Magistrates were a pop band hailing from South Woodham Ferrers in Essex, England.

Members

History

Paul and Mark played in various bands whilst growing up together, including performing under the name

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in 2006 with Andrew Grant. After a change to the current line-up and a change of name in mid-2007, Magistrates signed to

XL Recordings XL Recordings is a British independent record label founded in 1989 by Tim Palmer and Nick Halkes. It has been run and co-owned by Richard Russell since 1996. It forms part of the Beggars Group. It releases an average of six albums a year. T ...

in the June 2008. The band released two singles, "Make This Work" (August 2008) and "Heartbreak" (May 2009). Magistrates played the 2009 Samsung ''NME'' Radar Tour alongside

La Roux La Roux ( ) is an English synth-pop act formed in 2008 by singer Elly Jackson and record producer Ben Langmaid. The act's debut album '' La Roux'' (2009) was a critical and commercial success, winning a Grammy Award and producing hit singles s ...

, Heartbreak and the Chapman Family. Magistrates also played the HMV Forum, Kentish Town, London on 15 May 2009, as a support band for

Friendly Fires Friendly Fires are an English indie rock band from St Albans, Hertfordshire, England. They are currently signed to Polydor Records. Their self-titled debut album was released on 1 September 2008, and was announced as one of the shortlisted twe ...

alongside Wax Stag. Magistrates supported Blur for two of their 2009 'comeback' gigs at the

Cliffs Pavilion Cliffs Pavilion (locally known as the Cliffs) is a theatre, sports, exhibition and concert venue located on Station Road in Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, England, a suburb within the city of Southend-on-Sea. It is the largest purpose-built arts venue ...

Westcliff-on-Sea Westcliff-on-Sea (previously known as Milton, often abbreviated to Westcliff, and in the past spelt as Westcliffe-on-Sea) is a suburb of the city of Southend-on-Sea, located within the ceremonial county of Essex, England. It is on the north sh ...

and (civic hall, Wolverhampton), and La Roux at Chinnerys,

Southend-on-sea Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in south-eastern Essex, England. It lies on the nor ...

. Magistrates also played a gig at Wakestock festival 2009, they were met by huge support from many fans there. In August 2009, Magistrates performed a set at the Big Chill festival in Herefordshire as well as featuring on the Festival Republic stage at the Reading and Leeds festivals. On 21 December 2009, Magistrates announced their split up via

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and

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. On 11 February 2011, Magistrates announced via their

page they would once again be making music. Magistrates played their first gig after reforming at the Queen of Hoxton, London in August 2011. Shortly after this, the band made their first festival appearance in two years by supporting headliners

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at the Brownstock Festival. This also marked a rare appearance in their 'hometown' of

South Woodham Ferrers South Woodham Ferrers is a town and civil parish in the City of Chelmsford in Essex, England. It is approximately east of London and south-east of Chelmsford, and had a population of 16,453 at the 2011 Census, a decrease from 16,629 at the ...

, and were introduced onto the stage by Jon Morter. Magistrates returned in 2013 with the singles "B.T.P.A" and "When We Are Apart". The video for "When We Are Apart" was shot in East London and was directed by VH/Yes. The video uses stock footage from an '80s dating video re-edited to appear as though it is lip-synced. In 2014, they released the album ''When We Are Apart''. The band decided to split at the end of 2014. Paul is now a songwriter for many artists and Mark has his own project called Model Man.

References

External links

XL Recordings

NME

Magistrates on Myspace
{{DEFAULTSORT:Magistrates English indie rock groups Musical groups from Essex Musical groups established in 2006 Musical groups disestablished in 2009 XL Recordings artists