歌梅兹

Gomez are an English indie rock band from Southport, Merseyside, comprising Ian Ball (vocals, guitar), Paul "Blackie" Blackburn (bass), Tom Gray (vocals, guitars, keyboards), Ben Ottewell (vocals, guitars) and Olly Peacock (drums, synths, computers). The band has three singers and four songwriters, employing traditional and electronic instruments. Their music covers the genres of blues, indie, alternative, rock, folk, psychedelic and experimental.

Between 1998 and 2011, they released 7 studio albums.

History

Formation (1995–1997)

Guitarist and vocalist Ian Ball and drummer Olly Peacock are long-time friends, having played in a three-piece band from the ages of 14 to 18. They met bassist Paul Blackburn and multi-instrumentalist Tom Gray at college. Ian Ball met vocalist/guitarist Ben Ottewell at Sheffield University.

The band played its first gig together in 1996 in Leeds at the Hyde Park Social Club on Ash Grove. At the time, they did not have a formal name. The band left a sign out which read "Gomez in here", for a friend of theirs whose surname was Gomez, to indicate that it was the site of their first gig. People saw the sign and assumed that the band's name was Gomez, and it was later made official.

The band started recording four-track demos in Peacock's father's garage in Southport during the summer of 1996. The demos were given to Stephen Fellows (later their manager) who distributed them to four record labels. The band, having played only one performance, decided against playing showcases in London and instead made the record companies travel to Red Tape rehearsal studios. After several weeks of playing to over 25 labels, the band signed to Hut Records (Virgin Records), in September 1997.

Bring It On (1997–1998)

After signing to Hut Records in September 1997, they began recording their debut album. They entered Parr Street Studios with engineer Ken Nelson, recording new songs and improving the mixes of the demos. The band self-produced, and the album was certified platinum. A season of English Festivals (including two performances at Glastonbury) followed. The band won the Mercury Music Prize in September 1998.

In 1998, Philips Electronics chose Gomez to cover The Beatles' song "Getting Better" for an ad campaign for Philips' new lines of flat panel and high-definition television sets. The cover song was not released on an album until 2000 with Abandoned Shopping Trolley Hotline, a collection of B-sides.

Liquid Skin (1999–2000)

The band's second album, Liquid Skin, was released in 1999, leading Gomez to success on the British and Australian albums charts. The band also made the Billboard Heatseeker chart for the first time. After winning the Mercury Prize, the band went back to Parr Street Studios, recording as much material as they could between tours. Ken Nelson engineered once again and the band self-produced. The album went platinum and touring followed, including a performance at Glastonbury Festival on the second stage.

In Our Gun (2000–2003)

The group's third album, In Our Gun, was released in 2002. It made the top 10 on the UK charts and the top 50 on the Australian charts. The single "Shot Shot" charted in the UK top 40, the Portugal top 20, and the Billboard Heatseeker chart. The band produced and recorded the record in Batsford Manor, Gloucestershire, with additional recordings in Studio 2 at Abbey Road Studios. Giving the album a perfect score in his review for PopMatters, Matt Cibula wrote "everyone who doesn’t like this record is insane in a bad way. Screw Wilco; In Our Gun is sounding very much like the Album of the Year."

Split the Difference (2004–2005)

While Gomez's first three albums were self-produced, the band worked with Tchad Blake as producer for their fourth record, Split the Difference. The band were fans of his compressed sounds as heard on Los Lobos and Latin Playboys recordings. The band built a studio in Portslade, just outside Brighton, England (where most of them were residing). They worked independently for months recording, until they developed a record with Tchad Blake at Real World Studios.

The album, which was released on 17 May 2004, was met with mixed critical response, with Allmusic rating it as four stars out of five and BBC Internet Music Reviews describing it as "one of the finest releases of the year so far. If you were one of those people who wrote them off two years ago, it's time to get listening again." However, the album received less favourable reviews from a number of other sources, including Pitchfork Media and NME. It reached the top 40 in the UK and Australia. The first single "Catch Me Up" entered the UK top 40 in March 2004 and "Silence" was released as the second single.

Virgin/EMI then closed down Hut Recordings; the band asked to be released from their contract and Virgin agreed. In 2005, Gomez signed a deal with Dave Matthews' ATO Records. Under the new label, the band released their first live album, Out West, in June 2005. The double disc CD was compiled from shows recorded at San Francisco's Fillmore Theater in January 2005.