Birmingham quartet Dumb have tonight announced they are to call it a day. The split comes after a successful year which saw the release of the band’s debut EP, Chew Me Up, Spit Me Out, and live dates with Superfood and Jaws.
Dumb started life as five-piece The Carpels and played successful shows with Tantrums, Scarlet Harlots (now Troumaca) and Cajole Cajole before the departure of bassist Ewan Wallace and subsequently guitarist Michael Darby. The band recruited Adam Pyzer on bass and rebranded as Dumb in April 2013 after which they recorded a string of songs which gained them a loyal fanbase and were involved in the Birmingham houseparty which made it onto the pages of NME.
The outfit secured national press including attention from the likes of NME and Clash and Radio plays from BBC Radio 1, and were photographed by the iconic Roger Sargent.
Dumb were managed by ex-Virgin Records man Ian Light and Charlatans drummer Jon Brookes at independent Birmingham label One Beat Records. Last August saw the sad passing of Jon after his battle with brain cancer for several years. At the start of this year Dumb played alongside The Charlatans and Liam Gallagher at the Royal Albert Hall at the concert held in Jon’s memory to raise funds for The Brain Tumour Charity.
Ian Light said of Dumb’s time together,
“I would have loved it to work out differently for the band and for Jon. Jon knew more than anyone what a tough business this is. The industry is propped up by a second tier of struggling bands who don’t quite get that break or buzz around them, but you know some bands go a lifetime without writing a songs as good as Two Bottles and Dumb managed to rattle that off in one day when they were 18. Good songwriting like that never dies.”
Brum Notes would like to wish everyone the very best of luck in their future endeavours and thank Dumb and One Beat for being a truly inspirational independent family.
Dumb were Dylan Williams (vocals), Tom Minchin (guitar), Adam Pyzer (bass) and Jacob McQue (drums).
Photo: Steve Fisher
