Trial of the Bow

Trial of the Bow began in the Melbourne Summer of 1993. Initially, a fundamental series of experiments on my first 4-track brought the realization that I could break free somewhat from the manacles of our heavy metal roots and (somewhat) succesfully explore the darker, melodic and brooding elements of the music that was inspiring me at the time and throughout my younger years. I had been invited to play with diSEMBOWELMENT and Renato and I found a suprising commensurate interest in the most ambient textures - which of course was so prevalent in diSEMBOWELMENT. I recall presenting my first sketches to Ren. and his enthusiasm of the possibilities galvanized him ( his enthusiasm could be infectious ) and had him typically brainstorming and designing imagery that allowed him to break free of his own antecedents.Although quite naiive at the time, we boldly jumped into our experimentations with a self-belief that really fuelled the burgeoning fire. I believe we recorded a 4 song demo within weeks and had it in the hands of Matt & Bill from Relapse records by the American Spring.If I remember correctly they had taken the cassette on a camping trip (!) of all things and listened to it somewhere out in the forrest - and returned convinced that there was a future for our sound - issuing a contract for an e.p. to test the waters, as it were.At the time I had started my Music Degree at University and Renato had began his Graphic Design career - he was quite willing to self-finance our intial studio efforts (a sure sign of his enthusiasm & self-belief) and we found ouselves at the quirkiest of studios by the name of Strawberry Sound (now defunct). This studio was somewhat hobbled together by Gerard McGough - a true rennaissance spirit with absolutely no business accumen, but a love of all things electronic and a passion for creating sonic textures. Little did we realize at the time that we were actually using some old studio gear he had ressurected that was identical to that used by Pink Floyd in the early 70's - gear that had been out of vogue for some time. Looking back, it all helped evoke a very deep, transient vibe that was directly linked to our earliest influences. The glories of 2 inch tape ! We were very purist with our approach - and stayed deliberately away from synths, samplers and other electonic equipment, but rather focussing on creating soundscapes with all manner of things - save the Electric Giitar and 'Bass. The E.P 'Ornamentation' was a every bit the experiment it sounds, lots of improvisation and a genuine desire to try to encapsulate all the influences we had at the time onto one disc and four songs ! Clearly the Nth Indian influence was strong at this time - I was spending a lot of time with the Sitar (albeit ignorantlty!) - our willingness to adapt melodies to any instruments that took our fancy with a sense of conviction provided a musical vehicle in the best traditions of our musical forebears. We even had the front to record a video for the song 'From the Mountains of Tangier' - which I believe had some MTV airplay in Nth America - More to come....