My Luminaries

by Matt Dyson Reading born James Ewers met Manchester bred drummer Sam Stopford at Kingston University in 2004. Both knew what they liked but both were trying to study music with the lofty appreciation of a philosopher doing algorisms for love. Fortunately James had his head cymbal crashed into enlightenment when he heard Sam’s drum solo kick the face off any appreciation for the stuffy classical establishment. Together with twins Saul and Dylan Perryman (who James had met at Reading College of Art) they formed their band. They wanted a name to steady them like a ten ton anchor for the adventure yet they knew they would never be just another ‘The’ band. My Luminaries was chosen as their moniker. Releases were quick to follow, including an EP, a live album, and two singles; Jumping the Great White and The Outsider Steps Inside on Grönland Records, home to James and Sam’s favourite krautrockers Neu!. Jumping the Great White had Steve Lamacq paddling out across the airwaves with a promotional harpoon, making it Record of The Week. Elsewhere, The Outsider Steps Inside caused musical hunger pains, voted one of the songs of 2007 on scores of taste-maker websites. The band spent 2008 writing what could very well have been their second or third album, along with new addition Simon Jones. They played one show that year, at Reading's South St Arts Centre. Rather than being skewered on upturned noses, the local crowd treat them like returned kings. Even the near emotionless, autistic analysis of the local press were moved to write, "a band who’ve progressed from writing great tunes and performing them with verve into a mature perfectionist alt-rock outfit that let the songs do the talking." (BBC). In January 2009 the band went into Eastcote Studios to self-produce and record their debut long player. Bloody minded and heads ringing with tunes, nothing seemed too ambitious. String quartets were recorded. Horn sections were drafted in. The battleground was set. The album was mixed by the revered and renowned Paul Stacey (Oasis, Black Crowes) who shared the band's ethos that the record should be made for the record's sake, and not for the sake of the radio or ipod. So they melted down a national grids worth of classic albums playlists deconstructing a life time of humming references until they chomped on the bit that makes hearts quiver and neck hair stand on end. The result is Order From The Chaos. It would only be right that it should be mastered in New York by the legendary Greg Calbi (Springsteen, Dylan etc). New champions of the band with bigger harpoons and better radars were soon drawn by the scent of something special. Radio 1’s Edith Bowman voted for the band to play at T in the Park Festival in Scotland. After the event, James and Sam recruited London based lifelong musicians Mark Ferguson (bass), and Michael Murray (Guitar), replacing the twins, and Leila MacFie (keyboards), replacing Simon Jones. Like dynamite, My Luminaries have mined deep for a sound and become explosive. And now the dust has settled, what we once couldn't see is just down a new road. My Luminaries were featured on Episode 9 of British indie podcast New Music Transmission Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.