This is an archive of the band profile for Idiot Box.

Idiot Box are a quirky power pop/rock band based in Bradford, UK. They formed in 1998 around Rick Idiot (guitar/vocals) as original members' Gaz Idiot (drums), and Adam Cockburn (guitar), previous band That Man There dissolved during the hard Winter of '97. The original lineup was fleshed out by Mickey Motorvator on bass. Mickey left around the time of the Serbian/Bosnian conflict to concentrate on sticking it to the Man, so Gaz switched to bass whilst Steven Wilson joined on drums. Ben Holden also joined on guitar, and Adam left shortly afterwards. This lineup saw a rise in popularity locally, but also the start of many lineup changes. In 2000, after a successful appearance at Bradford Festival where the band appeared in labcoats and sunglasses, both Ben and Ste left. Kris Barford joined on drums and the band played quite successfully as a 3-piece, supporting I Am Kloot at Lincoln University in 2001. A second guitarist was added, Rick's brother Matty Bolton, and the band enjoyed a short spell of great songwriting and creativity. Yet again, this was curtailed as family commitments saw Matty quit after only six months. Tension and frustration also meant that Kris followed shortly after and the band went back to searching for a drummer and a guitarist. After several months, one Mark Cawthra formerly of Cardiacs replied to an advert in a Leeds music store. Ben also rejoined and the band resurfaced with new songs a few months after that. Sadly, the band's poor luck continued and Ben left again, eventually to form This Et Al with Steve Wilson. By this time, they were preparing to record an album, a process which saw the arrival of Simon Stathers but the departure of mainstay Gaz, again due to the frustrations and tensions around the revolving-door lineup. Work on the album fizzled out and the band broke up in early 2003.

Rick continued to write and Mark continued working his own material too, even producing an early This Et Al demo and Gaz's new band Lowlife UK's 3rd album Barstool Preaching. Meanwhile, Kris formed hardcore metal outfit Trench and the Seattle-rock inspired 2nd Sky, which included Gaz on bass in it's last year.

In 2007, Mark and Rick began recording some of the songs that they had planned to be on the album and a chance meeting with Gaz saw him become involved again too. 6 tracks were recorded, including "Valentine" which inspired them to pick it up again. Kris jumped back on board immediately and Russ Petcher of Aviator Ray was asked to join on guitar.

May 2008 - The band is currently rehearsing their old material along with new and are playing live again.

The early songs were much more pop-oriented in the vein of That Man There, but this sound gradually hardened as old songs were gradually replaced with Rick's own songs. At the same time, the band began exploring unusual time signatures and arrangements. This developed into what the band dubbed "No Disco" and quickly became their signature style..