HW: Hawkwind support band 1992 tour - KREL

[LN1GJT]

KREL have a new CD out (availlable by mail order from ANDY G at CDS in Dundee
Scotland). It is probably THE BEST space rock album in the past five years (say
I, Guy Thomas, a die-hard Hawkwind fan for the past 18 years!)

Here's a brief history of the band: (If you want a formatted version of this,
E-mail me on guy.thomas at entoil.co.uk and I will send back a WORD 6.0/7.0 file.)

Likewise any more info, contact me, or Andy at CDS:  andygee at dial.pipex.com
Telephone Andy G for purchases on UK 44-(0)1382-776595  or
Fax  him on UK 44-(0)1382-736 702



                                THE KREL

Past,  present & future

In times long past,  this planet was the home of a mighty and noble race of
beings which called themselves "The Krel".  Ethically,  as well as
technologically,  they were a million years ahead of humankind, in unlocking
the mysteries of nature.  And when in the course of aeons they had abolished
sickness,  insanity and crime and all injustice , they turned with high
benevolence outwards towards space.....

WHO ARE THE KREL ?

Never heard of KREL?!?  Yet,  all across the galaxy,  Alien nations scratch
their odd-shaped heads and marvel at the fact that even on their home planet
there are people who aren't aware that less than a light year away,  (unless
you travel by Metrolink) lies a band,  inter-galactically renowned for their
soaring,  searing,  space rock sound.  If you belong to this category,  then
please step into the time machine to your left and allow yourself to be whisked
back through time to

THE DAWN OF KREL EPOCH:

Back in the fading mists of time (Solar Ref: 1988), Martin M.- rhythm guitar,
vox, synths  and Radar Dave  - lead guitar and vox,  were involved in the bands
Eddy's Pipe and Moonstone which were fairly significant in the terms of
solstice/folk style music, but ending their sets with Nik Turner's Watching the
Grass Grow convinced them to ditch the hippie thing and get involved with
proper rock/space rock music, which their audiences seemed to prefer. So due to
the age-old excuse of musical differences,  Martin and Dave drifted away, to
team up with:  Mr. Dibs (bass, vox),  [the ever so slightly annoyed] Floyd
(keyboards, synths) and  Phil Peak (drums) to become the world renowned Purple
Otters Trotters (P.O.T.).

Those same mists of time have obscured the fact that P.O.T. may have actually
gigged on a few occasions, and recorded a tape - titled  Mike Moorcock's
Underpants,  either with Phil on drums or a drum machine,  but P.O.T. did
actually play at Manchester's Swinging Sporran venue for a benefit gig for the
Traveller's Aid Trust, in 1989.  The M.M.U. tape was a creditable collection of
Hawkwind covers.

With the addition of a new drummer,  the band was reborn as KREL.

OCTOBER 1990

After a year of intensive writing,  rehearsal and recording,  the fledgling
KREL prepare to release themselves on an unsuspecting world. Musicnauts of the
KREL-CREW at this stage are:  Martin M,  Mr. Dibbs,  Radar Dave,  Floyd, and
Mike Man - the new man on drums and percussion.

Armed only with their instruments,  they embark on the treacherous journey to
the Poodleburger Bike Rally.  This results in near disaster,  due to a steep
hill,  a wet road and dodgy brakes.

Thankfully they escape unharmed and continue gigging around Stockport and
Manchester to promote the self financed "Who's next on This" debut cassette
album.  They soon built up a reputation for their live performances,  (dayglo
spectaculars featuring dancers, jugglers and mime artists),  which leads to
them being asked to headline a benefit gig for Amnesty International at the
R.N.C.M.,  which also played host to Henry Normal,  Lemn Sissay and Picasso
Jones, who as well as being a dancer for KREL was a singer/songwriter in his
own right.

In amongst the headlining gigs, KREL were building up a reputation as a
reliable and efficient support band,  playing with Dumpy's Rusty Nuts (for the
N.A.B.D.) and gigs in Manchester and Wolverhampton with the Ozrics.
DECEMBER 1991

Where KREL were asked to play a couple of support slots for Hawkwind at
Bradford and York as a small taster for the British spring '92 tour.  In
between,  KREL continued to gig locally as well as playing at a Club Dog event
in London with Dub the Earth.  The next few months were spent rehearsing,  as
well as making and collating recordings for the next cassette album,  which was
released in:

SPRING 1992

"Dark Star" was released to accompany the UK tour with Hawkwind,  which covered
23 towns/cities,  and had a combined audience of approx. 45,000 people who
delighted in KREL's own particular brand of audio-visual entertainment.
(Editors note:-  I got to see three gigs of the tour,  at Hemmel Hempstead,
Hammersmith Odeon and the final show at Reading.  KREL were at the very least
on an equal par  with the mighty Hawkwind,  putting in some awesome
performances,  Hammersmith in particular was superb!)  As well as the "Dark
Star" and "Who's Next.." material,  the band played most of the tracks from a
third (sadly) unreleased tape, nicknamed "The Shed",  (after The Shed studios
in Romily where it was recorded.) Picasso  and another friend,  Siobhan, joined
the band on stage in a superb dancing capacity. KREL are easily the best
support act that Hawkwind have ever had,  and were in perilous danger of
severely outshining them. They even popped into the set ,  once or twice,  the
old unreleased Hawkwind classic "Where are they now?".

The only dull moment of the entire tour was due to an administration error
which resulted in the entourage spending time at Watford gap service-station,
and missing the Preston show.  Floyd was invited to part company soon after the
tour!

EARTH ZERO, 1993

Following its release in May 1993,  the next cassette album, "Earth Zero",
generated high levels of interest,  particularly in Europe.  Here's a closer
look at the album that Organ Magazine described as "by far the best tape they
have put out."   Recorded in two cold days in March,  "Earth Zero" was the
result of 8 weeks solid rehearsal and preparation. For this tape,  Mike Man has
disappeared doing the far eastern cosmological thing,  to be replaced by  Gibo
on drums.  Radar Dave is taking a sabbatical for a while, on other musical
projects,  so Pic has graduated from dancing with KREL to guitar, backing
vocals and synths.  Martin M is still solidly at the helm along with Dibs.
At first,  the intention was to put out a 12" single,  but the band felt that
£5.00 for an hour of music was better than £4.00 for just two or three tracks.
The basic tracks for EZ were instrumental and recorded live,  with vocals,
lead guitar,  samples and synths overdubbed later.  Once the five main tracks
had been mixed down to DAT,  they were transported to the KREL Laboratories,
where Martin added the epic 20 minute "Psychically Project [Parts 1-23]",
which closes EZ in a suitable fashion.  As "Chroninga Well" magazine put it,
"we can't guarantee that you'll be able to find your way back to earth...."

Other reviewers had this to say...  "drifting trance-like through corridors of
time,  black holes and exploding super-novae...this is an album to be listened
to in a horizontal position,  with headphones on...the ultimate space-rock
album of the past few years."

April 1993 saw KREL playing to a capacity 1200 at Nottingham's Rockworld, in
aid of the charity N.A.B.D. Ashton's renowned venue,  "The Witchwood",  played
host to The Enid,  to which KREL accepted the invitation to support.

An illuminated 200 ft redbrick viaduct was the atmospheric backdrop for an
outdoor gig at The Crown in Stockport in June,  which was well attended for a
"word of mouth" gig.  One review of the gig , "the music they play is music you
soak up and get swept away by...  If you don't get to see them live,  there is
a tape available, but when you do se them,  you too can get lost in the music."

July 1993 saw KREL venture across the Pennines into Wakefield,  the line up
boosted by Phil Howard (of Spacehead fame),  then back to Oldham's "The Shack",
 a respected rock venue. The introduction to KREL's set was a Pinki & Perki track! (A certain Medieval tradition in those parts!)


1994

KREL goes into a period of quiet relaxation,  with Martin concentrating on solo
projects. During this time he recorded some excellent music, some of which was
compiled into the tape: "Scientific Fiction - Lie Back and Distract" .
Interestingly,  a lot of tracks on this tape are the roots of KREL tracks on
the main tapes.

1995

Dibs parted company with the band, but during May, in the KREL Labs, the band
recorded the excellent "About Time [to Emit]" tape.  Strictly,  this too is a
solo tape from Martin, but he line-up credited to the cover of the tape was:
Martin M - lead, rhythm guitar, vox, synths, programming, bass;  Radar Dave -
lead guitar, vox;  Picasso - guitar, vox, spoken word;  Gibo - percussion.
Even though his fellow musicnauts may have had only smaller contribution,
Martin was keen to give credit,  where credit is due.  Curt augmented the live
crew on bass and things, with Paul Harris as aux operative. This tape,
although superb in its own right,  was a taster for greater things to follow!

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

Dibs and Phil Howard merged space rock & the synthesised ambience of Cellular
Structure to become  Spacehead and put out a couple of cassette releases,  and
more recently, a CD "Of Space and Time" on Hawkwind's EBS Label. It seems that
Phil has since quit to do his own solo stuff while Dibs is putting together a
live band to support Hawkwind on their forthcoming Autumn 1997 tour. This band
might feature Martin guesting at Manchester.
Gibo and Curt are off doing the life thing,  and Mike Man is playing in various
bands in Wales.  Picasso Jones has been working on some solo stuff,  also with
friends,  at his psychedelectronic labs,  and the first fruits of these
sessions will be released shortly (final mixdown stage) as PROTO.  The tape,
"PROTO ROCK",  will be an album length blend of Can-esque trance music and will
be released on his own label.

OUT OF THE ASHES OUR PHOENIX RISES

The 1995 tape of "About Time [to Emit]" has been reworked and developed into
its final release state and has been transformed into the new title: "Ad
Astra".  This will be released on Andi G's own CD label.  (Andi,  of CDS Dundee
fame - widely renowned as  Europe's finest Space-Rock specialist,  jumped at
the chance to do the CD,  since whilst at Mike Lloyd music and CDS,  he has
always been asked for KREL material!)  It really is a superb blend of space
rock styles old and new.  It also sees Martin playing some excellent acoustic
guitar (on Green Sky).

Since finishing "Ad Astra",  Martin has been busy writing and recording new
KREL material, (Martin always was the main songwriter in the band),  some of
which features the return of Radar Dave on lead guitar.  He is also in the
post-production stage of an ambient tape,  and has been working on a projected
Hawkwind covers project which may feature Mr. Dibs on some vocals.
As well as all the studio activity,  preparations are being made for KREL's
return to the live stage.  A specially selected crew from members past and
future are being lined up. (Ed: - do we see Martin, Dave and Dibs together
again?)

THE FUTURE ?

A remix tape and a compilation (featuring some unreleased tracks) as well as
more of the above.

DON'T FORGET THE FUTURE NOW.

Guy Thomas