Simple Kid

All Music Guide:

The story of lo-fi beatmaker and producer Simple Kid begins with Ciaran McFeely, a young man born and raised in Cork, Ireland. Growing up, he was influenced by British rockers like Led Zeppelin, the Who, and most notably T. Rex, which inspired him to join a group of his friends and form a rock band of his own. They became the Young Offenders, a neo-glam outfit that had one hit single in the U.K. and appeared on TFI Friday, Britain's answer to MTV's TRL. Subsequent attempts to recreate their success met with failure, and McFeely, who was frustrated with the local scene and music in general, opted for a change of scenery. Relocating to California, he spent several months hitchhiking along the West Coast and meeting people from all walks of life. One of them, a homeless man, became McFeely's intellectual and conversational foil; upon his return to the U.K., McFeely would use his experiences as inspiration for his songs, as well as his new stage name, Simple Kid.

Eschewing slick studio production for a stripped-down, back-to-basics approach, McFeely began recording songs in his apartment using a combination of eight-track or cassette tapes and a laptop computer, occasionally sampling and looping his own music. The result was a sound that fused McFeely's glam and rock roots to background beats evocative of Beck and Super Furry Animals. It was an approach that earned McFeely critical praise and a cult following on both sides of the Atlantic. Following the release of the "I Am Rock" and "Truck On" singles on indie label Fierce Panda in 2003, the full-length 1 hit the U.K. charts in 2004, later making its way to the U.S. via Vector Recordings. While the album met with modest success, touring and increased attention began to wear on McFeely, who quietly went on a musical hiatus (dubbed "The Great Hibernation") for parts of 2004 and most of 2005. Time spent working in a local video store cleared his mind and refreshed his creativity, and McFeely soon started writing songs again, the result of which was 2007's 2. After touring in support of the album throughout 2007, Simple Kid announced that he was entering the studio to record a third album in January 2008.

Wikipedia:

Simple Kid, real-name Ciaran McFeely, is an Irish-born solo musical artist. In early 2011, it was announced on the official website that there will be no further music nor tours by Simple Kid. Despite this announcement, a new Simple Kid single, The Road, appeared for sale in Spring 2012.

History [edit]

Simple Kid's approach to recording involved recording to an 8-track cassette player then fed into his computer where he applied more modern techniques to create finished songs. He mixed and mastered the tracks on albums and on his own equipment. His style of remixing and sampling has been compared to Fatboy Slim's, although Simple Kid used his own recordings as sources. More often his sound is compared to the similarly eclectic and deliberately ramshackle Beck.

Simple Kid's influences included folk, country (he prominently featured banjos and slide guitar in his work), glam rock (particularly T. Rex) and late 1960s big pop arrangements of records, such as The Beatles's White Album.

Before becoming Simple Kid, McFeely was a member of The Young Offenders. Forming when he was 17, the band was composed of friends made while growing up in Cork Ireland. The group attempted to release an album in America but met with failure and broke up.

Although having spent considerable time in America before becoming Simple Kid, his popularity today is mostly limited to the United Kingdom and Ireland. His touring was based out of London and he has played support for R.E.M. and Kings Of Leon,Snow patrol at Ward Park amongst others.

Television appearances included Later... with Jools Holland, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, The Late Late Show and Other Voices on RTE. He was also the subject of a Channel 4 (4 Play) short documentary and appeared on TFI Friday with The Young Offenders.

His second album, , was released by Country Gentleman Recordings in October 2006 in the UK, and by Yep Roc Records in August 2007 in the US. was included in Mojo Magazine's top 50 albums of the year, was CD of the week in The Times culture section and had positive reviews in the NME, The Guardian, Time Out and the Independent on Sunday. Rolling Stone also featured Simple Kid as a breakthrough act for 2007.

The track "Lil' King Kong" from was featured in a Saturn automobile advertisement in the US, as well as in an advertisement in the UK for the mobile phone operator Orange.

"Lil' King Kong" also featured in the film, Jumper in 2008.