History
The band formed after a chance encounter between Glass and Smith at a drum and bass night at The Junction in nearby Cambridge in October 1999. Baldwin and Smith had been playing together for several years, having attended neighbouring schools (Baldwin attended St Benedict's Roman Catholic Upper School in Bury St Edmunds, whilst Smith attended County Upper School nearby; the two would meet in the music practice rooms of County Upper School during lunch breaks). Glass (also a County Upper School alumnus) had been writing a fanzine entitled Planet Of Sound (after the Pixies song of the same name) alongside local singer-songwriter Greg McDonald, who at that time was fronting folk-influenced band The Hip Down; Glass briefly joined The Hip Down on bass guitar in late 2000. During this time, Glass took on the pseudonym Seymour Glass, after a character from the stories of J.D. Salinger, in order to write for the fanzine with a degree of anonymity, but credited himself by this name on the very first MBA demo (recorded in March 2000 at Fat Music Studios in Southwold); the name then stuck for the duration of his time in MBA. Following Glass's departure from The Hip Down, McDonald changed the name of his band to The Dawn Parade.
The four demo tracks recorded at Fat Music Studios (Miss Black America, Strobe and Don't Speak My Mind) were distributed by the band throughout 2000 as the Miss Black America EP. Promo copies of this EP, featuring the edited and full-length versions of the song Miss Black America as well as a "secret" track entitled Leopardprint Lives, were sent to press and radio; the EP was never officially released but the edited version of Miss Black America featured on a 2000 Repeat Records compilation entitled It Takes A Nation Of Miltons To Hold Us Back, whilst Don't Speak My Mind was released as a 7" single in October 2011 (the other tracks from the EP have not been reissued).
Miss Black America entered the Cambridge Band Competition in early 2000, also held at the Junction, and came runner-up. This led to a slot supporting The Dandy Warhols, which earned the band a considerable local following. Following an industrial accident in September 2000, which resulted in Glass losing the little finger of his left hand (the digit was successfully sewn back on with partial loss of movement), Glass's school friend Gish was drafted in on guitar. Following success at another band competition (Burysound in Bury St Edmunds) in December 2000, Gish was made a full-time member of the band.
Read more about this topic: Miss Black America (band)
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