Subcircus

by Bryan Thomas
Progressive Brit-pop band Subcircus burst on the scene in late 1994. Singer and leader Peter Bradley Jr. (who hails from the same Yorkshire town where Bram Stroker wrote Dracula) and guitarist Nikolaj Bloch met after Bloch found Bradley's &Musicians Wanted& ad in Melody Maker. Bradley and his brother Bobby had already been performing as the Bradley Brothers, eventually splitting, with Peter signing to Polydor. In early 1995, he, Bloch, and drummer Tommas Arnby (a native of Copenhagen, Denmark, he arrived in London in 1992) gathered at Bradley's parents' house in North Yorkshire and jammed. Soon after, they recruited bassist George Brown, the only bandmember actually from London. Eventually the band members all moved to London, rehearsing in a Kings Cross basement rehearsal room called the Secret Garden. They played their first concert in York, England, in 1995, wearing makeup and wacky outfits. Word of mouth spread, and by May of 1996 Subcircus had played more than 150 shows throughout the U.K., headlining two club tours and opening for Echo and the Bunnymen, Suede, Elvis Costello, Grant Lee Buffalo, and Ocean Colour Scene, among others. In September 1996, their stellar sub-Radiohead-sounding debut Carousel was recorded in London at Air Studios and at Peter Gabriel's Real World Studios in Bath, England. It was ultimately issued in the U.K. by the independent Echo label (Dreamworks released a new version ? sequenced differently and including one new track ? in the U.S. in August 1997). The album drew critical raves from the U.K. press and built up a rabid fan base. Two singles from the album, &86'd& and &U Love U,& charted in Britain. For several years the group seemed to have disappeared, but reappeared (without the makeup and wild clothing) in early 2000. The band finally issued a new single, &Sixty Second Love Affair& (appropriately enough, it was released on Valentine's Day), following it in March with their second full-length album, Are You Receiving Me?.