Maxïmo Park

"Tom English" redirects here. For other people by this name, see Thomas English.

Maxïmo Park
Background information
Origin	North East England
Genres	Indie rock, post-punk revival
Years active	2001–present
Labels	Warp Records
Website	maximopark.com
Members
Paul Smith Duncan Lloyd Archis Tiku Lukas Wooller Tom English
Past members
Chris Mitra-Hall (bass)

Maxïmo Park are a British alternative rock band, formed in 2000. They are signed to Warp Records. The band consists of Paul Smith (vocals), Duncan Lloyd (guitar), Archis Tiku (bass), Lukas Wooller (keyboard) and Tom English (drums). The band have released three studio albums: their 2005 debut album A Certain Trigger, which was nominated for the Mercury Prize, the 2007 follow-up Our Earthly Pleasures, and their third album named Quicken the Heart, was released in May 2009. The first two albums went double platinum.^{[citation needed]}

History

Formation and early releases (2000–2004)

Maxïmo Park were formed in Tyne and Wear by guitarist and founding member Duncan Lloyd with bass player Archis Tiku in 2000^{[citation needed]}. They are named after Máximo Gómez Park (also known as Domino Park), located in Little Havana, Miami^{[citation needed]}. Initially, the four founding members played several small shows including Manchester's 'In the City', which showcases unsigned bands in the UK. In 2003, the band decided they wanted a frontman as original singers Archis and Duncan wanted to focus on writing the songs. The then-girlfriend of drummer Tom English, noticed his friend Paul Smith singing along to Stevie Wonder's "Superstition".^[1] When Smith was found, the band did not know if he could sing: "When he first joined we didn't know if he could; just that he was a lunatic jumping around in a suit, it felt like the last piece of the jigsaw". With Smith joining the band gave him demos of their songs and from then on started writing as unit.

Around March 2004, a friend funded 300 copies of a 7" red vinyl single (Graffiti / Going Missing) and later released a vinyl of their tracks (The Coast Is Always Changing) that they recorded in Duncan Lloyd's house in Fenham. After some time of doing gigs around their home town, Steve Beckett of the dance-electronic label Warp Records got hold of one of these records and decided to sign the band to his label.

A Certain Trigger to Our Earthly Pleasures (2005–2007)

In 2005, Maxïmo Park released their debut album, A Certain Trigger, which sold over 300,000 copies and was nominated for the Mercury Prize in July 2005.^[1] In July Maxïmo Park had the honour of being the first band to play the Ibiza Rocks festival on its opening event.^[2]

The band also contributed their song 'Wasteland' to Help!: A Day in the Life.

In August 2006, the band announced that they had started work on their next album, which was produced by Gil Norton and recorded in London at Rak Studios in St John's Wood. On 22 January 2007, the band announced that their second album, Our Earthly Pleasures, would be released on 2 April 2007 and would be preceded by the album's lead single, "Our Velocity", on 19 March 2007.^[3] On 30 January 2007 the band released details of a tour to promote Our Earthly Pleasures, the tickets of which sold out within minutes upon their release on 2 February 2007.

In July 2009, Paul Smith revealed in The Guardian that they had been writing a lot of material based on obituaries and mentioned a possibility of a compilation CD of songs based on biographical and obituarial content.

Quicken the Heart (2008–2009)

In October 2008, the band announced that they had started recording their third album in Los Angeles with producer Nick Launay, known for his recent work with Nick Cave and Grinderman.^[4] On 26 November 2008, it was reported by ClashMusic.com that Smith had announced in a blog posting that the album had been completed, but the producer of the album, Launay, wanted to take "a little break before starting to mix it".^[5]

The full track list of the album was announced on 11 March 2009. Quicken the Heart was released on May 11, with the first single, "The Kids Are Sick Again" being released a week earlier.^[6] Tickets for a tour taking place in May 2009 sold out in record time^{[citation needed]}.

In 2009 they contributed a cover of a Vincent Gallo song to the Warp20 (Recreated) compilation, as well as having their song "Acrobat" covered by Seefeel. In 2010 they performed a new song called "Banlieue"^[7], however there has been no news on this song since. In July 2011 it was rumoured on twitter by the lead singer Paul Smith that Maxïmo Park were writing a new record for 2012. On 24 July 2011 whilst headlining Ben & Jerry's Summer Sundae 2011 on Clapham Common Paul Smith announced they were working on a new record for release in 2012. They played a new but unnamed song.

Members

• Tom English – drums
• Duncan Lloyd – guitar
• Paul Smith – vocals
• Archis Tiku – bass
• Lukas Wooller – keyboard

Discography

Main article: Maxïmo Park discography

List of Maximo park songs

Studio albums

• A Certain Trigger (2005)
• Our Earthly Pleasures (2007)
• Quicken the Heart (2009)

Compilation albums

• Missing Songs (2006)
• 12 - a collection of remixes.

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Duerden, Nick (22 February 2007). "An audience with Maximo Park's front man". The Independent. http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/an-audience-with-maximo-parks-front-man-437402.html. Retrieved 16 March 2009. 
2. ^ http://www.ibizarocks.com/events/gigs/maximo-park-everything-everything-kissy-sellout-july-13/
3. ^ "Maximo Park unveil new album details". NME. 22 January 2007. http://www.nme.com/news/maximo-park/25951. Retrieved 30 January 2007. 
4. ^ "Maximo Park begin recording third album". NME. 27 October 2008. http://www.nme.com/news/maximo-park/40666. Retrieved 16 March 2009. 
5. ^ "Maximo Park Finish New Album Band Prepare Third LP". ClashMusic.com. 26 November 2008. http://www.clashmusic.com/news/maximo-park-finish-new-album. Retrieved 16 March 2009. 
6. ^ "Quicken The Heart Tracklisting and Release Date". maximopark.com. 11 March 2009. http://www.maximopark.com/quicken-the-heart-tracklisting-and-release-date. Retrieved 16 March 2009. 
7. ^ song called Banlieue, Maximo park play new. "Maximo Park - Banlieue - (Split Festival 2010)". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqPQQt5LvbM&NR=1. 

External links

• Official website
• Maxïmo Park on Myspace