Fossil Collective Biography
The first thing you realize when listening to Fossil Collective is that this is a band that do things
differently. Beautiful melodic music, with rich glorious harmonies and meticulous attention to
detail, it is as much an aural statement as it is a pleasure to listen to. Layer upon layer of
harmony mixed with delicate uplifting sounds may well remind you of other artists, be it Neil
Young, Simon & Garfunkel or Midlake but this music is no mere imitation. Whilst Fossil
Collective's songs tip their cap to these classic musicians, scratch the surface and you discover
something more contemporary, yet equally as rewarding.
It seems impossible that something so sonically complete could appear as if from nowhere, but
Fossil Collective, the Yorkshire two-piece have been perfecting their craft and working towards
this moment for years. Consisting of multi-instrumentalists David Fendick and Jonny Hooker,
both were local musicians from the Leeds music scene, whose paths had crossed at various
points in different bands. 'What separated Jonny from the other people I'd met was his total
commitment to music' begins Dave. 'Whereas other people we were around were in bands for
somewhat clichéd reasons, our focus was the music and the songs and for that reason we
gravitated towards each other'. After a successful album with Leeds band Vib Gyor, the duo
decided to strip everything back and start again.
Jonny reminisces "We felt we had to fold our cards and be honest to ourselves. We were
listening to the kind of music we grew up with. (Neil Young, Fleetwood Mac, The Beach Boys,
Simon & Garfunkel, James Taylor) We decided there and then to try and capture the essence of
that traditional songcraft, to strip everything back to the song, lyrics and melody'' Dave steps in
"It was actually very liberating to be able to do that".
Armed with 3 roughly prepared demos, the duo found themselves looking for a recording studio.
'We had no money at all, but our friends had a modest little studio in a crypt just outside of the
city' says Dave. 'It was a totally surreal place to go to as it was in the middle of nowhere. We had
to stop recording at various points during the day as the main church was directly above the
crypt. Whenever there was a mass or a wedding for example we had to be quiet - like little
church mice scurrying about downstairs.’ However, a week of intense recording paid off, and
they re-surfaced with 3 songs that would become their self released 'Honey Slides' EP.
Jonny explains. 'Before we had even decided on the name Fossil Collective we realised that we
wanted this project to be a continual running order of like-minded local artists. We worked on
the principle that if we surrounded ourselves with an evolving stream of people we admired then
our music would never become stale. Keeping away from the constraints of a 'typical' band
dynamic would keep it open and interesting for us. If we wanted a harpist we'd go and find one,
If we wanted a cellist we'd go and find one and so on.'
Knowing they were on to something special they wanted something visual to reflect this.
Enlisting the help of Leeds animator Ashley Dean (Broken Pixel) was the next logical step. ‘Ash
is a good friend and a like-minded independent local artist. We played him On & On and asked
him to interpret the song.’ The result was the stop/start animated video of a courtship between a
wolf and a stag that went viral on youtube, getting over 250,000 hits in 2 weeks.
Once they put their heads above water, things started happening very quickly. Their 3rd gig was
at Shepherds Bush Empire, supporting Benjamin Francis Leftwich. "It was great because other
artists were contacting us, saying how much they liked our music and inviting us to tour"
remembers Jonny. "It was sudden, but we were lucky to have great network of friends to come
play with us and help interpret the songs live … after all, who is going to turn down the chance
to play Shepherds bush Empire!" The band did a full tour with Ben and then another UK support
with soul singer Ren Harvieu.
On 11th June 2012 Fossil Collectives Debut EP 'Let It Go' was released. Lead track was 'Single
of the Week' on iTunes USA, opening the doors to a lot of new fans. It received plays and
support from Mark Riley, Radcliffe and Maconie, Chris Hawkins and Steve Lamacq at 6 Music.
It also won the 6 music rebel playlist. Radio 2 support came from Bob Harris, Mark Radcliffe
and an extremely supportive Dermot O'Leary who invited them in for a chat and to perform on
his Saturday Radio2 show. 'Let it Go' also made the XFM playlist, the Q playlist & the NME 'A'
list. A 10 date headline tour coincided with this, selling out in Manchester & London in a matter
of days.
The band built on this success by releasing the 'On & On' EP on 22nd October. Receiving the
same support from radio, they were also invited in to record an infamous Daytrotter Session.
Press support came from Sunday Times, Time Out, The Fly, The Independent & NME. It was at
this point that The Civil Wars starting tweeting about how much they were enjoying the music.
A few friendly emails later and Fossil Collective were supporting them at the key gigs of their
UK tour. (Camden Roundhouse, Manchester Apollo, Glasgow 02 Academy) 'We feel privileged
to play anywhere though' says Dave - be it our last sell out London show to a couple of hundred
people, or a few thousand people at Camden Roundhouse. What is important is that we always
stay true to ourselves and the music.'
The future is shaping up nicely for Fossil Collective. After a winter spent locked away recording
their debut album, the band will come out of hibernation in March with their first gig across the
pond, playing the 35 Denton Festival in Texas, The Savannah Stopover and SXSW.
With an extensive twenty-one date UK album tour recently announced for April, a full US tour
in the pipeline for May as well as the European festival season, it’s looking to be a very
productive 2013 for the band. "We look back to just over a year ago" says Dave "When it was
just the two of us sitting in Jonny's house with a couple of acoustic guitars working on those first
ideas - it's incredible how much we have achieved in such a short amount of time - especially
since we haven't even released our debut album yet"
At least one thing is certain - in another 12 months, many, many more people will have fallen for
the intense song writing of Fossil Collective. Music like this cannot be kept a secret for long.