Little My (band)
| Little My | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Cardiff, Wales |
| Genres | Twee pop |
| Years active | 2006–2010 |
| Labels |
Weepop! Records Little Pocket Records Businessman Records Bubblewrap Records |
| Website | littlemy.org |
| Members |
Harri (The School) Graf (Gindrinker) Charlie (Mrs The Nay) Nicola (Silence at Sea) G (Silence at Sea, Hornby Pylons) Ollie (Hornby Pylons) Bienjamu (Hornby Pylons) Mel Rich (Lucky Delucci,The School) ------------------- Laura (Silence at Sea) David (Silence at Sea) Steph (The School) Simon (Hornby Pylons) Harriet (Los Campesinos!) Tom (Los Campesinos!) Neil Los Campesinos!) Gareth (Los Campesinos!) Steve (Sweet Baboo) Liz (The School) Fran (The School) Ryan (The School) Rosie (Joy of Sex) FilmRyan Adam (Last Partisan) Ceri (Ceri Frost) Stig (The Dead School) Rhodri (Right Hand Left Hand, Ratatosk) Andy (Pagan Wanderer Lu) DC Gates (Gindrinker) Rob (Voluntary Butler Scheme) Spencer (Spencer McGarry Season) Pete Chickens James Fenton |
Little My were a twee pop band from Cardiff, Wales that performed live from 10 March 2006 – 10 March 2010. They were well known for the animal ears costumes worn on stage and their chaotic and sometimes shambolic live performances.[1]
History
Little My (named after the Moomins character) formed in 2006 by Harri Davidson by collecting members of other local bands and close friends. Composed of a fluctuating pool of voluntary members, the band eventually settled with nine core members, with up to 21 additional satellite members at any given performance and over 30 contributors throughout its four-year lifespan.
Ten extended play records were issued, either by self-release or by one of four different record labels (Weepop! Records, Little Pocket Records, Businessman Records, Bubblewrap Records). Little My's Fifth remains absent from their back catalogue.
The masterplan was to record each song beginning with a different letter of the alphabet then amass these into two albums, one with 26 original songs (A-Z), one with 26 cover versions (Z-A).
The band played 55 gigs in total, playing their last ever show, 'Little My's Wake', in Cardiff (UK) on their fourth anniversary.
The band were renowned for donning animal ears whilst playing live - with the main singer in full bear costume.
Internet, television and radio appearances
On 19 December (Harri & Steph form the band's birthday) 2007, the band performed a Christmas session live on Radio 1 Wales for Bethan Elfyn. The band was at their biggest with 20 members participating in the performance. The band were interviewed and played live versions of, Xmas Song, Merry Christmas Everyone by Shakin' Stevens, All But the Beeps Meep and You're Told You Are. The band were interviewed by Bethan again after their Manchester 'In The City' performance on 20 March 2007, outside the lurid pink shutter of a sex shop! Possibly the last place you would associate with the band. Harri gave a final interview with Bethan on her show a week prior to their final gig.
In February 2009 the band were asked to compose and record a song for The National Museum of Wales in order to promote their RESPOND project, designed to encourage new visitors to their museums. The song 'Panic at the Museum'[2] was written with inspiration from Cardiff National Museum.
The band itself also featured in the Pop Peth exhibition The National Museum of Wales in St Fagans. Its aim was to show the unique relationship between person, music, place and time, and reflect the influence that popular culture has on each and every one of us.
Little My were one of the bands to feature in The Guardian's travel guide[3] section written by Huw Stephens (Radio 1) about Cardiff, in which Huw himself was filmed going into Spiller's Records and purchasing the latest release by the band - whilst being served by Graf from the band!
They cropped up again in the Drowned In Sound "A City Guide to Cardiff"[4] - written by Ollie Campesinos!
The members of the band have always been great supporters of Spiller's Records in Cardiff - the oldest record shop in the world! As well as performing in the store to celebrate the release of their seventh EP, Little My also played many gigs with every member sporting a Spiller's t-shirt of varying colours - initially in support against its proposed closure. A further nod towards the amazing record shop was made when the shop front and interior appeared on the cover of their final EP release, Little My's Tenth, complete with a Little My character entering the shop.
Discography
The band's discography consists of ten numerically-titled EPs. These were released in the correct order, aside from Little My's Fifth, which came out after the series had concluded and the band had split.
- Little My's First (2006, self-released)
- Little My's Second (2006, self-released)
- Little My's Third (2007, Weepop! Records)
- Little My's Fourth (2007, self-released)
- Little My's Fifth (2011, Weepop! Records)
- Little My's Sixth (2008, Weepop! Records (UK), Little Pocket Records (USA))
- Little My's Seventh (2008, Weepop! Records)
- Little My's Eighth (2009, Businessman Records)
- Little My's Ninth (2010, Bubblewrap Records)
- Little My's Tenth (2010, Bubblewrap Records)
Songs
- A - Z
- All but the Beeps Meep
- Bears in the Air
- Cute Guts
- Do You Really Want to Go
- Excuse me, it's Springtime!
- Forever (Not) Yours
- Guess Who
- Heavy, Quite Heavy, Quiet
- In Isolation Nothing Makes Sense
- Jumpers Back On
- Kicking People on Pavements
- Leaves Nothing
- Moths
- Nicola Ate My Music
- O-Beans Calculator
- Panic at the Museum
- Quiet Times B
- Ruining Things Like Everything
- Sellotape My Hands
- Travelling Light
- Upsticks & Carry On
- V For Five
- Wouldn't You Like to Know
- X's For Eyes
- You're Told You Are
- Zzzzzzz
- Z - A (Cover Versions)
- ?To Be Revealed!?
- ?To Be Revealed!?
- ?To Be Revealed!?
- ?To Be Revealed!?
- ?To Be Revealed!?
- ?To Be Revealed!?
- ?To Be Revealed!?
- ?To Be Revealed!?
- ?To Be Revealed!?
- ?To Be Revealed!?
- Strange Shapes by Hornby Pylons
- New Slang by The Shins
- Monsterpuss(y) by The Vaselines
- ?To Be Revealed!?
- KKK Took My Baby Away by The Ramones
- ?To Be Revealed!?
- ?To Be Revealed!?
- ?To Be Revealed!?
- Heavy Heart by Jeffrey Lewis
- Grandstand Theme
- ?To Be Revealed!?
- ?To Be Revealed!?
- Debaser by The Pixies
- ?To Be Revealed!?
- ?To Be Revealed!?
- AM180 by Grandaddy
- Christmas Songs
- Little Donkey
- Merry Christmas Everyone by Shakin' Stevens
- When the Turtle Doves've Flown Away
- Xmas Song
Compilation projects
The founder of the band (Harri) was also one of the main instigators for two notable compilation releases to come from Cardiff
'This Town 'Aint Big Enough for the 22 of Us', in collaboration with Twisted By Design, was a celebration of the wealth of talent to coming from the city in 2007.
'12 Days of Christmas', in collaboration with Bubblewrap Collective, was a concept project which gave 12 bands 1 month to write and record a song based one of the twelve days of Christmas.
Both CDs received positive reviews and radio play.
- Other Compilations
- 'This Town 'Aint Big Enough for the 22 of Us' - Twisted By Design (Sellotape My Hands) (23 November 2007)
- 'Spring Forward - A Weepop-up Compilation' - Weepop! Records (Jumpers Back On) (March 2008)
- 'A Very Cherry Christmas 4' - Cherryade Records (Xmas Song) (1 December 2008)
- 'Indietracks - An Indiepop Compilation' - Make Do & Mend Records (Ruining Things Like Everything) (1 June 2009)
- '12 Days of Christmas' - Bubblewrap Records (When the Turtle Doves've Flown Away) (1 December 2009)
References
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