My Vitriol are an alternative rock band from London, UK, formed in 1999 and signed to Infectious Records.
My Vitriol are Ravi Kesavaram (Drums), Som Wardner (Vocals, Guitar & Lyrics), Seth Taylor (Guitar) and Carolyn Bannister (Bass & Backing Vocals). Ravi and Som met at university, where a friend of theirs undertook to record them a demo as a project for his studio-engineering course. Ravi played the drums and Som the rest of the instruments and they put together an EP called " Delusions of Grandeur" in the space of just two days, using every free studio session they could find in the university.
The name they chose for their band was that of "My Vitriol," not because of its literal meaning of "bitterness," but as a reference to a book called " Brighton Rock" by Graham Greene. In the story, the main character has a bottle of vitriol-- an idiomatic name for sulfuric acid-- which acts as his security when confronted by rivals.
About 250 CDR copies of " Delusions Of Grandeur" were pressed, but only about 30 actually worked due to technical reasons! However, one of these were handed to Radio One DJ Steve Lamacq at a gig. Within days Lamacq had broadcast a track on the Session Unsigned slot, which lead to greater publicity for the band in the form of tracks from the EP being used on compilations. Ravi and Som needed to complete the line up of the band, to give them a fuller sound. They met guitarist Seth Taylor at a Mint 400 gig and discovered Carolyn Bannister playing bass at another gig. The band soon released their debut, double A-side single " Always Your Way"/" Pieces", on Org Records on the 6th of December 1999.
In the last week of 1999, the band signed a deal with Infectious Records, home to other acts such as Ash and Garbage. Their first single under the new label was " Losing Touch", released in April 2000, and the second was " Cemented Shoes" which made number 65 in July of the same year.
