Semion biography

Gary Ford and Andrew Nix have been playing in bands together for years fusing their combined love of power pop, 60s west coast pop, garage punk, country rock and late 70s/early 80s indie pop. Together with Gary’s younger brother Darren they played in a series of line-ups in the early 1990s. After the final disintegration of The Knievels in 1996, Darren went on to form Lowgold, while Gary and Andrew reconvened in 1997 after a brief rest to form Semion. The exotically-named Paul De Ste Croix took lead guitar duties with Ford on rhythm guitar and vocals and Nix providing bass and backing vocals. After a few adverts in the music press, Marcus Tyler-Moore was recruited on drums and Semion set about playing gigs in London and thinking about recording some of their songs. In 1999 they entered Liam Watson’s Toe Rag studios in east London to record some songs that would form the basis of their debut EP Get A Grip. This seven track introduction, released in 2001, saw them favourably compared to Teenage Fanclub, Beachwood Sparks and even R.E.M., earning favourable reviews around the world. Veering from the pure pop of “Dumb” to the radio favourites “Year Of The Monkee” and “Paul Loves Derek” as well as the off-kilter instrumental “Theme From Semion” “Get A Grip” was a low-key introduction to Semion.
Now with Huw Jennings on drumming duties and Paul Bailey helping out on keyboards and harmonica, Semion tried to spread the word. To support the release of the mini album Semion played gigs and festivals in Britain, Europe and appeared on the opening night of the IPO festival in Los Angeles in July 2001 alongside artists such as Steve Barton and Brendan Benson where the band’s more muscular live sound showed another dimension to Semion and drew comparisons to Weezer and Fountains of Wayne.
After an 18-month break, following the departure of Paul De Ste Croix, Huw Jennings, and Paul Bailey, Semion began work on their full-length debut album. Andrew moved to lead guitar with James Wilkinson coming in on bass guitar. Marcus resumed duties behind the drum kit and the long process of recording “Help Me I Work In An Office” commenced. And they really did need help. All four members were holding down jobs and relationships trying to record bits and bobs on the odd weekend or in evening rehearsal sessions on their own 16-track digital recorder. With very little experience of recording techniques, engineering, mixing or production this was quite a steep learning curve. Mixing was completed at the end of 2005 and following a few weeks to master the album, “Help Me I Work In An Office” was finally delivered back from the pressing plant. “Help Me I Work In An Office” delivers on the promise shown on “Get A Grip” and sees the band stretching out a little. The trademark power pop of “Rumrunner” and a brand new version of “Year Of The Monkee” sit next to the propulsive “Rubbing Alcohol” and the trashy guitar pop of “Black Cloud” and a long awaited studio version of the country influenced live favourite “Friends”. The album is available to buy now from the band’s website, on iTunes and from amazon.co.uk and notlame.com
Semion also have a version of the Television Personalities “Prettiest girl in the world” available on the tribute album: Someone To Share My Life With alongside Nikki Sudden, the BMX Bandits and the Swell Maps.
Semion are currently working on their second full-length album and plan to release a limited edition 7” vinyl single in Summer 2007.
http://www.myspace.com/worldofsemion

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