Bio
The name, "Symposium"?
Apparently Wojtek was read 'Plato', and saw the name there. He said, "It's not a
typical name for a band. It's civilized. And it's got legendary potential."
Formed in the music room of a West London school in 1995, the band cut their collective
teeth playing covers of songs by well known beat combo’s like The Beatles, Rage
Against The Machine and Smashing Pumpkins. Having heard the band play, Wojtek Godzisz made
a few notes and, in true Noel Gallagher style, offered to join the band on the condition
that he write all the songs. Luckily, the home recorded demo he presented to the rest of
the band featured that rarest of things - a set of unfeasibly cool songs. At this
embryonic stage, the band didn’t have much of their own equipment as Joe reluctantly
admits: When we first started out we got all our instruments by either saving up or by
foul means - by sort of borrowing them from youth clubs and not giving them back,
that’s how we managed to play.
At first they honed their skills in schools and youth clubs, progressing on to pubs and
clubs as demand increased. It was at these early gigs that they cemented their reputation
as a bit of a handful when their fans started systematically tearing each venue apart.
They have since been banned from most of these venues for obvious reasons.
Pretty soon, word started to spread and they went from playing the Camden toilet circuit
to playing prestigious support slots with the likes of Ash and Bis. Before the ink had
even dried on a record deal, they had already made such an indelible impression that they
were offered the support slot on the Red Hot Chilli Peppers’ Wembley Arena shindig.
The festivals soon followed and the rest, as they say, is history. That was a really mad
experience, says Wojtek, and after that we played Phoenix which was really good fun
because after having that experience at Wembley we weren’t afraid any more. It works
to get thrown in at the deep end because then you really have to start swimming. They then
played a now legendary gig at the 100 Club in London which induced such a riot of Sex
Pistols proportions that, if everyone who claimed to have been there actually was, Oxford
Street would have been brought to a standstill.
Then in it all kicked off - BIG TIME! Infectious Records, home to those other
‘guaranteed real teenagers’ Ash, beat off a host of major record companies
offering fistfulls of cash and signed SYMPOSIUM in May 1996.Their debut single ‘Drink
The Sunshine’ was a pretty convincing opening statement of intent that immediately
had the cooler sections of the press salivating. ‘Drink The Sunshine’ was
released in October 1996 and coincided with their first regional dates. The single was a
Radio One Evening Session ‘Priority Tune’ and was awarded Single of the
Week’ in NME and Kerrang.
SYMPOSIUM finished off the year as just about everyone’s tip for the top for
’97. Despite having seriously pissed off various members of the NME posse in a
snowball fight (they said it’d all end in tears and it did - for the NME), the NME
picked SYMPOSIUM for the NME Brat Bus Tour - a showcase of the best new bands around. By
this point, the boys’ stage dismantling antics had reached new levels and the fans
loved it (even if the long-suffering promoters didn’t). By now, the word was well and
truly out and fans started bringing ceiling tiles and general debris along after each show
for autographs.
Their second single ‘Farewell To Twilight’ was released in March ’97,
reached No. 2 in the ‘indie’ charts and became their first foray into the UK Top
30. In fact, Radio One played the single over 18 times on the week of release. Soon,
momentum was gathering and the band made their first national TV appearance on TFI Friday.
This was followed by their second headline tour and a Melody Maker front cover dubbing
them the ‘Best Live Band In Britain’ - proving once and for all that all
comparisons with the Spice Girls were largely inaccurate.
May saw the release of their third single ‘The Answer To Why I Hate You’ -
leaner, meaner and harder than their previous efforts. To support the release of ‘The
Answer’, SYMPOSIUM went out on a 23 date tour which consolidated their reputation as
the hottest band in the universe. By this point, the praise being heaped on such young
shoulders was immense.
Now we’re nearly at the end of June and the boys will be hot-footing it straight from
their incendiary, mud splattered appearance at Glastonbury into the recording studio to
start work on their first album.
Symposium Home
Copyright © 1999 - 2008, Darren White
