Artist description The name ARCANUM mirrors the dark, deep, fantastical sound we produce; hence the name ........ARCANUM ........ The Meaning ........ 1. anything hidden2. a mystery, a secret, one of the supposed secrets of the alchemists.

Music Style Moody Indie Electronic Renaissance Pop

Musical Influences David Bowie

Similar Artists David Bowie

Artist History The band formed in late February 1998, Page called Rob and asked would he like to regroup and the answer was obviously "yes!" As the band grew with confidence in a short space of time it was plain that the image of ARCANUM was to be dark and moody but above all, original in thought, creativity and production. They went into the studio for the 1st time on 22nd March 1998, by this time they had written only four tracks. Jamie Brookes then appeared as a guest guitarist on three studio produced tracks, which was the bands 2nd visit to the studio within six weeks. Jamie thought the band should be gigging, and although Page was up for it, Rob was not too keen on the idea! The band was still in its infancy and had many hurdles to overcome before they could even contemplate gigging, like the writing of more tracks and obviously rehearsing. While this was going on, Page & Rob worked on a project to move the band into the dance scene and although the music fared o.k. it was not ARCANUM. Jamie also had other band commitments and so left ARCANUM. Rob then mentioned that he knew of a fantastic rhythm guitarist by the name of shaggy and gradually tracked him down, but never materialised, strange that!By the end of May 1998, Page decided to look for additional vocalists and approached his brother Garry, who agreed to join the band. The 3rd visit to the studio was on 13th July 1998, where they produced their first promotional CD, a five track affair mixing two newly written songs and their old favourite 'TIME', together with two new dance versions of 'LONELY MAN' & 'FROM THE STORM'. The band had written 11 tracks. The 4th studio visit was on 31st July 1998 however, this was hampered by bad timing, as an operation was performed on Rob's right hand little finger the day before. Bad timing or what! The band by this time had the pick of eighteen tracks and was working hard. However, they still ventured into the studio for the 5th time in as many months to record two new numbers and a new version of 'HUMAN, IT'S PAYBACK TIME!' The band felt they were growing all the time as did the number of tracks they produced. This band certainly seems to be a studio band, and so, onto the next visit into the studio.Their 6th visit was on the 14th September 1998. They decided to produce another promo C.D. to include eleven tracks which would include previously worked material as well as new material, like the cover of David Bowie's BE MY WIFE, together with two new instrumentals as well as laying down additional vocals on HUMAN, IT'S PAYBACK TIME. The next visit into the studio was to be a week later and during that week, Page called Jamie to explain what the band had been doing and that they would need a guitarist to gig in the near future. Jamie was agreeable, and that meant they again had a guitarist. Page & Rob had been busy during that week and had been producing the new dance sound for the next project from ARCANUM, 'ARCANUM GO'S CLUBBING'. Page had just maybe found a female vocalist for their live sound by the name of Gemma, all he had to do was find out if she could sing! The 7th visit to the studio was a very long, hard days night. They started at 5.30pm and finished at 3.00am the very next morning and had completed additional recordings, mixings and remixings. The C.D. was complete! containing 45 minutes of moody music. 'THERE'S NEVER ENOUGH TIME!' promo C.D. had been created. They also worked on the playback instrumental C.D. as the backing for their live sound, the only thing was they didn't finish it in time. There's never enough time! They went into the studio on 28th September 1998 for the 8th time to complete the C.D. While in the studio they added another three tracks, making a total of fifteen tracks containing one hours worth of ARCANUM magic. The band now had 23 tracks to work with. Gemma had also declined to join the band and Jamie was gigging with his new band 'CLONE'. Page did not let that bother him, as he was in contact with a percussionist and another two guitarists, things were looking good, or so he thought. A week later, Russ Tarley joined the line-up as guest percussionist, this also gave them an additional vocalist. On 25th October 1998 Cliff also consented to join the line-up as their much needed guitarist. At last !!!! Not so fast !!! Cliff never materialised by the time of their debut gig on 13th December 1998 at The Old Vic, Southsea, Hampshire. This was a little concerning and so they still had to perform without a guitarist, Page had to ask the question "Does any guitarist wanna be in our gang, our gang ?" Its all a matter of FATE! Page & Rob had written plenty more tracks, Page found it hard to keep the ingenuity of creativity flowing at times, but would look forward to his next masterpiece. Come 1999! With this came frantic writing, they still had no guitarist and so advertised for one!By the end of January 1999 no guitarist did they have, so Page asked Jamie Brookes to reappear on two new tracks so they could produce a working demo to attract future gigs - he declined, but Page knew a guitarist who might be interested, enter Adam Gaiman from The Natterjacks. Adam joined the line-up as guest guitarist on 6th February 1999 and got started straight away. The next visit (their 9th) to Soundcheck Studios was on 5th March 1999. Another long session was to be had, 6pm to 3.30am the next morning, but had emerged with their new sound, 'NEW DAWN' & '4 SEASONS', which was a great success and showed how much the band had progressed. The addition of Adam on guitar was just fantastic, coupled with another bonus for the band, the guest appearance of Tracy Madgewick (otherwise known as Tejay, lead Vocals with The Natterjacks), super. The very next day Page was in touch with another female vocalist, Jasmine Kelly, who was just perfect for the band, or so they thought. Jasmine turned up for one domestic rehearsal and one studio rehearsal, then left. Now, the band had a lot of hard work to do in such a short space of time, as their first big break into gigging was soon to happen with their real debut gig at The Frog on the Front, Southsea, Hampshire on 16th April 1999. Page had to finish writing lyrics, Rob had just produced an intro and another track for the gig, Adam was creating all guitar parts not just for ARCANUM, he was also working on material for The Natterjacks gigs, and Russ was otherwise engaged on the 16th April with his own band The Downtown Flyers! What it is to be a Rock & Roll band - let me know when it happens! . . . and then when its all over. The gig at the Frog went down very well with everyone enjoying the show. For the band it was a great success, as it provided them with a great photo opportunity, to gain future gigs and to promote themselves, although Rob found it hard going and really didn't want to gig anymore. On the 23rd April 1999, Jo Madgewick the sister of Tejay turned in an audition for the band, she was good, and she stayed! They started the first domestic rehearsal on 8th May 1999. By the 11th June 1999 Page thought it was time to promote ARCANUM as never before, Rob was obviously not interested in the band anymore, as he had not once since the gig got in contact with Page. Jo gained her stage name Zalasta (secret witch), she had worked hard to learn the set, also having been involved with a new photo shoot was ready to set to the stage. Page asked Jamie of 'Clone' about promoting each other at gigs and it was agreed a good idea. Sadly however, an additional keyboard player would be needed. Here we go again! Page had to work tirelessly with Zalasta and Adam in the studio to produce a mini disc good enough to play live to, and while there he produced yet another demo C.D. called 'Exposure'. It took another three visits to Soundcheck Studios, their 12th visit in all.Two weeks before their next gig which was again at the Frog on the Front, due on 20th August 1999, Rob gained enough confidence to agree to gig again with ARCANUM, this time as a session musician. ARCANUM was now PAGE or was PAGE ARCANUM? He had to keep the sound alive.On 20th August 1999, ARCANUM played the Frog for the second time and this time it was a great success with plenty of support, the other two support bands were 'Porcelain Roach' and 'Clone'. The next gig was four days later at the Wedgewood Rooms, Southsea, Hampshire, in front of 300+ fans! Since the departure of Rob from ARCANUM, Page has been recruiting for ARCANUM and has been joined by Mark (Sex Dwarf) Tong on Synthesiser & Sequencers, and Laura on Keyboards & Vocals. Arrive the New Millennium, ARCANUM is now being broadcasted across the world and beyond!

Group Members Page, Zalasta, Straight Rob

Instruments Keyboards, Synthesizer, Vocals, Drums, Guitar

Albums There's Never Enough Time

Location Portsmouth, Hampshire - United Kingdom

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