Biography

Neils Children formed in 1999 at Harlow College where John Linger and Brandon Jacobs were studying music with Tom Hawkins. The band's name came from Linger's obsession with 1960s proto-punk band John's Children; 'Neil' was the nickname of Hawkins, the group's original bassist, due to him apparently resembling Men Behaving Badly star Neil Morrissey. They played many concerts in London, Southend, Brighton and other cities, notably playing the Insomniacs Ball in London in 2006, and the London Calling Festival in Amsterdam. John was placed Number 30 of 50 in NME's Cool List in 2005. In June 2005, their single "Always the Same" peaked at No. 56 in the UK Singles Chart. The group were much in demand as a support act for up and coming UK bands such as Razorlight, Bloc Party, The Horrors, The Klaxons, Jacco Gardner and Art Brut on tour as well as completing various British headline tours and shows throughout the UK and Europe. In December 2005, Hair left to form Vile Imbeciles with former The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster member Andy Huxley and moved to Brighton, and was replaced by Keith Seymour (formerly of Hope of the States). In August 2010, founder members Linger and Jacobs announced the split of the group, planning the band's last show at 2010's Offset Festival. In late 2012 Neils Children founder members John and Brandon announced that the band would return from hiatus to record a new album "Dimly Lit" (Echo Orange), their first in over four years.