Syd Arthur were an English

psychedelic rock Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...

band, formed in

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

in 2003 by brothers frontman Liam and bassist Joel Magill, drummer Fred Rother and violinist Raven Bush. Rother was replaced by the Magills' younger brother Josh in 2016.

History

Formed in 2003, the band were initially known as Grumpy Jumper and then Moshka before settling on the name Syd Arthur. The band's name is taken from the 1922

Hermann Hesse Hermann Karl Hesse (; 2 July 1877 – 9 August 1962) was a Germans, German-Swiss people, Swiss poet and novelist, and the 1946 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His interest in Eastern philosophy, Eastern religious, spiritual, and philosophic ...

novel '' Siddhartha'', with the spelling changed reportedly as a nod to the influences of

Syd Barrett Roger Keith "Syd" Barrett (6 January 1946 – 7 July 2006) was an English singer, guitarist and songwriter who co-founded the rock band Pink Floyd in 1965. Until his departure in 1968, he was Pink Floyd's frontman and primary songwriter, ...

and Arthur Lee. The Magill brothers had played together since childhood, added drummer Fred Rother in high school and classmate Raven Bush became the final member at 17. Bush is the son of John Carder Bush, brother of

Kate Bush Catherine Bush (born 30 July 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, and dancer. Bush began writing songs at age 11. She was signed to EMI Records after David Gilmour of Pink Floyd helped produce a demo tape. In 1978, at the ...

. The band released their self-titled debut album in 2006 on Madman Records and the ''Kingdoms Of Experience'' EP in 2008. The band then set up their own recording space, Wicker Studios, and their own label, Dawn Chorus Recording Company. In 2011 they self-released the ''Moving World'' EP and "Ode to the Summer" single, before releasing their second album, ''On an On'', in July 2012. The band's bassist, Joel Magill, stated that the band released the album themselves "because it’s the only way we know. It may have been harder and longer for us but it has given us more satisfaction, I think. But if a major label waved a lot of money at us and said you could work with anyone you wanted we would have to think about that". The band undertook their first nationwide tour to promote the album in February 2013. The band supported

Paul Weller John William Weller (born 25 May 1958), better known as Paul Weller, is an English singer-songwriter and musician. Weller achieved fame in the late 1970s as the guitarist and principal singer and songwriter of the rock band the Jam, alongside ...

on tour in October 2013, invited the band to record in his studio and tipped the band for success in 2014 in the ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

''. In December 2013, the band signed to the newly re-activated

Harvest Records Harvest Records is a British-American record label belonging to Capitol Music Group, originally created by EMI in 1969. History Harvest Records was created by EMI in 1969 to market progressive rock music, and to compete with Philips' Vertigo ...

label. Originally a subsidiary of

EMI EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...

and linked to the

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...

movement of the early 1970s in England, the label is now owned by

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, ...

. The band's debut album was released in the US for the first time on the label. The band released their third album, ''Sound Mirror'', in June 2014. The band spent much of the year in the US, performing at

South by Southwest South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

and

Coachella Coachella (officially called the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and sometimes known as Coachella Festival) is an annual music festival, music and arts festival held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Coachella Valle ...

and supporting the likes of

Sean Lennon is a British-American musician, songwriter, and producer. He is the son of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, and half-brother to Julian Lennon. Over the course of his career, he has been a member of the bands Cibo Matto, the Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tige ...

's band

The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger is an American-British band formed in 2008 by Sean Ono Lennon and Charlotte Kemp Muhl. The couple have stated that they started the band as a way to spend more time together, and while they released a number of r ...

and

Yes Yes or YES may refer to: * An affirmative particle in the English language; see yes and no Education * YES Prep Public Schools, Houston, Texas, US * Young Eisner Scholars, in Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago, and Appalachia, US * Young Ep ...

. The band promoted the album at home with nationwide tour in September–October 2014, after having postponed dates from earlier in the year. The band are currently playing with the Magills' brother Josh filling in for Fred Rother, who has missed gigs in the past due to problems with

tinnitus Tinnitus is a condition when a person hears a ringing sound or a different variety of sound when no corresponding external sound is present and other people cannot hear it. Nearly everyone experiences faint "normal tinnitus" in a completely ...

. On 10 June 2016, the band announced that their fourth studio album, ''Apricity'', would be released on 21 October 2016 and also released the title track as the lead single. This is the first album to feature Josh Magill on drums, and confirms the departure of Fred Rother. It was later confirmed that Rother left the band prior to recording the album due to "severe hearing difficulties", with singer Liam Magill adding that "it was a precarious moment, Fred leaving, but Josh sort of saved the day, in a way. The transition was slightly difficult because we’ve been a tight band, you know, us four members, for a long time. That was a big change". On 8 March 2019, an archive recording from 2012 of Canterbury jazz group Jack Hues and the Quartet (whose namesake is of Wang Chung fame) featuring members of Syd Arthur as part of his backing band was released. The recording was of a cover version of the

Beck Beck David Hansen (born Bek David Campbell; July 8, 1970), known mononymously as Beck, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He rose to fame in the early 1990s with his Experimental music, experimental and Lo-fi mus ...

song " Nobody's Fault but My Own".

Band members

Past members

* Liam Magill – lead vocals, lead guitar * Joel Magill – bass guitar, backing vocals * Josh Magill – drums * Raven Bush – violin, keyboard, mandolin * Fred Rother – drums

Discography

Albums

* ''Syd Arthur'' (2006), Madman Records * ''On an On'' (July 2012), Dawn Chorus Recording Company * ''Sound Mirror'' (June 2014),

* ''Apricity'' (October 2016), Harvest Records

EPs

* ''Kingdoms of Experience'' (2008), Green Bean Records * ''Moving World'' (March 2011), Dawn Chorus Recording Company *'' Nobody's Fault but My Own'' (with Jack Hues and the Quartet) (March 2019)

Singles

* "Ode to the Summer" (October 2011), Dawn Chorus Recording Company * "Dorothy" (November 2012), Dawn Chorus Recording Company

Filmography

* 2015: '' Romantic Warriors III: Canterbury Tales'' (DVD) * 2017: ''Need For Speed: Payback'' (PS4, Xbox, PC)

References

External links

* {{Authority control English indie rock groups Musical groups established in 2003 English psychedelic rock music groups Sibling musical groups Musical groups from Kent 2003 establishments in England