Our Time Down Here
{{Short description|English punk band}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Our Time Down Here
| image = Creeper 2016 Köln 2.jpg
| image_size = 300
| image_upright =
| landscape =
| alt =
| caption = Gould (front) and Miles (back) performing with Creeper in 2016.
| alias =
| origin = Southampton, England
| genre = {{hlist|Melodic hardcore|punk rock|hardcore punk|horror punk}}
| years_active = 2006–2013; 2022
| label = Palm Reader, {{nowrap|Nothing to Prove}}, Banquet, Punktastic
| spinoffs = Creeper
| website =
| current_members =
| past_members = *Will Gould
- Ian Miles
- Gary Painting
- Andy Mehers
- Shane Bonthuys
- Greg Churcher
- Chris Taylor
- Drew Comley
}}
Our Time Down Here was an English punk rock band from Southampton, England, formed in 2006.{{cite web|title=Our Time Down Here Announce Final UK Dates; Band Statement Released|url=http://alreadyheard.com/our-time-down-here-announce-final-uk-dates-band/|accessdate=4 April 2018|date=2013-03-25}} Their song "Black Ice & Bad Advice" from the album Midnight Mass gained radio play on BBC Radio.{{cite web |title=Our Time Down Here |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/artists/cd2c42c1-85de-4c54-87c6-d76f051e422f |website=BBC |accessdate=2 November 2018}} NME said, in reference to the band's debut album, "if there's a finer UK hardcore album released this year then I'd really, really really like to hear it". Vice Media referred to them as "UK punk's best-kept secret".{{cite web |last1=Connick |first1=Tom |title=How Creeper Brought Magic and Melodrama Back to Emo |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/how-creeper-brought-magic-and-melodrama-back-to-emo/ |website=Vice Media |access-date=2 November 2018|date=2017-03-21 }} Funeral for a Friend lead vocalist Matthew Davies-Kreye and Natives member Jack Fairbrother were outspoken supporters of the band.{{cite web |title=FUNERAL FOR A FRIEND: YOUR HISTORY IS OURS |url=http://www.punktastic.com/radar/funeral-for-a-friend-your-history-is-ours/ |accessdate=2 November 2018}}{{cite web |title=NOT ADVISED |url=http://www.punktastic.com/interviews/not-advised/ |accessdate=3 November 2018}} After the band's separation in 2013, Gould and Miles went on to form Creeper.
History
Our Time Down Here formed in 2006, however their original singer was kicked out abruptly soon after, leading to their recruitment of former-Tight like Strings vocalist Will Gould,{{cite web |title=Creeper: Born to do it |url=https://www.upsetmagazine.com/features/creeper-born-to-do-it |accessdate=3 August 2019}}{{cite journal |last1=Turnbull |first1=Faye |title=Interview: Our Time Down Here |journal=Change the Record}} who at the time was in his teens, unlike Painting, Churcher and Taylor, who were into adulthood.{{cite web |last1=Goodman |first1=Eleanor |title=Do you want to join Creeper's fright club? |url=https://www.loudersound.com/features/do-you-want-to-join-creeper-s-fright-club |website=Metal Hammer |date=18 August 2015 |accessdate=2 November 2018}} Their name is a references to the Goonies.{{cite web |title=Goth-punk rockers are Creeping up in the ratings |url=http://www.wokingnewsandmail.co.uk/goth-punk-rockers-are-creeping-up-in-the-ratings/ |accessdate=2 November 2018}} They went on their first UK tour with fellow Southampton band Take Em Out, which featured guitarist Ian Miles, who would eventually join Our Time Down Here as an additional guitarist in 2010. They released their eponymous debut EP on 25 October 2007 through Punktastic records, which was then re-released in 2008 through Banquet records, with an additional two demo tracks.{{cite web |last1=Karcich |first1=Timothy |title=Our Time Down Here Our Time Down Here [reissue] (2008) |url=https://www.punknews.org/review/7853/our-time-down-here-our-time-down-here-reissue |accessdate=2 November 2018}}{{cite web |title=Our Time Down Here Our Time Down Here |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/our-time-down-here-mw0001648413 |website=AllMusic |accessdate=2 November 2018}} Following the release of the EP, the band's bass player departed, being replaced by Andy Mehers.
On 13 October 2009 they released their debut album "Live. Love Let Go".{{cite web |title=Our Time Down Here Live Love Let Go |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/live-love-let-go-mw0001377448 |website=AllMusic |accessdate=2 November 2018}} It was around this time that some of the members had so little money that they were sharing a studio apartment in Shirley with drug dealers, that had a rat infestation.
In 2010, they toured Europe in support of the American band Hit the Switch, which was followed by a UK tour in support of A Loss for Words and LYU, which was followed by UK and European headline tours in December and over into 2011.
Their 2011 EP, entitled Last Light was written exclusively by Gould and the band's new guitarist Ian Miles. The two would record guitars and program drums in Gould's flat during the day, as his roommates were not home, and record vocals in a car in the countryside at night. They pursued an intentionally different, more cathartic and personal, sound on the record to avoid burnout. However, it was around this time that founding drummer Chris Taylor departed from the band due to the toll that so frequently touring took on some aspects of his life, being replaced by Shane Bonthuys.{{cite journal |title=Interview with Our Time Down Here |journal=Sound Magazine |date=2 November 2011}}
In January 2012 they announced that their second studio album, "Midnight Mass", would be released on 6 March 2012, along with a series of UK headlining tour dates.{{cite web |title=OUR TIME DOWN HERE ANNOUNCE 'MIDNIGHT MASS' RELEASE DATE AND TRACKLISTING |url=https://www.rocksound.tv/news/read/our-time-down-here-announce-midnight-mass-release-date-and-tracklisting |website=RockSound |accessdate=2 November 2018}}{{cite web |title=Our Time Down Here Midnight Mass |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/midnight-mass-mw0002318873 |website=AllMusic |accessdate=2 November 2018}} Gould cited his intention for the sound of the record to be "if Green Day created a punk rock opera", doing so by embracing more theatrical influences, such as The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars by David Bowie, the Art of Drowning by AFI, Good Mourning by the Alkaline Trio and Energy. Lyrically, the album was based on love letters written by Gould's step-mother's broker and his wife, which Gould had found while clearing out the man's room after he a stroke. Soon after this event, the man died, and while attending the funeral Gould met his ex-wife and children, whom he discovered no longer lived with due to turning violent after his previous stroke. The album's opening track "7th October 1984" was made up entirely of words from the letters. In May of the same year, they opened the Macbeth stage at Slam Dunk Festival.{{cite web |last1=Davies |first1=Alan |title=More Slam Dunk 2012 Festival line-up additions including Gallows |date=24 April 2012 |url=http://www.whtimes.co.uk/what-s-on/music/more-slam-dunk-2012-festival-line-up-additions-including-gallows-1-1358037 |accessdate=2 November 2018}}
In 2013 they announced the dates for their final tour, with support by Grader, and would take place between 30 May and 6 June of the same year.
On 8 November 2022, the band announced a one-off reunion show at the Joiners, Southampton, which then took place on 10 December 2022.{{Cite tweet |title=Register |url-access=limited |user=joinerslive |number=1590043089867243520 |url=https://twitter.com/joinerslive/status/1590043089867243520 |access-date=2022-11-15 |language=en}}
=Legacy=
They have been cited as an influence by Southampton punk rock band Miss Vincent.{{cite journal |title=Creeper hang out with awesome Southampton newbies Miss Vincent |journal=Kerrang! |date=1 July 2017 |volume=1677}} After the band's 2013 breakup, Gould and Miles formed the band Creeper with former members of Hang the Bastard, Ghosts on Pegasus Bridge and Doomed from Day One,{{cite web |title=What's on your free Download Festival CD in Metal Hammer issue 271?|url=https://www.loudersound.com/features/what-s-on-your-free-download-festival-cd-in-metal-hammer-issue-271 |website=Metal Hammer |date=28 May 2015 |accessdate=2 November 2018}}{{cite web |title=CREEPER RELEASE DEPUT EP FOR FREE DOWNLOAD |url=http://www.punktastic.com/news/creeper-release-deput-ep-for-free-download/ |accessdate=2 November 2018}} which was originally planned to be a dark wave project, but ended up embracing far more punk influences.{{cite web|last1=Deadman|first1=Remfrey|title=Creeper – Eternity, In Your Arms: Exclusive Album Stream|website=Independent.co.uk|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/creeper-eternity-in-your-arms-exclusive-album-stream-a7643346.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220524/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/creeper-eternity-in-your-arms-exclusive-album-stream-a7643346.html |archive-date=24 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|accessdate=4 April 2018|date=2017-03-22}}
Musical style and influences
The band have been described as hardcore punk,{{cite web|title=Our Time Down Here Our Time Down Here|url=https://www.banquetrecords.com/our-time-down-here/our-time-down-here/BANQUET015|accessdate=4 April 2018}} punk rock,{{cite web|last1=Patashnik|first1=Ben|title=OUR TIME DOWN HERE|url=https://www.rocksound.tv/features/read/our-time-down-here|accessdate=4 April 2018}}{{cite web |last1=MARSHMAN |first1=CHRIS |title=OUR TIME DOWN HERE – MIDNIGHT MASS |url=http://www.punktastic.com/album-reviews/our-time-down-here-midnight-mass/ |accessdate=2 November 2018}} and melodic hardcore,{{cite web |title=Notes From The Underground – Our Time Down Here|url=https://www.nme.com/blogs/nme-blogs/notes-from-the-underground-our-time-down-here-45401 |website=NME |accessdate=2 November 2018|date=2009-09-17 }}{{cite web |last1=Karcich |first1=Timothy |title=Our Time Down Here Our Time Down Here [reissue] (2008) |url=https://www.punknews.org/review/7853/our-time-down-here-our-time-down-here-reissue |accessdate=2 November 2018}}{{cite web |title=OUR TIME DOWN HERE live. love. let go |url=https://www.punkrocktheory.com/music_reviews/our-time-down-here-%E2%80%93-live-love-let-go |accessdate=2 November 2018|date=2010-03-14 }} incorporating elements of youth crew,{{cite web |last1=Heaven |first1=Richard |title=Album Review: Our Time Down Here – Midnight Mass |url=https://alreadyheard.com/album-review-our-time-down-here-midnight-mass/ |accessdate=2 November 2018|date=2012-04-10 }} characterised by fast tempos and melodic sections.{{cite web |last1=Chaddock |first1=Ian |title=NOVEMBER ISSUE RECORD REVIEWS |url=https://vivelerock.net/november-issue-record-reviews/ |website=Vive Le Rock}} Their sophomore album Midnight Mass has been described as more theatrical than their previous hardcore punk work. Their early releases were compared to groups such as Comeback Kid, Strike Anywhere, Shook Ones, Kid Dynamite and Lifetime, whereas their final record Midnight Mass is considered more emotional and gothic, leading to it being compared to AFI and the Damned,{{cite web |last1=Cocksedge |first1=Rich |title=Our Time Down Here Midnight Mass (2012) |url=https://www.punknews.org/review/11391/our-time-down-here-midnight-mass |website=PunkNews |accessdate=2 November 2018}} and even categorised as horror punk.{{cite web |last1=LLOYD |first1=GAVIN |title=REVIEW: OUR TIME DOWN HERE – MIDNIGHT MASS (ALBUM) |url=http://www.hitthefloor.com/reviews/review-our-time-down-here-midnight-mass-album/ |accessdate=3 November 2018|date=2012-03-09 }} BBC has even cited them as an "indie metal" band.{{cite news |last1=O'Hare |first1=Andy |title=Metal night at The Firefly in Worcester - 13.02.12 |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-hereford-worcester-20282473/metal-night-at-the-firefly-in-worcester-130212 |accessdate=7 November 2018}}
They have cited influences including Lifetime, Jawbreaker, Hot Water Music and The Bouncing Souls, whereas their later sound was more-so influenced by early-AFI, David Bowie, Energy, Alkaline Trio, the Cult, the Damned, the Sisters of Mercy, the Cure and Dead Man's Bones.{{cite web|last1=Verducci|first1=Richard|title=Interview: Will Gould (Our Time Down Here)|url=https://www.punknews.org/article/46763/interviews-will-gould-our-time-down-here|accessdate=4 April 2018}}
Members
;Final line-up
- Will Gould - vocals (2006–2013, 2022)
- Gary Painting - guitar (2006-2013, 2022)
- Ian Miles - guitar (2010-2013, 2022)
- Andy Mehers - bass (2008-2012, 2022)
;Past members
- Greg Churcher – bass (2006–2009)
- Chris Taylor – drums (2006–2011)
- Shane Bonthuys - drums (2011-2013)
- Drew Comley - bass (2012-2013)
;Touring Members
- Jake Fogarty - drums (2022)
Discography
;Studio albums
- Live. Love. Let Go (2009)
- Midnight Mass (2012)
;EPs
- Our Time Down Here (2007)
- Last Light (2011)