Mick Quinn (born 17 December 1969) is an English musician and singer-songwriter. He is best known as founding member of English rock band

Supergrass Supergrass are an English rock band formed in 1993. For the majority of the band's tenure, the line-up consisted of brothers Gaz (lead vocals, guitar) and Rob Coombes (keyboards), Mick Quinn (bass, backing vocals) and Danny Goffey (drums, ...

. He is a permanent member of fellow Oxford band

Swervedriver Swervedriver are an English alternative rock band formed in Oxford in 1989 around core members Adam Franklin and Jimmy Hartridge. Between 1989 and 1998, the band released four studio albums and numerous EPs and singles despite a considerable ...

Career

1984–1993

Mick Quinn started playing bass at the age of 14. A year later moving to guitar. He played with The Asylum in 1986, a band featuring Kid Wig, guitarist with the Beat Seeking Missiles, in and around

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

including the Port Meadow Festival. In the late 1980s he became interested in record production, renting and borrowing equipment to experiment with at home. He also travelled to Spain and France to play with local musicians before returning to England in 1992.

1993–2010: Supergrass

Quinn formed

with

Gaz Coombes Gareth Michael "Gaz" Coombes (born 8 March 1976) is an English musician, best known as the lead vocalist and guitarist of the alternative rock band Supergrass. He first entered the music scene aged 14 as the lead singer of the band The Jennifer ...

and

Danny Goffey Daniel Robert Goffey (born 7 February 1974) is an English musician and singer-songwriter. He is best known as the drummer and backing vocalist for Supergrass. He briefly toured with Babyshambles in 2010, following their drummer's departure. C ...

in February 1993. In 1995 the band released ''

I Should Coco ''I Should Coco'' is the debut studio album by English alternative rock band Supergrass, released on 15 May 1995 by Parlophone. The title of the album is Cockney rhyming slang for "I should think so". Supergrass were formed in 1993 by Gaz Coom ...

'' selling over a million copies worldwide. Singles, ''

Caught by the Fuzz "Caught by the Fuzz" is a song by English Britpop band Supergrass, released in October 1994 by Parlophone as the debut single from their first album, '' I Should Coco'' (1994). It was written by Gaz Coombes, Danny Goffey and Mick Quinn, and pr ...

'' and '' Alright'' confirmed the band's popularity and they went on to release five further albums, four reaching the top ten 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 ...

. Children of the Monkey Basket, a website created by Quinn under the name Big Arm Technology was awarded best 'Rock Website' at the UK Online Music Awards in both 2000 and 2002. Other nominations in the category were Coldplay, Idlewild, Radiohead and U2. In 2008 the band parted ways with

Parlophone Parlophone Records Limited (also known as Parlophone Records and Parlophone) is a record label founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch of the label was founded on 8 August 1923 as the Parloph ...

records, recently acquired by Guy Hands of Terra Firma, and released single ''

Rebel in You "Rebel in You" is a song by the British rock band Supergrass. It is the third single from the album ''Diamond Hoo Ha'', and is the band's final single release. "Rebel in You" with B Side "Car Crash" was limited to 1500 copies on 7" white vinyl o ...

'' on Supergrass Records, overseen by Quinn. Following the difficulties of recording ''

Release the Drones Supergrass are an English rock band formed in 1993. For the majority of the band's tenure, the line-up consisted of brothers Gaz (lead vocals, guitar) and Rob Coombes (keyboards), Mick Quinn (bass, backing vocals) and Danny Goffey (drums, bac ...

'', the band announced in April 2010 that they were to split.

2010–2014, 2024 - DB Band

In May 2010, Quinn formed the DB Band with former Shake Appeal bass player Paul Wilson. Described as heavier and hairier than the 'Grass, they released two EP's, ''Stranger in the Alps'' in 2011 and ''Loosen Up,'' in 2013. The band reformed in 2024 with an expanded line up and did a comeback show at The Horn in St Albans as well as a sold out home town gig in Oxford. The band also made appearances at Riverside and Truck in Oxfordshire. Quinn was also a founding member of garage band The Beat Seeking Missiles with former members of The Wig Outs and Thee Headcoats. Signed to Dirty Water Records, the band released their single, "Break My Fall" / "Dr. Strangelove" in October 2011.

2015–present: Swervedriver

During the release of ''

I Wasn't Born to Lose You ''I Wasn't Born to Lose You'' is the fifth studio album by British alternative rock band Swervedriver. It was released on 3 March 2015 through the Cobraside record label. It is the band's first album in 17 years, since 1998's '' 99th Dream''. Th ...

'' in 2015, Quinn was tour stand-in for Oxford band and childhood friends

. He became a full member of the band during the recording of its follow up, ''

Future Ruins ''Future Ruins'' is the sixth studio album by English alternative rock band Swervedriver. It was released on 25 January 2019 through Dangerbird Records Dangerbird Records is an independent record label in Los Angeles, California. The label is ...

'' in 2017.

Personal life

Quinn's father is the Australian lipid

biochemist Biochemists are scientists who are trained in biochemistry. They study chemical processes and chemical transformations in living organisms. Biochemists study DNA, proteins and Cell (biology), cell parts. The word "biochemist" is a portmanteau of ...

Peter Quinn, who is currently based at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

. Though born in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

, Quinn spent his very early childhood living in America before relocating to Oxford, England in the 1970s. On 21 August 2007, Quinn was hospitalized in

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

, France for an operation to repair two broken

vertebra Each vertebra (: vertebrae) is an irregular bone with a complex structure composed of bone and some hyaline cartilage, that make up the vertebral column or spine, of vertebrates. The proportions of the vertebrae differ according to their spina ...

e and a smashed

Calcaneus In humans and many other primates, the calcaneus (; from the Latin ''calcaneus'' or ''calcaneum'', meaning heel; : calcanei or calcanea) or heel bone is a bone of the Tarsus (skeleton), tarsus of the foot which constitutes the heel. In some other ...

, sustained after falling out of a first floor window of a rented villa he was staying in with his family. He subsequently made a full recovery, returning to perform with the

Diamond Hoo Ha Men The Hotrats (originally the Diamond Hoo Ha Men) were a cover band formed by Gaz Coombes and Danny Goffey as a side-project from their main band Supergrass. The band were named after Frank Zappa's album '' Hot Rats''. The duo recorded a set of ...

in January 2008. Quinn lives in

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...

with his wife and children.