I have been involved in experimental music since the age of 14. Being ever so slightly too young for the Punk Rock explosion, (although I´d really like to thank Jo Higson for lending me Clash City Rockers and God Save the Queen in the back of Mr Browns(???) maths class) , I guess it was Cabaret Voltaire’s “Nag Nag Nag” which immediately had the hairs standing up on the back of MY neck (they still do) and started me experimenting with tape recorders, building obscure musical circuits, and starting to play the guitar badly.
“Uncle Ian”was the modest and unassuming name for me and Nicks theatrical multimedia band that played along the South Coast of England during the 1980′s. Employing video, film, pyrotechnics and umbrellas, we group faded into obscurity in the early 90′s as my other band Cranes were signed to BMG and took most of my time.
Cranes toured and recorded extensively, including support for the Cure on their 1992 “Wish tour”. It was the full on topsy turvy world of Rock and Roll, and the experience was great! At one stage I felt quite “famous”.
Now I have relocated to Norway, he continues to produce music using a baritone guitar and a wall of electronics.
This page is intended to link to lots of stuff about my music, including old stuff, new stuff, the bands I have been in, and the technology I use.
Click HERE to listen and buy some of my music.
Faustine Jams at Archive.org
I have uploaded all of the recordings that Faustine Ferrar and I made a few years ago. We have never met and all the recordings were done via the internet jamming software NinJam.
Heres a taste! This is sound2sixieme a track we made by sending files back and forwards between Paris and Oslo.
But there is other stuff there too: Improvisations I have done, and weird recordings of children, the koran and cats.
This is where I intend to upload BIG unfinished, free, stuff.
Like THIS for example… a track called 20th Jan 2008.
MP3 Archive and Download Section
Here you can find my archive of recordings that I dont know what to do with. Free downloads of miscellaneous things that I have done over the years. Including all the Eardrum stuff, the God.com stuff, Some stuff by Uncle Ian, and a few one off tracks. PLEASE STEAL!
STUDIO PICTURES
Live Looping.
My main interest has been live looping. I started back in the 80´s with the classic two tape machine, as invented by Terry Riley, used by Eno on Discreet Music, and appropriated as “Frippertronics” by Robert Fripp) You can see the diagram of my set-up back then below.
Now I do everything digitally, and LOVE the echoplex digital Pro, or EDP. I have 2.
I program chains of commands that trigger different functions on the EDP. I use a drum machine with midi note programmability, I know what each note will do and I make a sequence. The drum-machine is rarely heard, but it is controlling the equipment as I play. Its like being able to step on my pedals in a incredibly complicated and fast manner.
The current Live Looping guitar set-up
Not actually up to date… I will fix this soon.
Marks Set-up 1981
My son 8 month Nikolas just found an old book on the shelf. “Concepts of Modern Art”. And in the back cover was a diagram of the equipment set-up I had in 1981. So here it is reproduced as is, with annotations.
Marks Uncle Ian Set Up circa ’82
Even MORE incredible, is this Elborough en-scribed document (nicked from the Uncle Ian pages- any chance of a bigger scan Nick???) This shows the complete band set-up for the Uncle Ian recording – The Urban Picnic. The weird thing is that if I compare it with what I use NOW.. over 20 years later, its REMARKABLY similar!
Electronics, analog and computer
MODULAR SYNTHESISER
I have always been into electronics, although never became very knowledgeable about it, and have been building a modular synth for a number of years now. Here you can read about my it, how it was donated to me by Pepe and what Im doing with it now! Soon – Samples and Photos
VST PLUGINS
I made alot of VST Plugins for a while, mostly as a compliment to AudioMulch. Making what I need for a particular track. Most of my release The Money Hush Room was made with these plugins. They were all built using the excellent Synth Edit. I am not sure if they work in ANY other host, but would be interested to know if they do.
Please take them and play with them … completely free!!!
The bands I have been in…
CONCRETE WINDOWS
Mark Wallis Phil Harfield Ben Francombe Mark Francombe
My first ever band, we did punk versions of Status Quo songs, or at least thats how I like to remember it. There are rumours of a tape, but as long as I keep paying… it should remain missing.
UNCLE IAN 1980 – 1991 (link to Nicks site)
Mark Francombe Nick Elborough + Rich Lewis – Helen Badham – Micheal Elborough
Was my second EVER band. We started at school and were named after a hated geography teacher who we nicked-named Uncle Ian. It was basically always myself and Nick Elborough. It started as a joke, mucking about with tape recorders and old electric organs. We built odd circuits, and bits of synths, and at one stage had amassed quite an impressive array of analog oddities and modified er… things. After a while we started to incorporate video, often using snips and cuts from horror films, we became a kind of multimedia trash kitsch thing. Although we recorded almost everything we did (badly) we never released much, mainly because we never wanted it to become too serious, cos were maybe afraid that that would kill the fun. In the end it fell apart just because I was doing too much with the Cranes (who were very serious) and Nick had job and family commitments. This site is a new thing put together by Nick an I as a kind of memorial. Nick has also made some cool new versions of old UI songs.
CRANES 1989 – 1998
Alison Shaw Matt Cope Jim Shaw Mark Francombe
Cranes was the band I was in from 1989 to 1997ish. We traveled the world and beyond. The Young Gods, The Cure, Slowdive all became great friends, where are they now? Jim and Ali continue to this day with new members. A favourite memory is of Matt Cope remarking to me that the venue was a bit small… small pause, then we both fell about laughing… It was a 12,000 seater Arena, when we were supporting the Cure, it was maybe the 9th or 10th gig, and we were already soooo blase…
EARDRUM 1992 – 1999 (link to really old website, the first website I ever made I think?)
Steve Austin Mark Francombe
The electronic band I had with Steve Austin. Everything is in the archive for free!!! A couple of tracks on compilation albums. If you are out there Steve, drop me a line???
WASABI 1999 ??? (micro-site)
Camilla Johansen Mark Francombe
The band I nearly had with Camilla Johansen. The band never actually happened, but I made this little site, and I still like it, so there… HA!
GOD.COM 2000 -2001 (micro-site)
Mark Francombe Lars Nedland Ida Jahr
The Noise/metal band I had with Ida Jahr and Lars Nedland. tracks are in the archive. The gig was fun, the tracks are great, nice people… just didn’t work out, why.. well…? um… what can I say… it was METAL for crying out loud, metal I mean… really!
WE SNAKES 2006 – to date (link to archive.com page where we have a gig recording, please take it!!)
Petter Flaten Eiletsen Frederik Ness Sevendal Mark Francombe
My current guitar improv trio. Occasional performances, no rehearsals. Petter plays guitar with sticks, radios, contact mikes, vibrators, darkness and evil. Frederik plays guitar with loops, effects, bows and folkish wit and charm and Mark plays guitar with loops, effects, knobs, flashing lights and very few actual notes.
