THE
BETA BAND SPLIT
On August 2nd, 2004, The Beta Band officially announced that the band will be
parting ways.
All good things must come to an end. And so it is that after eight years of creating consistently innovative music, releasing three critically acclaimed albums and staging some legendary live shows, the Beta Band have decided to call it a day. And they’re going out on a high. This year’s album, Heroes To Zeros, met with universal acclaim and is set to be their biggest seller to date. A fitting end to a career that the band would agree has had its highs and lows…
Steve Mason, Richard Greentree, John Maclean and Robin Jones made an immediate impact with their debut release and the resulting compilation The Three EPs. With their no formula approach to music making, a shared interest in film and art and a desire to push the envelope in terms of their music and live performance, the group continued to puzzle and delight with the release of their debut album, an album which despite the band’s own misgivings was hailed by critics as one of the year’s most important releases. This experimentation with new sounds continued with the release of their second album the electronic flavoured Hot Shots II, which again met with widespread critical acclaim. Bad luck struck however when the release of the first single from the album was delayed when it transpired another band had used the same sample.
Always regarded as something of an enigma by the media but widely recognized to be one of the UK’s most influential bands, this year’s Heroes To Zeros proved not only their most successful but most cohesive and engaging album to date. Sadly, eight years of hard work and critical acclaim but little return in terms of commercial success inevitably takes its toll and a group decision was made to finally lay the band to rest. With John out of radio contact and Robin currently climbing monroes in the highlands, it’s been left to Steve and Rich to say their goodbyes in a typically idiosyncratic fashion…
Steve Mason; “The minority is always right. I left the room with silent dignity but caught my foot on the mat, and a thousand, thousand slimy things lived on, and so did I. This is adding insult to injuries. By the way, who’s your fat friend?”
Richard Greentree; “ The Beta Band apple has over rippened and become riddled with maggots, it must fall from the tree and let it’s seeds return to ground. Sincere thanks to everyone who has helped us along the way, see you in the Spring”.
All four
members will continue to work in music and the arts. Steve and Richard continue
to work on their solo albums and a new King Biscuit Time album from Steve is
currently in the finishing stages. John, who directed many of the band’s
videos and along with Robin was responsible for writing and directing the videos
for Assessment and Out-Side, will continue his film work whilst keeping his
foot in the musical door. The same can be said for Robin who’ll also divide
his time between his twin loves, film and music. The Beta Band will bid farewell
with a UK tour in the autumn - dates to be announced shortly. Meanwhile Parlophone
are preparing for the release of a DVD featuring a collection of videos and
film work made by the band and scheduled for release in 2005. The Beta Band
would like to thank all those who’ve supported them throughout their career.
A word from Errol Kolosine, General Manager of Astralwerks: "This band
has been one of the cornerstones of the Astralwerks label and have set a standard
and inspiration for countless acts, including many on our label today. Steve
Mason, Richard Greentree, John Maclean and Robin Jones gave us eight years of
great music and we are very thankful for that. Though they never achieved the
mainstream success that we all felt they deserved, their sales and following
in the US has been significant and should not be dismissed lightly. Their fans
here are passionate and will be as distraught as we all are to see them call
it a day.We wish them the best of luck in their future endeavors, and we hope
to continue working with them all in some fashion or another as the opportunity
presents itself."