Omerta (band) - History

History

Omerta formed in 2003 when the 4 members decided to try to make a name for themselves by writing music that they enjoyed playing and listening to. James, Nick, and Neil were the first members of the band, having met one another while at school, they were already good friends and had previously been in a band called Foghead. They met Aaron in 2003 and Omerta was created.

Initially, the band were practicing all the time and writing new songs while learning where their musical influences would take them. By February 2004, they were playing venues across Manchester and the North West while still writing material.

By August 2004, Omerta had recorded their first demo CD, and while playing in York, they distributed all the copies they had to the gathered crowd. Positive reviews soon followed and interest in the band became more evident with increased attendance at gigs and requests for music from record companies. Omerta continued to perform live, record and write more material for the next few months.

In February 2005, the band were offered the chance to release their first single with local indie label, Northern Ambition.

April 2005 saw the band release their debut Double A-side single Everyone is Frozen / Learn to Love the System on a limited 7" run and stockists were forced to restrict purchase to only one copy per customer in the interests of public order. In only three hectic days stocks in Manchester and London had disappeared. Fans who were too late made brave bids on eBay for up to 15 times the disc's original value.

The Everyone is Frozen single was playlisted on XFM, chosen as record of the week by Claire Sturgess and recommended by Steve Lamacq on his BBC 6 Music show. On being invited to record a live session for XFM by Sturgess shortly after this first release, they became one of only three unsigned bands to have been bestowed the honour.

In early October 2005 the band released their second single “One Chance” on a limited edition of 400 7” Vinyls and 400 CD’s. Much like the first single, “One Chance” received a mass of radioplay and press, and beat the sell-out time of their debut single into a pulp selling out all copies of “One Chance” across the UK in only one day. In addition the single also went in at Position 36 in the BBC Indie/Rock Official Chart Listing.

Omerta were in XFM's top 5 live sessions of 2005 (which included many signed artists) and they were Piccadilly Records' number 1 Indie Single of 2005 as well as making their list of 2005's best sellers{.

In 2006 the band were writing, recording and playing live across the UK. They also released a single "One More Minute" on Northern Ambition. However, by summer 2007 the band had split, and in 2008 Starkie, Turvin and Ryan formed a new band under the name The Slow Readers Club.