The Campesinos ! History

Los Campesinos! are a seven piece indie pop band from Cardiff, Wales that formed in early 2006 at Cardiff University. They released their debut album, Hold on Now, Youngster..., in February 2008 and released their second album, entitled We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed, later that same year on October 27, 2008.

History

Formation and signing to Wichita: 2006

The group came together at Cardiff University in 2006, originally consisting of Neil on guitar, Ellen on bass guitar, and Ollie on drums. In March 2006, Tom joined the band, assuming the role of lead guitarist and songwriter, later followed by Gareth on vocals and glockenspiel, Harriet on violin and keyboard, and finally Aleksandra on vocals, keyboards, and melody horn. According to Tom, he met Neil after overhearing him discussing Sufjan Stevens at a club. The band's earliest compositions were long pieces in the style of "post-rock," though no recordings from this era are known to circulate publicly. The word campesino in Spanish translates to "peasant" or "country person."

The band performed their first gig on 8 May 2006 at a student union club night; they went on to play a number of increasingly well-received gigs around Cardiff. An early demo was recorded featuring the songs "Death To Los Campesinos!", "It Started With A Mixx", "Sweet Dreams Sweet Cheeks", and live favourite "You! Me! Dancing!". The songs were posted on the Internet, bolstering the popularity established by their energetic live shows and earning them airplay on Beth & Huw's evening show on BBC Radio 1 Wales. The band's reputation continued to grow, and in August 2006 landed them a slot supporting Canadian supergroup Broken Social Scene.