The Galahad Diary

Greatest Ever Prog Rock

2012-02-13T04:17:00.001-08:00

Yet more activity on the Galahad front........Galahad are pleased to announce that their track 'Empires Never Last' will feature on a rather nifty compilation entitled 'Greatest Ever Prog Rock' which will be released on the Union Square imprint on the 2nd April 2012.The album is a 3 CD compilation featuring tracks from 40 bands from all eras of Prog including Yes, Camel, Curved Air, Rick Wakeman, Marillion, Colosseum, The Moody Blues, Uriah Heep, Twelfth Night, IQ amongst many others

The recording of Battle Scars - an update

2012-02-08T15:45:00.001-08:00

Well, 'Battle Scars' is now 99.9% mixed subject to a few minor adjustments here and there and will be mastered in the next couple of weeks or so.It is all sounding very big, fat, heavy, dark, light, uplifting, rocking, dancing, progging, trancing, epic etc, etc...Karl Groom has really excelled himself with this recording totally capturing our vision for this album. In fact we all feel that is easily the best studio album we have ever recorded ( yes, I know we would say that but we really, really do!) in terms of songwriting, performances, mixing, arrangements and pure sonic quality!Neil is an integral part of this recording and we are sure he would be very proud of what we have achieved with 'Battle Scars'. He's probably looking down on us right now telling us to get on with it!The final track running order is:1. Battle Scars2. Reach for the Sun3. Singularity4. Bitter and Twisted5. Suspended Animation6. Beyond the Barbed Wire7. Seize the DayBonus: Sleepers 2012In fact you can all judge for yourselves once it has been released to the waiting world (!) hopefully around Mid April....2012!!We hope you like it, we certainly do...

Whitchurch 92/93 - Live Archives Vol.2

2012-02-08T15:38:00.001-08:00

Many, many moons ago, way back in the early 1990’s, a couple of brothers and very enthusiastic live music fans, Dave and Pete Martin, decided to organise occasional rock shows at the village hall of a small, quiet but idyllic Hampshire village called Whitchurch. They very kindly asked if Galahad would play a few of these gigs after having seen us, I believe, at the London Astoria playing with Pendragon amongst others in 1991. As a result Galahad played several gigs at this bijou, on the face of it unremarkable venue. But these gigs were special, very special, small yes, but with the audience packed in like sardines, the beer flowing freely, hot sweat running down the walls, the atmosphere was electric, strangely reminiscent of some heady times at the Marquee Club in London, which was odd considering we were playing in the most unlikely of venues tucked away deep in the Hampshire countryside. These were some of the most memorable and fun shows the band ever played and we think the members of the incredibly receptive audience would agree, if of course they can remember!Those gigs will always linger long in the memory, Pete and Dave went on to better things in bigger venues, but these gigs were where it all started and will always have a special place within the heart and the history of the band.Fast forward to 2011…and the good news is that these shows were recorded both in audio and video format, plus our dear friends at OSKAR Productions in Poland asked if they could release these now ‘historical’ musical documents, to which we replied ‘of course’ you can. Thus ‘Whitchurch - 92/93 - Live Archives vol. 2’ will be released as a digipak double album featuring an audio CD of the show played by the band on 18 July 1992 and a DVD of the show the band played on the 16 July 1993, which is made all the more poignant as both concerts feature Neil on bass guitar, who was in fine form, as were the rest of us at the time! More news on release dates, availability etc to follow in due course.

Suspended Animation

2011-09-19T16:11:00.001-07:00

Here's a preview of Suspended Animation from the forthcoming Galahad album Battle Scars.
The music was written by Neil Pepper and was mixed for the International Prog Rock Show

http://m.youtube.com/?client=mv-google&rdm=4nyrj9yni&tsp=1#/watch?v=MTVxreXhHgY

The images are mainly of the Loreley concert from September 2011. It was Neil's last gig with the band.

- Posted using BlogPress for iPad

Neil Pepper

2011-09-13T06:48:00.000-07:00

NEIL……
Neil Pepper, affectionately known as ‘Big One’ to the band, has finally lost his battle against cancer.
Throughout the whole of the last eighteen months or so and despite all the problems he suffered he always remained incredibly positive, showed immense dignity and never gave in to this most unforgiving of conditions. He even bought new recording equipment and a new bass guitar as well as writing many new songs, several of which will appear on the next Galahad album ‘Battle Scars’.
Ironically, in the last couple of years Neil had brought a renewed vibrancy and spirit to the band, making it a very productive and positive time in the bands career from a writing and recording perspective. In fact, despite being in a great deal of discomfort he still managed to record all his bass tracks on both the forthcoming new Galahad albums.
Neil was and still is an integral part of the ‘Galahad’ family having been involved for many years, we shared so many good times in the studio and on the road which will never be forgotten.
We are all devastated and Galahad will never be the same without him and he can never be replaced. Therefore for the foreseeable future Galahad will continue ‘officially’ as a four piece.
We will always think of him when writing, rehearsing or performing and we will miss him so, so much.
He passed away on Friday 2 September 2011 aged just 44, exactly one year after having performed his final show with the band at Loreley in Germany, which fittingly was one of the most memorable gigs we have ever played.
He leaves behind his lovely wife Jojo and three young children Finnian, Poppy and Rosie.

A quick recording update.....

2010-11-01T02:56:00.001-07:00

All the heavy guitars have now been tracked by Roy. The way the new album is sounding, it will have a much heavier edge than Empires Never Last. Throw in some spectacular performances by Spencer on the drums, some very solid bass by Neil, plenty of 'not very prog' keyboards by Dean, a short piano concerto, shredding from Roy the 'axe-man, some fearsome vocals by Stuart and the album is going to clear any cobwebs out of your speaker cabs the first time it is played. Karl Groom is doing a superb job at the helm and his understanding of how the band want to sound is uncanny.

All is looking good for a release in the first half of 2011. Although the title of the album is still to be decided, we can let you know the working titles of the recorded songs that will be on the finished product. In no particular order, the tracks are: Battlescars, Seize the Day, Crest of a Wave, Salvation (parts 1 & 2), Bitter and Twisted, Guardian Angel, Secret Kingdoms, Reprise.

Also, a few extra tracks are being recorded which will celebrate the first 25 years of Galahad. The band are still deciding on the best way to distribute these extra tracks although they will be available around the same time as the official release next year.

Drum recording wrap

2010-09-29T09:31:00.001-07:00

The drums have now been recorded for the next Galahad album. Battle Scars was the last track to be recorded and Karl Groom is doing a great job for us at Thin Ice.

Neil will be recording the bass at his studio whilst Roy will be traveling up to Thin Ice very soon to lay the guitars down. The synths/keyboards will be split between Dean's studio and Thin Ice over the next few months with Stuart laying vocals down by the end of the year - we're being optimistic but that's the plan!

How time can fly by.......

2010-09-27T19:32:00.000-07:00

How quickly time passes us by in the land of Galahad!!

This year has shot by so quick but we've been very busy and very productive. The follow up album to Empires Never Last has been written and the drums have been tracked for all the tracks (with the exception of Battle Scars which will be recorded this Weds).

Karl Groom is, again, recording and co-producing the album. The band feel that Karl is practically a 6th member of the band as he has the expertise and understanding of knowing how Galahad want the recording to sound.

A quick run down of the events so far this year :

A performance at the Winters End Festival was followed by a trip to Quebec to headline another festival - this turned out to be an extended stay for us as the Icelandic volcano decided to erupt it's ash cloud just before the flight out from Montreal. The 25th anniversary gig was in July before recording started and a quick trip to Loreley in a gorgeous part of Germany for Europe's largest open air progressive festival.

Along with all that, Roy and Dean have been playing with a revamped/ reformed Twelfth Night for a small tour which culminated in a headline show at Loreley (Roy and Dean played both the Galahad and Twelfth Night sets on the 3rd September).

More news to come soon: a few interesting additions to possibly be included with the new album, a DVD, a new official YouTube channel, more blog updates, a revamped website, a ping account has just been set up, some nice downloads for you all... etc etc.

All our albums are now available on iTunes should you be missing any of the back catalogue.

See you soon :-D

Galahad 25th Anniversary Gig

2010-01-18T13:05:00.000-08:00

Mr Kyps, Poole, Dorset, UK – Sat 10 July 2010

It’s time to unfurl the flags out and blow a few trumpets because 2010 is a very special year for Galahad as it marks our 25th anniversary (how many years again!?) and as such there will be few events organised to celebrate the fact that we have managed to keep it all together for so long…and without a break…. and still be on talking terms with each other, an achievement in itself!

The highlight of our UK set of gigs will undoubtedly be our 25th anniversary show at Mr Kyps in Poole, Dorset on Saturday 10 July where we will be playing an extended set of both very old and very new songs plus a few other favourites and will be joined on stage by several ‘special’ guests whom some of you are bound to recognise depending on how long you have been a Galahad aficionado of course! Hopefully, there will also be a few merchandise stalls and possibly even some new Galahad music available including a brand new, updated recording of one of our most popular epic songs! We will also be playing a few new tunes that will appear on our next studio album.

As it is a very special occasion for us your support would be greatly appreciated and we hope to see as many fans of Galahad, and indeed fans of good original progressive/rock/live music as possible….and we promise to put on a great show as we also see the gig as a massive ‘thank you’ to all those of you who have stood by us through all our trials and tribulations over the last 25 years.

Tickets will be priced at a very reasonable £10 in advance and £12 on the door and will be available directly from the venue at www.mrkyps.net
Further information about all of Galahad’s activities in 2010 will be given in the next few months as when details are finalised.

Galahad and the last piece of the jigsaw.....

2009-07-28T06:52:00.000-07:00

Yes indeed, the rumours are true! Galahad would like to confirm that Neil Pepper is our new/old bass guitarist. We are extremely pleased that Neil has rejoined the band.

He was an integral part of the Galahad set up for ten years between 1992 and 2002 and played on three of our studio albums ‘Sleepers’, ‘Following Ghosts’ and ‘Year Zero’. He is also the bass player on our first live album ‘Classic Rock Live’ as well as appearing on the Galahad Acoustic Quintet album ‘Not All There’.

He has also already made a significant contribution to the new songs that will form our next album. Therefore, even in our 25th year of existence we are very excited about the future for what we regard as the definitive Galahad line up.

As someone once said……..It’s only a matter of going!

Work in progress(ive rock)

2009-07-26T11:36:00.000-07:00

The new material for the next album is coming along nicely. It looks like the band have got to the stage of working on the finer details of each of the songs. Also, we have a big surprise for Galahad fans as one of the plans for next years release is to re-record a song that will be very farmiliar to most of you. Over the next few months the first songs will be recorded at Thin Ice Studios with Karl Groom at the helm. Karl did such a good job working with us on Empires Never Last that we didn't really even think about using another studio or producer/engineer.

Keep checking back for the next update....................

Poland 2009 (part 2)

2009-07-25T07:37:00.001-07:00

The 6th June was 4TH OSKAR ART-ROCK FESTIVAL in Konin. The largest venue of our tour with Riverside headlining. Riverside had some last minute changes and were not able to make the event. Still, with a good crowd lined up waiting for the doors to open, we felt that this was going to be a good night for us. First up were a Polish band called Lilith, a heavy goth/prog/rock band with a huge sound and a singer with a wonderful angelic sounding voice. Next, our good friends Grendel performed and this time they had bass player Cezary join them for a full band sound with a few songs that were not played on the previous 2 nights. We took to the stage at last and to our surprise, at least half the audience rushed to the front of the stage making it a very noisy and memerable concert for us. After we had finished it was time to pack away and move on to our hotel for the night. Witek, our promoter, had decided on hiring a few chalets out in the countryside for all the bands to stay in. From, at first sight, looked like the set from the movie 'Friday the 13th' became another lovely night as the members from each band all met up for a bit of a party into the small hours.

Next morning, after what felt like about 30 minutes sleep, we headed to Poznan for the final gig of the short tour. The 'Blue Note' club seemed an odd choice for a progressive rock band to play but as it turned out, it was probably our highlight of the tour. A very intimate venue, a world apart from the previous night, was full to the rafters and the audience were buzzing. A major concern earlier in the day was that because of the never ending amounts of dry ice being pumped on stage throughout the previous night, Stuart had a severe sore throat that meant he could hardly talk, let alone sing!!! It was when the band took to the stage that the 'spirit of performance' that has done the band so proud over the last few years, REALLY shone through. Although Stuart was really struggling to get enough out of his voice, his total commitment to putting on a good show paid off with what was probably the 'performance' of the tour.

Packing up the gear for the last time was probably as slow as it could ever be and then we headed back at the hotel. The Grendel members set about organising one last party for us. Although there were only a few hours left before leaving for the airport, Stu, Roy, Spencer and Dean spent the last couple of hours with our wonderful support band.

Next year, if all goes according to plan, we will again be touring Poland and hopefully, Grendel will be coming along for the duration with us again. With next year being Galahad's 25th anniversary, alot has to be planned for a very very busy year........

Poland Tour (part one)

2009-06-20T16:52:00.000-07:00

After a 2am start to travel to the airport, we finally arrived in Katowice around 10.30am on Thursday 4th June. A quick checkin at the hotel and we were on our way to the 1st venue - CZERWIEC - PIEKARY SLASKIE, ANDALUZJA.
This was the opening slot for last years tour and it was a tremendous success so we were really looking forward to playing the same venue again. Sure enough, the audience didn't disappoint and it turned out to be a very lively night. Galahad are a band that enjoy to entertain and a lively audience goes a long way in bringing out the best from the guys. A set with a good mixture of old and new led to a good solid first show. Starting with the title track from the Sleepers album and including some 'golden oldies' like Room 801, Lady Messiah and Bugeye, a good portion of the award winning album Empires Never Last finished off the set.
After the gig it was back to the hotel to relax (with vodka) and meet up with the guys -and lady- from Grendel. It turned out to be a perfect match to be touring with Grendel. Their style contrasted Galahads perfectly and to top it off, within a few hours, both bands had become best of friends. This was the way it stayed throughout the tour and we are all still in regular contact with each other.

After a very late night we all hit the road to travel to OSTRÓW. We arrived to find ourselves in a wonderful, picturesque town square to check into a lovely hotel which was only a few minutes walk from the venue. Today was the first chance to relax a little before making our way to the venue for the soundcheck. Modest ticket sales didn't stop the venus from being full by the time the bands came onto the stage. Polish band Grendel, for the 2nd gig, were working without their bass player Cezary (he was due to join for the 3rd and 4th concerts) played another faultless set. Galahad again had a very good response from the audience and the wheels were fully in motion for another very successful tour. A great after show party in a local nightclub with all the guys from both bands further cemented the bond between the Polish/English tour members. Things were certainly looking good.

To be continued..........

All ready to roll

2009-05-29T07:08:00.001-07:00

Hi to everyone.

The band have rehearsed for the last time before the trip to Poland and will be leaving sunny Dorset on Wednesday night for the first show on Thursday 4th June (check earlier post for venues).

Stuart and Dean got together this week for a writing session and to fine tune some of the recent compositions. All went well and if the pace can be kept up, there'e no reason why the band won't be heading into the Studio towards the end of the year.

Dean's studio project, After The Storm, has been completed with the help of Lee (who has been asked to have more of an active role in the band so has now turned the duo into a trio). The project has been very rewarding for Dean and he is hugely excited about the months ahead with Galahad to work with the band on the new album.

With the CD release by Metal Mind of Galahad's live performance in Poland in 2006 (which incidentally, is the same that was used for the DVD) the Live CD release of the show at RosFest in 2007 is to be witheld a little longer than originally planned. What this space for details.....

Change to support for Poland

2009-05-20T10:50:00.000-07:00

Just a very short entry to say that we have just heard from Witek of Oskar (promoters for the Polish tour) and our support band has been changed. The support will be another Polish group - not Believe, but GRENDEL

Only 2 weeks to go :-)

Rehearsals for mini-tour of Poland

2009-05-19T17:17:00.000-07:00

Rehearsals for the mini-your of Poland are about to start. The set list has been decided on and the band are getting very excited about their 3rd trip to Poland.

The Polish audiences are very enthusiastic to see Galahad (after all, the band had to wait 20 years before getting the chance to play live in Poland).

The dates are:

GALAHAD + BELIEVE (elektrycznie): June 2009:

04.06, CZERWIEC - PIEKARY SLASKIE, ANDALUZJA,

05.06 - OSTRÓW WLKP - OCK,

06.06 - 4TH OSKAR ART-ROCK FESTIVAL -GRENDEL + BELIEVE + GALAHAD + RIVERSIDE -KONIN, OSKARD...

07.06. BELIEVE + GALAHAD - Poznan - BLUE NOTE

Lee Abrahams new CD available now

2009-05-17T17:01:00.000-07:00

The Mirror, a track from Lee Abraham's new album Black and White can be heard here:

http://drop.io/silhobbit/asset/lee-abraham-the-mirror-from-the-album-black-white-mp3

You can visit Lee's site at http://www.leeabraham.co.uk/

Have a free listen

2009-05-17T04:48:00.000-07:00

We've got a taster of two tracks from Empires Never Last, the most recent Galahad Cd for download here: http://cid-a1b43642e0803810.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/.Public/FB%20ENL%20Abridged.mp3 it's quite a large download (11mb) in mp3 format.
Its a taster version of the title track followed by a slimmed down version of Termination... enjoy

You can get a copy of the album direct from galahad http://www.galahadonline.com , email: band@galahadonline.com or through the usual internet shops (play.com , amazon etc). If you prefer, the album can be downloaded from itunes: http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?id=263872772&s=143444

New album at the writing stage

2009-05-16T11:05:00.000-07:00

It's been a rainy day on the south coast of England. A week's gone by since Galahad played at Mr Kyps with Threshold and the new facebook group has expanded nicely in its first 3 days. Some photos have been uploaded to the facebook group of the Mr kyps gig (photography by Donna- Stu's sister-in-law).

Dean has been putting the finishing touches to his new studio project (After The Storm) at Lee's studio. The mixdown starts this week and some pre-release copies should be available by the time the band head to Poland in early June.

The new galahad material is taking shape quite nicely. Stu has lots of very interesting lyrics needing to be shaped into songs. Working titles at the moment for some of the tracks the band have been working on are Crest of a Wave, Bitter and Twisted, Guardian Angel and Secret World. Of course, things change, adapt, switch around and progress in such ways that these tracks could take on very different shapes over the next few months.

The band were very happy with the way Empires Never Last turned out and the direction the band took for the album was justified in terms of the awards and sales it received. The new material will, in typical Galahad fashion, 'progress forward' but just this time, they also feel that they have found the right formula and enthusiasm to strive towards bringing an even better album out. Hopefully, we might be able to offer sneak previews to our diary readers in the future so keep checking back to keep updated with the news from 'Galahad Towers'.

Welcome to the first blog

2009-05-14T08:25:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone

We thought we would keep you up to date on whats happening at Galahad Towers with this, our very own blog :-)

We now have a Facebook group http://www.facebook.com/wall.php?id=80564743662#/group.php?gid=80564743662

MySpace page http://www.myspace.com/galahaduk

and the official website http://www.galahadonline.com/

At the moment Dean is already on twitter http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Fgalahadskeys&h=5bc8f74316afa50ab145844c47ce4405 and we will keep you informed if any of the other guys decide to twitter.

The band took a break from writing the follow up to Empires Never Last on 10th May 09 to play a gig at Mr kyps in Poole, Dorset with Threshold. A small tour of Poland is scheduled for the very begining of June 09 but hopefully the guys will be continuing to write material for the forthcoming Cd which will hopefully to be released next year (and also coincides with the band's 25th anniversary-yes, you DID read that correctly).

Empires Never Last has been the band's most successful album to date, winning 2 awards - Best Album and Best Artwork. The follow-up album is eagerly anticipated and the band are hoping to build on the firm foundations ENL rests on with, of course, Karl Groom at the sharp end of the recording process.

We will keep you updated on life with Galahad over the following months