Fossil Collective, a two-piece from Leeds, consists of multi instrumentalists David Fendick and Jonny Hooker.Their first recordings saw them taking inspiration from classic albums by Neil Young, Fleetwood Mac and Simon and Garfunkel and suggested comparisons with more contemporary artists such as Fleet Foxes, Midlake and Bon Iver. But in truth their exquisitely structured songs and glorious, rich harmonies owe as much, if not more, to a solid English song tradition, and their material holds that distinct English quality that many North American artists hanker after.
Talking about what makes Fossil Collective different from other bands they have played in, David Fendick said: “We chose to use the term ‘Collective’ because we want this project to be an assortment of musicians who contribute to the music, with Jonny and I at the helm. In making the album, we had people drop by the studio to add steel pedal guitar, bass, violin and the rest around the songs we had written.” Jonny Hooker adds; “We don’t want Fossil Collective to be limited by the constraints you get with a normal five-piece band, the approach we’ve taken this time gives us a greater freedom to make each track distinctive.”
Fendickand Hooker were both previously members of the hotly tipped Vib Gyor who's 2006 track 'Fallen' became single of the week on iTunes USA. Subsequently, the album 'We are Not An Island' ended up going in at #38 on iTunes top 100, selling more than the big boys for a few weeks until, in the words of the band, "it all went a bit crazy" and they imploded. The resulting break allowed Fendick and Hooker to reflect and return to the music they'd loved and grownup with, records they'd listened to as children.
