The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Elvis Presley, David Mead, Gilbert O' Sullivan, Nilsson, E.L.O., Elvis Costello, Mel Torme, Rufus Wainwright, The Honeybus, Michael Penn, Ron Sexsmith, The Rembrandts, Wings, Jellyfish, Jason Falkner, Brendan Benson, Pernice Brothers, Finn Brothers, Sugarbomb, Ether (the Welsh ones), Dodgy, Squeeze, Del Amitri, XTC, Crowded house, Jonatha Brooke, Badfinger, The Association, The Zombies, Emitt Rhodes, James Taylor, Syd Barrett. The Pink Floyd, , Tomorrow, Blossom Toes, Manfred Mann, The Kinks, The Small Faces, The Electric Prunes, Eels, The Turtles, The Lovin' Spoonful, Donovan, The High Llamas, David Crosby, The Byrds, Love, The Soft Machine, Traffic, Vince Guaraldi, John Shuttleworth, Simon & Garfunkel, Lalo Schifrin, Bernard Herrman, LeRoy Shields, David Lynch, The BBC Radiophonic Workshop, Joy Division, Marc Chagall, Frank Zappa, Delia Derbyshire, Kraftwerk, Serge Gainsbourg, Krzysztof Komeda, White Noise, Miles Davis...
Sounds Like
Fran King & Duncan Maitland and a bit of the above......but mostly like this:
Together as a duo, Fran and Duncan’s melodic harmonies are one to be shared. Their lyrical genius combines everything from whimsical uplift, to the most heart felt love songs. This is a duo unlike no other when it comes to the dynamic they share together on and off the stage. As individual performers, their talents exceed all expectations. With such impressive backgrounds it’s no wonder they’ve captured such attention. Below you’ll find their individual Bios….Enjoy!
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FRAN KING:
Fran King “could teach doctoral studies in Pop Craftsmanship”, ran the review from U.S. based NOTLAME.COM, while waxing lyrical on King’s 2006 solo debut album “Beautification”. Indeed, it’s a testament to Fran’s song-writing. Melody driven, well constructed, thought provoking pop / rock, would equally be apt to describe one of Ireland’s rising star’s fine catalogue of material thus far. He was a founding member of “Beach”, a Dublin based Pop / Rock outfit in the late 90’s, who had modest top twenty success in Ireland before disbanding in 1999. A year later, Fran began tentative steps towards recording his aforementioned and highly acclaimed debut solo album. Writing and recording two short film soundtracks (one award winning), and working in the studio / live with Sir George Martin (Beatles Producer), Tears for Fears, Sugababes (U.K.), Nick Seymour (Crowded House), Glenn Tilbrook (Squeeze)... to name but a few, along the way. He’s just released a new album (Dec 2008) titled “Under the Stars”, with his side project SUNFLOW, consisting of Fran, and New Jersey native Nancy Falkow. The album was produced by Duncan Maitland, who was responsible for Producing King’s solo album. Thus far the reviews have compared Fran’s voice and song-writing to that of Harry Nilsson & Paul McCartney (both huge influences). He’s already begun work on recording his eagerly awaited follow up to 2006/7’s Beautification, tentatively titled “My Sweet Elixir”, and hopes to have it released in the summer of 2009. Fran is currently managed, and musically based out of, the fine Mid-Western City of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Media reviews: "Sun kissed shimmery pop/rock, equal parts Brendan Benson & Elvis Costello with old school love songs, infectious...”HOT PRESS “ (Irish Music Industry Bible) "Sublimely beautiful songs that slow burn their way to your heart”... “DUBLIN MAIL” (Irish Press) "Somewhat of a rarity these days, strong melodies, a very fine debut...” DAILY MIRROR” (Irish Press) "He had me after the album's beautiful intro, worthy of international exposure...” ECHO “(Irish Press) "I like the sound of this CD. A very dry vocal sound brings to mind Emitt Rhodes and McCartney. Great melodies and chord changes prevail. I especially like "Misunderstood". Well done to Fran." “Steve” (MELODY MAGAZINE, U.S.A.) "Sophisticated adult pop, If you’re a fan of David Mead & Neil Finn, you'll love this record, one of my top twenty of 2005"- (ABSOLUTEPOWERPOP.COM, U.S.A.) "King has the ability to teach doctoral studies in pop craftsmanship." “NOTLAME.COM” (U.S.A.) WWW.ITSABOUTMUSIC.COM
Duncan formed his first band The Flood in the UK in 1985 attracting interest from Chrysalis Records. After the band dissolved, producer Ronnie Stone (THE PIXIES, DAVID GRAY and MANSUN) suggested Duncan as a worthy replacement for the guitar player who had just left Irish band PICTURE HOUSE, then with London Records.
By the end of 1993, Duncan was a full time member and one of the bands principal songwriters signing a deal with Chrysalis publishing. In 1994, Duncan moved to Ireland and a few months later, the London Records relationship came to an end. The band recorded their self-financed EP Probably in 1995 and support slots with THE KINKS, BIG COUNTRY and THE SAW DOCTORS followed.
Following a licensing deal made with German label Koch International, the band recorded their debut album "Shine Box" which included Duncan's song "Fan Club" and a track he penned with Pete Glenister, "Heavenly Day", which became a massive Irish radio hit. The album was released to widespread acclaim..
- "...the excellent 'Fan Club' ranks among the best songs never recorded by the Beatles.. " - John Walshe, Hot Press
Intensive gigging followed including support slots with Bon Jovi and a Polish festival appearance. The band continued to tour Europe the following year and in 1998 began work on their second album "Karmarama" for which Duncan wrote many songs, including "Sunburst", which went on to become the bands biggest record.
In March 1998, the band accompanied THE CORRS on their breakthrough UK tour and subsequently signed a deal with Warner Ireland for the distribution of "Karmarama", preceded by the single "Sunburst". Both album and single received massive acclaim and reached the upper regions of the charts. After the success of the second single "All The Time In The World" (co-written by Duncan and Dave Browne) the band embarked on a string of sell-out shows across Ireland.
The beginning of 1999 saw "Sunburst" being used in a two year long TV ad campaign and the band playing Wembley Arena shows with THE CORRS and MEATLOAF. However, around this time, Duncan began to feel that PICTURE HOUSE had reached their peak and would be unable to progress much further. So, after a gruelling tour of Germany with MEATLOAF, he eventually made the difficult decision to leave and pursue his own solo interests.
After a short sabbatical, Duncan got involved with the highly acclaimed Irish band PUGWASH whom he had worked with briefly in 1998. He also began recording his own material at home and enjoyed several successful solo gigs across the country.
2001 saw Duncan gigging solo and with PUGWASH, as well as playing on their second album, the highly praised "Almanac". He also composed the soundtrack to a short film with Fran King, which went on to win an award at an Italian film festival. On top of this, "Sunburst" was featured in the comedy film "The Most Fertile Man In Ireland". At the end of the year, an acoustic version of his song "God Wont Mind" appeared on the Phutloose compilation "Its All Good".
More gigs and recording followed in 2002, along with a video being shot for the song "Terry The Toad". In August 2002, Duncan appeared at the Temple Bar Music Centre alongside other acts who were filmed for a mooted DVD called "It's All Live" for Phutloose. The release of the DVD was postponed but the master tapes were used to mix four tracks for Duncans live EP, "Live Alien", which was released March 2003 on the back of a nationwide tour with Irish band WOODSTAR.
Following on from this, Duncan returned to the recording studio in 2004 with PUGWASH to commence work on their third studio album, playing alongside XTCs DAVE GREGORY and the SECTION QUARTET at the infamous ABBEY ROAD studios. The recording of this album stretched on throughout the next year, during which time Duncan also produced and played on Fran King's acclaimed debut album "Beautification", completing the mastering with Jon Astley, famous for his remastering and production work with THE WHO and THE ROLLING STONES. He also found time to compose soundtrack music for the independent horror film "Detained" - a zombie flick which gathered great reviews for both film and music.
The beginning of 2005 saw Duncan returning to songwriting, co-penning the song "Anchor" with XTCs ANDY PARTRIDGE and PUGWASH's Thomas Walsh in time for the completion of the third Pugwash album, now titled "Jollity". Leading on from this involvement, Duncan was asked to contribute keyboards to the XTC song "Say It", penned by the group's bass player COLIN MOULDING and included on the band's APPLE BOX release. He is now working on his eagerly and long awaited debut album..
Hello Gents...Mpls huh?...i lived there for years...too damn cold..and when in Dublin I'm from Kilbarrack...not nearly as cold as MN..hahah..and i loved ur songs and vids!...XTCs Andy Partridge Duncan??? ReallY???...wow!..love that guy...there is much to discuss..gonna be in LA anytime soon?...it's 72 and sunny??.:)..sincerely..jimmy coup
I would like to comment that you guys are f*#@ing awesome! You guys have got some kind of musical yin yang thing going on...(I'm not sure which of you is which) I'm glad that Minneapolis is your musical home in the States!
