Birdeatsbaby

Birdeatsbaby formed in Brighton, United Kingdom in 2008, with founding members Mishkin Fitzgerald, Garry Mitchell, Keely McDonald, Ella Stirney and Philippa Bloomfield. On April 9, 2008, the band performed at the Surface Unsigned Festival. Based on their festival performances and the release of their first EP China Doll, the band reached the festival semifinals.[4] On June 11, 2008, the band published an official website. In October, Fitzgerald and Bloomfield traveled to the United States, where they performed in various venues for industry associates, including Brian Viglione (Dresden Dolls, World Inferno Friendship Society) and for Iron Maiden touring keyboardist, Michael Kenney.

In early 2009, the group announced that they would release the album, Here She Comes a-Tumblin' in May of that year. After the official video for The Trouble was published on YouTube on April 1, 2009, it received over 100,000 views in its first month.[5] After releasing the follow-up single Miserable, the group went on their first tour.[6][7] Performing with fellow Brighton-based duo Bitter Ruin, tour stops included the United Kingdom, France, Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Austria. Bluesbunny Music Reviews, one of the first independent reviewers of Here She Comes-a-Tumblin', named the album as one of the top 10 releases of 2009.[8][9]

In May 2010, the band announced work on their next release, an EP named Bigger Teeth, to be released on Dead Round Eyes Records.[10] In July, Ella Stirney left Birdeatsbaby to continue a career as a music teacher. Instead of recruiting another cellist, the band decided to remain a quartet. The Bigger Teeth release was in October, which garnered some positive independent reviews.[11] In December, the band released the Lullaby single, which was written while on tour, and was recorded and produced by Bart Brouns of Studio Magnetophon.[12] Also in December, the band were interviewed by There Goes The Fear as No. 2 in their top 10 bands to watch in 2011.[13]

After Philippa Bloomfield left the band in January 2011 to dedicate herself full-time to a cinematography vocation, Charlie Reith-Pert joined the band as replacement drummer. In February and March 2011, the band returned to the United States, recording in Pennsylvania at Seventh Wave Studios with Jason Rubal, known for his work with Nine Inch Nails, The Cure and Amanda Palmer.[14] The group's next album would be titled Feast of Hammers. In August 2011, the band were approached by Projekt Records for consent to include The Trouble in its compilation album A Dark Cabaret 2, the release of which provided the band wider exposure.[15] Reviews of the upcoming release were positive, steadily building the band's local and worldwide fan base and increasing demand for touring.[16][17] In November 2011, the title track from the upcoming Feast of Hammers album was released as a single, with a companion track from the full album on the B-side.

A sign that the band was making itself known was being invited for a pre-release interview by music reviewers Soundblab.[18] On February 6, 2012, Birdeatsbaby released the second of the three singles from the new album, a track entitled Incitatus, the flipside of which featured a remix by Avon Bosco.[19] On February 20, 2012, the band again received critics' interest and positive reviews as they released the full Feast of Hammers album which contained thirteen songs, most of which had a maritime theme or employed allusions to the sea.[20][21] The band experienced another change in personnel as Reith-Pert left the band for a trip around the world, his collegiate studies being completed. In May, Birdeatsbaby invited percussionist Katha Rothe to play the tour supporting the release of their new album; also in May, the band released the music video for the Anchor single.[22] On June 5, violinist Keely McDonald left Birdeatsbaby, and was replaced by Tessa Gilles, who would later move on as a member of the Brighton Film Quartet and The Mummers, and as violinist with the Sussex Symphony Orchestra.

In May 2013, Fitzgerald released her first solo album, Present Company. The record featured more first-person, personal variations in theme. In an interview, concerning the differences between a solo effort and a Birdeatsbaby record, Fitzgerald said, "...one of my friends best described it: Birdeatsbaby songs are angry, Mishkin Fitzgerald songs are sad."[23] It also represented Fitzgerald's growth of composition beyond the dark cabaret genre, an evolution Birdeatsbaby would continue in subsequent years. All instrumentation, arrangement and composition was performed by Fitzgerald and Forbes Coleman, a local Brighton musician and producer. It was recorded, mixed and engineered at Audio Beach Studios in Brighton UK by Coleman, who would eventually become the band's new drummer.[24] The album also featured a collaboration with She Makes War record producer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Laura Kidd.

In September 2013, the video for the single Ghosts was released, which would be from the upcoming Birdeatsbaby album, called The Bullet Within. The band resumed touring, opening for ASP in Germany as part of a performance competition they won. They then flew to Rome to open for the Italian rock band Belladonna, and later that year supported Coppelius on tour in Germany. In November, the band began a Kickstarter crowdfunding effort to support the Bullet album.

2014 saw Birdeatsbaby once again in the studio as a full band, recording the The Bullet Within. Forbes Coleman had now joined the band full-time as percussionist, technical resource and producer, and Hana Maria had replaced Tessa Gilles on violin and backing vocals. The Kickstarter campaign all-or-nothing amount was set at £10,000; the final total brought in was just over £11,000.[25] It was widely supported by their now-devoted fan base ("The Flock"), and counted Amanda Palmer and Neil Gaiman among its participants.[23] Melora Creager from Rasputina recorded cello on the track Into The Black, and Gabby Young (formerly of Other Animals) from London sang on Spiders.[26] The album's release date was set for July 14. Much of 2014 was spent on tour in support of the Bullet record; in April the band toured in Denmark with Geoff Berner.

The Bullet album brought the band's original cabaret-noir stylings to their maturity, evolving into a somewhat heavier, more power-driven musical motif than their earlier outings. As with previous releases, the album received uniformly positive reviews from music zines such as Glasswerk, Q Magazine and the LouderThanWar music blog.[27][28] Due to their increasing standing in the UK music scene, Birdeatsbaby releases were now subjects of immediate attention among independent music critics industry-wide, and the band had their second BBC 6 interview, with Chris Hawkins.[29][30] In October, the track Tenterhooks was included on R2 Magazine's compilation CD, Un-Herd Volume 47.[31][32] Positive feedback continued up to the following August, when Steven Gullotta reviewed the record for Brutal Resonance.[33]

In September 2015, Birdeatsbaby moved from the Kickstarter model - used for the Bullet album - to Patreon, which provided a more sustainable funding vehicle for the band's work.[34] In November, Birdeatsbaby released their first documentary video, featuring in-depth interviews with each member of the band.[35] This documentary motivated their fan base in support of their touring schedule and Patreon efforts. In addition, the band were now able to create special Patron-only activities, including a live stream event which featured the performance of their entire catalogue live in the studio. The band continued touring while writing for the record, and recording when returning to their UK home base. Their 2015-2016 outreach included the UK and Europe, an Eastern United States tour and a visit to their zealous Mexican fans at shows in Mexico City. Somewhat surprised at the fact that they had fans in Mexico, the band decided that the upcoming album would be named as an acknowledgment of their support.[36]

Tanta Furia was darker in tone and more aggressive than The Bullet Within, but was received well by their growing cadre of fans around the world. Their cabaret-style leanings were rarely in evidence, as the band's music continued developing its direction toward progressive, art-informed rock, but still featuring the classical elements which were previously leveraged toward a lighter delivery and subject matter. The band began to expand their instrumental skill set, with Fitzgerald employing accordion on the title track. Reviewers noted that whereas Bullet was a more reflective album with richer, more classically-influenced tracks and more introverted lyrics, Tanta Furia (Spanish for 'so much fury') made visceral, unapologetic statements as a matter of course.[37] Once again, the album release garnered positive reviews from the independent music scene in the UK and US.[38] The final track on the record - Eulogy, Jez Rowden of the Progressive Aspect wrote, was the "magical conclusion of a stunningly good album", and as with their previous efforts, the record was positively received in Europe as well.[39][40]

Fitzgerald once again worked with Forbes Coleman to record, produce and engineer her second solo record, called Seraphim at AudioBeach Studios. As was the case with Present Company, Seraphim was performed largely by Fitzgerald herself, recruiting from members of Birdeatsbaby for other instrumentation when needed. Another similarity between the two solo records was the inclusion of a vocal collaboration, this time on the track Strangers, with Benjamin Bloom.

Having begun the record in fall of 2016, Fitzgerald released Seraphim in May 2017 to immediate praise. Paul Lyme, writing in The Revue, noted during the album launch performance at the Hope and Anchor, Islington, that "...Mishkin’s delicate yet empowering songs easily draw you in."[41] All In London wrote that Fitzgerald had "created a sound that is distinctive, fragile and unapologetic", and was "unafraid of going against the flow, in order to write heartfelt, genuine and original music."[42] As was the case with many previous videos by Birdeatsbaby, the video created for the title track garnered considerable and lasting attention.[43]

Fitzgerald, long an advocate for mental health as well as other movements such as veganism and animal rights, granted an extensive interview to Psychology Today prior to the album's release, in which she described the cathartic effect that musical expression has on her everyday well-being. This concept is supported by consensus psychological views, due to its approach which avoids medicinal emotional self-regulation, which many psychologists consider dangerous in the long term.[44]

Shortly after Coleman's departure from Birdeatsbaby to concentrate on his production career at AudioBeach Studios, the band brought in drummer Pablo Paracchino to begin work on their next album. At 68 minutes and 15 songs in length, the record was Birdeatsbaby's longest yet, reflecting the project's long creative process and turn toward more progressive thematics and presentation.[45] Having met Fitzgerald and Maria in Los Angeles through a mutual friend, alternative music legend John Fryer performed signature production duties on the record, as noted by listeners and reviewers.[46][47] Heavy Music Headquarters wrote, the record was "a superb dark prog album ... getting better with more listens."[48] Prog magazine included the album track Lady Grey on the CD of 10 best new progressive tracks in their November 2019 issue.[49] The World Conspires was released under agreement with Dr. Music Records, which handled marketing and distribution.[50]

The World Conspires was a stark departure from Birdeatsbaby's oevure to date. Fitzgerald relied much less on the piano as instrument, using vocals as the main bridge from what had come before.[51] While Maria's violin remained a familiar presence in most songs on the album, she introduced the harp as a new instrument, featured most openly on the 8th track, Esmerelda.[52] Along with the utilization of a larger variety of instrumentation, the record was oftentimes driven by Mitchell's increasingly massive guitar sound. The album featured more hallmarks of progressive metal - chordal dissonance, complex time signatures, unorthodox harmonies - than any of the band's previous works.[53] Also in evidence were more synthesized keyboards, atonal screaming and related elements of progressive rock. The title track, a duo with Fitzgerald, also featured Mitchell's first foray into vocal performance. Occasionally they would hark back to their dark cabaret roots with a momentary piano section, string passage or lyrical setting, but it was clear that the band were no longer the niche act they had been in their formative years.

During the summer of 2020 via social media channels, the band announced they had begun work on their next album, to be titled Hex. The release date was not announced, given the fluid situation of the UK music industry due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During the multiple COVID-19 lockdowns of the year, Fitzgerald and Birdeatsbaby worked on several musical collaborations and studio releases.