The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster

Eighties Matchbox, Left to right: Sym Gharial, Tom Diamantopoulo, Guy McKnight, Rich Fownes, Marc Norris
Background information
Origin	Brighton, England
Genre(s)	Rock Psychosis Rock Psychobilly Gothabilly
Years active	1999 –Present
Label(s)	Current No Death Records Previous Island Records
Website	www.eightiesmatchbox.co.uk
Members
Guy McKnight - Vocals Marc Norris - Guitars Sym Gharial - Bass Tom Diamantopoulo - Drums Rich Fownes - Guitars
Former members
Andy Huxley - Guitars (1999 - 2005)

The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster (often referred to as just Eighties Matchbox) are a psychosis rock band from Brighton, England, formed in 1999. The band's sound is dark and blues-influenced, with wild crooning vocals, deep bass lines and tom-heavy tribal drumming. The band has a cult fanbase, particularly in the South of England.

History

Originally formed in 1999, the band comprised Guy McKnight (vocals), Andy Huxley (guitarist), Marc Norris (guitarist), Symren 'Sym' Gharial (bassist), and Tom Diamantopoulo (drummer), until May 2005, in which Andy Huxley "decided to leave due to a decrease in musical similarities" to form the death-jazz band Vile Imbeciles and was replaced by Rich Fownes from With Scissors. In their first few years as a band, they were known for their large black car with red and orange flames on each side which was also called "The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster" or "The Disaster Car". According to Guy McKnight on MTV Two's Gonzo the car has now gone. The band are renowned for their intense live shows, where McKnight regularly leaves the stage during numbers to mingle with the crowd. They have released two full-length albums, "Hörse Of the Dög" in 2002 and "The Royal Society" in October 2004. The band have released seven singles on various different formats, each release has had several b-sides included and so the band have a large amount of songs that cannot be found on their albums. The song "Mister Mental" was featured on the "romzomcom" movie "Shaun of the Dead", the film also contained posters and other references to the band. The band have played at both The Glastonbury Festival and The Reading and Leeds Festivals for several years running. They have also toured and supported many mainstream bands, including; System of a Down, Placebo, Klaxons and Murderdolls, and are currently touring with Queens of the Stone Age in support of their 2007 winter UK tour. They are currently working on new material and attempting to find a new record deal, after the collapse of their deal with Island Records. They have recently finished mixing an EP titled; "In The Garden Ep", which was released on the July 23 on digital format, with the hard copy's release being pushed back to the first week of September. The hard copy was released with a bonus live album and Ouija Board. This was the first release from the band since the departure of Andy Huxley in May 2005. A 15 date tour took place to promote the release, starting in Manchester on July 23 and ending in London on August 7, this was the first time the band had toured for two years. A mini tour is planned for the end of 2007, with a christmas date and new years eve date in London. Their third album is planned to be released late 2007, early 2008.

Discography

Albums

Hörse Of the Dög (September 20, 2002) No Death/Island Records UK #144

The Royal Society (October 25, 2004) No Death/Island Records UK #68

Singles

Cover	Date of Release	Title	Uk Chart Position	Album
	March 11, 2002	"Morning Has Broken"	83	Hörse Of the Dög
	September 16, 2002	"Celebrate Your Mother"	66	Hörse Of the Dög
	July 8, 2003	"Psychosis Safari"	26	Hörse Of the Dög
	May 8, 2003	"Chicken"	30	Hörse Of the Dög
	February 3, 2004	"Mister Mental"	25	The Royal Society
	August 10, 2004	"I Could Be an Angle"	35	The Royal Society
	January 04, 2005	"Rise of the Eagles"	40	The Royal Society

Demos/Promos/EPs

Original Two Track Demo (1999) No Death

System of a Down Tour Sampler (2005) No Death

In The Garden Ep (July 23, 2007) No Death

DVDs

• Eighty Degrees of Separation (DVD)

The DVD was not an official release, it was intended to promote the "Love Music Hate Racism" campaign. A small number of copies were dispatched to fans, who were instructed to pass them on to see how far they could get it. It has been said that some have reached as far as Japan and Mexico.

Unreleased songs

August, 2005

The following songs were recorded in August, 2005, a year after the release of "The Royal Society" and after Andy Huxley had left the band. The songs where available at different times from 2005 to 2007 on the band's MySpace page:

• "Love Turns To Hate" - 3:09
• "Alone Again" - 4:57
• "Surrender" - 3:57
• "Count The Voices" - 3:39
• "I Hate The Blues" - 2:47

"Dairy Demos"

These songs were written in the years after Andy Huxley had left the band:

• "Music To Make Love To" - 2:45
• "I Got The Fear" - 2:44
• "Under My Chin" - 2:09
• "The Bads" - 2:02

2006 to 2007

The following songs were released on the band's MySpace page and played live at gigs, around the release of the "In The Garden Ep":

• "Kemptown Animal" - 2:20
• "Eureka" - 2:26
• "A Man For All Seasons" - 2:20
• "Not In The Field" - 2:26
• "Mission From God" - 2:29

Other unreleased songs

The following is a list of songs that have either not been released, been renamed or have become songs that where eventually released:

Videography

• "Morning Has Broken"
• "Celebrate Your Mother" [1]
• "Psychosis Safari" [2]
• "Chicken" [3]
• "Palomino's Dream by The Boogs" [4]
• "Mister Mental" [5]
• "I Could Be An Angle" [6]
• "Rise of the Eagles" [7]
• "In The Garden" [8]

Trivia

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

• The band have on rare occasion disguised themselves (dressed up as green bee's) as a band called The Boogs, a band that had apparently signed with their old record label No Death. They released one song as The boogs which was a b-side on one of their singles. The song is titled "Palominos Dream" and A video was also made for Palominos Dream which featured them dressed up as green bee's in New York.
  
• The band have changed several of the names for their songs from the demo and touring stages till the final album release. These include: "Lazy Bones" which became "Giant Bones", "Mister Fearful" which became "Mister Mental", "Wild Bull" which became "Temple Music" and "Clonk Chicane" which became "Rise of the Eagles".
• Guy McKnight, Tom Diamantopoulo and former member Andy Huxley all became Buddhists after giving up drugs in early 2003. In an interview, when former member Andy Huxley was questioned about his reasons for giving up drugs he said "Because its irresponsible, and you cant get anything done, and it stifles your creativity, and there's no benefit in it really, apart from its like going on vacation constantly, I cant write any songs when I'm on drugs, I need to be sober".

External links

• Official Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster Site
• Official My Space Site
• SUPERSWEET interview - July 2007
• The Blend interview with Kevin Doran - December 2007