Dead Disco

Dead Disco
Dead Disco performing at the Carling Leeds Festival 2006
Background information
Origin Leeds, Yorkshire, England
Genres Electronic rock, electropunk, new rave
Years active 2005–2008
Labels High Voltage, Play Louder, Fierce Panda, 679
Associated acts Little Boots
Website www.myspace.com/deaddiscohq
Past members Lucy Catherwood
Marie France
Victoria Hesketh
Anna Prior[1]

Dead Disco were an English electronic music band from Leeds, Yorkshire, formed in 2005. The band consisted of Victoria Hesketh (vocals, synthesizer), Lucy Catherwood (guitar) and Marie France (bass).[2]

Formation

The trio met in August 2005 at the University of Leeds.[3] Hesketh answered an online advertisement posted by Lucy Catherwood and Marie France looking for a lead singer to start a band.[4] They were influenced by such artists as The Bangles, Blondie, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Ladytron, The Killers, Billy Idol, Gang of Four, The Slits and The Rapture.[5] The band got their name through randomly picking words from a hat.[6]

With only a few songs written, Dead Disco began playing gigs around the north of England; their live gig in the headline slot at the "In the City" event in Manchester gained them enough recognition to get a recording stint with James Ford. Working with Ford in his London attic studio, the band issued a limited release of their debut single "The Treatment" in April 2006 on the record label High Voltage.[4] Their second release "City Place" was a digital-only release through Playlouder Records. With the success of several sell out gigs and an appearance at the Leeds Festival, the band moved to Los Angeles to begin recording their debut album with Greg Kurstin. However, it was around this time that Hesketh herself began to write songs not in keeping with the band's "indie" style. Choosing a new musical direction, Hesketh left Dead Disco; they officially revealed their disbandment on their Myspace blog in December 2008. In an interview with The Times, Hesketh spoke about her gradual shift away from the band: "All the time I'd been hiding my own songs and finally I had to make the sort of music I actually wanted to listen to. [...] Before I used to always think, 'What would a jazz performer do?' or 'What would the band do?'—Now it's so easy because it's 'What would I do?' It's just me."[7] In a later interview Hesketh noted that the bands' label was pressuring the group to have a certain style and that her bandmates lost confidence in her because she wanted to write "cheesy" songs.[8]

Releases

Dead Disco released four singles:[9][10][11][12]

  1. "The Treatment" (2005, High Voltage)
  2. "City Place" (2006, Playlouder)
  3. "Automatic" (2006, Fierce Panda)
  4. "You're Out" (2007, 679)

For both "The Treatment" and "Automatic", Dead Disco teamed up with producer James Ford. "Automatic" was the final single to be released by label Fierce Panda.[2] "You're Out" was produced by Greg Kurstin of The Bird and the Bee, who has also worked with Kylie Minogue, Gwen Stefani, Peaches and Sophie Ellis-Bextor.

"City Place" was also included on the 2006 Dance to the Radio compilation What We All Want.

Split

A Myspace post in December 2008 confirmed that the group had come to an end, and that the members were working on new projects: Hesketh as Little Boots; and Catherwood and France as Video Villain.[3] Catherwood and France also founded clothing brand Art Disco which started originally whilst on tour with Dead Disco due to the high demand they had for their self designed merchandise.[13]

References

  1. ↑ Louise FoodySimpson, Dave (25 September 2007). "Dead Disco, The Faversham, Leeds". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 September 2010.
  2. 1 2 Hopkin, Kenyon. "Dead Disco | Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 26 December 2008.
  3. 1 2 Jamieson, Teddy (24 May 2009). "Sweet sole music FOR MONTHS SHE'S BEEN TOUTED AS THE NEXT BIG THING IN BRITISH MUSIC . . . NOW IT'S TIME FOR LITTLE BOOTS TO DELIVER". Sunday Herald. Newsquest.
  4. 1 2 "Dead Disco – About Us". MySpace. Missing or empty |url= (help); |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  5. ↑ "Dead Disco Biography". NME. IPC Media. Retrieved 26 December 2008.
  6. ↑ Shahid, Mark (28 March 2006). "Dead Disco". Retrieved 2 August 2011.
  7. ↑ Heawood, Sophie (10 January 2009). "Little Boots is the big sound for 2009". The Times. Retrieved 17 June 2009.
  8. ↑ Diu, NishaLilia (10 August 2009). "Little Boots interview for her album Hands". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2 August 2011.
  9. ↑ "". The Sun. News Group Newspapers. 6 July 2007.
  10. ↑ "Upfront Reviews – 09.07.07: Singles". Music Week. United Business Media. 30 June 2007.
  11. ↑ Dingwall, John (15 June 2007). "SINGLES". Daily Record. Trinity Mirror.
  12. ↑ Felton, Christopher (23 May 2007). "CD Reviews". Evening Chronicle. Trinity Mirror.
  13. ↑ Rich, Amy (9 February 2012). "Spotlight On: Art Disco". DIY Magazine.


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