Hijak Oscar

Hijak Oscar are a British blues rock band that formed in York in 2005. The band consists of Tim Fox (vocals, harmonica), Gaby Milner (vocals), Carl Hetherington (keys, backing vocals), Mark Meilack (bass), Daniel Hill (guitar) and Dave Hartley (drums).

History

Formation and early years (2005–2006)

The band's original line-up came together in 2005, comprising of Tim Fox on vocals and harmonica, Emma Keaveany-Roys on vocals, Carl Hetherington on keys, Mark Meilack on bass, Lewis Hall on guitar, Paul Carr on lead guitar and Dave Hartley on drums. This line up didn't last long due to musical differences and where Tim Fox wanted to take the music. After a few months Paul Carr left.

Tim Fox passed a blues busker on the streets of York named Mark Wynn. He would become the newest band member. Marks style of playing didn't leave much room for a second guitarist so Lewis Hall left.

Hijak Oscar (2006–2008)

Hijak Oscar recorded their debut album, Hijak Oscar, at Carl Hetherington Audio. The album was produced by Carl Hetherington and Hijak Oscar. The album was released on 30th December 2006, and included the bands most requested song "Bitter Carnival", "Disciple Of Time" and "Dollar Bill". Hijak Oscar have sold over 5000 copies of this album.

After some sell out shows in their home town and receiving good reviews from independent publications Hijak Oscar began to break out of the York scene and booked shows in various cities around the country including Leeds,Sheffield and London.

Towards the end of 2007 and with a mass array of shows and reviews under their belts, Mark Meilack put the band forward for Channel 4's Orange Unsigned Act (originally called MobileAct Unsigned.) This move boosted the bands profile and increased the number of fans tenfold. Some members of the band however were not happy to be part of a television show making money from serious musicians with the promise of a "record deal." So at the semi finals, feeling they had achieved all they could from the show, the band asked to leave the competition. Their wish was granted by Simon Gavin (head of A&M Records and part of Universal Music Group) much to the despair of fans.

To take full advantage of the exposure MobileAct had given them Hijak Oscar booked "The Hellbound Tour" which was 23 shows in February 2008. One of these shows was on BBC Humber where they played 3 tracks written for the next album BlackSheepMoneyBox.

With a taste for touring Hijak Oscar then booked another small tour around Scotland with a band called The Wallbirds. Whilst on this tour they performed a live session for Repal (a BBC Scotland show)

Not long before a wide variation of independent summer festivals Mark Wynn and Emma Keaveany-Roys left Hijak Oscar due to general disagreements between members about the direction of the band and Mark Wynn wanting to do more of his own work. Not to be defeated after all the hard work and not wanting to cancel the festival dates Hijak Oscar took onboard long time friend of Tim, Mark and Carl, Rob Gambell. Rob quickly learnt the set and Hijak headed out onto the sunshined stages. Towards the end of the festival season Tim called female vocalist Gaby Milner to see if she'd be interested in joining to help pad out the Hijak sound. Gaby said yes and after a few rehearsals was doing the final festivals of the year with the band. These included a headline slot at Moor Music Festival and playing the main stage at Beached Festival.

As the summer came to an end so did Rob Gambell's part in the band. After deciding he wanted to head back to Cambridge the call was made to Daniel Hill, who had supported Hijak Oscar in previous years with his old band Lemons & Limes. Dan jumped at the chance and was playing shows with the band after just two rehearsals. Feeling things were more secure with the lineup it was time to hit the studio for the long awaited second album.

BlackSheepMoneyBox (2008–2009)

On 3rd April 2009 Hijak Oscar released BlackSheepMoneyBox. This was an epic 16 track album. There was a limited edition version (200 copies) released a week before the official release which was only available to members of the mailing list. This came with a signed photo of the band and was hand numbered on the back sleeve. All 200 of the limited edition version sold before the release date of the album.

Hijak Oscar are now booking dates for 2009 and working on the 3rd album.

Discography

Studio albums

• Hijak Oscar (2006)
• BlackSheepMoneyBox (2009)

External links

• Hijakoscar.co.uk, Official Site
• myspace.com/hijakoscar, MySpace Page
• facebook.com/group.php?gid=5473258652, Facebook Group

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