My Bloody Valentine (band)
My Bloody Valentine (often stylised in all lowercase or abbreviated as MBV) are an Irish-English alternative rock band formed in Dublin in 1983 and consisting since 1987 of founding members Kevin Shields (vocals, guitar, sampler) and Colm Ó Cíosóig (drums, sampler), with Bilinda Butcher (vocals, guitar) and Debbie Googe (bass). Often cited as a pioneering act in the shoegaze genre, their sound is characterized by dissonant guitar textures, subdued and androgynous vocals, and unorthodox production techniques.
Not to be confused with Bullet for My Valentine.
My Bloody Valentine
Dublin, Ireland
- 1983–1997
- 2007–present
- Joe Byfield
- David Conway
- Tina Durkin
- Stephen Ivers
- Paul Murtagh
- Mark Ross
Following several unsuccessful early releases and membership changes, My Bloody Valentine signed to Creation Records in 1988. The band released several successful EPs and the albums Isn't Anything (1988) and Loveless (1991) on the label; the latter is often described as their magnum opus and one of the greatest rock albums of all time. However, My Bloody Valentine were dropped by Creation after its release due to the album's extensive production costs. In 1992, the band signed to Island Records and recorded several albums worth of unreleased material, remaining largely inactive.
Googe and Ó Cíosóig left the band in 1995, and were followed by Butcher in 1997. Unable to complete a follow-up to Loveless, Shields isolated himself and, in his own words, "went crazy". In 2007, My Bloody Valentine reunited and subsequently embarked on a world tour. They released the compilation EP's 1988-1991 in 2012. Their long-delayed third studio album, m b v, was released in 2013 to critical acclaim and was supported by further touring.
History[edit]
1978–1985: Formation[edit]
In 1978, Kevin Shields and Colm Ó Cíosóig were introduced to each other at a karate tournament in South Dublin.[7] The duo became friends in what has been described as "an almost overnight friendship"[8] and later formed the Complex, a punk rock band, with Liam Ó Maonlaí, Ó Cíosóig's friend from Coláiste Eoin.[9] The band, who performed "a handful of gigs" consisting of Sex Pistols and Ramones songs, disbanded when Ó Maonlaí left to form Hothouse Flowers. Shields and Ó Cíosóig later formed A Life in the Day, a post-punk trio, but failed to secure performances with more than a hundred people present.[7]
Following A Life in the Day's dissolution, Shields and Ó Cíosóig formed My Bloody Valentine in early 1983 with bass player Mark Loughlin ( nowadays recording as The Engineer) and lead vocalist David Conway. Conway, who performed under the pseudonym Dave Stelfox, suggested a number of potential band names, including the Burning Peacocks, before the quartet settled on My Bloody Valentine.[10] Shields has since claimed he was unaware that My Bloody Valentine was the title of a 1981 Canadian slasher film when the name was suggested. Second guitarist Stephen Ivers also joined the band at this time[11]
My Bloody Valentine experienced a number of line-up changes during their initial months. Lead guitarist Stephen Ivers and bassist Mark Ross were recruited in April 1983 and the band would often rehearse near Smithfield and Temple Bar in rehearsal spaces owned by Aidan Walsh. Walsh, who booked some of the band's early performances, said the rehearsals were "too noisy" and "crazy" that "next door were giving out hell".[12] Ross left the band in December 1983 and was replaced by Paul Murtagh, who left the band in early 1984. In March 1984, Shields, Ivers and Conway recorded the band's first demo on a four-track recorder in Shields' parents' home in Killiney. Shields and Ó Cíosóig overdubbed bass and drum tracks at Litton Lane Studios, and the tape was later used to secure a contract with Tycoon Records.[13]
Soon after recording the demo, Ivers left My Bloody Valentine and Conway's girlfriend, Tina Durkin, joined as a keyboard player.[8] Around this time, Conway, on the suggestion of Shields, contacted Gavin Friday, the lead vocalist of the post-punk band Virgin Prunes. According to Shields, Conway approached Friday in Finglas, asked him for advice and was told to "get out of Dublin."[14] Shields agreed with the advice, commenting in January 1991 that "there was no room for us" in Ireland; Ó Cíosóig explained that the Irish music scene was not receptive to their style.[15] Friday provided the band with contacts that secured them a show in Tilburg, Netherlands. The band relocated to the Netherlands after the show and lived there for a further nine months, opening for R.E.M. on one occasion on 8 April 1984. Due to a lack of opportunities and a lack of correct documentation,[8] the band relocated to West Berlin, Germany in late 1984 and recorded their debut mini album, This Is Your Bloody Valentine (1985). The album failed to receive much attention and the band returned temporarily to the Netherlands, before settling in London in the middle of 1985.[16][17]
1985–1986: Independent releases[edit]
Following their relocation to London in 1985, members of My Bloody Valentine lost contact with each other while looking for accommodation and Tina Durkin, not confident in her abilities as a keyboard player, left the band.[13] When the remaining three members regained contact with one another, the band decided to audition bassists, as they lacked a regular bassist since their formation. Shields acquired Debbie Googe's telephone number from a contact in London, invited her to audition and subsequently recruited her as a bassist. Googe managed to attend rehearsals, which were centered around her day job. Rehearsal sessions were regularly held at Salem Studios, which was connected to the independent record label Fever Records. The label's management were impressed with the band and agreed to release an extended play, provided the band would finance the recording sessions themselves. Released in December 1985, Geek! failed to reach the band's expectations; however, soon after its release, My Bloody Valentine were performing on the London gig circuit, alongside bands such as Eight Living Legs, Kill Ugly Pop and The Sting-rays.[13]
Due to the band's slow progress, Shields contemplated relocating to New York City, where members of his family were living at the time. However, Creation Records co-founder Joe Foster had decided to establish his own record label, Kaleidoscope Sound and persuaded My Bloody Valentine to record and release an EP. The New Record by My Bloody Valentine, produced by Foster, was released in October 1986 and was a minor success, peaking at number 22 on the UK Indie Chart upon its release.[18] On the strength of the release, the band began performing more frequent shows, later developing a small following and travelling outside London for live performances, supporting and opening for bands such as The Membranes.[13]
Style[edit]
Influences[edit]
My Bloody Valentine's musical style progressed throughout their career. The band were originally influenced by post-punk acts such as The Birthday Party, The Cramps and Joy Division, and according to author Mike McGonial "brought together the least interesting elements" of their influences.[10] They were also influenced by certain dark post-punk bands who were experimenting: "the best of all was Siouxsie and the Banshees, the Cure and Killing Joke".[78] Their debut mini album, This is Your Bloody Valentine (1985), incorporated a further gothic rock sound which AllMusic referred to as "unfocused and derivative".[79] However, when the band began experimenting with pop melodies on The New Record by My Bloody Valentine (1986), it marked "a vital point in the development of their sound",[80] which was influenced primarily by The Jesus and Mary Chain. The band later took a "rarified, effete and poppy approach to Byrdsian rock" with their two successive releases, "Strawberry Wine" and Ecstasy (1987).[81] Isn't Anything and its preceding releases were influenced by American bands, most notably the distorted guitar-based noise rock of Dinosaur Jr. and Sonic Youth, as well as the experimental dream pop of British group A.R. Kane,[82] during which time Shields developed his trademark guitar techniques.[83]
The band were also influenced by hip hop, of which Shields said "it beats the shit out of most rock music when it comes to being experimental, it's been a constant source of inspiration to us."[84] Shield's experimentation with guitar tone would be influenced by sampled sounds employed by Public Enemy and the Bomb Squad,[85] which Shields described as "half-buried or muted, a real sense of sounds being semi-decayed, or destroyed, but then re-used."[86] The band began experimenting with samplers around the time of the Glider EP, utilizing them to play back and manipulate their own guitar feedback and vocals on keyboards; by the time of the Tremolo EP, they had acquired a professional Akai sampler.[86] In the mid-1990s, Kevin Shields and Colm Ó Cíosóig began recording music influenced by the rapid rhythms of the UK's underground jungle and drum and bass rave scene.[87][88]
Legacy[edit]
My Bloody Valentine are regarded by some as the pioneers of the alternative rock subgenre known as shoegaze,[1] a term coined by Sounds journalists in the 1990s to describe certain bands' "motionless performing style, where they stood on stage and stared at the floor".[2][99] The band's releases on Creation Records influenced shoegaze acts, including Slowdive, Ride and Lush, and are regarded as providing a platform to allow the bands to become recognised.[100] Following the release of Loveless (1991), My Bloody Valentine were "poised for a popular breakthrough", although never achieved mainstream success. However, the band are noted to have been "profoundly influential in the direction of '90s alternative rock", according to AllMusic.[101] In 2017, a study of AllMusic's database indicated My Bloody Valentine as its 26th most frequently cited influence on other artists.[102]
Several alternative rock bands have cited My Bloody Valentine as an influence. The Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan was influenced by Isn't Anything upon its release and attempted to recreate its sound on the band's debut album Gish (1991), particularly the closing track "Daydream" which Corgan described as "a complete rip-off of the My Bloody Valentine sound."[103] The Smashing Pumpkins two successive studio albums, Siamese Dream (1993) and Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (1995), were also influenced by the band.[103] Courtney Love cited the band as an influence on Hole's third album Celebrity Skin (1998).[104]
