Tempercalm

Tempercalm are a Scottish rock group from Renfrewshire, whose members are currently James Mackenzie, Andy Haughton and Dave Rundell. They are due to release their debut album, True Novella in January 2007.

History

Formation and demo EPs: 2003

In June 2003 after the demise of his previous band, Haywire (2000–2003), James Mackenzie formed Tempercalm with frequent Haywire gig attenders, Ben Marshall and Simon Doherty. Tempercalm rehearsed almost daily for two months before recording a self produced 4-song demo EP, Organised Silence... With Interruptions in August 2003. Their first gig was at Bar Bliss in Kirkintilloch on 1 September 2003. Gigging extensively in and around Glasgow over the next few months at venues such as the Glasgow Cathouse and King Tut's Wah Wah Hut, the band started to gather more followers. In January 2004, Tempercalm released their second self-produced demo EP Are You Looking For Order And Perfection? named after the title track. The song was shortened to "Order And Perfection" for a later release due to it apparently sounding too pretentious.

So Ventura: 2004–2005

The band entered worldwide battle of the bands competition Emergenza, and made it all the way to the Scottish final at the Carling Academy Glasgow on 24 June 2004, playing to the largest audience the band had ever played to up to this point. In October 2004, Tempercalm finished the final writing, and ground recording of what would be the first proper debut release, So Ventura, as well as recording a cover of "Insomnia" by English rock band Feeder for the tribute album, A Place Inside Our Minds 3: Songs In The Key Of Feeder. As had been the way with every Tempercalm recording up to then, it was recorded, engineered and produced entirely by the band. Ewan Cameron, a student based in Aberdeen, stepped forward to offer his new label Seventh Street, as the label for releasing the EP. The track "I Need A Co-Pilot" was chosen to be a downloadable single, as it had become a stand out live favourite. In December 2004 a self produced video for the song was shot in Simon Doherty's home recording studio. The video of "I Need a Co-Pilot" was edited and bundled with an mp3 of the song, and released in early January 2005, in which it received hundreds of downloads in the first hour alone. This video would also prove to be the last involvement of Simon on drums. Simon moved onto doing a short apprenticeship spell in London at a recording studio, then moved to Newcastle to start a university course. He also writes and records his own songs and music. Scott Manson, who was introduced to the band through friends, became the new man behind the drumkit, as plans for the release of the "So Ventura" EP, and first tour, were drawn up. The EP was released on the 18th of April 2005, shortly before the band embarked on the first set of tour dates around the country, including the first gigs outside Scotland. "I Need A Co-Pilot" from the So Ventura EP, went on to feature on the soundtrack of the action-adventure video game Saints Row for Xbox 360. The game was due to be released in May 2007 for the Playstation 3, but was scrapped due to commitments on a sequel game.

Headlining shows and new demos: 2005–2006

Tempercalm continued touring and writing throughout the summer, and during a show, at Glasgow's G2 on 1 September 2005, were introduced to Greame Richmond, who would later become the band's good friend and manager. On the 30 September, the band headlined King Tut's Wah Wah Hut in Glasgow, the first time the band had played a headline show there. Good friend and one-time tech for the band, Jordan Yates, played second guitar at both the G2 and King Tuts' shows. In October a few new demo tracks were recorded; "Isaac Newton", "Something In Spanish", and "Starter For Ten". Although only rough demos, and featuring cameo bass playing from Colin Keenan of the band Drive By Argument, the songs were put online and given away free at all the shows that followed. Sadly, yet another member loss was to follow, this time being Ben on bass. Ben remains a good friend of the band and plays alongside James in a side project called I Am Fire. Ben has since temporarily filled in on bass, on 8 September 2006, when the band played at Glasgow's ABC2 venue, and on 23 December 2006, when the band played at the Glasgow Barfly. Adam Campbell joined as temporary bassist for the shows between December 2005 and May 2006. To round off the year, Scott and James filmed a promotional video for Red Torpedo: a clothing line which fuses music and fashion, connected with NME and other music publications. James gave a short interview on the writing and meaning behind the song "Marc Temple" for this. The track Marc Temple is featured on the Red Torpedo CD, included in every purchase of Red Torpedo clothing. Scott left the band in March 2006 to pursue his interests in music management. He currently works with the Lizard King record label (who had success with The Killers debut album Hot Fuss). Dave Rundell, friend and business partner of Tempercalm's manager Greame, now fills the drum seat. Adam remained on bass until the April and May 2006 tour dates were over.

True Novella: 2007–present

The band only played a flutter of full band live shows in 2007, starting with a headline slot in Edinburgh at Teviot Underground in early January. After several months off to write and rehearse for the debut album, the band played a comeback show at BOX in Glasgow in April, showcasing new material. Ronnie Phipps, bassist of fellow Renfrewshire band Red Snowman assumed bass duties at this show, but could not commit after this. Mackenzie played frequent acoustic shows in Tempercalm's time off. The remainder of the year was spent recording the band's debut album. In September 2007, Andy Haughton joined Tempercalm on bass on a permanent basis, after completion of the recording of the debut album, True Novella, to be released in February 2008 on Casket. Known featured tracks include:

• "Vanity" – Previously known as "Twiddly Beast"
• "Idle With An Idol"
• "Make The Nice"
• "I Need A Co-Pilot" – Previously featured on So Ventura
• "Bravestar"
• "Kid Indian"
• "Big Huff"
• "Starter 4 10"
• "Something In Spanish"
• "Isaac Newton"
• "I Broke Her Heart So She Broke My Jaw" – Previously featured on So Ventura
• "Marc Temple" – Previously featured on So Ventura

Discography

Albums

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