Dominic Chad (born 5 June 1972 in

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

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 ...

, England) is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

musician, formerly the lead guitarist, backing vocalist, arranger and co-writer of the rock band

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 ...

Biography

Early days

Born in Exeter, Devon, Chad grew up in

Maidstone Maidstone is the largest Town status in the United Kingdom, town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies 32 miles (51 km) east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the c ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

where he attended

Maidstone Grammar School Maidstone Grammar School (MGS) is a grammar school in Maidstone, England. The school was founded in 1549 after Protector Somerset sold Corpus Christi Hall on behalf of King Edward VI to the people of Maidstone for £200. The Royal Charter fo ...

. Dominic went on to study French and

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

Bangor University , former_names = University College of North Wales (1884–1996) University of Wales, Bangor (1996–2007) , image = File:Arms_of_Bangor_University.svg , image_size = 250px , caption = Arms ...

, where he met bassist Mark Howard. They formed the band "Floating Bear" in 1991 with Lance Paine, Pete James and Iain Jenner and released a five-track cassette entitled "Barely Real". The band regularly played at the university's student bar including an Amnesty benefit gig, and also played at

Pontardawe Festival Pontardawe Festival is an annual festival of world music and dance which is held every August on the playing fields in Pontardawe, Wales, UK. The festival is run by volunteers on a not-for-profit basis and has been held every year with one exc ...

Mansun

After being kicked off his degree at the end of the second year, Chad re-located to

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

where he worked as a barman at the Fat Cat Cafe Bar on Watergate Street and met Stove King and Paul Draper, with whom he formed Mansun. Whilst in Mansun, Chad worked as an

arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...

and

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

, and co-wrote several of Mansun's songs with Draper as well as writing and performing a number of

B-sides The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

himself. He also took lead vocals on some of Mansun's songs, such as "Golden Stone", a B-side to "I Can Only Disappoint U" and a live cover of the

Magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

single "

Shot by Both Sides "Shot by Both Sides" is a song written by Howard Devoto and Pete Shelley, and performed by the English post-punk band Magazine. It was released in January 1978 as the band's first single, reaching No. 41 on the UK Singles Chart and appearing, a ...

". After nearly eight years together, Mansun broke up in 2003 whilst working on their fourth studio album.

Post-Mansun career

Chad has since gone on to work as a support worker, supporting people with learning difficulties, physical disabilities and brain injuries. From 2005 to 2010, he worked as an ambulance medic in the London Ambulance Service. Chad studied at the Oxford School of Sports Massage completing their Level 5 BTEC diploma, and also works as a therapist. He also volunteers as a RNLI Lifeboat Crew member in his spare time and in 2016 participated in Team Trailtriker, "4 women and 4 men from the UK aiming to raise as much money for Oxfam whilst raising awareness of those battling cancer and widening awareness of a rare illness called POEMS Syndrome". Chad also composed and performed the music for the short film ''The Man on the Moor'', directed by his friend Steven Rosam. He has also written and co-written episodes for ''Wussywat The Clumsy Cat'', a children's TV show screened on

CBeebies CBeebies is a British free-to-air public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content for children aged 6 years and under. Its sister channel CBBC is aimed at older childr ...

from June 2015. As of 2019, Chad is working as an area manager with people who have learning difficulties.

List of Mansun songs composed by Dominic Chad

;Composed alone ;Composed with Paul Draper (and others)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chad, Dominic 1972 births Living people English rock guitarists English male guitarists English male singers English songwriters People from Maidstone Musicians from Kent 21st-century English singers 21st-century British guitarists 21st-century British male singers British male songwriters Alumni of Bangor University