Gomez are an English indie rockband from Southport, Merseyside, comprising Ian Ball (vocals, guitar), Paul "Blackie" Blackburn (bass), Tom Gray (vocals, guitars, keyboards), Ben Ottewell (vocals, guitars) and Olly Peacock (drums, synths, computers).[2] The band has three singers and four songwriters, employing traditional and electronic instruments. Their music covers the genres of blues, indie, alternative, rock, folk, psychedelic and experimental.
The band played its first gig together in 1996 in Leeds at the Hyde Park Social Club on Ash Grove. At the time, they did not have a formal name. The band left a sign out which read "Gomez in here", for a friend of theirs whose surname was Gomez, to indicate that it was the site of their first gig. People saw the sign and assumed that the band's name was Gomez, and it was later made official.[4]
The band started recording four-track demos in Peacock's father's garage in Southport during the summer of 1996. The demos were given to Stephen Fellows (later their manager) who distributed them to four record labels. The band, having played only one performance, decided against playing showcases in London and instead made the record companies travel to Red Tape rehearsal studios. After several weeks of playing to over 25 labels, the band signed to Hut Records (Virgin Records), in September 1997.
After signing to Hut Records in September 1997, they began recording their debut album. They entered Parr Street Studios with engineer Ken Nelson, recording new songs and improving the mixes of the demos. The band self-produced, and the album was certified platinum. A season of English Festivals (including two performances at Glastonbury) followed. The band won the Mercury Music Prize in September 1998.
The band's second album, Liquid Skin, was released in 1999, leading Gomez to success on the British and Australian albums charts.[2] The band also made the Billboard Heatseeker chart for the first time. After winning the Mercury Prize, the band went back to Parr Street Studios, recording as much material as they could between tours. Ken Nelson engineered once again and the band self-produced. The album went platinum and touring followed, including a performance at Glastonbury Festival on the second stage.[6]
The group's third album, In Our Gun, was released in 2002. It made the top 10 on the UK charts and the top 50 on the Australian charts. The single "Shot Shot" charted in the UK top 40, the Portugal top 20, and the Billboard Heatseeker chart. The band produced and recorded the record in Batsford Manor, Gloucestershire, with additional recordings in Studio 2 at Abbey Road Studios. Giving the album a perfect score in his review for PopMatters, Matt Cibula wrote "everyone who doesn’t like this record is insane in a bad way. Screw Wilco; In Our Gun is sounding very much like the Album of the Year."[7]
While Gomez's first three albums were self-produced, the band worked with Tchad Blake as producer for their fourth record. The band were fans of his compressed sounds as heard on Los Lobos and Latin Playboys recordings. The album was met with mixed critical response, with Allmusic rating it as four stars out of five and BBC Internet Music Reviews describing it as "one of the finest releases of the year so far. If you were one of those people who wrote them off two years ago, it's time to get listening again."[8] However, the album received less favourable reviews from a number of other sources, including Pitchfork Media and NME.
The band built a studio in Portslade, just outside Brighton, England (where most of them were residing). They worked independently for months recording, until they developed a record with Tchad Blake at Real World Studios. In 2007, Gomez recorded a cover of The Band's hit "Up On Cripple Creek" for the tribute album Endless Highway: The Music of The Band. Their song "How We Operate" was played in the final scene of the film The Hitcher. Gomez continued to tour, including a co-headlining 2007 US tour with label-mate Ben Kweller. The band toured Australia and New Zealand before going back to the United States for a second headlining leg of their US tour. On 2 March 2007, Gomez recorded a concert at the Vic Theater in Chicago, Illinois, that was streamed via MSN Music.[9] Ian Ball released a solo project, an album entitled Who Goes There.[10][11] In 2008, Gomez opened several shows for Dave Matthews Band. Their album reached the top 40 in the UK and Australia. The first single "Catch Me Up" entered the UK top 40 in March 2004 and "Silence" was released as the second single.
Virgin/EMI then closed down Hut Recordings; the band asked to be released from their contract and Virgin agreed.
Gomez's fifth studio record, How We Operate, was produced by Gil Norton and released on 2 May 2006. The record was developed in the band's studio and later recorded in 6 weeks at RAK Studios, London. The album's title track was featured in the Grey's Anatomy episode "Deterioration of the Fight or Flight Response", and later covered by Kevin McKidd in the season seven episode "Song Beneath the Song". On 14 February 2006, their song "Get Miles" was featured in the House episode "Distractions", and on 6 March 2007, their song "See the World" was featured in the House episode "Half-Wit". "See the World" was also featured in the Bones episode "Widow's Son in the Windshield".
In 2005, Gomez signed a deal with Dave Matthews' ATO Records. Under the new label, the band released their first live album, Out West, in June 2005. The double disc CD was compiled from shows recorded at San Francisco's Fillmore Theater in January 2005. In January 2006, the band performed on Jam Cruise before returning to the studio to put the final touches on How We Operate. After playing the SxSW music festival in Austin, they debuted material from the upcoming release in several US cities. The band's 2006 spring tour included stops in Asheville, Chicago, Minneapolis, Kansas City, Denver, San Francisco, and Portland. They also performed at several large outdoor festivals, including the Beale Street and Bonnaroo Festivals in Tennessee, the Jazzfest in New Orleans and Sasquatch Festival in George, WA.
A collection titled Five Men in a Hut was released on 17 October 2006. The two-disc album consists of released and unreleased tracks recorded under the Hut/Virgin label from 1998–2004. A DVD with music videos and interviews from their time with Hut was also released. They were also one of the bands featured on a John Lennon tribute aired on BBC Radio 2 to mark the 25th anniversary of the musician's death. Gomez performed "Hey Bulldog" by The Beatles, and "Instant Karma!" by Lennon. "How We Operate" is also the ending song to the 2007 remake of the horror film The Hitcher, and acts as the title music for the pilot episode of The Riches.
A wide range of styles were incorporated into Gomez's sound for their next record A New Tide, including blues, Krautrock and psychedelia. The record saw Gomez accompanied by a number of guest musicians, including vocalist Amy Millan, bassist Josh Abrams, cellist Oliver Krauss, and multi-instrumentalist Stuart Bogie.
A New Tide was be released on 31 March in the US, in the UK and Europe on 30 March, and in Australia on 28 March 2009.[12] Gomez recorded A New Tide in Chicago, and played festivals including Lollapalooza that year. The album marked a return to their more experimental roots, in particular with songs such as "Win Park Slope" and "Airstream Driver". With this album, the band wanted to create a collection of songs that would work well at live gigs.[4] With the band members scattered across two continents, early tracks were written and recorded individually and then merged online. The material took on its ultimate shape when Gomez convened in studios in Chicago and Charlottesville with producer Brian Deck.
In early 2004, Ian Ball and Olly Peacock were involved in a project called Operation Aloha with 14 other musicians including members from Phantom Planet and Maroon 5. They produced an album over the course of 30 days in Maui, Hawaii. A self-titled album was released on 12 May 2009.[13]
In April 2009, the band's song "Little Pieces" was used in the 19th episode of Grey's Anatomy season 5. It played at the start of the episode in a montage scene. In June 2009, Gomez opened for Pearl Jam on the European leg of the Backspacer Tour.[14]
Gomez released their seventh studio album, Whatever's on Your Mind, on 21 June 2011. As with their last album, production on Whatever's on Your Mind was overseen by the band as well as Brian Deck.
Current activities (2020-present)
Since 2020, Tom Gray has been lobbying the British government to regulate music streaming with the Broken Record campaign group.[15][16][17][18]
Members
Ian Ball, Beautiful Days Festival, Devon, August 2006Ben Ottewell, Beautiful Days Festival, Devon, August 2006
Abandoned Shopping Trolley Hotline and Five Men in a Hut: Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010. Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing.
