Puressence
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Puressence are an English indie rock band, formed in 1991 in
Failsworth Failsworth is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, north-east of Manchester and south-west of Oldham. The M60 motorway, M60 ring-road motorway skirts it to the east. The population at the United Kingdom C ...
, Greater Manchester.


History

James Mudriczki, Neil McDonald, Anthony Szuminski and Kevin Matthews met on a bus on their way to watch
The Stone Roses The Stone Roses were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1983. They were one of the pioneering groups of the Madchester movement in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The band's classic and most prominent lineup consisted of vocalist I ...
play at Spike Island on 27th May 1990. Through much practice their music developed and they decided on the name 'Presence'. Their first gig as a band was at the 701 Club in their hometown of Failsworth, Greater Manchester On 23rd February 1991. The band later settled on the name Puressence. A name instantly identified by most Mancunians in the early 1990s for the paper letters 'P'-'U'-'R'-'E'-'S'-'S'-'E'-'N'-'C'-'E', which were plastered around Manchester city centre, on derelict buildings, and on bridges (the most notable being the railway bridge opposite the Haçienda). Manchester
independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small and medium-sized enterprise, small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels ...
2 Damn Loud released two singles and there was a further single with Rough Trade Singles Club. The band played a series of gigs at
Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
's In The City festival early in the 1990s. The big breakthrough came a couple of years later, when the band signed to
Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in Jamaica by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in 1959, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, another ...
. Their debut album "Puressence" was released on 29th April 1996. The album spawned five singles. Regular touring around the UK and Europe was followed by their second album ‘Only Forever’ in 1998, which reached the UK top 40 and spawned the chart hit ‘This Feeling’. This helped the band appear on television programmes such as TFI Friday and Soccer AM. BBC Radio 1 DJ Simon Mayo made this his single of the week and it received airplay on numerous radio stations around the UK. ‘Planet Helpless’ was released in 2002 and was a huge success in Greece, reaching number 4 in the album charts. The official video for the top 40 single ‘Walking Dead’ featured Mani (The Stone Roses/Primal Scream) and Bez (Happy Mondays), the song also featured on Sky Sports and on the video game ‘Hitman’. Puressence toured this album in Greece with huge shows supporting Suede and Iggy Pop. In August 2003, after more than ten years with Puressence, guitarist and founder member McDonald left the band and has since gone on to form the band Juno Ashes. He was replaced by Lowell Killen, who is originally from the
Isle of Man The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...
. He has played in other bands and left Manchester band Dry Riser to join Puressence. In 2004, the band played at The Witchwood in
Ashton-under-Lyne Ashton-under-Lyne is a market town in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England. The population was 48,604 at the 2021 census. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, it is on the north bank of the River Tame, Greater Manchester, ...
. In 2006, the band released a single titled "Palisades" on new Manchester label Reaction, followed by an album, ''Don't Forget To Remember'', in September 2007. Which attracted interest in America and was chosen to launch the new iTunes homepage. Within a week the album had entered the Top 30 outselling the likes of Foo Fighters and Led Zeppelin. On 10 and 11 September 2008 Puressence played their first shows in the US. The first was at the Mercury Lounge in New York City. The next night they played the
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in
SoHo SoHo, short for "South of Houston Street, Houston Street", is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Since the 1970s, the neighborhood has been the location of many artists' lofts and art galleries, art installations such as The Wall ...
. The opening song at the Mercury Lounge was "I Suppose". They passed out free CD singles of "Don't Know Any Better" to many fans around the United States. In Autumn 2009, the band released a ‘best of’ compilation ‘Sharpen Up The Knives’ and played their largest ever UK gig in front of 3,500 people at the Apollo in Manchester. They also supported Depeche Mode in Greece. A final album was released on Caserta Red Records on 21st April 2011. ‘Solid State Recital’. Legendary American singer/songwriter Judy Collins sang on the album after Mudriczki covered one of her songs for a tribute album. On 27 November 2013, Puressence announced they had split. Since the split, James Mudriczki had been working on a solo album whilst contributing vocals to two tracks on The Red-Sided Garter Snakes 2015 album, Endless Sea. In 2015, it was announced that Mudriczki has formed a new band called The Nihilists. The line up includes Mudriczki on vocals, Steven Kelly on guitars and programming and John Patterson who is the drummer and multi instrumentalist. On 20 November 2023, 10 years after their split, the band announced on their Facebook page that their first concert in 11 years. Puressence would be playing Albert Hall in Manchester in June 2024. The gig sold out within minutes of the tickets going on sale. In December 2024, Puressence returned to Greece to play their second successive sold out show of their comeback at Floyd in Athens.


Early singles (1992–93)

Prior to releasing these albums, Puressence released two singles and an EP. First the double A-side "Siamese" / "Scapa Flow" was released through Rough Trade. Then followed the EPs ''Petrol Skin'' and ''Offshore'', both released through 2 Damn Loud Records. *"Siamese" (Rough Trade) June 1992 #"Siamese" #"Scapa Flow" *''Petrol Skin'' EP (2 Damn Loud Records) 6 July 1992 #"Telekenesis" #"Suck The Knife" #"Polystyrene Snow" #"Petrol Skin" *''Offshore'' EP (2 Damn Loud) 19 April 1993 #"Offshore" #"None Handed (demo)" #"Mist" Toby Chalmers of Island Records offered them a
recording contract A recording contract (commonly called a record contract or record deal) is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording act (artist or group), where the act makes an audio recording (or series of recordings) for the label to sell and ...
. Support slots to Marion introduced them to new supporters.


Albums


''Puressence'' (1996)

In May 1995, the band released the "I Suppose" single on Island without chart success. A few months later they returned with the "Fire" single, which again failed to sell. The tracks though did herald Puressence's self-titled debut album. The album also produced three more singles, "India", "Traffic Jam in Memory Lane" and "Casting Lazy Shadows." (The album only contained ten tracks, of which they had released five as singles.) Released:   April 1996


''Only Forever'' (1998)

The album displayed a shift in Puressence's style.
Mani Mani may refer to: People * Mani (name), (), a given name and surname (including a list of people with the name) ** Mani (prophet) (c. 216–274), a 3rd century Iranian prophet who founded Manichaeism ** Mani (musician) (born 1962), an English ...
, bassist for the Stone Roses and
Primal Scream Primal Scream are a Scottish rock music, rock band originally formed in 1982 in Glasgow by Bobby Gillespie (vocals) and Jim Beattie (musician), Jim Beattie (guitar). The band's current lineup consists of Gillespie, Andrew Innes (guitar), Simon ...
, appeared as record producer on "Standing in Your Shadow." "This Feeling" proved to be a hit for the band, when it reached number 33 in the UK Singles Chart, helping the band appear on television programmes such as ''
TFI Friday ''TFI Friday'' (Thank Four it's Friday) is an entertainment show that was broadcast on Channel 4 television in the United Kingdom. It was produced by Ginger Productions, written by Danny Baker, and hosted by Chris Evans, for the first five ...
'' and ''
Soccer AM ''Soccer AM'' was a British football-based comedy talk show, produced by Sky Sports. It aired from 20 August 1994 to 27 May 2023 on Sky Showcase, Sky Sports Premier League and Sky Sports Football. From 2010, the programme was put on a short b ...
''.
BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...
DJ
Simon Mayo Simon Andrew Hicks Mayo (born 21 September 1958) is an English radio presenter and author who worked for BBC Radio from 1982 until 2022. Mayo has presented across three BBC stations for extended periods. From 1986 to 2001 he worked for Radio ...
made this his single of the week and it received
airplay Airplay is how frequently a song is being played through broadcasting on radio stations. A song which is being played several times every day (spins) would have a significant amount of airplay. Music which became very popular on jukeboxes, in n ...
on numerous radio stations around the UK. The second single "It Doesn't Matter Anymore" fell just short of 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 ...
. But the third single "All I Want" scraped in at No. 39, its second CD was joined as a
double A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of vinyl records and cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a single usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or ...
with "Never Be The Same Again". The album peaked 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 ...
at No. 36.


''Don't Know Any Better - Anthology'' (1992–2000)

Don’t Know Any Better Anthology is an unofficial Puressence release. The collection was compiled by fans of the band and distributed over the Internet. Contains:
Emotion,   Petrol Skin,   Mist,   Scapa Flow,   Siamese,   Telekinesis,   Suck The Knife,   Fifteen Years,   Bright Star,
Black Snow,   All Star,   Moss Side Lonely,   Only Holy Maybe,   Let Down,   Offshore,   and many more. This collection contains more than 70 songs, studio versions, demos or live rarities from radio.


''Planet Helpless'' (2002)

''Planet Helpless'' peaked in the UK Albums Chart at No. 81, it did enjoy success in Greece (#4 in the album charts) and heralded a number of gigs, mainly in Manchester. Puressence chose to sack their manager and leave Island Records in February 2002. ''Planet Helpless'', due to the ongoing problems with the record company, released only one single. "Walking Dead" gave the band its third Top 40 hit. The
video Video is an Electronics, electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving picture, moving image, visual Media (communication), media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, whi ...
included
Mani Mani may refer to: People * Mani (name), (), a given name and surname (including a list of people with the name) ** Mani (prophet) (c. 216–274), a 3rd century Iranian prophet who founded Manichaeism ** Mani (musician) (born 1962), an English ...
and Bez (
Happy Mondays Happy Mondays are an English rock band formed in Salford in 1980. The original line-up consisted of brothers Shaun Ryder (vocals) and Paul Ryder (bass), Gaz Whelan (drums), Paul Davis (keyboard), and Mark Day (guitar). Mark "Bez" Berry la ...
).


''Don't Forget to Remember'' (2007)

Puressence's fourth album, entitled ''Don't Forget To Remember'', was recorded at Revolution studios in Manchester and produced by Andy Macpherson.
The album was released on 24 September 2007. Despite failing to chart, the album beat off more high-profile releases to be voted 'Best Album by a Manchester Artist' in the
Pride of Manchester Awards {{No footnotes, date=September 2014 The Pride Of Manchester Awards competition is voted for annually every January in Manchester, England and was devised by the Pride Of Manchester group of entertainment websites. It celebrates the best in the cit ...
2008. The album was then chosen by US
iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...
to launch their new homepage feature, 'Editors Choice' in February 2008. Within a week the album entered US iTunes' Top 40. Puressence played a Manchester Academy show to celebrate English Rugby and Soccer team wins on 13 October 2007. The album was also a success in Greece; remaining in the Top 10 for several weeks.
Originally appearing as a soft release in 2007, it was announced that ''Don't Forget to Remember'' got a wide release on 16 June. The album peaked in the UK Albums Chart at No. 176. Released:   24 September 2007
Revolution studios


''Sharpen Up the Knives'' (2009)

Released:   in mid-October 2009
''Sharpen Up the Knives'' was a fifteen track album collection consisting of singles, album tracks and a couple of new recordings.


''Solid State Recital'' (2011)

Track listing: # Swathes Of Sea Made Stone # Burma # When Your Eyes Close # Cape Of No Hope (Water's Edge) # Majesterial # Solid State # Raise Me To The Ground # In Harm's Way # Another World # Our Number's Oracle Released:   2 May 2011
Caserta Red


Line-up and label changes

In August 2003, after more than 12 years with Puressence, guitarist and founding member McDonald left the band. He was replaced by Lowell Killen. Puressence decided to leave Island Records and sign with a new Manchester label called Reaction. They played many gigs throughout 2003 in support of the album ''Planet Helpless''. In the summer of 2003 they also played in The Move Festival in Manchester's Old Trafford Cricket ground. They followed this up by supporting Suede, Iggy Pop and Depeche Mode in
Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...
. Puressence have now set up their own label calling it Caserta Red Records.


Timeline

ImageSize = width:1000 height:auto barincrement:25 PlotArea = left:110 bottom:60 top:0 right:10 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1991 till:01/11/2013 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Legend = orientation:horizontal position:bottom ScaleMajor = increment:1 start:1991 ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1991 Colors = id:vocals value:red legend:Lead_vocals id:lead value:green legend:Lead_guitar id:bass value:Blue legend:Bass id:drums value:orange legend:Drums id:LP value:black legend:Studio_LP id:CP value:gray(0.5) legend:Compilation BarData = bar:James text:"James Mudriczki" bar:Neil text:"Neil McDonald" bar:Lowell text:"Lowell Killen" bar:Kevin text:"Kevin Matthews" bar:Tony text:"Tony Szuminski" LineData = at:01/04/1996 color:LP layer:back at:01/01/1998 color:LP layer:back at:01/01/2000 color:CP layer:back at:01/01/2002 color:LP layer:back at:24/09/2007 color:LP layer:back at:01/10/2009 color:CP layer:back at:02/05/2011 color:LP layer:back PlotData = width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4) bar:James from:01/01/1991 till:end color:vocals bar:Neil from:01/01/1991 till:31/08/2003 color:lead bar:Lowell from:01/09/2003 till:end color:lead bar:Kevin from:01/01/1991 till:end color:bass bar:Tony from:01/01/1991 till:end color:drums


Band membership

The band consist of: *James Mudriczki: Vocals *Lowell Killen: Guitar *Kevin Matthews: Bass guitar *Tony Szuminski: Drums / percussion


Discography


Studio albums


Singles


Song appearances

*"Standing in Your Shadow" featured in the end titles of the British
crime film Crime film is a film belonging to the crime fiction genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and fiction. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as Drama (film and television), dr ...
, ''
Face The face is the front of the head that features the eyes, nose and mouth, and through which animals express many of their emotions. The face is crucial for human identity, and damage such as scarring or developmental deformities may affect th ...
''. *"Walking Dead" is in the Eidos video game, '' Hitman: Contracts''. *"Make Time" was used in the
Dennis Hopper Dennis Lee Hopper (May 17, 1936 – May 29, 2010) was an American actor, filmmaker, photographer and visual artist. He was considered one of the key figures of New Hollywood. He earned prizes from the Cannes Film Festival and Venice Internatio ...
film, ''Out of Season''. *"Walking Dead" was used for a while by
Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British broadcasting of sports events, subscription sports channels operated by the satellite television, satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television ...
in 2005. It was background music when the football scores were being read at the end of the night after screening live premiership games. * "This Feeling" was also used by Sky Sports for their "Premiership Years" review of the 1998–99 season and in 1999-00


References


External links


Official websiteGreek websiteMyspaceAlbum review
by UKEvents.net {{Authority control English alternative rock groups British shoegaze musical groups Musical groups from the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham Musical groups established in 1992 Alternative rock groups from Greater Manchester