Queenadreena

English alternative rock band

The band released four studio albums between 2000 and 2008, beginning with the critically acclaimed Taxidermy (2000). The band signed with Rough Trade Records for their second release, Drink Me (2002), before being dropped by the label, after which they signed with the independent label One Little Indian. The band also released a live album, Live at the ICA, which was recorded at the Institute of Contemporary Arts. In 2009, the group disbanded and Garside pursued other solo projects, namely Ruby Throat.

Queenadreena formed in 1998 after guitarist Crispin Gray reunited with vocalist KatieJane Garside, with whom he had collaborated in 1989 when they formed the band Daisy Chainsaw. Garside left Daisy Chainsaw after completing two years with the band, and went into seclusion in the Lake District, where she lived in the historic Rigg Beck, a retreat for artists and bohemians. There, Garside began writing and recording her own material. Reflecting on leaving the music industry, Garside commented: "If I hadn't left, it would have killed me   Because I didn't write the songs [in Daisy Chainsaw] I could never give enough, never go far enough. I couldn't bleed in words, I couldn't bleed in lyrics—I could only bleed in performance, and that meant attacking [myself], literally." Returning to London in 1998, Garside moved to Belsize Park, where Gray had also been living, and the two reconnected to form the group. Gray and Garside were joined by drummer Billy Freedom and bassist Orson Wajih and released their debut single, "X ing Off the Days" / "Heavenly Surrender" on 25 October 1999. To support the record, the band toured nationally supporting Nine Inch Nails, After its release, the band's name stylized as Queenadreena, and subsequent releases reflect this.

Billy Freedom was replaced in 2002 by drummer Pete Howard, formerly of The Clash. The band signed with Rough Trade for their second album, 2002's Drink Me. The record spawned the single "Pretty Like Drugs," which garnered the band attention from rock press. The album was well received by such publications as Drowned in Sound, who gave it a 7/10 rating, writing: "KatieJane Garside is the kind of woman who makes ordinarily rational grown guys go weak at the knees. "Pretty Like Drugs" will show you why. As her cutesy lost girl Tori Amos/Björk isms erupt into fearsome hollers that would have piss dribbling down Courtney Love’s surgically enhanced thighs, it’ll all make sense." The French publication Les inrockuptibles described the record as "Gothic, dark, and threatening." Rough Trade dropped the group shortly after the release of Drink Me, and Wajih left the band while they embarked on a tour supporting Garbage. Janie Jarvis, formerly of Radiator, joined the band as a temporary bassist for their tour, before former Daisy Chainsaw bassist Richard Adams joined the group. Their final studio album Djin was re released in a limited edition, gatefold double neon pink vinyl set by Cadiz Entertainment on 16 April 2021. The reissue included six additional new demo tracks and a previously unheard song “Heaven Doesn't Wait,” co written and recorded with the late Andy Gill from Gang of Four. Gray was interviewed at length in May 2021 about the formation and history of Queenadreena, as well as his other bands.