Milano are a 3 piece indie/rock band formed in July 2006. Following the split of Sycophant in summer of '06 drummer, Joe Stirland and Guitarist/Vocalist, Andrew Morgan joined with Dan Bowers (Bass) to form Milano.
After writing and rehearsing intensively Milano entered the studio in November 2006 and recorded their first 5 song demo with Tim Lewis of Spiritualised and ThighPaulSandra. Met with instant approval the demo was passed around the hands of the Milano faithful and the band started booking as many gigs as they possibly could, anywhere, anytime, never turning down a show, with the philosophy that you have to earn your stripes in the toilet venues.
Milano began gigging in March 2007 playing 30 gigs over the course of the next 4 months, all the time gaining in skill, stage presence and notoriety amongst the Cardiff music scene faithful.
In Septmber 2007 Joe decided to leave Milano due being offered the job of a lifetime. We will always love Joe, he is our best friend and one hell of a showman. After a frankly demoralising and exhaustive search the chink of light at the end of the tunnel was new drummer Will Purcell. Will brought a new dimension to the Milano sound and after rehearsing with the band only a handful of times was thrown in at the deep end to play 4 shows in 10 days. We have never looked back.
As soon as the new lineup was established gigs began flowing in. Cardiff Barfly became somewhat of a spiritual home playing several shows to ever increasing audiences in a short period of time but you can only play your home town so many times, the M4 was calling, gigs in Bristol, Bath, Birmingham and London followed.
In February 2008 Milano recorded the second half of their LP 'System' again with Tim Lewis, again met with great approval. Some Milano classics alongside some new material were included. A video for 'A Thousand Days' was also recorded (below) with Charlie Davies of Phaelon Productions.
The Milano ethic is and always has been that melody and real songs are what they are about. As a 3 piece Milano prides themselves on their tight, exciting sound playing with real urgency and commitment every time they step on stage.
