Puressence were a British rock band from Failsworth, Greater Manchester, England, formed in May 1992.
Band membership
The band, at their break-up, consisted of: James Mudriczki: Vocals Lowell Killen: Guitar Kevin Matthews: Bass guitar Tony Szuminski: Drums / percussion
History
James Mudriczki, Neil McDonald, Anthony Szuminski and Kevin Matthews met on a bus on their way to watch The Stone Roses play at Spike Island. Matthews watched The Stone Roses' Gary Mounfield play bass and Matthews bought himself a bass guitar. The rest of the members followed suit and bought the necessary equipment to complete a band, although they had little to no musical experience or training. However, this is a pure creation myth as Neil McDonald had been playing guitar for a number of years prior to the popularity of The Stone Roses, being heavily influenced by Eddie Van Halen.
Through much practice their music developed and they decided on the name Puressence, a name instantly identified by most Mancunians for the paper letters 'P'-'U'-'R'-'E'-'S'-'S'-'E'-'N'-'C'-'E', which were plastered around Manchester city centre, on derelict buildings, and on bridges (the most notable being the railway bridge opposite the Haçienda). Manchester independent record label 2 Damn Loud released two singles and there was a further single with Rough Trade Singles Club. The band played a series of gigs at Manchester's In The City festival early in the 1990s.
The big breakthrough came a couple of years later, when the band signed to Island Records.
In August 2003, after more than ten years with Puressence, guitarist and founder member McDonald left the band and has since gone on to form the band Juno Ashes. He was replaced by Lowell Killen, who is originally from the Isle of Man. He has played in other bands and left Manchester band Dry Riser to join Puressence.
In 2004, the band played at The Witchwood in Ashton-under-Lyne.
In 2006, the band released a single titled "Palisades" on new Manchester label Reaction, followed by an album, Don't Forget To Remember, in September 2007.
On 10 and 11 September 2008 Puressence played their first shows in the US. The first was at the Mercury Lounge in New York City. The next night they played the Apple Store in SoHo. The opening song at the Mercury Lounge was "I Suppose". They passed out free CD singles of "Don't Know Any Better" to many fans around the United States.
In October 2010 the band's website announced details of a new album, Solid State Recital, which was released on 21 April 2011.
On 27 November 2013, Puressence announced they had split.
Since the split, James Mudriczki has been working on a solo album whilst contributing vocals to two tracks on The Red-Sided Garter Snakes 2015 album, Endless Sea. In 2015, it was announced that Mudriczki has formed a new band called The Nihilists. The line up includes Mudriczki on vocals, Steven Kelly on guitars and programming and John Patterson who is the drummer and multi instrumentalist.
Early singles (1992–93) Prior to releasing these albums, Puressence released two singles and an EP. First the double A-side "Siamese" / "Scapa Flow" was released through Rough Trade. Then followed the EPs Petrol Skin and Offshore, both released through 2 Damn Loud Records.
"Siamese" (Rough Trade) June 1992
"Siamese" "Scapa Flow"
Petrol Skin EP (2 Damn Loud Records) 6 July 1992
"Telekenesis" "Suck The Knife" "Polystyrene Snow" "Petrol Skin"
Offshore EP (2 Damn Loud) 19 April 1993
"Offshore" "None Handed (demo)" "Mist"
Toby Chalmers of Island Records offered them a recording contract. Support slots to Marion introduced them to new supporters.
Albums
Puressence (1996) In May 1995, the band released the "I Suppose" single on Island without chart success. A few months later they returned with the "Fire" single, which again failed to sell. The tracks though did herald Puressence's self-titled debut album.
The album also produced three more singles, "India", "Traffic Jam in Memory Lane" and "Casting Lazy Shadows." (The album only contained ten tracks, of which they had released five as singles.)
Released: April 1996
Only Forever (1998) The album displayed a shift in Puressence's style. Mani, bassist for the Stone Roses and Primal Scream, appeared as record producer on "Standing in Your Shadow."