Levellers (band)
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Levellers are an English
folk rock Folk rock is a fusion genre of rock music with heavy influences from pop, English and American folk music. It arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music re ...
and
anarcho-punk Anarcho-punk (also known as anarchist punk or peace punk) is an ideological subgenre of punk rock that promotes anarchism. Some use the term broadly to refer to any punk music with anarchist lyrical content, which may figure in crust punk, ha ...
band formed in
Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...
,
East Sussex East Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Kent to the north-east, West Sussex to the west, Surrey to the north-west, and the English Channel to the south. The largest settlement ...
, in 1988, consisting of Mark Chadwick (guitar and vocals), Jeremy Cunningham (bass guitar), Charlie Heather (drums), Jon Sevink (violin), Simon Friend (guitar and vocals), Matt Savage (keyboards) and Dan Donnelly (guitar and vocals). Taking their name from the
Levellers The Levellers were a political movement active during the English Civil War who were committed to popular sovereignty, extended suffrage, equality before the law and religious tolerance. The hallmark of Leveller thought was its populism, as sh ...
political movement, the band released their first EP in 1989 and LP in 1990, with international success following upon signing to China Records and the release of their second album '' Levelling the Land''. The band were among the most popular indie bands in Britain in the early 1990s, and performed at the
Glastonbury Festival The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts (commonly referred to as simply Glastonbury Festival, known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts held near Pilton, Somerset, England, in most su ...
, first in 1992, then in 1994, where they performed as the headline act on The Pyramid Stage to a record crowd of 300,000 people. They continue to record and tour.


History


1988–1990

The band was formed with Mark Chadwick on
guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...
and lead vocals, Jeremy Cunningham on bass guitar, and Charlie Heather on
drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...
. Jon Sevink, the brother of Chadwick's girlfriend, was brought in to play the fiddle. Chadwick's flatmate "Bucky" was brought in to play the guitar, but lost interest after a few months. Chadwick and Cunningham composed their first recordings for the compact cassettes ''An Agreement of the People'' and ''All the Free Commons of England''. A group of fans known as the "happy hitchers" would hitch-hike around the country, following the band while they were on tour. Their first EP, ''Carry Me'', was released in 1989 and contained the songs "Carry Me" and "England My Home", which received Radio 2 airplay. At that time the band recruited Alan Miles to play harmonica, guitar, and
mandolin A mandolin (, ; literally "small mandola") is a Chordophone, stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally Plucked string instrument, plucked with a plectrum, pick. It most commonly has four Course (music), courses of doubled St ...
and to perform backing vocals. This lineup produced the EP ''Outside/Inside'' and toured throughout 1989 and most of 1990. After re-releasing two EPs on their own Hag label, in 1989, the Levellers signed a contract with French record label Musidisc. Their first album ''
A Weapon Called the Word ''A Weapon Called the Word'' is the debut album by English folk rock band the Levellers, released in 1990. The album contains re-recorded tracks from the band's first two E.P. recordings: ''Carry Me E.P.'' (upon which the tracks "Carry Me" and ...
'' was released in 1990 and went platinum. The first single from the album was "World Freak Show".


1990–1994

After an acrimonious split with Musidisc, the Levellers were discovered by Derek Green and signed to China Records. At this point Miles became disenchanted with touring and left the band. The Levellers recruited Simon Friend who had played some acoustic support slots for the band in the past. Around this time Friend and Chadwick played a number of low-key shows as "The Levellers 2", mostly performing songs that had been in Friend's repertoire as a solo singer-songwriter. 1991 saw the release of the Levellers' second album, '' Levelling the Land'', which entered the charts at number 14. The anthemic single "One Way", despite not reaching the
Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is a list of the 40 currently most popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "To ...
, became a popular song and live favourite for years to come among the travelling and
indie music Independent music (also commonly known as indie music, or simply indie) is a broad style of music characterized by creative freedoms, low-budgets, and a do-it-yourself approach to music creation, which originated from the liberties afforded by in ...
community, as well as "The Boatman" and the telling of the story of "
Battle of the Beanfield The Battle of the Beanfield took place over several hours on 1 June 1985, when Wiltshire Police prevented The Peace Convoy, a convoy of several hundred New Age travellers, from setting up the 1985 Stonehenge Free Festival in Wiltshire, England ...
". Throughout 1992 the band enjoyed a series of successful tours, particularly their debut on one of the main stages of the
Glastonbury Festival The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts (commonly referred to as simply Glastonbury Festival, known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts held near Pilton, Somerset, England, in most su ...
. Mixing tracks from their first two LPs with a couple of more obscure songs and a cover of
Charlie Daniels Charles Edward Daniels (October 28, 1936 – July 6, 2020) was an American singer, musician, and songwriter. His music fused rock, country, blues and jazz, and was a pioneering contribution to Southern rock and progressive country. He was ...
' "The Devil Went Down to Georgia", the Levellers' performance secured their place on the large Pyramid Stage for the following year. The band also scored a chart hit with the ''15 Years EP''. The generally gloomy atmosphere that surrounded the band is reflected in the darker tone of the resulting ''
Levellers The Levellers were a political movement active during the English Civil War who were committed to popular sovereignty, extended suffrage, equality before the law and religious tolerance. The hallmark of Leveller thought was its populism, as sh ...
'' album. Despite the band's dislike of the album, it reached No. 2 in the album charts. It included "This Garden", which reached No. 12 on the UK Singles Chart. In June 1993 they released the ''Belaruse EP'' which included a live cover of "Subvert", the first single from the anarchist punk band Zounds.


1994–1998

1994 saw the Levellers reach the peak of their popularity with a headlining appearance at
Glastonbury Festival The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts (commonly referred to as simply Glastonbury Festival, known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts held near Pilton, Somerset, England, in most su ...
and a record breaking set on the main stage when they performed to around 300,000 people, speculated to be the largest ever at the festival. They also became involved in the campaign against the
Criminal Justice Act Criminal Justice Act (with its many variations) is a stock short title used for legislation in Canada, Malaysia, Ireland and the United Kingdom relating to the criminal law (including both substantive and procedural aspects of that law). It tends t ...
. In 1994 the band purchased a derelict factory in Brighton, named the "Metway" after the factory's original owners, and created a self-contained headquarters. The buildings housed their offices, fan club, rehearsal area, a bar and a
recording studio A recording studio is a specialized facility for Sound recording and reproduction, recording and Audio mixing, mixing of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home proje ...
that was initially equipped with gear bought from
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 ...
. The move enabled the band to operate on their own terms as far as possible. The spare space that remained was given over to other Brighton musicians and small craft businesses. Weekly
anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...
newspaper
SchNEWS ''SchNEWS'' was a free weekly publication from Brighton, England, which ran from November 1994 until September 2014. The main focus was environmental and social issues/struggles in the UK – but also internationally – with an emphasis on dire ...
also set up their office in the building. "Hope Street", the lead single from the ''
Zeitgeist In 18th- and 19th-century German philosophy, a ''Zeitgeist'' (; ; capitalized in German) is an invisible agent, force, or daemon dominating the characteristics of a given epoch in world history. The term is usually associated with Georg W. F ...
'' album, was the first recording to come out of Metway. The album was released in September 1995 and charted at No. 2 in the week of its release. Buoyed by the initial success, manager Phil Nelson persuaded China Records to advertise the album on television and, unusually, the album reached No. 1 in its second week on the chart. The third single released from this album took the Levellers to their first
Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British record chart television programme, made by the BBC and broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most of its histo ...
appearance, playing the tongue-in-cheek drinking anthem "Just the One" whilst dressed in tuxedos. "Just the One" was specially re-recorded for the single release, with
The Clash The Clash were an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1976. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they are considered one of the most influential acts in the original wave of British punk rock, with their music fusing elements ...
's frontman and long-time Levellers hero
Joe Strummer John Graham Mellor (21 August 1952 – 22 December 2002), known professionally as Joe Strummer, was a British musician. He was the co-founder, lyricist, rhythm guitarist, and lead vocalist of punk rock band the Clash, formed in 1976. The Clash' ...
guesting on
honky tonk A honky-tonk (also called honkatonk, honkey-tonk, honky tonk, or tonk) is either a bar that provides country music for the entertainment of its patrons or the style of music played in such establishments. It can also refer to the type of piano ...
piano. It reached No. 12 in the UK. The Levellers embarked on another tour of Europe and the UK towards the end of 1995, culminating in a one-off "Christmas Freakshow" at
Sheffield Arena Sheffield Arena, known for sponsorship purposes as Utilita Arena Sheffield, is a multi-purpose arena located in Sheffield, England. It is situated near Meadowhall Centre, Meadowhall and lies between Sheffield city centre and Rotherham town centr ...
on 18 December. This was recorded by the
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
with eight songs being broadcast at a later date on Radio 1. The 1995 "Total Chaos" tour came to an end on 7 February 1996 at
Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...
's Empress Ballroom with a show that was filmed for the video and live album release, ''Headlights, White Lines, Black Tar Rivers (Best Live)''. The album reached No. 13 in the
UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...
and a less extensive UK tour was undertaken in September/October to support the record's release. An EP ''Exodus EP'' was lifted from the live album. The band returned to the studio through late 1996 and early 1997 when the album '' Mouth to Mouth'' was recorded. Their first gigs in several months coincided with the Labour Party's landslide general election victory on 1 May 1997, one being held at
Manchester Academy The Manchester Academy, originally known as the University of Manchester Main Hall, is composed of four concert venues, located on the campus of the University of Manchester, in Manchester, England. The four venues are: Academy 1, 2 and 3 and ...
and a second at London's
Brixton Academy Brixton Academy (originally known as the Astoria Variety Cinema, previously known as Carling Academy Brixton, currently named O2 Academy Brixton as part of a sponsorship deal with the O2 brand) is a mid-sized concert venue located in South Lon ...
the following night. These gigs previewed several new songs including "What a Beautiful Day", which became the first single release from ''Mouth to Mouth'' and reached No. 13 on the UK chart. Summer 1997 saw the band play at various festivals in the UK and Europe including a return to Glastonbury Festival, playing an afternoon slot on the Pyramid Stage. The album was finally released in August 1997 and entered the UK Albums Chart at No. 5. The album spawned several more singles, "Celebrate", "Dog Train" and "Too Real", the last of which had an accompanying video directed by cult film director
Alex Cox Alexander B. H. Cox (born 15 December 1954) is an English film director, screenwriter, actor, non-fiction author and broadcaster. Cox experienced success early in his career with ''Repo Man (film), Repo Man'' (1984) and ''Sid and Nancy'' (1986 ...
. ''One Way of Life: The Very Best of The Levellers'' was released in September 1998. The album was a traditional "greatest hits" package of the hit singles, with two new songs, "Shadow on the Sun" and "Bozos". Additionally, "One Way" and "Carry Me" were re-recorded, and a re-mix of "Too Real" was included. A limited edition
digipak Optical disc packaging is the packaging that accompanies CDs, DVDs, and other formats of optical discs. Most packaging is rigid or semi-rigid and designed to protect the media from scratches and other types of exposure damage. Jewel case A ...
format was released with an extra five-track CD of "acoustic" versions. A long and successful tour across the UK followed in November and December. However, the last two dates at
Brixton Academy Brixton Academy (originally known as the Astoria Variety Cinema, previously known as Carling Academy Brixton, currently named O2 Academy Brixton as part of a sponsorship deal with the O2 brand) is a mid-sized concert venue located in South Lon ...
and the planned homecoming at
Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...
Centre had to be postponed when Jon Sevink fell ill. These dates were rescheduled for February 1999. The release of the greatest hits album was accompanied by a video collection of promos, also called "One Way of Life: The Very Best of The Levellers", and the band's official biography written by George Berger entitled ''Dance Before the Storm''.


1999–2008

The Levellers played only a handful of live dates in 1999. During this time out of the limelight there was a significant change at their record company as China Records was bought by major label
Warner Brothers Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...
. Work eventually began on a new studio album, ''Hello Pig''. The band drafted in Mark Wallis, who had worked with
Oasis In ecology, an oasis (; : oases ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environmentIsle of Wight The Isle of Wight (Help:IPA/English, /waɪt/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''WYTE'') is an island off the south coast of England which, together with its surrounding uninhabited islets and Skerry, skerries, is also a ceremonial county. T ...
with two big shows at the
Ryde Ryde is an English seaside town and civil parish on the north-east coast of the Isle of Wight. The built-up area had a population of 24,096 according to the 2021 Census. Its growth as a seaside resort came after the villages of Upper Ryde and ...
Ice Arena and a "secret" acoustic show held at a much smaller venue. ''Hello Pig'' was released on Monday 4 September 2000, and went to No. 28. It received possibly the best critical acclaim the band had yet received, but was less popular with existing fans. With the relative commercial failure of the album, the band and the record company severed their relationship by mutual agreement. Despite the downturn in record sales, the Levellers performed a heavy gig schedule through late 2000 and 2001. This included a return to the United States as a stripped down version featuring only Chadwick, Friend and Sevink playing acoustic shows in February 2001, with the same trio returning to play a lengthier tour in June the same year. In early 2002, their focus returned to making new music with Al Scott returning as producer. After the recording was completed, the band played a short UK tour of smaller venues to preview the new songs, and they were well received by the fans and heralded as a "return to form". Meanwhile, after contemplating releasing the new material on their own Hag label, the band eventually signed a new deal with
Eagle Records Eagle Records is a British record label, a division of Eagle Rock Entertainment, itself a subsidiary of Universal Music Group. In the United Kingdom, the label's managing director is Lindsay Brown, former manager of Van Halen, while in the ...
. The "Come On" single preceded the album and failed to make the Top 40 in the UK Singles Chart. ''Green Blade Rising'' (originally a title of one of the Levellers' earliest songs) was released in September 2002 and also failed to reach the Top 40 of the UK Albums Chart. Meanwhile, the band were growing weary of the existing UK festival scene and decided to put on a festival of their own. This would be a return - as far as UK legislation would allow - to the earlier festivals that the young Levellers had enjoyed, such as Elephant Fayre. "Green Blade Fayre" was the title of the first attempt, and was to be held at Bicton Park,
East Devon East Devon is a local government district in Devon, England. Its council is based in the town of Honiton, although Exmouth is the largest town. The district also contains the towns of Axminster, Budleigh Salterton, Cranbrook, Ottery St M ...
, England in August 2002. Despite the backing of the necessary authorities, an organised local population managed to persuade the
East Devon East Devon is a local government district in Devon, England. Its council is based in the town of Honiton, although Exmouth is the largest town. The district also contains the towns of Axminster, Budleigh Salterton, Cranbrook, Ottery St M ...
council to reject the licence application. Nonetheless, in 2003 the Levellers founded their own
festival A festival is an event celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, Melā, mela, or Muslim holidays, eid. A ...
- Beautiful Days. The festival is now an annual event, taking place each August at Escot Park, near Fairmile in Devon, England. In February 2004, the Levellers played a special acoustic gig at the Buxton Opera House. Although they had played a couple of shows in a similar format, this particular show saw the full band being joined onstage for collaborations with
Maddy Prior Madeleine Edith Prior MBE (born 14 August 1947) is an English folk rock singer, best known as the lead vocalist of Steeleye Span. She was born in Blackpool and moved to St Albans in her teens. Her father, Allan Prior, was co-creator of the p ...
,
Nick Harper Nick Harper (born 22 June 1965) is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist. He is the son of English folk musician Roy Harper. Early life Harper was born in London, England, to the folk singer-songwriter Roy Harper. Nick tells of how he ...
, Nick Burbridge, and Rev Hammer. The show set the tone for the rest of the year, with the band appearing at many festivals through the summer in the acoustic guise, including the Beverley Folk Festival in June. These festival dates included their first visit to Glastonbury since 1997, where they captured another audience record on the Avalon Stage. The year was rounded off with an acoustic tour of UK theatres. In May 2005 the Levellers' seventh studio album ''Truth and Lies'' was released. Mark Wallis returned as producer, with Dave Ruffy - drummer with UK punk band
The Ruts The Ruts (later known as The Ruts D.C.) are an English reggae-influenced punk rock band, notable for the 1979 UK top 10 hit single " Babylon's Burning", and an earlier single "In a Rut", which was not a hit but was highly regarded and regular ...
- also producing. The album, released on
Eagle Records Eagle Records is a British record label, a division of Eagle Rock Entertainment, itself a subsidiary of Universal Music Group. In the United Kingdom, the label's managing director is Lindsay Brown, former manager of Van Halen, while in the ...
, was generally upbeat - typified by the track "Make You Happy" - and a second single, "Last Man Alive", was also released. Following the previous year's acoustic live work, 2005 saw the band tour the UK and Europe as a full electric band once again, and this continued into 2006. Disillusioned with Eagle Records' attempt to market their music, the Levellers decided to set up their own
record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...
- On the Fiddle Recordings. The label's first release was a live DVD, ''Chaos Theory'', in October 2006 and includes a live show from Reading Hexagon and the 1993 tour diary/concert "Part Time Punks". In early 2007, the band went on an electric tour, visiting Scandinavia, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, the UK and Ireland. The intensive touring schedule continued with the band playing a number of festivals throughout the summer, including Wychwood, Rhythm, Bestival, Fflam, Solfest and Le Mans 24 Hours. During this time their Warner albums were remixed and re-issued on the Rhino label in 2007. The winter touring schedule was comparatively light, with an eleven-show electric tour of Europe in November and a short acoustic tour of the UK in December. Sessions for a new album were also underway around this time, with Sean Lakeman (brother of
Seth Seth, in the Abrahamic religions, was the third son of Adam and Eve. The Hebrew Bible names two of his siblings (although it also states that he had others): his brothers Cain and Abel. According to , Seth was born after Abel's murder by Cain, ...
) as producer. February 2008 saw Chadwick, Friend, and Sevink participate in the "Freeborn John" tour, while in March the band played four 20th anniversary gigs in a short tour termed "Beautiful Nights". This trio of gigs began at Wolverhampton Civic Hall on 6 March, continued with a gig at Manchester Apollo on 7 March, and concluded with a show at London Brixton Academy on 8 March. Appearing once again at a host of festivals throughout the summer of 2008, the Levellers showcased tracks from their upcoming album. Released in August 2008, coinciding with the Beautiful Days Festival, '' Letters from the Underground'', was their eighth studio album and charted at No. 24, the band's first Top 30 album in a decade.


2009–present

In 2009, On the Fiddle released a recording of their 2008 appearance at the Royal Albert Hall - "Live At The Royal Albert Hall" via iTunes. At the start of 2010, the band toured the UK, visiting Crewe, Holmfirth, Brecon and Tunbridge Wells. The band performed at the Glastonbury music festival in the summer and then continued on the 'grass roots' path with a tour in November to promote the re-release of their debut album, ''A Weapon Called The Word'' on their own On the Fiddle label. The band received the Roots Award at the
BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards The BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards celebrate outstanding achievement during the previous year within the field of folk music, with the aim of raising the profile of folk and acoustic music. The awards have been given annually since 2000 by British rad ...
in 2011. Their first new album in four years, ''Static on the Airwaves'' was released in June 2012, via On the Fiddle. The first single from the album, "Truth Is", was released for Record Store Day on limited edition red vinyl. The band released a ''Greatest Hits'' album in September 2014, featuring four new collaborations with
Imelda May Imelda Mary Higham (; born 10 July 1974), professionally known as Imelda May, is an Irish singer, songwriter, television presenter and multi-instrumentalist. She is known for her musical style of rockabilly revival and has also been compared to ...
,
Frank Turner Francis Edward Turner (born 28 December 1981) is an English Punk rock, punk and Folk music, folk singer-songwriter from Meonstoke, Hampshire. He began his career as the vocalist of post-hardcore band Million Dead, then embarked upon a primaril ...
,
Bellowhead Bellowhead is an English contemporary folk band, active from 2004 to 2016, reforming in 2020. The eleven-piece act played traditional dance tunes, folk songs and shanties, with arrangements drawing inspiration from a wide range of musical sty ...
and
Billy Bragg Stephen William Bragg (born 20 December 1957) is an English singer, songwriter, musician, author and political activist. His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, with lyrics that mostly span political or romantic th ...
. A film ''A Curious Life: The Story of the Levellers'' (by Dunstan Bruce, formerly of
Chumbawamba Chumbawamba () was a British anarcho-punk band who formed in 1982 and disbanded in 2012. They are best known for their 1997 single "Tubthumping", which was nominated for Best British Single at the Brit Awards 1998. Other singles include "Amnes ...
), was released in June 2015. In 2016 they embarked on a UK tour of the '' Levelling The Land'' album to mark its 25th anniversary, reissuing the album themselves in a special box set along with a live recording of the album. In 2017, they began working with producer
John Leckie John William Leckie (born 23 October 1949) is an English record producer and recording engineer. His production credits include Magazine's ''Real Life'' (1978); XTC's '' White Music'' (1978); Dukes of Stratosphear's '' 25 O'Clock'' and the F ...
at Abbey Road's Studio 2. In 2018, the Levellers released '' We the Collective'' in which they reworked several of their songs with a string and percussion section composed of members of folk-rock band Moulettes. Hannah Moulette also sings on some tracks. The collective recorded two entirely new tracks "The Shame" and "Drug Bust McGee" to create a 10 track album. The album reached number 12 in the UK Albums Chart. On 7 February 2020, the band announced via their Twitter account that their new album ''
Peace Peace is a state of harmony in the absence of hostility and violence, and everything that discusses achieving human welfare through justice and peaceful conditions. In a societal sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (suc ...
'' would be released on 14 August 2020, with the advance release of first single 'Food Roof Family'. It is the band's first studio album of new material in eight years. In 2022, the band announced that Dan Donnelly had joined as a full time member, while clarifying that Simon Friend remained a member and was expected to rejoin the band on the road in future.


Members


Current members

* Mark Chadwick – lead vocals, guitar, banjo, harmonica * Jeremy "Jez" Cunningham – bass guitar, guitar, bouzouki, backing vocals * Charlie Heather – drums, percussion * Jonathan "Jon" Sevink – fiddle, violin, tin whistle, sequencer, sample loop * Simon Friend – guitar, mandolin, harmonica, vocals * Matt Savage – keyboards, backing vocals * Dan Donnelly – guitar, mandolin, vocals


Former members

* David Buckmeister – guitar * Alan Miles – guitar, mandolin, harmonica, vocals


Timeline


Politics and name

Self-described as having "a left-wing view of politics", the band took their name after the 17th-century
Levellers The Levellers were a political movement active during the English Civil War who were committed to popular sovereignty, extended suffrage, equality before the law and religious tolerance. The hallmark of Leveller thought was its populism, as sh ...
political movement. This was speculated for many years, but confirmed in October 2014 by band member Cunningham.


Levellers logo ("Rolling anarchy")

The "Rolling anarchy" logo, designed by Jeremy Cunningham, is often used by the band. It is composed of three
sickle A sickle, bagging hook, reaping-hook or grasshook is a single-handed agricultural tool designed with variously curved blades and typically used for harvesting or reaping grain crops, or cutting Succulent plant, succulent forage chiefly for feedi ...
s placed so as to form the letter A, recognizable however the logo is rotated. The symbol is often featured on Levellers merchandise and at concerts. It is usually surrounded with the text "Whoever puts their hand upon me to govern me is a
usurper A usurper is an illegitimate or controversial claimant to power, often but not always in a monarchy. In other words, one who takes the power of a country, city, or established region for oneself, without any formal or legal right to claim it a ...
, a
tyrant A tyrant (), in the modern English usage of the word, is an absolute ruler who is unrestrained by law, or one who has usurped a legitimate ruler's sovereignty. Often portrayed as cruel, tyrants may defend their positions by resorting to ...
, and I declare them my enemy." These words, originally by the French anarchist philosopher
Pierre-Joseph Proudhon Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (, ; ; 1809 – 19 January 1865) was a French anarchist, socialist, philosopher, and economist who founded mutualist philosophy and is considered by many to be the "father of anarchism". He was the first person to ca ...
, had previously been used by the band Zounds who originally released their single "Can't Cheat Karma" featuring this quote on the
Crass records Crass Records was an independent record label that was set up by the anarchist Punk rock, punk band Crass. Overview and history Prior to the formation of Crass, Penny Rimbaud and Gee Vaucher had published their creative works via their own D ...
label.


Discography


Studio albums

* ''
A Weapon Called the Word ''A Weapon Called the Word'' is the debut album by English folk rock band the Levellers, released in 1990. The album contains re-recorded tracks from the band's first two E.P. recordings: ''Carry Me E.P.'' (upon which the tracks "Carry Me" and ...
'' (1990) * '' Levelling the Land'' (1991) * ''
Levellers The Levellers were a political movement active during the English Civil War who were committed to popular sovereignty, extended suffrage, equality before the law and religious tolerance. The hallmark of Leveller thought was its populism, as sh ...
'' (1993) * ''
Zeitgeist In 18th- and 19th-century German philosophy, a ''Zeitgeist'' (; ; capitalized in German) is an invisible agent, force, or daemon dominating the characteristics of a given epoch in world history. The term is usually associated with Georg W. F ...
'' (1995) * '' Mouth to Mouth'' (1997) * '' Hello Pig'' (2000) * '' Green Blade Rising'' (2002) * '' Truth and Lies'' (2005) * '' Letters from the Underground'' (2008) * '' Static on the Airwaves'' (2012) * '' We the Collective'' (2018) * ''
Peace Peace is a state of harmony in the absence of hostility and violence, and everything that discusses achieving human welfare through justice and peaceful conditions. In a societal sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (suc ...
'' (2020) * '' Together All the Way'' (2023)


See also

* Beautiful Days *
3 Daft Monkeys 3 Daft Monkeys are a world music-influenced acoustic band from Cornwall, UK, consisting of Tim Ashton, Athene Roberts, Rich Mulryne, and Jamie Graham. The instrumentation consists of vocals, fiddle, twelve-string guitar, bass guitar and percuss ...


References


Further reading

* Berger, G. (1998) ''Dance Before the Storm: The Official Story of the Levellers''. Virgin Publishing, London,


External links


Official website
*
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MusicBrainz MusicBrainz is a MetaBrainz project that aims to create a collaborative music database that is similar to the freedb project. MusicBrainz was founded in response to the restrictions placed on the CDDB, Compact Disc Database (CDDB), a database for ...
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Levellers (band) Rock music groups from Brighton and Hove Anarcho-punk groups English folk rock groups Folk punk groups English celtic rock groups English alternative rock groups Musical groups established in 1988 Eagle Records artists China Records artists