Errors is a post-electro band from Glasgow, Scotland. Formed in 2004 by Simon Ward, Stephen Livingstone and Greg Paterson, on the back of a 3 track demo recorded in Simon’s bedroom the band quickly set about making a name for themselves in their hometown with their unique take on Electro. Errors merged spiky new-wave guitars with deep bass-y Acid sounds with a knack for melody and pop hooks beyond their years. The band were soon taken under the wing of Mogwai who signed them to their Rock Action label alongside the likes of Part Chimp and James Orr Complex.
Their first 7” for the label ‘Hans Herman’ sold out of its limited pressing quickly and highlighted the band as “ones to watch”. The band followed up the success of their debut single with the release of the “How Clean Is Your Acid House?” EP a record that saw Errors raise the bar in terms of ambition and scope with the opening track ‘Mr. Milk’ becoming a signature tune for the band and brought them to the attention of the mainstream media with support for the record coming from DJ’s like Zane Lowe, John Kennedy and Vic Galloway along with sessions at Maida Vale for Mary Anne Hobbes, Rob Da Bank and Huw Stephens.
Following the release of the ‘How Clean…’ EP the trio became a four piece, inviting long time friend and collaborator James Hamilton (ex-Multiplies/now ex-Dananananaykroyd) to join the group as a permanent member. Having contributed drums to the ‘Hans Herman’ single and also tracks on the ‘How Clean…’ EP as well as occasional live appearances the step up from three to four piece seemed a natural progression and added a whole new dynamic and focus to the band’s live performance.
In 2007 the band set about work on their debut album with Mogwai’s John Cummings. Resolving not to fall into the trap of repeating themselves Errors decided that the LP would consist entirely of new material and would be, in their eyes, a “proper” album in contrast to a simple collection of the songs they had in their catalogue so far, a move that would raise eyebrows when the final tracklisting was announced with the ommission of favourites like ‘Mr. Milk’, ‘Hans Herman’ and ‘Terror Tricks’. With their ideas in place they set about writing, re-writing, editing and re-writing again until they had managed to sculpt a record that matched their ambition. A limited 7” release of ‘Salut! France’ gave a brief taster of what to expect and gathered support from DJs, indie kids and music press across the board.
Their releases to date caught the attention of dance legends Underworld who invited the band to join them on a UK tour and presented an ideal opportunity to test out new material and works-in-progress to a brand new audience, with formative versions of ‘Toes’ and ‘National Prism’ being given live debuts. A period of recording, mixing, re-recording and remixing followed before finally in June 2008 ‘It’s Not Something But It Is Like Whatever” was released. A flippant, nonsensical title that manages to embody everything that’s great about Errors. It’s a record not only drawing on the unique sound that has become their signature, but builds on it; a merge of angular guitars, spiraling, euphoric synths and informed dance sounds underpinned by truly mesmerising beats and rhythms not to mention a memorable cameo from Oxford based diseuse George Pringle ‘It’s Not Something…’ is an expansive, ambitious, genre-defying piece of work. Zig-zagging from Math-rock to post-rock via Acid-House and Drone, Errors have managed to take on entire genres and in doing so, create one of their own.
