Noko
Noko |
|---|
Norman Fisher-Jones (b. Bootle, near Liverpool, England)[1], also known as Noko, is an english multi-instrumentalist musician, whose first works dealt primarily with the support of other bands as a guitarist, whereas later on he partook as a set member within various bands. In chronological order and summary, the most notable of these were:
- The Umbrella
- Luxuria
- Apollo 440 and Stealth Sonic Soul
- Fast
- Maximum Roach
- James Maker and Noko 440 (also known as Frankenstein)
- Magazine (for a tour in February 2009)
He continues as of 2009[update] to play with Apollo 440.
He adopted the nickname name Noko professionally after his move to London; Howard Devoto, his partner in Luxuria, stated in an interview that "Noko is a Liverpudlicisation of Norman."[citation needed] While it has no meaning in itself in Japanese, nokogiri refers to a saw, and the logo of Luxuria includes a circular saw.
Biography
In 1980, he formed his first band called Alvin The Aardvark & The Fuzzy Ants, who made their fist gig on "After All That…This", a Granada TV show. Despite the DJ John Peel liked their music, they never released any material, recording only an unreleased single at Open Eye Studios, in Liverpool, in 1981, before disbanding, the same year.
In 1983 he became involved with three bands. He joined The Cure as bassist, playing for some European and UK live/TV dates, and formed two bands, Dynamo Futurista and The Umbrella. The latter group, consistent of Noko (guitar and vocals), Simon Hoare (drums), Mark Sanderson (bass) and James Gardner, released a total of three songs before folding, which were released on an EP called Make Hell (For The Beautiful People).
In early 1984, he rejoined The Cure as bassist, that time as replacement of Phil Thornalley, who was not available. The same year, he was seen in Pete Shelley's The Pete Shelley Group, on bass, replacing Barry Adamson who left to join Nick Cave's Bad Seeds, and then again in 1986 on guitar in a later line up of the group until the association with the ex-Buzzcocks member got Noko the attention of Howard Devoto. There are many myths ranking around how exactly the first meeting took place, ranging from absurdly comical to realistic, most of which were distributed freely in interviews by the two themselves, but regardless which of these holds truth, the two came together to form the band Luxuria in 1986.
Founder Buzzcock and Magazine frontman, Howard Devoto started writing with Noko in 1986 with a view to putting a band together to play Factory Records' Festival Of The 10th Summer at G-Mex stadium in Manchester that summer to commemorate the tenth anniversary of Punk. They played a short set as Adultery, borrowing backline from The Smiths. (Noko also played a set with Pete Shelley at the same gig in a line-up that also included ex Magazine drummer John Doyle).
Line-up for that one Adultery gig was : Howard Devoto - Voice, Noko - Guitar/Viola, Leroy James - keyboards/Guitar, Simon Hoare - Drums, Pete Kinski - Bass. Signing to Beggars Banquet in 1987 and deciding on the name Luxuria, Devoto and Noko released two LPs : Unanswerable Lust (1988) and Beastbox (1990) and toured Europe and USA throughout 1988 with a line-up of Devoto & Noko on voice/guitars & viola as usual and Karl Leiker - Bass, Mark Rowlett - Drums/Sequential Studio 440, James Gardner - Keyboards, Frog - Guitar/keyboards. The final Luxuria gig at the Town & Country Club (now The Forum) in London featured cameo appearances by Barry Adamson - Bass on a rendition of Magazine's "The Light Pours Out Of Me" for an encore, and Morrissey, who read a passage of Marcel Proust's "A La Recherche Du Temps Perdu" over the intro of "Mademoiselle" before throwing the tattered book into the crowd as the band kicked into the song. (There is a bootleg recording of the gig in circulation).
When Luxuria folded in 1990, Noko got together with school friends, brothers Trevor Gray and Howard Gray and James Gardner and formed APOLLO 440.
The band released a number of singles/EPs on their own StealthSonic Recordings label : "Lolita" (1990), "Destiny" (1991), "Blackout" (1992) and "Lolita/Destiny '92" (1992).
APOLLO 440 made 4 LPs : Millennium Fever(1995), ElectroGlide In Blue (1997), Gettin' High On Your Own Supply (1999), Dude Descending A Staircase (2003) Sony Records. For extensive production/Remix/Soundtrack CV & discography please refer to www.apollo440.com
The band have been playing live in one form or another since their inception in 1990 to the present day and chronologically the touring line-ups are as follows : 1990-1992: The band featured all founder members on Keyboards/sequencers/drum machines and MCs Stevie Hyper-D and Tigga-Max guesting from time-to-time on vocals.
1993-1995: James Gardner left for New Zealand where he has since established himself as a prominent composer writing music for his ensemble 175 EAST. Noko moved over to electric guitar and lead vocals, Trevor Gray - Keyboards, Howard Gray -Bass, and ex MODERN EON drummer Cliff Hewitt added first electronic, then acoustic drums to the line-up.(Kenny Cougar briefly replaced Rej on Bass during 1999). 1996-2000 : Noko - Guitar, Trevor Gray - Keyboards, Howard Gray - Vibe Controller/Live-Mix, Cliff Hewitt - D-Drums, Paul Kodish - Drums, Reinallt Ap Gwynnedd - Bass, Mary Byker ex Gaye Bykers on Acid - Lead vocals, Harry-K - DJ/Vocals. 2007-Present : Noko - Guitar, Trevor Gray - Keyboards, Howard Gray - Vibe Controller/Live-Mix. Cliff Hewitt - Drums, Ewan MacFarlane -Lead Vocals, Ashley Krajewski - MPC/Keyboards.
Since then, the band has continued to exist, but has not been Noko's sole form of artistry. 2004 saw him in a two-man band with James Maker which was at first called Frankenstein, but was later renamed to James Maker and Noko 440. The band released only one EP via Morrissey's Attack imprint (I'm Unbearable / Born That Way) and the two musicians parted early 2005 after touring with a full band line up on Morrissey's European and UK dates including his Meltdown at the Royal Festival Hall supporting the newly reformed New York Dolls.
In November 2008, he was announced as guitarist of the reformed Magazine band, who that time comprised his former bandmate Howard Devoto, Barry Adamson, John Doyle and Dave Formula.[2]
Other appearances
The EZ Drum & Bass Orchestra consisted of Noko and Frederick Pasquan and made one commercially available EP "Beat Girl" b/w "EZ Beat Girl" and "Slow Beat Girl" on the Sliced label in 1996. The Duo also remixed a number of other artists eg. "Carrerra Rapida -EZ Drum&Bass Orchestra Remix" by Apollo 440 on Sony in 1997.
Noko played bass in 1991 on the Total Abandon EP and "Jubilee Twist" LP in 1992 by Heart Throbs, a group from Reading who folded in 1993.
In the same year he played abstract guitar on the song Ventriloquists and Dolls from Momus's album Hippopotamomus.
In 1992 Noko collaborated with Stuart Crichton as Johnny Potatohead, releasing on single, Johnny Potatohead on Reverb Records.
From 2002-2004 Noko was involved as Producer/Musical Director for The Prada Meinhof Gang : all-female Art-Terrorist troupe 2002-2004 including performance/installations @ Venice Biennalle, Tate Britain, ICA etc and the track "Want Is Your Master" was included on the free CD compilation that accompanied the 'Music' issue of Modern Painters magazine.
Equipment
For Apollo 440, he used the following guitars: a green Parker Fly Classic, a blue Parker Fly Deluxe and a pink Fender 1962 reissue Stratocaster.[3]
While he was touring with Magazine, in February 2009, he used a Yamaha SG 1000 guitar and a MXR flanger, mimicing John McGeoch's setup[4]
References
External links
- http://www.myspace.com/noko440
- The Stealthography (Apollo 440 and related discography)
- Apollo 440 (official page)