Mohair (band)

Mohair were an English rock band, formed in 1998 in Watford, Hertfordshire. The band was composed of singer/guitarist Tom Billington, drummer Pete Baker, bassist Tim Slade and keyboardist Alex Richards.^[1] The members of the band had played in various bands since their early teens, including in a Commitments cover band.^[1]

They split after a final show at The Horn Reborn in St Albans on 28 September 2007.

Early years

The band started gigging locally in 1998 as Trooper. By 2001, they had attracted the attention of a small indie label, M1 records and changed their name to Mohair (due to a Canadian band already having the name Trooper).

After signing with M1 Records in October 2001, Mohair spent much of the next 3 years touring throughout the UK. In March 2002 the band made their USA debut with performances at The Cat Club and The Roxy in Los Angeles – and by summer 2004 the band had played over 300 gigs and appeared at many major UK festivals.^[1] However, their first 2 'official' single releases (discounting their promo CD "Octopus Chunks") arrived to little fanfare, resulting in the group parting ways with M1 Records in June 2004.

Small Talk

Mohair went on to form their own Ear Candy imprint in 2005, and released singles "End of the Line" and "Stranded (in the Middle of Nowhere)" that year.^[1] In spring 2006, Mohair performed several shows at the annual South By Southwest Convention in Austin, Texas,^[1] followed by shows in Chicago and New York.

Their debut album, Small Talk (produced by Mark Wallis and Dave Ruffy) was released in the UK on 24 April 2006 on the Ear Candy label,^[2] promoted by an appearance on The Album Chart Show on Channel 4 in the UK. The album was received favourably by Allmusic, with Jason MacNeil giving it four stars and calling it "an album that should have a lot of people talking", while Michael Deacon of the Daily Telegraph called the songs "simple and predictable" with "almost teeth-grinding tunefulness".^[2][3] The US version of the album was released on Grunion Records on 19 September 2006 (supported by a 9-week tour of the East coast of America). Upon returning to the UK, Mohair toured as the support act for Boy Kill Boy on their December 2006 UK tour.

In 2007 they supported Razorlight on their February - April 2007 US and UK tours.^[4] They also co-headlined with The Holloways in Germany in May of that year.

On 31 August 2007, Mohair announced that after nine years they were to split up. They played a handful of dates throughout the UK as part of a 'farewell' tour, finishing with a show at The Horn Reborn, St Albans on 28 September 2007.

Now

In 2010, Tom Billington recorded his first solo album, Make No Bones, released on 24 May 2010. The follow up As Luck Would Have It was released on 13 February 2012.

Pete Baker went on to play with Emmy The Great and fellow Watford band The Staves. Baker now plays drums for several acts including Younghusband.^[5]

Alex Richards toured with The Bluetones from 2008–2010, also playing on their final studio album A New Athens. Along with members of Pimlico, he went on to form The Red Inspectors, whose debut album Are We The Red Inspectors? Are We? was released on Acid Jazz Records on 16 January 2012. Richards currently plays for The Overtures and The Midnights (UK)

Tim Slade now lives in Brighton and works as a freelance bass player - most notably for Fields Of The Nephilim and Gary Numan.

Discography

References

External links

• Mohair at MySpace