Gandalf's Fist
| Gandalf's Fist | |
|---|---|
 Gandalf's Fist Live in Great Yarmouth, December 2013 |
|
| General information | |
| origin | Maryport , England |
| Genre (s) | Progressive rock |
| founding | 2005 |
| Website | gandalfsfist.com |
| Founding members | |
| Dean Marsh | |
singing |
Luke Severn |
| Current occupation | |
Guitar, keyboard, vocals, synthesizer
|
Dean Marsh |
singing |
Luke Severn |
Bass, vocals |
Christopher Ewen (since 2013) |
Drums, percussion
|
Stefan Hepe (since 2013) |
singing |
Keri Farish (since 2017) |
Keyboard |
Ben Bell (since 2017) |
Gandalf's Fist is a British band from Maryport , Cumbria in England . Their music is influenced by the progressive / psychedelic rock of the 1970s. The band was founded in 2005 and made a name for itself through frequent airplay on English radio (Planet Rock Radio, Teamrock Radio), supported by various interviews in "Classic Rock presents Prog" magazine. They cemented this reputation by performing on the "Second Stage" of the Planet Rockstock Festival in Great Yarmouth in December 2013, although they were originally a pure studio project. They were listed in Geoff Barton 's TOP20 of 2013 in PROG Magazine issue # 41.
history
The band was formed in a nightclub in 2005 when a mutual friend invented a meaningless band name to impress a girl. Gandalf's Fist began as a creative collaboration between multi-instrumentalist Dean Marsh and lyricist / singer Luke Severn. They met at university and became good friends who spent the next two years releasing experimental instrumental songs. The origins of this music were influenced by the golden age of progressive rock in the 1970s and traditional English folk music .
After their albums Road to Darkness and From a Point of Existence received consistently positive reviews from GW Hill (Music Street Journal) for their mix of neo-prog , folk-rock and hard rock , they recruited German drummer Stefan Hepe for the work on their fourth album and listed him as one of the "Additional Wanderers Intercepting the Signal" on the cast list. Gandalf's Fist released the following album, A Day in the Life of a Universal Wanderer, in September 2013, which was also the last release of the band under contract with the US record company Musik & Film, and received widespread positive reviews from progressive rock journalists ( Classic Rock Magazine , Prog Magazine , Powerplay Magazine , Fireworks Magazine ).
After accepting the offer to play on the "Second Stage" of Planet Radio's "Planet Rockstock" Festival in Great Yarmouth, Gandalf's Fist promoted guest musicians Stefan Hepe (drums) and Christopher Ewen (bass) to full members of the band.
On October 20, 2014, the band - now four people - released their fifth studio album called A Forest of Fey with new material, featuring guest musicians such as Troy Donockley ( Nightwish ), John Mitchell ( It Bites , Arena ), Dave Oberlé ( Gryphon ) and Clive Nolan ( Pendragon , Arena ) participate.
In mid-2015 the band released two EPs: one unplugged album with songs from their previous career, and a "best of" compilation, which gives an overview of the albums that have been released so far. The specialty of this "Best-Of" is that three songs were completely re-recorded or mixed, which is also available for free on their Bandcamp website.
In November 2015, the band announced they were working on their sixth album, another concept album slated for 2016 release. It should consist of 3 CDs and be entitled "The Clockwork Fable". The band is supported in the radio play passages on this album by actors Mark Benton, Zach Galligan , Bill Fellows, Paul Kavanagh, Paul Barnhill and Tim Munro, among others . Likewise, Blaze Bayley (ex Iron Maiden ), Arjen Lucassen , Dave Oberlé (Gryphon) and Matt Stevens (The Fierce and the Dead) on the album.
After the release of The Clockwork Fable on May 1st, 2016, for which they received excellent reviews, they headlined the second stage of the HRH Prog Volume V Festival in Pwllheli in March 2017, supported by singer Keri Farish and keyboardist Ben Bell (Fusion Orchestra 2, Patchwork Cacophony).
Her video clip for the song "Shadowborn" (from the album The Clockwork Fable) was nominated for the Prog Magazine Awards 2017 in the category "Video of the Year".
After several successful collaborations with Farish and Bell, both were declared full members in November 2017; At the beginning of December 2017, the Christmas single Winter's Mourning was released, on which the new members made their debut.
In November 2018 the band played again as headliner on the second stage at the HRH Prog Volume VII Festival in Pwllheli.
On July 1, 2019, the double album The Clockwork Prologue was released, which tells the story of the triple album The Clockwork Fable, which was released in 2016.
Guest musician
Regular guest musicians
- Melissa Hollick - vocals (2013-present)
- Dying Seed - vocals (2013-present)
Current guest musician
- Matt Stevens - guitar ( A Forest Of Fey , The Clockwork Fable )
- Dave Oberlé - Bodhrán , vocals ( A Forest Of Fey , The Clockwork Fable )
- Blaze Bayley - vocals ( The Clockwork Fable )
- Arjen Lucassen - vocals ( The Clockwork Fable )
Former guest musicians
- Troy Donockley - Woodwind Instruments, Cumbrian Bouzouki and Pipes ( A Forest Of Fey )
- John Mitchell - vocals ( A Forest Of Fey )
- Clive Nolan - Synthesizer ( A Forest Of Fey )
- Aisling Marsh - vocals ( From a Point of Existence )
- Davor Bušic - flute ( A Day in the Life of a Universal Wanderer )
- Suzanne Weller - Flute ( A Day in the Life of a Universal Wanderer )
- Andy Bolper - saxophone ( A Day in the Life of a Universal Wanderer )
- Lonna Marie - Gesang ( A Day in the Life of a Universal Wanderer )
- Rebecca Watson - vocals (2011-2013)
- Jennifer Pederson - vocals (2013-2014)
Discography
Studio albums
- 2011: The Master and the Monkey
- 2011: Road to Darkness
- 2012: From a Point of Existence
- 2013: A Day in the Life of a Universal Wanderer
- 2014: A Forest of Fey
- 2016: The Clockwork Fable
- 2017: A Day in the Life of a Universal Wanderer (Special Edition)
- 2018: Road to Darkness (Special Edition)
- 2019: The Clockwork Prologue
EPs
- 2011: Songs from the Solway
- 2011: The Wizard's Study
- 2012: There and back again
- 2012: Winter is coming
- 2013: The Wizard's Study II: Balrog Boogaloo
- 2013: Songs from a Winter Forest
- 2015: Live from a Post - Apocalyptic Powercut (Unplugged)
- 2015: Uprooted (Best-of Compilation)
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ "Full-page interview: Gandalf's Fist", Prog Magazine # 28 , p. 23
- ^ "Two-page interview: Hail the Fist!", Prog Magazine # 43 , p. 94
- ↑ Planet Rockstock 2013 at Songkick . songkick.com. Retrieved April 27, 2014.
- ↑ a b "2013 PROG Critics' Top 20", Prog Magazine # 41 , p. 85
- ↑ Gandalf's Fist: Gandalf's Fist Bio (Official Website) . gandalfsfist.com. Retrieved April 27, 2014.
- ^ Gandalf's Fist at Music Street Journal . Musicstreetjournal.com. Retrieved April 27, 2014.
- ^ Gandalf's Fist: Album "A Day in the Life of a Universal Wanderer" (Official Website) . gandalfsfist.com. Retrieved April 27, 2014.
- ↑ Gandalf's Fist releases album from 'Outside the solar system' with Musik and Film records . musikandfilm.com. September 16, 2014. Archived from the original on October 6, 2014. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved October 5, 2014.
- ↑ Classic Rock Magazine FEB 2014 , p. 97
- ↑ Prog Magazine # 42 , p. 98
- ↑ Powerplay Magazine # 161 , p. 47
- ↑ Fireworks Magazine # 62 , p. 63
- ↑ a b c d e f Progarchives: GANDALF'S FIST - A Forest of Fey (2014) . progarchives.com. Retrieved August 13, 2014.
- ↑ a b c d e f Martin Kielty: Teamrock News: Donockley, Nolan, Stevens and Mitchell guest with Gandalf's Fist . teamrock.com. August 12, 2014. Retrieved August 13, 2014.
- ↑ Scott Munro: Team skirt News: Gandalf's Fist to launch acoustic EP . teamrock.com. May 19, 2015. Retrieved July 17, 2015.
- ↑ Martin Kielty: Teamrock News: Gandalf's Fist tease 6th album . teamrock.com. November 14, 2015. Accessed November 14, 2016.
- ↑ Scott Munro: Teamrock News: Gandalf's Fist announce triple album . teamrock.com. January 11, 2016. Retrieved February 15, 2016.
- ↑ Martin Kielty: Team skirt News: Gandalf's Fist name Clockwork Fable actors . teamrock.com. February 15, 2016. Retrieved February 15, 2016.
- ↑ a b c d e Martin Kielty: Teamrock News: Gandalf's Fist reveal The Clockwork Fable guest list . teamrock.com. March 21, 2016. Retrieved March 30, 2016.
- ↑ Thomas Kohlruss: Baby blue pages: Gandalf's Fist - A Clockwork Fable . Retrieved August 27, 2017.
- ↑ Henrik Kropp: Assisted proggen: Gandalf's Fist - A Clockwork Fable . Retrieved August 27, 2017.
- ↑ Martin Hutchinson: Review - Gandalf's Fist - The Clockwork Fable - by Progradar . Retrieved August 27, 2017.
- ↑ Geoff Barton: Prog Round-Up July 2016 . In: Issue 224 - July 2016 . Retrieved July 17, 2017.
- ↑ Hawkwind top acts for HRH Prog . Retrieved July 17, 2017.
- ↑ Live: HRH Prog V . Retrieved July 27, 2017.
- ↑ Jerry Ewing: The Progressive Music Awards Are Back! . In: Newspost . Retrieved November 23, 2017.
- ^ Scott Munro: Gandalf's Fist reveal new lineup and announce Christmas single . In: Newspost . Retrieved November 23, 2017.
- ↑ Genre Giants and Talent Aplenty Announced for HRH Prog VII . In: Facebook Announcement . Retrieved January 24, 2018.
- ↑ HRH Prog VII Line-up Saturday . In: website . Retrieved March 28, 2018.
