Kilmarnock, UK · alt-rock

Biffy Clyro

2 festivals played ↓

Scotland's shirtless festival warriors — knotty math-rock instincts wired to enormous singalong choruses.

Biffy Clyro trace back to 1995, when fifteen-year-old Simon Neil began playing songs around Ayr with guitarist Boyan Chowdhury, later a founding member of The Zutons, before recruiting Ben Johnston and then his twin brother James. The four-piece played its first gig under the name Screwfish, supporting another band at a youth centre in East Kilbride, and spent the following years rehearsing and writing together.

Chowdhury left in 1997 and the remaining trio moved to Glasgow to study, still gigging around the city. Manager Dee Bahl signed on after seeing them live, and their first single, "Iname," appeared in 1999 on a small label run by the band Aereogramme, picking up early radio support before a further release through a Glasgow college's own record label.

Puzzle, released in 2007, reached number two on the UK Albums Chart and went platinum, marking the point where the band's melodic instincts began to outweigh its earlier angularity. Only Revolutions followed in 2009, reaching number three, going gold within days and eventually double-platinum, and earning a Mercury Prize nomination. It produced the UK Top Ten hits "Mountains," "That Golden Rule" and "Many of Horror," the last of which became a Christmas number one after a televised talent-show cover.

Biffy Clyro were nominated for a Brit Award for Best British Group in 2011 and won Best British Band at the NME Awards in 2013. Their 2013 double album Opposites became their first UK number one. Ten studio albums have followed since their debut, the most recent being Futique in 2025.

Onstage the core trio are joined by longtime touring musicians Mike Vennart and Richard Ingram, both formerly of Oceansize, though Neil and the Johnston brothers remain the band's only official members. They remain fixtures of British rock bills, still performing barefoot and shirtless.

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