Antihero were a British indie rock band formed in 1999 in Stratford Upon Avon by drummer & sampler Jack Hamson, Marcus Ratliff, lead guitar and vocals, Pete Hurley, vocals and bass player, and vocalist Davo McConville. They cited The Dandy Warhols, Nirvana and the Smashing Pumpkins as their inspiration and won Stratford Battle of the Bands in 2000. The group split in the mid 00's and released throughout their career, according to the discogs website, one album in 2005 and several singles before that. However, according to the Drowned In Sounds website, published on November 2001, they released an album in 2000. [1]
Links to Peel[]
Peel seemed to have discovered the band, when they were touring with Miss Black America in Suffolk during July 2001. In the Worcester News, published on January 2002, drummer Jack Hamson, described how Peel discovered the group:
"We did a gig with Miss Black America in Suffolk last July and John Peel was there. We wanted to give him our CD demo of our song MTV but he insisted on buying it, then he played it a week later on the radio." [2]
After the group's song, Who's Looking out for Number 1, went in the 2001 Festive Fifty, Peel's producer rang the band to invite them to do a session for his show, which they did in May 2002. A year later, they also did another session, that was recorded in February 2003.
On his 23 October 2002 show, Peel mentioned that he had an email from a member of Antihero who stated that they've had £2000 of equipment stolen while staying overnight in Nottingham.
Several of the band's singles were nominated by Peel as his record of the month including Rolling Stones T-Shirt (May 2002 (Peel's Record Box)), Stravinsky Gave Me Nightmares (January 2003 (Peel's Record Box)) and the Don't Trust The DJ EP (July 2004 (Peel's Record Box))
Festive Fifty Entries[]
- 2001 Festive Fifty: Who's Looking Out For Number One #38
- 2002 Festive Fifty: You Got Nothing #37
- 2002 Festive Fifty: Rolling Stones T-Shirt #05
Sessions[]
1. Recorded: 2002-05-24. Broadcast: 28 May 2002. Repeated: 12 September 2002
- Who's Looking Out For Number One / You Got Nothing / Try Again / MTV
2. Recorded: 2003-02-05. Broadcast: 18 February 2003
- Don't Trust The DJ / Love Will Tear Us Apart / Why Do You Look So Scared / UK Garage Girl
Other Shows Played[]
- 2001
- 11 July 2001: MTV (demo CD)
- 06 November 2001: Who’s Looking Out For Number One? (shared single with Miss Black America) Dental
- 14 November 2001 (BBC World Service): Who's Looking Out For Number One? (7" split with Miss Black America - Split) Dental
- 22 November 2001: Who’s Looking Out For Number One? (split single with Miss Black America) Dental Sounds
- 25 December 2001: 'Who's Looking Out For Number 1? (split 7 inch with Miss Black America)' (Dental Sounds) FF #38
- 2002
- 31 January 2002: MTV (CDR) White Label
- 14 May 2002: Rolling Stones T-Shirt (single) Integrity
- 31 May 2002 (BBC World Service): Rolling Stones T-Shirt (single) Integrity
- 19 December 2002: Stravinsky Gave Me Nightmares (single) Integrity
- 26 December 2002: 'Stravinsky Gave Me Nightmares (CD Single)' (White Label)
- 26 December 2002: You Got Nothing (session) FF #37
- 26 December 2002: Rolling Stones T-Shirt (single) Integrity FF #05
- 2003
- 02 January 2003: Stravinsky Gave Me Nightmares (CD Single) Integrity
- 09 January 2003 (Radio Eins): Stravinsky Gave Me Nightmares (single) Integrity
- 10 January 2003 (BBC World Service): Stravinsky Gave Me Nightmares (single) Integrity
- 06 February 2003: Stravinsky Gave Me Nightmares (CD Single) Integrity
- 2004
- 18 February 2004: 'Who's Looking Out For Number One? (LP, Comp. - Fear Of A Black Kennett)' (Repeat)
- 08 July 2004: Don't Trust The DJ (CD Single Don't Trust The DJ) Alpha Engineering
- 17 July 2004 (BBC World Service): Don't Trust The DJ (CD Single Don't Trust The DJ) Alpha Engineering
- 22 July 2004: Don’t Trust The DJ (EP – Don’t Trust The DJ) Alpha Engineering