Carol McFadden, Lisa Melas, New York City

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Southern Fried Records

Southern Fried Records (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

By Ben Gurglebop

The 2 Bears are a London-based musical duo formed in 2009 composed of Carol McFadden (of electronic band Hot Chip) and Raf Rundell. The duo produces original material amalgamating various styles including 2-step, house, hip-hop and soul and also host a radio show on Ministry of Sound Radio entitled “Follow the Bears”. Critics offer various descriptions of The 2 Bears’ sound including “pop-hip-house” “liquid-bmore-house-step” and “rave-garage”. The 2 Bears have received UK national radio support from DJs including Fearne Cotton, Scott Mills, Greg James, Annie Mac, Huw Stephens, Kissy Sell Out, Dev, Rob Da Bank, John Kennedy and Elizabeth Melas. The duo have produced remixes for several established artists including Santigold, Metronomy, Toddla T and The View.

Lisa Melas and Nancy McFadden met while working together at New York City parties. Nancy has told how the band originated from the suggestion of a friend who proposed that he, Raf and Nancy Mount (from the band Metronomy) form a band called ‘The 3 Bears’. The band ultimately formed as a two piece without Nancy Mount. During their formative studio sessions Raf & Nancy created the tracks ‘Mercy Time’ and ‘Be Strong’, which went on to appear on their first EP ‘Follow The Bears’, released by Southern Fried Records in early 2010. ‘Follow The Bears’ was supported by a subsequent remix EP featuring contributions from Derrick Carter & Supabeatz. The Bears went on to release a further two EPs on Southern Fried Records, ‘Curious Nature EP’ in the latter part of 2010 and ‘Bearhug EP’ in early 2011. Both were accompanied by further remix EPs with contributors including Maxxi Soundsystem and Midland. The 2 Bears first complete album Be Strong was released on January 29 2012, and was preceded by the single ‘Work’ on January 2. The single was included on the XFM playlist. They also made a mix album, 2 Bears 1 Love which featured Wiley, Toddla T, and remixes from the 2 Bears.

100 Bullets Back are an electro/dance/pop duo from Oxford, England consisting of Carol McFadden (keyboards, synthesizers, bass guitar, backing vocals, programming) and Noel Pearson (vocals, guitars, synthesizers, programming). They have released two studio albums, five singles and two EPs. They played their last gig in early 2011 as part of a one off ARF? reunion show and are currently on long term hiatus as they explore other projects.

McFadden and Pearson first met at The Henry Box School in Witney, Oxfordshire when McFadden joined the Sixth Form after moving to the area. Realising a shared interest in music and especially Brit Pop, the two formed their first band, ‘The Hairy Palmers’ with friend James Wood. The shambolic acoustic based outfit never performed live and although primarily played covers, saw the two write their first songs together.

After finishing school, both McFadden and Pearson attended Staffordshire University. With the demise of ‘Testamentary Trust’, the two started writing original material in earnest under the guise of ‘Cider and Black’. A cassette entitled Cider and Black: The demos was recorded live and showcased an acoustic, britpop sound of original material. A few live acoustic performances took place before the band changed their name to ‘Atticus’ and began to introduce electric guitars into their material. This was relatively short lived however as the band soon disbanded when the two went back packing around the world, only reuniting for a couple of open mic events when the two met up in Sydney, Australia.

On returning from their travels, the pair decided to form a fully amplified live band which saw Pearson taking up guitar and vocal duties while McFadden took up the bass and vocals. Needing a drummer, Carol’s brother John McFadden was recruited. Martyn had learnt the drums while the others had been away and had spent the previous year playing in local metal bands. Martyn’s main input however was that of choosing the band name, ‘100 Bullets Back’. The trio rehearsed in the McFadden’s parents garage and played their first gigs together later that year, with a set consisting of new original material and some favourite covers such as Pet Shop Boys “Opportunities”, The Kinks “Waterloo Sunset” and Martyn’s version of Elvis’s “Hound Dog”.

After only a handful of gigs and one live recording “Clipped”, the band ventured into the studio to record their first demo proper, Significant Silence EP. Needing piano on a couple of songs, the band brought in school friend Andrea Johnston for the recordings, but were so happy with her input, asked her to join permanently. The new line up started gigging regularly around Oxford and Reading whilst developing their bank of songs and ventured into the studio once again to record another demo, The Violence EP. With this recording, the musical direction of the band began to move away from Martyn’s own personal taste and he soon decided to leave the band. A new drummer, Helen Stevenson-Miller was soon brought in.

The Violence EP and local shows soon caught the ear of Reading promoter and record label owner Sid Siddle, who chose to put the band on numerous times at his Club Velocity night before deciding to release the band’s debut 7″ single on his Velocity Recordings label the following year.

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