The band's cult status was followed by mainstream success in 2001, as they scored a UK Top 10 and South Africa airplay number one hit with the single "Buck Rogers", and the attendant album Echo Park (2001), which reached number five in the UK. Their next release, Comfort in Sound (2002) was released nine months after Jon Lee committed suicide in his Miami home in January 2002, it spawned the hit singles "Come Back Around", their second top 10 single "Just the Way I'm Feeling", "Forget About Tomorrow" and "Find the Colour". The album was recorded with then former Skunk Anansie drummer Mark Richardson, before charting at number six and promoting the band to arena tour status, with this later being translated into a headline slot on the first day of the 2005 Download Festival. Two more studio albums were released being Pushing the Senses (2005), which reached number two and spawned four hit singles including their third UK top 10 "Tumble and Fall", before Silent Cry (2008) charted at number eight, later becoming the last album recorded with Mark Richardson as he would return to a reformed Skunk Anansie in 2009. After the release of Pushing the Senses, The Singles reached number two in 2006. This became their third UK platinum album after Echo Park and Comfort in Sound.
After The Echo Label ceased trading, Feeder later started up Big Teeth Music. Karl Brazil filled the vacant drummer position in 2009, then also formed part of their side-project Renegades. Karl stayed with the band when they reverted back to the Feeder name before releasing their seventh studio album Renegades (2010), which peaked at number 16 on the albums chart, becoming their seventh top 20 album. Feeder are also one of the most charted acts of all-time, with a total of 20 top 40 singles.
History
Formation (1991-1994)
Going back to the drawing board, they formed a three-piece band called 'Reel'. They fired their bass player and then changed their name to 'Real'. During this time they recruited Taka Hirose via an advert in Loot, which Taka placed himself. The band then changed their name to Feeder, named after Grant's pet goldfish. They won their recording contract with Echo after sending a demo tape, and then completed the deal after an employee from the label witnessed one of the band's gigs. A track called "Don't Bring Me Down", which featured on the demo appeared as a b-side on the "Day in Day Out" single, albeit a different version to the demo recording.
Early releases (1995–1996)
Shortly before the release of Swim, a cassette tape titled Two Tracker was given away free with the magazines Kerrang! and Edge and contained the tracks "Sweet 16" and "Waterfall". The latter was described on the inlay card, as one of the tracks that would be on their forthcoming debut album proper, with the working title Here in the Bubble (whose name was soon changed to Polythene). The photography for the inlay of Swim was produced by Grant himself, while Chris Sheldon produced the recordings. The band released "Stereo World" as a single after appearing at the Reading festival.
Polythene (1997–1998)
After building a strong fanbase with the release of Swim, the band released their first full-length album in 1997. The result Polythene, was one of the most critically acclaimed albums of 1997 with Metal Hammer and Kerrang!, placing the album at first and sixth in their respective end of year lists. Two tracks from Swim were used for the album, being "Descend" and "Stereoworld".
After the recording sessions were completed, the album's first single "Tangerine" was released and charted at #60 in the UK singles chart. This was followed by "Cement", charting at #53 and then the release of the album which charted at #65. Two more singles were released before and after their main stage debut at the Reading festival, with "Crash" making number #48, while "High" charted at number #24.
The album as of February 2005, has sold 89,000 copies. They also re-issued the album in October 1997, with "High" included and the "Stereo World" b-side "Change" replacing "Waterfall" from the original tracklist. Also included as an enhanced element was the video for "High". The album caused many critics to label the band "The UK's answer to the Smashing Pumpkins", and also draw comparisons to The Pixies and Talk Talk.
In early 1998, following the band's final 1997 tour in support of Polythene, the band travelled to the United States as a support act for Everclear. During their U.S. tour, the band released a re-worked version of "Suffocate" for UK release, which charted at #37. After their return to the UK, they played their own headline tour with Everclear this time in the supporting position. Later that year, Feeder started to play various music festivals in the United States, alongside a headline tour with "High" being released to radio stations and charting at #24 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart; it was the follow up to "Cement" which had charted at #31, also on the same listing. During the bands first U.S. tour, Grant broke his ankle and picked up other injuries, while finding it hard to sleep at nights. This inspired him to write "Insomnia", which later appeared on their second album. They stayed in the U.S. for the majority of the year, with a trip back to the UK for their V98 appearance. Feeder later included live-only guitarist Dean Tidey; Grant once said in an interview with Kerrang!, that he was considering bringing in another guitarist for their live gigs.
Yesterday Went Too Soon (1999)
When the album was released, the band's reputation was on the rise and it entered the UK albums chart at number eight, which was at the time an unexpected chart position for the band. Before that, the band had released the album's first single, "Day in Day Out", in March 1999 which charted at #31 followed by "Insomnia" at #22, resulting in their first appearance on Top of the Pops. A week before the album's release, the band played the main stage of the Reading and Leeds festivals, while the title track from the album was at #20 in the singles chart. The album was then released on 30 August 1999. Only one single was lifted from the album after its release, in which a re-recorded version of "Paperfaces" charted at #41.
Some of the album's lyrical themes were derived from Grant's personal perspective of working in a menial supermarket job on a daily basis ("Day In Day Out"), his experiences after gigs on their US tour ("Insomnia" and "You're My Evergreen"), past relationships (the title track and "Dry"), the music industry ("Hole in My Head") and "fear of commitment in relationships" ("Anaesthetic") amongst others. Musically, the album employed an indie rock feel to it, which also featured extended appearances of an acoustic guitar on some of its tracks.
The album was due for release in June, but this was delayed until August to include material written after its completion which the band felt was too good to leave off. Upon its release, the UK music press immediately warmed to the album, with Rob Fitzpatrick, then of Melody Maker, writing "an absolute stormer it is. Unmissable. Absolutely." The album also received the magazine's Album of the Week accolade. This enthusiasm was shared by Metal Hammer, who awarded the album a 10/10 mark. The year ended with the band providing support for the Red Hot Chili Peppers at Wembley Arena and Manic Street Preachers at the Millennium Stadium. As of March 2003, the album has been certified gold shipping 100,000 units in the UK, with total counter sales standing at 110,000 as of February 2005. The album was Melody Maker's #24 album of 1999, while Metal Hammer placed the album in at #6 and Kerrang! ranked it at #16.
Echo Park and mainstream breakthrough (2000–2001)
Grant wrote "Buck Rogers" with The Pixies as an influence, but "on a comic book level". He had originally written the track for another band Echo Park producer Gil Norton was working with, but decided not to give it away, as he felt Feeder could have a hit with it themselves. "Buck Rogers" still receives airplay on mainstream and rock radio stations in the United Kingdom. In 2009 the track was voted the 99th best British single of all-time by XFM listeners and DJ's.
After a sell-out tour of two legs ending at the London Astoria, the album Echo Park entered at number five in the UK album charts, shortly after "Seven Days in the Sun", the album's second single charted at #14. A third single, "Turn" reached #27 in July before festival season. "Just a Day", a b-side from "Seven Days in the Sun", later reached #12 in December. The response the album received on a critical level was mixed, with Dan Genroe of Q magazine claiming that the listener will still be "feeling hungry half an hour later",alongside suggesting that the album is "hard to love".Ben Myers of Kerrang! gave the album 4/5 (KKKK) which indicates "blinding", while citing that the band "hit their stride" on the album, alongside suggesting that the album is "fat free and stripped to the bone".
Its funny, I don't even particularly like that song, I've always thought I was a pretty dark songwriter, and what do I finally get known for?. A throwaway pop song. But I really shouldn't complain, should I?. If it wasn't for "Buck Rogers", I probably wouldn't be here talking to you now.
— Grant Nicholas talking about "Buck Rogers" in a 2005 edition of Q magazine.
The album saw the band take on much more of a commercially influenced sound, and also the appearance of Moog synthesizers, while being lyrically focused on a comedic approach, like with "Seven Days in the Sun", but also dark emotions, such as those shown on "Turn", "Oxygen", and "Satellite News". It was during the campaign for Echo Park that the band played another slot on the main stage at the Reading and Leeds festival, including T in the Park. As of August 2003, the album has shipped 300,000 units in the UK going platinum, with counter sales standing at 293,000 as of February 2005. Grant said in a Melody Maker interview that if the album did not sell well enough the band would probably split up; he said at the time that "Its the same with any band. That's just the way the music business is. There is only a certain amount of money a label will put into a band. I'm just being realistic. We've been around for seven or eight years and I am not planning on giving up, but we're putting everything into this record and I'm just hoping that people like it". The album campaign helped the band in August 2001 win the "Best British Live Act" accolade at the Kerrang! awards, before ending the year supporting the Stereophonics, and then releasing the "Just a Day" single in December. Six years later XFM listeners and DJ's voted "Just a Day" as their 93rd best British single of all-time. As of June 2008, both "Just a Day" and "Buck Rogers" individually sold over 100,000 physical copies and digital downloads combined. In 2007 "Just a Day" became the first-ever song to be played on Afan FM.
Jon Lee's death and Comfort in Sound (2002–2003)
It’s one of the best songs I’ve done, but we nearly didn’t do it. I wrote it right at the end of making Comfort in Sound, and our producer Gil Norton said he wasn’t sure we really needed another mid-tempo song. But when we played it, we all thought that it definitely did have something. Lyrically it’s quite dark but it’s still an uplifting song. This was the single that really made the album a success. It’s the kind of song I’d like us to be remembered for.
— Grant Nicholas on the second Comfort in Sound single, "Just the Way I'm Feeling".
Musically, the album was much more mellow, with the use of a string orchestra on "Forget About Tomorrow", while other tracks on the album also used an accordion, trumpet, and a piano played by their manager Matt Page, with "Godzilla" being one of two tracks on the album to use loud guitars. The album was their first release to be certified platinum, (with Echo Park going platinum later on). It also spawned their second top 10 single, with "Just the Way I'm Feeling" in January 2003. In December of the same year they took on their only arena tour, after the album's first nationwide tour was a sell out with 50,000 tickets sold, and visited 21 different towns and cities in the United Kingdom over 23 different dates. In reaction to this, the band were invited to the Glastonbury Festival being placed third on the last day, playing the "Pyramid Stage". Shortly after the release of the single, the band were invited to support Coldplay on their UK and European tour, due to their frontman Chris Martin often saying how much he liked the Comfort in Sound album and their live shows. Their show at the Birmingham National Indoor Arena was reviewed by Kerrang!, which seen Steve Beebee give the band 4/5 (KKKK) for their performance, while claiming "Feeder may be a long way short of being the perfect arena band, but to see them here marks a satisfying conclusion to one of British rock's more involving stories. Unlike the industry-groomed startlets thrown at us every week, Feeder have actually done it the hard way, working their way up from pubs and clubs, each album bettering the last, and acceptance not coming through PR campaigns but through the quality of Feeder's songwriting and performance. This is Feeder's season in the sun, and they richly deserve it".
The album's final single, being the title track, was only available to buy as a limited edition of 3,000 CD's on their 2003 arena tour. Four singles were released commercially, with those being "Come Back Around" (#14), "Just the Way I'm Feeling" (#10), "Forget About Tomorrow" (#12), and "Find the Colour" (#24), which was released following their V2003 appearance and Kerrang! award win for "Best British Band", beating competition from Muse and the Stereophonics, which Grant dedicated to Jon saying it was the award he had always wanted the band to win. The band later went on to win an Internet Music Award for their "Just The Way I'm Feeling" video, while the album became their first to appear on the end of year top 75 album charts, appearing at #66. The albums commercial reception, helped Echo experience their most successful financial year. Feeder then received their only nomination to date at The BRIT Awards, in which they appeared in the "Best British Rock" category at the 2004 event, before making their only appearance in the charts that year as part of Bob Geldof's Band Aid 20 charity ensemble. The single was the Christmas number one, and became the year's biggest-selling UK single. Alongside only making one chart appearance in 2004, Feeder also only made one live appearance during the year as part of the Carling Live 24 event, playing their show at the Hammersmith Apollo on 1 May.
Pushing the Senses (2004–2005)
That ["Shatter"] was on the album and it got taken off at the last minute, I really don’t know why. If that had been the first single off that record people would have seen it as much more of a rock record. So we released "Tumble and Fall" first. Why?, Whose idiot idea was that?, I mean it could be a third single or something, a bit of a crossover, you know some people like the song, it’s not a bad tune but it’s not a lead single from a Feeder album to be honest with you. I’ll tell you what I think a lot of it was. We had a European label and they were getting quite involved, in fact they had a lot of input on that and because we’d just been out on tour with Coldplay and stuff they thought "this song’s a bit of a crossover" and they were trying to push us in to that market and we were like "well, if it gets us bigger in Europe it’s only a single, I don’t give a fuck". It’s on the album, I’m not ashamed of it but it was not the right song. What we should have done was had a different single for the UK. I mean even "Feeling a Moment" would have been a better first single.
— Grant Nicholas reflecting in 2010 on the release of Pushing the Senses lead single "Tumble and Fall".
Feeder returned to the studio to record their fifth album Pushing the Senses. The album was seen by Grant as more of an extension to Comfort in Sound, as it focused on the same lyrical themes and musical styles, and also said that it had more of an organic sound, with more upbeat tracks added into the mix. It also seen a number of piano driven tracks, with "Frequency" being an example. "Frequency" was produced by Coldplay producer Ken Nelson, while for the rest of the album, Gil Norton was on production duties. Grant told Kerrang! in May 2004, "I've done some recording on my own in a little studio up by where I live in North London. I demo the album in its full form before the rest of the band play on it. Its difficult to know at this stage what it will turn out like, but so far its slightly more mature sounding". Grant later added "Each album is a journey and a reflection of the past, there is some stuff that touches on what has happened, but there are songs about love, songs of loss and songs about the future. I don't want to give too much away but there's one track called "Bitter Glass". Its quite dark but uplifting too. Its about pulling yourself out of a big hole".
The album was Feeder's highest charting release, at number two on the UK album chart selling 42,951 units in its first week, while receiving a gold certification, and becoming a top 100 album in six other countries. Press response to the album was mixed, with Paul Brannigan of Q describing it as "An album that could finally establish Feeder as major league players", while Chris Heath of Dotmusic dismissed the album, saying "Pushing the Senses is by no means soppy, but Feeder's young fanbase might need some convincing". Kerrang! were brutal towards the band for all of their review, with Ben Meyers referring to them as a "Radio Friendly Unit Shifter", including comparisons to a "Pastel box". A year later the album was marked as "Avoid" in a round-up of the bands material, which included the usual Coldplay and Keane comparisons the album suffered on release. Grant later said in a documentary with Kerrang! Radio that he was "Pissed off" with the review their magazine counterpart gave them, while citing "It was a very unfair review and reviewed by the wrong person", alongside stating that if another journalist did it they would have had a much better result. It was the only review Grant was annoyed with, due to the magazine previously supporting the band since their early days. In a 2008 interview with Kerrang! on a selection of the bands singles, Grant expressed his annoyance with the Coldplay comparisons, in which he said they were only made because he played a piano on many of the tracks that were on the album. In a 2011 interview with Cambridge based webzine The Tab, Grant elaborated on these criticisms by saying "Feeder have a much broader music dynamic musically, and we are a much heavier band, both live and on record. I have a lot of respect for Coldplay and we have toured with them, but we are two totally different bands, both dynamically and musically. I just think its lazy journalism".
The album helped them win a headline slot at the Download Festival, shortly before supporting U2 for a brief period on their Vertigo Tour, which was followed by an appearance at the Live 8 concert in Edinburgh (the second charity event the band played that year after Tsunami Relief Cardiff). The campaign in total spawned four UK top 40 singles, which included "Shatter", a reworked version of the "Tumble and Fall" b-side that became a double A-side with "Tender" (#11). Other singles included "Tumble and Fall" (top five), "Feeling A Moment" (#13), and "Pushing The Senses" (#30). A fan-petition had been launched to see "Shatter" released as a single in its own right. The album was after ten weeks on sales of 111,214 units, 22 percent ahead of Comfort in Sound at that stage. However, the album did not keep up this momentum while also not going platinum. The last reported sales were that of 160,183 in October of the same year, which fell below Echo's expectations. It is however the bands most successful record based on peak chart positions in each country of release, while also being their only album so far to spawn a charting single outside of the UK and Ireland when "Feeling a Moment" peaked at #32 in Australia. Feeder already at the time charted four top 50 singles in Ireland, with "Tumble and Fall" being their first and only top 40 to date reaching a peak position of #26. The album itself made the Irish top 20 artist album chart at #16, one week before its UK release.
In September 2005, Grant Nicholas was misquoted in an interview saying that the band were set to split, which caused the rumour to be reported on music television and radio. The band's website soon made an official statement that read "Contrary to inaccurate reports in the press and on the radio, Feeder are not recording their last album, nor set to split. An over-enthusiastic reporter seems to have put 2 and 2 together and come up with 43. Indeed the group are looking forward to the release of new single "Shatter"/"Tender" in October and a Far East and UK tour in November. They have already started writing new material for a Singles Album to be released in the New Year and a further studio album to follow the current album Pushing the Senses".Soon afterwards in a Kerrang! interview, Grant said that the interviewer misquoted him. He said the next album would be Feeder's last album on their current deal with Echo, before deciding to either re-sign or look for a new label.
Feeder would end the year seeing their then latest album appear at #39 on Q's end of year list, with "Feeling a Moment" voted the 98th best song of the year by its readers, before winning an award for the album at the Pop Factory Awards in Wales. However, the previous day they were forced to postpone a winter tour, after Grant picked up bleeds on his vocal cords. During the year, Feeder's domestic studio album sales passed the one million units mark.
The Singles (2006)
I’ve had people coming up to me saying that they liked the earlier singles but didn’t realise it was us that did them. It’s introduced a lot of our earlier singles to people. We’d had success early on but we weren’t huge. I thought the record had good tracks and the three new tracks made it completely new for our older fans. It took me a long time to sequence the album to make sure it flowed together properly. It wasn’t just a matter of shoving a load of singles on there.
— Grant Nicholas talking in 2006 about The Singles.
In late 2005, Feeder already returned to the studio, with Stephen Street working as the band's producer to record three new tracks to appear on their then forthcoming singles collection. "Lost and Found" (which Grant described as "an urban love song" became the first single to promote the collection, and would reach #12 in the UK singles chart in May 2006, after completing their delayed winter tour, which ended at the LG Arena in Birmingham in front of 8,000 fans. The Singles, released in the same month as "Lost and Found", was the first Feeder album to have involvement from a major label, with EMI taking part in a one-off collaboration with Echo as the album's distributor. The album reached number two on the UK albums chart with first week sales of 50,003 entering at number three, and was certified platinum in under three months, with a total of 600,000 units sold overall (which qualifies the album for a multi-platinum certification), including a gold certification in Ireland after charting at #13. The album also made the top ten in Europe with a debut top 40 peak in Japan at #37, while "Save Us" was its second and final single in the UK, charting at #34 in late July. A version of the album included a DVD of all their videos filmed up to that point, along with extensive sleevenotes by Ben Johncock. The album became only their second to appear on the end of year top 75 this time at #48, while becoming their first album to spend more than one week on the top 10. Sales of The Singles, alongside a series of changes at Echo making them into an "Incubator label", enabled the company to report a "modest profit" for 2006.
Feeder returned to the Reading and Leeds festivals after a four year break, having a late slot on the main stage, before ending the year with a small tour of London, playing The Roundhouse, and The Coronet. These were in aid of War Child who the band are patrons of, having earlier in the year visited The Congo as part of their work for the charity.
Silent Cry (2007-2008)
In 2007 Feeder returned to the studio to record their sixth album. Most of the year was spent on the recording, and in 2006 the band announced in an interview with XFM that the album would be reminiscent of their earlier material. The resulting album Silent Cry was released on the 16 June 2008.
The album overall received moderate reviews, with Dom Gourlay of Drowned in Sound being very positive about the album, commenting "A remarkable turnaround then, and although not quite a 360 degree shift, this is a damn fine record that Feeder should be proud of", while The Guardian's Caroline Sullivan was very negative towards the album, claiming that the record and the band have always been missing "a distinctiveness from other purveyors of guitar-and-two-veg rock".Phillip May of Rocklouder however, gave the album four stars claiming that "If ever there was an album to win back those that grew tired of Feeder, its Silent Cry".Q Magazine's Nick Duerden was negative towards the album with the suggestion that "Silent Cry replaces genuine poise with serviceable pose" and gave the album a 2/5. Meanwhile, Ben Hogwood of MusicOMH noted "The confidence of a band that took over a year to record the album is notable, and theirs is an assured voice".Rob Beatley of Kerrang! suggested "Silent Cry is an infuriating listen" and gave the album 3/5 (KKK) indicating "average".
I actually really like ‘'Silent Cry’', I think it’s one of the best Feeder albums but it didn’t really get a chance, I don’t know why. I think if that had come out after ‘'Comfort In Sound’' that album would have been huge. It was just timing. We were basically on a label that was just dead in the water, which didn’t help. We got a bit shafted on that. I mean it wasn’t their fault, we tried to buy the album off them so we could self-release it and we had a few deals on the table but they just wouldn’t let it go, I don’t know why. We offered a lot of money to buy it back but they wouldn’t have it so…
— Grant Nicholas talking in 2010 about the financial issues at The Echo label surrounding the release of Silent Cry.
On its release week the album charted at number eight with sales of 16,029. In its second week the album then fell to number 30, with a third week drop to number 60 before leaving the top 75 albums listing. In Japan it peaked at #53 which is currently higher than all their studio albums, but lower than the peak of The Singles. Before the release of the album, "We Are the People" charted at #25 in the singles chart, making it their lowest chart position for a lead single since 1999's "Day in Day Out"."Miss You" from the album was given away by the bands official website as a free download in April, and gained over 8,000 downloads on its first day of release. As of December 2008, sales of Silent Cry stand at less than 50,000 units, less than was what hoped for by their label. Shortly after album release, the band recorded a cover of Public Image Ltd's 1978 self-titled single "Public Image", for a compilation album to celebrate Independents Day which celebrated independently released music. The second single from Silent Cry was Feeder's first download-only single, consisting of "Tracing Lines" and the album's title track which failed to make the charts. In an interview with Rocksound.TV, Grant said that he has already been writing for the bands seventh studio album.
In May 2008, the band played a small eight date tour to promote the album to the fanbase, which sold out in six hours. This was followed by a one-off gig on 12 June at the Proud Galleries in Camden, which sold out in six minutes. The band then went on to play at the iTunes festival in July, which saw a live six-track EP release of their performance, before playing the 2008 Reading and Leeds festivals in August, on the main stage. In July the band played at T in the Park, with an appearance at the Isle of Wight Festival the month previous. In 2008, the band also introduced live keyboard player Dean Deavall, of the band Casino.
During the same year, on October 25 at 06:00 GMT after playing the Glasgow Barrowlands as part of their 29 date UK tour, the band's crew bus caught fire on the M62 motorway whilst travelling between Glasgow and Lincoln, destroying it and the crew's personal items. It was also announced by Chrysalis later on in the year, that Echo have been restructured into a copyright exploitation company, in which its main duty is maintaining the copyright on existing releases while no longer releasing any new records or signing any more artists. As a result, Feeder were until 2010 no longer on a record contract in their own country, while still being signed to their Japanese label Victor and leaving Play it Again Sam (PIAS), their European label.
After ending their tour at the Portsmouth Pyramids Centre, a six track EP titled Seven Sleepers was released in Japan, the same time they toured there in March. It included a collection of B-sides from the Silent Cry album, plus two new songs.
Mark's departure and Renegades side project band (2009-2010)
In May 2009, it was announced that Feeder "ended their partnership" with drummer Mark Richardson, before returning to his original band Skunk Anansie. Mark was replaced by session drummer Karl Brazil who had just come off tour with James Blunt, and had also played drums for British band Ben's Brother. Karl's first live appearances with the band, after a series of university events were at the UK leg of the Sonisphere Festival, stating that this would be their only UK festival appearance of 2009, as they would be working on their seventh studio album. It was then later announced that they would be appearing at the Hevy Music Festival in Folkestone. Here they previewed a new track titled "Sentimental", with the announcement that they have been in a recording studio in South Wales.
At first, Tim Trotter of Mexicolas was filling in on drum duties in the studio also as a session drummer, before Karl stepped in. With Karl playing drums for Robbie Williams, Natalie Imbruglia and Ben's Brother, Tim once again took over drum duties in the studio. On 2 December, the band's official webpage was changed to display the word "RENEGADES" and the names of each of the band members by their surname, with "BRAZIL" mentioned amongst these. On 17 December a sample of a new song "Sentimental" was added to their website, which was later replaced with a 20 second clip of another song called "Renegades". Later on that month the website announced a six date tour and the release of a tour-only EP which was released on "Big Teeth Music", also their own record label. After the tour was completed, another six date tour was shortly announced with the band this time playing bigger venues. Another EP was released to coincide with the tour, which included a further four new songs with one of these being titled "Home"; one of the new songs the band performed on their first tour under this alias. In response to fan claims if Feeder will continue as Renegades, it has been announced that they will resume as Feeder, alongside citing that "this is the loud, uninhibited and exhilarated sound of Feeder doing what they want without a care in the world".The side-project was used as a method to promote the seventh Feeder studio album titled Renegades at live shows where they would mainly play the new songs, thus avoiding having to play any of their hits if they played as Feeder.
In an April 2010 interview with South Yorkshire newspaper The Star, Grant expressed his disappointment with the side-project band's sudden increase in success and awareness, in which he claimed that he wanted the band to continue playing in clubs with a slower ascendency to the bigger venues. The tour promoter however suggested that Renegades should play slightly bigger venues for the second tour than of those seen on their debut.
Looking back on this version of the band, Grant Nicholas explained in an interview with Culture Deluxe, "We were going to do it so underground, just turning up at venues and not even saying who we were, just doing gigs like any other band do and like we did when we first started. But we felt that by just road testing the new album some of the real diehard fans might feel a little bit left out so we kind of hinted that we were doing this thing but we didn’t say exactly what it was. Some of them got it straight away, "I’m sure they’re just doing this…" but some of them thought we’d split up or it was a new name or I’d done a solo record or whatever but it got people talking and excited and that was kind of the point as well. We didn’t sit down and work out this massive, amazing marketing plan, it wasn’t that calculated but it was just a way of us going back to doing some very small shows away from the usual Feeder thing and not having to play all the usual songs we always have to play. Not that we hate them, it’s just nice to do something different sometimes and be able to play a whole album live, which we haven’t done since our first album. The more albums you do and the more singles you have, that steadily becomes your set and it’s very difficult to get away from that because people go "oh I went to see so and so play and they didn’t play any of the fucking singles", you know it happens and people get pissed off about it so that would be the point. It was a bit confusing as there were some gigs where the promoters put Feeder on the bloody tickets so some more mainstream fans turned up and were like "what the fuck’s this?" you know, "where’s "Buck Rogers"?" but that was bound to happen, you can’t keep everyone happy. But we had a great time doing it, it was such good fun".
Renegades (2010)
After completing their second and final tour as Renegades, the band then announced their new single "Call Out" under the name of Feeder before shortly revealing the name of their seventh album as Renegades. All of the new songs performed live as Renegades were listed on the album with the free download track "Fallen" being a b-side on "Call Out" and was released as a download and vinyl single, with the album released on 5 July. In an interview with the Irish Independent, Grant Nicholas revealed that a second Feeder album would be released in 2010 and will contain mellow Feeder songs as opposed to the heavy side of the band as shown on Renegades, but in an August interview with Highland News, Taka Hirose said that as the band got more busy than they expected, it looks like the album will be released in 2011 instead. Renegades peaked at #16 in the UK album charts giving them their seventh top 20 album with sales of 8,729, before being followed-up by the single release of the title track, also only on vinyl and download. Dean Deavall then departed from Casino to concentrate more on his time with Feeder, including his own band The High Hurts.
The album received mostly favourable reviews, with Clash Music awarding it 8/10, calling the album "Passionate".Contact Music were also positive in their review, with Andrew Lockwood suggesting "The return to a primal style may theoretically alienate more recent fans, but Grant Nicholas still proves his knack for writing a catchy tune. The lack of variation may drag slightly toward the finale of the record, but at just over 30 minutes the length of the LP is perfect to avoid this becoming detrimental".While Will Dean of BBC Online did not praise the album giving it a mixed response by at first giving "White Lines" high approval before saying keeping each track to 3 minutes "makes it look like the band are making excuses" before giving criticism to the lyrics of "City in a Rut" and duration of "Barking Dogs", before claiming the album is only for "the hardcore".Max Raymond of MusicOMH suggested that "Renegades, quite unexpectedly, is one of the best British rock albums you will hear all year", before awarding the album a 4/5 mark.
After a tour of Japan which saw Luna Sea guitarist Inoran join them on stage at the Daikanyama Unit for a performance of "Breed" (originally recorded by Nirvana), Feeder returned to the UK for a sell-out tour in late October which started at the Leeds Metropolitan University, before ending at Southampton University. This was followed by a small tour of Europe, South Africa and Australia, before a brief return to the UK ended their year. "Down to the River / This Town" also became the final single from the album, released only as a download and vinyl on 6 December.
Eighth studio album (2011)
In 2010, during the Renegades sessions, a number of tracks were left off the album before then being considered for inclusion for the follow-up to that album. As there were not enough to fit on the album, more were recorded during the closing stages of the year, with the band taking a break from recording on 19 December, before resuming recording on 10 January, 2011. Between 16 January and 24 January a production session began in New York City, this included overdubs, guitars and keyboards with Grant also flying over to record vocals, while some of the album was already recorded in London. On 19 January, 2011 a photo of song lyrics written on sheets of paper and an acoustic guitar lying on Grant's New York hotel bed, was posted on their official Facebook page. Two songs have already seen the light of day, with one already being so far played live on tour under three different working titles, with those being "Jessie", "White City Rock" and "Borders", while "Walk Away" was played as a live acoustic on Japanese radio. In an interview with Heineken Music, on 27 January, 2011 Grant revealed that 19 or 20 songs are so far in the recording stages, while the album is planned to be released after their tour of the United Kingdom and Europe ends in March, and like Renegades, looks likely to be released domestically on their own Big Teeth Music imprint.
In an interview with The University Observer, Grant describes the new album: "Its eclectic, much more eclectic than the Renegades album... "Its definitely a more commercial record. I think if you liked Comfort in Sound and you liked Yesterday Went Too Soon, then I think you’ll like this album" ... "There are some real tunes on this and some anthems; there are some rocky moments as well".Grant also revealed in the same interview, that there will be rock songs and melodic songs on the record. There are also plans to release a single or a free track download released during their February - March tour which may or may not be on the new album.
Reception
The band have become a commercial success, with over 1.6 million albums purchased in the United Kingdom alone. In 2008, Feeder gained their 20th top 40 single making them one of the most charted acts of all-time, although the single that helped them reach this milestone "We Are the People", relatively bombed at #25. While their total of 4 million worldwide record sales are low when considering the number of albums and singles the band have put out, this however has made Feeder a financial success, considering that they have always been signed to independent record labels so far in their career.
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