Mark Lewis Fry (born 4 November 1952) is an English painter and
psychedelic folk
Psychedelic folk (sometimes acid folk or freak folk) is a loosely defined form of psychedelic music, psychedelia that originated in the 1960s. It retains the largely acoustic instrumentation of contemporary folk music, folk, but adds musical el ...
musician. He is best known for his album ''Dreaming with Alice'', released in 1972, which has been hailed as a psychedelic folk classic by critics and a diverse range of musicians.
Early life
Mark Fry was born in
Epping Epping may refer to:
Places
Australia
* Epping, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney
** Epping railway station, Sydney
* Electoral district of Epping, the corresponding seat in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
* Epping Forest, Kearns, a he ...
, Essex, into a family of artists descended from the
Quaker founders of the Bristol-based chocolate business
J. S. Fry & Sons. His father was the painter
Anthony Fry. He is a cousin of
Roger Fry
Roger Eliot Fry (14 December 1866 – 9 September 1934) was an English painter and critic, and a member of the Bloomsbury Group. Establishing his reputation as a scholar of the Old Masters, he became an advocate of more recent developme ...
, the artist, critic and member of the
Bloomsbury Group.
Fry was educated at
Dartington Hall School
Dartington Hall in Dartington, near Totnes, Devon, England, is an historic house and country estate of dating from medieval times. The group of late 14th century buildings are Grade I listed; described in Pevsner's Buildings of England as "on ...
in Devon. On leaving Dartington in 1970 he enrolled at the in
Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...
,
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
, where he studied painting under the
Futurist
Futurists (also known as futurologists, prospectivists, foresight practitioners and horizon scanners) are people whose specialty or interest is futurology or the attempt to systematically explore predictions and possibilities abo ...
Primo Conti.
''Dreaming with Alice''
During Fry's time in Italy he was introduced to the record producer
Vincenzo Micocci. On hearing some of Fry's songs, Micocci signed him to record label IT Dischi, a subsidiary of
RCA
The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...
. ''Dreaming with Alice'' was recorded by Fry and a band of session musicians in Rome over a three-day period in the summer of 1971. Following the recording session Fry toured Italy supporting singer
Lucio Dalla.
Fry left Italy in autumn 1971 to return to England before the album was released. He was sent a box of the records following the release on IT Dischi records in Italy in 1972, and had no further dealings with the label. For several years, Fry continued to perform music with various musicians including drummer
Pete Thomas (later of
The Attractions
The Attractions were an English backing band for the English new wave musician Elvis Costello between 1977 and 1986, and again from 1994 to 1996. They consisted of Steve Nieve (keyboards and ukulele), Bruce Thomas (bass guitar), and Pete Tho ...
), but without any associated record releases. In the early 1980s, after a long period of travel in the US and West Africa, Fry returned to London to pursue his career as an artist.
Unknown to Fry, the album had been developing cult status over the ensuing three decades as a psychedelic folk classic, garnering acclaim from critics and a new generation of musicians as diverse as
Kieran Hebden
Kieran Hebden (born September 1977), known as Four Tet, is an English electronic musician. He came to prominence as a member of the post-rock band Fridge before establishing himself as a solo artist with charting UK albums such as '' Rounds'' ( ...
(Four Tet),
Colleen and
Plastic Crimewave
Plastic Crimewave (born Steven H. Krakow), otherwise known as Steve Krakow, is a Chicago-based illustrator and writer, avant-garde musician, music historian and impresario. He is the editor of Drag City-published magazine ''Galactic Zoo Dossier' ...
. Fry was to discover this by chance in the early 2000s.
''Dreaming with Alice'' is included in ''
Record Collector
''Record Collector'' is a British monthly music magazine. It was founded in 1980 and distributes worldwide.
History The early years
The first standalone issue of ''Record Collector'' was published in March 1980, though its history stretches ba ...
s 2009 "Top 20 Strange Folk Albums".
Fry is featured in the anthology ''Galactic Ramble'' and in ''Seasons They Change: The Story of Acid, Psych and Experimental Folk''.
The highest price paid at auction to date for an original copy of ''Dreaming with Alice'' was $4061 (£2968) in May 2013.
Painting
Fry has achieved renown as a painter, with eight solo exhibitions since 1993 in London's West End and the
Charleston Gallery. Fry's 2005 show "Into the Air" was reviewed by British periodical ''
The Week
''The Week'' is a weekly news magazine with editions in the United Kingdom and United States. The British publication was founded in 1995 and the American edition in 2001. An Australian edition was published from 2008 to 2012. A children's ed ...
'', which wrote: "With simple lines and subtle effects of texture and shadow, Fry achieves a cool, lyrical elegance with its own dynamism."
Recent work
In 2006, Sunbeam Records reissued a remastered version of ''Dreaming with Alice'' in the UK.
In January 2008, Fry released his second album, ''Shooting the Moon'', an album of 15 songs penned over a number of years.
In November 2008, Fry was invited to appear at the fourth
Million Tongues Festival in Chicago.
In February 2009, Fry collaborated with
Nick Franglen of
Lemon Jelly
Lemon Jelly is a British electronic music duo from London that formed in 1998 and went on hiatus starting in 2008. Since its inception, the band members have always been Fred Deakin and Nick Franglen. Lemon Jelly has been nominated for awards ...
on a new version of the title song of ''Dreaming with Alice'', which was released as a limited-edition vinyl single on
Fruits de Mer Records.
In 2009 Fry was contacted by Dorset-based experimental musicians Michael Tanner and Nicholas Palmer, together known as The A. Lords. A musical collaboration ensued, and during 2009 and 2010 the three worked on new songs together, Fry adding lyrics and vocal parts to music composed and recorded by Palmer and Tanner. In May 2010 the trio played at Bush Hall in London, where they were introduced by critic
Will Hodgkinson
Will Hodgkinson is a journalist and author from London (born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne), England. He is the chief rock and pop critic for ''The Times'' newspaper and contributes to ''Mojo'' magazine. He has written for ''The Guardian'', ''The Indepen ...
. The album ''I Lived in Trees'' by Mark Fry and The A.Lords was released in September 2011. It was well-received by critics and its release was followed by a London concert featuring
Grasshopper of
Mercury Rev
Mercury Rev is an American indie rock band formed in 1989 in Buffalo, New York.
, Martin Smith of
Tunng
Tunng are an English folk music band. They are often associated with the folktronica genre, due to the electronic influences evident in some of their work. Tunng are often noted for their use of unconventional instruments, including seashells a ...
, Nicholas Palmer and
Nick Franglen, who also produced the event.
In November 2012 the writer and producer
John Lloyd chose Fry's song "Regrets" as one of the eight recordings he would like to take to a desert island in the long-running
BBC Radio
BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering ...
programme ''
Desert Island Discs
''Desert Island Discs'' is a radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It was first broadcast on the BBC Forces Programme on 29 January 1942.
Each week a guest, called a "castaway" during the programme, is asked to choose eight recordings (usua ...
''.
In April 2013 Fry played three concerts in Tokyo, which resulted in a live album, ''Mark Fry Live in Japan''.
In September 2014 Fry released a further album, ''South Wind, Clear Sky''.
[
]
Discography
Albums
* ''Dreaming with Alice'' LP (IT ZLST 70006), RCA / IT Dischi, 1971
* ''Dreaming with Alice'' CD (SBR CD5028), Sunbeam Records, 2006
* ''Dreaming with Alice'' LP (SBR LP5028), (includes two bonus tracks), Sunbeam Records, 2007 and 2010
* ''Shooting the Moon'' (IDLECD001), Boredidlebaby, 2008
* ''I Lived in Trees'' (SL013), Second Language, 2011
* ''Mark Fry Live in Japan'' (CT-1211/CT-710), Captain Trip Records, 2014
* ''South Wind, Clear Sky'' (SL032), Second Language, 2014
Singles
* "Dreaming with Alice" (A side) / "The Witch" (live) (B side), ''Fruits de Mer Vol. 5'', (Crustacean06), Fruits de Mer, 2009
Compilation appearances
* "Mandolin Man" is included in ''Love, Peace & Poetry – British Psychedelic Music'' (QDKCD041), Normal Records, 2001
* "Song for Wilde" is included in ''Shifting Sands'' (SBRCD5075), Sunbeam Records, 2010
* "I Lived in Trees" is included in ''Vertical Integration'' (SL06), Second Language, 2010
* "Song for Wilde" is included in the October 2011 edition of the ''Late Night Tales'' series (ALNCD26), curated by US band MGMT
* "Dreaming with Alice" (single version) is included in ''Plankton'' (RCLP008), Record Collector, 2013
* "In Times Like These" is included in ''Music and Migration III'' (SL025), Second Language, 2013
* "The Witch" is included in ''Love Poetry and Revolution'' (CRSEGBOX025), Grapefruit Records, 2013
Solo exhibitions
* Christopher Hull Gallery, London – 1993, 1995, 1998
* The Charleston Gallery, Sussex – 2006
* Archeus Fine Art, London – 2001, 2003, 2005
* Gallery 286,
References
External links
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fry, Mark
Living people
English folk musicians
Psychedelic folk musicians
1952 births
People educated at Dartington Hall School
Fruits de Mer Records artists