Tribute To Nothing

Tribute To Nothing

Tribute To Nothing is a post-hardcore band from Worcester, England. The group begins in the mid-1980s, when drummer Ben Turner starts playing after being inspired by everyday sounds and household pots and pans. His brothers Jim, on bass, and Sam, on guitar, join him while still very young, and the band develops from a teenage local act into a touring post-hardcore group.

Early years and first releases

By its second show, the band is already playing to a crowd that includes an EMI promotions manager, and this early energy leads to a support slot with Ned’s Atomic Dustbin. It then records its first proper demo at the BBC studios in Birmingham and signs an album deal with Go! Discs, a division of PolyGram, while guitarist Sam is still 13. The band later moves away from the major-label system after only a handful of singles, saying it wants more control over its music.

Lockjaw Records and independent work

After leaving the major industry, Tribute To Nothing founds Lockjaw Records to handle its own releases. Jack Turner helps with the business side of the label, and the band raises money from relatives to get it started. Lockjaw becomes an established UK indie label and releases Muse’s first recorded song on CD. The band later signs with Berlin-based Destiny Records rather than return to larger deals.

Sound, touring and collaborations

The group develops into a post-hardcore band with influences that range from 1980s DC post-hardcore and 1970s prog rock, including Pink Floyd, to modern US hardcore. It plays with a wide range of acts, including The Fall, Shellac, Dee Dee Ramone, NOFX, Iggy Pop, Neurosis, Girls Against Boys, Hot Water Music, No Use for a Name, Days In Grief and Boy Sets Fire. John Peel also invites the band to record an hour-long session for his show. A local police intervention stops one Middlesbrough performance while singer Sam is 15, after the venue sound is judged too loud for the room.

Albums and media attention

The band’s fourth studio album, Act Without Words, is the first to feature guitarist Kris Stammer, an old school friend whose playing adds to the group’s complex sound. The album is also the first to bring the band wider European attention, especially in Western and Central Europe. In 2004, a Rolling Stone freelancer describes the band in strong terms after seeing it live. Its live performance is also documented on A Brand New Cause To Fuel The Fire, a DVD produced by Ben Schnermann of Three Minute Poetry.

How Many Times Did We Live?

How Many Times Did We Live? is issued in Europe and the UK in 2005. The band records it over five months in its own studio in England, after a long writing process marked by repeated rewriting. The record draws together its road experiences and life back home in Worcester, where the members also work ordinary jobs because music does not fully support them. The single “Something I Can Trust” comes from the album and reflects those contrasting sides of touring life and home life.

Live activity and identity

Tribute To Nothing builds a reputation through constant touring, including a European run that leads to more than 250 shows across a two-year period, alongside DIY cellar shows, television appearances and support tours. The band describes trust, friendship and integrity as central values, and its music and organisation are closely tied to the four members and their family support.