Bison
Ska / Reggae / Pop
Sheffield,
UK
BISON was formed at the start of 2004 by a small group of friends who
had been spending time writing and busking together and wanted to expand their
project. The prime directive was, and remains, the generation of FUN.
Having been in previous bands that either folded or atrophied through ego clashes
or sense of humour deficit, they handpicked their team by carefully selecting the
most FUN people that were available in Sheffield at the time.
They ended up with a gymnastic reggae drum and bass combination, a heavy ska brass
line up, rock's finest on lead guitar, a light funk touch on keys, folked up rhythm
guitars, the bluest of harps and vocalists who stray errantly between the corners of
the known musical universe. An epicurean mix indeed, but a pure distillation from
this melting pot yields a unique sound, and, importantly, the much-desired ingredient
aplenty.
From the first gig in May of 2004, BISON has galvanised crowds and developed a small
but determined following across the North of the country, from Leeds to Manchester,
Sheffield to Nottingham.
They played in Amsterdam to a crowd half comprised of people who had made the journey
from England, and half of Amsterdammers, who, initially sceptical, were bouncing off
the ceiling and storming the stage by the end of the show.
Band Members
- Jim (vocals/gtr/harmonica)
- Sheppy (vocals/gtr)
- Rupe (vocals/bone/drums/tuba)
- Mimi (sax/clarinet/flute)
- Lotte (trompette)
- Mikey (keys/drums)
- Yozzer (leccy geetar/bass)
- Chiv (vocals/drums/geetar)
- Giles (bass/gtr/banjo/drums)
- Tim (vocals/sax/gtr/harmonica)
Influences
Madness, Specials, Courtney Pine, Cake, Streetlight Manifesto, Mad Caddies, Otis Redding, James Brown, Dexy's Midnight Runners, Toots and the Maytals, Dylan, Morrissey... more coming up!
Songs
- The Abominator - download