About Me
Pyramid Builders Union.John Clay Black and Noel Christian Riddell, both residing in Kentucky, met at a Marty Willson-Piper concert in Atlanta, Georgia. Paths crossed via the internet some months later and the two like-minded musicians agreed to meet again. A musical partnership was forged and they began writing and recording almost immediately.Shared influences include The Church, Jeff Buckley, Kinks, Beatles, and Midnight Oil.Both members write, independently and collectively. John handles the vocals.Individual playing styles seem to shine through in their recordings.
Johns style is informed by artists such as Television (Richard Lloyd/Tom Verlaine), Bill Nelson, Guided By Voices, and Terry Kath. He counts those artists among his influences as well as Robyn Hitchcock, King Crimson, the Cars, and many others he is an avid music collector. Some claim to hear a bit of David Gilmour in there too.His main guitars are an ancient Epiphone Olympia, a Fender 72 Custom Telecasters, and a Fender Jagmaster modified with soapbars. He favors a Danelectro DC 12-string and has a nice collection of vintage Ovation electrics.Noels influences include Johnny Marr, George Harrison, Neil Clark (Lloyd Cole and the Commotions), Pete Townshend, and Peter Buck. John Squire (Stone Roses) and David Gavurin (Sundays) were quite influential on him as well. Lately Scotty Moore and Les Paul have been guiding lights.He favors hollow and semi-hollowbody guitars, most notably Rickenbackers. His main instruments are a Ric 1997SPC/VB, a Ric 360V64, an Epiphone Elitist Chet Atkins, and a Tacoma Chief and Gibson J100. For 12-string timbres, he uses a Phantom Guitarworks Teardrop 12 (hollowbody).Noel uses a Traynor YCV20 (15W class A valve amp) and a Roland JC120. John has recently added a Vox AC30 to complement his JC120 -and Ampeg Jet II -and Peavey Classic 30 -and.Drummer/percussionist Craig Hagan plays a Tama set and has an ever-growing battery of noisemakers including djembe, doumbek, cocobak, conga, and even bongos. His drumming runs the gamut from powerful bombast to subtle and intricate. He draws some inspiration from John Bonham and Gil Moore (as well as the athletic Neil Peart and Thomas Lang).
I swear there is a bit of Brasil in his percussion.Record release and official site launch forthcoming.
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