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Formed in 2007, Dinosaur Pile-Up are an English alternative rock band who broke out of the thriving Leeds rock scene of the time and instantly drew favourable comparisons to the cream of 90s US college rock. Founded originally as a solo project by songwriter and frontman Matt Bigland, the line up is completed by drummer Mike Sheils and bassist Jim Cratchley. Named after Matt saw the scene in Peter Jackson’s remake of King Kong where a stampede of dinosaurs pile up at the foot of a mountain, “DPU” put out their first official release, The Most Powerful E.P In The Universe, in 2009 and have gone on to record two studio albums, 2010’s Growing Pains and 2013’s Nature Nurture. 

The project was initially a handful of demos that Bigland had recorded on an 8-track recorder in his basement and at Leeds' Brudenell Social Club, performing and recording the drums, guitars, bass and vocals himself. These demos were hosted on a Myspace profile named 'Dinosaur Pile-Up' and quickly gained interest from the local scene and soon the UK music press. Due to offers for shows Bigland enlisted the help of friends in a 'revolving door' policy and began touring in late 2007. Since then DPU have toured extensively through the UK, Europe and the USA supporting acts such as Pixies, Cage The Elephant, Feeder, Twin Atlantic, You Me At Six and Middle Class Rut. In 2010 Mike Sheils officially joined DPU on drums, after meeting Matt on tour and famously bonding over Weezer's blue album. In late 2013 long standing friend Jim Cratchley officially joined DPU on bass after his previous band Tribes disbanded.

Speaking of the band’s first EP, which was initially recorded as an experiment, Bigland said "I wanted to go into a studio and see if I could record something that actually sounded like an album, and not just some sh**ty 8-track demo's I'd recorded in my basement. I knew how I worked best and what I wanted to create, but I didn't know if I was competent enough to record an entire album, so I used recording the E.P as kind of an experiment and didn't take it too seriously, thus the stupid name." Upon successful recording and release of the 'Most Powerful E.P...' recorded with local Leeds producer James Kenosha, Bigland went in to the studio again to record DPU's debut full length album "Growing Pains", again performing all instruments and vocals himself and again produced by James Kenosha. Growing Pains was recorded over a period of a month and a half and upon its release in October 2010 received widespread critical acclaim and radio support including UK Radio 1 taste maker Zane Lowe who has continued to support the band ever since. Between 2011 and 2013 DPU toured extensively in the UK and Europe, taking in many festivals including Leeds and Reading Festival, Oxygen Festival and T In The Park. After two years solid touring Bigland went in to studio again, this time with producers Ian Davenport and Tom Dalgety to record DPU's second full length album. Again Bigland recorded all the instruments himself split between Rockfield Studios in Wales and Courtyard Studios in Oxford. The album took two months to record but what he emerged with was one of the brightest, most bruising rock records of 2013 “Nature Nurture” which was described by Zane Lowe on its release as “Nature, nurture, two of the greatest words in existence, now neatly compacted together for an album that could be one of the greatest albums ever in existence”.

Nature Nurture proved to be the band’s first inroad into the American market where their sound proved to be a perfect fit for US radio on its release in early 2014, leading to several tours including their biggest to date supporting Brand New.  With the album set to be released in Japan and the Far-East in 2014, world domination is still on the cards.


Jefferson Graham is a Los Angeles writer, photographer, the host of the PhotowalksTV travel series on YouTube, Amazon and Roku channel, a former Usa Today, columnist and host of the podcast the iPhone photo show. Replays of the old Talking Tech podcast are featured here.

The Air Force Reserve is an integral part of the nation's defense. Reservists perform the same missions and work alongside active duty Air Force members. You are able to work on your civilian career, further your education and serve your country.

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