Amida

Amida are a Manchester based indie/pop band who formed in November 2005. The line-up consists of John Ammirati (vocals/ guitar), Andrew Beswick (guitar), James Cooper (bass), Sebastian Hood (keyboards) and Scott Challinor (drums). Following a series of gigs in the UK they recorded a demo in April 2006 which received warm reviews, with Manchestermusic.co.uk giving it demo of the week and praising the ‘gorgeous, infectious, bright little pop tunes’. A song from an earlier recording also featured on the soundtrack to the film ‘Knowing Andy’, by Sheffield filmmakers ‘Slackjaw’ (responsible for the music documentary ‘Made In Sheffield’). After playing at the ‘How Does It Feel To Be Loved’ (HDIF) club night in London, the song ‘Virtue Was Your Downfall’ was included on a compilation called ‘The Kids At The Club’, released by the HDIF label. The compilation also featured bands such as Butcher Boy, Tender Trap and Lucky Soul and received high praise from the likes of The Guardian, Pitchfork.com, and Plan B magazine, the latter hailing it as ‘the real sound of the indiepop underground’. They played a sell-out headline slot for the HDIF night in London in November 2006, and began receiving airplay on various radio stations such as XFM, The Revolution and performing live on BBC Radio Manchester and ALL FM. The debut E.P. ‘Arts & Crafts’ was released on Peruvian label Plastilina Records in February 2007, receiving positive reviews and leading to support slots with bands such as Camera Obscura, Tokyo Police Club, The Broken Family Band, Subway Sect and Darren Hayman (formerly of Hefner). They continue to gig regularly, having support slots with the Television Personalities, Gay Against You, the School and an appearance at the Indietracks Festival. A single is due to be released on cloudberry records, and an album will be recorded soon.