Carl was classically trained on guitar from the age of 8 then in his early teens he bought his first electric,and plays by ear!
He grew up listening to his parents record collection.you won't find too many 40year olds who are massive perry como and frank ifield fans!As he matured his tastes diversified into prog rock,folk,jazz,gaelic and classical music.Anything but drum 'n bass really!!trained as a an alto then tenor soloist in the school choir,his contemporary vocal performances were born in local folk clubs under the mentorship of johnny silvo an internationally acclaimed traditional folk artist.johnny would often perform at carl's parents pub in a sleepy sussex village,and after much wrangling carl eventually joined him,and the rest as they say...!Carl's rock and pop career was born on the guitar,but one day a mutual friend asked gaz if he new any singers.carl auditioned as vocalist with spiney norman(still together after 17 years!)and discovered a thunderous rock voice!
His range can deliver anything from barritone and crooner styles
to falsetto and full on heavy rock!
he ooses confidence on stage,and loves a bit of banter both with the audience and fellow band members,so be prepared to be entertained and involved!!
ron and carl have played together for the last 7 or 8 years,and built a very strong friendship.when their last project split last spring carl immediately started hatching plans for a new outfit!
ron's history spans almost 7 decades in the entertainment world!
he had a conjuring act,swing quintet and caberet troop to his name for starters!Then he had spells in big bands and strict tempo ballroom bands.he spent time on the liners culminating in a spell in the carribean.understudied for dickie henderson and provided backing for charlie chester!there's not much he hasn't done!
so the idea began to form that there was a niche for a band with a sound so diverse it would be just as at home at a wedding,in a club,at a party,in a pub,at a formal dance or any kind of function really.
with the generation gap between carl and himself their wide ranging tastes anyway a very interesting set list began to grow!as the other members came onboard and rehearsals began it began to grow
exponentially!!!
ron was also keen the band should look the part,so largely financed the pa system and lighting rig for which we are all truly grateful.
gary and carl have been close friends and musical collaboraTORS FOR THE BEST PART OF 20 YEARS NOW.HIS FORTE IS ACTUALLY BASS GUITAR,AND WE THINK HE HIDES HIS LIGHT UNDER A BUSHEL IN THAT RESPECT!
HE IS HOWEVER A VERY TALENTED GUITARIST AS WELL!
HIS MUSICAL STYLE IS A RICH BLEND OF ROCKABILLY,SWING,ROCK N ROLL,HEaVY ROCK WITH A SMIDGE OF BLUEGRASS FOR GOOD MEASURE!THIS CONTRASTS WELL WITH CARL'S MORE MELODIC STYLE OF PLAYING,AND RESULTS IN THE FULL AND CLEAR SOUND OF THE BAND.
GARY STARTED IT ALL IN A BAND CALLED "FALL OUT".THEY WERE A CREATIVE BAND WRITING THEIR OWN MATERIAL,AND THIS GROUNDING HS BEEN INVALUABLE TO US WHEN IT COMES TO ARRANGEMENTS!
HE IS ALSO BLESSED WITH A GOOD VOICE,BUT AGAIN HAS MADE A CONSCIOUS DECISION TO KEEP JUST TO SIDE OF THE LIMELIGHT AND STICK TO BACKING VOCALS ONLY!
malcolm joined us by chance really!Carl's other band "spiney norman" were searching fairly unsuccessfully for a new bass player when like buses 2 arrived at once!malcolm wasn't too sure about the material with spiney(they're quite heavy!!),but carl was dreaming up the generators at the same time!
both bands did very well from the deal!
malcolm has more than 20years experience playing in various dance and covers bands both in the uk and on the continent.he also has a great voice,and is quite happy to take centre stage and give carl and shirley a break
he has several bass guitars including a 6 string allowing him to cope with the huge range of music in the generators repertoire.
his harmonising is also spot on,and gives another dimension to the bands overall sound
shirley was the last member to join the band,but boy was she worth waiting for!
gaz and carl knew shirley from a previous incarnation that gaz was in with spiney's guitarist.shirley was responsible for some superb vocal performances singing funk,soul and rock numbers.
she joins us as a supplement to her other musical project in a competitive barber shop quartet.this has proved invaluable to the generators when arranging vocal harmonies.
as a solo artiste she possesses a voice of purity with power and versatility that has transformed the potential of the band.
ron is now giving her a crash course in percussion to help beef up the rhythm section as the band launches into some of our latin numbers!
