"The history of all hitherto MySpace pages is the history of class struggles."
Welcome to the music page for Indy Clark, a songwriter and singer originally from England, but who now calls Tamborine Mountain, Queensland, home.
During the nineties, Indy was in the London band The Expressions, who were signed to Big Shot Music. It soon became apparent, however, that the company was using the wrong vowel in its middle word. In spite of this, the band enjoyed modest success with a few singles and other releases, playing throughout London at venues like the Half Moon, Putney, the Hope and Anchor, the Monarch, and touring with various artists, including David Gray.
Having moved out of London, Indy concentrated on establishing himself as an independent solo artist, playing regularly in the south and east of England. He worked with many fine musicians including saxophonist and keyboard player Chris Daniels, and the saxophonist and double bassist Steve Laws. In 2003, Indy Clark and Steve Laws released their first independent album When Paths Cross. It was launched to a sell-out crowd at the Quay Theatre in England. The regular band now included former Expressions' drummer Stephen Williamson. The album enjoyed airplay from the BBC. Steve and Indy, often joined by the rest of the band, continued to play live and the pair were able to record their second album Divergence in 2004. 'Wish Away the Days' from this album appeared on a U.S. DVD release, and 'Places I Have Never Been' was taken up for international representation.
In August 2004, less than a month before Indy left for Australia, he and the band gathered in a small wooden windmill in Norfolk in an attempt to capture their unique sound. The result was the album Quit While You're Only Slightly Behind. Described as Indy's best work to date, it is moving, warm and real.
In 2005, a song from that album, 'And Even When', was number five in a BBC chart. Another song, 'Why Can't Everything Just Go The Way I Planned?' made it to number two. The same song will also feature on the soundtrack of a forthcoming Australian film.
Through part-time jobs and perpetual colds, the fourth album, This World or the Next, was recorded in England at the beginning of 2006, whilst Indy's visa was being processed. The recordings reunite the partnership with Steve Laws and feature Lord Williamson, Chris Daniels and Steve's daughter, Heather. His other daughter, Ruth, created the amazing artwork. As always, recording the album was a compromise between what Indy wanted, and what he could afford, and without the generosity of his friends the album would not have been made at all. However, there is no compromise in the songwriting. This is the sound of a confident and accomplished writer.
Within months of moving to the Mountain, Indy was lucky enough to strike up a friendship with the renowned Scottish songwriter John Harley Weston. The two of them have even done some writing together. Other opportunities have also arisen, with Indy making his live debut on Australian radio in November 2006 at ABC Coast FM.
2009 found Indy playing with the very talented guitarist, and good neighbour, Thor Phillips, and his band of excellent musicians. In August, Indy recorded a couple of songs for the Beau FM project, "Scenic Songwriters". It was an opportunity to work with engineer Matt Dever, whose credits include Paul Dempsey and Jimmy Barnes. Finally, after years of threatening to do so, John Harley Weston invited Indy to join him for a few gigs. Now all they need is an Irishman!
Since 2008, Indy has been dividing his time between music and finishing his PhD at the University of Queensland, Brisbane.
Extended clips from all of the albums are available from www.cdbaby.com. No sign of the thesis yet!
All of Indy's music can be purchased from cdbaby.com and iTunes.
Thanks for dropping by. We hope to see you again soon.
"In the Western world it is still widely assumed that capitalism and democracy are inextricably bound up together and that to defend democracy it is necessary to defend capitalism even though the defence of capitalism, in practice, may lead to the denial of freedom".
Tony Benn.
