Jordan Keith Attwood Fish (born 26 June 1986) is a British musician. He was the keyboardist and producer of the rock band Bring Me the Horizon from 2012 until his departure in 2023. Fish appeared on five studio releases with the band, Sempiternal (2013), That's the Spirit (2015), Amo (2019), Post Human: Survival Horror (2020) and Post Human: Nex Gen (2024). Before joining the group, he was in the bands Proxies and Worship from 2010 to 2013.
Early life
Fish was born on 26 June 1986 in Reading, England.[2] He grew up listening to soul music (including Whitney Houston and Luther Vandross) because of his mother. He started getting into rock music at age 12 and played in a nu metal band at age 14.[3] When Fish was in college, he began exploring electronic music with a couple of friends.[4]
In 2005 Fish joined the band Miles Dark. They released three EPs before splitting up in 2007.[5] In 2010, Fish produced, engineered and mastered A Genuine Freakshow's second studio album Oftentimes.[6][7]
His next band, Proxies, formed "by accident" in 2010. Fellow founding member Joseph Todd reached out to him and suggested working on a song together. This turned into a project named Loki. They soon changed their name to Proxies and recruited Alex James Binnington and Joshua Rumble.[4] Proxies quickly gained an online following and released their debut EP, Lost Tapes Vol. 1.[4] Their debut single, "If I Had a Penny to My Name" was released in March 2012 and featured Sean Smith of The Blackout.[8] The band toured with Kids in Glass Houses, Hadouken, Canterbury and Patrick Stump of Fall Out Boy,[9] and they headlined HMV's Next Big Thing in February 2012.[10]
Fish performing with Proxies in 2012
Fish was also a member of Worship, along with Tim Alexander, James Johnson and Tom Mayo. Worship posted their first song onto YouTube titled, "Collateral" in November 2010. They released their debut single, "House of Glass" in October 2011.[11] An album titled Nothing Is Sacred, which contains songs recorded by the band between 2010 and 2013, was released on September 2, 2019.[12]
In 2012, Fish began working with Bring Me the Horizon on their fourth studio album, Sempiternal.[13]Oli Sykes was a fan of Fish's previous work and invited him to add some electronics on the album.[14] This expanded into Fish helping out with the writing process.[13] After the album was finished, Fish joined the band on tour.[13] In early 2013, Fish officially left Worship and became a full-time member of Bring Me the Horizon.[15] Fish was named Keyboardist of the Year by Alternative Press following his work on Sempiternal.[16] The same year, he produced and engineered Robin Trower's album Roots and Branches.[17]
Fish performing in 2014
In September 2015, Bring Me the Horizon their fifth studio album That's the Spirit. This was the band's first fully self-produced album, with Fish handling production duties.[18] Fish felt that the band "had artistic freedom to explore different styles of music" because of this.[19] Their sixth studio album Amo was released on 25 January 2019. Fish again took up production duties for the band.[20]Amo reached number one on the UK Albums Chart.[21]
Along with Bring Me the Horizon bandmate Oli Sykes, Fish worked with Halsey as a co-writer and co-producer on her 2020 track "Experiment on Me". This song was created for the movie Birds of Prey and appeared on the movie's soundtrack.[22]
On 30 October 2020, Bring Me the Horizon released Post Human: Survival Horror, an EP that was intended to be the first in a series of "Post Human" records. Fish took up a co-producer role with Oli Sykes this time, while Australian composer Mick Gordon made additional production contributions.[23][24]Post Human: Survival Horror became the band's second number one album.[25] In late 2023, Fish took some time away touring with the band,[26] and on 22 December 2023, the band announced that they had parted ways with Fish.[27] Bring Me the Horizon released Post Human: Nex Gen on 24 May 2024, which featured contributions from Fish.
2023–present: Full-time production career
Fish started production work for other artists while he was still performing in bands. Fish had worked with American band Machine Head twice, contributing to the writing and string arrangements for their 2014 studio album Bloodstone & Diamonds[28][29] and post-production for their 2018 studio album Catharsis.[30] After leaving Bring Me the Horizon in 2023, Fish chose not to join or form another band and instead transitioned to working full-time as a producer and songwriter.[31]
In 2023, Fish engineered "Theorem" by Puscifer from their album Existential Reckoning: Re-Wired.[32] The same year, Fish and Kane Churko co-produced the track "Make It Out Alive" by One Ok Rock.[33] After leaving Bring Me the Horizon, Fish started working with Canadian heavy metal band Spiritbox.[34] He worked with former Fever 333 members Aric Improta and Stephen Harrison for their project House of Protection, producing and co-writing their debut EP Galore, which was released on 13 September 2024 through Red Bull Records. Fish also worked with Architects around the same time, producing and co-writing the song "Curse".[35]
While being interviewed at Download Festival 2024, British pop-punk band Busted revealed that they were working on new music with Fish.[36] Fish made a surprise return to the stage on 15 October 2024, performing vocals as part of House of Protection's first show in London.[37] Fish produced and co-wrote Poppy's sixth studio album Negative Spaces, which was released on 15 November 2024 through Sumerian Records.[38] Fish once again worked with Stephen Harrison as part of the album's writing process.
Equipment
While performing with Bring Me the Horizon, Fish used a setup called the Stormtrooper. The Stormtrooper was built around Apple's MainStage software, which was controlled by a pair of Arturia KeyLab II MkIIs and an Arturia BeatStep.[39] Fish used the BeatStep for "a lot of one-shot button stuff" and playing sounds that would be difficult to re-create live.[40] It also included some additional percussion. Before changing to the Arturias, he used various Nord and Akai keyboards.
Musical styles and technique
Fish plays a number of instruments, but "never really felt tied to one." When he first started learning guitar, he cited Red Hot Chili Peppers, Green Day and Deftones as influences. He later switched to bass guitar because he felt that he wasn't "good enough on guitar." Before joining Bring Me the Horizon, he played keyboards in Worship.[14] Once Fish joined the group, critics noted how he influenced the band's progression in sound and music production.[41][42][19][43][44] He credits Radiohead as the band that got him into electronic music.[19] Fish uses Pro Tools to write songs and engineer multiple layers of instrumentals, sounds and vocals. He tends to write out parts that fit a certain track and blend it all together.[19]
Fish considers himself a musician but not in "the traditional sense."[40] He has spoken about his musical ability stating, "I'm a good musician in some senses, but I'm not particularly a good player. I don't think you necessarily need to be held back by your piano or keys ability, you know what I mean? I think your creativity is the most important thing... As long as you can make some music that you think is cool, and people connect with it, then that is way more important to me."[40]
Personal life
Fish is married to his wife Emma. Emma performed additional vocals on "Happy Song" from Bring Me the Horizon's album That's the Spirit.[45] They have two children.[1]
In August 2016, Fish and Oli Sykes climbed Mount Kilimanjaro to raise money for charity at the Pediatric intensive care unit at Southampton hospital. His son Eliot had suffered a brain haemorrhage and been cared for at that hospital unit.[46] Fish and Sykes raised more than £50,000.[47] In 2023, Eliot ran a mini-marathon to raise money for the same cause.[48]
