User:SynthiRed/Saloon (band)

Formed in late 1997 by multi-instrumentalists Adam Cresswell and Michael Smoughton, the lineup for the Reading quintet Saloon was completed in early 1998. The pair poached viola player Alison Cotton from another band based in Reading, British Air Power, who after relocating to Brighton found success as British Sea Power. Through advertisements they were joined by lead singer Amanda Gomez, and guitar player Matt Ashton, and the group was gigging in the local area within a month. Their first gig was at The Fox and Hounds in Caversham, a pub made famous by an early performance by Lennon and Mc Cartney.

Drawing on a range of influences of electronic and more guitar-based acts, Saloon developed a futuristic pop sound that incorporated Cotton's viola playing, Cresswell's interest in Moog synthesizers, and Ashton's feedback-tinged guitar style, along with samples and more exotic instrumentation, such as stylophone and glockenspiel.

A home-recorded, four-track demo (The Blue Demo) containing four songs garnered fanzine acclaim and, by the end of 1998, Lisa Millennium / Conquistador was released on their own Belmondo label. Upon issuing Futurismo (a split 7" with Derby band Lazer Guided) in 1999, Saloon came to the attention of DJ John Peel, who championed the band and their subsequent single releases. The band recorded 3 Peel sessions; aired 4th July 2001, the August 2002, 19th April 2003

Early Singles
The band released songs through various independent labels including Shopping (Amberley Records) Electron  (Bearos  Records) Snow  (Fortuna Pop) and Impact (Glamour Puss) a split with the Sonic Catering Band. The band eventually settled on the Darla Records for the US releases and the Track and Field Organisation in the UK on which they were to release their last singles Free Fall Have you seen the light[] (a split with Dressy Bessy’ and Girls are the new boys.

Gigging and Touring
The band toured extensively (in a post van if their distributor Cargo Records website was to be believed) ; and, alongside tours in the UK, France, Sweden and Holland, Saloon played a number of support slots with their peers and influences, including shows with Laika, Billy Mahonie, Of Monteral, Herman Dune and, the band they were most commonly compared to, Stereolab. Saloon also curated their own club night and Festival at the Rising Sun Arts Centre in Reading called ‘Happy Robots’ which brought the likes of Pram, Electrelane and Manitoba to the town.

Albums and Radio Play
In 2001, Saloon recorded their debut album. (This Is) What We Call Progress, which was engineered by singer Amanda Gomez at the Reading College School of Art and Design (now part of Thames Valley University)[www.tvu.ac.uk/reading] and mixed by Andrew Prinz of Mahogany in his New York studio, who also designed the sleeve. The album was released in April 2002 to mostly favourable reviews including the Sunday Times in the UK who listed it amongst their top 10 of the year.

Saloon quickly got to work writing the follow up. Between the release of the albums the band were hit with unexpected success when Girls are the new boys reached number one in Peel’s annual Festive 50, This was one of 4 Saloon releases in the coveted chart with two entries in 2001 and two entries in 2002. Following their success in the Festive 50 the band came up against its first serious criticism with accusations of vote rigging. One fanzine Unpeeled went as far as printing an alternative Festive 48 which excluded both of the band’s 2003 entries. Although the fact that the band were invited back for a third Peel Session suggested that Peel and his production team felt there had been nothing irregular, the criticism clearly effected the band. In a 2006 interview Cresswell while commenting on their 2002 festive 50 number 12 “Despite [‘Impact’] only being released on a 500 copy limited split 7" … this song reached Number 12 in John Peel's Festive 50. No one accused us of cheating that year though. Bitter, me?”

The self-produced second album If we meet in the future was released in June 2003 again to mostly positive reviews with the NME awarding it 8/10. Despite this, following its release the band completed their touring commitments and disappeared. In May 2004 it was announced that Smoughton, Ashton and Cotton had all left the band and on 30th October 2003, five days after the death of John Peel, Cresswell and Gomez announced the end of the band.

After the split
A compilation of early singles Lo-Fi Sounds, Hi-Fi Heart  was released in 2006. At the turn of the decade, Ashton, Cotton and Cresswell are still writing recording respectively in The Leaf Library, The Left Outsides and Arthur and Martha.