Heavyball are an indie/

ska Ska (; , ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a w ...

, new tone band based in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Biography

Heavyball were formed in November 2011 by

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

brothers Matt (guitar and vocals) and Habs (Drums) Salisbury and school friend Johnny 'Iball' Eveson (bass). Their break came after a chance meeting between their manager and manager of

Kaiser Chiefs Kaiser Chiefs are an English indie rock band from Leeds who originally formed in 1996 as Runston Parva, before reforming as Parva in 2000, and releasing one studio album, ''22'', in 2003, before renaming and establishing themselves in their cur ...

, Mick Webster. Mick encouraged them to record their first EP ''Small Town Hero'' in Huddersfield with Embrace's former producer Dave Creffield. ''Small Town Hero'' received airplay on BBC Ulster's

Gerry Anderson Gerald Alexander Anderson (; 14 April 1929 – 26 December 2012) was an English television and film producer, director, writer and occasional voice artist, who is known for his futuristic television programmes, especially his 1960s production ...

Show and by BBC Radio Nottingham's Dean Jackson as part of the

BBC Introducing BBC Music Introducing is BBC Radio's platform supporting unsigned, undiscovered, and under-the-radar UK music talent. The backbone of that network consists of 32 BBC local radio shows on stations across England and the Channel Islands, various ...

program. In February 2013, Heavyball supported Kaiser Chiefs on their UK tour, including Kaiser Chiefs' warm up shows in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

and

Utrecht Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...

. Along with Kaiser Chiefs, Heavyball have played with various artists of note including The Selector and The Beat and other artists of note including

Dodgy Dodgy are an English rock band formed in Hounslow in 1990. The band rose to prominence during the Britpop era of the 1990s. They are best known for their hits "Staying Out for the Summer", "If You're Thinking of Me", and " Good Enough". "Go ...

The Cribs The Cribs are a British indie rock band originally from Wakefield, West Yorkshire, that formed in 2001. The band consists of twins Gary Jarman, Gary and Ryan Jarman and their younger brother Ross Jarman. They were subsequently joined by ex-The ...

and

Geno Washington Geno Washington (born William Francis Washington; December 21, 1943, in Evansville, Indiana) is an American R&B singer who released five albums with the Ram Jam Band between 1966 and 1969, and eight solo albums beginning in 1976. Background ...

. Heavyball released their second EP ''Hands Up'' in March 2013, and the tracks "Lost Heroes" and "Hands Up" were played on BBC London's

Gary Crowley Gary Crowley (born 8 October 1961), is an English broadcaster, TV presenter and DJ.Burrell, Ian (2009), ''The Independent'', 9 November 2009, retrieved 2 November 2010 While still at Rutherford School, Paddington, in the late 1970s Gary Crowley ...

Show. "Hands Up" was also played as part of BBC DJ

Tom Robinson Living people Thomas Giles Robinson (born 1 June 1950) is a British singer, bassist, radio presenter and long-time LGBT rights activist, best known for the hits " Glad to Be Gay", " 2-4-6-8 Motorway", and "Don't Take No for an Answer", with hi ...

's mixtape. At the beginning of 2014 they signed to the independent record label Magnetic North Melodies. Heavyball have played many UK shows and festivals including the TT races and the Strawberry Fields Festival. The band have played several times across Europe including France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria and the Czech Republic. Heavyball have found particular success in the Netherlands, appearing at festivals such as Welcome to the Village. They released their first album, ''Black Eye Diaries'', in October 2015. The 2017 follow-up ''When Can You Start?'' enjoyed success in Europe, peaking at number 2 in the Austrian Indie charts in January 2018. In May 2018, the band were recognised by the

British Phonographic Industry BPI (British Recorded Music Industry) Limited, trading as British Phonographic Industry (BPI), is the British recorded music industry's trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards; is home to the Mercury Prize; co-owns the Official Charts C ...

with a Music Export Growth Scheme grant to support their growing popularity in mainland Europe.

Band members

*Matt 'Bigface' Salisbury - lead vocals/guitar (2011–present) *Habs - drums, backing vocals (2011–present) *Johnny Iball - bass guitar, backing vocals (2011–present) *Tom 'Stone Cold' Frost - guitar (2014–present)

Discography

''Small Town Hero'' EP

#"Automatic Hit Machine" (2:39) #"I Confess" (3:49) #"Small Town Hero" (3:47) ''Released June 2012''

''Hands Up'' EP

#"Hands Up" (3:08) #"Lost Heroes" (3:21) #"Wanted" (3:00) ''Released March 2013''

''Black Eye Friday'' EP

#"Black Eye Friday" (3:16) ''Released January 2014''

''Another Country'' EP

#"Another Country" (2:59) #"Unhappy Now" (3:48) ''Released August 2014''

''Black Eye Diaries'' LP

#"Small Town Hero" (3:47) #"I Confess" (3:47) #"Automatic Hit Machine" (2:40) #"Hands Up" (3:10) #"Lost Heroes" (3:20) #"Smalltown Boy" (2:59) #"Black Eye Friday" (3:17) #"Wanted" (3:02) #"Surfin' In Skegness" (3:11) #"Another Country" (2:59) #"Unhappy Now" (3:48) #"Lost Heroes" (Acoustic) (4:33) ''Released October 2015''

''When Can You Start?'' LP

#"Top of Your Game" (4:19) #"Heist" (3:36) #"Internet Detective" (2:44) #"People Person" (3:08) #"Yesterday’s Man" (5:09) #"A Quick Drink in the Worst Bar in the World" (1:30) #"The Perils of Midweek Drinking" (3:51) #"Office Party" (3:05) #"After Dark" (4:06) #"Retail is Detail" (1:15) #"Year Out" (3:27) #"No More 9 to 5" (5:31) ''Released November 2017''

References

{{Authority control English ska musical groups Musical groups from London