Graham Coxon - Biography
Graham Coxon is an English singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and painter. As Blur’s guitarist, he steered the band from their neo-psychedelic beginnings, through mod revivalism, Britpop and ultimately, more experimental indie before parting ways. Before leaving Blur, he began releasing a series of album’s that vacillate between folk and punk.
Graham Leslie Coxon was born March 12th, 1969, in Rinteln, Lower Saxony, West Germany. As a child in Colchester, England he befriended Darmon Albarn, a fellow student as the Stanway Comprehensive School. He also appeared on the BBC children's show Blue Peter twice, playing clarinet. Albarn later formed the synthpop duo Two's a Crowd. The two were reacquainted at Goldsmith University, where they formed a band with bassist Alex James and drummer Dave Rowntree, initially called “Circus.” After rechristening themselves “Seymour” they signed to Food Records and once again changed their name to Blur.
Blur went on to become one of the most critically and commercially popular bands of the decade, and the leaders of the short-lived Britpop scene. By 1996, tensions were mounting in the band, particularly between Coxon and Albarn. Matters were exacerbated by Coxon’s alcoholism. Nonetheless, Coxon convinced the band to move away from their Britpop formula toward a style indebted of American indie music of the era. For their 1997 self-titled album, Coxon's "You're So Great" was one of the many highlights. In 1998, Coxon formed his own label, Transcopic, and released his solo debut, the lo-fi The Sky Is Too High. The collection of ramshackle folk-rock and punk created the template for his solo work that followed.
Back with Blur, he sang "Coffee & TV" and provided the art for their album, 13. In 2000, he released The Golden D (Transcopic), a more rock-oriented album with two Mission of Burma covers. That year his girlfriend gave birth to their daughter, Pepper Bäck Troy Coxon. Coxon followed it with the dark, low-key, fractured psych-folk Crow Sit on Blood Tree (2001 Transcopic). It garnered only a fraction of the attention and sales of Albarn’s Gorrillaz project. In 2002, Albarn recorded Mali Music in Africa. He then moved Blur to Marrakesh, Morocco to begin recording their next album. At that point, Coxon was kicked out. His guitar only appeared on Think Tank’s final track.
Truly solo, Coxon quit drinking and turned his attentions to fatherhood. He released his ‘70s-flavored, prog-ish Kiss of Morning (2002 Transcopic) in October. His most straightforward album, the straight ahead pop of the Stephen Street-produced Happiness in Magazines (Transcopic) was released in 2004. Two years later, his most straightforward album, Love Travels at Illegal Speeds (2006 Transcopic), followed -- as did his first live album, Burnt to Bitz - At The Astoria (2006 Mute). That same year he composed the music for artist Julie Verhoeven, Verheaven, at London's Riflemaker Gallery.
2006 saw the solo artist begin working again with other musicians. That year, he formed The Special Assembly with Owen Thomas (guitar), Toby Macfarlaine (bass), Stephen Gilchrist (drums). They joined Sham 69 to record, "Hurry Up England," a World Cup re-working of Sham 60's "Hurry Up Harry." Coxon entered another collaborative effort in 2007, when he co-wrote and released "This Old Town" with Paul Weller. In September 2008, Blur fans were treated to the news that the following year, with Coxon back in the fold, they'd play a series of shows. Before that happened, Coxon released The Spinning Top (2009 Rykodisc), a pastoral folk-rock concept album with musicians including Danny Thompson and Robyn Hitchcock. He also collaborated with Pete Doherty on his solo debut, Grace/Wastelands, playing on all but one of the tracks.
The Blur reunion took place at Hyde Park on July 3rd. More dates followed, including Glastonbury, T in the Park, Oxegen and the East Anglian Railway Museum in Colchester. On April 17th, 2010, Blur released "Fool's Day" as a free download on Record Store Day. The members have since said that Blur will only periodically reconvene, leaving the members time to devote to their various other projects. Coxon released his latest record, A+E, in 2012.