In November 2003, Bloc Party had their track “The Marshals Are Dead” featured on a compilation CD called The New Cross released by Angular Recording Corporation .
After going through a variety of names, such as Union, The Angel Range, and Diet, the band settled on Bloc Party in September 2003, a play on block party .
On August 31, 2003, the band announced via their website that they had signed a deal with Reprise Records .
The band began rehearsing at Yellow Arch Studios in Neepsend , and played its first gig on 13 June 2003 at The Grapes in Sheffield city centre. After a few performances in 2003, the band began to record demos at 2fly studios in Sheffield. 18 songs were demoed in all…
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In May 2003 the band signed to Laurence Bell’s independent record label , Domino Recording Company .
They played their debut gig under that name at the request of Fused Magazine in March 2003.
Also in 2003 Bloc Party personally mailed Steve Aoki a 7-inch of the track “She’s Hearing Voices” and signed to Dim Mak shortly thereafter.
In the autumn of 2003, after graduation, the band relocated to Birmingham, the home of their management and the nearest big city.
The band got their break after Okereke went to a Franz Ferdinand concert in 2003, and gave a copy of “She’s Hearing Voices” to both lead singer Alex Kapranos and BBC Radio 1 DJ Steve Lamacq .
The following summer the band self-released a demo six-track EP, of which all six songs went on to become future Editors songs.