When we first met Bombay Bicycle Club, they were a young group relatively unknown outside of the UK. We came across them in Canada, during their first trans-Atlantic trip and were immediately caught by Jack Steadman’s impressive vocals and their solid arrangements. And though this was 2011, they already had two albums under their belt. For whatever reason, we did an interview in a Smoothie shop on a freezing Toronto afternoon:
Things started moving quickly for the group after this. By the following year, they had announced their first tour of Australia, supporting Elbow around the country. This led to the release of their breakthrough LP, A Different Kind of Fix, and the band have been in hot demand ever since.
The tour of this record took two of the band members – lead vocalist and guitarist Jack and bassist and backing vocalist Ed Nash – all the way to India for some special acoustic performances. It was here I bumped into them next, and one thing led to another and I was interviewing Ed on a tuk tuk travelling around the streets of India. Because of course we did.
And they were never any strangers to Australia – making a few trips down to Australia over the years. On their last visit, at the end of 2014, as they toured the incredible So Long, See You Tomorrow, we even challenged Ed and Jamie to a round of Australian trivia.
This last week, the group sadly announced that after this long journey, that has been “the only thing we’ve known since the age of 16”, they are embarking on an indefinite hiatus to pursue new projects and maybe some other things, as they hinted to in this hilarious video in 2014:
Only time will tell how true this video becomes. Here’s the full message from their Facebook page:
Dear all,
The four of us wanted to fill you in on what is happening with the band at the moment. Right now we aren’t working on any new music and don’t have plans to do so any time soon. We aren’t breaking up, but after ten years of doing this—and it being the only thing we’ve known since the age of 16—we thought it was time for all of us to try something else. For a band that has been together for such a long time, we are all still incredibly close and probably get on even better than we did when we started the band.
Fortunately, you won’t have to wait too long for new music from us: Jack and Ed are both working on their own respective albums—they are different but equally exciting. Jamie has just made a documentary for Radio 1 about protest songs; returned to university; and is attempting to take over the world of music management. Suren is playing drums for anyone who is lucky enough to be able to get him, while we also expect a solo jazz album from him at some point—we’re assuming vibraphone interpretations of classic grime tracks, or some variation on that theme.
Love,
Bombay xxx
So, though we don’t have any new Bombay music to look forward to anytime soon, we’re pretty excited for the solo tunes. We’ve always championed this band, and have been proud to do so – and so stay tuned to the AU for everything these guys get up to in the future… and their inevitable and welcome reunion cash in in a few years…
———-
