RedFaces were a British indie pop band from
Sheffield,
South Yorkshire. The band has three members: Harry Lyon, Isaac White and Charlie Yapp.
The band signed to
Sony Music UK
Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainme ...
's
RCA Records in 2015.
Biography
RedFaces are a 3-piece indie rock band formed in Dronfield, Derbyshire in 2012 when the 3 founding members were still at school. Originally performing covers they quickly started adding original material to their live set and soon began attracting the attention of the local music community with their energetic live performances.
The band gained an early fan in Dean Jackson, from BBC Introducing in the East Midlands, after they uploaded an early demo, leading to the band being invited to perform on the Allotment stage at the YNOT Festival in 2014.
In January 2015 the band uploaded a new track, "Katie Come Home" to BBC Introducing, which led to widespread interest from the UK Record Industry. The track also received widespread radio play on both local BBC stations as well as Huw Stephens from Radio 1, and John Kennedy from Radio X.
BBC Introducing invited the band to again play YNOT Festival, this time on the large second stage, The Quarry. Despite an early afternoon slot the tent was filled to its capacity of 2000.
The band played at
T in The Park in July 2015. In August of where invited to open the Leeds Festival on the DTTR stage on the Thursday night of the festival, having impressed the promoters earlier in the year when performing at Live At Leeds.
The band released their first single "Kerosene" on 16 December 2016, under
RCA. and commenced their first full UK tour in support of the single on 20 January 2017, staying out on the road until the beginning of March. "Kerosene" received airplay from
Huw Stephens and
Phil Taggart
Philip Taggart (born 10 June 1986) is a Northern Irish DJ and radio presenter on BBC Radio Ulster.
Early life
Philly Taggart was born in Derry but was raised in Drumragh, a townland on the outskirts of Omagh in County Tyrone. He attended ...
on
BBC Radio 1, as well as being added to the evening playlist for
Radio X. The accompanying video for "Kerosene", shot on location in Sheffield and Derbyshire, was added to the MTV Rocks playlist.
The origin behind their band name was revealed during an interview with
Clash Magazine.
"We were pretty young, actually, because we were still only playing covers back then. We all went bright red! We didn’t have a name, and then someone suggested it to us and it stuck.” - Harry Lyon
The band's follow up single, "Wise Up" was released on 19 May 2017, with
Huw Stephens giving the track its national debut on
BBC Radio 1 the day before to coincide with the band's appearance at
The Great Escape Festival in Brighton. In July 2017, the band performed live at
Truck Festival
Truck Festival is an annual independent music festival in Oxfordshire, England. It was started in 1998 by the Bennett family (including the brothers Robin and Joe of the band Goldrush), who decided that mainstream festivals such as Glastonbu ...
in
Staffordshire
Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...
.
The band also performed at
Dot to Dot Festival,
Kendal Calling,
Isle of Wight Festival, Community Festival, and TRSMT throughout the summer of 2017, as well as touring with Australian band
DMA'S.
The band released, "Take It Or Leave It" on 17 September 2017 and received airplay from
BBC Radio 1's
Huw Stephens and
BBC 6 Music
BBC Radio 6 Music is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC, specialising primarily in alternative music. BBC 6 Music was the first national music radio station to be launched by the BBC in 32 years. It is available onl ...
’s
Steve Lamacq, adding it to BBC Radio 1's daytime playlist as BBC Introducing Track Of The Week. The band closed out 2017 with another full UK tour and were named by MTV Rocks as one of the most exciting new bands to come out of the UK in 2018.
In January 2018, the band leaked footage from the recording studio, hinting that the follow up to "Take It Or Leave It" would be released shortly. ''
NME'' named the band in the ''NME'' 100 on 18 January alongside Yonaka and The Pale White - "Take It Or Leave It" and "Kerosene" are magnificent launching pads for the group." - Thomas Smith, ''NME''
On 13 March 2018
Huw Stephens announced the exclusive first play of new single, "Messed Up Feeling" on
BBC Radio 1, making it the 4th consecutive single to receive National Airplay on the station. "Messed Up Feeling" also received airplay from
Steve Lamacq on 6 Music and
Radio X. As with "Take It Or Leave It" the single was produced by
Carey Willetts from the band
Athlete (band). The video to accompany the single was added to the playlists for
MTV
MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
Rocks and The Box, where it remained for 5 and 4 weeks respectively. It was also featured on Sunday Brunch on Channel 4.
Following the release the band announced a series of festival appearances, including All Points East, Tramlines, Boardmasters, Bingley Music Live and a return to YNOT after a years absence, this time on the main stage.
The band released "Way Down" in August 2018. Their fifth single, the song took a slight shift in the musical style - incorporating more electronic musical elements and influences from
Psychedelic pop and
Contemporary R&B . The single again received its debut on
BBC Radio 1 with the accompanying video being playlisted on
MTV
MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
Rocks. The tour in support of the single included dates with
Reverend and The Makers, as well as the announcement of a joint headline tour across the UK with
Blackwaters and
Retro Video Club.
The band announced their break up in February 2020, releasing "Getting Away With It" as a final single. Subsequently, Harry announced his continuation as a solo artist and has debuted clips of new material on his Instagram account. Similarly, Isaac announced the beginning of a new
synthwave project called
sadbot. Charlie is currently working as a session drummer, whilst managing a pub.
Members
* Harry Lyon - guitar, vocals
* Charlie Yapp - drums, vocals
* Isaac White - bass, vocals, guitar, keyboards
* Haydn Walters - bass
* Andrew Wynn - guitar
* Ryan Laycock - guitar
Touring members
* Will Puddephat - guitar, keyboards (2018)
* Will Crumpton - guitar, keyboards (2018)
* Ferg Moran - guitar, keyboards (2018)
* Toby Holmes - guitar, keyboards (2018-2019)
*Isaac Vohra - guitar, keyboards (2019)
Timeline
Discography
* "Kerosene" (2016)
* "Wise Up" (2017)
* "Take It Or Leave It" (2017)
* "Messed Up Feeling" (2018)
* "Way Down" (2018)
* "Getting Away With It" (2020)
References
External links
Official WebsiteBand profileon
Sony Music UK
Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainme ...
*
{{authority control
Musical groups established in 2012
British indie rock groups
British alternative rock groups
2012 establishments in England