Gunship is a British

synthwave Synthwave (also called retrowave, or futuresynth) is an electronic music microgenre that is based predominantly on the music associated with the Film score, film soundtracks of action films, science fiction films, and horror films of the 1980s. ...

band formed in 2014 by

Dan Haigh Dan Haigh (born 5 December 1980) is an English musician, film director, video game designer, writer and visual effects artist. He is best known as co-founder of synthwave band Gunship and as the bass player in the English rock band Fightsta ...

and Alex Westaway; they were later joined by drummer Alex Gingell. The group has released three studio albums under their own label Horsie in the Hedge.

History

After Westaway and Haigh's other musical act,

Fightstar Fightstar were a British rock band from London that formed in 2003. The band is composed of lead vocalist, guitarist and keyboardist Charlie Simpson, guitarist and co-vocalist Alex Westaway, bassist Dan Haigh and drummer Omar Abidi. Genera ...

, went on hiatus in 2010, the pair decided to focus on other musical ventures, including forming Gunship, eventually joined by Gingell. Their debut release, self-titled ''Gunship'', was released in 2015 to positive reviews. Their follow up, ''Dark All Day'', was released on 5 October 2018. In 2019, Gunship appeared in the documentary film ''

The Rise of the Synths ''The Rise of the Synths'' () is a 2019 documentary film written and directed by Iván Castell and narrated by filmmaker and composer John Carpenter. The film explores the origins and growth of the electronic music genre known as synthwave, cha ...

,'' which explored the origins and growth of the Synthwave genre. Westaway, Haigh and Gingell appeared alongside various other composers from the scene, including

John Carpenter John Howard Carpenter (born January 16, 1948) is an American filmmaker, composer, and actor. Most commonly associated with horror film, horror, action film, action, and science fiction film, science fiction films of the 1970s and 1980s, he is ...

, who also starred in and narrated the film. In May 2021, tattoo artist and model

Kat Von D Katherine von Drachenberg (born March 8, 1982), known professionally as Kat Von D, is a Mexican-born American tattoo artist, television personality, entrepreneur and recording artist. She is best known for her work as a tattoo artist on the TLC ...

collaborated with Haigh on her debut album, ''Love Made Me Do It''. On 10 July 2023 the band announced their third studio album titled ''Unicorn''. The album was released on 29 September 2023. As well as more traditional music videos, Gunship have experimented with a range of artistic approaches, including stop-motion, claymation, 8-bit, and AI-generated (among others). Often these videos include influences from, or elements of, video games and 80s culture.

Equipment and gear

Gunship has a large collection of synthesizers, including the

Roland Juno-106 The Roland Juno-106 is a synthesizer released by Roland Corporation in February 1984. Features The Juno-106 is a polyphonic synthesizer with six voices. It is an analog synthesizer but with digitally controlled oscillators and chorus effects. ...

, Dave Smith Instruments Prophet 12 and Prophet 6, Moog Minimoog, Mother 32, and various

Oberheim Oberheim is an American synthesizer manufacturer founded in 1969 by Tom Oberheim. Beginning in 1975, Oberheim developed some of the first commercially available polyphonic synthesizers and was a prominent synthesizer and drum machine manufacture ...

units.

Additional album personnel and collaborations

"The Video Game Champion" is a collaboration with the guitarist

Thomas McRocklin Thomas McLaughlin (born 20 September 1979), better known by his stage name McRocklin, is an English guitar player, music producer and mastering engineer. He was the guitarist featured in Steve Vai's music video "The Audience is Listening" (1990 ...

, while "Ghost" is a collaboration with

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

duo

Power Glove The Power Glove is a controller accessory for the Nintendo Entertainment System. The Power Glove gained public attention due to its early motion control mechanics and significant marketing. However, its two games did not sell well, as it was ...

. The single "Monster in Paradise" features saxophonist Tim Cappello and vocals from Milkie Way, lead singer of Wargasm. A full list of collaborators on each album follows.

''Gunship''

The first Gunship album featured collaborations with: * Lou Hayter (

New Young Pony Club NYPC (also known as New Young Pony Club) are an English electronic music band from London. The band was formed by Andy Spence and Tahita Bulmer in 2004. Their influences are predominantly post-punk and new wave artists. Career Forming and si ...

, Tomorrows World) *

(director/composer) *

Charlie Simpson Charles Robert Simpson (born 7 June 1985) is an English singer, songwriter, and musician from Suffolk. He is a member of the pop punk band Busted (band), Busted and the rock band Fightstar. AllMusic has noted that Simpson is "perhaps the only p ...

(

, Busted) *

Martin Grech Martin Grech (born 14 November 1982) is an English singer, songwriter and musician from Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire. Career Grech released his debut album ''Open Heart Zoo'', produced by Andy Ross, in June 2002. He achieved critical acclaim f ...

* Stella Le Page was featured on 'Fly For Your Life'

''Dark All Day''

The second Gunship album featured collaborations with: * Tim Cappello (''

The Lost Boys ''The Lost Boys'' is a 1987 American comedy horror film directed by Joel Schumacher, produced by Harvey Bernhard, and with the screenplay written by Jeffrey Boam, Janice Fischer, and James Jeremias, from a story by Fischer and Jeremias. The ...

'') * Richard K. Morgan (Author – Altered Carbon) *

Wil Wheaton Richard William "Wil" Wheaton III (born July 29, 1972) is an American actor and writer. He portrayed Wesley Crusher on the television series ''Star Trek: The Next Generation'', Gordie Lachance in the film ''Stand by Me (film), Stand by Me'', ...

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

* Stella Le Page was featured on "Art3mis & Parzival" *

Una Healy Una Theresa Imogene Healy (born 10 October 1981) is an Irish singer. She rose to fame in 2008 as a member of five-piece girl group The Saturdays, who are signed to Fascination and Polydor Records. The group later gained another record deal wi ...

''Unicorn''

The third Gunship album featured collaborations with: * Tim Cappello (''

'') *

(director/composer) *

(

, Busted) *

Gavin Rossdale Gavin McGregor Rossdale is an English musician, best known as the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the rock band Bush. He helped form Bush in 1992. Upon the band's separation in 2002, he became the lead singer and guitarist for Institute an ...

* Carpenter Brut *

Health (band) Health is an American industrial/noise rock band from Los Angeles, California. The band currently consists of drummer B.J. Miller, vocalist and guitarist Jake Duzsik, and bassist and producer John Famiglietti. It formerly also included Jupiter ...

Dave Lombardo David Lombardo (born February 16, 1965) is a Cuban-American drummer, best known as a co-founding member of the thrash metal band Slayer. He currently plays drums with Fantômas, Dead Cross, Mr. Bungle, Empire State Bastard, and Misfits. Lo ...

* Milkie Way *

Britta Phillips Britta Phillips (born June 11, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, and actress. Phillips' music career spans more than 30 years. She came to prominence in the mid-1980s as the singing voice of the title character ...

* Lights

Members

* Alex Westaway – vocals, multi-instruments *

– multi-instruments * Alex Gingell – multi-instruments

Discography

Studio albums Non-album collaborations * Collaborated with

Metrik Tom Mundell, better known as Metrik, is an English electronic music producer from London. He has been releasing records since 2007, primarily through Hospital Records, the UK-based independent dance music label. He has found success in the UK D ...

on the track "Electric Echo" (2016) * Collaborated with Lazerhawk on the track "Feel the Rush Tonight" (2017) * Collaborated with

Tyler Bates Tyler Bates (born June 5, 1965) is an American musician, music producer, and composer for film, television, and video game scores. Much of his work is in the action and horror film genres, with films like '' Dawn of the Dead'', ''300'', ''Suck ...

and

for "Berserker" on the ''Dark Nights: Death Metal'' Soundtrack * Collaborated with Carpenter Brut for "The Widow Maker" on the album ''Leather Terror'' (2022) * Collaborated with Miami Nights 1984 for "Only When It's Dark" on the album ''Sentimental'' (2022) * Collaborated with

Dance with the Dead Dance with the Dead is an American music duo formed in California in 2013 by Justin Pointer and Tony Kim. Their music has been characterized as a blend of Metal (music genre), metal and synthwave, as well as "dark synthwave". History Dance wi ...

for "Wolf Pack" on the EP ''Dark Matter'' (2024). Additional releases * Included the track "Vale of Shadows" on the album '' Rise of the Synths EP2'' official companion album (2017) * Released the single "The Video Game Champion" (2018), which contained numerous references to Doctor Disrespect * Released the single "Art3mis & Parzival" (2018) * Included the track "Cthulhu" on the album ''Fangoria Presents: Hollydoom (Original Magazine Soundtrack)'' (2019) * Released the single

Eleanor Rigby "Eleanor Rigby" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1966 album ''Revolver''. It was also issued on a double A-side single, paired with " Yellow Submarine". Credited to the Lennon–McCartney songwriting partnership, the s ...

(2020), a cover of the popular track by

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

* Released the single Send Me An Angel (2023), a cover of the track by Australian new wave/synth-pop band

Real Life Real life is a phrase used originally in literature to distinguish between the real world and fictional, virtual or idealized worlds, and in acting to distinguish between actors and the Character (arts), characters they portray. It has become a ...

* Instrumental versions of their first two albums ''Gunship'' and ''Dark All Day'' have also been released. * Released the single China in Your Hand (2024), a cover of the track by English pop group T'Pau. This also features frequent collaborator, Tim Cappello.

Remixes

Gunship have remixed the following tracks for other artists: * Lionface's "No Hope State" (2017). The original version of Lionface's track appeared on their ''Battle'' EP (2015) * The track "Exorcism" from

's album ''Love Made Me Do It'' (2021). They had previously worked with Kat Von D on "Black Blood Red Kiss" * Gunship also did an unofficial remix of

Bullet For My Valentine Bullet for My Valentine, often abbreviated as BFMV, are a Welsh heavy metal band from Bridgend, formed in 1998. The band is currently composed of Matthew Tuck (vocals, rhythm guitar), Michael Paget (lead guitar), Jason Bowld (drums) and J ...

's "Gravity" (unreleased). * SIERRA's "Stronger" from the album ''A Story of Anger'' (2023). This was released by SIERRA as part of a remixes EP "A Story of Anger - The Remixes" (2024). The following artists have remixed Gunship songs: * Carpenter Brut remixed "Tech Noir". Gunship went on to collaborate with them on Carpenter Brut's track "Widow Maker", as well as "DooM Dance" (on ''Unicorn'') * Makeup and Vanity Set remixed "Black Sun on the Horizon" * Miami Nights 1984 remixed "Revel In Your Time". Gunship went on to collaborate with them on Miami Nights 1984's track "Only When It's Dark" * April Towers remixed "The Mountain" * In 2019, Gunship held a remix competition for their track "The Drone Racing League". Entries can still be listened to on their

Soundcloud SoundCloud is a German audio streaming service owned and operated by SoundCloud Global Limited & Co. KG. The service enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is ...

. This competition was eventually won by VHS Glitch *

remixed "Dark All Day". Gunship went on to collaborate with Power Glove on "Ghost" as part of the album ''Unicorn'' * Choir Noir released a choral version of "Black Blood Red Kiss". * LOR (aka LORthecreator) remixed "Blood for the Blood God" from the album ''Unicorn'' in 2024 - this was released as an additional track on the single's release.

References

{{authority control English electronic music groups English musical trios Synthwave groups 2014 establishments in the United Kingdom Musical groups established in 2014