Los Campesinos! and The Other Half

The band met whilst the members were studying at Cardiff University in Wales, in 2006, originally featuring Neil Turner (guitar), Ellen Waddell (bass guitar) and Ollie Briggs (drums) before later adding Tom Bromley (lead guitar), Gareth Paisley (lead vocals, glockenspiel), Harriet Coleman (violin, keyboards) and Aleksandra Berditchevskaia (vocals, keyboards, melodica, horn). They began playing live locally, gradually building enough popularity that they secured the opportunity to support Canadian supergroup, Broken Social Scene. Shortly after, the band signed to Wichita Records, releasing their debut single, “We Throw Parties, You Throw Knives” in 2007. Notable influences of the band include Belle & Sebastien, Modest Mouse, The Magnetic Fields and Pavement.

The band continued to write and record songs, eventually releasing the EP, “Sticking Fingers Into Sockets,” which was hen followed by their debut full length, “Hold on Now, Youngster…” in early 2008. Los Campesinos! then embarked on an extensive tour, stopping off in Seattle for a few months to record some new songs, which would go on to form their second record, “We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed,” in November 2008. The band again went on the road, also touring in South America, before returning to the studio in Connecticut, US to record their third album “Romance Is Boring,” which was released in 2010.

After the album’s release, the band experienced several lineup changes, with Aleksandra and Ollie leaving the band, being replaced by Kim Paisley (Gareth’s sister) and Jason Adeline. Rob Taylor, a multi-instrumentalist, was also added to the lineup, expanding their sound. The band then travelled to Spain to record their fourth album, “Hello Sadness,” in 2011, produced by John Goodmanson. However, after its release, the band again suffered more band members leaving, with Harriet and Ellen both deciding to leave the band. Los Campesinos continued regardless, recording their fifth album, “No Blues” in 2013, which reached number 39 in the UK charts.