Biography
Towards the close of 2010 the lo-fi indie pop quartet Being There assembled after its members first crossed paths while studying at university in Manchester, England. The group then shifted base to London in order to devote full attention to recording. Sammy Lewis on guitar and vocals, James Robinson on bass and vocals, Tom Rapanakis on drums, and Nick Olorenshaw on guitar tapped into a shared longing for the unfettered freedom of their teenage years, which lent the music its unfiltered, youthful character. Although echoes of Pavement, Teenage Fanclub and the Lemonheads surfaced clearly, the band also adopted the blurred shoegaze textures associated with the Jesus and Mary Chain. Lewis, the principal songwriter and frontman, had already released material on the London indie imprint Young and Lost Club as a solo act, prompting the label to commit to his new project immediately. Throughout 2011 Being There carried their atmospheric alt-rock onto the road supporting labelmates Noah and the Whale, while maintaining a packed slate of headline dates during which dozens of potential debut-album tracks were composed and later set aside.
The band’s first collection, Breaking Away, was captured in 2011 by longtime indie-rock engineer Richard Formby—known for his work with Wild Beasts, Spectrals and Dog Is Dead—inside his Leeds facility, where committing performances to tape enhanced the warm, precisely shaped lo-fi aesthetic. Saturated in hazy guitars and languid synth lines, the record embodied the members’ sense of constrained youth; songs such as “Back to the Future” and “17” evoked the desire to retreat into adolescent freedom. The single “The Radio,” by contrast, leaned toward buoyant pop craftsmanship, its buoyant hooks and bright, seasonal melodies distinguishing the group from peers. Issued in 2012, Breaking Away earned approving coverage and regular rotation on BBC Radio 6, while the band appeared on NME’s 2012 Ones to Watch list. In 2015 Being There resurfaced with the Generator EP, which displayed a noticeably stronger electronic orientation.
The band’s first collection, Breaking Away, was captured in 2011 by longtime indie-rock engineer Richard Formby—known for his work with Wild Beasts, Spectrals and Dog Is Dead—inside his Leeds facility, where committing performances to tape enhanced the warm, precisely shaped lo-fi aesthetic. Saturated in hazy guitars and languid synth lines, the record embodied the members’ sense of constrained youth; songs such as “Back to the Future” and “17” evoked the desire to retreat into adolescent freedom. The single “The Radio,” by contrast, leaned toward buoyant pop craftsmanship, its buoyant hooks and bright, seasonal melodies distinguishing the group from peers. Issued in 2012, Breaking Away earned approving coverage and regular rotation on BBC Radio 6, while the band appeared on NME’s 2012 Ones to Watch list. In 2015 Being There resurfaced with the Generator EP, which displayed a noticeably stronger electronic orientation.
Albums
Singles
