Badly Drawn Boy
Damon Michael Gough (born 2 October 1969), known by the stage name Badly Drawn Boy, is an English indie singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist.
Badly Drawn Boy
Damon Michael Gough
2 October 1969
Dunstable, Bedfordshire, England
Bolton, Greater Manchester, England
Singer-songwriter
Guitar, vocals, bass, drums, percussion, banjo, piano, keyboards, harmonica
1995–present
Twisted Nerve Records
XL Recordings (1998–2004)
EMI (2006–2008)
BDB Records/One Last Fruit (2009–present)
Gough chose his stage name from a character in the show Sam and the Magic Ball, which he saw on TV at a party in Trafford, Greater Manchester, in 1995. Before he thought of using this name he made some business cards, each one unique, with a printed picture of a drawing by his nephew and a small collage by Gough.
A chance meeting with Andy Votel at the Generation X bar in Manchester, where Gough's friends Scott Abraham and Damon Hayhurst were contributing to an exhibition by the Space Monkey Clothing Company and Votel was DJing, led to the foundation of Twisted Nerve Records.
In 2002, Q magazine named Badly Drawn Boy in their list of the "50 Bands to See Before You Die", although this was as part of a sub-list of "5 Bands That Could Go Either Way" on account of Gough's tendency to talk and tell stories for extended periods in concert rather than play songs.
History[edit]
Early years[edit]
Gough, though born in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, grew up in the Breightmet area of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. He cites Bruce Springsteen as his music hero.[1] His recording career began in September 1997 with the five track vinyl release "EP1". This was distributed among friends and family members.
In April 1998, Gough released his second EP, "EP2". This had one track less than its predecessor but twice as many copies were pressed. The highlight track, "I Love You All", was later transferred to a music box which was released alongside the EP. The box plays eleven seconds of the song and is considered much rarer than the record itself due to its limited production.
Gough's third EP, "EP3", was released in November 1998 on both CD and vinyl formats, and was the first release in what became a long-term partnership with XL Recordings. In the same year he collaborated with Unkle for their first album Psyence Fiction.[2] "Road Movie" was released as a live recording with the band Doves. The B-side to the single was another track from the EP, My Friend Cubilas. Music videos were recorded for both tracks.
Mainstream success: 1999–2002[edit]
It Came from the Ground was the next EP, released in March 1999 on CD and vinyl. The style of this recording focused on woodland environments, an aspect displayed in both the cover art and the title track's video. Also released during this period was the single "Whirlpool". An instrumental was released on vinyl in April 1999.
Gough's last EP, Once Around the Block, was released in August 1999 in two vinyl formats and one CD edition. The release is almost short enough to be considered a single.
Documentary and media appearances[edit]
There have been three documentaries made about Badly Drawn Boy: Open Map in 2007,[10] Ipso Facto in 2010,[11] and About A Badly Drawn Boy. The first two tour documentaries remain unreleased, while the last, about Gough and his debut album The Hour of Bewilderbeast, was released in 2018.[12]
In December 2015, Badly Drawn Boy appeared on a celebrity edition of Mastermind. His specialist subject was the singer Bruce Springsteen.
In October 2017, he had a cameo role in the final episode of Cold Feet (Series 7) where he played a busker.[13]