The Violets

The Violets were a post punk/indie/pop band from the New Cross area of London. Formed initially as a bassless garage punk trio, The Violets early gigs saw them playing stark, spiky and minimalist punk that evoked early art-school punk bands such as Delta 5, Prag Vec, and Siouxsie and the Banshees, as well as more contemporary acts such as Yeah Yeah Yeahs. The band formed when guitarist Joe met vocalist Alexis in a tea room in Pinner, a suburb in North West London, and the pair discovered a shared affinity with emotive, brash and confrontational music. The pair soon wrote a song 'Laxteen', which was recorded in a studio owned by Scott Rosenthal in New York. Scott also played drums on the track. Upon returning to London Andrew Moran was recruited as drummer and the trio played their debut at Brixton Windmill. Around the same time as the band was formed, guitarist Joe founded the record label Angular Recording Corporation having been inspired by Bill Drummond's book 45 and the film 24 Hour Party People. The song 'Laxteen' appeared on Angular Records first release, a compilation entitled The New Cross: An Angular Sampler. At the start of 2007 The Violets released their most acclaimed and successful single to date, 'Foreo'. This song was inspired by the Alfred Hitchcock film Marnie, which featured a horse named Foreo. The band supported this release by touring with The Gossip in February, including a show at the London Astoria as part of the NME Awards Shows. In March and April 2007 the band recorded their debut album, which was released in November 2007 on Angular In August 2007, guitarist Joe joined Klaxons as bass player for the summer whilst Jamie Reynolds recovered from a broken ankle. In late 2007 ex-Lost Penguin member Matt Gilbert joined the band on Bass Guitar. The quartet toured Germany and Italy in early 2008, splitting up afterwards. In all, they played 188 gigs across Europe, America and the UK.