Bark Psychosis
Bark Psychosis are an English post-rock band/musical project from east London formed in 1986. They were one of the bands that Simon Reynolds cited when coining "post-rock" as a musical style in 1994, and are thus considered one of the key bands defining the genre.
In its original form, the group was a quartet of Graham Sutton, Daniel Gish, John Ling and Mark Simnett. This line-up (with contributions from other passing members) recorded early singles and EPs plus the seminal 1994 album Hex, before gradually dissolving over the course of 1994, with Sutton moving on to his drum and bass project Boymerang and to production work. Sutton reformed Bark Psychosis in 2004 without any of the other previous members, as a flexible project in which he was supported by an shifting roster of guest musicians (including Talk Talk drummer Lee Harris and experimental guitarist Colin Bradley of Dual). Due to Sutton's renewed focus on production work, Bark Psychosis has been inactive since 2005, with no announcements of a final breakup or future plans.
History[edit]
Formation and early years (1986–1988)[edit]
Bark Psychosis was formed in Snaresbrook, Essex in 1986, emerging from the 1980s East London experimental music scene that also produced AR Kane and Disco Inferno. The original two members were schoolfriends Graham Sutton (guitar, vocals) and John Ling (bass, vocals). Both were aged 14 at the time that they started the band, carrying out their initial experiments using a 4-track tape recorder and a drum machine.[4] In January 1988 Ling and Sutton (both aged 16) left school to pursue music full-time. They recruited drummer Mark Simnett, who had previously done community work centered on St John's Church, Stratford.
Using Simnett's connection with the church, Bark Psychosis arranged rehearsal space for themselves in the crypt of St John's,[3] a location that would continue to play an important role in Bark Psychosis' music. The trio spent the rest of 1988 rehearsing and composing original material, during which time both Sutton and Ling began to dabble in keyboard playing and digital sampling. A few low-key gigs followed late in the year. One of these concerts was attended by Nick Allport and Vinita Joshi of the small East London independent label Cheree Records. Impressed by the band, Cheree immediately offered to release the band's first recordings.[4] During this period, Bark Psychosis briefly featured a second guitarist, Rashied Garrison.[4] Garrison had previously played in The Moons, a band who had supported Bark Psychosis at early shows. However, his tenure with Bark Psychosis was fairly short and he would later become "a feared journalist", the guitarist in Good Time Pony and leader of The Repton Oaks.[5]