The Maccabees brothers Felix and Hugo White have announced the formation of their new band 86tvs. The band will consist of brothers Felix White, Hugo White, and Will White, along with ex Stereophonics drummer and prolific musician Jamie Morrison. The direction their music will take is as yet unknown, with the only people vaguely in the know being those that attended 86tvs debut gig at London’s Omeara on Thursday night (14/07/22).
Felix White took to his Instagram the day after the show on Friday to make the official announcement, saying “I’ve been making a record with my brothers and the brilliant Jamie Morrison for the past few years. It’s taken a second, but we are finally happy with what our new band is ….” Posting some footage from the show in conjunction with the message he went on to say “Yesterday we played the songs for the first time to a room full of friends and family at Omeara. It was a really, really good time. I’d forgotten how much I missed it. Thank you to everyone there. At some point this year there will be the first recorded music and gigs .. we’re really looking forward to sharing it all with you. The band is called @86tvs”
The Maccabees split back in 2017 having been together for 14 years and released 4 full length albums. They were an essential and influential ingredient to the explosion of indie rock that happened in the UK during the 2000’s and 2010’s and won several awards for their music during their time together, including an Ivor Novello Award for Best Contemporary Song “Pelican” on their third album Given To The Wild.
In a statement at the time of their split, the band said “There have not been fallings out and we are grateful to say that we are not leaving the group as a dividing force“. Since then members of the band have had success enjoying other pursuits in music. Ex-lead singer Orlando Weeks has had great success as a solo artist and novelist, releasing his debut book The Gritterman with an accompanying soundtrack to great critical acclaim. Elsewhere, Felix White has been enjoying cultural success in many different facets, including hosting the popular cricket podcast It’s Always Summer Somewhere, setting up his own record label Yala!, and contributing to the soundtracks of John McEnroe biopic McEnroe and cricket documentary The Edge. Hugo White hasn’t spent much time twiddling his thumbs either, with a recent appearance playing guitar for Jamie T on the John Peel Stage at last months Glastonbury Festival.
86tvs must therefore be quite the project if it’s getting these busy bees to divide their time even more. We’ll be keeping our eyes peeled and ears primed for any updates..
