Musician, writer, producer, minstrel and RTYD member, Jay Stapley, has a new website

Musician, writer, producer, minstrel and RTYD member, Jay Stapley, has a new website with lots of cool stuff on it like tutorial videos, a blog, and of course, music. For those of you who don't know about Jay, below is his biography, ponced from the new website!

Jay came to London in 1978 after playing in local bands in the Kent/Sussex area. He became one of London’s best-known session and gigging guitarists, working with a wide range of artists and producers on projects ranging from films (“Withnail and I”, etc.) to international tours (Roger Waters, Mike Oldfield etc.) and albums (Suede, Toyah, Scott Walker, etc.)
Jay’s live work with Julian Dawson took him to Germany in 1983, where he met producer Rene Tinner (Can) and became a regular commuter to Rene’s Cologne studio to add guitar to various recording projects. One of the artists Jay worked with was German superstar Westernhagen, with whom Jay has toured and recorded ever since, becoming the artist’s co-producer and Musical Director. Jay recorded 4 instrumental CDs for WEA records in the 1990’s and has recently released a new CD of songs (“Edge of the World”, available on iStore, on the Music page on this site, and at www.reverbnation.com/jaystapley).
Jay’s interest in technology led him to become a demonstrator of guitar products for Roland UK and Roland International. Subsequent demonstration work for Digidesign encouraged Jay to develop his own studio, where he now produces a wide range of music including music CDs, film & TV music, and library projects.
Jay’s teaching experience includes private tuition and he was one of the first teachers at the Guitar Institute (now ICMP.)
Jay has recently started a record label, Dammit Music, specialising in acoustic, singer/songwriter and unusual music projects.

A very English noise

I went to see Black Box Recorder last night at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on the South Bank. Last time I saw a gig there it was Arab Strap in the late-90s. It's a seated venue, and on that occasion after an all-nighter the previous night, the slow pace of AS's narrative songs gradually sent me off to sleep, only to wake me again minutes later with a cacophonous blast of noise and an explosion of light. (Oh, those heady days - Ed.)

I managed to stay awake last night.

Black Box Recorder is the band that Luke Haines formed after the Auteurs. The Auteurs were a band that were at the forefront of the wave of British bands that were bubbling under the tail-end of the US grunge movement of the early-90s. They, and Suede, were NME cover stars for a while back then. Suede, however, were the ones who achieved more commercial success in the long run. When Kurt Cobain died, this of course heralded the backlash movement we now know as Brit-pop. One wonders what would have happened had Cobain lived on?

BBR are difficult to pigeon-hole. As were the Auteurs, despite NME's efforts to do so. Because they, like Suede, simply made Rock music with English subject matter and sung with a very English accent. Any US influence is minimal, and probably consciously avoided.

People often say to me, as I'm sure they do to you if you're in a band: What or who do you sound like? I never give the same answer twice, cos I haven't got a stock one - I don't know, see. BBR and Suede must have had the same problem at some point. 'Cos like U2 and Queen, they sound most like themselves. They are rock bands. They are English, and they sing about being British. They have in common originality. Their own sound.

This is great if you 'make it' of course, and can add longevity to your career by continually updating your sound and image. Then you move beyond having to discuss what you sound like. You sound, and look like, yourself.

If however you languish in obscurity, being original can be mean that you don't sit well on concert bills with other bands. People don't know how to describe you to their mates or whether they like you or not. You are an acquired taste. (I see where this going -Ed)

Introducing Pocket Rocket. Brit-Rock at it's most British. Expect an EP release in the Autumn, and a support slot for Black Box Recorder or Suede.