Genres Rock Active until 2007 Albums Small Talk | Years active 1998–2007 Genre Rock music | |
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Labels UK: Ear Candy
US: Grunion Past members Pete Baker
Tom Billington
Alex Richards
Tim Slade Origin Watford, United Kingdom (1998) Profiles | ||
Mohair were a British rock band from Watford, England, that formed in 1998.
Contents
Early years
Mohair featured Pete Baker (drums, brass), Tom Billington (guitar, vocals), Alex Richards (keyboards, vocals), and Tim Slade (bass, vocals). The members of the band had played in various bands since their early teens, including in a Commitments cover band.
After signing with M1 Records in October 2001, Mohair spent much of the next 3 years touring throughout the UK. In March 2002 the band made their USA debut with performances at The Cat Club and The Roxy in Los Angeles – and by summer 2004 the band had played over 300 gigs and appeared at many major UK festivals.
Popularity
Mohair went on to form their own Ear Candy imprint in 2005, and released singles "End of the Line" and "Stranded (in the Middle of Nowhere)" that year. In spring 2006, Mohair performed several shows at the annual South By Southwest Convention in Austin, Texas, followed by shows in Chicago and New York.
Their debut album, Small Talk (produced by Mark Wallis and Dave Ruffy) was released in the UK on 24 April 2006 on the Ear Candy label, promoted by an appearance on The Album Chart Show on Channel 4 in the UK. The album was received favourably by Allmusic, with Jason MacNeil giving it four stars and calling it "an album that should have a lot of people talking", while Michael Deacon of the Daily Telegraph called the songs "simple and predictable" with "almost teeth-grinding tunefulness". The US version of the album was released on Grunion Records on 19 September 2006 (supported by a 9-week tour of the East coast of America). Upon returning to the UK, Mohair toured as the support act for Boy Kill Boy on their December 2006 UK tour.
In 2007 they supported Razorlight on their February - April 2007 US and UK tours. They also co-headlined with The Holloways in Germany in May of that year.
The band announced they were splitting in September 2007 and played a final show in St Albans on September 28th 2007.
Post split
Frontman Tom Billington went on to form the band Tommy T and The Belletones and currently works with schools on music projects as well as performing for Young Voices, which are the largest school choir concerts in the world.
Pete Baker went on to play with Emmy The Great and fellow Watford band The Staves. Baker now plays drums for several acts including Younghusband. Since 2009, Richards has been the touring keyboard player on several tours for The Bluetones
Songs
Life2015
Little Voice
Talk of the Town