Biffy Clyro
Biffy Clyro's biography begins in Scotland starting in 1995. Their lineup has stayed consistent for the duration of their activity, with Simon Neil on guitar, James Johnston playing bass, and Ben Johnston handling drums. Simon Neil serves as the primary vocalist and lyricist, but all three have participated with vocals and songwriting. The band took a brief break for education before their first release in 1999, Blackened Skies. By this point, they were regularly playing shows with alternative rock bands. The band released two more full-length albums as they more fully explored and rounded out their sound. The two albums, The Vertigo of Bliss and Infinity Land, were well-received and helped the band reach new fans. In 2007, Biffy Clyro released Puzzle, with much of the music concerning the passing of Neil's mother. The album featured artwork by Storm Thorgerson, most widely known for his Pink Floyd album covers. Puzzle was extremely successful, with six songs as singles and selling enough in the U.K. to reach Platinum status. Biffy Clyro would continue working with Thorgerson for the artwork on their next two albums, Only Revolutions and Opposites. Both albums received fantastic critical reception. The band continued their musical experimentation on both albums, noting that not all of the experiments made it to either record. For the album Opposites, the band played on Later... With Jools Holland, with guest supporters Mike Vennart of Oceansize and Richard Ingram of British Theater. Starting in 2007, the band was nominated for New Sounds of Europe, going on to win several awards since 2010. These include such auspicious awards as Best Live Band and Best British Band. They have also played the Reading and Leads Festival and toured with such music groups as Linkin Park, Queens of the Stone Age, and Muse.