Ben Marwood is an English singer-songwriter from the town of Reading. Playing solo shows from 2002, in 2008 he released his debut mini-album, This Is Not What You Had Planned to some critical acclaim, followed by a three-way split album entitled Exclamation At Asterisk Hash which also featured friends Oxygen Thief and Jim Lockey. His 2011 debut full album Outside There's A Curse, released by independent London-based label Xtra Mile which also plays home to his firm friends Frank Turner and Chris T-T, not to mention Dive Dive, Beans on Toast and Crazy Arm, Marwood's own brand of side-swiping, tongue-in-cheek folk has seen him build up a steady following since the debut single of 2007, Hold Your Breath, and mini-album "This Is Not What You Had Planned" back in 2008, the latter on Marwood's own Broken Tail Records. Recorded on a digital eight-track on his bedroom floor, the ten tracks of Outside There's A Curse took over a year to piece together before being picked up by Xtra Mile in the summer of 2010 and eventually released in early 2011. The album was backed first by a headline tour of England in early 2011, and then with an opening support slot on Frank Turner's UK tour of small venues in May of the same year, along with songwriter Franz Nicolay. Kerrang! awarded Outside There's A Curse four Ks out of a potential five, whilst Rocksound described the album as "bold, intelligent and wholesome". Three tracks also appear on the split EP Exclamation At Asterisk Hash, which features three tracks from Bristol-based Oxygen Thief and Cheltenham's Jim Lockey, of Jim Lockey and the Solemn Sun. His second full album "Back Down" was released in 2013.
