The Zephyrs are an

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

-based indie band. They have released six albums and two EPs containing their

shoegazing Shoegaze (originally called shoegazing and sometimes conflated with dream pop) is a subgenre of indie and alternative rock characterized by its ethereal mixture of obscured vocals, guitar distortion and effects, feedback, and overwhelming volum ...

folk-rock style.

Band history

Brothers Stuart (vocals, guitar) and David Nicol (bass) had been playing music together for many years before forming The Zephyrs; they released their first album in 1999. ''It's OK Not to Say Anything'' was released on the Edinburgh indie label Evol; it garnered the attention of Scottish post-rock band

Mogwai Mogwai () are a Scottish post-rock band, formed in 1995 in Glasgow. The band consists of Stuart Braithwaite (guitar, vocals), Barry Burns (guitar, piano, synthesizer, vocals), Dominic Aitchison (bass guitar), and Martin Bulloch (drums). Mogwa ...

who signed The Zephyrs to their own imprint Rock Action, which was then owned by SouthPaw Records. In 2001 the band released their second album ''When the Sky Comes Down It Comes Down on Your Head'' (which included guest vocals from Mojave 3's

Rachel Goswell Rachel Ann Goswell (born 16 May 1971) is an English musician who rose to prominence as vocalist and guitarist of the shoegazing, shoegaze band Slowdive, which formed in 1989. Goswell, along with Neil Halstead, Ian McCutcheon and former Chapterh ...

) through SouthPaw Records. Unfortunately for the band, SouthPaw Records folded the week the album came out. Their publishing deal evaporated, as did the funding for the album's promotion and the band's tour. In early 2002 The Zephyrs began work on a new album. At around this time, the

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

-based record label Acuarela approached the band and invited The Zephyrs to play at the Primavera Sound music festival in Barcelona. In June of that year Acuarela released a four-song EP called ''The Love That Will Guide You Back Home''. By this time the band's line-up had gone through many changes. Only Stuart and David Nicol had remained in the band throughout. Malcolm Cochrane, the band's original lead guitarist who had left after the release of their first album, returned. David Jeans, a schoolfriend of the Nicol brothers, joined the band to play drums. Robert Dillam, formerly of Adorable, joined to play guitar. It was this five piece line-up that set off for Spain to embark on a two-week tour arranged by Acuarela. Throughout this rocky period in the band's history Keith Cullen, of

Setanta Records Setanta Records was a British independent record label led by founder Keith Cullen. Setanta published UK and Irish indie music in the late 1980s and in the 1990s. History Setanta Records was started in a Camberwell, London squat by former bicyc ...

, had been offering managerial advice. He signed The Zephyrs to Setanta. Working with long-time friend and producer Michael Brennan, the band completed their third album ''A Year to the Day'' which was released on 2 September 2003. Prior to the album release, in the summer of 2003, The Zephyrs performed at the Benicàssim Festival in Spain. Following a short tour of the UK in support of ''A Year To The Day'', the band's live schedule lightened considerably. They played just five shows during 2004. Much of 2004 was spent recording fourth album ''Bright Yellow Flowers on a Dark Double Bed'' which was released in June 2005 on Acuarela. The band appeared at the Benicàssim Festival again in the summer of 2005 and toured both Spain and Italy. 2006 through to 2009 were quiet years for The Zephyrs, although not completely inactive. A three-piece version of the band (Stuart and David Nicol with Robert Dillam on drums) appeared at the Triku Festival in Spain in October 2008. The band also teamed up with producer Michael Brennan for the first time since 2003 to record and mix songs for a fifth album. ''Fool of Regrets'' was released in September 2010 on London-based label Club AC30 preceded by the single ''Creative Faith'' and a short tour of the UK. In mid 2014, The Zephyrs began preparations for a sixth album and a new gigging schedule with the Nicol brothers, Dillam on Drums, Richard Hamill on guitar, and Will Bates playing keyboards.

Discography

Albums

*''It's OK Not to Say Anything'' (1999, Evol) *'' When the Sky Comes Down It Comes Down on Your Head'' (2001, SouthPaw) *''A Year to the Day'' (2004, Setanta) *''Bright Yellow Flowers on a Dark Double Bed'' (2005, Acuarela) *''Fool Of Regrets'' (2010, Club AC30) *''For Sapphire Needle'' (2023, Acuarela)

EPs

*''Stargazer EP'' (2001, Rock Action) *''The Love That Will Guide You Back Home'' (2002, Acuarela)

Singles

*"Creative Faith" (2010, Club AC30)

Compilations

*''A Quiet Riot'' (2002, Play It Again Sam) song: "Setting Sun" *''HomesleepHome 2'' (2002, Homesleep) song: "Greyhound Going Somewhere" *''Acuarela Songs 2'' (2003, Acuarela) song: "Make Me Lonely"

References

External links

The Zephyrs' official website

Acuarela Records official website - available in both English and Spanish

Setanta Records official website

Rock Action Records official website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zephyrs, The Musical groups established in 1999 Scottish rock music groups Scottish indie rock groups 1999 establishments in Scotland