Hello there. Here’s a little bit about who we are.
Line-up
Chris – Vocals & guitar
Sam – Guitar
Graeme – Bass
Jake – Drums
History
The band was drunkenly formed in The Footage Pub on Oxford Road way back in 2008. Back then the line-up was Chris (guitar), Hollie (guitar) and Emma (keyboard). Emma was our token “proper” musician (being at grade 7 or so at classical piano) with the next best being Hollie; self-taught at acoustic guitar. Chris owned a guitar but knew about three chords and couldn’t sing a note. Little has changed for him since. The idea was we’d just find somewhere to jam and see what happened. It sounded terrible but we enjoyed ourselves nonetheless. Emma dropped off early-on to focus her time on becoming a teacher but soon after, Chris found a Bass player in Pip in 2009 at a work’s summer BBQ. The band still didn’t have a name at this point and we played against some basic drum tracks to complete the sound. We occasionally we were in time with them too – only to go and immediately celebrate at the pub and forget literally everything we had learned.
By 2011, we’d convinced Sam to play on drums and wrote our first couple of songs. Sam was actually a much more accomplished guitarist than a drummer, but we needed a drummer and so drum he did. The line-up became Chris (vocals, guitar), Hollie (guitar) Sam (drums).
In 2011 Hollie ended up spending more of her time more doing performing arts with MUGSS, and although never officially quit the band, could no longer dedicate any time to it. One constant in this band’s history is it being somewhat disorganised in terms of practice. To fill her shoes we twisted Graeme’s arm (who’d recently become Chris’s housemate) to pick up lead guitar. Graeme actually preferred playing Bass, but we needed a guitarist so play guitar he did. Line-up was then Chris (vocals, guitar), Graeme (guitar), Pip (Bass) Sam (drums). Now we had a proper practice room in Brunswick Mill we could jam more regularly and became a little more organised.
We ended 2011 strongly and were increasingly interested in trying to book our fist gig, but that never happened and Chris went travelling mid 2012 for a year and the band went into a hiatus. During this time, Pip had got engaged and decided to start a family in Leeds with her other half, spelling the end of her term. At the end of 2013, Graeme went on a university swap for a further three months meaning we didn’t reform until 2014, sans a Bass player.
We don’t take ourselves too seriously and play for the love of playing. We’re based in Manchester City Centre and practice in a repurposed mill in Ancoats.
At the end of February 2014 we persuaded Jake to play drums. He’d played in some other bands in the past and was eager to get back into regular playing. This allowed us to shuffle into a more preferred outfit – Sam moved to his preferred instrument; the lead guitar; Jake moved into Drums; Graeme moved into his preferred Bass; Chris resumed vocals and rhythm guitar.
After several years of irregular practice and still no first gig, Jake’s wife volunteered us to play a charity gig for Retrak and Connecting HR Africa on December 12 2018 – ten years after the original idea for the band, and with a mostly different lineup. Better late than never I suppose.
Check out the photo section for the one photo someone managed to take on that evening.
What does ecilop mean?
The short answer is that it’s “police” backwards. I’d like to stress at this point that we’re not cover band for “The Police” or as they’re now known, “Sting”.
Everyone likes to suggest name ideas when you’ve formed a band, and it wasn’t seen as important at the time. It gets rather annoying when people find out your band has no name and proceeds to bombard you with bullshit suggestions. We needed a name.
ecilop (small e) was intended to be a placeholder until we worked out something cooler to name the band. As Chris and Hollie are brother and sister, they came up with the name as it was something their father used to say when they were little to make them behave – “the ecilop will come and lock you up” – specifically when we were misbehaving in the car. ecilop is what you see in the rear-view mirror when a police car is right behind you. It’s enough to break a child’s tantrum it seems.
Timeline
2008, winter
ecilop is drunkenly formed in The Footage on Oxford Road by Chris G, Hollie G and Emma Lightfoot.
Chris: guitar, later vocals
Hollie: guitar
Emma: keyboard and piano
Emma is the token proper musician, around Grade 7 classical piano. Hollie is the next most capable, being self-taught on acoustic guitar. Chris owns a guitar, knows about three chords, and cannot sing a note. The idea is simply to find somewhere to jam and see what happens.
2009, early
ecilop’s first planned practice session, in the spare room above the Lass O’Gowrie, is cancelled because the staff forget the booking and give the room to someone else. Subsequent practices take place at the Manchester University Music Academy through Hollie being a student there.
2009, late summer / autumn
Pip joins the band on bass after Chris meets her at a work summer barbecue.
The band still does not have a name at this point, and practices often take place with basic drum tracks to fill out the sound.
2010, early
The band finally picks a name, mainly to stop everyone else trying to suggest one. “ecilop” comes from Chris and Hollie’s childhood. When they were misbehaving in the car, their dad would say the ecilop, meaning police backwards, would come and arrest them, and that you could see them in the rear-view mirror watching. The ecilop.org domain is also available, which helps settle it.
2010
Musins joins on drums.
2010
Early practices are fluid and short-lived. Musins later recalls having only one practice with Emma, and possibly none with Hollie. One rehearsal with just Chris and Musins in the flat lasts only 10 minutes before a noise complaint shuts it down.
2011
By this point, the active lineup has become Chris on vocals and guitar, Hollie on guitar, and Sam Musins on drums. The band writes its first couple of songs. Sam is actually a more accomplished guitarist than a drummer, but the band needs a drummer, so that is where he starts.
2011
Emma has effectively dropped out by this stage, focusing instead on becoming a teacher.
2011, summer
Hollie moves back to Sheffield after graduating. She never officially leaves the band, but from this point is no longer really active.
2011, 26 July
The ecilop Secret Group is created on Facebook and becomes the main place for organising the band. Practices are arranged as Facebook events, usually with whatever random image appears first in a Google search for “ecilop”.
2011, late
Graeme joins the band, likely around November, after Chris twists the arm of his then housemate to pick up lead guitar. Graeme actually prefers bass, but the band needs a guitarist at the time, so guitar he plays.
2011 to 2012
The more settled lineup becomes Chris on vocals and guitar, Graeme on guitar, Pip on bass, and Musins on drums.
The band now has a proper practice room at Brunswick Mill in Ancoats, which allows more regular rehearsals and a slightly more organised existence. The end of 2011 is a relatively strong period and the band starts thinking seriously about trying to book a first gig.
2012, mid June
Chris leaves Manchester for South America travel after the Ravenstondale Festival, which runs from 15 to 18 June 2012.
2012, summer
The band effectively goes on hiatus as Chris leaves to go travelling, although at least one practice takes place without him.
2012, late
Pip gets engaged and decides to start a family in Leeds with her other half. Her pregnancy announcement effectively marks the end of her time in the band.
2013, June
Chris returns from travelling.
2013
The band restarts as a three piece with Chris on vocals, Graeme on bass, and Musins on drums.
2013, late
Graeme goes away on a university swap for around three months, which helps delay a proper restart until 2014.
2014, 27 February
Jake joins the band, causing a lineup reshuffle.
2014
The band finally lands in a more natural setup. Chris resumes vocals and rhythm guitar, Musins moves across to his preferred instrument of lead guitar, Jake takes over on drums, and Graeme moves to his preferred instrument of bass.
2014 onwards
Practices remain patchy due to Jake’s very busy schedule and frequent time abroad. Even so, the band does manage some sort of regular practice, just rarely with everyone present at the same time.
2018, 12 December
After years of irregular practices and still no first gig, Jake’s then-wife volunteers the band for a charity show at Rain Bar for Retrak and Connecting HR Africa. Ten years after the original idea for the band, and with a mostly different lineup, ecilop finally plays its first real gig that wasn’t just for friends or jamming about.
2020, January to March
Chris goes on sabbatical to South East Asia and returns just as the UK closes its borders for Covid-19.
2020 to 2021
Covid shuts down practices and forces roughly an 18-month hiatus.
2020, November
Musins moves to Glossop.
2022, 6 March
Graeme moves to Stockport with Nic, aka Yoko Ono.
2024, 16 March – present
Chris moves to Singapore and the band goes back on hiatus.