The Poppies were a Welsh rock band which was active during the mid-2000s. Many of the songs were in the Welsh language.
Band historyedit
In early 2003, Sam James (guitar and vocals), Twm Champagne (drums) and Eifion Austin (bass) met and formed The Poppies in Aberystwyth. Austin, originally from Morriston in Swansea was a first year politics student at Aberystwyth University while Twm (from Carmarthen) studied Film & TV. James was still studying at the local Welsh comprehensive Ysgol Gyfun Penweddig.
The band's first gig was held in Aberystwyth in 2003. They quickly gained support from Radio 1 DJ's Huw Stephens and Bethan Elfyn and often appeared on S4C's Welsh language music programme Bandit.
During 2005, the band recorded a Maida Vale session for Steve Lamacq's BBC Radio 1 programme and released the Dau Bys EP on the Ciwdod label. They also won the 'Best Live Act' at the Radio Cymru Awards and 'Best Welsh Language Act' at The Pop Factory Awards. Around this time ex-Catatonia guitarist Owen Powell became the band's manager.
In the summer of 2005 the band moved to Splott in Cardiff where they shared a house. In early 2006, Twm Champagne was replaced by Gethin Jones, a jazz student at Cardiff's Royal College of Music and Drama. The band focused on recording English language material from this point onwards and lost much of the support they had initially found in the Welsh language scene. This culminated in a popular Welsh language music magazine labelling the group traitors to the Welsh language. Copies of the magazine (which had photos of the band on the cover) were then ritually burned at the National Eisteddfod annually, as this level of betrayal is hard to forgive and memories live long in the principality.
Failing to secure a recording contract the band began to gig less as James toured as bassist with The Heights, Gethin concentrated on his jazz studies and Eifion's played bass for The Spencer McGarry Season. The band split up in late 2007. James moved to London with members of The Heights to form 'Rogues', and Gethin and Eifion formed 'Avash Avash'.
Sam James is also an ex-member of the bands Mozz, The Dancing Bullets, The Heights and Rogues. In 2010 he sang lead vocals on Example's UK top ten single "Won't Go Quietly". He is also the organiser of the Castell Rock festival in Aberystwyth.
Eifion Austin went on to play with a number of bands including Alun Gaffey and latterly, Ynys. At the current time he is working on an acid jazz/shoegaze/indie fusion album under the name Cleifion.
Gethin Jones is a well-respected professional jazz drummer in London who fits kitchen worktops in his spare time.
Referencesedit
External linksedit
BBC - Radio Cymru - C2
November 16, 2023
poppies, welsh, band, this, article, multiple, issues, please, help, improve, discuss, these, issues, talk, page, learn, when, remove, these, template, messages, topic, this, article, meet, wikipedia, notability, guideline, music, please, help, demonstrate, no. This article has multiple issues Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page Learn how and when to remove these template messages The topic of this article may not meet Wikipedia s notability guideline for music Please help to demonstrate the notability of the topic by citing reliable secondary sources that are independent of the topic and provide significant coverage of it beyond a mere trivial mention If notability cannot be shown the article is likely to be merged redirected or deleted Find sources The Poppies Welsh band news newspapers books scholar JSTOR July 2020 Learn how and when to remove this template message This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources The Poppies Welsh band news newspapers books scholar JSTOR July 2020 Learn how and when to remove this template message Learn how and when to remove this template message The Poppies were a Welsh rock band which was active during the mid 2000s Many of the songs were in the Welsh language Band history editIn early 2003 Sam James guitar and vocals Twm Champagne drums and Eifion Austin bass met and formed The Poppies in Aberystwyth Austin originally from Morriston in Swansea was a first year politics student at Aberystwyth University while Twm from Carmarthen studied Film amp TV James was still studying at the local Welsh comprehensive Ysgol Gyfun Penweddig The band s first gig was held in Aberystwyth in 2003 They quickly gained support from Radio 1 DJ s Huw Stephens and Bethan Elfyn and often appeared on S4C s Welsh language music programme Bandit During 2005 the band recorded a Maida Vale session for Steve Lamacq s BBC Radio 1 programme and released the Dau Bys EP on the Ciwdod label They also won the Best Live Act at the Radio Cymru Awards and Best Welsh Language Act at The Pop Factory Awards Around this time ex Catatonia guitarist Owen Powell became the band s manager In the summer of 2005 the band moved to Splott in Cardiff where they shared a house In early 2006 Twm Champagne was replaced by Gethin Jones a jazz student at Cardiff s Royal College of Music and Drama The band focused on recording English language material from this point onwards and lost much of the support they had initially found in the Welsh language scene This culminated in a popular Welsh language music magazine labelling the group traitors to the Welsh language Copies of the magazine which had photos of the band on the cover were then ritually burned at the National Eisteddfod annually as this level of betrayal is hard to forgive and memories live long in the principality Failing to secure a recording contract the band began to gig less as James toured as bassist with The Heights Gethin concentrated on his jazz studies and Eifion s played bass for The Spencer McGarry Season The band split up in late 2007 James moved to London with members of The Heights to form Rogues and Gethin and Eifion formed Avash Avash Sam James is also an ex member of the bands Mozz The Dancing Bullets The Heights and Rogues In 2010 he sang lead vocals on Example s UK top ten single Won t Go Quietly He is also the organiser of the Castell Rock festival in Aberystwyth Eifion Austin went on to play with a number of bands including Alun Gaffey and latterly Ynys At the current time he is working on an acid jazz shoegaze indie fusion album under the name Cleifion Gethin Jones is a well respected professional jazz drummer in London who fits kitchen worktops in his spare time References editExternal links editBBC Radio Cymru C2 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The Poppies Welsh band amp oldid 1048179566, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
