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Discography |
| Date | Release | Track List (Including) |
| 1999 |
Never Bother [Cassette Tape only] |
SuperMegaBoy, Something, Three String Thing, Cornmeal, Idle Idol, Treading On A Penny |
| 2004 |
Best Of Tomfire: 1997-2004 [37 Track CD] - click for track listing - click for mp3 samples |
Accidental Theme, The Lonliest Number (Liam and his Mates), Boon Ding, Old Eleven, Cornmeal, In Charge, Eat Your Grapes and Ignore It, 1.11, Put That In Your Pipe and Kill Your Kids with Thom, Darts and Finch, What Made Feather Pillows, Delayed Beginning |
| 2006 |
Lincoln 1908 EP [5 track EP/CD] Released March 30th 2006 see: Further Info |
Put That In Your Pipe and Kill Your Kids What Made Feather Pillows Eat Your Grapes and Ignore It Bank 9, 5, 7 and 8 Minutes |
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About |
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Tomfire were formed in 1997 by Mr. Liam Butler, Mr. Michael Griffiths, Mr. Matthew Spokes, Mr. Chris Stokes and Mr. Lee Broughall. This is the history of the band. In 1997, Tomfire emerged from the destruction of Green Sheep and Earshot, first under the name of Muggatt Ted. As teenagers, we had no goals except to play music and stay up all night, which resulted in an uncaring attitude towards each other. Early incarnations of the band tended to be power struggles and popularity contests regularly disbanding and reforming minus whoever had the most power at the time. First one deciding never to play in a band again was Michael Griffiths and the music continued for a while as Matterhorn. Michael had a key role in the subsequent name of Tomfire, though, being first to write it down on his hand in March 1999. I was due to be assaulted by John English and Tom Stoker later that month, and I had the bright idea of writing down their names (except that Michael wrote). Realising someone could see the names (now on Michael's hand) and jump to the conclusion that we would 'grass them up', a means of disguise was needed. Like this: John Smith English homework Tom Fire Bram Stoker I'm not entirely sure where Tomfire came from, or what it means, so now it seems to poignantly represent us. Should anyone be interested, the planned assault went ahead only after I had successfully inflicted some damage on John English's face and was interupted by the timely arrival of a police car. English and a fat chum were arrested, though later Officer 944 persuaded me that I shouldn't press charges because a) they were very scared, and b) I had already had revenge through making English's face bleed. However, this incident enables me to press charges should either of them engage me in conversation. Though much of the following years are a blur to most of us, the highlights of Tomfire (I) involved our first gig at the high school battle of the bands contest, which we won. Tomfire played its first real song that night - John Major 7, and later recorded it at a man's home studio ("..they're quite young boys."). Upon its release as part of the battle of the bands compilation CD, someone (Matt) changed the title to Madt Milk Marshall. The song is on our current album Best of Tomfire: 1997-2004. Sometime later in 1999, Tomfire was broken up by Chris Stokes' decision not to play in a band for some time, and Castles In Spain was formed from old Tomfire members and Daniel Pankhurst. Recorded in this period, Liam Butler's The Lonliest Number is on the Best Of Tomfire 1997-2004 CD, though the title was originally The Lonliest Feeling. The only gig played by Castles In Spain was supporting Dead Cheryl, or Cheryl Eats Leaves (something like that), a Beatles cover band starring a left handed bassist who looked like David Gower. This was the day Matthew Spokes cut his hand on a drum brush thrown high into the air. Recordings of a song called Charlie have never surfaced. Castles In Spain disbanded when it was discovered that the band name had already been taken. After leaving school in 2000, Matthew Spokes and myself tried to form a Tomfire (II) with a more experimental direction, incorporating Russell Welch's cello playing. We managed to create a fine blend of sound, and one of the earliest versions of Boon Ding was recorded on dictaphone in this formation. The band lacked any ambition once the dream of hearing a cello was accomplished. Things never really got going, but didn't really stop. In 2001, Matt and I helped form (ITSH):take a hostage, an official departure from the Tomfire hole. Having more of a theoretical approach to music, the band's seven members rarely played together and the project represented a shift in the musical direction towards the Alternative Metal genre, which seemed to be becoming popular at the time. (ITSH):take a hostage's main selling point was the apparent mystery surrounding the name. Much hype was generated about being the next big thing in an aggressive internet war, and the band just fizzled out. Having been banished to the depths of love/Hitchin for a year, I think Chris tired of the Hertfordshire version of Pop Culture and wanted to play music again. Matt was introducing us to Mogwai and Godspeed, ultimately defining directions that we were to take for the next few years. I was in the process of learning to think. We rehashed Tomfire (III) with Thom Warner, developing and writing a number of songs including Put That In Your Pipe and Kill Your Kids and 1.11. Eventually we started moving away from standard arrangments and embracing electronic devices, and as a result the band no longer suited Thom. Finally, in 2002, five years after its initial conception, Tomfire (IV) became what it was always supposed to be - on the edge of our imaginations; only barely holding onto reality. - Mr. Lee Broughall Below is more detailed information on the bands involved. ------------------------- |
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