My Vitriol

Alt-Rockers My Vitriol released their seminal NuGaze debut "Finelines" in 2001 to huge critical acclaim. Signed after only 7 shows and 7 months of being together, the band soon unexpectedly found their songs in the otherwise pop, 'nu-metal' and 'nu-Buckley' dominated mainstream charts of their day. At the time, even high-profile alternative acts from outside of those genres such as Queens of the Stone age & At the Drive-in had yet to achieve mainstream Top40 hits. The band soon found themselves performing on the iconic TV show Top of the Pops a few times and their music being featured on Top Gear, Eastenders, Neighbours, and achieving prominent live slots at festivals such as Glastonbury, V festival, Reading & Leeds etc. Then unexpectedly at the peak of their success they called a hiatus in 2002. This led to much speculation and mystique around the act, yet in only those 3 years, with only one record, MV had achieved far more than most bands or they themselves had initially aimed for: "My What? No band would name themselves THAT if the idea was to become a household name!" joked the often elusive frontman Som Wardner.

As a testament to their skills they counted fans amongst peers, established artists and heroes alike, landing support slots with many of them: Butch Vig & Shirley Manson from Garbage, Chino Moreno from Deftones, Stabbing Westward, Placebo, Muse, Manic Street Preachers, A Perfect Circle, Feeder, Coldplay, Ash, to name a few.

Having been discovered by legendary UK talent spotter & DJ Steve Lamacq, the band eventually saw this initial support being reinforced by the rest of BBC Radio1 & XFM featuring on rotation for both stations. The band had also become UK music press favourites - which they however treated with a pinch of 'flavour-of-the-month' skepticism.

The band headlined their first festival stages in Holland on the mainstage in Rotterdam, and the indoor arena in Norway's Quart. They also performed across Europe at Roskilde in Denmark, Festimad in Spain, and to 20,000 people at Rock am Ring in Germany. Sony Music Japan released their debut and they played at Summer Sonic in Japan to 18,000 people. Their first headline show in Tokyo sold out in hours and the venue had to be upgraded twice.

Their music was also featured on various mainstream TV shows such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Eastenders & Top Gear amongst others and the band suddenly found themselves being offered Hollywood movie roles, and modelling jobs from the likes of Ralph Lauren, etc along the way. However the band declined them all: "We thought it would be better to stick to what we knew best!"

On the contrary, the bands headline shows were noted for the swathes of guitars set to moody backlit silhouettes, interspersed by thundering strobes, all in which the members could hardly be seen all set. "Pretentious as it sounds, we wanted to do something a little different... to create an atmosphere which suited the songs… not the huge egos!'

My Vitriol had evolved from a punk infused alt-rock outfit into something with much greater dimensions altogether. This saw the music press draw comparisons to bands from the early 90's 'Shoegaze' era. However, whilst being as expansive and atmospheric, My Vitriol shows were far more dynamic, melodic and energetic than the Shoegaze scene had ever produced. Frontman Som Wardner joked, "I'm not sure we are really Shoegaze, more NuGaze" and the moniker stuck… with Finelines now being referred to as the first album from the NuGaze genre.

Astoria headline show review, July 2002:
"My Vitriol are capable of reaching places only Nirvana, the Manics and Radiohead have reached before, big words we know but at their best My Vitriol are quite capable of attaining a cinematic, tremolo-bending enormity that catches you right there. That's why we'll never have anything better to do on a Friday night when My Vitriol are in town."

The band retained their coy attitude towards the spotlight in the video for their 2nd top 40 hit single 'Grounded', which starred notorious cult figure Vincent Gallo. They appeared for less than 30seconds. "Unfortunately Vincent fell out with our label over stuff... he's quite a character. But it was great not to have to be actors for the day!"

The song was also a hit in South Africa but MV also saw their popularity reach areas of Asia and South America to a underground cult following, even without performances in those territories. All the buzz led to the band signing the US release rights of Finelines to Sony/Epic for a reported $400,000, and part of the deal was to remix the album with Guns 'n' Roses/Metallica producer Steve Thompson.

On hearing the US mixes, Infectious records decided to re-release this version in the UK as a double-album format, including B-sides and rarities, forming a complete works of My Vitriol to date. Despite the double record being released at mid-price, the pre-empted backlash was unavoidable in certain quarters of the media and fanbase, who viewed the move as a cynical profit-driven record company exploit. This was despite the band regularly pricing their tickets & merchandise as low as possible. Regardless, many reviews hailed the release: "Sure to be remembered as a classic in years to come." Music Week said, and "A near classic" said Kerrang.

At the end of 2002 after 3 years of solid touring, lead singer Som Wardner announced their unexpected hiatus at their second to headline billing at the Kerrang Festival, and just like that... they were gone.

Despite only one full album release, My Vitriol's influence can be heard amongst many new artists around the world. Click HERE for some.

My Vitriol returned in 2016 to support their former label mates & friends Muse as main support across Eastern Europe, culminating with a show to over 50,000 people at the Olympic Stadium Russia. Shortly after they also played the Olympic Stadium at the U-Park festival with the Red Hot Chili Peppers in Kiev, Ukraine.

2016 also saw the band self-release new material under their own imprint as “The Secret Sessions”. Despite not being a fully promoted official second album, many fans still referred to the collection as another masterpiece (click here).

Following the departure of Carolyn Bannister during their lengthy hiatus, Tatia Starkey (the grand-daughter of Beatles legend Ringo Starr) joined the 3 original members on live bass duties.

The elusive band have occasionally returned to the live scene, playing to sold-out audiences at venues such as London's KOKO & Scala... so catch them whilst you can!