Gary Lightbody

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gary Lightbody (2018)

Gary Lightbody OBE (born June 15, 1976 in Bangor , County Down ) is a Northern Irish singer , songwriter and the front man of the Northern Irish-Scottish alternative rock group Snow Patrol .

Life

After attending Campbell College in Belfast , Lightbody moved to Dundee , ( Scotland ) in 1994 and studied English and English literature at Dundee University . Here he founded the band Polar Bear with his two fellow students Jonny Quinn and Mark McClelland . Since a musician from the band Jane's Addiction was leading a side project of the same name, the band was renamed Snow Patrol for legal reasons .

They then signed their first record deal with the Jeepster Records label , which also featured bands such as Belle & Sebastian in the indie rock scene . During the albums Songs for Polarbears and When It's All Over We Still Have to Clear Up , Snow Patrol toured with bands like The Levellers , Ash and Travis before signing with the major label Polydor / Fiction and with producer "Jacknife" Lee produced their third album Final Straw , which contained the successful song Run , written by Gary Lightbody and Iain Archer , which took them to 5th place in the British charts. The mainstream success of the band, previously known and appreciated as the indie rock group, increased noticeably with their fourth album "Eyes Open" and the single adapted from it, the international number 1 hit Chasing Cars . Snow Patrol produced their album A Hundred Million Suns again with "Jacknife" Lee; it has been described by Gary Lightbody and his bandmates as "the musically best album we have ever written". The album was recorded in both Ireland and Berlin in the legendary Hansa studios and released in October 2008. It was played as part of their 2008/2009 tour with the name Take Back the Cities and accompanied by impressive art and light effects on canvases during Snow Patrol's appearances. His bandmates are Jonny Quinn (drummer), Nathan Conolly (lead guitarist), Paul Wilson (bass) and Johnny McDaid (keyboard, guitar).

Lightbody lives in Northern Ireland and keeps his private life out of the public eye.

Musical projects

In 2001, Gary Lightbody started the Scottish 'supergroup' The Reindeer Section as a side project , which has 47 musicians from 20 different Scottish and Irish bands as members. The Reindeer Section released the album Y'All Get Scared now, Ya Hear! In 2001 . and Son of Evil Reindeer in 2002.

Acting as a songwriter himself, he wrote for other musicians such as Kidda and Nicole Scherzinger, sang the duet Mishka with the British electronica musician Cut La Roc, the duet Set the Fire to the Third Bar with the New York singer Martha Wainwright , which was released on the Snow Patrol album Eyes Open . He also lent his voice to the Scottish band Mogwai and also worked on the album for Ireland's aid organization Make Trade Fair Campaign , for which he sang the duet Some Surprise together with the Irish singer Lisa Hannigan , who is based in Dublin , whose single number 5 in the Irish Charts and was written by the musician Paul Noonan of the band Bell X1 .

Gary Lightbody is particularly committed to young musicians and bands in the music scene in his hometown Belfast in Northern Ireland and founded the Oh Yeah Music Center , a music center and former distillery in the Cathedral Quarter in Belfast, the young , together with musician friends and the music journalist Stuart Bailie Bands from the alternative rock and indie rock scene in Belfast are supported with production and concerts. He speaks of Belfast in many conversations with journalists as one of the “fastest growing and most exciting music scenes” he currently knows. He also feels very attached to his homeland and dedicated the song Take Back the City on Snow Patrol's album A Hundred Million Suns to the Northern Irish capital, Belfast, which inspired him to write the lyrics.

In 2010, Lightbody founded another side project called Tired Pony with Richard Colburn ( Belle and Sebastian ) and Peter Buck ( REM ) and released the album The Place We Ran From . The second album The Ghost Of The Mountain followed in 2013

useful information

  • Gary Lightbody, who describes himself as the "indie rock kid" in terms of his musical taste, felt inspired to become musicians himself as a student of musicians and bands like Kurt Cobain from Nirvana , Lou Barlow from Sebadoh and the Super Furry Animals works alongside his job at Snow Patrol as a DJ with his bandmate and friend Tom Simpson . He once referred to one of his favorite bands, the Super Furry Animals, as the Beatles of his generation.
  • In 2013 he made a guest appearance as a singing Bolton soldier in an episode of the third season of Game of Thrones .

Musical equipment

Guitars

  • Lightbody's main guitar is a Fender '72 Telecaster Deluxe in black.
  • Gibson SG
  • Fender Telecaster '72 Thinline Reissue - blonde
  • Fender Telecaster '72 Deluxe - blonde
  • Fender Telecaster Standard - USA model in yellow.
  • Gibson Les Paul Deluxe - black
  • Gretsch 6120 New Nashville - orange

Gary Lightbodys guitars are known for having a sticker with the words "Celt" on them

amplifier

  • Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier Solo Heads
  • Marshall JCM800 2203
  • Marshall 3315 Transistor Amplifier
  • Vox AC30's

Effect boards

  • BOSS TU-2 tuner
  • BOSS TR-2 tremolo
  • BOSS CS-3 Compression Sustainer
  • Two BOSS SD-1 Super Overdrives
  • BOSS GE-7 equalizer

other equipment

  • Picks: Dunlop Tortex Standard Orange .60mm
  • Ernie Ball guitar strings .009

Web links

Commons : Gary Lightbody  - collection of images, videos and audio files