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Bark Psychosis are an English
post-rock Post-rock is a form of experimental rock characterized by a focus on exploring textures and timbre over traditional rock song structures, chords, or riffs. Post-rock artists are often instrumental, typically combining rock instrumentation with ...
band/musical project from east
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
formed in 1986. They were one of the bands that
Simon Reynolds Simon Reynolds (born 19 June 1963) is an English music journalist and author who began his professional career on the staff of ''Melody Maker'' in the mid-1980s. He has since gone on to freelance and publish a number of full-length books on music ...
cited when coining "post-rock" as a musical style in 1994, and are thus considered one of the key bands defining the genre. In its original form, the group was a quartet of
Graham Sutton Sir Oliver Graham Sutton CBE FRS (4 February 1903 – 26 May 1977) was a Welsh mathematician and meteorologist, notable particularly for theoretical work on atmospheric diffusion, boundary layer turbulence, and for his direction of the UK Mete ...
, Daniel Gish, John Ling and Mark Simnett. This line-up (with contributions from other passing members) recorded most of the early EPs and the seminal 1994 album '' Hex''. Sutton has remained the consistent core member of the group, which is currently a flexible and intermittently active project in which he is supported by an altering roster of guest musicians (including experimental guitarist Colin Bradley (of Dual) and
Talk Talk Talk Talk were an English band formed in 1981, led by Mark Hollis (vocals, guitar, piano), Lee Harris (drummer), Lee Harris (drums), and Paul Webb (bass). The group achieved early chart success with the synth-pop singles "Talk Talk (Talk Talk s ...
drummer Lee Harris).


Sound and influences

Bark Psychosis' sound has covered various musical styles including
minimalism In visual arts, music and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in post–World War II in Western art, most strongly with American visual arts in the 1960s and early 1970s. Prominent artists associated with minimalism include Don ...
, introverted indie rock,
psychedelia Psychedelia refers to the psychedelic subculture of the 1960s and the psychedelic experience. This includes psychedelic art, psychedelic music and style of dress during that era. This was primarily generated by people who used psychedelic ...
,
post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-roc ...
,
cool jazz Cool jazz is a style of modern jazz music that arose in the United States after World War II. It is characterized by relaxed tempos and lighter tone, in contrast to the fast and complex bebop style. Cool jazz often employs formal arrangements and ...
, outright mechanical/industrial noise, and electronic
dance music Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded danc ...
. However, the band's music is best characterised by a sense of acoustic space, moody atmospherics, murmured vocals, abstract but emotional lyrics, and a particularly sensitive and acclaimed mixture of electronic and acoustic instrumentation. Bark Psychosis is also noted for an extreme dynamic range, varying from quietly-whispered-and-played songs such as "I Know" or "Absent Friend" to thunderous metallic riffing ("Murder City") or deafening sheets of electric noise (the first half of the track "Hex"). Bark Psychosis' music is also notably melodic and expressive, and arguably owes something to the English pastoral rock tradition. The band is frequently embraced by
progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...
fans due to their experimental outlook, and their use of both atmospherics and extended instrumentation. Sutton himself seems uncomfortable with the association, commenting, "Sometimes people compare us to
Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...
, and they are just a muso thing. I'm more interested in feeling, really..." The band started life as a teenage
Napalm Death Napalm Death are an English grindcore band formed in 1981 in Meriden, West Midlands. None of the band's original members has been in the group since 1986. But since ''Utopia Banished'' (1992), the lineup of bassist Shane Embury, guitarist Mitch ...
cover project, reflecting the members' early interest in extreme noise. Other early influences included
Sonic Youth Sonic Youth was an American rock band based in New York City, formed in 1981. Founding members Thurston Moore (guitar, vocals), Kim Gordon (bass, vocals, guitar) and Lee Ranaldo (guitar, vocals) remained together for the entire history of the b ...
, Talk Talk,
Butthole Surfers Butthole Surfers are an American rock band formed in San Antonio, Texas, by singer Gibby Haynes and guitarist Paul Leary in 1981. The band has had numerous personnel changes, but its core lineup of Haynes, Leary, and drummer King Coffey has been ...
,
Big Black Big Black was an American punk rock band from Evanston, Illinois, active from 1981 to 1987. Founded by singer and guitarist Steve Albini, the band's initial lineup also included guitarist Santiago Durango and bassist Jeff Pezzati, both of Nake ...
,
Swans Swans are birds of the family Anatidae within the genus ''Cygnus''. The swans' closest relatives include the geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe Cygnini. Sometim ...
and
Joy Division Joy Division were an English rock band formed in Salford in 1976. The group consisted of vocalist Ian Curtis, guitarist/keyboardist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook and drummer Stephen Morris. Sumner and Hook formed the band after attend ...
. Graham Sutton has claimed a long-term interest in dub, jazz and
classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...
, as well as an appreciation for the work of
Nick Drake Nicholas Rodney Drake (19 June 1948 – 25 November 1974) was an English singer-songwriter known for his acoustic guitar-based songs. He did not find a wide audience during his lifetime, but his work gradually achieved wider notice and recognit ...
. Bark Psychosis' musical development has also been characterised by restlessness, which has contributed to the band's historical lack of stability while at the same time stimulating its creativity. In another 1994 interview, Sutton stated, "The whole thing about being in this band is never repeating yourself. I've always tried to surprise myself and other people as well, fucking around with people's preconceptions about what you're about and stuff. I really get a real huge fucking kick about giving people the wrong impression. Or twisting things around. Like, it might sound initially sweet, but it ain't. Or vice versa."


History


Formation and early years (1986–1988)

Bark Psychosis was formed in Snaresbrook, Essex in 1986, emerging from the 1980s East London experimental music scene that also produced
AR Kane A.R. Kane (sometimes AR Kane or A.R.Kane) was a British musical duo formed in 1986 by Alex Ayuli and Rudy Tambala. After releasing two early EPs to critical acclaim, the group topped the UK Independent Chart with their debut album '' 69'' (1988 ...
and
Disco Inferno "Disco Inferno" is a song by American disco band the Trammps from their 1976 fourth studio album of the same name. With two other cuts by the group, it reached No. 1 on the US '' Billboard'' Dance Club Songs chart in early 1977, but had li ...
. The original two members were schoolfriends Graham Sutton (guitar, vocals) and John Ling (bass, vocals). Both were aged 14 at the time that they started the band, carrying out their initial experiments using a 4-track tape recorder and a drum machine. In January 1988 Ling and Sutton (both aged 16) left school to pursue music full-time. They recruited drummer Mark Simnett, who had previously done community work centered on
St John's Church, Stratford St John's Church or the Church of Saint John the Evangelist is the parish church in Stratford, London, standing on Stratford Broadway, the main thoroughfare. The site was previously home to a "Forest Prison" that incarcerated those who committed ...
. Using Simnett's connection with the church, Bark Psychosis arranged rehearsal space for themselves in the crypt of St John's, a location that would continue to play an important role in Bark Psychosis' music. The trio spent the rest of 1988 rehearsing and composing original material, during which time both Sutton and Ling began to dabble in keyboard playing and digital sampling. A few low-key gigs followed late in the year. One of these concerts was attended by Nick Allport and Vinita Joshi of the small East London independent label Cheree Records. Impressed by the band, Cheree immediately offered to release the band's first recordings. During this period, Bark Psychosis briefly featured a second guitarist, Rashied Garrison. Garrison had previously played in The Moons, a band who had supported Bark Psychosis at early shows. However, his tenure with Bark Psychosis was fairly short and he would later become "a feared journalist", the guitarist in Good Time Pony and leader of The Repton Oaks.


Cheree singles and early live gigs (1988–1990)

Bark Psychosis' debut appearance on record was the 1988 ''Clawhammer'' flexi-disc (a split release on Cheree, shared with Fury Things and
Spacemen 3 Spacemen 3 were an English neo-psychedelia space rock band, formed in 1982 in Rugby, Warwickshire, by Peter Kember and Jason Pierce, known respectively under their pseudonyms Sonic Boom and J Spaceman. Their music is known for its brand of "tr ...
). By this time, the band were back to their original trio lineup. Six years later (on the eve of the release of the ''Hex'' album), Sutton was vituperative in disowning the track. The official Bark Psychosis debut was 1990's 12-inch single "All Different Things/By Blow", for which the band was augmented by an extra singer, Sue Page. In 1994, Sutton recalled:
"At this stage we were so naive we didn't know how things worked, how the whole music business worked. We did two nights of working, from 12 to 8, and gave it to (Cheree)... That's the first time we went in the studio properly, really. Basically, I had my hands on the faders and when it kicked in, I just fucking went to the faders, I didn't know anything about it then. When we were mixing "By Blow" we ended up distorting the DAT and we didn't even fucking notice because it was just monitoring so loud in the control room. It's nice, naive and all the rest of it but it's pretty crap at the same time."
The band's formal live debut (outside of school performances) was at
The Sir George Robey The Sir George Robey was a mid-19th century public house and later a music venue on Seven Sisters Road, Finsbury Park, North London, England. It was named in honour of the music hall performer Sir George Robey (1869–1954) in 1968. The pub w ...
in
Finsbury Park Finsbury Park is a public park in the London neighbourhood of Harringay. It is in the area formerly covered by the historic parish of Hornsey, succeeded by the Municipal Borough of Hornsey. It was one of the first of the great London parks ...
, London, supporting
Extreme Noise Terror Extreme Noise Terror (often abbreviated to ENT) are a British extreme metal band formed in Ipswich, England in 1985 and one of the earliest and most influential crust bands. Noted for one of the earliest uses of dual vocalists in hardcore,Bonn ...
. Tours with
The Telescopes The Telescopes are an English noise, space rock, dream pop and psychedelic band, formed in 1987 by Stephen Lawrie, David Fitzgerald and Joanna Doran that drew influence from artists such as Suicide, The Velvet Underground, Trite and The 13th ...
, Cranes and Spiritualised quickly followed. In 1990, with Sue Page still on board, Bark Psychosis released a 12-inch EP called "Nothing Feels" (backed with "I Know"). Sutton later recalled, "The second single was what(ever) two tracks we had knocking around at the time. At the same time, live-wise at this stage, it was completely different. It was very, very loud and extreme both ways." By this time, Bark Psychosis were establishing a reputation as one of the most unpredictable, innovative live bands in Britain with a great degree of spontaneity and excitement at their gigs. On record, however, they were developing into a more atmospheric and melodic act, while avoiding many of the standard rock "cliches" such as extended solos and self-mythologising lyrics: beyond their melody lines and rhythms, the band remained abstract and textural. Regarding his musical evolution at the time, Sutton later commented, "For some reason I just flipped one day and I realized silence could have a much greater impact than loud noise... Space and silence are the most important tools you can use in music. I just got really obsessed with that."


A year in the wilderness; signing to 3rd Stone Ltd. (1990–1991)

Having signed a formal recording contract with Cheree, Bark Psychosis immediately found themselves dismayed by management changes at the label. Cheree's two new commercial backers were later described by Sutton as "a couple of cons, really, that had screwed so many people," with links to various dubious businesses including pornography. The band reneged on their contract and spent a year extricating themselves from the situation, during which time Sue Page left the band. Much-needed managerial and financial support during this period was provided by the band's friend Rudi Tambala of
AR Kane A.R. Kane (sometimes AR Kane or A.R.Kane) was a British musical duo formed in 1986 by Alex Ayuli and Rudy Tambala. After releasing two early EPs to critical acclaim, the group topped the UK Independent Chart with their debut album '' 69'' (1988 ...
. Sutton has commented: "That year was murder. When we were trying to get away from Cheree it was fucking hell. I had a lot of problems after that year. I was squatting and stuff and did a lot of things I shouldn't have done. It's caused a lot of problems." Eventually, the band's contract with Cheree was bought out by 3rd Stone Ltd., the Corby-based alternative record label which had headhunted the band on the reputation of their initial singles.


''Manman'' EP; The ''Scum'' single (1992)

Bark Psychosis' debut release for 3rd Stone — 1992's ''Manman'' EP — demonstrated clear influences from
techno Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time (4/4) and often ch ...
and
musique concrète Musique concrète (; ): " problem for any translator of an academic work in French is that the language is relatively abstract and theoretical compared to English; one might even say that the mode of thinking itself tends to be more schematic, ...
. The band's potential had dramatically expanded with the addition of keyboard/synthesizer player Daniel Gish (formerly of
Disco Inferno "Disco Inferno" is a song by American disco band the Trammps from their 1976 fourth studio album of the same name. With two other cuts by the group, it reached No. 1 on the US '' Billboard'' Dance Club Songs chart in early 1977, but had li ...
). By now, Sutton and Ling's interest in digital sampling and programming had become much more overt. From that point onward, sampling became a major feature of the Bark Psychosis sound, combining with the effect of Gish's own influences (which included
Kraftwerk Kraftwerk (, "power station") is a German band formed in Düsseldorf in 1970 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. Widely considered innovators and pioneers of electronic music, Kraftwerk were among the first successful acts to popularize the ...
, New Order,
The The () are an English post-punk band. They have been active in various forms since 1979, with singer-songwriter Matt Johnson being the only constant band member. achieved critical acclaim and commercial success in the UK, with 15 chart singles ...
and
Dead Can Dance Dead Can Dance are an Australian music duo first established in Melbourne. Currently composed of Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry, the group formed in 1981. They relocated to London the following year. Australian music historian Ian McFarlane des ...
). Sutton was later to comment, "To an extent, every record we make is a reaction to the one that came before it." Later in 1992, Bark Psychosis released a hugely acclaimed landmark single called ''Scum''. This was an ominous, 21-minute ambient piece improvised and recorded live in the band's "home" of St John's Church. Recalling the events several years later, Sutton admitted "we had a single to do but we didn't have any tracks that were suitable for a single. We wanted to do something completely new and put ourselves under a certain amount of risk. So basically we hired a load of gear and set up sort of a makeshift string and sticky-tape kind of studio under the church where we rehearsed for ages, and in the church as well... We didn't have a track when we started, so we just set ourselves ten days to do a 12-inch and that's what came out... It's probably the most spontaneous record we've put out." ''Scum'' experimented with the use of space and extreme dynamics, with music that varied between minimal jazzy chording, airy acoustic drums, clamorous noise guitar, space-ambience and random vocal snippets. "There was no part except for a few rough galactic idea(s)," Sutton recalled. "That's how we'd written the past few years, just jamming as a band underneath the church. 99.999% of it, you wouldn't use any of it; but the vibe was really good at the time, so we decided why not just record a jam sort of thing. That's the thing, we tend to try and make life very difficult for ourselves for some reason. I'm not sure why... Ninety per cent of it was recorded live and then there was a few things. Vocals, some piano, some ambient guitar, a few different samples and stuff. The first three-and-a-half minutes of it was actually just the ambient mics left up. We had recorded a few different takes of things and those distance mics were just left up from a previous jam." Regarding the sudden bursts of indistinct speaking voices that punctuated the single, Sutton noted that "that was just a found thing at the church. On one of the nights we were recording there was a Pentecostal meeting going on in the back room, so we sort of sneaked up to their door and just tape-recorded them because it sounded so brilliant." The single's ominous atmosphere and disaffected, whispered lyric "came about as a general disaffection with general sentiments from records that were being shoved down my throat. Crap house tracks. I just remember this one track had this chorus like ''"Everybody's free"'' and it made me want to fucking puke. I just wanted something completely the opposite of that and (to) turn that sentiment around." The single gained the band a lot of press attention (being awarded Single of the Week in ''Melody Maker'' amongst other plaudits), and demand for an album grew.


Recording ''Hex'' (1992–93)

In November 1992, Bark Psychosis began recording a self-produced debut album, to be called '' Hex''. The recording of the album consolidated the ideas which the band had explored on ''Scum''. As had been the case with ''Scum'', the sessions made extensive use of the natural acoustics of St John's Church, with other recording work done in studios in Bath, Brighton and London. In an interview with the Audrie's Diary fanzine in 1994, Sutton explained "Most people, to get a big reverb sound, will record something and then run it through a reverb unit. But we've taken the trouble to record in a church... When you set up mics, you capture more than just what is being recorded. You capture an ambience or a feeling as well. It's all about creating something unique and of the moment rather than just another bland factory preset." In an interview with the Weedbus fanzine at the same time, Sutton commented:
"If you were making a film or something you want to have special effects — for example, a train going over a cliff. Then you either get a little model of it and simulate, or you can get a real train because that's probably going to be more effective. We wanted to capture real acoustics rather than have everything computer simulated. A lot of keyboards can sound very bland so you have to look at recording them in a different way. We wanted to have a gritty edge to it. We got a PA and set it up in a church, a really huge church in Stratford, east London, just beside a huge traffic island, so we had to do it late at night when there was no traffic! We had the keyboards coming out of the PA and the microphones at the other end of the church. It created a very interesting atmosphere..."
By this point, the band had developed a singularly unique and varied sound — embedded in lush electronic sampling and textures and accented with electric guitars, piano, and melodica. Regarding the sampling, Sutton commented "although the album doesn't sound like it, a good fifty per cent of it was just running from computer... A lot of things. Guitar things. Moving things around, you know, cutting things out, then moving them around. Bits of vocal moved around... There's also a lot of samples of instruments involved. But we do it in a way that is idiosyncratic to us... Although ''Hex'' is sample-orientated, it doesn't necessarily sound like that, and there is an acoustic drum-kit in there, recorded in such a way that it sounds quite idiosyncratic to me. The album doesn't fit in that well, which I'm happy about — I wouldn't like it to fit in with a homogeneous agenda like dance music, or ambient music, whatever. The area of ambient music interests me more than any other but it's still too stylised." Sutton himself was moving in the direction of electronic music and paying less attention to his guitar playing. "I had a tremolo pedal, a chorus pedal, a delay pedal. That's it. But I really haven't played much guitar in the last year. I've been mostly fucking around with samplers. I'm more interested in pure sound, than just a guitar or whatever." ''Hex'' featured guest musicians the Duke String Quartet, Animals That Swim's trumpeter Del Crabtree, Phil Brown on flute, and Neil Aldridge and Dave Ross on assorted percussion. The band also called in vibraphone player Pete Beresford (the father of one of Sutton's friends), of whom Sutton later recalled "(he) was this really, really old guy who used to play in a lot of old war time swing bands for kids going out for a dance in London. He hadn't taken his vibes out of his front room for fucking years, he just plays for his own pleasure, as a hobby. So we got him to come down and it was fucking brilliant, and I want to work with him again." The recording of '' Hex'' proved to be tortuous, with plenty of infighting centered around Sutton's stubbornness and dominance of the band. In 2001, Sutton would reminisce "I have great memories of working on ('' Hex''), even if I did do everyone's head in!" However, in a 1994 interview he described the album sessions as "the most intense fucking year of my life. The longest I had been in a studio was ten days for ''Scum'', but this was like a year of my life... It was quite hairy at some points." The band interrupted the album recording sessions on 31 January 1993, to play a one-off concert at Ronnie Scott's jazz club in London. This was to be their last performance together as a quartet. Two members of Bark Psychosis were to leave the band during the remaining sessions. The first was Daniel Gish, whose departure was formally announced in ''Melody Maker'' on 18 December 1993. Gish would cite "lack of record company support" as his motive for leaving, with Sutton commenting, "all I can say is the split was amicable,": he would also describe Gish as having "gone to Israel for a bit. He's going to come back though and I still want to work with him." The last track from the sessions ("Big Shot") was recorded by the remaining three members. Once '' Hex'' was completed, John Ling also quit Bark Psychosis, feeling "burnt out and unable to play," allegedly due to the stress of making the album. At the time, Sutton commented that "(John) felt he just needed to get some distance from it once we'd finished it. I think he's moved to Holland now to do
Spiral Tribe Spiral Tribe is an arts collective and free party sound system formed in 1990. It organised free parties, festivals and raves in the UK and later Europe in the 1990s. Spiral Tribe was involved in the Castlemorton Common Festival and members ha ...
or squat over there or something... It's just been a fucking intense year, though it might not sound like it on the record. It's been a real head-fuck." Ling would not return to the band. He subsequently quit the music business to spend a period travelling the world, and later pursued a career as a psychiatric nurse as well as starting a family. Many years later, Sutton would admit "I know I can be 'difficult' to work with; I get very opinionated — and I'll fight tooth and nail for what I believe in. John had a problem with that and chose to leave."


The release of ''Hex'' (early 1994)

In January 1994, the band released "A Street Scene" as a single. Although plans for live concerts had initially been upset by the departure of John Ling, the band carried out a five-date promotional tour with guest musicians (including Daniel Gish, who had been invited to rejoin the lineup as a guest musician rather than full band member). The band screened the animated
Bolex Brothers bolexbrothers (alternatively Bolex Brothers) was an independent British animation studio founded by Dave Borthwick and Dave Alex Riddett in Bristol, UK. The studio specialised in stop motion and pixilation animation, producing numerous short fil ...
film ''
The Secret Adventures of Tom Thumb ''The Secret Adventures of Tom Thumb'' is a 1993 British Independent film, independent stop-motion/pixilation Adult animation, adult animated Science fantasy, science-fantasy Dystopian fiction, dystopian Adventure genre, adventure horror film d ...
'' rather than use a support act. '' Hex'' itself was released on 14 February 1994. It was licensed to Circa Records (a division of Virgin Records) and released worldwide through EMI. In the US, the album was released on Caroline Records. When British music critic
Simon Reynolds Simon Reynolds (born 19 June 1963) is an English music journalist and author who began his professional career on the staff of ''Melody Maker'' in the mid-1980s. He has since gone on to freelance and publish a number of full-length books on music ...
reviewed the album in the March 1994 issue of ''
Mojo Mojo may refer to: *Mojo (African-American culture), a magical charm bag used in voodoo Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * MOJO HD, an American television network * ''Mojo'' (play), by Jez Butterworth, made into a 1997 film * '' ...
'' magazine, he used the term "
post-rock Post-rock is a form of experimental rock characterized by a focus on exploring textures and timbre over traditional rock song structures, chords, or riffs. Post-rock artists are often instrumental, typically combining rock instrumentation with ...
" to describe the band's approach to music. He later expanded upon the idea in the May 1994 issue of ''
The Wire ''The Wire'' is an American Crime film, crime drama Television show, television series created and primarily written by author and former police reporter David Simon. The series was broadcast by the cable network HBO in the United States. ''The ...
''. While this was not the first use of the term, it was the example which brought the "
post-rock Post-rock is a form of experimental rock characterized by a focus on exploring textures and timbre over traditional rock song structures, chords, or riffs. Post-rock artists are often instrumental, typically combining rock instrumentation with ...
" concept to public knowledge to the point where it was a major stylistically defining term in music criticism and discourse during the 1990s. This review (and the subsequent discussion which it inspired) ensured that Bark Psychosis were one of the first bands recognised as being
post-rock Post-rock is a form of experimental rock characterized by a focus on exploring textures and timbre over traditional rock song structures, chords, or riffs. Post-rock artists are often instrumental, typically combining rock instrumentation with ...
artists. Although '' Hex'' was not a commercial success at the time, it has continued to sell steadily over the years and retains a reputation as a key album in
post-rock Post-rock is a form of experimental rock characterized by a focus on exploring textures and timbre over traditional rock song structures, chords, or riffs. Post-rock artists are often instrumental, typically combining rock instrumentation with ...
and experimental rock circles.


The ''Blue'' period — mutation, disintegration and split (mid-1994)

In March 1994, 3rd Stone released a posthumous Bark Psychosis compilation album called ''Independency''. This collected together the early Bark Psychosis singles and EPs on both Cheree and 3rd Stone, and included ''Scum'' in its entirety. Now reduced to a duo of Sutton and Simnett, Bark Psychosis went on to record the ''Blue'' EP, released in May 1994, and promoted with a UK tour, also featuring Gish. The title track was comparatively more upbeat than the band's work on ''Hex'' (and was apparently therapeutic for Sutton, who was allegedly getting over the demise of a "stormy personal relationship" at the time). ''Blue'' was also very strongly influenced by dance music, sounding closer to a New Order pop single than it did to the moody
post-rock Post-rock is a form of experimental rock characterized by a focus on exploring textures and timbre over traditional rock song structures, chords, or riffs. Post-rock artists are often instrumental, typically combining rock instrumentation with ...
of previous releases. The EP also featured a Rudi Tambala remix of the '' Hex'' track "Big Shot" and (confusingly) a newly recorded track called "Hex", featuring three-and-a-half minutes of deafening noise textures eventually dissolving into ambient keyboards and trumpet, which was also recorded in St John's Church. The EP was mixed at Metropolis Studios in West London. ''Blue'' clearly revealed that Sutton's interest was now heading towards programmed and sequenced rhythms. By this stage he was asking Simnett to replicate jungle
breakbeat Breakbeat is a broad type of electronic music that tends to use drum breaks sampled from early recordings of funk, jazz, and R&B. Breakbeats have been used in styles such as hip hop, jungle, drum and bass, big beat, breakbeat hardcore, and UK ...
s at speed on his kit. Bark Psychosis performed at the Britronica Festival in April 1994 in Moscow alongside
Seefeel Seefeel are a British electronic and post-rock band formed in the early 1990s by Mark Clifford (guitar, programming), Daren Seymour (bass), Justin Fletcher (drums, programming), and Sarah Peacock (vocals, guitar). Their work became known for fu ...
,
Autechre Autechre () is an English electronic music duo consisting of Rob Brown and Sean Booth, both from Rochdale, Greater Manchester. Formed in 1987, they are among the best known acts signed to UK electronic label Warp Records, through which all of Au ...
,
Ultramarine Ultramarine is a deep blue color pigment which was originally made by grinding lapis lazuli into a powder. The name comes from the Latin ''ultramarinus'', literally 'beyond the sea', because the pigment was imported into Europe from mines in Afgh ...
and
Aphex Twin Richard David James (born 18 August 1971), best known as Aphex Twin, is an Irish-born British musician, composer and DJ. He is known for his idiosyncratic work in electronic music, electronic styles such as techno, ambient music, ambient, and jun ...
. After this concert, an increasingly sidelined Simnett left the band. (Six years later, Simnett would resurface in the instrumental
post-rock Post-rock is a form of experimental rock characterized by a focus on exploring textures and timbre over traditional rock song structures, chords, or riffs. Post-rock artists are often instrumental, typically combining rock instrumentation with ...
ban
Yellow6
playing drums for their two live concerts in 2000 and subsequently moving to bass for five concerts in 2001. He would also contribute to
Porcupine Tree Porcupine Tree are an English rock band formed by musician Steven Wilson in 1987. During an initial career spanning more than twenty years, they earned critical acclaim from critics and fellow musicians, developed a cult following, and became ...
leader
Steven Wilson Steven John Wilson (born 3 November 1967) is an English musician. He is the founder, guitarist, lead vocalist and songwriter of the rock band Porcupine Tree, as well as being a member of several other bands, including Blackfield, Storm Corrosio ...
's
Incredible Expanding Mindfuck Incredible Expanding Mindfuck, commonly abbreviated as I.E.M., was a solo project by Steven Wilson (the lead of British rock band Porcupine Tree). Its work was mainly influenced by Krautrock and experimental music from the 1960s and 1970s. Back ...
project.) Although Bark Psychosis never formally split up, Simnett's departure effectively ended the band, as Sutton had by now lost interest in experimental rock and become a full-scale convert to
drum and bass Drum and bass (also written as drum & bass or drum'n'bass and commonly abbreviated as D&B, DnB, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by fast breakbeats (typically 165–185 beats per minute) with heavy bass and sub-ba ...
music. In a 2001 interview, Sutton recalled, "By the end it was just me with Mark drumming and a nice pool of different people to draw upon. The last couple of tours we did in '94 I just loved. But by that point I knew I wanted to try something else." Later in the summer, Sutton reunited with Daniel Gish to record some new tracks in an ambient and
drum and bass Drum and bass (also written as drum & bass or drum'n'bass and commonly abbreviated as D&B, DnB, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by fast breakbeats (typically 165–185 beats per minute) with heavy bass and sub-ba ...
style, which they performed at the 1994 Phoenix Festival at Stratford-upon-Avon). Although the duo's performance was billed under the Bark Psychosis name (and was technically the band's last appearance for ten years), it was in effect the debut of a brand new project which was only tenuously related to Bark Psychosis music. Later, In 1997, 3rd Stone released a second Bark Psychosis compilation album called ''Game Over'', which combined early tracks (as previously released on ''Independency'') with the ''Blue'' single and several tracks from '' Hex'' (including the studio outtake "Murder City"). It also contained a rare cover of the Wire song "Three Girl Rhumba" (from the
Wire Overhead power cabling. The conductor consists of seven strands of steel (centre, high tensile strength), surrounded by four outer layers of aluminium (high conductivity). Sample diameter 40 mm A wire is a flexible strand of metal. Wire is c ...
tribute album ''Whore''). ''Game Over'' was not endorsed by the band.


Post-split – Boymerang, .O.rang, and Sutton as producer (1994–2003)

Following their Phoenix Festival performance, Sutton and Gish renamed their new drum and bass project
Boymerang Boymerang was the drum and bass project of the English post-rock musician Graham Sutton. Formation Following the release of the Bark Psychosis album ''Hex'' in 1994, Sutton became interested in drum and bass. He began buying Jungle records at the ...
. The new tracks premiered at Phoenix were released as part of an EP (the first release by The Leaf Label), following which Gish left the project. Following his departure from Boymerang, Daniel Gish disappeared into the world of dance music to work in various mysteriously named subgenres referred to as "dark garage", "dreamhouse", and "night music": his current whereabouts are unknown. Now featuring Sutton alone, Boymerang released several more EPs and an album (1997's ''Balance Of The Force''). A few musicians from the Bark Psychosis world — most notably trumpeter Del Crabtree — contributed to some tracks. Sutton also became a significant collaborator to
.O.rang .O.rang (or 'O'rang) is an English experimental music project led by former Talk Talk members Lee Harris and Paul Webb, with a shifting cast of guest musicians. .O.rang's music exhibits more culturally diverse influences than Talk Talk. We ...
, the experimental band formed by former Talk Talk members Lee Harris and
Paul Webb Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chris ...
. He contributed instrumentation and programming to the ''Herd of Instinct'' and ''Fields And Waves'' albums as well as the ''Spoor'' EP; and remixed the track ''P53'' for single release. In parallel to (and subsequent to) his activities with Boymerang and .O.rang, Graham Sutton made a name for himself as a record producer. He has produced albums by
Jarvis Cocker Jarvis Branson Cocker (born 19 September 1963) is an English musician and radio presenter. As the founder, frontman, lyricist and only consistent member of the band Pulp, he became a figurehead of the Britpop genre of the mid-1990s. Following P ...
,
Delays Delays are an English indie rock, indie band formed in Southampton, which consisted of brothers Greg and Aaron Gilbert, Colin Fox and Rowly until Greg Gilbert's death in 2021. The band's sound combines guitar and synths and featured Greg Gilbe ...
,
Snowpony Snowpony were a British indie rock Supergroup (music), group initially formed in 1996 by Katharine Gifford and Debbie Googe. History Gifford, who at the time was in Moonshake, gave Googe a tape of songs she had been working on before Moonshake we ...
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The Veils The Veils are an English/New Zealand indie rock band fronted by singer and songwriter Finn Andrews. History Early years, ''The Runaway Found'' (2001–2004) Finn Andrews was born in London but spent his teenage years at high school in Auc ...
, Coldharbourstores,
British Sea Power Command of the sea (also called control of the sea or sea control) is a naval military concept regarding the strength of a particular navy to a specific naval area it controls. A navy has command of the sea when it is so strong that its rivals ...
, Pellumair and Anjali Bhatia (ex-
Voodoo Queens The Voodoo Queens were a North London-based indie punk/riot grrrl band, who reached number one in the Indie Charts in 1993. History The band was composed of Anjali Bhatia (guitar, vocals), Ella Guru (guitar, backing vocals), Stefania 'Steffi' ...
), plus early recordings by The $urplu$ (a band featuring David Callahan of
Moonshake Moonshake were a British-based experimental rock/post-rock band, existing between 1991 and 1997. The only consistent member was singer/sampler player/occasional guitarist David Callahan, who initially co-led the project with Margaret Fiedler ( ...
and
The Wolfhounds The Wolfhounds are an English noise pop band formed in Romford, Essex, in 1985 by Dave Callahan, Paul Clark, Andy Golding, Andy Bolton and Frank Stebbing, and originally active until 1990. The band reformed in 2005 and continues to write, recor ...
). He has also produced single mixes and remixes for acts including
Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...
,
Goldie Clifford Joseph Price MBE (born 19 September 1965), better known as Goldie, is a British music producer and DJ. Initially gaining exposure for his work as a graffiti artist, Goldie became well known for his pioneering role as a musician in th ...
,
Brakes A brake is a mechanical device that inhibits motion by absorbing energy from a moving system. It is used for slowing or stopping a moving vehicle, wheel, axle, or to prevent its motion, most often accomplished by means of friction. Background ...
,
Mansun Mansun were an English alternative rock band, formed in Chester in 1995. The band comprised vocalist/rhythm guitarist Paul Draper, bassist Stove King, lead guitarist/backing vocalist Dominic Chad, and drummer Andie Rathbone. It was announc ...
,
Stephen Simmonds Stephen Guy Simmonds is a Swedish recording artist born in Täby, Sweden, 26 June 1975. Born to a Jamaican father, a musician by profession, and a Swedish mother, he was raised in Sweden, the United States, and Israel. He studied at Adolf Fre ...
,
Mandalay Mandalay ( or ; ) is the second-largest city in Myanmar, after Yangon. Located on the east bank of the Irrawaddy River, 631km (392 miles) (Road Distance) north of Yangon, the city has a population of 1,225,553 (2014 census). Mandalay was fo ...
,
Ed Rush Ed Rush is the stage name used by the drum and bass producer and DJ, Ben Settle (born 1973). Rush has been releasing records since 1992 and primarily with his musical partner Optical (Matt Quinn), since 1997. Along with Optical he is also the co ...
,
Collapsed Lung A pneumothorax is an abnormal collection of air in the pleural space between the lung and the chest wall. Symptoms typically include sudden onset of sharp, one-sided chest pain and shortness of breath. In a minority of cases, a one-way valve is ...
,
Ultramarine Ultramarine is a deep blue color pigment which was originally made by grinding lapis lazuli into a powder. The name comes from the Latin ''ultramarinus'', literally 'beyond the sea', because the pigment was imported into Europe from mines in Afgh ...
and
Wagon Christ Luke Vibert (born 26 January 1973) is a British electronic musician and producer, also known for his work under several aliases such as Plug and Wagon Christ. Raised in Cornwall, Vibert began releasing projects in the 1990s across varied genre ...
.


Bark Psychosis mark II (2004–present)

After a ten-year hiatus, Sutton formally relaunched Bark Psychosis in 2004 and revealed that he had, in fact, been recording new Bark Psychosis tracks since 1999 with various collaborators. The project was now, in effect, a Graham Sutton solo project in all but name, with Sutton playing the majority of the instrumentation himself. Former band drummer Mark Simnett was present, but only in the form of unspecified sampled drum tracks. Sutton's most prominent collaborators were now Colin Bradley (better known as the guitarist from Dual) and the former
Talk Talk Talk Talk were an English band formed in 1981, led by Mark Hollis (vocals, guitar, piano), Lee Harris (drummer), Lee Harris (drums), and Paul Webb (bass). The group achieved early chart success with the synth-pop singles "Talk Talk (Talk Talk s ...
/
.O.rang .O.rang (or 'O'rang) is an English experimental music project led by former Talk Talk members Lee Harris and Paul Webb, with a shifting cast of guest musicians. .O.rang's music exhibits more culturally diverse influences than Talk Talk. We ...
drummer Lee Harris. Other contributors to the project were Anja Buechele (the singer for The $urplu$), bass player David Panos, New Zealand multi-instrumentalist Rachel Dreyer (piano, vocals, wood flute), Shaun Hyder (Sindhi tamboura), Alice Kemp (bowed guitar) and T.J. Mackenzie (trumpet). One of the clearest indications that the project had changed was that Sutton was now sharing his lead singer's role with others: Buechele and Dreyer covered many of the vocals, sometimes even singing entire songs. Conversely, a link with the past came from Pete Beresford who contributed vibraphone, reprising his role on ''Hex''. The revitalized Bark Psychosis released a new album, '' ///Codename: Dustsucker'' on Fire Records in 2004 (accompanied by a new single called "The Black Meat"). ''///Codename: Dustsucker'' revealed that Bark Psychosis was no longer confined by the formal limitations of either rock band or dance music project, as might have been expected. As opposed to ''Hexs more consistent approach (which worked the band's influences and ideas around an established rhythm section and melodic instrumentation, and which sounded like the work of an isolated live band with guests), ''Dustsucker'' was a diverse — even sprawling — collection of musical ideas. Sutton was exploring separate instrumentation from track to track, with the "trademark" Bark Psychosis approach to dynamics and atmosphere serving as the linking project identity. Although several pieces featured familiar Bark Psychosis ingredients (such as the interplay of Sutton's tremolo electric guitar and minimal keyboards), others were based around strummed acoustic guitar and resembled either folk music or some of the band's pre-"Scum" psychedelic work, while others had elements of
cool jazz Cool jazz is a style of modern jazz music that arose in the United States after World War II. It is characterized by relaxed tempos and lighter tone, in contrast to the fast and complex bebop style. Cool jazz often employs formal arrangements and ...
, Indian classical sounds, or — as in the case of "Shapeshifting" – a post-Boymerang fascination with the possibilities of extended rhythm and noise. Rather than make new pressings of the ''Independency'' and ''Game Over'' albums, 3rd Stone Ltd had apparently already planned to release a new compilation (''Replay'') featuring previously released material, deleted material and unreleased live tracks. Whether by accident or design, ''Replay'' was released at around the same time as ''///Codename: Dustsucker''. As had been the case with ''Game Over'', the release was not endorsed by the band. In December 2004, American
webzine An online magazine is a magazine published on the Internet, through bulletin board systems and other forms of public computer networks. One of the first magazines to convert from a print magazine format to being online only was the computer magaz ...
''Somewhere Cold'' voted ''Bark Psychosis'' Artist of the Year on their ''2004 Somewhere Cold Awards Hall of Fame'' list. In May 2005, Bark Psychosis released the ''400 Winters EP''. This featured three ''Dustsucker'' album tracks "deconstructed and reassembled" by Colin Bradley.


Current activity

Bark Psychosis has been dormant since 2005, mainly due to Sutton concentrating on his work as a producer. On 14 February 2008, ''Pendulum Man'' featured in the Adam Brooks movie ''Definitely Maybe'' (Universal International Pictures), the song also having appeared on the soundtrack to an Israeli documentary about
Bryan Adams Bryan Guy Adams (born 5 November 1959) is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter, composer, and photographer. He has been cited as one of the best-selling music artists of all time, and is estimated to have sold between 75 million and mor ...
, and an Israeli dramatisation of ''
Oliver Twist ''Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy's Progress'', Charles Dickens's second novel, was published as a serial from 1837 to 1839, and as a three-volume book in 1838. Born in a workhouse, the orphan Oliver Twist is bound into apprenticeship with ...
''. In July 2017, it was announced that Bark Psychosis' debut album ''Hex'' would be reissued on both vinyl and CD on
Fire Records Fire Records was an American independent record label, set up in 1959 by Bobby Robinson. Amongst others, it released records by Lightnin' Hopkins, Elmore James, Buster Brown and Arthur Crudup. At one point it was thought Fire had issued the las ...
.


Members


Current members

*
Graham Sutton Sir Oliver Graham Sutton CBE FRS (4 February 1903 – 26 May 1977) was a Welsh mathematician and meteorologist, notable particularly for theoretical work on atmospheric diffusion, boundary layer turbulence, and for his direction of the UK Mete ...
– vocals, samples, guitar, piano,
melodica The melodica is a handheld free-reed instrument similar to a pump organ or harmonica. It features a musical keyboard on top, and is played by blowing air through a mouthpiece that fits into a hole in the side of the instrument. The keyboard usual ...
,
Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated s ...
, bass, synthesizer, programming (1986–present)


Former members

*John Ling — bass, samples, percussion (1986–1994) *Mark Simnett — drums, percussion (1988–1994) *Rashied Garrison — guitar (1988) *Sue Page — additional vocals (1989–1992) *Daniel Gish — keyboards,
piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...
,
Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated s ...
(1991–1993, 1994)


Timeline

ImageSize = width:1070 height:auto barincrement:40 PlotArea = left:120 bottom:100 top:10 right:10 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy Period = from:1986 till:12/31/2021 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Legend = orientation:horizontal position:bottom ScaleMajor = increment:2 start:1986 ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1986 Colors = id:Vocals value:red legend:Vocals id:bvocals value:pink legend:Backing_vocals id:Guitar value:green legend:Guitar id:Bass value:blue legend:Bass id:Drums value:orange legend:Drums id:perc value:claret legend:Percussion id:Keys value:purple legend:Keyboards id:samples value:skyblue legend:Samples_&_programming id:touring value:yellow legend: Touring_member id:album value:black legend:Studio_album id:other value:gray(0.70) legend:Other_release Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:4 BarData = bar:Sutton text:"Graham Sutton" bar:Page text:"Sue Page" bar:Garrison text:"Rashied Garrison" bar:Ling text:"John Ling" bar:Simnett text:"Mark Simnett" bar:Gish text:"Daniel Gish" LineData = layer:back color:album at:02/14/1994 at:07/28/2004 color:other at:04/01/1990 at:10/01/1990 at:07/01/1992 at:10/01/1992 at:01/01/1994 at:03/14/1994 at:05/31/1994 at:05/19/1997 at:06/01/2004 at:02/02/2005 at:07/04/2005 PlotData= width:20 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4) bar:Sutton from:start till:05/31/1994 color:vocals bar:Sutton from:start till:05/31/1994 color:guitar width:13 bar:Sutton from:start till:05/31/1994 color:keys width:7 bar:Sutton from:start till:05/31/1994 color:samples width:3 bar:Sutton from:01/01/2004 till:end color:Vocals bar:Sutton from:01/01/2004 till:end color:guitar width:13 bar:Sutton from:01/01/2004 till:end color:bass width:7 bar:Sutton from:01/01/2004 till:end color:keys width:3 bar:Page from:01/01/1989 till:05/31/1992 color:bvocals bar:Garrison from:06/01/1988 till:12/31/1988 color:guitar bar:Ling from:start till:02/14/1994 color:Bass bar:Ling from:start till:02/14/1994 color:samples width:10 bar:Ling from:start till:02/14/1994 color:perc width:4 bar:Simnett from:01/01/1988 till:05/31/1994 color:drums bar:Simnett from:01/01/1988 till:05/31/1994 color:perc width:7 bar:Gish from:01/01/1991 till:07/01/1993 color:keys bar:Gish from:02/14/1994 till:05/31/1994 color:keys bar:Gish from:02/14/1994 till:05/31/1994 color:touring width:7


Trivia

*The name of the ''Hex'' track "Pendulum Man" is derived from Sutton's nickname during the album sessions ("I was mood swinging around like fuck, going from one extreme to another.)" *During the making of '' ///Codename: Dustsucker'', Graham Sutton intentionally leaked parts of the album to various
peer-to-peer file sharing Peer-to-peer file sharing is the distribution and sharing of digital media using peer-to-peer (P2P) networking technology. P2P file sharing allows users to access media files such as books, music, movies, and games using a P2P software program tha ...
networks. *Sue Page (Bark Psychosis' co-singer on the early Cheree singles) has contributed voice-over work for the mystery adventure game '' Scratches'' (under her married name of Sue Anderson).


Discography


Albums

*'' Hex'' (1994) *'' ///Codename: Dustsucker'' (2004)


Singles and EPs

*"Clawhammer" (1988) *"All Different Things" (1990) *"Nothing Feels" (1990) *"Manman" (1992) *"Scum" (1992) *"Hexcerpts" (1994) (promo only) *"A Street Scene" (1994) *''Blue EP'' (1994) *"The Black Meat" (2005) *''400 Winters EP'' (2005)


Compilations

*''Independency'' (1994) – compiles all EP tracks from 1988 to 1992 *''Game Over'' (1997) – compiles tracks from ''Hex'' and previous EPs, plus several rarities and outtakes *''Replay'' (2004) – similar release to ''Game Over''


Appearances on various artist compilation albums

Bark Psychosis *My Cheree Amour (Cheree, 1991) *Signed Sealed & Delivered 1 (
Virgin Virginity is the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. The term ''virgin'' originally only referred to sexually inexperienced women, but has evolved to encompass a range of definitions, as found in traditional, modern ...
, 1994) *World On Edge 2 (
EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...
, 1994) * Ambient 3: Music Of Changes (Virgin, 1994) *Ambient Extractions 1 (C&S, 1995) *A Taste Of Third Stone 1 (Third Stone, 1996) *The Big Chill: Eyelid Movies (Global Headz, 1996) *Whore: Various Artists Play
Wire Overhead power cabling. The conductor consists of seven strands of steel (centre, high tensile strength), surrounded by four outer layers of aluminium (high conductivity). Sample diameter 40 mm A wire is a flexible strand of metal. Wire is c ...
(WMO, 1996) *Sessions Magazine (1997) *A Taste Of Third Stone 2 (Third Stone, 1997) *Ambient Journeys (Virgin, 1997) Boymerang *Ambient Extractions 2 (C&S, 1996) *Classic Plant ( Leaf Label, 1998) *Classic Plant 2 (Leaf Label) *Derailed Presents Fallout (Derailed, 1998) *Check The Water (Leaf Label, 2005)


References


External links


Graham Sutton
on MySpace (official)
Graham Sutton producer page
on Rough Trade
Bark Psychosis at Fire Records
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bark Psychosis English indie rock groups English post-rock groups Musical groups from London Musical groups established in 1986 Virgin Records artists Fire Records (UK) artists