Fear of Men (band)

Fear of Men was formed in early 2011 by Jessica Weiss and Daniel Falvey. For her art degree, Weiss had been creating soundtracks for her short films and she met Falvey at one of the exhibitions for her films.{{Cite web|url=http://dotsanddashes.co.uk/features/interview-inside-fear-of-men/|title=Interview: Fear Of Men|last=Holliday|first=Josh|date=28 April 2014|website=Dots & Dashes|language=en-US|access-date=2016-06-09|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150621070337/http://dotsanddashes.co.uk/features/interview-inside-fear-of-men/|archive-date=21 June 2015|df=dmy-all}} Falvey, a guitarist and a fellow art student, liked her recordings and they started working together. Weiss became the lead vocalist and lyricist, while Lin and Anthony joined on bass and drums respectively.{{Cite web|url=http://brighton-source.co.uk/bands/interview-fear-of-men/|title=Brighton Source - Interview: Fear Of Men|last=Kendall|first=James|date=2011|website=brighton-source.co.uk|access-date=2016-06-10}}

In March 2011, they released a four-track cassette entitled the "Hannah Schygulla Demos" on the Sex is Disgusting label and began to perform live locally.{{Cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/Fear-Of-Men-Hannah-Schygulla-Demos/release/3352456|title=Fear Of Men - Hannah Schygulla Demos|website=Discogs|access-date=2016-06-09}} In August the band released the single "Ritual Confession" on the Italian Beach Babes label.{{Cite web|url=http://www.thelineofbestfit.com/new-music/introducing/tlobf-introducing-fear-of-men-65065|title=Interview: Fear Of Men|last=Newbury|first=David|date=11 August 2011|website=The Line of Best Fit|access-date=2016-06-10}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/Fear-Of-Men-Ritual-Confession/release/3138036|title=Fear Of Men - Ritual Confession|website=Discogs|access-date=2016-06-10}} It was followed in December of that year by the "Alice Munro Demos" .{{Cite web|url=https://thepigeonpost.wordpress.com/2011/12/21/fear-of-men-alice-munro-demos/|title=Fear of Men – Alice Munro demos|date=2011-12-21|website=The Pigeon Post.|access-date=2016-06-09}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/Fear-Of-Men-Alice-Munro-Demos/release/3347931|title=Fear Of Men - Alice Munro Demos|website=Discogs|access-date=2016-06-09}} Over the course of 2012 Lin was replaced by Robyn Edwards on bass,{{Cite web|url=http://www.indietracks.co.uk/indietracks-interview-12-fear-of-men/|title=Indietracks interview #12: Fear of Men|website=www.indietracks.co.uk|access-date=2016-06-10}} while they were joined by Michael Miles (ex Laish) drums.{{Cite web|url=http://www.culturecompass.co.uk/math-pop-or-folk-laish-speak-to-open/|title=Interview with Laish|last=Hawkins|first=Leila|date=18 November 2011|website=Open Magazine|language=en-US|access-date=2016-06-10}}{{Dead link|date=November 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} This created the core of Weiss, Falvey and Miles as a trio that recorded together while bass was added to the live-setting.{{Cite web|url=http://drownedinsound.com/in_depth/4147663-dis-meets-fear-of-men|title=DiS meets Fear Of Men|last=Gourlay|first=Dom|date=8 May 2014|website=DrownedInSound|access-date=2016-06-10|archive-date=30 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160430041811/http://drownedinsound.com/in_depth/4147663-dis-meets-fear-of-men|url-status=dead}} In June 2012 they release the single "Green Sea" on the Sexbeat label.{{Cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/Fear-Of-Men-Green-Sea/release/3716991|title=Fear Of Men - Green Sea|website=Discogs|access-date=2016-06-10}} It was followed by the 7" "Mosaic" October on Too Pure.{{Cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/Fear-Of-Men-Mosaic/release/3957456|title=Fear Of Men - Mosaic|website=Discogs|access-date=2016-06-10}}

In February 2013, Kanine Records released a compilation of previous recordings as Early Fragments.{{Cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/Fear-Of-Men-Early-Fragments/release/4438174|title=Fear Of Men - Early Fragments|website=Discogs|access-date=2016-06-10}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.eartothegroundmusic.co/2013/04/21/fear-of-men-early-fragments/|title=Fear of Men – Early Fragments|date=2013-04-21|website=Ear To The Ground Music|access-date=2016-06-10}} It included the previous three singles and one previously unreleased track "Sheer". The album was described as "moving backwards from their most recent dreamy haze to their first art school experiments" by Consequence of Sound.{{Cite web|url=http://consequenceofsound.net/2013/02/album-review-fear-of-men-early-fragments/|title=Album Review: Fear of Men – Early Fragments|date=2013-02-22|website=Consequence of Sound|language=en-US|access-date=2016-06-10}} The band also performed at SXSW, Festival Nrmal and the Indietracks festivals, while Edwards was replaced by Alex Flynn-O'Neill.{{Cite web|url=http://deerlodge.fm/interview-fear-of-men|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130224052424/http://deerlodge.fm/interview-fear-of-men/|url-status=dead|archive-date=24 February 2013|title=Interview: Fear of Men|date=2013-02-24|website=Deer Lodge|access-date=}}

They worked on their debut LP Loom, which was released in May 2014. In a review on Pitchfork described it as "wistful dream pop"{{cite web|last1=Cole|first1=Rachel T.|title=Fear of Men: Loom|url=http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/19276-fear-of-men-loom/|website=Pitchfork|accessdate=4 June 2014}} while it received an aggregated score of 83 on Metacritic.{{Cite web|url=http://www.metacritic.com/music/loom/fear-of-men|title=Loom by Fear of Men|website=Metacritic|access-date=2016-06-10}} They toured North America and Europe supporting The Pains of Being Pure At Heart.{{cite web|title=Fear of Men Tour Dates|url=http://www.songkick.com/artists/3863831-fear-of-men|website=Songkick|accessdate=4 June 2014}}

After the release of Loom, Weiss began composing new songs while experimenting with electronic sounds.{{Cite web|url=http://diymag.com/2016/01/06/fear-of-men-in-the-studio-second-album-interview|title=Fear of Men: "We wanted to write an album that would make the stage shake"|last=Richards|first=Will|date=6 January 2016|website=DIY|access-date=2016-06-09}} The new material was played live during a short tour supporting Lower Dens in October 2015.{{Cite web|url=http://ravechild.co.uk/2015/11/02/lower-dens-fear-of-men-luciensghost-at-tuts-271015/|title=Live Review: Lower Dens, Fear of Men, luciensghost at Tut's|last=Boardman|first=Tony|date=2015-11-02|website=ravechild|access-date=2016-06-09}} This experience changed some of the material as the band "wanted to write an album that would make the stage shake, and we had to work out how we could sound stronger and get our ideas across in a more concise way". By the end of December 2015 the recording had been completed.

In relation to recording the second album, Falvey commented that "We got a lot more interested in manipulating sounds and building songs with computers, but we had to learn how to combine that with our live performance".

• Loom - (2014)
• Fall Forever - (2016)

• "Ritual Confession" - Italian Beach Babes, 2011
• "Mosaic" - Too Pure, 2012
• "Green Sea" - Sexbeat, 2012
• "Luna" - Art Is Hard Records, 2014
• "Island" - Kanine Records, 2016
• "Into Strangeness" - Apertura, 2020

• Early Fragments (2013)

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Category:English indie rock groups

Category:Musical groups established in 2011

Category:English musical trios

Category:2011 establishments in England