James Nicholson, Ryan Mitchell and Bryonie Danby met on a Fine art degree course in Newcastle. Their common love of blues/experimental music lead to them forming a band in 2003. They jammed and infrequently gigged together for a couple of years under the guise of many names (mokele mbembe, pangea, kai 10, the zoot suit riots... ahem etc), in which time they began articulating a very coherent and unique sound.
In the summer of 2005, James bumped into his old school friend Andrew Openshaw. Hugs were exchanged and phone numbers too, and later that month Andy began joining the trio in their jamming sessions. After much hard work, the four piece became confident enough to begin playing live together. Again, many names were dabbled with and some of the early gigs could best be forgotten, but finally Loud as War (it's a Fidel Castro quote in case you were wondering) settled during a visit to the Lake district and began 2006 with a set of new songs and an appetite to perform. There were many gigs during the early part of the year, including the infamous and often raucous mini tour with The Babylon Babies. Regularly playing live, as well as taking residence at their own studio in Elswick, allowed the band to develop a level of consistency to their music whilst giving them the opportunity to experiment with new sounds and styles. By June LAW had a regular set of followers.
During the Summer, as Andy travelled South East Asia and New Zealand , the other members polished up new material.
Early 2007 brought sad news of Andy's departure from the band (and the country) in October. The band went their separate ways at the end of 2007. Look out for them around the toon...
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