Dominic Masters Johnny Others Jimmy Lager Joseph Gardiner-Lowe Eddie Darko Alex S Tower(Stef) Steve McCready
The Others are an English rock band. They signed to Poptones in July 2004 and their eponymous debut album was released on 31 January 2005.
Career
The band formed in 2002 and quickly became renowned for their riotous live shows. By 2004, they had started to perform so-called "guerilla gigs", which saw them play on a Hammersmith & City line tube train, on the dodgems at the Leeds festival, and on the famous Abbey Road crossing in London. The band, particularly lead singer Dominic Masters (born 12 December 1977), maintain a close relationship with their fanbase, affectionately known as the 853 Kamikaze Stage-Diving Division. The band are also known for accessibility which resulted in the popularity of the websites forum, which played a key part in keeping the fanbase together and organizing the following to collect together for gigs.
Their self-titled debut album divided critics and public alike on its release in 2005. Whilst NMEgave it 8/10 and Vice Magazine gave it 10/10Q rated it one of the worst albums of the year, mocking Masters' boastful attitude towards drug abuse. However, the album did spawn three Top 40 singles for the band; while debut single "This Is for the Poor", narrowly missed the top 40 on its release in April 2004, "Stan Bowles" reached No. 36 in November 2004.
In January 2005, their third single, "Lackey", reached No. 21 in January 2005 and in April of that year the NME awarded The Others the John Peel Innovation Award at the Brat Awards. Following this, "William" became the band's fourth and final single from their debut album charting at No. 29.
In an interview with Phoenix FM in December 2005, the band confirmed that they had left Poptones and, in October 2006, they released their second album, Inward Parts. Three singles were released from this album, "The Truth That Hurts" (in 2006), "Always Be Mine" (2007) and "Probate" (2008). In August 2007, drummer Martin Oldham left the band for health reasons. Further UK and European live dates followed and in February 2008, the band went on a temporary hiatus.
After a quiet period, The Others played their first live show in three years, a sold-out show at The Lexington in London.[1] One month later they decamped to a studio in Kent to record eight new songs. In April 2012, the band released the double A side single, "Hardly Know Me" / "I'll Keep You Safe"; their first new material in four years and this was accompanied by a two-week UK tour as well as dates at The Hippodrome in Kingston for the New Slang club night and a show headlining a bill for Sheffield Tramlines Festival.
On Christmas Eve 2012, the band gave away the demos for the third album; Songs for the Disillusioned for free.[2] This news was subsequently covered by the NME.[3] The response was tremendous, going viral and picking up coverage from the UK, as well as Spain, France, Germany, Argentina and Italy amongst others. The free download allocation was reached within two days and in order to meet demand and keep the tracks available for free, they had to be uploaded to four separate sites.
In January 2013, the band announced their decision to offer fans a free download package for every month of 2013.[4] This news was subsequently reported by the digitalspy website.[5]
As part of the band's comeback they returned to the Glastonbury Festival to play on the William's Green Stage. This was the first time the band had played the festival for eight years, ever since playing on The Other Stage in 2005.[6] They followed this with a national UK tour in November, to promote the 3rd album in Sunderland, Glasgow, Manchester, Stoke, Northampton, London, Southampton.
On Christmas Eve 2013, the band followed their third album demos giveaway by giving away the re-recorded, remixed and properly produced version of Songs for the Disillusioned for free.[2]
The band started work writing what would become their fourth album in 2014 and 2015, playing just one London show a year, before taking a break.
In December 2021, after a 5 year hiatus, the band reconvened in a Brighton rehearsal room to finish writing songs for their fourth album. They also announced they would be playing a one off show at The Grace in Islington, on April 30th 2022 to mark the 20th anniversary of the band's formation. Selling out two months ahead of time and with 22 songs chosen from all three of the band's officially released albums (as well as a 6 song selection of tracks which were unreleased at that point), the show was well received [7] and at over two hours was the longest the band had ever played.
The band spent the rest of 2023 finishing writing and recording their fourth album "Look At You All Now" at Brixton Hill Studios in London. The album was released on 23rd March 2023 to positive reviews and was followed 2 days later by an album launch show at The Garage in Islington.
The rest of 2023 was spent writing, with the backing tracks for twenty new songs recorded in January 2024, once again in Brixton. Overdubs were recorded in April and May and the rest of the year was spent mixing what would become two new albums.
In September the band announced they would be playing a show at the 100 Club on Oxford Street marking the 20th anniversary of the release of their debut album. The band would play two sets, their debut album in its entirety followed by a selection of tracks from the 4th and 5th albums. The 5th album would be released in February 2025.
Members
Current
Dominic Masters – vocals
Johnny Others – guitar, bass
Jimmy Lager – guitar
Joseph Gardiner-Lowe – drums
Eddie Darko – bass, guitar
Alex S Tower (Stef) - keys
Steve McCready – bass, guitar
Former
James Le Masurier – drums
Martin Oldham – drums
James Moulson – drums, keyboards, electronics, guitar, bass
Track List:
Lackey In The Background William Almanac How I Nearly Lost You Stan Bowles Community 853 PsychoVision Johan Southern Glow This Is For The Poor Darren Daniel Dave
Inward Parts (30 October 2006)
Track List:
Truth That Hurts Guard My Kind Always Be Mine Thick As Thieves Looking For A Product Desolate
Why Should I Try Watch It Got No Money Probate
Songs for the Disillusioned (24 December 2013)
Track List:
Hardly Know Me (Edit) Superbok (2013 with brass) Tic Tok
Books And DVDs Penny Chews (2013 with brass) Double Pernod
Where Is The Love (2013 with strings) I'll Keep You Safe (2013 DND Remix)
Look At You All Now (22 March 2023)
Track List:
Nowhere To Go Disdain Rights Alibis Decadent Clothes Get Out Rob Peter To Pay Paul Who Cares Don't Think You Know Me Paranoid Times New Part Of Town Never Want To See You Again I Know It Hurts Billy
Demo album
(Demos for) Songs for the Disillusioned (24 December 2012)
