{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2014}} {{Use Hiberno-English|date=May 2014}} {{Infobox musical artist <!-- For groups; see Wikipedia:WikiProject_Musicians --> | name = The Immediate | image = The Immediate.jpg | caption = The Immediate in 2007 | landscape = Yes | background = group_or_band | alias = | origin = Malahide, County Dublin, Ireland | genre = Indie,<ref name="Pride after the fall"/> krautrock,<ref name="The Immediate live at The Black Box, Belfast"/> neo-new wave,<ref name="Here come the judges"/> Alternative rock, Post-punk, Art rock, Shoegaze | years_active = 2003–2007 | label = Fantastic Plastic Records<ref name="Who wins? You don't decide. . ."/> | associated_acts = Villagers | website = [http://www.myspace.com/theimmediate Official website] | past_members = David Hedderman <br>Conor O'Brien<br>Peter Toomey<br>Barra Heavey }} '''The Immediate''' were an avant-garde<ref name="Who wins? You don't decide. . ."/> Irish rock quartet, based in Malahide, County Dublin. They made a considerable impact on the Irish music scene despite releasing only one album during the span of their association together. The album was ''In Towers and Clouds'' (2006). It received primarily positive critical feedback and was nominated for the Choice Music Prize for Irish Album of the Year 2006. Alongside their sole album, several extended plays and singles were also released by the band.
They split suddenly in May 2007, citing "existential differences". The final line-up of the band consisted of David Hedderman (vocals, guitar, bass), Conor O'Brien (vocals, guitar, drums), Peter Toomey (vocals, drums, bass) and Barra Heavey (keys, guitar, bass, drums, backing vocals). The band was known for swapping instruments regularly throughout sets.
==History== ===Early days=== The band members were raised in middle-class Dublin during the Celtic Tiger boom years.<ref name="Immediate Gratification"/> O'Brien called it "a spiritually bereft place".<ref name="Immediate Gratification"/> They lived in Malahide.<ref name="Immediate Gratification"/> Hedderman, O'Brien and Toomey came together at St Conleth's College in Ballsbridge, Dublin.<ref name="Immediate Gratification"/> Heavey joined the band at a later stage and they first performed as '''The Subterraneans'''.<ref name="Immediate Gratification">{{cite news|url=http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/theticket/2006/0825/1156400990283.html|title=Immediate Gratification|date=25 August 2006|accessdate=21 April 2010|newspaper=The Irish Times}}</ref> Hedderman studied painting at the National College of Art and Design, while O'Brien studied for an arts degree in English and Philosophy at University College Dublin.<ref name="Immediate Gratification"/> The band took their name from their favourite adjective—"immediate".
Among the venues for early gigs were hotel function rooms and a church. The band then spent their college years taking a more direct approach to making themselves known to a wider audience, playing parties and college balls, and occasionally organizing their own shows in Eamonn Dorans, a small pub venue in the centre of Dublin. A CD was thrown onstage at a Manic Street Preachers gig to a bemused Nicky Wire and another was even slipped into Beck's bag with a purchase at a Dublin bookstore. The band spent these formative years honing their craft, with David and Conor focusing on developing their songwriting skills, and Peter on his live performance, which was to become a particularly electrifying aspect of the group's live shows. At this time, guitarist Eoin O'Reilly completed the line-up of the group, and a self-released EP called "Don't Get Lost" (2003) was made available from a select amount of independent Dublin record stores.
They played the Antics indie night in Dublin's Crawdaddy music venue a couple of times.<ref>{{cite news|author=Patrick Freyne|url=http://www.tribune.ie/article/2007/jul/15/alternative-ireland/|title=Alternative Ireland|date=15 July 2007|accessdate=21 April 2010|newspaper=Sunday Tribune|quote=We often have one band playing in the middle of the DJ set for about half an hour. And a lot of great bands have played at it. I love Fight Like Apes. The Immediate have played a couple of times, The Mighty Stef, the Warlords of Pez . . . most of the bands in Dublin have played at it really. Mainline have played it twice. The bands really enjoy it because they're playing to a full house, and there's nowhere else you can get that pure energy and excitement.}}{{dead link|date=September 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
===Breakthrough=== London-based indie label Fierce Panda Records called the band and asked them to release a single.<ref name="Immediate Gratification"/> Early in 2005 that label released The Immediate's debut single, "Never Seen/Say This",<ref name="Immediate Gratification"/> as a limited edition double A-side 7". XFM and BBC Radio One played the track, and the DJ duo Queens Of Noize included the band on a compilation, leading to numerous shows in London.{{Citation needed|date=April 2010}} The band were visited by major labels but spurned these advances, preferring instead to maintain creative control of their work.<ref name="Immediate Gratification"/>
Soon afterward, the band signed to another independent label, Fantastic Plastic Records, where they were to record their debut album. For reasons unknown, guitarist Eoin O'Reilly fell out with the group and was soon replaced by friend Barra Heavey, a regular collaborator who, with the introduction of keyboards, brought an electronic edge to the band which honed the overall sound of The Immediate.
Finally, in the second half of 2005, the band entered Jacobs Studios in Surrey where they recorded their debut longplayer with US producer Chris Shaw. The first recordings from this session were released in April 2006 as the acclaimed "make our devils FLOW", a four-track EP on CD and 7" double-pack.
On 18 August 2006, ''In Towers and Clouds'' was released in Ireland on Fantastic Plastic to mixed approval.<ref name="Who wins? You don't decide. . ."/><ref name="Charting a cautionary tales of two albums"/><ref>{{cite web|author=Aidan Curran|url=http://www.cluas.com/music/albums/immediate-in-towers-clouds-327.htm|title=A review of their album 'In Towers And Clouds'|accessdate=21 April 2010|publisher=CLUAS}}</ref> On 25 August, the record debuted in the Irish Albums Chart at number 33 and three weeks later, it was in position number 67.<ref name="Charting a cautionary tales of two albums"/> On 18 September, ''In Towers and Clouds'' was released in the United Kingdom.<ref name="Charting a cautionary tales of two albums"/>
That month, ''The Irish Times''{{'}}s rock critic Jim Carroll called the record "one of the best Irish debut albums of the last 20 years" and hoped The Immediate would "be around for a long time to come".<ref name="Charting a cautionary tales of two albums">{{cite news|author=Jim Carroll|url=http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/theticket/2006/0915/1158001563479.html|title=Charting a cautionary tales of two albums|date=15 September 2006|accessdate=21 April 2010|newspaper=The Irish Times|quote=On August 18th, The Immediate released their debut album, ''In Towers & Clouds'', in Ireland. On August 25th, ''In Towers & Clouds'' debuted in the Irish album charts at No 33. Three weeks later, it's still in the Top 75 (at No 67) and has sold more than 1,000 copies. It will be released in Britain next Monday. [...] Look at The Immediate. Here's proof that you don't necessarily need large amounts of cash to have a hit as long as you have cracking songs and an album which gets bigger, better, bolder and brighter with every listen. One of the best Irish debut albums of the last 20 years, ''In Towers & Clouds'' is the work of a band who are inventive, ambitious, smart and sharp - and who will hopefully be around for a long time to come.|authorlink=Jim Carroll (journalist)}}</ref> The ''Irish Independent''{{'}}s John Meagher named it his fifteenth best Irish album of the 2000s.<ref>{{cite news|author=John Meagher|url=http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/day-and-night/columnists/loaded-11122009-1971288.html|title=Loaded: 11/12/2009|date=11 December 2009|accessdate=21 April 2010|newspaper=Irish Independent}}</ref>
Following the album's nomination for the Choice Prize in 2007 (which led to a performance at the awards ceremony on 28 February), the band also performed at the 2007 Meteor Awards. Prior to this (in 2006), The Immediate had headlined the RTÉ 2fm 2moro 2our.
Thoughts turned to a second album soon after the release of the first and Hedderman reported having "a lot of sleepless nights" in their attempt "to get these ideas down right now".<ref name="Immediate Gratification"/> On 28 February 2007, a national tour was announced.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.hotpress.com/news/2912374.html|title=The Immediate announce full-on tour|date=28 February 2007|accessdate=21 April 2010|magazine=Hot Press}}</ref>
===Split=== On 19 April 2007, The Immediate were confirmed as performers at that year's Trinity Ball.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.hotpress.com/news/2920650.html|title=More bands confirmed for Trinity Ball|date=19 April 2007|accessdate=21 April 2010|magazine=Hot Press|quote=The Immediate are but one of the acts newly confirmed for the Trinity Ball.}}</ref> This proved to be their last performance as the band announced they were to split at the event on Friday 11 May 2007. They later confirmed this in a post on their MySpace page which cited "existential differences" as the reason for the split but which also stated "We all still love each other. Regularly".<ref name="The Immediate split up!">{{cite web|url=http://www.muse.ie/music-ireland-music_news-irish_news/the-immediate-split-up-/spId/89E50F81-F7D1-A715-417F1D3656EC3ED6.html |title=The Immediate split up! |date=14 May 2007 |accessdate=21 April 2010 |publisher=MUSE.ie |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090204200446/http://www.muse.ie/music-ireland-music_news-irish_news/the-immediate-split-up-/spId/89E50F81-F7D1-A715-417F1D3656EC3ED6.html |archivedate= 4 February 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.hotpress.com/news/2924238.html|title=The Immediate call it a day|date=14 May 2007|accessdate=21 April 2010|magazine=Hot Press}}</ref>
The news was greeted with shock, particularly as critics had expected them to eventually become an international success.<ref name="The Immediate split up!" /> Meanwhile, the band had on that very Friday been officially announced on Oxegen's website as one of the acts scheduled to perform at the Oxegen 2007 festival in July.
"As a thank you for all the amazing messages we've been getting since the band split" one final song was made available for free download via MySpace; "The Mist Above the Mind" was recorded by The Immediate in early 2007.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.muse.ie/music-ireland-music_news-irish_news/the-immediate-release-one-more-tune/spId/A0339008-BC09-74F8-4FA3BC94B9307C20.html |title=The Immediate release one more tune |date=18 May 2007 |accessdate=21 April 2010 |publisher=MUSE.ie |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071120024920/http://www.muse.ie/music-ireland-music_news-irish_news/the-immediate-release-one-more-tune/spId/A0339008-BC09-74F8-4FA3BC94B9307C20.html |archivedate=20 November 2007 }}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.hotpress.com/news/2926647.html|title=The Immediate's swan song|date=24 May 2007|accessdate=21 April 2010|magazine=Hot Press}}</ref> Soon after the band's split numerous critics regarded them as the new Irish act with the most international potential and agreed they would be sorely missed.
On 9 November 2007, the ''Irish Independent''{{'}}s entertainment supplement ''Day & Night'' published an article by band member Barra Heavey, explaining his take on why the band had come to an end.<ref>{{cite news|author=Barra Heavey|url=http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/music/the-immediate-end-of-days-1215884.html|title=The Immediate: End of days|date=9 November 2007|accessdate=21 April 2010|newspaper=Irish Independent}}</ref>
O'Brien later joined Cathy Davey's band,<ref name="Pride after the fall">{{cite news|author=Neil Dunphy|url=http://www.tribune.ie/article/2007/sep/30/pride-after-the-fall/|title=Pride after the fall|date=30 September 2007|accessdate=21 April 2010|newspaper=Sunday Tribune|quote=Davey then recruited some band members. Conor O'Brien from now defunct indie band The Immediate and Bell X1 frontman Paul Noonan will play drums during the forthcoming tour. It's quite the supergroup.}}{{dead link|date=September 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> before forming Villagers.
==Style== O'Brien has said the band's earliest songs were reminiscent of Green Day, with a sound similar to The Kinks eventually evolving.<ref name="Immediate Gratification"/> He has claimed The Kinks were "the first band I ever liked", and that he knew the words to "Lola" from a very young age despite the fact "I had no idea what it was about".<ref name="Immediate Gratification"/> He sang the song "as a party piece", leaving his sisters "in stitches".<ref name="Immediate Gratification"/> Radiohead and Britpop were other influences.<ref name="Immediate Gratification"/> According to O'Brien, the band were obsessed with art.<ref name="Immediate Gratification"/>
The ''Irish Independent'' said "Their moody, jerky rhythms sounded like Franz Ferdinand getting beaten up by Joy Division".<ref name="Here come the judges"/> ''Analogue''{{'}}s Brendan McGuirk described them as "Louth's answer to an early form of Radiohead".<ref>{{cite web|author=Brendan McGuirk|url=http://www.analoguemagazine.com/the_blog/the-choice-music-prize/|title=The Choice Music Prize|date=6 April 2007|accessdate=21 April 2010|publisher=Analogue|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20091007051238/http://www.analoguemagazine.com/the_blog/the-choice-music-prize/|archivedate=7 October 2009|df=dmy-all}}</ref> After witnessing one performance at The Black Box in Belfast, ''Hot Press'' commented: "There's a playful grope with U2 here, a quick fumble with Talking Heads there and a covert, climactic Krautrock fondle at the end", while the vocals and guitars on "Stop and Remember" were compared to Gang of Four by the magazine.<ref name="The Immediate live at The Black Box, Belfast">{{cite magazine|url=http://www.hotpress.com/music/reviews/live/2884694.html|title=The Immediate live at The Black Box, Belfast|date=22 September 2006|accessdate=21 April 2010|magazine=Hot Press}}</ref> ''The Irish Times'' observed that they did not fit into any of Dublin's "many micro-musical scenes".<ref name="Immediate Gratification"/>
==Members== * David Hedderman — Vocals, guitar, bass guitar * Conor O'Brien — Vocals, guitar, drums * Peter Toomey — Vocals, drums, bass * Barra Heavey — Keys, guitar, bass guitar, drums, backing vocals
==Discography== The Immediate released one album.
* "Don't Get Lost" EP (2003) * "make our devils FLOW" EP (2006) * ''In Towers and Clouds'' (2006)
==Awards== The ''Sunday Tribune''{{'}}s Una Mullally named The Immediate as the "Best Irish Band" of 2006, saying "they have the ability to be one of the most important Irish bands of the decade, if they can hold it down".<ref>{{cite news|author=Una Mullally |url=http://www.tribune.ie/article/2006/dec/31/2006-in-song-was-it-music-to-our-ears/ |title=2006 in song: was it music to our ears |date=31 December 2006 |accessdate=21 April 2010 |newspaper=Sunday Tribune |quote=Best Irish Band The Immediate. The best thing about the arty, unstructured ''In Towers And Clouds'', the debut from these Dublin multiinstrumentalists, was the notes they didn't play . . . the songs that had gone before and what more they are capable of achieving. They have the ability to be one of the most important Irish bands of the decade, if they can hold it down. }}{{dead link|date=June 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
=== Choice Music Prize === The Immediate's debut album ''In Towers and Clouds'' was nominated for the Choice Music Prize, an award won by The Divine Comedy for the album ''Victory for the Comic Muse''.<ref name="Here come the judges">{{cite news|url=http://www.independent.ie/opinion/analysis/here-come-the-judges-59140.html|title=Here come the judges|date=13 January 2007|accessdate=21 April 2010|newspaper=Irish Independent}}</ref><ref name="Who wins? You don't decide. . .">{{cite news|author=Una Mullally |url=http://www.tribune.ie/article/2007/feb/18/who-wins-you-dont-decide/ |title=Who wins? You don't decide. . . |date=18 February 2007 |accessdate=21 April 2010 |newspaper=Sunday Tribune |quote=The Immediate, a Dublin four-piece who released their debut, ''In Towers and Clouds'', on British label Fantastic Plastic (home to The Futureheads and Guillemots), have been drawing acclaim since their inception. [...] Excellent avant-garde jittery indie from one of Ireland's most exhilarating live acts. |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306234818/http://tribune.ie/article/2007/feb/18/who-wins-you-dont-decide |archivedate= 6 March 2016 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|author=Una Mullally|url=http://www.tribune.ie/article/2007/jan/14/the-lowdown-on-what-should-be-top/|title=The lowdown on what should be top|date=14 January 2007|accessdate=21 April 2010|newspaper=Sunday Tribune}}{{dead link|date=September 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.independent.ie/unsorted/features/i-heard-the-muse-today-oh-boy-49135.html|title=I heard the 'Muse' today, oh boy!|date=10 March 2007|accessdate=21 April 2010|newspaper=Irish Independent}}</ref> Toomey had not expected the nomination.<ref name="Who wins? You don't decide. . ."/> The band performed at the award ceremony in Vicar Street on 28 February 2007.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/news-gossip/people-frock-and-roll-with-matthew-57167.html|title=Is a prize in the Immediate future?|date=28 February 2007|accessdate=21 April 2010|newspaper=Irish Independent}}</ref>
{{awards table}} |- | 2007 || ''In Towers and Clouds'' || Irish Album of the Year 2006 || {{nom}} |- {{end}}
===Meteor Music Awards=== The Immediate were nominated for Best New Irish Act at the 2006 Meteor Awards.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rte.ie/arts/2005/1123/meteorawards.html|title=Meteor Award nominations announced|date=23 November 2005|accessdate=21 April 2010|publisher=RTÉ}}</ref>
{{awards table}} |- | 2006 || The Immediate || Best New Irish Act || {{nom}} |- {{end}}
==References== {{Reflist|2}}
==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20090718222525/http://www.rte.ie/tv/othervoices/theimmediate.html The Immediate] on ''Other Voices'' * [http://www.tribune.ie/article/2007/mar/11/top-o-the-modern/ "Top o' the modern"]{{dead link|date=June 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} — Barra Heavey, 11 March 2007, ''Sunday Tribune''
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Immediate, The}} Category:Irish rock music groups Category:Musical groups from County Dublin Category:Musical groups disestablished in 2007 Category:Irish shoegaze musical groups Category:2000s in Irish music