Amateurs were formed in 2003 in Scotland by Seth Chanas. Seth was always making up funny little songs on whatever musical instruments he could get his hands on and discovered a talent for quickly mastering them. By the age of 14 Seth found himself playing in most of the bands in his home town, at one point as many as five at once.
After playing in a succession of other peoples' rock bands, Seth found it hard to find musicians who shared his vision of a band where ethos and logos were as important as pathos and that properly rendered, missed birthdays, bad weather and bus passes could be as compelling to the listener as sex and suicide. So he made one up.
Amateurs thus came into existence as an imaginary band; Seth writing the songs and recording all the parts, occasionally roping in friends and flatmates for the odd contribution. Seth began selling these, Amateurs' first recordings, through local music shops.
Around this time Seth met Ina Hanisch. Ina, originally from Saxony and living in Amsterdam, was in Edinburgh visiting friends with whom Seth was flat sharing. Ina eventually moved to Edinburgh and Seth wasted no time in roping her in to the project. Followed by his brother Simon, school friend Chris Summerfield and disgruntled colleagues Damian Malone and Sarah Weatherston, Amateurs were finally realised and began playing gigs around Edinburgh and the North of England, building a reputation as a great live band with an eccentricity and lack of ego that distinguished them from others.
Amateurs - 'Hongu Kongu'
01 Records
02 Straight Home
03 Things You Only Know If You Don't Drive
04 Cool By Me
05 Living Alone
06 Dry Eyes
07 Falling Back Again
08 You're Dead
09 Mustard
10 The Water Of Leith Song
11 A Blow For Blow Account Of Last Night
12 Christmas Eve
13 Trouble Brewing
'Things You Only Know If You Don't Drive' & 'Cool By Me' are part of the FREE double A-side download-only single taken from the forthcoming album 'Hongu Kongu'.
