Wednesday, August 4, 2010

August Newsletter 

We've recently been interviewed by David Elliot, aka 'The amazing Wilf, for 'The European Perspective'.  You can hear the show here.  Whenever we speak to David, he never fails to bring our attention to other great bands out there, and the show is definitely worth a listen if just for that reason.

The guys from DPRP who reviewed our EP last year, Bob Mulvey and Jez Rowden, have been the first to review the new album and you can read the review here.  Any fan of progressive music that isn't aware of this site should really check it out - it's hugely respected and a great resource for progressive music.  Look out for a DPRP interview in the coming weeks too.

Godsticks will feature in the 'on the threshold' section in the next issue of 'Classic Rock Presents Prog' (look out for a review of the album too).  For those unaware, the magazine has been growing in popularity since its inception, and it's now bi-monthly.  If recent articles in the 'Guardian' and 'Independent' are anything to go by, then prog is coming back into musical fashion - stranger things have happened we suppose!

Look out also for a review in Guitarist Magazine and its sister publication Guitar Techniques.  CRS and Summer's End organiser Stephen Lambe will also be reviewing the album for the 'Classic Rock Society' magazine.

The 'album launch' gig has been moved from August to Thursday 30th September.  This will be the first gig in the current 3-piece line up.  Rehearsals are going very well, and we're looking to line up some more gigs over the next few weeks.

For any fellow 'gear-heads' interested in the guitars used on the album, check out the new 'Gear' page, which features some great pictures taken by a friend/photographer Pete Hurley.

Thanks to everyone who has bought the album so far!  Plenty more news to come in the next few weeks, including more gig details, so stay tuned.

Darran, Steve, Dan

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

July Newsletter 

Well, it took 16 months of writing, 4 months of rehearsals, and 2 months in the studio, but we've finally managed to complete our debut album, 'Spiral Vendetta'.  We're really proud of the material on this album and it's as varied in style as the EP we released back in 2009. The album track listing is as follows:

The Offer Still Stands (2:47)
Unnerving Allure (6:00)
Timshel (5:36)
Norman (6:00)
Put Seven in Bold (5:47)
Withdrawn  (5:15)
Traverse (2:30)
R.R.R. (5:30)
The Continuation of Livid (4:30) instrumental
Unravel (5:00)

This time around we recorded the entire album at 'Mighty Atom Studios' with Joe Gibb - the producer and professional perfectionist that we worked with on the EP. Even though it was very, very hard work we had great fun working with Joe again; he really is one of the best producers in the business and cares as passionately about our music as us.

Some of you may already know that there was a line-up change at the beginning of the year. Jason Marsh (our original bass player) left the band to pursue more fusion-inspired instrumental music with fusion musicians Dann Glenn and Baba Elefante; you can check out their new material here.

Taking over bass duties on the album was Bryan Beller; a player we have admired for many years for his work with Mike Keneally and Steve Vai. It was a real pleasure to work with Bryan as we share many of the same influences, and as predicted his style complimented the Godsticks sound perfectly.

The new band line-up has also seen the arrival of bass player, Dan Nelson. Although still very much a young pup, he plays with maturity that belies his age, and hearing him play with the band the very first time was a real treat - a naturally gifted player with a big future ahead of him. As such, the live set-up has now been condensed into a 3-piece with Darran taking over all vocal, guitar, and keyboard duties.

Over the next few months, check out Classic Rock Presents Prog which features a Godsticks interview, and also look out for an album review in Guitarist magazine in the coming months. Hopefully we'll be playing in your local area within the next 12 months so please visit our website and sign up for our newsletter that will contain gig and news updates.

If we receive even half the amount of support and accolades in a year which culminated in us being voted 5th best band in Classic Rock Presents Prog, then we'd consider the album a success. At the moment, the album is only available to buy from the shop on this website.

Thanks for reading!

Darran, Steve, Dan

Monday, February 15, 2010 

Godsticks - Jason Marsh leaves/New album/Bryan Beller

It is with great sadness that we announce the departure of Jason Marsh: bass player and one of the founding members.  He has made no secret over the years (despite us trying to censor him) of his desire to perform more fusion-inspired instrumental music, and he feels the time has come to pursue this particular musical direction.  It can never be underestimated the musical influence he has had on both me and the sound of Godsticks;  I'm personally very sad that he's leaving but have the utmost respect for his decision.

Some of you may remember that Steve left back in November: well, that parting lasted all of 3 weeks until we realised that we couldn't live without each other.  Yes, this is a very dysfunctional band but that's part of its charm!!  Both Steve and I have been working extremely hard rehearsing the 10 tracks for the forthcoming album.

In contrast to the sadness expressed above, we're delighted to announce that none other than Bryan Beller will be taking over bass duties for the new album.  Both Steve and I are huge fans of Bryan and we're really looking forward to working with him.  He is one of only 2 bass players we think compliment our style (the other being Jason!).

We're working with Producer Joe Gibb again for this album, and begin recording at the beginning of April.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Godsticks voted 5th best new act in Classic Rock Presents Prog

GODSTICKS have been voted '5TH BEST NEW ACT' in the lastest issue of Classic Rock Presents Prog magazine, on sale now!  Thanks to all those who voted.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009 

Aaron Evans 1976 - 2009

It is with sadness that we announce the death of our very first drummer, Aaron Evans.  Aaron had been suffering with many issues for a number of years, and died of a heart-attack, aged just 33.  I say this not through rose-tinted glasses, but Aaron was the most naturally-gifted musician both Jason and I have ever played with.  We began this band with Aaron back in 2005 where we were playing covers of complex progressive music by Zappa and others.  This wasn't Aaron's background but the speed in which he was able to musically converse in these styles was astounding (although we were used to him surprising us!).  Even though he was self-taught he was renowned for being able to play practically any style of music, with his own original twist.

It was with Aaron that we began writing original material, and as Aaron and I grew up together we had a bit of a weird telepathy going on when it came to playing together.  We were always able to anticipate what one another would play, and he is one of the few technically-gifted players that always played for the song rather than their ego (which I think we're all guilty of sometimes!).  He was a true original and will be missed by those musicians he played with.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Summers End 2009

Having just returned from the Summers End Festival, its fair to say that we had a great time.  There's no better audience than a crowd full of proggers, and we couldn't have asked for a better reception.  We met some great people/bands and the atmosphere was fantastic.  We also sat down to do an interview with Aural Moon radio too, so keep your eyes peeled.

We hope to see many of you (or all of you, if its possible!) at our gigs in the future.  Thanks to Stephen and Huw, who's efforts to create an eclectic and smooth-running festival were appreciated by all.

Wednesday, August 05, 2009

Jason Marsh in 'Bass Magazine' issue 45

GODSTICKS bass player Jason Marsh features in the latest issue of 'Bass Magazine'! August 2009.

Sunday, July 05, 2009 

Godsticks interview on 'The European Perspective'

Check out the Godsticks interview on 'The European Perspective' hosted by David 'Amazing Wilf' Elliott.

Thursday, July 02, 2009

Godsticks interview

Godsticks interview online at Notreble.com

Thursday, June 04, 2009

Godsticks update

Just a quick update to tell what Godsticks have been up to recently.  We're featuring in July's Guitarist Magazine (out 8th June).  Many thanks to Editor Mick Taylor for all his support over the last few months.  We're currently in rehearsal and aiming to be out on the road from August onwards.  Sales of the EP have been incredible, and we want to thank everyone for the support.  A quick note though: Myspace no longer allow external links to Paypal. 

Not to worry though - you can buy the EP from our online shop page.  Hope to see you all at a gig in the near future!

Friday, April 24, 2009

Guitar Player Magazine EP review

"Godsticks is a three-piece band from the U.K., lead by guitarist, pianist, and vocalist Darran Charles. The five quirky songs on this EP fall roughly into the prog camp, though some of the changes, guitar tones, vocals, and vocal harmonies are more akin to Steely Dan, tamer Zappa, and '70s pop-rock than they are to, say, Genesis or ELP.  Lots of inventive turns of phrase, clever arpeggios, and other little touches combine with the jazzish grooves and hooky melodies to keep things interesting." [Barry Cleveland]

Sunday, April 12, 2009

EP review by The Progressive Rock Files

"Hailing out of South Wales are a new outfit calling themselves Godsticks, who have released their first CD, a five-track EP that displays their rather unique prog slant. The band is a trio of Darren Charles (vocals, guitars, piano), Jason Marsh (bass) and Steve Roberts (drums). For the EP they also employed the drumming skills of Aaron Evans on three of the five tracks. Godsticks formed in 2006 and for the most part played covers of all sorts of progressive rock music. I can't imagine how tough it must have been trying to land club gigs! Still they decided they had more to offer and started working on their own material.

The thing you notice right off with these five tracks is that they're all quite short; all in the four-minute+ range, but the interesting thing about Godsticks' musical style is that they don't seem to need long tracks to provide an arena of musical display. They pack lots of musical twists and turns into small packages. But these musical change-ups are not of the dramatic kind, instead these songs, made up of a variety of musical parts effortlessly slide from one feel to the next and while it didn't seem that the song changed much, on further listens you come to see that you actually went through four or five different bits.

The musical style bears a subtle jazzy feel, coming mostly from the fretless bass, but you also notice it in the way the guitar is played from time to time. Vocally I'm reminded slightly of the work of Echolyn, sometimes in vocal tone and other times in the layered arrangements. The only keyboard present is piano but that doesn't seem to take away from the varied nature of these pieces as Charles goes from acoustic to electric guitars to change the overall tone. 

This five-track EP is a wonderful tease for the music of Godsticks and I for one am looking forward to a full CD release in the months ahead."  [Jerry Lucky]