My Drug Hell
| My Drug Hell | |
|---|---|
 My Drug Hell 2 Album Cover | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Shepherds Bush, London, United Kingdom |
| Genres | Rock, Pop, Power pop, Indie |
| Years active | 1993-present |
| Labels | UK Diversity, Voltone, Forthesakeofthesong, US Countdown/Unity, Aus TWA, Shimmydisc |
| Associated acts | Chelsea, Atomic Vicars |
| Website | |
| Members | Tim Briffa, David Preston, Sebastian Kellig |
| Notable instruments | |
| Gibson 335, Rickenbacker 4001, Ludwig drums | |
My Drug Hell are a British rock band. Their current line up is vocals guitarist Tim Briffa, bass David Preston and drums Sebastian Kellig.[1]
Career
After a brief stint in the band Chelsea, Tim Briffa formed the Atomic Vicars with Paul Donnelly on bass and Chris Calvert on drums. They released one 7" single [2] after which Calvert was replaced by Joe Bultitude and they changed their name to My Drug Hell (a reference to an over-used tabloid headline.)
Debut single Girl at the Bus Stop was released in the UK by Diversity where it spent several weeks in the Melody Maker/NME independent charts, becoming Single Of the Week on Radio 1's Evening Session and several shows on XFM and GLR. In Australia it was released through TWA Records making Triple J's Hot Hundred for 1997 and in the US via Countdown/Unity where it spent over three months in the college charts and was Number 1 Most Requested on every commercial station to play it, including a record ten week run on WHTG in New Jersey. The song was later used in a Miller Genuine Draft Beer commercial and two feature films Origin Of the Species[3] and Black Circle Boys.[4] The accompanying video also won a Best Video vote on MTV's Alternative Option.
Two more U.K. singles followed (2am, You Were Right I was Wrong), both making the Indie Top 10.
Their This is My Drug Hell LP was recorded at the all-analogue Toe Rag Studios, but was delayed due to a series of technical problems that included the loss of half the master mixes due to a faulty tape machine. Two weeks before its planned UK release Diversity went bust.
By this time the album had been released in the US and Australia where it received a series of good reviews and made the US Specialty Show Top 10. The album was eventually released in the UK through the band's own Voltone label along with a single of Maybe We Could Fly and a re-release of Bus Stop, which was Single Of the Weekend on Mark Goodier's show on Radio 1. By this point Bultitude had left, replaced by Raife Burchell (Ed Harcourt, Lightning Seeds) followed about a year later by Donnelly who was replaced by Sebastian Hoog (Izia Higelin.) This second line-up gigged for around three years, before also breaking up. A third incarnation was put together with David Preston on bass and Sebastian Kellig on drums and their second album My Drug Hell 2 [5] was released on Forthesakeofthesong with a single Mysteries of Love. The song was used in British gangster film The Crew along with two other tracks from the album: Nowhere Town and You Don't Need Me Today.[6]
As of 2015 the band have completed their third album entitled The Good Times Are All Gone as well as a four language EP of Spider's Web.
Discography
Studio albums
- 1996 – This is My Drug Hell
- 2010 – This is My Drug Hell 2
- 2015 – The Good Times Are All Gone(Unreleased)
Singles
- 1995 – Girl At The Bus Stop/Don't Say Goodbye
- 1996 – You Were Right I Was Wrong/Locked My Heart Up(alternate version)
- 1997 – 2am/Maybe We Could Fly
- 1998 – Maybe We Could Fly/For Your Eyes
- 2008 – Mysteries Of Love/Goblins, Mermaids and Things