Band Information

 

Polythene (1997) and Yesterday Went Too Soon (1999)

The band's debut album, Polythene, was released in May 1997. Polythene was praised by Metal Hammer magazine as their album of 1997. The album focused on the use of riffs and transferring their live sound to a recording studio, and also were often compared to The Smashing Pumpkins, The Pixies and Talk Talk. Lyrically the album touched on themes of escapism, relationships, depression, other dark emotions and also included upbeat tracks like Polythene Girl and My Perfect Day. The album included the band's first UK top 40 single, High which Grant once said was about friendship. Polythene's release was followed by Feeder's first appearance of many on the Reading festival main stage, and then a year later their first tour in the United States where they supported Everclear with the same band then supporting them in the UK. It was during the second tour of the US that High became a top 40 entry on the mainstream and modern rock charts.

The band's second album, Yesterday Went Too Soon, was released on August 30, 1999. The album contained lyrics based on people Grant met before forming the band (Radioman), life experiences and also writing as if he's looking from a different persons perspective (Day In Day Out).The album spawned four top 50 singles (Day In Day Out, Insomnia, the title track and Paperfaces).The two albums both appeared in Kerrang!'s top 100 British rock albums all-time list.

Echo Park (2001)

Following the release of Yesterday Went Too Soon, 2001 saw Feeder with renewed purpose and the release of their third album Echo Park. The album included the song Buck Rogers in which Grant wrote the track for another band, but was convinced by producer Gil Norton not to give the song away.It became Feeder's breakthrough single reaching #5 on the UK singles chart on January 14, 2001.The single was in heavy rotation on BBC Radio 1, and appears in many all-time lists generated by XFM and Kerrang!, with a 2004 peak of #25 in the annual XFM list. The album at the time seen the band take on much more of a commercial pop-influenced sound, and was voted the 25th best British rock album of all-time by Kerrang! readers.

For the first time, the band began performing sold-out tours in the UK. The album was a commercial breakthrough for the band and spawned two more top 40 single releases (Seven Days In The Sun and Turn), before Just a Day a b-side from Seven Days In The Sun reached #12 and achieved a one month residency in the top 20. In early 2002 drummer Jon Lee took his own life in his Miami home.

"Comfort In Sound (2002-2003)

Comfort In Sound was the band’s fourth studio album and was released on 21 October, 2002 to major critical acclaim. It was written around Grant's feelings regarding Jon Lee's death, with the lyrical themes focusing on depression, grievance, loss, hope, positivity and also directly a tribute to Jon on the track Quickfade. Former Little Angels and Skunk Anansie drummer Mark Richardson was drafted in for drum duties.The recording sessions were at RAK studios, London; after Grant wrote the songs on his own in his home recording studio before presenting them to the rest of the band. It went on to appear in the Kerrang! British rock albums all-time list.

The album clinched the band their first platinum sales award, and in turn helped Echo Park to the same level. It also gave them their second top 10 single with Just the Way I'm Feeling in January, 2003. Their twenty date national UK spring tour was a sell-out with 60,000 tickets sold and then played their first and only arena tour to date after playing third on the bill at the Glastonbury Festival their main stage debut. The following year the band released a b-sides compilation titled Picture of Perfect Youth, and was re-released March 19, 2007.

Pushing The Senses - The Singles

The band spent most of 2004 recording their fifth album. It's first single Tumble and Fall matched the #5 position of Buck Rogers.The album was released on the 31 February, 2005 to a series of mixed reviews. Paul Brannigan of Q Magazine gave the album praise asserting An album that could finally establish Feeder as major league players, while Dotmusic reviewer Chris Heath dismissed the album saying Pushing The Senses is by no means soppy, but Feeder's young fanbase might need some convincing. The album went on to spawn three more top 40 singles with the first two of those being, Feeling a Moment and the title track, which in turn became their lowest placed UK single in six years when it charted at #30. However they soon returned to the top 20 when Shatter a b-side from Tumble and Fall reached #11 after a fans petition to get the single released, and was included on the soundtrack of the European release of the film Night Watch. The single was coupled with the album track Tender with the album becoming their highest charting release at #2 and was Q Magazine's 39th best album that year.

The album was explained by Grant as their recovery album, and more of an extension to Comfort In Sound as it kept to the same lyrical themes and musical styles. The album also seen Grant experiment with the use of playing a piano, and also played one on the bands first tour to promote the album. The album also employed the use of more upbeat tracks in the mix, with Grant explaining that the sound was more organic than it's presucsessor. It was recorded at Abbey Road studios with Gil Norton once again on production duties, while Ken Nelson produced Pilgrim Soul and Frequency.

2005 also seen the first time the band headlined a festival being at Download, but ended the year with a winter tour being postponed after Grant picked up bleeds on his vocal chords. This happened when a gig in Brighton was abandoned halfway through, and the band left the stage early as a result with the rescheduled dates of the tour brought forward to March the following year.

After completing their delayed winter tour, the band released their compilation album The Singles on May 15, 2006. The album contained 16 of the bands UK top 40 singles, with the arena tour single Comfort In Sound and three new tracks produced by Stephen Street (Burn The Bridges, Lost and Found and Save Us). Lost and Found and Save Us both entered the UK top 40 and were the two singles released to promote the album. It also included a DVD of many promo videos filmed up to that point. The album sleeve notes on the DVD were written by Ben Johncock, a freelance writer and author.

The band spent most of the year touring Europe and playing various festivals including a return to Reading/Leeds after a four year absence. During the year The Singles achieved platinum sales status and reached #2 in the UK album charts after entering at #3 the week before.

On November 6, 2006, they played the first of two gigs at the Roundhouse venue in North London, and another at The Coronet in South London in aid of War Child, Two of the three gigs featured guest appearances by The Sugababes and Jamelia. This was the bands latest activity to date. The band have been recently confirmed to play the Fflam festival in Swansea, Wales as special guests to Placebo.

As of late 2006, Feeder have been demoing tracks for a new album with ten already written. They discussed the album in an interview on XFM, saying it will sound a lot "rockier" and will echo the sound of their older material.

 

Awards:

Year	Award	Category
2001	Kerrang! Awards	Best British Live Act
2003	Kerrang! Awards	Best British Band
2003	IMA	Best Music Video Online (Just The Way Im Felling)
2005	Pop Factory Awards	Best Album (Pushing The Senses)