Prime are an explosive, creative and passionate band from East Midlands, UK. Having supported Space, Dodgy and Electric Six at various o2 venues and played Tramlines Sheffield, MAH, Hockley Hustle Nottingham and Phoenix Alternative Festival Wales, amongst others, they were described by Notts TV’s Mark Del as: “A band you must see live”.
Their previous singles 'Bye Bye’ and 'In Summer' were featured by Christian Carlisle and Dean Jackson (BBC Sheffield/East Midlands) and were described by the latter as “great music.”
Prime are a band who are exciting and rebellious in equal measures.
Their previous singles 'Bye Bye’ and 'In Summer' were featured by Christian Carlisle and Dean Jackson (BBC Sheffield/East Midlands) and were described by the latter as “great music.”
Prime are a band who are exciting and rebellious in equal measures.
Prime - A timeline history Prime, established as a prolific live band in 2015, have released various studio material since their formation including an album, an EP and five singles. They played their last show in March 2020. Here is a bio about their brief history. 2013: Lee Heir and Chris Munton meet via a mutual friend and, over a love of David Crosby, James Taylor and Joni Mitchell, form the acoustic duo The Steady Sound, playing gigs on the same bill as the likes of Lisa DeVille, Will Jeffery and Keto on the local East Midlands scene. 2014/2015: Lee, as lead singer, records 3 tracks of an 8-track mini-album and then asks Chris to join the studio band on bass guitar and backing vocals. A video for ‘Teen TV’ is filmed, and the resulting mini-album 'Before The After', featuring the varied technical skills of drummer Dan Ryland, and released under the name PRIME. The two getting planning live shows after an aborted launch in May of that year when the band's session guitarist and Lee’s local music journalist friend Rich Smith come to blows and the guitarist walks out on the show. The first Prime gig finally takes place after a winter of a few shows trying out live material under the Steady Sound monicker in semi-acoustic shows, some good, and some of which were a messy shambles featuring inexperienced musicians. Finally, a steady line-up of Lee (vocals), Chris (bass and vocals), drummer Josh Baggaley and guitarist Ollie Barnes emerges and the band play shows in Birmingham, Leeds, Sheffield and Stoke amongst other dates and small festivals/all-dayers. The band’s track ‘IOU’, recorded in Nottingham alongside some bonus material, is released on the bands own Bandcamp site prime4.bandcamp.com. Josh and Ollie add overdubs and vocalist Shireena Ingram sings backing and harmony. The material from the sessions gets a good critical reception, with Jack Garofalo (Wordplay / Left Lion Magazine) describing the music as "a melting pot of influences from a cross section of Brit pioneers to formulate a sound that grows on your consciousness with every playback. Fronted by the indistinguishable flamboyance of front man Lee Heir with his infectious vocals, Prime are fast becoming a staple name on the scene... (This release) firmly solidifies their status as one of the hardest working bands this city has. A luscious combination of the ska infused tracks of The Clash... with catchy yet innovative guitar and heavy hitting rhythm... It's (a) heavenly sweet vibe." Although the 'IOU' video by Bad Friday Pictures had a mixed response, and was actually left unfinished due to the video's editor having a car crash on the day of the deadline. "It was meant to be a comment on how musicians were getting ripped off left right and centre, with references to that and the rock mythology of stuff like 'A Hard Day's Night'... But nobody understood the concept at all, it went over everyone's head and they thought it was just comedy, or even worse, soppy", laughs Lee. Ollie Barnes leaves the band just before the video is shot, siting the busy travelling schedule (about to encompass such places as Phoenix Alternative Festival, Wales, and Tramlines, Sheffield) and low finances as his reason. After trying out various players, he is finally replaced by 19 year old Kieran Hill in late 2016 after a long search for the right lead guitarist. Meanwhile in the Summer of 2016, recordings are done at Animal Farm, London with Ville Lippanen (formerly of Finnish punk band Snow Dogs) stepping in on lead, alongside Lee, Chris and Josh. They include the future single ‘To Be Or Not To Be’. 2016/2017: The band commemorate their first full year of gigging by playing their first show in London (Soho) and also abroad in Stockholm, Sweden (Pet Sounds - a venue that was the first establishment there to book Lee’s heroes New Order) alongside playing nationwide venues with name reputations and local favourites such as Rough Trade (Nottingham venue) and Corporation, Sheffield. Founder member Chris Munton leaves the band though, siting personal reasons and issues with Lee. Shortly after he leaves, the band's first official single 'To Be Or Not To Be' is released, garnering BBC radio play and positive reactions, especially live, for it's hard sound and punky disposition and by far Prime's tightest production to date. The new Prime lineup begins again, adding both Kieran Hill and Daniel Ison (one of Lee's favourite musicians on the Nottingham scene) on bass guitar. The new lineup is flung straight into a support slot with Electric Six at the o2 Academy, Sheffield and delivers a fine performance, leaving a fair few of the headliners' die-hard fans to ask the band why Prime weren't booked on the whole European tour. Some of the footage from the show is used in the Bad Friday Pictures video for 'Bye Bye' the following Spring, and is one of the first shows highlighting a new song 'In Summer'. The band make their rehearsal home Bunker9 Studios in Sneinton, Nottingham and the man who runs that studio, a punk rocker veteran musician by the name of Zero, ends up jamming with the band and eventually stepping in on drums for some shows. What starts as a cover period of a few months ends up being closer to 10 months playing live with Prime, as Josh Baggaley decides to leave via mutual agreement, remaining on good terms with Lee. They also add Alex Hudson into the mix, who occasionally covers on bass and plays rhythm guitar in the 'Bye Bye' video. 
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Prime start 2017 thick and fast with well received performances for the Leeds College of Music at a packed The Wardrobe venue, and travel to cities as diverse as Cardiff, Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham. The band add new track 'Let It Lie' into the set, the latter highlighting the emerging songwriting partnership between Lee and Kieran. They release their new single 'Bye Bye' which gets good reviews and more BBC Radio play, this time with Dean Jackson of BBC East Midlands saying "(Prime are) on the right trajectory... Influenced by Joy Division, Bowie, The Clash, QOTSA, James Brown... They might not like the fact that I described them as indie, looking at their influences... But still, it's great music nonetheless." Prime support Liverpool Britpop classics Space and Electric Six (twice more), but shortly after, Daniel Ison leaves the band, deciding that the life of a travelling musician is not for him. Despite driving Lee crazy with his madcap behaviour and post-gig antics, including losing Lee's guitar, the two remain friends, and the band get stand-in bassists for charity shows for Oxjam and Musicians Against Homelessness in various UK towns, and a show with The Schizophonics, one of the world's wildest garage rock bands, from San Diego. The band debut two new compositions 'All The Things I Find' and 'The Fixer'. Prime also support Dodgy and Electric Six's Dick Valentine for acoustic shows, and play a short tour in the acoustic format which helps showcase Lee's growing vocal abilities. 2018/2019: Drummer James Alick officially joins the band as Prime play a show with Belgian Universal band RHEA and Swedish group The Bongo Club at Nottingham's Angel Microbrewery and Chameleon Arts Cafe retrospectively. The band support Chicago's Strange Circuits on a short tour that reaches Manchester, Sheffield and London. Around the same time, their new single 'In Summer' is released, showcased by a video filmed in sunny Hunstanton, UK, and a live performance and interview on Notts TV, and gets a great response from the likes of BBC's Dean Jackson who comments on its "gritty rock vocals". As 2018 closes and 2019 begins, Prime perform in December at a support slot with Canadian band The Burning Hell - but issues between Kieran Hill and other band members occur, leading to Hill leaving the band as 2019 gets under way. Chris D Bramley - a fine guitarist and solo songwriter in his own right - takes over the role, and he and Lee perform a string of European shows in May/June, with the two deciding to sing a mix of mainly Chris's originals, classic soul and rock covers and a small smattering of Prime tunes. Lee continues to take a break from his role in Prime as he joins Chris's band 'The Sesh' at their first headline show and two supports at the o2 Academy in Leicester. Meanwhile, over the Summer, Stuart Boles joins the band on both bass and acoustic guitar, continuing the new more laid-back semi-acoustic sound, and he and Lee make a very drunken debut together supporting The Seahorses' (John Squire) lead singer Chris Helme at Leicester's The Musician. James Alick however, decides to leave the band after Lee makes the decision to head in a different direction. There is however one more support for Prime at the o2 with Electric Six for the fourth time, with the band being fleshed out by two members of Chris D. Bramley's 'The Sesh', Jon Carter and Nick Anstey alongside Lee, Chris and Stuart. By this point however, Lee decides that the time is right to wrap up Prime, and he announces on the band's Facebook page that after one last tour in the Spring of 2020, Prime will be no more. Unfortunately, due to COVID-19 reaching the UK in March, just after the aforementioned Prime lineup played the sold out 700 capacity The Wagon Wheel, Chesterfield for a night of music on March 6th (also appearing the same night live on Notts TV), they had to cancel the rest of their dates for the Spring. Due to this, Lee decided that the Winding Wheel would be their last show ever and the band wouldn't be rescheduling the other dates. Deciding to go out on a high was a good decision for Lee and Prime. At their best, they were one of the liveliest and entertaining rock bands in the Midlands - and the band will want to be remembered that way. 
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