Deaf Havana was formed when the original members met at the King's Lynn campus of The College of West Anglia. The band's roots can, however, be traced back much further with Ryan Mellor, James Veck-Gilodi and Lee Wilson all attending Smithdon High School and playing together in various local scene bands. At college, these members were joined by Tom Ogden and Sebastian Spitz. This early lineup saw Veck-Gilodi singing and Mellor taking guitar and vocal duties. The name "Deaf Havana" came from former guitarist Sebastian Spitz, however the name itself has no literal meaning. The band wrote songs and a demo, White Lines But No Camera, was recorded in August 2006 at The Lodge, Northampton. The band toured this lineup until Chris Pennells replaced Spitz. Pennells was formerly a member of the band Something About Dave. Around the same time, Mellor handed over guitar parts to Veck-Gilodi, and took on the lead role.
In late 2006, the band began writing songs for their debut EP, entitled Evangeline. Two songs were roughly recorded, titled "The Smiles Were Forced" and "Where It Begins", which were uploaded onto the band's Myspace page. The EP was soon recorded, with "The Smiles Were Forced" being dropped from the EP's track listing. "Tell Me More Georgie Boy" is the only song from any previous release to make it onto Meet Me Halfway, at Least, and is now called "Another Day in This House".
Beginning in October 2007, the band began work on new songs, which eventually were released on It's Called the Easy Life. On 21 June 2008, the band announced signing a deal consisting of one EP and two albums with Wolf at Your Door Records owner Kevin 'Wolfie' Horak, as well as the recording date for said debut EP, now titled It's Called the Easy Life. The EP was eventually recorded by Jonny Renshaw from Devil Sold His Soul and was mixed by Matt O'Grady (You Me at Six, Architects) and released in October 2008. The EP received strong reviews from various musical publications, following which the band begin to receive some recognition.
On 25 May 2009, the band entered the studio to record their debut studio album, Meet Me Halfway, at Least, with producer Matt O'Grady. The album was released for pre-order from Wolf at Your Door Records on 7 September 2009, and was released on iTunes and shops on 5 October 2009. Two singles have been taken from this album. "Friends Like These" was released, with B-side "Hey Baby, This Is Our Song", on 17 August 2009, for digital download. A video was also released for this single. Their second single, "Nicotine and Alcohol Saved My Life" was released on 15 March 2010, also via digital download. The single contains a remix of "Friends Like These" by Essex band Kenai. Its music video was first shown on music channels and online from 22 February 2010.
In 2010, just prior to the mini tour with All Forgotten, the band announced that Mellor would not be embarking on these tours, due to personal circumstances, with Max d'Albiac from Brides replacing him. Mellor left the band on 10 May 2010, due to the same personal problems that caused him to pull out of 2010 tours. Deaf Havana decided to continue as a four piece and a replacement for Mellor was not sought.
The band began the follow-up to 2009's Meet Me Halfway, at Least in early 2010. They released a new demo track on Myspace and Facebook, entitled "My Life Is Average". On 13 August 2010, the band released a new demo track through their Facebook page entitled "Home Sweet Home".
On 20 May 2011, the band released the first song, called "The World or Nothing", from their untitled second album. The song was not released as a single, but the song is accompanied by a video made from footage taken at Hit The Deck Festival, directed by Jon Stone. The first single from the album was confirmed to be "I'm A Bore, Mostly" on 30 August 2011. It was played on BBC Radio 1 by Zane Lowe and the following week by Sara Cox. The title of the album, Fools and Worthless Liars was made public on 23 September 2011. Deaf Havana also released a music video for the single on 11 October 2011, which accumulated over 20,000 plays on the day of release. They then supported fellow British rockers You Me at Six on tour that month. Fools and Worthless Liars was released on 7 November 2011, coinciding with London Barfly and Norwich Arts Centre release gigs. The album peaked at number 1 on the UK Rock Album Chart.
The band re-recorded an alternative version of Fools and Worthless Liars which was released on 22 October 2012. The Fools and Worthless Liars Deluxe Edition album reached number 51 in the UK Albums Chart (reaching number 28 mid-week). Lead singer, James-Veck Gilodi, expressed his views about his personal influences in the Fools and Worthless Liars Deluxe Documentary saying that he "wanted to do something that was more musical interesting" and record something that was "truer" to the bands actual influences. After playing the St Pancras Station Festival, from which the band thought "went well" and was "thoroughly enjoyable", the band set about re-recording each song on Fools and Worthless Liars hoping to show off their musicianship that may not have come across on the album by using different instruments, sounds and genres.
In October 2012, Deaf Havana began composing new material to be featured on their third album. On 25 January 2013, the band announced that the writing process was complete and that they would enter the studio a week later. It was rumoured, during the highly successful An Evening With Deaf Havana - Unplugged that the new, yet currently unnamed, album would be released "around September". However, no precise date was set or confirmed at this point. It was later revealed in 2012 that the new album would be entitled Old Souls and was to be produced by Lee Batiuk. It was announced to be released on 16 September 2013. Moreover, the band created a feature-length documentary, entitled English Hearts, which was released as a CD/DVD combination on the deluxe version of Old Souls. The feature documented the history of the band, in their own words, and was directed by Jon Stone, a director who had previously filmed the band performing " The World or Nothing" at Hit the Deck Festival.
The band received several high-profile radio plays in the lead up to the album release whilst the band also aired several previews through social media such as Facebook and Twitter. The song "Boston Square" was premiered by Radio One DJ Zane Lowe as his Hottest Record in the World on 14 May 2013. This release which was accompanied with an interview with James Veck-Gilodi. The band coincidentally announced their first partnership with YouTube music video service Vevo, and released the corresponding video for "Boston Square". The band followed up the positive feedback by releasing the track "Speeding Cars" on 18 July 2013, and track which also received positive feedback. On 1 August 2013, the band released another track, entitled "Kings Road Ghosts", despite the band acknowledging "they might get into trouble" for releasing the track early. On 8 August 2013, the band were again invited Zane Lowe's Radio 1 show to premiere their new single "Mildred (Lost a Friend)" as the Hottest Record in the World. Matt Veck-Gilodi supplied the interview on the behalf of the band and was interviewed by Radio 1 DJ Huw Stephens, who was deputising for Zane Lowe.
Ahead of their UK tour in November 2015, Deaf Havana released the track "Cassiopeia" from their fourth album, which was originally set to be released in 2016.
In July 2016, the band released the single "Sing" and announced that their album would be released in early 2017 on So Recordings. During their set at Reading and Leeds 2016, the band announced that the album is titled All These Countless Nights and announced its release date as 27 January 2017. Shortly after their Reading and Leeds appearance, the band announced their first UK tour in over 2 years.
On 9 October, the second single from the album, "Trigger", premiered on BBC Radio 1 as Daniel P Carter's Rockest Record. The song had originally premiered in 2014 on the band's European tour, at which time the band had planned to record new material but were dropped from their record label, BMG.
Following their Top 5 album artist=Deaf Havana]All These Countless Nights, Rituals was written as a challenge taken up by James Veck-Gilodi (Vocals) & Phil Gornell (Producer) to subvert the band's writing process, and present songs representative of the band in present.
Rituals is the result of throwing out the 'Deaf Havana rulebook': first; James picked the song titles, second; he wrote the tracks that fit the theme of those titles, third; everything was written on the computer, then the band came in to play all the parts. Working like this felt backwards to James, who previously only written songs on his acoustic guitar, with continuous input from the rest of the band. They set themselves a deadline of April to finish writing, and if any of it was any good, they would make it available by August. No more waiting half a decade for people to finally hear new music.
A recurring theme on the album is one of struggle and redemption. The music is in turn with introspective and joyous, with help form the London Contemporary Voice Choir, who feature on five tracks. The band performed with the choir at their intimate show at London's Union Chapel for the War Child charity as part of the Brit Awards gigs.
The theme of redemption ties into the art the band have wrapped into the album cover, a series by the visual artist Wolf James entitled 'My Love Is Lethal (A personal series dedicated to Letting Go)'.
On 25 November 2021, the band released a statement that while they intended to break up in early 2020, instead James and Matthew will continue on as a duo, with Lee Wilson and Tom Ogden leaving the band.
The Present is a Foreign Land was announced on 21 January 2022 for a 15 July 2022 release; with the album's first single, "Going Clear", releasing the same day.
Leeches
Deaf Havana Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And the pictures turned back into empty frames
Your sense will go before your looks will leave you
And in time the ones you love will all leave too
No dreams are not how they seemed back when you were young
You lost your way and you couldn't overcome
The times you'd hide, what's been building up inside
And I follwed you for miles through foreign sights
To the house where all your demons came to life
And I saw fear and innocence in childrens eyes
Then your face changed and I ran back into the night
No dreams are not how they seemed back when you were young
You lost your way and you couldn't overcome
The times you'd hide, what's been building up inside
'Cause dreams aren't how they seemed when you were young
I saw the colours drained from your veins, through the teeth of leeches
Dreams are not how they seemed back when you were young
You lost your way and you couldn't overcome
The times you'd hide, what's been building up inside
'Cause dreams aren't how they seemed when you were young
No they're not what they used to be
The lyrics to Deaf Havana's song Leeches delve into the theme of losing oneself as they age and how dreams and reality can be drastically different. The opening lines describe someone staring at the walls, indicating they may be struggling with mental health. The "empty frames" suggest a lack of memories or happiness on the walls that once used to hold them. The line "Your sense will go before your looks will leave you" is a poignant reminder that physical appearance fades but our mental wellbeing is just as important. The following line, "And in time the ones you love will all leave too," suggests that this person may have difficulty maintaining relationships, and that their loved ones may feel the weight of being unable to help them.
The chorus is repetitive, adding weight to the overall message of the song. The line "No dreams are not how they seemed back when you were young" reinforces the idea that our hopes and dreams can be crushed as we get older. The lines "You lost your way and you couldn't overcome, The times you'd hide, what's been building up inside" reveal the distress this person may have experienced, suggesting that they were unable to overcome their inner turmoil.
The second verse brings up the theme of fear and innocence, which becomes more evident as the song progresses. The singer describes following this person "for miles through foreign sights" to "the house where all your demons came to life." This revelation portrays the extent of this person's inner turmoil and how their fears have surfaced to the point where they are affecting others. The person's face changing possibly indicates the appearance of a demon or a change in their personality that scares the singer, causing them to run back into the night. The final line "I saw the colours drained from your veins, through the teeth of leeches" adds poetic imagery to the already haunting tone of the song.
Line by Line Meaning
You started staring at the walls again
You're beginning to feel lost and trapped in your own thoughts
And the pictures turned back into empty frames
You're losing the ability to see the beauty in life
Your sense will go before your looks will leave you
Your mental health will suffer before your physical health does
And in time the ones you love will all leave too
As you struggle, the people you care about may distance themselves from you
No dreams are not how they seemed back when you were young
The aspirations you had as a child have become distorted and unattainable
You lost your way and you couldn't overcome
Your path in life has become unclear and you feel powerless to change it
The times you'd hide, what's been building up inside
You tend to conceal the negative emotions that have been festering within you
Cause dreams aren't how they seemed when you were young
Your current state of mind prevents you from realizing your childhood ambitions
And I follwed you for miles through foreign sights
I have supported you through your journey, even in unfamiliar and scary situations
To the house where all your demons came to life
I have seen you confront the traumas and issues that plague you
And I saw fear and innocence in childrens eyes
I witnessed the effects of your struggles on the younger generation
Then your face changed and I ran back into the night
Your demeanor shifted and I was forced to retreat from your darkness
I saw the colours drained from your veins, through the teeth of leeches
I saw the negativity and toxicity draining the vibrancy from your life, as if leeches were sucking it away
No they're not what they used to be
Dreams don't hold the same promise and hope that they once did
Contributed by Katherine L. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Rebecca Baker
Deaf Havana are easily one of Britain's best bands, so much love for these boys, and this song is perfect!
Francisca Ferreira
Share this video with everyone you know, they deserve. Thank you Deaf Havana for doing good music!
percolator
Why haven't these guys got the recognition they deserve? They are easily the current best break through artist and my personal favorite band
bestdamnalex
It's actually not possible to NOT love them. The song is so good. And the video is so.... different. I love it.
15LiquidSnake
Y arent these guys more famous their entire album is a masterpiece
xxJSGC123xx
These guys deserve to be huge, and hopefully they will be. Good luck to them, as this shit is unreal.
Michael Rye
This band is rad. Can't wait to see them at Soundwave next year in Australia.
Clubby
The chorus to this song is so catchy.. It has been in my head for weeks.. Love this song so much =)
RealmofTudor
It has to be said that every track on Fools and Worthless Liars is 5 stars!
boardron
Keep up the good work! Really like this song, bought the album on iTunes.