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David Gray was
born in Manchester in 1970. By The time he was nine years old he had moved to
Wales with his family whew he was raised until he left to study at the
University of Liverpool. He began playing in punk bands where he lived and also
played in a few bands while at college where he began to experiment with a more
poetic form of writing. After Liverpool he moved to London where he could be
closer to the action and the heart of the music business. He signed to Hut
records in the UK and Caroline In the U.S. His first release followed shortly
afterwards ' the single 'Birds without Wings ' in 1992.
His debut album, A
Century Ends was released to great acclaim in the first half of 1993- ten tracks
of anger, love, passion and just about every other emotion you can think of. It
has become a classic In its own right and succeeded in winning over a core of
loyal followers who have stayed with him ever since. Following a full tour of
Europe. David returned to record his second album Flesh which was released in
1994. Continuing to work with Hut in Europe under the Virgin umbrella, however,
a lack of support from the label eventually lead to him being dropped from the
label. He was quickly snapped up by EMI records. Meanwhile his profile and
popularity In Ireland began to rise rapidly. "No Disco" (Network 2's
groundbreaking) alternative music programme hosted by the now legendary Donal
Dineen) played his videos constantly as well as showcasing his live potential in
televised sessions.
Gray's third album Sell, Sell, Sell, was released by EMI in
1996. For some reason the release was restricted to the UK and Ireland despite
mainland Europe crying out for more of his material. Live performances continued
to be David Gray's forte.
Buy the Comprehensive Biography
Enabling him to
build up a gigging reputation that is second to none, and causing him to sell
out venues whenever he tours. Additionally, his reputation won him a series of
prestigious support slots with the likes of Radiohead to Dave Matthews.
Gray's
fourth and most recent album, White Ladder. was self financed, recorded
in a London Flat with the windows open and the trucks rumbling past, and
is released in his own label IHT. It owes as much to the sampler as to
the guitar but retains David's distinctive touches, the wishful vocals
and sublime melodies.
White
Ladder went straight into the Irish Top 30 And shot up the charts as his
sold out December Tour of Ireland wended its way around the country.
Meanwhile, 5 tracks from the album provided the backbone for the
soundtrack of Kathy Burke's new film, " This Year's Love."
As the
world eased itself into 1999, "This Year's Love" was released
as the first single from "White Ladder". The album refused to
leave the Irish charts. "Babylon" was the second single taken
from the album and was followed by sold out 4,500 capacity headline gig
at the Big Beat Festival in Galway in July which only served to
emphasize David's rneteoric rise and brought the album into the Irish
top 5(11 months after release)
David's
Slane warm up gig at HQ sold out in 48 hours, the performance at Slane
Castle with Robble Williams and Stereophonics went down a treat:David
won a Heineken Hot Press award in 'Guest of the Nation' category and
finished off the year with a new single 'Please Forgive Me'. The video
was A listed on MTV UK & Ireland. The single, which received the
remix treatment from Paul Hartnol of Orbital fame, went down a storm at
clubs in Ireland and the UK.
David
returned for a full Irish tour in December 1999, culminating in an
astonishing gig at the Point Depot on December 22nd...all gigs again
Sold Out. White Ladder had already reached 90,000 sales (6 times
platinum) and reached no 1 In the Irish album charts on 14th January
2000. more than a year after its release. It remained in the top slot
for five weeks.
*Current
sales of White Ladder went 14 times platimum in Ireland, having sold over
1,000,000 in the UK it is now three times platimum in UK, and has now
achieved Gold status.
Loss and resilience figure heavily in A New Day at Midnight,released in 2002.
The recent loss of his father fthrough cancer,strongly influenced the album, with
the overall tone one of pain and anguish. On The Other Side' Gray produced what
he has said was his best vocal performance to date. Gray cloaks his painful subject in the impressive songcraft
that marked his work since 1993's A Century Ends. The album began to break Gray in America for the first time
with the help of ATO Records, Dave Matthews record label which strongly promoted his music.
In September 2005 David Gray released the album Life in Slow Motion
This was the first of David's albums to be recorded in a 'full scale' studio
environment instead of smaller 'bedroom' sized studios where he recorded his previous albums.
This led to a change in the soundscape of David's music.
Life In Slow Motion is the first of his recent albums on which the band worked with
an outside producer. Marius De Vries was previously known for working with Rufus Wainwright,
David Bowie, Madonna and U2.
'I don't think you can remain the underdog forever and work in that way. I really wanted to get away from that lo-fi bedroom, programming, Midi side of things.'
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