Captain Face are a Scottish

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band formed in 2003 in

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

, Scotland. The band consists of Euan Wemyss (

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

), Lee 'the tenderness' Morrison (

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

), David Liddell (

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass guitar ...

), Joseph 'Sep' Moore (

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

) and Jonathan 'Joe' Brew (

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

History

Formation and early years (2003–2011)

The band's original line-up came together in the later part of 2003, and consisted of Lee 'the tenderness' Morrison (

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

), Joe Brew (

), Dave Liddell (

) & Duncan Taylor (vocals/keyboards). Liddell soon moved to rhythm guitar duties after Brew recruited former colleague Joseph 'Sep' Moore to take over bass duties at the beginning of 2004. After only a few months the band parted company with Taylor due to "creative & personal differences". The remaining quartet continued to rehearse, mainly writing instrumental music. At the beginning of 2005 the band recruited vocalist Euan Wemyss, with whom Morrison had previously collaborated in the bands 'My Everyday' and 'Lynas'. The band's line-up remained unchanged until they played their last gig in 2010.

Kinmundy

Captain Face claim to hail from "the mythical land of Kinmundy,

Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire ( sco, Aiberdeenshire; gd, Siorrachd Obar Dheathain) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the County of Aberdeen which has substantially differe ...

" portraying this location as a fictional land of strange occurrences. Although there is a village and various other properties bearing the name of Kinmundy in the Aberdeenshire area, the band actually took the name from a water pumping facility close to the village of

Newmachar Newmachar is a village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland about 10 miles (16 km) to the north-west of Aberdeen. The settlement has a long history previously being known as Summerhill within the parish of New Machar, later being renamed Newmachar. So ...

. Captain Face are in fact based in Aberdeen itself, with Lee, Dave, Joe & Euan coming from the Dyce area of the city. Sep is originally from the Scottish West coast town of

Greenock Greenock (; sco, Greenock; gd, Grianaig, ) is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council areas of Scotland, council area in Scotland, United Kingdom and a former burgh of barony, burgh within the Counties of Scotland, historic ...

Live performances

Captain Face play the majority of their gigs in their hometown of Aberdeen, but have also toured frequently around Scotland, playing venues in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

Inverness Inverness (; from the gd, Inbhir Nis , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness"; sco, Innerness) is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Histori ...

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

and various other small towns. The band also toured the

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

area of

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in 2007 with fellow Aberdeen rockers Hot Mangu.

Studio recordings

In the Autumn of 2005 Captain Face were invited to record a song for Aberdeen label Fat Hippy Records ' "Fat Hippy

Sampler Sampler may refer to: * Sampler (signal), a digital signal processing device that converts a continuous signal to a discrete signal * Sampler (needlework), a handstitched piece of embroidery used to demonstrate skill in needlework * Sampler (surna ...

Vol. I" compilation, featuring a mix of experienced and emerging bands from the North-East of Scotland. The band recorded one of the earliest songs they had written, "Welcome To Kinmundy", and having suitably impressed Fat Hippy the band then released their debut EP "BOOM" through the label in July 2006. The band also recorded "The Return Of Horace Batchelor" for the label's "Fat Hippy Sampler Vol. II". 2007 saw the release of three singles - "Awesome! No Way!" (April), "Small Joy" (June) and "100% CRAD" (October). In 2008 the band recorded "Glittermyne II - The Glittering" for the label's "Fat Hippy Sampler Vol. III", and also their first Christmas song, the topically titled "Credit Crunch Christmas". Released on a limited scale by the band themselves, with proceeds going to charity, the disc was only available at live shows.

'Live' versus 'Recorded' music

While Captain Face have been praised for their entertaining live shows, it has been noted by some that their music does not seem to have the same impact when heard on studio recordings. The band's approach to creating original music has been applauded, but it is also seen to sometimes split audiences. As such Captain Face's offerings aren't typically deemed very radio-friendly, however the band have had exposure on various FM and internet radio stations.

Media Exposure

Captain Face's singles "Small Joy" and "100% Crad" have been played by DJ

Vic Galloway Michael "Vic" Galloway (born 4 August 1972) is a DJ on BBC Radio Scotland. Galloway presents a self-titled show on Radio Scotland every Monday from 9pm to 11pm and also the BBC Introducing Scotland Thursday evenings/Friday mornings from 11pm to ...

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

, the U.K's most high-profile radio station. The band have been interviewed and have had songs played on local radio stations Original 106 (Aberdeen), Shmu FM (Aberdeen) and

Northsound 1 Northsound 1 is an Independent Local Radio station based in Aberdeen, Scotland, owned and operated by Bauer as part of the Hits Radio network. It broadcasts to Glasgow and North Scotland As of September 2022, the station has a weekly audienc ...

(N.E Scotland), also performing live in the studio for that station's 'Sunday Session' programme. A preview piece on the 2007 Scottish Parliament Election for

STV North Grampian Television was the original name of the Channel 3 service for the north of Scotland founded in 1961 and now named STV. The northern region's coverage area includes the Northern Isles, Western Isles, Highlands (except Fort William and ...

's ''

North Tonight ''North Tonight'' is a Scottish nightly regional news programme covering the North of Scotland, produced by STV North (formerly Grampian Television). History During the late 1960s and 1970s, Grampian's regional news service consisted of daily ...

'' programme (where front-man Euan Wemyss works) featured the band's first single release "Awesome! No Way!".

Break-up and final gig

Due to Joe Brew's upcoming relocation to his wife's native Finland, Captain Face would be left needing a new drummer. However, after much discussion it was decided that it was time for the band to end. The band played together for the final time at an intimate show for friends and family at Captain Tom's studio, Aberdeen on 19 December 2010.

Discography

EPs

Singles

References

External links

Official MySpace page

Official Bebo page

Official YouTube channel
{{Authority control Scottish rock music groups Musical groups established in 2003