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wallflower were a unique rock band from london, uk who existed between 1994 and 1998. blending a range of extremely diverse influences into an inimitable sound, a mesmerising live show and a rare 10" vinyl single with a title track in excess of 12 minutes in length, the band had a loyal following amongst the real music lovers of london and the surrounding areas, transcending any boundaries of musical trend.
wallflower were not a band to follow any kind of convention or trend. attmepting to describe their sound is futile, the most apt "genre" to place them in would probably be that of progressive rock, but this is not nearly a broad enough description to encompass the range of sounds they utilised. the uniquely british and profoundly poetic vocals, the flowing and sonically diverse guitar artistry, the growling, often off-the wall bass playing and huge pounding drums contributed to a much-missed sound of the true british rock underground.
critially lauded but commercially ignored, the band went their separate ways in february 1998 and the music scene lost a truly original band.
this page shall act as an archive of wallflower's work - many of these recordings have never been released in digital format before, being formerly only available on cassette or vinyl.
members:
andrew cannon - vocals:
andy's heavily poetic vocal style was perhaps the defining sonic element of the band. his stage performance was also memorable, always animated, with elements of performance art made for a formidable stage presence.
james hounsell - guitar:
jim's textural, often improvised guitar stylings provided wallflower's edge. going from chunky riffing to delicate texture in the space of a couple of bars of music, and always inventive in nature, his guitar playing never failed to ignite the band's live shows.
russell wark - bass:
russ made for an intimidating onstage presence, and his playing took the limits of rock bass to its limits with a heavily stylised and sonically diverse palette of sounds he wrought from his bass. never viewing the bass as just the traditional "root instrument", taking as much from jazz as from his hard rock background, russ' playing helped define wallflower's sound.
jon steele - drums:
jon's bonhan-influenced percussive stylings took the rhythm section of wallflower to some far-reaching places, especially in the band's later days. the almost telepathic link he had with russell (on bass) developed into some extroadinarily intricate and dynamic rhythm parts.
wallflower today
the band have not worked together in any organised sense since 1998. however, andrew cannon and russell wark have recently agreed to a new collaboration, which will include new music, and completing some unfinished wallflower songs.
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