Gene were an British Indie quartet who rose to prominence in the mid-1990s. Formed in 1993, they were popularly labelled as a Britpop band and often drew comparisons to The Smiths, because of their Morrissey-esque lead singer, Martin Rossiter. Gene's music was also influenced by The Jam, The Small Faces, Style Council, and The Clash. Gene's origins lie in a previous band first called "The Go Hole", named after a fictional 'Beat' club in John Clennam Holmes' novel Go, and later renamed "Sp!n." Vocalist/rhythm guitarist and songwriter Lee Clark, bassist John Mason, lead guitarist Steve Mason, and drummer Matt James were original members.
The band was initially formed by Lee Clark (vocals/guitar) and Daz Walton (bass). Then John Mason took over playing bass and Matt joined on drums. A few years later, Lee, John and Matt recruited Steve Mason (John's younger brother) to play lead/rhythm guitar and free Lee's vocal style, which was limited by his mediocre guitar playing.
After cutting their teeth for several years in Woolwich, London, Sp!n became a promising Stone Roses-like band who were sadly the victims of a serious road accident. Bassist John Mason suffered a serious head injury and went into an 11-day coma. Their road manager Daz Walton retired as a result of the crash. In a strange sequence of events, the day prior to the accident, Lee (the original vocalist, and main songwriter of Sp!n) had also offered his resignation in a letter to the rest of the band, due to his dissatisfaction with the way the band and the record label Foundation, were guiding its course. "The final straw for me," stated Lee, "was calling the Sp!n album In Motion - a play on word-association which was so naff, that it beggared belief."
John, disappointed with the music business, went on to become a writer. Lee briefly recorded demos with Andrew (Snake) Newton, who had been the live sound engineer for Sp!n, then gave up 'serious' music to become a primary school teacher. John felt that tales of chaos, romance and terror were better suited away from the manacles of fashion. Lee felt he was getting a bit old to be a rock star and decided to play and record only in his own bedroom. Daz is now with the band Somewhere Outside New York.
Wanting to continue together in a band, Steve Mason and Matt James recruited bass player Kevin Miles who had a long association with the band through Daz. All that was left was the task of finding a singer, accomplished with some serendipity in a London nightclub. The story goes that after seeing Watford-based Welshman Martin Rossiter cross the floor of the club, Mason approached him and they began to talk (a process Mason once described as "like trying to pull a lady"). Their meeting ended with Rossiter handing out his business card ('Martin Rossiter: Soothsayer to the Stars') and Mason giving Rossiter a chance to sing with the band. Rossiter appeared on Sp!n's last demos as 'Martin T. Falls' (a nod to the Mancunian band The Fall) shortly before the decision was made to adopt the name 'Gene'.
Rossiter's eloquence and warm, emotive voice proved an effective pairing with Steve Mason's intricate pentatonic guitar riffs, whilst Kevin Miles's melodic basslines and Matt James's expertise in various rock drumming styles ensured a solid musical base for the group's successes.
for more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_%28band%29
ASU Student Radio is celebrating it's 25th year being the Sun Devil's Original Alternative! For more info check out http://www.theblaze1260.com.
"Don't expect a lot from this show." Was the unofficial motto of KASR VIDEO, which made a pleasant surprise when we actually knocked out a great show! The program was a weekly 2 hour public access offshoot of the Arizona State University's original alternative radio station that aired in Phoenix. The music video show featured rarely seen videos and "new" music not in the "main stream." Along with non-conventional interviews it became a decent way to nurse a hangover with the midnight party crowd. These clips are edited as a sort of best of; minus the music videos.
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9:36Gene Interviewby Listen2Gene610 views
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