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features /  music feature
editor content by: editor
the nearly bands
the nearly bands
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The Beta Band and Simian, cut down in their prime.

They could have been contenders… With major label backing, lavish press hype and songs that would make the seraphim jealous, the world should have been The Beta Band and Simian’s oyster. But, as the former put the full stop on their careers with their Best Of… collection, and the latter live on in mainstream memory solely for La Breeze soundtracking a car advert, it seems that they’re both destined to be remembered as classic underachievers rather than classic pop groups.

Of course they’re not the first to have burning promise dampened by public indifference. Think of Tricky, Portishead, Talvin Singh and Gomez from the past few years alone. Sure, they might be namechecked by their peers and praised by the press, but influence doesn’t pay the bills, as The Beta Band themselves announced when they disbanded last year, following the statement that “eight years of hard work and critical acclaim, but little return in terms of commercial success, inevitably takes its toll”.

So why – when it was all apparently laid out on a plate – did The Beta Band and Simian not only never take the top table but also leave with such a bad taste in their mouths? “We were just never let into the club,” says Beta Band vocalist Steve Mason. “The press were behind us but Radio 1 wouldn’t playlist us and we never got on CD:UK, and it’s impossible to break into the mainstream without them. If you’re on a major label and Radio 1 won’t playlist you then they just give up on you.”


Nearly man Talvin Singh and Steve Mason, now known as King Biscuit Time

Simian singer, Simon Lord, tells a similar story. “Simian came a cropper when our lovely indie label, Source, was consumed by fearsome major label Virgin,” he states bluntly. “They didn’t understand our ways and we didn’t understand theirs, so they dropped us.”

Of course, casting major labels as the villain is a common excuse, but is it always fair? The Beta Band famously did themselves no favours by calling their own eponymous album “the worst record
released all year”. And, whilst Lord claims that “if you start pandering to record company concerns you end up with dross like Kaiser Chiefs”, maybe – as with all good relationships – the secret to success is a little give and take.

According to NME editor Conor McNicholas, “Being a big band means there's a lot of pressure, and some people just don't want to go there. To be successful it's not just enough to have the talent, you have to want success too.” That’s a view shared by Miles Leonard, who originally signed The Beta Band to Regal and is now MD at Parlophone. “It was difficult trying to get The Beta Band playlisted because they were the ‘odd’ band that didn’t fit into any scene, but they maybe burnt some bridges that they shouldn’t have. Just because you drink with the devil doesn’t mean you have to go to bed with him.”

So perhaps it was the very “individuality” that people praised both bands for that was also their biggest obstacle to crossing over, at least from the marketing department’s perspective. Neither Lord nor Mason make any bones about their desire for commercial success with their current respective projects, Garden and King Biscuit Time. But while both claim to have learnt lessons from how things worked out with their former bands, neither are now prepared to sand down their square edges to slide into any round pigeonholes.

“I’m trying to be a bit cleverer this time,” says Mason. “But until recently it was taken as given that bands had opinions. That’s why you identified with them. But now if you like Coldplay you’re obviously going to like Snow Patrol, Keane and myriad others. None of them seem ‘real’ because their record companies won’t let them have opinions because they’re scared of alienating a particular demographic. Those people who listen to Coldplay, shop in Gap, go to Starbucks and read The Guardian, and think they’re in heaven - but they’re really going to hell.”


Paul Clarke 29 September 05
The Beta Band – Best Of, released 03 October 05 on Regal. Simian - La Breeze, out now on Virgin.
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