Gomez

The assembling of the English outfit Gomez became reality thank to guitarist and vocalist Ian Ball and drummer Olly Peacock. They used to play metal for a long time as part of the Severed band until 1995 when the musicians decided to try their skills in a different genre. In a short while, they found guitarist Tom Gray and keyboardist and bassist Paul Blackburn who would share their music preferences. Shortly after, Ball went to study in Sheffield where he met a promising young vocalist named Ben Ottewell who became the fifth participant of the formation. The musicians could not reach any agreement on the title of their band until the very day of their first gig in 1996. The decision came out of nowhere. To help their friend whose name was Gomez find the place of their concert, the members of the group put up a sign stating ‘The Gomez band plays here’ on the entrance. As a result, everyone who came to see the fresher concluded Gomez was the name. Following that performance, the band went to a garage owned by one of the musicians to work on a demo record. Against all the expectations, the product appeared to be of a top quality and soon earned them a proposal from Hut, a Virgin Records division.

In 1997, Gomez locked up in the studio to prepare their debut full-length album. What they eventually made was a brilliant work named Bring It On, a record that took a year to win a Mercury Music Prize award. The musicians, in their turn, stated that they should never have expected to achieve this with the album that they had never taken too seriously. Having amassed a huge army of fans from the European venues, Gomez began the American invasion. The first big step in that direction was a streak of gigs as an opening act for Eagle Eye Cherry. In the intermissions between the concerts, the group was working on the sophomore effort, Liquid Skin, to be issued in 1999. The fresh release received a cooler response than its predecessor, yet it surprised the critics with the maturity of the material and proficiency of arranging work. In 2000, Gomez made the main accent on the touring activity. At the same time they delivered a compilation of B-sides and rarities under the title Abandoned Shopping Trolley Hotline. The things seemed perfect, yet the inexperienced and young musicians began feeling the hardships of the road life too acutely. After the four years of labor in the studio and on the stage, they realized an urgent need for a good rest. In summer 2000, the band decided to take a break for six months.

With new energy and strength, Gomez prepared the third studio work, In Our Gun, released in 2002. This effort found support only among the hardcore fans of the band, while the critics ruined it down to the ground. A decision was made to look for new directions as the group chose the straightforward rock-n-roll to play as hard as never before. The material they had produced was processed into a brand new album called Split the Difference and available since 2000. In 2005, Gomez signed up an agreement with another label, ATO. The first outcome of the new partners was the live album Out West, released later the same year. To create a subsequent studio album, Gomez addressed Gil Norton, a skilled producer who had worked previously with Pixies, and Foo Fighters. In the end, they delivered a very solid long player, How to Operate (2006). It was followed by one more compilation, Five Men In A Hut (A's, B's and Rarities 1998-2004). It took the fans of the group as long as three years to see their new release in the stores. The album titled, A New Tide, hit the market in spring 2009.