Ray Mytton and Paul White (Duo)
Alan Hoida, Tony Beech, Chris Hewitt, Vo Fletcher and Paul White (Pewke Band)
Influences
While I love playing rock and blues live, what I like to work on in the studio is altogether less aggressive and more textural. I can't get the hang of keyboard instruments as they seem very illogical compared to guitars so I use a MIDI guitar to record a lot of synth parts and I'm also a huge fan of ebow guitar, which can be layered up into very nice pad sounds with the addition of a bit of reverb and delay.
I've recently started taking a Roland VG99 out on gigs with Ray which allows us to do some quite ambitious things and I've no doubt it will inspire some new compositions in the studio. We don't use backing tracks as that is only one step away from Karaoke!
Some call my tunes Ambient, some call it New Age, others just call it 'stuff'. It's pretty relaxing but different to what you normally hear in 'Lentil and Crystal' stores. If you think 'Mike Oldfield meets Pink Floyd intro while the singer is on holiday', you won't be too far off.
Don't listen to it while driving or operating machinery as I accept no respnsibility for accidents caused by drowsiness (or nausia!). Apparently my music is particularly popular with 'ladies of a certain age' who seem to like listening to it while doing their accounts and tax returns! I have also written the odd piece of music for TV and video, so if anyone is working on a documentary on 'Care in the Community' or the extinction of the dolphins, I'm your man!
Paul White is currently editor of 'Sound On Sound' magazine where he shares his musical and recording experiences with other gear addicts. He plays in several bands including the 'Pewke Band' and an acoustic/electric guitar duo with Ray Mytton - who is also well worth chasing up on Myspace as he is an incredible player and composer. His Dreamcatcher album is a real gem.
The Pewke Band is so named because we originally asked members of the audience to pick a name for the band! We have a university chair ..boards, a BAFTA winning wildlife film editor on bass and vocals, a drummer who is less than one third our average age and on second guitar - when he's not off doing something more serious - Vo Fletcher who has depped for Fairport Convention and also does performances with Rick Sanders, one of their fiddle players. Despite this apparently glowing line-up we don't let an overfamiliarity with the material compromise the spontaneity of our songs which are, let's be honest, as rough as a badger's bum! They're all covers but done in such an inaccurate way that it's hard to believe they're not entirely original! Check out the full horror of it all on thepewkeband.com
Paul works in his own recording studio in the inspirational setting of the Malvern Hills and plays a number of instruments including guitar, percussion and some 'bluffing' on ethnic wind instruments. He also used to be a drummer many years ago before taking up a musical instrument. On a Technical level, he particularly enjoys blending natural acoustic instrument sounds with electronically manipulated sounds. If only he spent more time playing Strats than building them from bits he bought on ebay he might be a better player ;-))
Paul also has a couple of hippy type 'music to soak lentils by' ambient albums for sale on iTunes - Clouds Behind the Sun and Dark Solstice.
Hi Paul. Thanks for getting the friends of Buzz Music, Hereford MySpace rolling alongside Tom Oliver. Would you have any pictures of your gigs at the Market Tavern? I remember you purchased a Moog Prodigy from Buzz Music and promptly added some organ bass pedals and a stand thus forming your own Taurus pedals. It sure beat having to make resonant filter sweep sounds using only your mouth and a Wem CopyCat echo! Cheers for the add. Andy.
