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Gary Lightbody is currently on the board of directors of the [[Oh Yeah Belfast]] Music Centre ([http://www.ohyeahbelfast.com Oh Yeah Music Centre]) in [[Northern Ireland]], a project set up to give young artists a place where they can share ideas and kick-start their music careers, as often is the trend of talent leaving the country from lack of appraisal. He supported furthermore young bands from Northern Ireland and involved them as support bands to shows of [[Snow Patrol]]'s [[Taking Back the Cities Tour#UK & Ireland Arena Tour|UK & Ireland Arena Tour]] of February-March 2009.
Gary Lightbody is currently on the board of directors of the [[Oh Yeah Belfast]] Music Centre ([http://www.ohyeahbelfast.com Oh Yeah Music Centre]) in [[Northern Ireland]], a project set up to give young artists a place where they can share ideas and kick-start their music careers, as often is the trend of talent leaving the country from lack of appraisal. He supported furthermore young bands from Northern Ireland and involved them as support bands to shows of [[Snow Patrol]]'s [[Taking Back the Cities Tour#UK & Ireland Arena Tour|UK & Ireland Arena Tour]] of February-March 2009.

Furthermore he writes as essayist articles or columns in variously music magazines and newspapers like <ref> Q TheMusic.com magazine <ref>'''Gary Lightbody's Band of The Week''' http://news.qthemusic.com/2009/08/gary_lightbodys_band_of_the_we_9.html</ref> or The Irish Time's music section <ref>'''The Ticket''' http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/theticket/2009/0703/1224249944350.html</ref>. As convinced music fan and [[DJ]] he recommends in his blogs or esssays albums and artists of different and wide-ranging genres of music.


==Musical career==
==Musical career==

Revision as of 09:34, 9 August 2009

Gary Lightbody

Gary Lightbody (born 15 June 1976 in Bangor,[1] Northern Ireland) is an Northern Irish musician [2] and songwriter, best known as the frontman of the alternative rock band Snow Patrol.

Personal

Gary Lightbody studied English literature and English language at the University of Dundee.[3] As a songwriter, he has written songs and lyrics for a wide variety of artists. In 2001, he formed the Scottish group The Reindeer Section,[4] whilst continuing to work as a DJ, often together with his Snow Patrol-bandmate Tom Simpson. He is one of the supporting voices for the growing music-scene in his hometown Belfast in Northern Ireland, and stated once in an interview to have grown up as an "Indie rock-kid"-inspired to become a musician through influences of artists such as Kurt Cobain and Super Furry Animals [5].

Generally Gary prefers to keep his private life very private.

In the magazine "The New Statesman", he referred to his journey to Uganda with the aid organisation Save The Children[6].

In April 2009, following the conviction of the founders of Swedish file-sharing website The Pirate Bay, vocalist Gary Lightbody commented in interview that "They shouldn't have been jailed... the punishment doesn't fit the crime."[7] He further commented that "I'm not anti-filesharing at all. This is the modern way... you have to live in the society you created."[7]

Gary Lightbody is currently on the board of directors of the Oh Yeah Belfast Music Centre (Oh Yeah Music Centre) in Northern Ireland, a project set up to give young artists a place where they can share ideas and kick-start their music careers, as often is the trend of talent leaving the country from lack of appraisal. He supported furthermore young bands from Northern Ireland and involved them as support bands to shows of Snow Patrol's UK & Ireland Arena Tour of February-March 2009.

Furthermore he writes as essayist articles or columns in variously music magazines and newspapers like Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page). or The Irish Time's music section [8]. As convinced music fan and DJ he recommends in his blogs or esssays albums and artists of different and wide-ranging genres of music.

Musical career

After attending Rockport School and Campbell College, he moved to Dundee, Scotland in 1994 to attend the University of Dundee. It is here that he formed the band Polar Bear (after the original name 'Shrug') with fellow student Mark McClelland, also from Northern Ireland. Initially, Michael Morrison, then Richard Colburn of Belle & Sebastian featured on drums. Lightbody then asked Jonny Quinn to move from Belfast to take over on drums. Facing legal action from an American band of the same name, the boys changed their name to Snow Patrol. He was one of the celebrities who filled in for DJ Zane Lowe on his radio show after he took his annual leave. He was subsequently voted the best fill-in DJ amongst them by the listeners.[9]

Snow Patrol

Lightbody formed the band with classmate Mark McClelland and drummer Michael Morrison in 1994. In the band's first seven years of existence, they added drummer Jonny Quinn, released two albums (Songs for Polarbears, and When It's All Over We Still Have to Clear Up), and toured with bands such as The Levellers, Ash and Travis, before signing to Polydor offshoot Fiction. Their first album on Fiction, Final Straw, saw Lightbody working with producer Garret "Jacknife" Lee, who went on to produce U2. After the success of Final Straw, the band headed back into the studio to record the next album for Fiction, Eyes Open, which was again produced by Lee. Their first single for A Hundred Million Suns is "Take Back The City". "A Hundred Million Suns" was released on 28 October 2008.

Collaborations, side and solo projects outside Snow Patrol

Lightbody in 2005

2000-2002

  • In addition to work on Snow Patrol and side-project material, Lightbody has also lent his voice to the band Mogwai (one track on Rock Action).
  • In 2001 he contributed furthermore British Breakbeat/Electronica musician Cut La Roc's song Fallen.

2005-2006

  • He contributed vocals to The Freelance Hellraisers Waiting for Clearance debut album in 2006 and for UK producer Kidda's debut album Going Up.[10]

2007-2008

  • In 2007 he leant his voice to British House musician Cut La Roc's track Mishka on his album Larger Than Life which is yet to be released.[11]

2008-2009

  • In May 2009 he announced furthermore to work actually on a solo album as sideproject outside his band Snow Patrol titled as Tired Pony and what he described in interviews as Country influenced.[12]

Musical equipment

Guitars

Amplifiers

Effects

File:Garyspedalboard.jpg
Gary's Pedalboard
  • BOSS TU-2 Tuner
  • BOSS TR-2 Tremolo
  • BOSS CS-3 Compression Sustainer
  • Two BOSS SD-1 Super Overdrives
  • BOSS GE-7 Equalizer

Misc

  • Picks: Dunlop Tortex Standard Orange .50mm
  • Strings: Gauge .010
  • Pickup Preference: Neck Position. Amplifier EQ set quite bright for jangly tone
  • Vocal Mic: Shure Beta 58

Notes

  1. ^ Culture Northern Ireland website
  2. ^ "'Splain Yourself: Gary Lightbody of Snow Patrol".
  3. ^ http://www.plant-biology.com/University-Dundee.php
  4. ^ http://www.belfastmusic.org/article.aspx?art_id=984
  5. ^ http://www.nme.com/news/nme/39923
  6. ^ [1]
  7. ^ a b "Snow Patrol defend illegal downloading". idiomag. 2009-04-26. Retrieved 2009-04-26.
  8. ^ The Ticket http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/theticket/2009/0703/1224249944350.html
  9. ^ Cashmere, Paul (2007-01-22). "Gary Lightbody from Snow Patrol voted BBC's Best DJ". Undercover. Retrieved 2009-07-21.
  10. ^ Skint Records
  11. ^ Mishka recorded
  12. ^ a b http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/news/upcoming_releases/snow_patrols_gary_lightbody_working_on_two_solo_albums.html Ultimate Guitar Magazine
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