Funeral for a Friend TShirTS,

Funeral for a Friend PosTerS 

Funeral for a Friend are a Welsh emocore band, signed to Atlantic Records.
Originally called January Thirst, however when one of the original vocalists Michael Davies (Chaos 107) quit in December 2001, Matthew Evans (vocals) and Johnny Phillips (drums) invited Matt Davies to try out for the vacant singer position. Soon after Davies joined, the band changed the name to Funeral for a Friend, taken from a song by the band Planes Mistaken for Stars.

During the start of the New Year they parted ways with second guitarist Kerry Roberts (Kris Coombs-Roberts's brother) and found a suitable replacement in Darran Smith (ex-Tripcage). Funeral for a Friend recorded four tracks at Mighty Atom Studios for a proposed self financed EP with another Welsh band From This Moment On. Upon hearing the tracks, Mighty Atom Records approached Funeral for a Friend and offered a two album deal, resulting in their debut EP, Between Order & Model (2002).

In 2003, Funeral for a Friend recorded their second EP, Four Ways to Scream Your Name, which was produced and mixed by Colin Richardson. Both EPs are currently out of print and highly sought after by fans of Funeral for a Friend .

In mid-2003, Funeral for a Friend secured their first Kerrang! award, winning the award for "Best UK Newcomer," beating The Darkness, who won in all other nominated categories. Funeral for a Friend's win was largely attributed to their fervent fan base, as the awards winner was decided by public vote online at the official Kerrang! Web site

On October 20, 2003, after recording for the duration of the summer, Funeral for a Friend's full-length debut album was released. Casually Dressed & Deep in Conversation, produced and mixed by Colin Richardson, was released to critical acclaim in the UK. The album did not see a concurrent release in the US (eventually released there on July 13, 2004); instead, a seven-track "mini-album," entitled Seven Ways to Scream Your Name, was released, and featured songs fromFuneral for a Friend's Between Order & Model and Four Ways to Scream Your Name EPs.

Casually Dressed & Deep in Conversation saw three top-twenty singles including "Juneau" (#19), "She Drove Me to Daytime Television" (#20) and "Escape Artists Never Die" (#19).

Funeral for a Friend toured feverishly to promote Casually Dressed & Deep in Conversation, including a series of European dates in which they opened for their idols, Iron Maiden. This was met with a mixed reception, however, as their style and fan base bore little resemblance to the heavy metal background of Iron Maiden. In 2004, Funeral for a Friend headlined the second stage of the Reading and Leeds Festivals.

On June 14, 2005, Funeral for a Friend released their second album Hours through Atlantic Records. The album was produced by Terry Date and was recorded in two studios owned by the grunge band Pearl Jam. The album featured unusual methods of recording, for example Matt Davies' vocals were recorded whilst in a moving car and on a crowded Seattle, WA street, for the song 'Drive'.

In August of the same year, Funeral for a Friend won a Kerrang! Award for "Best British Band".

Funeral for a Friend performed several low-profile shows in Wales, including Bangor University and Bridgend Recreation Centre, prior to the release of Hours. This contrasted against their subsequent shows, which included playing alongside bands such as Atreyu, Saosin, Hawthorne Heights and Thrice on the 2005 Vans Warped Tour. The band also performed on the main stage of the Reading and Leeds Festivals, having to leave the Warped Tour early to do so. Funeral for a Friend also headlined the UK version of the Taste of Chaos tour with Killswitch Engage, Story of the Year and the Used. Funeral for a Friend also played on the main stage of the Taste of Chaos tour in the US in 2006, alongside bands such as Story of the Year, the Deftones and Thrice.

Funeral For a Friend closed the promotional jaunt for Hours in the Summer of 2006, with a series of UK shows rescheduled from February. Most of the original dates had been cancelled due to the fact that Matt Davies had suffered from a bout of laryngitis. Several other shows were scheduled in the UK to complement these rescheduled dates, and the tour culminated in a slot below headliners Guns N' Roses at the Download Festival at Donington Racetrack.

The rest of 2006 was spent writing and recording Funeral for a Friend's third album, Tales Don't Tell Themselves released in May 2007.

from Wikipedia licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.