The Featherz

The Featherz (formerly The Feathers) are a Welsh/English band with glam and punk influences (self-styled as "Flock Rock") led by Danie Cox (born 15 December 1990 in Bridgend) on lead vocals and guitar. Cox formed the band with two fellow former members of Georgie Girl And Her Poussez Posse, a band fronted by Georgina Baillie and mentored by Adam Ant. After leaving Baillie and Ant to form their own group, they received press coverage in the Ipswich Star,^[1] Wales On Sunday,^[2] Basingstoke Gazette,^[3] website Louder Than War^[4][5][6][7] and rock magazine Vive Le Rock who included their track RNR★ on the free CD with the January/February 2014 edition (issue 16).^[8][9] They also completed a UK national tour supporting Boy George, in three of whose videos Cox has appeared^[2] and have since toured with The Damned.^[9][10]

Since May 2014, Cox is the last remaining founder member. The band now features drummer Dazzle Monroe (formerly of Extreme Noise Terror), bassist Alice Atkinson and second guitarist Chris Shepherd.

History

2011-2014 - Formation

Cox arrived in London in October 2010 to pursue a career as a professional musician. In January 2011, she was recruited to Georgie Girl And Her Poussez Posse as guitarist and backing vocalist. The band also included Baillie, Molly Spiers-MacLeod (the daughter of Spizz) on bass and backing vocals, drummer Rachael Smith and second guitarist Fiona Bevan. This lineup supported Ant on several tour dates in spring 2011 and recorded tracks for a planned album. Footage from early 2011 of a Poussez Posse band meeting at Ant's home is included in The Blueblack Hussar, a documentary about Ant directed by Jack Bond. Unhappy with the general direction of the band and Ant's style of mentoring, Cox, Spiers-MacLeod and Smith all left the group (to be replaced by a new lineup, still fronted by Baillie, which continued to support Ant on tour until the end of 2012.) The trio formed their own band The Feathers, making their debut guerilla gig appearance at the Occupy London camp outside St Paul's Cathedral on 23 October 2011.^[2]

The band's track "Life Stranger" reached the quarter finals of the YouBloom online talent contest and was released on the compilation Hipsters 3.^[11] Cox and Spiers-MacLeod also performed an acoustic set on Garry Bushell's Rancid Sounds radio show on TotalRock in April 2012.^[12] Two years later in April 2014, they performed a second acoustic set for Bushell's show - by now transferred to online literary community Litopia's podcast section.^[13] At around the time of the first session, Smith left the group to be replaced by Alex Gold, also of The Boys. Gold in turn would be replaced by Monroe in January 2013.

In April 2013, Cox befriended Boy George after they met at the launch party of an exhibition of stage costumes of their mutual hero David Bowie at the Victoria and Albert Museum at which George was a guest speaker. Impressed with the appearance and demeanour of the glammed-up Cox, George invited her to show herself on stage.^[14] Subsequently, Cox appeared in three videos for singles by George: "I'm Coming Home" (also featuring a cameo by Monroe), "King of Everything" and "My God" directed by Dean Stockings. The band also supported George on his November 2013 solo UK tour to promote his album This Is What I Do.^{[1][2][8][15]}

In spring 2013, the band undertook a photo session for fashion designer Mark Charles and his Charles of London fashion label. Since then, all band members have regularly worn Charles' designs as stagewear.^[2] Charles also released the band's debut single "RNR★" on his Charles Of London Records label. The A-side was later included on the compilation CD Teenage Rampage, cover-mounted on issue 16 of Vive Le Rock magazine. The magazine's track guide described Cox as a "rising star" and the band as "injected with glam rock attitude" which "will give you glitter-covered goose bumps and get your feet stomping."^[8] The single has also received airplay on BBC Radio Wales^[16] and Radio Caroline.

The Ipswich Star gave a headline preview to the band's 25 January 2014 gig at the Steamboat Tavern in Monroe's native Ipswich, alongside a photo of the band, noting how "The London trio, fresh from suporting (sic) Boy George on his recent UK tour, led by Danie Cox, are getting rave reviews for their brand of punk-pop."^[1] Wales On Sunday extensively interviewed Cox in the 9 February 2014 edition about the band, their associations with Ant, Baillie, George and Charles, and her life in general. Commenting on Cox and her band, the newspaper noted "With her electrifying red hair, extravagant make-up and outrageous dress sense, 23-year-old Danie Cox and her band The Featherz look every inch pop stars."^[2]

2014 onwards - Alice Atkinson joins

Spiers-MacLeod left the band in May 2014 and Atkinson was announced as replacement bass player in early June. She made her debut on 28 June 2014 at the 100 Club alongside new second guitarist Lily Marlene (the stepdaughter of Bond and credited on The Blueblack Hussar as Assistant to the Director^[17]). The gig also marked Cox's return to the stage following a severe knee injury days after Spiers McLeod's departure.^[18] Due to Marlene's commitments outside the band, she left amicably and an ongoing vacancy for second guitarist existed for 14 months until Daniel Jones' spell with the band.

In the meantime Cox, Atkinson and Monroe continued to gig in the three-piece format, occasionally joined by various guest guitarists, including veteran Norwich musician David Donley, his student Zoe Keeling, Vera Wild of the band Jelly and Polly Hedges of the band Seek Destroy. In late 2014, they recorded fresh material at Broadoak Studios, Sussex with producer/guitarist Kevin Armstrong. Their 14 February 2015 headline gig at the Irish Centre in Basingstoke received praise from the Basingstoke Gazette "The headline band were The Featherz ... who continued the general theme of girls showing just how well they can rock it up ... Not quite as heavy as (second on the bill act) Petrol Girls, they still had a real fast punky set. They had also picked up a posse of new followers who were now ready to worship every bead and every bit of glitter - as well as dance along to their songs." ^[3]

The band also played the Pavillion Stage of the 2015 Rebellion Festival.^[5][19] Their set received an enthusiastic review from Martin Haslam of Louder Than War: "Bringing their brand of self-styled ‘Flock Rock’ to the masses, I’m pleased that the venue is filling up. Glam anthems (Glamthems?) get the crowd onside, ‘When Was The Last Time You Had Sex?’ and other ear worms. I’ve seen them before, but this line up has added Alice Atkinson, which is a very good thing; the three-piece with Danie Cox and Dazzle Monroe are now tighter and born to entertain. Championed by Boy George and dressed by Charles Of London, they deserve your attention. Now!"^[5] The band are scheduled to appear again at the 2017 festival.^[20]

A second single for Charles Of London Records, You, was released from the sessions with Armstrong on download in early September 2015 followed by a CD release two months later.^[21] A video was filmed back in April 2015 in Brighton, directed by Stockings. Interviewed by Haslam at Rebellion for Louder Than War, Cox announced that the band's next release would be their debut album. Cox also commented on her philosophy as a performer and bandleader: "I’d always had a dream, to write my own songs, to express myself through my clothes and how I present myself. Luckily, I found that in The Featherz, in London ... We are The Featherz, there is nothing else for me. I’d rather die than give up. Our songs are statements. It really is all I can do"^[4]

Around the time of the single's download release, the second guitarist role was briefly filled when Jones joined. He left amicably three months later due to musical differences, shortly before the band played three high profile support slots in Sheffield, Liverpool and London, for The Damned.^[9][10] Following the death of her hero David Bowie in January 2016, Cox was filmed by Italian television show Studio Aperto performing Bowie's songs at his shrine at the Heddon Street telephone box^[22] while the Featherz performed at a Bowie memorial concert at the Union Chapel, Islington with Mick Ronson's sister Maggi guesting with the band on vocals for Ziggy Stardust^[23] Cox and Mike Garson's biographer Clifford Slapper also performed a vocal/piano version of We Are the Dead

Also in early 2016 the band, plus Donley again on second guitar, recorded new material at Quadra Studios in Walthamstow with producer John "Lucifer" Pridige. A new second guitarist, Chris Shepherd, joined the band in April. In July a video, featuring the new lineup, was filmed in Southend for Atkinson composition Forget All You Know. In early September, the video was posted to YouTube and this track and a cover of Moonage Daydream (featuring Slapper on piano), both from the Quadra session, were uploaded to the group's Bandcamp account. Prior to this, a trailer video featuring a clip from a third track from Quadra, a cover of "The Ballroom Blitz" had been posted to YouTube. Cox and Slapper have also recorded another version of Moonage Daydream for the latter's upcoming album Bowiesongs 1.

Discography

Singles

• RNR★ (Charles Of London Records, COLRecords1, 2013, 7" vinyl only)

1. "RNR★"
2. "When Was The Last Time You Had Sex?"

• You (Charles Of London Records, COLR002, 2015, mp3s on Bandcamp plus CD single)

1. "You"
2. "Bad Girl"

• Forget All You Know (2016, mp3s on Bandcamp and iTunes, CD release to follow)

1. "Forget All You Know"
2. "Moonage Daydream"

Compilations

• Hipsters 3 (Acid Jazz Records, AJX287, 2012, CD^[11])

1. "Life Stranger" (also released as standalone mp3 on iTunes. Reissued on Bandcamp 18 December 2014)

• Teenage Rampage (Vive Le Rock, VIVE016, 2013, CD^[8])

1. "RNR★"

• Redrock Festival 2016: All Day Rock Fest - National and International Bands 2nd Oct 2016 (Redwire, RED002, 2016 CD ^[24])

1. "Bad Girl"

MP3

• Tracks released on Bandcamp 18 December 2014, recorded 2012 at Perry Vale Studios, produced by Pat Collier, previously circulated as radio singles:

1. "Takes One To Know One"
2. "When I Fall In Love"

Concert tours

Opening act

• Boy George This Is What I Do UK tour, first leg, all seven dates (November 2013)^[2][15]
• The Damned December 2015 UK tour, three dates plus afterparty for London date and headline show in Camden one night before opening date (December 2015)^[10]
• Healthy Junkies Box Of Chaos UK tour - four dates plus headline show in Southend two nights before opening date (June–July 2016)

In addition, as sidewomen in the Poussez Posse, the founding line-up of Cox, Smith and Spiers-MacLeod toured supporting Adam Ant's The Good The Mad and the Lovely UK tour - six dates including preview show (May 2011)

References

External links

• The Featherz official website
• Charles Of London Records