Deaf Havana

Deaf Havana are an English alternative rock band from King's Lynn, Norfolk in the UK. The band was formed in 2005 at the King's Lynn campus of The College of West Anglia. The band's early releases along with constant touring developed a strong fan base in the UK music scene.

Deaf Havana was formed when the original members met at the King's Lynn campus of The College of West Anglia. The band's roots can, however, be traced back much further with Ryan Mellor, James Veck-Gilodi and Lee Wilson all attending Smithdon High School and playing together in various local scene bands. At college, these members were joined by Tom Ogden and Sebastian Spitz. This early lineup saw James singing and Ryan taking guitar and vocal duties.

The band quickly got down to writing songs and an early demo, White Lines But No Camera, recorded in August 2006 at The Lodge, Northampton. The band toured this lineup until Pennells' replacing Spitz. Pennells was formerly a member of the band "Something About Dave". Around the same time, Mellor handed over guitar parts to Veck-Gilodi, and took on the lead role.

In late 2006, the band began writing songs for their debut EP, entitled "Evangeline". Two songs were roughly recorded, titled "The Smiles Were Forced" and "Where It Begins", which were uploaded on to the band's Myspace page. The EP was soon recorded, with "The Smiles Were Forced" being dropped from the EP's tracklisting, but seeing the light of day at the beginning of 2007. Its artwork is by Josh Brown who later had a song dedicated to him by the band called "Josh Brown, Don't Talk to Strangers", which was actually an early demo for the song "They Call It the Easy Life", featured on "It's Called the Easy Life". "For Stories Sake" was previously featured on the band's debut digital EP "White Lines But No Camera" with the slightly altered title "For the Stories Sake", and "Tell Me More Georgie Boy" is the only song from any previous release to make it onto Meet Me Halfway, At Least, and is now called "Another Day in This House".

On June 21, 2008, the band announced signing a deal consisting of one EP and two albums with Wolf at Your Door Records, as well as the recording date for said debut EP, now titled It's Called the Easy Life. The EP was eventually recorded by Jonny Renshaw from Devil Sold His Soul and was mixed by Matt O'Grady (You Me at Six, Architects) and released in October 2008. The EP received strong reviews from various musical publications, following which the band begin to receive some recognition.

January 2009 saw the band complete a UK wide tour with We Are the Ocean and The Urgency, and the release for their first music video, "Oh Howard, You Crack Me Up".

On 25 May 2009 the band entered the studio to record their debut studio album, Meet Me Halfway, At Least with producer Matt O'Grady. The album was released for exclusive pre-order from Wolf at Your Door Records on 7 September and was released on iTunes and shops on October 5.

Before the release of the album, Deaf Havana embarked on the UK "Metal Hammer Introducing" Tour along with Young Guns and The Casino Brawl. A week after the final date for this tour, Deaf Havana played an album release party show in hometown King's Lynn, with support from Underline the Sky and All Forgotten.

2010 saw the band on several tours across the UK and Europe, including a headlining UK mini tour with All Forgotten and Francesqa in March, a European tour with Emery from March through to April, as well as a support slot on Emarosa's UK tour in May. Just prior to the mini tour with All Forgotten, the band announced that Ryan would not be embarking on these tours with them due to personal circumstances, with Max d'Albiac from Brides replacing him.

10 May 2010 saw the band's announcement that Ryan would be leaving the band due to the same personal problems that caused him to pull out of 2010 tours. Deaf Havana decided to continue as a four piece and a replacement for Ryan was not sought.

The band began the follow-up to 2009's Meet Me Halfway, At Least in early 2010. They released a new demo track on Myspace and Facebook, entitled "My Life Is Average".

On 29 May and 30 May 2010, Deaf Havana played on the Kerrang! Introducing Stage at the Slam Dunk Fesitval at University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield and University of Leeds, respectively. At these shows, the band opened with an untitled new song.

On 13 August 2010 the band released a new demo track through their Facebook page entitled "Home Sweet Home". The band's new single "Smiles All Round" was played on the BBC Daniel P Carter rock show, on 21 September 2010. The band supported You Me at Six, along with Kids in Glass Houses and The Blackout, for a Halloween special at The Regal in Oxford.

The band played two new songs on their headline tour in the UK, titled "Pop" and "I Will Try", and also announced that they had been recording for their new album but have "no idea" when it is to be released, although a 2011 release was said to be likely.

At the band's December 17 show at the Liverpool Masque Loft a new song was played, tentatively named "Down Syndrome Pigs". They also played 3 songs at Maida Vale Studios, 2 of which are bore the names: "Pop" & "I Will Try". The album's artwork was reported to have been completed in spring 2011 and the album is set for an Autumn release. The band are set to support fellow British rockers You Me At Six in October and British hardcore band Architects in December.

The band confirmed via Twitter on 19 February that the recording of their sophomore full length was underway and that the album was being recorded with producer/engineer Matt O'Grady (You Me At Six, ex of Fastlane) in Woking, Surrey. The album was completed in late summer 2011. The title, Fools and Worthless Liars was made public on 23 September 2011. The album was released on the 6th November 2011.

On 30 August, the first single from the album was confirmed to be "I'm A Bore, Mostly", which was played on BBC Radio 1 by Zane Lowe and the following week by Sara Cox. Deaf Havana also released the video on 11 October 2011 racking up over 20,000 plays on day 1.

Throughout 2011, live videos of the band's new songs have appeared on various media sites, with the songs mainly carrying working titles including; "Vines", "Pop", "I Will Try" and "Youth in Retrospect" as well as already released material from the band such as; "The World or Nothing" "I'm A Bore, Mostly", "Home, Sweet Home", "My Life is Average" and "Smiles All Around", The latter three of which will not feature on Fools and Worthless Liars.

Fools and Worthless Liars was released on the 7th November 2011, coinciding with London Barfly and Norwich Arts Centre release gigs. The album peaked at #1 on the BBC Rock Album Chart.