British India (band)

Formation and Early Shows 2003 - 2006

The members of British India met at high school in 2003 whilst attending St. Bede's College, in Melbourne, Victoria.[3] The band began rehearsing and writing songs in the pool room at drummer Matt O'Gorman's parent's house. Early influences included The Strokes, The White Stripes, The Datsuns, and Interpol. Upon finishing high school, the band began gigging extensively at pub and club shows throughout Melbourne.

In 2005 the band recorded a vinyl seven inch single called 'Outside 109' with producer Lindsay Gravina at his Birdland studios. The song's title came from a Mick Jagger interview from 1964, in which Jagger mistakenly told an interviewer that the Beatles had offered The Rolling Stones a song called "Outside 109", rather than "One After 909". The single was given airplay on Triple J,[4] where it received some spot airplay and generated some interest in the Australian music industry.

Counter Culture EP and Guillotine 2006 - 2007

In 2006 the band met producer and future manager Glenn Goldsmith. Goldsmith recorded a demo of early songs "Tie Up My Hands" and "Russian Roulette" and took the recordings to Australian super producer Harry Vanda. Harry agreed to finance and produce the band.

​In 2005 the band recorded the four track Counter Culture EP at Vanda's Flashpoint Studios in Sydney with Vanda and Goldsmith as producers. This was promoted with the single "The Time" and made little impact, producing no label interest or radio airplay.

The band returned to Flashpoint to record their debut album Guillotine, once again produced by Goldsmith and Vanda, in 2006. After being shelved for several months due to lack of label interest, the album was eventually released independently through Flashpoint Music and Shock distribution. Guillotine included the singles "Black & White Radio", "Tie Up My Hands", "Run The Red Light" and "Russian Roulette".

Guillotine was released in July 2007 and was followed by a successful Australian tour and festival appearances at Homebake festival and The Big Day Out. Triple J played the album extensively and "Tie Up My Hands" and "Run The Red Light" charted in the Triple J Hottest 100 of that year. Guillotine was nominated for the J Award in 2007, and won the Australian Independent Record (AIR) Award for Best New Artist.[5]

Thieves 2008

British India continued to play shows and festivals while working on their follow up album in Melbourne. In April 2008 they travelled to Sydney to begin recording their 2nd album with Harry Vanda. 'Thieves' released only 12 months after 'Guillotine' demonstrated the band's forward momentum, this time entering the ARIA Album Chart at #5. "I Said I'm Sorry" received high rotation and would reach 43 in the 'Hottest 100' that year. Thieves sold 25,000 copies. British India embarked on their biggest tour to date and popular television host 'Dicko' announced that British India were one of his favourite Aussie bands because "they did things the old school way, touring up and down the country'. At this time British India earned the reputation as the hardest working band in Australia.

Shock & UK 2010

2009 turned out to be a bittersweet year. The band parted ways with Flashpoint Music and decided to begin working on their 3rd album at Sing Sing Studios in Melbourne. A new single "Vanilla" was released exclusively to triple J as a free download and proved to be one of the band's most popular songs. 'Avalanche' released in March 2010 debuted in the top 10 and sold 20,000 copies, however following the release Shock Records fell into receivership, owing the band unpaid royalties. Later that year interest from Warner Music UK saw the band head over to London for a series of gigs. A showcase at London's Borderline sold out and Warner's A&R were impressed with the band, however the international deal never eventuated, and the band returned empty handed.

Mushroom Music and Liberation 2012

In February 2011 the boys headed back to the studio to record a new single 'March into The Ocean' the song and a film clip produced by the band's guitarist Nic Wilson, received a great reaction, a national tour followed, however by mid year the band were heading into an uncertain future. Their rehearsal space had flooded and they were forced to close it down, now without a workspace and without Shock Records the band felt adrift. In an effort to pull things back together they rented a vacant shop and built a studio. It was at this time they began talking to Liberation Records and Mushroom Music.

Controller 2013

Over the next 6 months the band continued talks and exchanged demos with Liberation. In 2012 they signed with both Liberation and Mushroom Music. With new vigour and impetus from the label they returned to the studio to record their fourth album "Controller" Released in 2013 'Controller' saw the band achieve their first gold record for the single 'I Can Make You Love Me' this song became the band's most popular release to date. Other singles from the album included 'Summer Forgive Me', and 'Plastic Souvenirs'. The album received extensive airplay and the band continued writing and touring throughout 2014, they ended the year supporting The Rolling Stones on their 14 On Fire Tour.

Nothing Touches Me 2015

2015 began with an announcement that the band would be releasing their 5th album 'Nothing Touches Me' in March. The album again debuted at Number five and the singles 'Suddenly' and 'Wrong Direction' received strong support. 'Wrong Direction' was picked up by commercial rock station Triple M and helped to broaden the bands fanbase. The album tour sold out 17 shows in row and was later backed by a national regional tour. British India were picked as the last minute replacement to the Black Keys at Byron Bay Bluesfest, playing the coveted main stage. 2015 proved to be the band's most successful year and cemented their position as one of Australia's most established rock bands.

Forgetting The Future 2017

In 2017 the band relocated to Sing Sing South recording studios in Melbourne. They kicked off the year with a new single 'I Thought We Knew Each Other' which became one of their most popular songs live. They teamed up with emerging producer Oscar Dawson to work on their 6th album 'Forgetting The Future'. Released in October 2017 'Forgetting The Future' produced two singles 'Precious' & 'My Love', both tracks receiving high praise and high rotation airplay, successfully leading the band into 2018. British India continue to remain one of Australia's most successful indie rock bands.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to British India (band).

• Official website
• British India on MySpace
• British India on Web Wombat