GuilFest 2006. The 3 Day Guildford Music Festival on 14th, 15th and 16th July 2006

About the bands
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Artist: Million Dead
Genre: Rock
Performing: 15th July 2005 / The ROCKSOUND CAVE Stage
Website Address: [ www.milliondead.co.uk]
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Million Dead came together in London , mid-2001. Cameron Dean (guitar) and Julia Ruzicka (bass) had both come to England from Australia with forming a band in mind. They met and started writing, before roping in Ben Dawson (drums), who had been Cameron’s underling in a record store. Ben then called up his old friend Frank Turner who'd been the singer in various bands with him since age 11. The name was chosen from a line in a song by Swedish punk band Refused, and in September of that year they recorded their first demo and began gigging around the UK .

2002 saw them blag support slots with Cave In, 80's Matchbox B-line Disaster, The Icarus Line and Alec Empire and in late 2002 they came across the folks at Integrity Records and Xtra Mile Recordings who put out their first single, 'Smiling At Strangers On Trains', in February 2003. This gained support from John Peel, Mike Davies, Mary Anne Hobbes, Zane Lowe and Steve Lamacq and lead to a support slot with Pitchshifter on their farewell tour.

April 2003 saw them in Mighty Atom Studios recording their debut album, 'A Song To Ruin'. This was released in September, and reached the Top 20 of the Independent Chart on week of release and has been described by Kerrang! Editor Ashley Bird as: “Jaw-droppingly fiery, punk-fuelled noise laced with intelligence and soul...” and by The Independent as “A quite incredible debut.” The band were also nominated for Best Newcomer at the Kerrang! Awards and invited to tour with pals Funeral For A Friend. Completing the year with their very first headline tour and third single, 'I Am The Party', which was A-listed by MTV2.

In 2004 the band performed at the SXSW Festival in Austin , Texas , completed their second headlining tour with yourcodenameis:milo and X Is Loaded in support and joined Funeral For A Friend again on their massive UK tour. They also released their debut single for Xtra Mile Recordings, 'I Gave My Eyes To Stevie Wonder' in May which entered the official Top 75 single charts.

Shortly after this release Cameron amicably left the band and in his place an old friend of Ben and Frank, Tom Fowler (ex-Abjure/Palehourse) stepped up to take over lead guitar duties. With the new line-up in place the band joined ex-At The Drive-In members Sparta on a short UK tour.

As 2004 drew to a close the band entered Battery Studios to write and record their second full-length album finishing the process in only two months. Produced by Mark Williams (yourcodenameis:milo, SikTh) the follow up to 2003’s ‘A Song to Ruin’ sees the band sound mature and explore new territories. Not content with the conventio0nal four-piece mould Million Dead have brought new sounds to the table introducing a six-foot gong and choir. The new album sees a progression from the bands debut and a continued pushing of the boundaries. ‘Harmony, No Harmony’ is to be released in May 2005 through Xtra Mile Recordings, including the singles ‘Living The Dream’ , and the download-only ‘After The Rush Hour’.

“There’s a real depth to the ferocity, its never angst for the hell of it. You get the impression there’s true bile and vitriol behind every bitter lyric and raging cry, yet there’s a heart in every song.” 5/5 Big Cheese.

“Million Dead should be…absolute Goddamn superstars in a just and righteous universe. New album ‘Harmony No Harmony drops May 16 th. Get Ready.” Kerrang!

“05 is definitely going to be their year” – RockSound