Band name: Thornfield
Genre: Ambient folk
Based in: Kettering, Northants, UK
Formed: 1992
Band Members:
Geoff Bland - Vocals
Adam Mustin - Guitars
A brief history of the band:
Geoff Bland and Adam Mustin first met up at the William Knibb Centre in Kettering for an exploratory rehearsal session in late 1992.
Thornfield was formed the same evening and they have been writing, recording and performing together ever since. They have been described as an ethereal and sometimes haunting blend of bands such as The Blue Nile, The Doors, Cocteau Twins and Joy Division.
The band has played extensively throughout Northamptonshire, Leicestershire and beyond under various line-ups, with the two of them forming the core of the act.
(Former players deserving of a mention are:- Adrian McGrath - bass, guitars; Kevin Asbrey - bass; Eddie Giaccobe - bass; and more recently Glenn Johnson - keyboards, sampling, bass and drum programming.)
They are currently promoting their self-produced and self-financed debut "Sugar Leaves" 5 track CD e.p. at primarily acoustic nights around the region, and are finalising more dates in Leicester to follow on from appearances at THE SHED, THE MUSICIAN, and THE ATTICK. Hopefully soon you will be able to download their songs from MySpace.
Past highlights include performing each year at the Sundaze charity festivals at Rushton Hall between 1994 and 1998, and supporting Bill Nelson, John Otway, and more recently ex-Factory Records artist Kevin Hewick. They have also been featured on Northants Radio where they were interviewed and had tracks from their e.p. aired.
They are planning to record material for their debut album in the near future.
About Members:
Geoff Bland - Vocals, keyboards, occasional percussion.
Geoff has been writing, recording and performing music for many years in various outfits. Steve Humphries from one such act went on to drum, tour and record with Marc Almond.
Geoff's band prior to Thornfield was The Negative Love Reaction which played extensively across Northants.
He is a powerful and yet sensitive vocalist, with passionate phrasing and an emotive storytelling technique. Comparisons have been made with Jim Kerr, Bono, Jim Morrison, Justin Hayward of the Moody Blues, Ian Curtis of Joy Division and The Blue Nile's Paul Buchanan.
Geoff is also a very experienced and sonically aware sound technician. He learnt his engineering craft on the London college scene of the early eighties, working the mixing desk of what were then emerging acts such as The Cure.
He has been responsible for the sound systems on different stages of the charity Sundaze festivals held at Rushton Hall between 1994 and 1998. He has also helped out numerous bands with his sound system, and continues to do so (most recently for the Leicester band Aka Weave when they supported Shaun Ryder in Leicester,) and especially for charitable events.
His influences include The Doors, Talking Heads, Devo, R.E.M., The Blue Nile, Joy Division, Echo and the Bunnymen, Eddi Reader, Ute Lemper and traditional American gospel singers such as Nina Simone and Billie Holliday.
Adam Mustin - acoustic and electric guitars, keyboards.
Adam started writing original song compositions and instrumental music in 1985, and has been building up a large archive of material ever since.
His previous band The Divine State had some local success and recorded an album's worth of material before disbanding in 1991. Keyboard player and programmer Kevin Ford formed an atmospheric dance act called Aqualung who have sold their name to a chart artist and are now known as Loop Theory, while vocalist Matthew Pell currently works in the field of video creation as well as lecturing.
Adam teamed up with Geoff after the latter had read favourable reviews of his recordings, and heard that a vocalist was being sought to continue the Thornfield project in 1992.
As well as writing for Thornfield, Adam also works under the name Pedestrian Eyes for his solo soundtrack-type compositions; atmospheric and experimental pieces written as mood music. Several compilations are in the process of being transferred to CD for release at some point in the future.
His influences are widespread; David Sylvian, The Blue Nile, Cocteau Twins, Peter Gabriel, Radiohead, Pink Floyd, Kate Bush, Brian Eno, Talk Talk, Mark Knopfler's soundtracks, The Smiths, Daniel Lanois and U2 to name but a few.
Thornfield have recently established a monthly acoustic "open stage" gathering at Kennedys in Finedon...
www.kennedysbar.co.uk
it is the setting for an acoustic gathering held on the last Tuesday of each month from 8.30pm onwards, and admission is free.
The setting is in the backroom; an intimate place for performance with an attentive audience.
The ethereal duo THORNFIELD are the hosts, and the event is intended as a creative platform for all kinds of performance- original songwriting, cover songs, rap, comedy, poetry, magic, or simply a chance to jam with other musicians to generate new ideas.
THORNFIELD provide a quality pa sound system, with monitors and ambient lighting to generate the desired atmosphere.
News of this event has spread largely through word of mouth, and its popularity is rising steadily.
Highlights so far have been the appearance of the Irish act REVERIE, and a professional duo who tour around Germany- James and Diane Sexton, plus stunning acoustic sets from local rock/folk veterans SAVANNAH.
As well as holding this regular event and staging gigs of their own, Thornfield shall continue touring around and dropping in at acoustic nights at various venues including:-
The Queen's Head - Higham Ferrers
The Baker's Arms - Bugbrooke
The Victoria Inn - Northampton
The George - Wilby
Joules Eating House - Market Harborough
The White House Scraptoft (Leicestershire)
as well as The Shed, The Musician and The Attick in Leicester.
THORNFIELD played alongside Los Angeles act THE BRIAN TRAVIS BAND at Brigstock in August 2003, and in the same month provided acoustic support to The James Taylor Quartet at the Northampton Balloon festival. In March 2004, the duo appeared with other support acts at the Romany in Northampton where the headliner was Jools Holland Big band guitarist Mark Flanagan.
Contact THORNFIELD HQ :
ADAM MUSTIN - email: [email protected]
