Automatic

Originally formed in September 1994 by guitarist Chris Barnes,bassist Jamie Wilkinson and drummer Will Shaw AUTOMATIC rose from the ashes of a school band Wizzin' 'Edge'ogs who mainly concentrated on covering Inspiral Carpets songs as well as a few of their own(Jamie handled the tricky Clint Boon Organ solos,original drummer Neil Green and bassist Dave Williams completed the line-up).The Edge'ogs final outing was in June 1993 when they played at an Inspirals record signing in Piccadilly Records in Manchester (Will had replaced Neil Green two weeks before the gig)The original Automatic line up made it's live debut at The Roadhouse,Manchester on 8th June 1995, the early gigs were recorded and the now ultra rare cassette "Live At The Roadhouse" containing four tracks was sold at gigs.In the autumn of that year the band entered the studio for the first time and recorded several new tracks with Darren Richards at the healm producing.These 8 track recordings were the basis for the bands first proper demo "Let's Roll" which contained early classics like "Max's Theory","Trains" and "Election" it initally appeared with two live tracks on the first pressing and then with a demo of a brand new song "Awake" in the spring of 1996.Automatic had some interesting support slots during their formative years one of the highlights has to be their second ever gig,opening for one hit wonders Babylon Zoo (with their infamous four hour soundcheck and nearly refusing to go on due to the damage Jaz Mann's delay pedal sustained earlier that evening).Another highlight of the bands shows during this early period was their cover of The Ronnettes "By My Baby" which brought the house down on more than one occasion,mainly due to the suspect vocal harmonies from Chris and Will(a storming version will be uploaded soon).The band recorded a session with Ian Lawson at his 8 track studio,showcasing their latest material which included "Summise" (later to appear on the "A Series Of Clicks And Whistles" CD).It was during the late summer of 1996 that the band became aware of two young fans who who also ran local fanzines "Aggamenmong Moggie" and "I Am 5" (one issue of "I Am 5" was solely dedicated to Automatic and the many reasons why they would rock your world).These were the publications of Caz and Daniel whose relentless championing of the band was at first bewildering but then led to a friendship that culminated in the formation of Cheshire Cat Records.In March 1997 the band debuted six new tracks at a gig at The Boardwalk and continued to gig with new friends Godsister Helen and prepare for their debut single release by returning to the studio with Ian Lawson. The split 7" single featured Automatic tracks "Empty" (later to appear on the "Why Do People Faint" CD) and "Complainer",both songs were by now crowd favourites. The flipside featured Godsister Helen's "Scorn" and "Freddy's Revenge".The release of the single was marked with a special gig at The Roadhouse and a two page article in Manchester Evening News.At this point we reach a sad note,after a headlining gig at Kaleida,Manchester in early September 1997,Jamie decided to leave the band due to many reasons leaving behind a huge void and some bloody big shoes to fill.Enter one Rob Shoard,an old school friend of Chris and Will who was the original singer for Wizzin' 'Edge'ogs (remember them?)after an audition of "Won't Get Fooled Again" by The Who and "Losfer Words" by Iron Maiden Rob proved he was the man for the job and an intensive period of writing and rehearsal began.The band returned to the stage in glorious fashion with a gig at The Boardwalk in November 1997.The set began with the specially written "Comeback Theme" an instrumental featuring over the top guitar and drum breaks,also featured in that gig were covers of "Next To You" by The Police and Led Zeppelin's "The Ocean".After Rob had settled in the new material started to come together and the band prepared to record there first CD,the sessions took place at Noisebox Studios in Prestwich just outside Manchester with Gave Fearney in the producers chair."A Series Of Clicks And Whistles" was released in the summer of 1998 with another special night booked at The Roadhouse and featured 4 tracks:-"Last In Line","Summise",If I Could" and "Sorry About Before".The band had now begun gigging heavily and started appearing around the country squeezing in dates in York and Nottingham during the early part the next year,the band opened for Irish Punk legends Stiff Little Fingers at Parr Hall in Warrington which was to be their biggest gig to date.The night was a huge success only slighty marred by Chris' guitars being stolen from backstage,they were recovered later that evening in St Helens.The band had already begun writing songs for their next CD and by the time of recording the songs back at Noisebox the songs were tight and some had been in the set for a few months.The "Why Do People Faint?" sessions produced "Empty","Latino","What Do You Expect","Two's A Crowd","In Search Of" and "You're Not Looking Back For Me".The band took a six week break whilst bassist Rob travelled across China his return ten days before the release gig for "Why Do People Faint?" was close but the gig has to regarded as one of the bands best ever shows,packing in all the new CD,three tracks from "A Series Of..." a brand new song and three covers (Queen's "Don't Stop Me Now","Prowler" by Iron Maiden and their now legendary cover of Pat Boone's classic "Speedy Gonzales").The start of 2000 was another busy period for the band with new material appearing in the set and gigging "away" from home this time including their debut in London at The Red Eye which fell either side of the sessions for their third and final CD "Faces Of Jeff",these sessions produced "Another Thing","Choose Your Sides Now Please","Nothing At All","Compete And Contend","Saving Face" and "Keep In Control".In September the band had the now traditional release at The Roadhouse and started to promote the new CD.However all was not well behind the scenes,during the summer of 2000 tensions within the band were becoming too much and relationships had turned sour,for a variety of reasons Rob had announced his intention to leave that autumn.His final gig with the band was a The Night & Day in Manchester,November 2000 and he actually left the band on good terms.After a period of downtime the band turned to a friend Chris knew from his music student days and Steve Rooney was auditioned in late December,put through his paces with several Automatic tracks and Iron Maiden's "Remember Tomorrow".The band re-grouped after the new year and began to write some new material,heading in a slightly different direction the newer material took time to take shape and the band recorded a 4 track demo in the spring of 2001 of the three new songs,only one of which had a title "Talk You Into The Night".The bands return to the stage was booked for 10th May,this turned out to be Automatic's last ever live performance,taking place back where it all began in June 1995 at The Roadhouse.After some long discussions Chris,Will and Steve decided to end the band and each concentrated on other projects.