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At Banco Towers there is a sense of great relief and satisfaction at the year about to end: as well as finally moving house after a succession of hiccups and hold ups, plus building a brand new studio out the back of the new house, we managed to get the majority of the back catalogue repackaged and online. While I know the latter does not have the allure of new material, it had become imperative to look after the past so that I could move forward, knowing it was available and properly represented at last. Your support for these re-releases throughout the year was heart warming, with the comments on Facebook and elsewhere meaning a great deal to me and I thank you for that.

You will be happy (I hope!) to hear that new music is in the pipeline: I won't jinx the project by giving you a month but hopefully 2012 will see the first new Banco studio album since 2006.

In the meantime, we have posted up on Bandcamp a live recording of a set at Sankey's Soap in Manchester from back in 1997, when we were a 5-piece live band. Alex from Tarquins Live recorded it from the audience and I've re-mastered it a bit: it's a bootleg so please don't expect pristine quality but it's quite fun, nonetheless. You can download this for free by entering your email address (I know we have it already but we couldn't work out any other way of giving this recording away just to our fans).

We will be in touch in the new year about gigs and releases, and until then I wish you a very Happy Christmas / Hannukah / Kwanzaa / Winterval / Holidays / Humbug / Whatever.

Rewritten Histories

Happy Halloween

Hope you have all had a great summer. Mine was good on the whole: some excellent festivals, with Ozora being the highlight, plus I managed to get a little bit of time off and went to Greece for a holiday. Unfortunately the English weather wasn't great but it meant I had more time to devote to building the studio ....

Which I am happy to say is more or less finished - the building work is done, and now all that is left is to get the acoustics perfect. I can't wait to start making new tracks in the new space - I have been working on several over the summer using just my laptop, and look forward to tweaking them with proper equipment.

In the meantime I have a little bit of housekeeping still to do, and am releasing two collections of remixes and mixes later this year and early next. The first focuses on 1992-1995 and has all the early Ambient Dub and Planet Dog singles and remixes on. It comes out via the mainstream download platforms on November 28th, or you can pre-order it now from BandCamp.

I have two gigs coming up this month: Inspiral in London on November 5th and then the Spirit of Colours Festival in Mexico on November 26th.

Last Train

Yet again I have been overhwelmed by the comments about our last re-release: lovely to hear all the positive feeling people still have for Maya. I can only hope that you like this month's re-release as much.

Today sees the digital re-issue of "Last Train to Lhasa", possibly my most well known album - "Y'know, the one with the train ....?"!!

I searched around to find extras, and was happy to discover the original version of "Eagle", which was supposed to go on disc 1 when "Lhasa" was first released but in the end we decided to leave it off and just have the ambient mix on disc 2. I have also added previously unreleased live versions of "Amber", "White Paint" and "Kincajou".

As with "Songs" and "Maya", "Lhasa" is available from all good download platforms, and from our Bandcamp page for £5.99 (which also gives you my "Here Comes the Norse Gods" remix of "Kincajou" as a bonus track).

I have had several emails asking when these re-issued albums with the extra tracks will be available physically - happy to say we are working on that right now, and hope to get something out either later this year or early next.

The gigs continue to flow in: on top of those announced last month, I have also been booked to play at the Life Festival (Ireland) on May 28th, Hebden Bridge Trades Club on June 17th and at Alchemy Festival (Lincolnshire) on September 18th, and we're still working on a few more.

Building Sound Buildings

As you may recall, I've been intending to build a new studio since last summer. We got the planning permission a couple of months ago but it's taken until now to be ready to start work on it. But today the builders arrived and started taking down the old structure and I've decided I should blog the whole process. So, for those of you who may be interested in watching the studio develop from an old shell to a shiny new room, I've started a new blog: Building Sound Buildings.

The build will be taking a lot of my attention for a while so you can expect the new blog to be rather more active than this one, but I will try to remember to drop by from time to time and let you know what else is going on in my world.

Maya

Thanks to all of you who have bought the “Songs from the Silk Road” anthology: your support and comments mean a lot to me.

It has been a wonderful process, going through the back catalogue and establishing some kind of control over it, and the whole experience has made me excited about creating new music.

The new material won't see the light of day till 2012, I am afraid, but for now I am happy to announce the first in a series of digital re-releases: “Maya” came out this week, complete with 3 extra tracks and slightly tweaked artwork. It is available from all download platforms (iTunes, eMusic, Amazon etc), but as with “Songs”, we have put it up on Bandcamp where you can download it for £4.99.

Gigs are coming in for the year: in June I am DJing at Sunrise Festival then playing live at Willowman and Glastonbury Festivals; in August I am playing Ozora (Hungary), Endorse-it in Dorset, Sonica (Montengro) and Aurora (Greece) Festivals. I don't know the date and times for some of the sets, but as soon as I do, I will post them up on Facebook and on the website. More dates are being added so do keep checking.

21 years and counting...

After many years shuttling between record labels, I have finally managed to get full control of most of my music back, and am happy to be relaunching my own Disco Gecko label this year. To start with, we are releasing an anthology of Banco de Gaia tracks entitled 'Songs from the Silk Road'. This comes out in February, either on CD in a lovingly crafted Digifile wallet (minimal plastic used) with an 8-page booklet or as a download with 2 bonus tracks – we recommend getting it from our BandCamp page as not only do you get 1 more bonus track, but you can also download the artwork and booklet as well. Available from February 1st.

We will be following this up with digital re-releases of the early Planet Dog albums and I'm currently digging through the archives to find bonus material – hopefully will be able to add some live versions, remixes and outtakes to each release.

Moving on to live shows, to celebrate the new album we're doing a launch gig at inSpiral Lounge in London on February 5th and a small gig on our home turf at The Castle in Bruton on February 19th: copies of the album will be available at both shows. We're also booking up festivals for another packed summer and will be releasing details soon.

In other news: the university course is going well, we now have full planning permission for the studio build, so that is progressing according to plan, and I'm looking forward to getting out and gigging again. See you all soon!

Homes, studios and brains

Ok, it's been over a year since I last wrote something here. That is incredibly slack of me, I know, but in my defence there has been a lot of change going on.

A couple of months ago we moved house. That entailed a few months of packing and, more significantly, taking the studio apart, which means that for the first time in 20 years I have no studio of my own. Serious as that sounds it is a temporary inconvenience and I have already launched plans to build a new, improved place. To be honest there were some serious problems with the last studio which I was never going to be able to fix so it's refreshing to start from scratch and hopefully get it spot on this time.

In the meantime I have access to another fine facility courtesy of The Orchard Recording Studios so I can continue to work on whatever may need doing. Which leads to the question: "what the hell am I doing musically at the moment?"

Well, actually, not a huge amount. Getting the new studio set up is the priority right now so new music is on hold, but we are planning to re-issue the old albums next year with added tracks and a few rarities so there's a bit of work to do. And there is also my other bit of news...

As of next week I will be studying Creative Sound and Media Technology. As you may well have noticed I have been working with video in my live shows for some years and I am fascinated by how effective sound and image together can be. I figured it would be good to really look into that in depth, leading to who knows what creative possibilities in the future, and you'll no doubt be pleased to know that the course involves a lot of new writing and recording so new material to release shouldn't be too far off.

I also thought it would be good to give my brain a bit of a work out too, 20 years of making music with a bit of label managing thrown in has got a bit predictable and I think waking up a few dormant brain cells can only be a good thing. Of course, I might find I get there and there aren't many cells left to re-awaken...

And finally all is revealed

Well, it's taken a while and we've had countless interruptions but finally I can tell you everything about the new album. There's a lot to tell so I'll break up into bite-sized pieces.

I formed Banco de Gaia with Andy Guthrie back in 1989, that's 20 years ago in case you didn't work it out, so it seems appropriate to do something in an anniversary mood. (No, I'm not buying Andy a ring). The new album is in effect that something, a kind of 20 year retrospective with a difference.

The title, as revealed previously, is "Memories Dreams Reflections" and the music can be broken up into three sections. Oh, and it's a double CD for those of you who still buy such things, or a damned big download.


Disc 1 begins with the 'Reflections' bit. This is a selection of cover versions of tunes which hugely inspired and influenced me in my formative years. To be precise it is a full length version of "Echoes" by Pink Floyd (that's 22 minutes), "Starless" by King Crimson and, as some of you may have worked out from recent live shows, "Spirit Of The Age" by Hawkwind.

The rest of Disc 1 is the 'Dreams'. These are reworkings of early Banco tunes which will be familiar to anyone who knows the original cassette albums but mostly unknown apart from that. Ranging from faithful recreation to extreme reworking, the tracks are "Soufie", "Tempra" and "Terra Om".

Disc 2 brings the 'Memories'. It's a 78 minute selection of live recordings taken from over the years and including early solo Banco rave anthems, through the 5-piece live band of the mid/late-90s and continuing on into the 'Toby and Ted' years up to the current live video show (without the video obviously, this is an audio CD).

So, getting on for two and a half hours of music, hope that makes up for the wait.

On to the release details. The album will be released worldwide on September 18th (September 22nd in North America), both CD and download, and it will be available from all the usual places (so hopefully that's anywhere you can think of) as well as direct from our very own mail order and download stores. We are also planning to make it available for a short period prior to that to our mailing list subscribers, so if you want to know where and when you'd better sign up to the list fast.

It's taken a long to time get here but hopefully the album will more than justify it's 20th anniversary status. I can't believe it's 20 years since Andy first said "do you want to play some guitar synth at this gig I'm doing?"...

Studio update 6

So, it's all change here. Finished the writing, finished the recording, done the mastering, so now it's time to do the last few edits, compile the album and run the masters and.... it's done.

Hard to believe I'm nearly there, it's been a long, difficult struggle putting this album together but then again there never was an easy one. By the end of the week the album should exist in it's final completed form and I can finally take a day off.

Oh no I can't, got to start working on the live set for the first gig in 3 weeks time...

Feels great though!

The great Facebook debacle

I have been rather late getting a Banco page set up on Facebook. Everyone else seems to have done it years ago but I just, well, couldn't be bothered, frankly. Still, I did finally get round to it a few weeks ago, only to find out I was better off before.

For some reason Facebook decided that the name 'Banco de Gaia' is blocked and would not let me set up a 'Banco de Gaia' page. OK, I thought, it must be to stop copyright infringement, I'll just have to explain to them who I am and they'll lift the block. Mmm, except you can't contact Facebook to discuss things like that.

When I tried to set up the page there was a link to a customer service form which I duly filled in, explaining who I am and why I want to set up the page. Their response? Nothing. So I tried again, still no response. And again. And again. And again from someone else's account. And again, this time in a different name. Still no response.

So that's that. Facebook have blocked me setting up the Banco de Gaia page, and there is no way to discuss it with them. This is exactly why small shops with friendly shopkeepers will be around for a long time to come; big techno-corporations may seem all-knowing and capable but actually they're only as good as their programming, and in this case that's clearly dysfunctional.

That is, of course, assuming it's a bad web interface and not that they're blocking me because the Chinese government told them to because I spoke out about Tibet.... Nah, I can't be bothered to go down that route.

Anyway, I have the last laugh (so far). We discovered that they haven't put a block on 'Banco de Gaia - Official' so if you're on Facebook and want to go and have a look at a Banco Facebook page, you can.

Studio update 5

Obviously I've been quiet for a long time because I've been really busy in the studio. Yeah, well, something like that... Anyway, the album is coming along, maybe not as quickly as I would wish but it's getting there.

I just had an old friend of mine in the studio adding vocals to the tune I'm currently working on. He's an announcer on BBC radio, every album should have one.

Meanwhile I've been sorting out the 'boring' side of it all, distribution plans, record labels, all that stuff. Mostly sorted now, we have a plan and the album will be available everywhere when it's ready. Well, not sure if Kyrgyzstan is really covered or not, but most places will be.

I've also joined Twitter (do you join Twitter? Whatever, I'm doing Twitter now). You may notice it in the sidebar. Not sure what the point is but the above mentioned BBC radio announcer said it's great so obviously I believed him. Given how often I update this blog, my Twitter should be gripping...

Studio update 4

All has started well in the studio this year. I'm still making progress with the new album, even got a title in mind for it, and it's looking good to release sooner rather than later.

I've been rather pleased to discover that, with the help of my old friend Andy Guthrie, I've been able to get into files of really early tunes on old floppy discs, and also old sample discs, some going back as far as 20 years. (Hmm, why would I want to do that?). Good to know they haven't all turned to dust in the intervening years.

Outside the studio all is not quite so rosy. Our UK distributor went bust in December, in part due to Woolworths and EUK going under, so a bit of a hiccup there (don't worry, all the albums are still available from us by mail order and there's also the download store), but we'll sort it out and shake up our European distribution while we're at it so all will be in place for the new album release.

Now't more to say right now but more soon for sure.

Studio update 3

Another productive week in the studio so things are moving on nicely with the new album. I wonder what you're all going to make of it...

One slight hitch has been that my wrist injury is getting worse again; it seems the position of the mouse in the studio is making me bend in ways which I would rather not and I can't find any position that works. The software I use has loads of hierarchical drop down menus which unfortunately require twists of the wrist which are not doing me any favours. How I suffer for my art...

Meanwhile, we've got the website forum up and running again and have hopefully solved the spam problem.

Other than that nothing to say really. If I don't update beforehand then happy Christmas to everyone and see you in 2009.

Studio update 2

Things are coming on slowly in the studio, not the quickest recording I've ever done but I'm making progress so should still be on course to release the new album next year.

Working with Maya again today on some of her stuff, nice to have a bit of variety and a pleasure to work with such a good singer.

Outside the studio we've had to temporarily shut down the website forum due to some very concerted spamming. I'm trying not to take it personally but the sites it was advertising were Chinese... ;-) I remember when the internet seemed like this wonderful new world where only good things would happen...

Studio update

OK, news at last. I've been in the studio making slow progress on an album to hopefully release next year. On Friday I was recording with Maya Preece of Dragonsfly, who sang on "We All Know The Truth" and things are coming along nicely.

Nothing else to say about it at the moment, really. Hopefully release in the spring but who knows how long it will take...

It's only been 6 weeks

I've been reminded it's rather a long time since my last post. 'Tis true, apologies for that but I've not had a lot to say lately that I want to air in public. But fear not, recording is underway, the wrist is holding up so far and I'll be back with more waffle soon.

Meanwhile, don't forget we're in Kendal this Saturday playing at The Brewery, could be the last Banco live show for a few months so learn to live with the regret if you decide to go to that 'other' gig in London instead...

There goes another one

Richard Wright (keyboard player with Pink Floyd if you don't know) died yesterday.

I don't have many words to say except that he was by all accounts a really lovely person and he certainly had a major influence on my musical tastes and development. It is a sad passing and my thoughts are with his family and friends who must have lost someone very special to them.

There aren't so many key figures in music who mean so much to so many people without making a big fuss about it. He seemed gentle, honest and down to earth which is pretty impressive given the world he moved in, no huge ego on display, which probably explains why I didn't find out until today. No front page headlines, no rent-a-celebrities spouting inane anecdotes on the TV news; probably how he would have wanted it.

Thank you, Richard, for all you gave me. I hope I can emulate a little of what you brought to this world.

Less is more

An eager Zen student arrives at a temple and says "I want to join the community and work to attain enlightenment. How long will it take me?"

"Ten years" replies the master.

"Well, how about if I really work and double my efforts?"

"Twenty years."

"Hey, just a moment. That's not fair! Why did you double it?"

"In your case," says the master, "I'm afraid it will be thirty years."


From "After the Ecstacy, the Laundry" by Jack Kornfield.

Back to the studio

OK, I've been quiet for some time, apologies for that but I have been busy. First I went away for a break for a week or so then since I've been back I've been doing some maintenance on my studio.

Actually, maintenance isn't quite the right word. Ever since I built the studio 10 years ago there's been a big problem with bass in there. I won't go into all the maths and acoustic theory but in a nutshell the shape and size of the room means that a lot of the bass from the speakers gets bounced back from the walls, floor and ceiling then it all meets in the middle of the room and cancels itself out. I've tried various things over the years to sort this out and made some improvement but overall I have still heard very little of what is really come out of the speakers and have had to do a lot of mixing by guesswork and checking on other systems in other rooms.

All this suddenly got a lot worse a few years ago when I decided to start experimenting with 5.1 surround sound mixing. Again without going into the theory, the new speaker system I put in made the problem even worse and for the last year or so I have been scratching my head trying to work out what I could possibly try that I haven't tried already. Roll on to this year, and specifically the car crash in Turkey which put my immediate plans on hold, and I decided that as I had a bit of time with nothing else to do I would have yet another crack at tackling the problem.

So, I thought about it, I looked at what I'd done already, I talked to other people who know about these things and I read loads about similar problems. And I came to the conclusion, again, that what I had done before should really be doing the job.

But clearly it wasn't so what to do next? Well, eventually flawless logic won the day and I figured that if what I had done already should be working then I should do that again, in other words just do more of it. A lot more in fact. So, yet again without going into all the theory, I got hold of a large amount of acoustic material (mineral insulation used in the building trade if you must know) and built myself a load more bass traps. Now, this was actually quite fun as we had a few days of really lovely weather so being out in the garden sawing up pieces of wood was very pleasant. Unlike dealing with the insulation material which is made of kind of fibreglass and really itches if it gets in your skin. Picture the scene: me in the garden wielding a Black and Decker wearing shorts and sandals. And a pair of rubber gloves. (A prize to anyone who can convincingly recreate that in Photoshop).

OK, that's the porn out of the way.

So, did it make any difference I hear you say? Is my subwoofer shaking the room like Concorde on steroids? Well, frankly, yes. Really, at last, after 10 bloody years I've cracked it and finally my room sounds like it's supposed to and I can hear what I'm doing again. Makes me wonder how the hell I've managed to turn out all those album in there, I hope they've been sounding OK to everyone... For those of you who like to look at such things I've even taken a picture (of the studio, not me wearing rubber gloves).


Incidentally, more good news is that my damaged wrist, which I was told could be out of action for 6 months, is making remarkably quick progress and you'll be pleased to know that I'm planning to get back in the studio and start recording again as soon as I've finished tidying up the building site.

Which means even more good news: I should have plenty to blog about for the next few months...

Apparently I said...

I know I've been a bit quiet lately and I'm afraid I can't think of anything interesting to say still, must be the weather or something. And, I'm about to go away for a week or so so won't be posting anything for a while again but I figure you might want something to ponder in the meantime so take a look at this.

There have been some technical problems with it, hopefully resolved by the time you try to read it (if it still isn't working check later as the are on it), but it means I haven't even seen it myself so I'm trusting Jonny to have written something nice (and trusting that I wasn't spouting total drivel the day we did the interview!).

Enjoy, I'm sure I was being very interesting...