DeSylvaWitt
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NEW RELEASES ALBUMS ABOUT FRIENDS & COLLABORATORS
MUSICIANS' 4 CLIMATE ACTION
Simon Picken Former band manager, Simon Picken (right), met Max Keen (left) at Foley College, Stourbridge, in the early 1970’s. Their shared passion for music cemented their friendship and their respective contributions to the band. As Manager, Simon did everything possible to promote and develop the band. As one with 'the gift of the gab', Simon actually secured a meeting with Bob Currie, head of A&R at EMI in New York City in 1982! Simon stayed in close contact with the band over the years and was one of the chief mourners at Gary's funeral in 2021.
Adrian Hathaway
Reliable, hard-working, and easy to work with, Adrian was on hand during the show to make sure everything ran smoothly and to help out when things went wrong...and they did go wrong, frequently!
Adrian was roadie extraordinaire! In the early days he was the beating heart of Ezra Pound's live shows–loading, rigging, de-rigging, loading, unloading–everyone's least favourite jobs. Max (forever polishing his chrome 19 shell double bass drum mega kit) and Gary (always claiming he didn't know where or how things set down or packed away) would mysteriously go missing when the "humping" of the gear from stage to van was about to start, bless 'em! On the 29th September 1981, we heard the devastating news that Adrian had died at home in his sleep. As a tribute to his life and his dedication to Ezra Pound - but mostly because of his close and dear friendship - we wrote Adrian's Song.
Dave Hathaway Adrian's younger brother, Dave, was and continues to be, another Ezra Pound stalwart and lifelong friend. Dave was known as the "The Foreman" for his art of delegating the jobs of setting up and down (he does dispute this). He is perhaps most famous for the 'McCoys smoke machine incident', where over-zealous Dave created an on stage pea souper, where you literally could not see your hand in front of your face! Dave was also one of the chief mourners at Gary’s funeral in 2021.
Pete Maher Adding the final sparkle to DeSylvaWitt's audio comes Pete Maher, the UK’s No1 independent mastering engineer. Recent projects include U2, Peaky Blinders, The Pixies, Nick Cave, BBC Introducing, MTV, The Rolling Stones and Eurovision. Pete uses valve multiband compression and all the best digital plugins to give his mixes more height, depth and volume. He is a huge supporter of new music even finding time for DeSylvaWitt in amongst his star-studded client list! Pete says: "I honestly believe that the best music in the world today is either independent or still unsigned. There’s a huge amount of talent out there being overlooked by major labels and that needs to change. It’s time for the industry to dig a lot deeper!" If you would like to know more, please click here...
Simon Holder Rock steady Si became the beating heart of Tom The Frop when he joined in 1995. He is Mr Reliable, the super-solid, well-oiled engine room of the band. But perhaps his greatest skill is the inspirational ability to unceasingly wind-up our beloved Maxwell! Simon really came into his own at the 2007 Hole-in-the-Wall concert with members of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. This will be our next release so please subscribe to be kept in the loop.
Max Keen
Max has been with Ezra Pound and then Tom The Frop from the very beginning, despite all attempts to shake him off! We delight in making Max the butt of our jokes, and in return, Max makes our musical journey side-splittingly funny! Most importantly, Max is the one who links us to the audience. We would never admit it to him, but he is a brilliant front man! Max could never have enough drums, a second bass drum was added but luckily we don't have a picture of that! At one rehearsal, a ship's bell turned up and this featured in every song that day. The same thing happened when he acquired the dreaded timbales! Max's face goes even more blank than usual when we try to suggest 'less is more'...summed up best when, whilst mindlessly strumming his long-suffering acoustic guitar, he reached to adjust his mic stand with his left hand while continuing to strum with his right, bless him!
Sean Carmody
Esra Pound are forever in debt to Sean Carmody for his unwavering support and considerable investment of time, energy, and production acumen. All songs on the CAIRO album were recorded and produced at Seandee Studios in Kidderminster, England. Brilliantly crafted by Sean who, with the help of Gary, spent hours and hours and hours patiently making our songs into production masterpieces. We count ourselves very lucky to have worked with Sean and Gary back in the days of Ezra Pound. They toiled tirelessly, trying to coax the best from the limitations of the 16 track tape machine & what a fabulous job they did, RESPECT! …oh & not forgetting, cleaning up the studio after us at 2am, after another ridiculously long session!
Max recalled events following one such marathon: “And of course, Gary liked the “odd tipple” – and we have a great memory of him cycling off into the foggy night from Sean Dee’s studio, with a flagon of cider tucked under one arm. We looked at each other, counted and before we had got to 8, there was a distant yelp, crashing noise and breaking of glass, followed by the unmistakable sound of two cycle wheels spinning to a stop!” (Extract from Max's eulogy at Gary's funeral, click here to read the full version.)
FRIENDS & COLLABORATORS In 2021, we lost our dear friend, band mate, and inspirational guitarist, Gary Davies. As a tribute to him, our first release will be the eight songs we recorded together in 1981/2. Please listen, like, and share as all of Gary's play revenue will go directly to his widow, Linda.
Gary Davies Below is an extract from Ezra Pound's founding member Max Keen's eulogy at Gary's funeral: "Gary loved telling stories true...and not so true. He was indeed a master at it, with an imagination bordering on genius - seriously! One of his ‘what if’ moments in his youth: Whist riding pillion on a push bike playing a game of Romans and Britons and carrying an old cemetery railing as a spear, he wondered, ‘What if I poke the spear into the front wheel as we are going down this steep hill...?’ So he leaned forward past his mate who was steering and poked the spear into the front wheel. A short stay in hospital resulted!" Click here to read the full version.
Tony Chance
We are eternally grateful to our lifelong friend and collaborator Tony Chance for his spectacular artwork and incredible movie-making skills, but most of all his loyal and dear friendship. It was actually Tony who came up with 'Ezra Pound' which was on a list of band names Tony had written down for his own band...Pete immediately poached it & Ezra Pound was born. Tony then helped out with live sound plus adding sound effects from his home made 'Gerry Anderson' oil rig synthesizer! Tony's life passion has been, and continues to be, painting and drawing. He has illustrated a large number of books, and has become known for his conceptual artwork and storyboards for many Hollywood feature films. These include No Time To Die, Rocket Man, Spectre, Mission:Impossible and the Oscar-winning, American Beauty. The weather is the inspiration for most of Tony’s original artwork. Very often they are images drawn from remote and wild areas of Britain. “I love the dramatic effect that the climate has on the landscape. How it affects light, and the challenge of capturing this in two dimensions.” Narrative is also a strong element of Tony’s work. “Illustration and storyboarding informs my painting, and I’m very influenced by 17C Dutch and Victorian painters. Story telling and drama is what interests me most in art.” DeSylvaWitt's next album release, 'ORBIS' features Tony's sublime 'Falling Slowly' oil painting, the CD cover does not do it justice so please visit Tony’s fine artwork website and immerse yourself in his weatherscape world: weatherscape.co.uk
ORBIS
Greg Faulkner We first met 'Big Bottom Bass Boy' Greg Faulkner in the early 1980's at 'The Miss County Express Ball at Dudley Town Hall'. Greg was playing with Debbie Bonham's 'Aircrew' and Ezra Pound were on the same bill. None of us can remember the date, but it was with DLT and Simon Bates at Dudley Town Hall. If you were there, we would love to hear from you! Greg joined Tom The Frop in 1997 when Nick went on paternity leave. He was so talented that when Nick returned, Tom The Frop became five!
Matt Butler We are honoured to have worked with one of the best sound engineers in the business, Matt Butler. Matt's knowledge, experience, and zest for music is second to none, as is his client list! As Matt says: "Life has to be fun and creating music is something that is both fun and lasts for a long time...I am proud of my approach, ensuring clients have the best product... To see the fans go nuts about songs crafted in the studio is the best thing. I've mixed so much in so many places and I always want to have an end product that we are all so proud of. I'm used to dealing with budgets, ideas, mixing, arrangements, bars & beats, difficulties, celebrations, fears and above all: inspiration. Songwriters are the key to it all." If you would like to know more, please click here...
Rockfield, Jan 2018
Rockfield, Jan 2018
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