Miles Hunt, formerly of The Wonder Stuff formed Vent 414 (originally just "Vent") in early 1995 after quitting his job hosting MTV's 120 Minutes in London. Pete Howard, formerly of Eat, and Morgan Nicholls, formerly of Senseless Things completed the trio. They were briefly joined by Billy Duffy, formerly of The Cult.

After several tours, an album and two singles, Morgan Nicholls left the trio in Early 1997. In April, Polydor dropped the band. These two events marked the end of the Vent 414 name, but not the end of the music. Miles Hunt had been chained to Polydor as a result of the contract with The Wonder Stuff. Now he has the freedom to pursue options with other companies. Currently reunited with Malc Treece, the latest information regarding his creative efforts may now be found in the "Band Information" section of The Wonder Stuff Homepage.

The first public Vent 414 appearance was on August 19th, in Wateringen, Holland at the "Waterpop" festival. This was closely followed by the Reading Festival a few days later. A jump across the puddle to play shows in New York on 6 & 7 Sept, 1995 was followed by The Stone Pony in Asbury Park, New Jersey two days later (see photos page).

Billy Duffy dropped out of the band in September after a very short stay. He will not be replaced.

Shortly afterward Duffy's departure, the group hit the road on their first tour, supporting Therapy?:

In December, an interview with Miles appears in RAW Magazine.

The band announces that Steve Albini (of Big Black fame) has been selected to produce the album, which is now due out in August.

The first headlining tour geared up at the end of March:

March 31st - The Room, Hull
April 1st - Duchess of York, Leeds
2nd - King Tut's, Glasgow
3rd - The Stage, Stoke-on-Trent
5th - The Square, Harlow
6th - Lomax, Liverpool
7th - The Point, Oxford; Review
8th - Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth; The Setlist:
foreign fella
2113
at he base of the fire
fits & starts
fixer
life before pop
last episode
kissing the mirror
work of art
easy to talk
guess my god
-------------
so like me
correctional
give it whole

To avoid a lawsuit in July with a U.S. band also named Vent, our Vent became Vent 414. Ironically, I've heard the U.S. Vent has broken up.

There's also a little touring going on:

Review

Reading 1996 was from the 23rd to the 25th of August. Vent 414 played on the second stage on the 25th. Check out our Reviews section for some more info.

Vent 414's first official single, "Fixer," was released on the 16th of September.

.dotmusic added a Vent 414 article to their Talent Review section about the same time.

(Drum Roll Please) The self-titled album is released in the U.K. on the 7th of October. Miles provides the Comments, exclusive to our site.

The second single, "Life Before You," was released on the 4th of November.

Another tour shortly followed:

The bitter winter has led to a not-so-bitter split. With Polydor giving a sad amount of support to the band, Morgan left on good terms in January. Pete and Miles continue on. On the side, Miles continues to work with the bands on his record label "For All The Right Reasons".

The demise of We Know Where You Live left Malc Treece wandering around aimlessly. Raise you hand if you saw this one coming: Malc and Miles spent the month of February together writing about 10 new demos. Russ Hunt was kind enough to post his thoughts on the new set of demos.

In mid-March, Miles made a trip to New York to play the new demos for Anton Fier (of Golden Palominos fame), who is the top candidate for producer the upcoming album. Miles endured the trip nursing a cold, and the frustration of being refused entry to a bar since he only had a passport for ID (the man is 30).

In April Polydor dropped support for the band, both a disappointing and liberating action. With the Vent 414 name abdandoned, this page comes to a close. The latest information regarding the collaboration between Miles Hunt and Malc Treece may now be found in the "Band Information" section of the Wonder Stuff Homepage.

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