Editing Catatonia (band) (section)

===The Crai EPs, "Whale", and "Bleed" (1993–95)===
The band line up changed as they signed to Crai, with Jenkins and Pryce departing for other projects. Mwyn arranged for Matthews and Roberts to be joined by [[Dafydd Ieuan]] on drums, former [[Y Cyrff]] member Paul Jones on bass, and Londoner Clancy Pegg (who had befriended Roberts and Matthews after moving to Cardiff) on keyboards. It was at this point that the band shortened its name to "Catatonia". Mwyn used his contacts to get Catatonia onto Welsh language television, and strove to move their live performances away from Cardiff so that they were not simply playing in front of their regulars the entire time. They had their first overseas gigs in Germany, support Mwyn in his [[punk music|punk]] band [[Yr Anhrefn|Anrhefn]]. Catatonia were hired by political party [[Plaid Cymru]] to headline a Welsh language concert at [[Builth Wells]] in August 1993, but they performed in both Welsh and English.{{sfn | Owens| 2000 | pp=49–51}}

Despite being signed to Crai, this was more as promoter than as a record label itself. It was only when Roberts suggested that Catatonia record some [[extended play]]s (EPs) after two months with the label that Mwyn made the arrangements.{{sfn | Owens| 2000 | p=53}}<ref name="tomboy"/> The first, entitled ''[[For Tinkerbell]]'', had a cover photo taken by Roberts and Matthews' housemate Roland Dafis.{{sfn | Owens| 2000 | p=53}} Mwyn successfully got the record on [[BBC Radio 1]] after sending a copy to radio presenter [[Mark Radcliffe (radio broadcaster)|Mark Radcliffe]]. After [[Iestyn George]] heard the release, the journalist named it as the record of the week for the magazine ''[[NME (magazine)|NME]]''.{{sfn | Owens| 2000 | p=54}} ''For Tinkerbell'' contained some early tracks, including a version of "Sweet Catatonia".<ref name="moreroadrage">{{cite news|last1=Bychawski|first1=Adam|title=More Road Rage|url=http://www.nme.com/news/catatonia/658|access-date=2 April 2016|work=NME|date=20 October 1998}}</ref> Matthews later explained that while she had liked the songs on the EP, she felt that she was not good at performing live at the time.<ref name="tomboy">{{cite news|last1=Dingwall|first1=John|title=Tomboy Jones|url=https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-60608243.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160504201455/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-60608243.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=4 May 2016|access-date=2 April 2016|work=Daily Record|date=30 January 1998|url-access=subscription|via=[[HighBeam Research]]}}</ref> They signed to Nursery Records to release the single "Bleed".{{sfn | Buckley| 2003 | p=179}} Catatonia's first national interview was published following the release of "For Tinkerbell", a 300-word piece appearing in ''[[Melody Maker]]''.{{sfn | Owens| 2000 | p=56}}

They held their first London gigs in support of the EP, under the advice of George and [[The Pooh Sticks]] lead singer Hue Williams. After warm-up gigs in Cardiff and [[Birmingham]], the London performance took place at the Samuel Beckett [[pub]] in [[Stoke Newington]] on 13 November 1993 alongside Anrehfn and [[Margi Clarke]]. Further Welsh radio and television appearances followed, as did an interview for ''NME''. When George arrived for the interview, Matthews asked if he'd be interested in becoming the band's manager. He politely declined, saying that he did not have the experience.{{sfn | Owens| 2000 | pp=57–60}} On 19 and 20 February 1994, the band's follow-up EP, ''Hooked'' was recorded in [[Llandwrog]], [[Gwynedd]], and produced by [[Ken Nelson (British record producer)|Ken Nelson]] who they had met on Radio Wales. A performance was set up at [[The Falcon, Camden]] the Splash Club in London where several music executives were to be present. The band drove down from Cardiff in a [[Ford Transit]] with their equipment and then spent the afternoon drinking. Just prior to going out on stage, they began taking [[cocaine]], the result of which was a terrible performance later lamented by Roberts. The trip became a sobering experience, as they made no money from it and were only paid £50 for a gig at [[Kingston University]] a day later. Matthews later recalled that they'd needed to borrow money from a fan to pay the toll on the [[Severn Bridge]] on the way back to Cardiff.{{sfn | Owens| 2000 | pp=69–71}}

The band returned to the Falcon, where they played a still shambolic, but better gig in front of record executives.{{sfn | Owens| 2000 | p=73}} Meanwhile, George had put the band in touch with their first manager, Richard Lowe from MRM management.{{sfn | Owens| 2000 | p=77}} They made further appearances on Welsh television to support the release of ''Hooked'' in May,{{sfn | Owens| 2000 | p=79}} but another drunken performance followed, this time in [[Newport, Wales|Newport]].{{sfn | Owens| 2000 | p=81}} MRM sent them on a short tour in France during the second week of May, and then started their first UK wide support tour to the band [[Salad (band)|Salad]]. When due to perform at the Cnapan Music Festival in Wales on 2 July, the band ran into some difficulties. The security team refused to let Matthews in as they did not recognise her. It was only after the intervention of one of the fans of the band, actor [[Rhys Ifans]], that she was allowed in.{{sfn | Owens| 2000 | pp=85–86}}

Mwyn departed the band when the band's time with Crai came to an end, and a few weeks later MRM sought to remove Pegg, leaving it to Matthews to tell her. Pegg was upset, and refused to discuss it with journalists.{{sfn | Owens| 2000 | pp=89–91}} After her departure, the single "[[Whale (song)|Whale]]" was published on the [[Rough Trade Records]] label. The band had rushed to record it, having only been given a month's notice by the label that one of their songs would be released as a single in September 1994. "Whale" was named the ''NME'' single of the week, as ''For Tinkerbell'' had been the previous year. The band appeared in the mainstream press for two incidents, the first was when they were thrown off a train at [[Swindon]] as they were travelling to London after arguing with a train guard about [[punk rock]], and the other when they swore at the bouncers in Welsh at the [[Camden Underworld|Underworld]] club in [[Camden Town|Camden]] and were banned.{{sfn | Owens | 2000 | pp=93–96}} A further single, "Bleed" was recorded the following November,{{sfn | Owens | 2000 | p=102}} and was released in February 1995 on Nursery Records. [[Geoff Travis]], who had released "Whale" for his Rough Trade Records, offered the band £350,000 to sign for [[Blanco y Negro Records]], a subsidiary of [[Warner Bros. Records]]. They duly signed.{{sfn | Owens | 2000 | pp=107–110}}