Mark Cawthra

Mark Cawthra

Mark Cawthra (born 28 April 1961) is a musician and music producer working in the UK. He was born in Bishop Stortford, Hertfordshire.

Biography

Mark Cawthra's first serious musical activity was in an early (un-named) music project with schoolfriend Tim Smith (bass guitar) and David Philpot (keyboards), in which he played drums. The music drew inspiration from the "Canterbury" bands of the time, particularly Egg.

After a period of playing drums with other musicians from the Kingston-Upon-Thames area, he moved to North Yorkshire and lived there for the whole of 1978. He returned to London in 1979, following an invitation to join Tim and Jim Smith in Cardiac Arrest (replacing Peter Tagg on drums). Other members of the band at this time were Colvin Mayers (keyboards), (later to play with Adrian Borland in The Sound), and Mick Pugh (vocals). The Cardiac Arrest album The Obvious Identity was recorded at this time. Subsequently, Mark and Tim Smith recorded the band - now renamed Cardiacs - for a number of sessions in a small Surbiton studio. The results became the first Cardiacs album, "Toy World".

Following a short period in 1982 in which he was Cardiacs' keyboard player and percussionist, he left the band, moved to Birmingham and briefly worked with two of the remaining members of the Birmingham band Dangerous Girls, following their split. The line-up, calling itself TAAGA, produced one single, "Friend of Mine", produced by Bob Lamb.

On returning to London, Mark worked for the remainder of the 1980s as crew member or live sound engineer, touring with several acts including Immaculate Fools, It's Immaterial, and Then Jerico. He was also Cardiacs front-of-house engineer at this time, and played in the band Grown Ups with William D. Drake (Cardiacs), Elaine Herman, Jon Bastable (The Trudy), Dominic Luckman (Cardiacs) and Craig Fortnam. Five tracks were recorded by this line-up but never released.

From 1998, his work was based in and around Leeds, culminating in the building of a 48-track facility, That Studio. Most recently, he worked with This et al. demo-ing material prior to the release of their Baby Machine album. The studio was closed down in 2007.

Today, his work is all studio-based, recording and mixing demos and masters in his own facility, now relocated to the South West of England. He is also responsible for recording/producing the work of several artists, most recently the first two North Sea Radio Orchestra albums. His mastering credits in addition to the NSRO albums include William D. Drake's second album, "Briny Hooves" .

Discography

(With Cardiac Arrest)

• The Obvious Identity cassette album (1980)

(With Cardiacs)

• Toy World Cassette (1981)
• The Seaside (1st Version) Cassette (1984) ALPH 001
• Archive Cardiacs Cassette/CD (1989) ALPH 000

(As Mark Cawthra)

• Cardiacs and Affectionate Friends CD (2001) ORG228
• Leader Of The Starry Skies: A Tribute To Tim Smith, Songbook 1 CD (2010) Believers Roast

Trivia

Mark's brother is the guitarist Gypie Mayo.

Cardiacs Rude Bootleg was recorded from the mixing desk by Mark on a scruffy cassette deck in the effects rack at the Reading Festival. The EQ settings on the mixing desk were left behind from the band who had played last on the night before, Saxon (band);

Mark may be seen briefly dancing to Cardiacs' "R.E.S" in the Seaside Treats video. He performs several delightful moves whilst wearing a light blue bri-nylon jersey.

External links

• www.markcawthra.com
• Mark Cawthra @ MySpace
• Cardiacs homepage