Badly Drawn Boy
This poorly sourced must be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentially libelous. )Find sources: "Badly Drawn Boy" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (June 2019) |
Badly Drawn Boy | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Birth name | Damon Michael Gough |
Born | Dunstable, Bedfordshire, England | 2 October 1969
Origin | Bolton, Greater Manchester, England |
Genres | Indie rock, indie folk, lo-fi |
Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter |
Instrument(s) | Guitar, vocals, bass, drums, percussion, banjo, piano, keyboards, harmonica |
Years active | 1995–present |
Labels | Twisted Nerve Records XL Recordings (1998–2004) EMI (2006–2008) BDB Records/One Last Fruit (2009–present) |
Website | badlydrawnboy.co.uk |
Damon Michael Gough (born 2 October 1969), known by the stage name Badly Drawn Boy, is an English indie singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist.
Gough chose his stage name from a character in the show Sam and the Magic Ball, which he saw on TV at a party in Trafford, Greater Manchester, in 1995. Before he thought of using this name he made some business cards, each one unique, with a printed picture of a drawing by his nephew and a small collage by Gough.
A chance meeting with Andy Votel at the Generation X bar in Manchester, where Gough's friends Scott Abraham and Damon Hayhurst were contributing to an exhibition by the Space Monkey Clothing Company and Votel was DJing, led to the foundation of Twisted Nerve Records.
In 2002,
History
Early years
Gough, though born in
In April 1998, Gough released his second EP, "EP2". This had one track less than its predecessor but twice as many copies were pressed. The highlight track, "I Love You All", was later transferred to a
Gough's third EP, "EP3", was released in November 1998 on both CD and vinyl formats, and was the first release in what became a long-term partnership with XL Recordings. In the same year he collaborated with Unkle for their first album Psyence Fiction.[2] "Road Movie" was released as a live recording with the band Doves. The B-side to the single was another track from the EP, My Friend Cubilas. Music videos were recorded for both tracks.
Mainstream success: 1999–2002
It Came from the Ground was the next EP, released in March 1999 on CD and vinyl. The style of this recording focused on woodland environments, an aspect displayed in both the cover art and the title track's video. Also released during this period was the single "Whirlpool". An instrumental was released on vinyl in April 1999.
Gough's last EP, Once Around the Block, was released in August 1999 in two vinyl formats and one CD edition. The release is almost short enough to be considered a single.
Following the success of his early EPs, Gough's first album, The Hour of Bewilderbeast, was released in June 2000, accompanied by four singles (including a re-release of Once Around the Block).
The album was critically acclaimed and Badly Drawn Boy was successful in winning the 2000
The Badly Drawn Boy band throughout this successful period consisted of Matt Wardle (keyboards/vocals), Robin File (guitar), Sean McCann (bass guitar) latterly replaced by the ex-Smiths bass guitarist Andy Rourke, Dave Verner (drums).
After a short break, Gough returned to score the film adaptation of Nick Hornby's novel About a Boy. The movie was directed by Paul Weitz and Chris Weitz. Impressed by his past work, the Weitz brothers asked Gough to score the film, a task which he undertook alone, with the assistance of producer Steve McLaughlin. Three singles from the album were released during 2002.
His third album,
Later years
After his long spell in America, Gough suffered from homesickness and decided to record his next album closer to home. Recorded at Moolah Rouge studios in Stockport, Greater Manchester, One Plus One Is One was a portrait of his personal life. Documenting a death of a close friend and the loss of a grandfather in the Battle of Normandy, the album was released in 2004. It was not a great commercial success, and Gough decided to leave his contract with XL Recordings after only one single was released. He then signed to EMI.
Two years went by before Born in the U.K., which aimed to explain Gough's experience of growing up in the United Kingdom. The album was promoted with a small UK tour, profits from which were donated to Oxfam, a charity which "offers the chance for thousands of people to use music to achieve something together, which is an idea that gets me excited", said Gough.[3] Gough also toured the US behind the album.
The album Is There Nothing We Could Do?, with music taken from and inspired by the film, The Fattest Man in Britain, was released on his own BDB Records label in 2009.
His seventh album, It's What I'm Thinking Pt.1 – Photographing Snowflakes, the first of a planned trilogy of albums all to be released under the title It's What I'm Thinking, was released in October 2010.[4] For some of the tracks on this album he used his current live band, which consisted of Manchester musical friends Mike TV of Beats for beginners on guitar, Stephen Fretwell on bass and Jay Sikora on drums [5]
In 2011, a portrait of Gough painted by British artist
In March 2012, he released another soundtrack, for Being Flynn, directed by Paul Weitz who had worked with Gough previously on the soundtrack album About a Boy.
In July 2015, to mark the fifteenth anniversary of the release of The Hour of the Bewilderbeast, Gough undertook a short UK tour.[7]
In 2020 he released his first studio album for 10 years, Banana Skin Shoes.[8]
Discography
- The Hour of Bewilderbeast (2000)
- About a Boy (2002)
- Have You Fed the Fish? (2002)[9]
- One Plus One Is One (2004)
- Born in the U.K. (2006)
- Is There Nothing We Could Do? (2009)
- It's What I'm Thinking Pt.1 – Photographing Snowflakes (2010)
- Being Flynn (2012)
- Banana Skin Shoes (2020)
Documentary and media appearances
There have been three documentaries made about Badly Drawn Boy: Open Map in 2007,[10] Ipso Facto in 2010,[11] and About A Badly Drawn Boy. The first two tour documentaries remain unreleased, while the last, about Gough and his debut album The Hour of Bewilderbeast, was released in 2018.[12]
In December 2015, Badly Drawn Boy appeared on a celebrity edition of Mastermind. His specialist subject was the singer Bruce Springsteen.
In October 2017, he had a cameo role in the final episode of
References
- ^ "Badly Born Boy". BBC. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
- ISBN 0-7535-0427-8.
- ^ "Oxfam.org.uk". Archived from the original on 7 September 2008. Retrieved 9 November 2009.
- ^ Gormely, Ian. "Badly Drawn Boy • Interviews •". Exclaim.ca. Retrieved 8 April 2012.
- ^ Badly Drawn Boy - It's What I'm Thinking (Part One - Photographing Snowflakes), 2010, retrieved 2 November 2023
- ^ "Musician Portraits – Joe Simpson's paintings of rock stars". Nme.com. 14 October 2011. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
- ^ "Badly Drawn Boy Bewilderbeast Tour ..." The Guardian. Retrieved 26 July 2015.
- ^ "Badly Drawn Boy Announces New Album, Banana Skin Shoes, After 10 Years -". 21 March 2020.
- ^ CD Reviews: Badly Drawn Boy, Eric Clapton, Smog and many more".[usurped] Chart Attack, November 5, 2002.
- ^ Moore, Andy (15 March 2010). "OPEN MAP – Trailer on Vimeo". Vimeo.com. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
- ^ Moore, Andy (13 October 2011). "Badly Drawn Boy : 'Ipso Facto' Documentary Trailer On Vimeo". Vimeo.com. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
- ^ "About A Badly Drawn Boy". HOME Manchester. 26 May 2018. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
- ^ "Cold Feet Episode #7.7 on IMDb". IMDb.com. Retrieved 21 October 2017.