single, "Mad World", was released the next month. Additionally, the band toured as part of the 2016 iteration of the

Vans Warped Tour The Warped Tour was a traveling rock tour that toured the United States plus three or four stops in Canada annually each summer from 1995 until 2019. It was the largest traveling music festival in the United States and the longest-running touring ...

through August. Their fourth album, titled '' Echoes'', was released on September 16, 2016. In the months following the album's release, the band alternated touring between the United States and the UK. Wood states he would ideally like to start writing new material for a fifth studio album towards the end of 2016, but not necessarily have an album to release right away. The band spent 2017 split between touring and creating new music. The band toured the UK with Lower Than Atlantis in March, and did their own acoustic tour in the latter half of 2017. As of October 2017, Wood reported that the band had written 18 or 19 songs, planned on writing 5 or 6 more, and had 4 song far enough along that they played their demos over the speakers before and after their live performances. He reiterated that the band plans on releasing new music in 2018, but was unsure if it would be in the form of an album, an EP, or a series of singles. No release occurred in 2018, but as of April 2019, Wood and Taylor spoke of still actively writing new music for the band. As of 2020, the material still remained unreleased and without any specific plans for release, though the band planned to remain active, touring and playing ''All Our Kings Are Dead'' in its entirety for its tenth anniversary, until lockdown happened and the festivals they were due to play were cancelled. On July 7, 2022, Young Guns played their first show in almost 5 years at The Fighting Cocks, followed by a performance the next day at

Two Thousand Trees Festival 2000trees festival is an independent music festival held from Wednesday to Sunday on the second week of July at Upcote Farm, Withington, near Cheltenham in Gloucestershire. It offers a diverse selection of more than 120 acts across five stages, ...

Musical style and influences

The band has often been described as a general

band that arose with the rest of the wave of

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

rock bands, but have also been labeled as "melodic rock" and

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

. Wood reflected on the labels given to the band over time in 2013, stating:

When we started the band...We’d play with like tech metal bands or pop punk bands and be stuck on all of these different bills and we just never seemed to find a group of bands that we sonically worked with...So, people were always putting labels on us and we were kind of surprised by all of this, because as far as we’re concerned, we’re just a rock band. We’re just a five piece rock band. We write melodic rock songs, it’s not like we are re-inventing the wheel. People have always struggled to kind of pigeon hole us I think. That seems to still be continuing. We’ve had a degree of connection at Active Rock radio and that’s amazing, but I don’t consider us an Active Rock band. I just consider us a rock band. I’m happy to be at the forefront of the
New Wave of British Heavy Metal The new wave of British heavy metal (commonly abbreviated as NWOBHM) was a nationwide musical movement that started in England in the mid-1970s and achieved international attention by the early 1980s. Journalist Geoff Barton coined the term i ...
if that’s what people say, but I don’t consider us a
metal A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typicall ...
band. I don’t really even want us to be limited to being a British band. I just want us to be a band, but whatever anyone else wants to call us is fine by me.

Wood commented on the band's approach to music and sound again in 2016, stating:

I think we play a relatively American minded style of music but I think we’re British and that seems to do something to it that makes people think this is different...I think also that at the moment the world has so many labels,
pop punk Pop punk (or punk pop) is a rock music genre that combines elements of punk rock with power pop or pop. It is defined for its emphasis on classic pop songcraft, as well as adolescent and anti-suburbia themes, and is distinguished from other pu ...
,
hardcore Hardcore, hard core or hard-core may refer to: Arts and media Film * ''Hardcore'' (1977 film), a British comedy film * ''Hardcore'' (1979 film), an American crime drama film starring George C Scott * ''Hardcore'' (2001 film), a British documen ...
, metal. The fact that we’re just a rock band seems to help us stand apart. Especially at a festival like this with pop punk and
ska Ska (; ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a walki ...
bands there aren’t as many of us around...We’re almost different by just not aligning ourselves.

Band members

;Current * Gustav Wood –

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

(2008–present) * Fraser Taylor –

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 ...

(2008–present) * John Taylor –

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 ...

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are use ...

(2008–present) * Simon Mitchell –

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 ...

(2008–present) * Ben Jolliffe – drums, percussion, backing vocals (2008–2015, 2020–present) ;Former members * Chris Kamrada – drums, percussion (2015-2017)

Timeline

Discography

* ''

'' (2010) * ''

'' (2012) * '' Ones and Zeros'' (2015) * '' Echoes'' (2016)

References

External links

We Are Young Guns - Music Is The Soul Of Life
{{DEFAULTSORT:Young Guns (Band) British post-hardcore musical groups English alternative rock groups English hard rock musical groups Musical groups established in 2009 Kerrang! Awards winners