Music Style a mixture of pop and progressive rock

Musical Influences Pink Floyd The Cure

Similar Artists Pink Floyd The Cure Seal

Artist History The beginnings of Stark Raven go back to 1986 when Mark and I decided to get serious about forming a band. He had some guitar experience,I took up bass,we bought a drum machine and we were away. We played a few parties for friends under the name "Quo Vadis". Our set at the time included Cure and Blues Brothers covers as well as a few originals. Brian joined early in 1987,having known him through a mutual friend. His guitar and writing abilities were a welcome addition to the lineup. The rest of the year was taken up mostly by rehearsing and writing,the band having little or no experience before this. Busking on Auckland's Queen street on Friday nights became a weekly event late in 1987. The set at this time was more in favour of covers such as The Doors,Rolling Stones and Jimi Hendrix. Peter Stevenson,a friend and neighbour of Brian's,joined late in 1987,finally giving us a full time drummer. 1988 saw us playing as many parties as possible and still busking occasionally. After much debate "Stark Raven" was finally agreed on as a band name in September 1988. Late 1988 saw the band starting to play around Auckland,the first gig at the Shadows Bar in Auckland University. The set by now was 50/50 covers and originals. Peter's younger brother Craig had also joined the band on keyboards by now. Stark Raven's first tape was recorded in early 1989 at Subliminal Studios. 12 songs were recoreded,all original. 6 by Mark and 3 each by Brian and myself. The songs ranged from guitar pop ("More","Better luck next life"),ballads ("Swampland"),psychedelia ("Why?") to heavy rock (Don't you love it here?"). 2 songs,"Mr X" and "Swampland" received airplay on BFM. The live set by now was all original,covers only being played at parties which by now the band only played at now and then. The stage show was by now involving more extended instrumental breaks as well as lighting and stage effects. The second tape "In the back of my mind" was recorded at Mascot Studios in September 1989. The balance having changed from the previous tape with the piano and synthesiser more to the fore. 5 songs were recorded,3 by Mark and one each by Brian and myself. The songs ranged from up-tempo pop ("Rainy Day","The Masked Man") to the gentle rock waltz of the title track and a re-recorded version of "What are you looking at?" from the previous tape. 1990 was a quieter year,unreleased demos were recoreded at Subliminal and Montage studios. Songs by now were more concise,gone were the extended instrumentals. The cassingle "Take me too" was recorded in late 1990 at the Incubator studios. It marked a change in approach to recording and writing,the songs used sequencers on keyboards and drums and the A-side was a genuine group composition. The band would from now on collectively write the music and Mark would write the lyrics. In early 1991,due to his work commitments and his recent marriage,Brian left the band. Steve Hayr,friend of the band and owner of Subliminal Studios took over on guitar. Initially,just to help out on the demos the band were recording but he eventually joined full time later that year. The demos reflected a further change in musical direction,towards a funk-rock style. Work began late 1991on the "One Day" tape. The title track was recorded at Progressive Studios and produced by Tim Gummer and Steve Garden. The other 2 tracks were produced by Stark Raven and recorded at Subliminal Studios. The songs ranged from the heavy rock of "First but last" to the ambient dance of "Shame" plus 3 different mixes of the title track. Backing vocalists were brought in for the first time as well. Due to work commitments,Peter left during the recording of "One Day",to be replaced by Julian Davis. The tape was released in august 1992 with a release party at the Gluepot and was also played as part of 89 FM's Homegrown series the same month. The band also performed well in the Rheineck Band Quest,winning their heat and 1/4 final before being eliminated in the semi-final. The defeat brought a re-evaluation of things by the band and differences of opinion over musical direction were obvious. As a result I left in September 1992 to be replaced by Tony Uren. 1993 saw Stark Raven recording demos at Subliminal Studios,but these were never released. Stark Raven played their final gig in February 1994 at The Garden Gig Festival in Awhitu.

Group Members David Austin-bass and vocals Mark Bourke-guitar and vocals Steve Hayr-guitar Craig Stevenson-keyboards Peter Stevenson-drums Brian Weatherly-guitar

Location Auckland - New Zealand

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