Catfish & The Bottlemen


Catfish and the Bottlemen are a Welsh rock band that formed in Llandudno, North Wales. 
Van McCann was born in Australia and moved to Wales as a child. His parents ran a bed and breakfast. In 2010 he started a band with guitarist Bill Bibby, the elder brother of his best friend and bassist Benji Blakeway. The band began playing cover versions of The Beatles songs before composing their own songs at McCann's family home. They promoted themselves by playing in car parks before gigs by other artists including Kasabian. 

The band signed to Communion Records in 2013 and released their first three singles "Homesick", "Rango" and "Pacifier" that year. In 2014 the band signed to Island Records and on 17 March released their next single "Kathleen", produced by Jim Abbiss (Arctic Monkeys, Kasabian, Adele). All the singles were premiered as Zane Lowe’s "Hottest record in the world" and were playlisted on Radio 1. "Kathleen" ranked at number one on MTV's hottest tracks in April 2014. 

In summer 2014, Catfish and the Bottlemen performed at more 30 festivals in the UK and Europe including Reading & Leeds, Latitude, Kendal Calling, T in the Park, Tramlines, Ibiza Rocks, and Governors Ball. 

On 19 June 2014, the band announced the release of their debut album The Balcony, which was released on 15 September 2014. Shortly afterwards the band also announced a UK tour. The album charted at No. 10 in the UK Albums Chart in the week ending 27 September 2014. 
They won the BBC Introducing Award at the first BBC Music Awards in December 2014 and performed "Kathleen". 

The Balcony was released in the US on 6 January 2015. The day after, they performed on the Late Show with David Letterman. 

In an interview with WOW247, McCann said that the band have "three albums written already". He continued to say that "I'm more excited for the second album than the first, because the workload is done now". 

When reviewing The Balcony, Scott Kerr of AllMusic likened the band's sound to that of Johnny Marr, The Cribs, Feeder and Mystery Jets. According to Ben Homewood of NME, McCann's vocal style is similar to The Kooks' frontman Luke Pritchard. 

Members: 
Van McCann – lead vocals, rhythm guitar (2008–present) 
Johnny "Bondy" Bond – lead guitar (2014–present) 
Benji Blakeway – bass guitar (2008–present) 
Bob Hall – drums (2010–present) 

Discography: 
The Balcony (2014)

Catfish & The Bottlemen in the news

	Catfish & The Bottlemen Return With New Single "Showtime" (23/02/2024)
	Welsh Singer/Songwriter Tom Collins Releases Gorgeous New Single 'Another Cigarette' (17/08/2022)
	Tom A. Smith Introduces Himself With His Powerful Debut Single 'Wolves' (19/11/2021)
	Stereophonics Announce New Album 'Oochya!' (09/09/2021)
	The Keystones Release New Single/Music Video 'Time Will Tell' (23/07/2021)
	Singer/Songwriter Josh Savage Releases New Single 'Young Fools' (12/04/2021)
	Matt Maeson Achieves Two Billboard No 1 Alternative Hits On Debut Album (27/08/2020)
	More Acts Announced For Frank Turner Presents Lost Evenings IV (30/01/2020)
	Australia's Eliza & The Delusionals Added To Silversun Pickups Tour (10/12/2019)
	Watch Lana Del Rey Perform 'Hallucinogenics' With Matt Maeson (19/11/2019)

More songs by Catfish & The Bottlemen