Hailing from Dundee, The Law formed initially to write and play songs as a means of avoiding the perils and pitfalls of everyday life. The results – instantly memorable bittersweet stomping songs – show it was well worth the agony. Consisting of Stuart Purvey (vocals), Stevie Anderson (guitar), brothers Martin Donald (drums), and Simon Donald (bass), the band are firm favourites amongst a city finding itself buoyant with rock’n’roll belief and desire.
The band moniker is a combination of a well known location in their hometown of Dundee, a dormant volcano known as the Law, coupled with their love of Joe Strummer and The Clash, with a particular nod towards the classic single “I Fought the Law”. The logo for the band was created by John Pasche who is known for designing one of the most iconic band logos in rock history - The Rolling Stones tongue and lips.
What has artistically emerged since the band’s inception is that The Law have a refined talent for writing swaggeringly confident tunes with sing-along choruses, classy guitar licks and sublime melodies which get right under the skin. Live performances are high energy, often raucous affairs, drawing crowds in with instantly memorable songs and an electric atmosphere, reminding you just how rock concerts should be: loud, packed and sweaty with anthemic tunes and a strong sense of camaraderie.
The Law recorded their debut album ‘A Measure of Wealth’ at renowned Sawmills Studios in Cornwall (the birthplace of Oasis’ Definitely Maybe), working with producer Stan Kybert (Paul Weller, Massive Attack). The band released the album in September 09 through their own label Local Boy Records to immediate critical acclaim.
Three singles were released from the album - ‘Don’t Stop, Believe’ (July 09); ‘The Chase’ (September 09) and ‘Television Satellite’ (November 09) all of which gained wide spread radio support in the UK from the likes of BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 2, BBC 6 Music, BBC radio Scotland; XFM, NME Radio, Clyde, Tay, Manchester Radio, BFBS, etc.
The Law have been touring prolifically in support of the album with their latest headline tour in October and November 2009 seeing them sell out several distinguished venues across the UK. The band took the massive T In The Park festival by storm by drawing the biggest crowd of the weekend to the BBC Introducing Stage. Festival organisers were so impressed by their performance that when another act had to cancel their penultimate headline slot on the acclaimed main Futures stage they immediately approached The Law to take their place, which they did with aplomb. The year ended on a high when the bands were invited to perform as special guests of Paul Weller during his UK tour.
Following on from their UK success, The Law caught the attention of several notable international tastemakers. This has resulted in significant media exposure across Europe, particularly in Germany where the positive response to the singles and album led to a successful German tour in January 2010 taking in the likes of Hamburg and Berlin etc.
Towards the end of 2009 The Law began to receive several spins on North American radio, leading to numerous adds for ‘Don’t Stop, Believe’ on alternative speciality radio stations, including WBER in New York, KUSF in San Francisco, and KROQ in Los Angeles. The track entered the Top 5 of the official FMQB sub modern chart (with the album also debuting at number 5), and the influential KKBB singles chart where it ranked at No.4.
In addition to the airplay, The Law had their music featured in the hit ABC network American television show ‘GREEK’ who used the tracks ‘Still Got Friday to Go’ and ‘Man in the Moon’. On top of this, ‘Don’t Stop, Believe’ was used in the international trailer for movie ‘The Men Who Stare at Goats’
The band has recently returned from a triumphant tour of America, their first, which saw them play 13 shows in 10 days taking in New York, the legendary South by Southwest Festival in Austin, TX, San Diego and Los Angeles.
2010 has seen The Law build on the success of 2009 with a blistering performance at the Rockness festival. The Law made a triumphant return to the BBC Introducing Stages, as the headline act at this years Leeds and Reading Festivals. After a busy year of touring the lads have retuned to the studio to record their follow up to ‘A Measure of Wealth’, no doubt they will have a lot to reflect on.
