Content with playing acoustic guitar "with such ferocity that it takes the top of your head off" (as Tom Robinson from BBC 6Music put it), he had no plans to turn Oxygen Thief into a band but Neil and Ben from of Xtra Mile's own The Retrospective Soundtrack Players had other ideas; re-recording some of his songs with distortion pedals firmly engaged and firing the demos at his inbox.
Oxygen Thief & Band, photo by Joe Watson.
So, Barry dusted off his electric guitar and started rehearsing and recording with this new line-up and played their first shows; opening for Left Side Brain in Bristol, and at London's legendary charity knees-up Lexapalooza in March 2013.
Solo, acoustic, loud / 3 piece, electric, louder: Oxygen Thief will tour the UK in both incarnations to celebrate the release of the ‘Accidents Do Not Happen, They Are Caused’ mini album – firstly solo supporting Jonah Matranga (far, onelindrawing) and then full band headline shows as well as a support slot for Jamie Lenman. Full dates below.
Oxygen Thief has been unofficially part of the Xtra Mile family for a while now – Charlie Caplowe, Managing Director of Xtra Mile explains:
“We’re delighted to have Oxygen Thief join the XM clan. To be honest he’d somehow managed to get himself onto so many Xtra Mile Recordings bills and stages over this last summer that we were almost convinced he was already signed!"
Dolan says:
"Having released a split EP with Ben Marwood & Jim Lockey (2009's ‘Exclamation At Asterisk Hash’) I've watched them go from strength to strength since signing to Xtra Mile, and we've often chatted about whether I might end up joining them on the label someday. The opening song (There Can Be Only One) from the band mini album appeared on that split in acoustic form, so I'm glad to have it kick off the new release as a link back to the fun we had touring together. I'm excited to be joining a roster with so many other acts that I've been both a huge fan of, and great friends with, over the years, especially as the label celebrates its 10th anniversary."
TOUR DATES
November
Solo tour supporting Jonah Matranga
12th: London - Windmill Brixton
13th: Newport - Le Pub
14th: Stoke-on-Trent: Minster's
15th: Nottingham - Guitar Bar
16th: Dunlop - Auld Hoose
17th: Aberdeen - Tunnels
18th: Edinburgh - Sneaky Pete's
19th: Glasgow - Nice & Sleazys
21st: Newcastle - Trillians
22nd: York - The Basement
23rd: Brighton - The Hope
November
Full band shows:
29th: Plymouth - Tiki
30th: The Louisiana - Bristol
1st: The Loft, Portsmouth
3rd: Cookie Jar, Leicester
4th: The Vic, Swindon
5th: Avondale House, Southampton
8th: Frog & Fiddle, Cheltenham
9th: The Garage, London w/Jamie Lenman