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.


True Notes since 1987.
Our Gift To You. Stream PASSAGE, The EP: http://hyperurl.co/passage

OKeh short history: 

OKeh was founded by Otto K. E. Heinemann when he set up his own recording studio and gramophone record pressing plant in New York City in September 1918. Heinemann formed the name of the record label "OKeh", from his initials.  OKeh began by issuing popular songs, dance numbers, and vaudeville skits similar to the fare of other labels, but Heineman also wished to experiment with music for audiences neglected by the larger record companies. OKeh produced lines of recordings in German, Czech, Polish, Swedish, and Yiddish for the USA's immigrant communities. In 1920, Ralph Peer's recordings by African-American blues singer Mamie Smith were a surprise smash hit for Okeh. The company perceived the significant, little-tapped market for blues and jazz by African American artists. Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and Bix Beiderbecke are only a few names of jazz greats that have recorded for the label. By 1926 Columbia Records bought the label and kept it running into the 60's with jazz and R&B recordings. 

In 1994, Sony Music reactivated the OKeh label as a new-age Blues label. Okeh's first new signings included Keb' Mo, Popa Chubby, and Little Axe. By 2000, the Okeh label was again retired, but in 2013 it will see its re-launch as a jazz label once again.

Vanguard Records, part of Concord Bicycle Music’s Fantasy Label Group, is one of the world’s leading independent record labels. Its eclectic roster of quality artists includes Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness, Switchfoot, O.A.R., Flogging Molly, Parachute, Sallie Ford, Matt Nathanson, Chris Isaak, Barenaked Ladies, Greg Laswell, Trevor Hall, Indigo Girls, and more. It’s rich history of catalog artists features Levon Helm, Merle Haggard, Joan Baez, Mindy Smith, Buddy Guy, Big Mama Thornton, Junior Wells, John Fahey, to name a few.

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