Music
Chris Baylis - guitarist
From guitar lessons at ‘Barnes & Avis’ Reading, at age 9, to a flirtation with classical guitar lessons at 14, there is after that no ‘learning’ of what and how to play, other than by trial and experiment. As soon as I discovered ‘amplified sound’ there was no going back. I am always fascinated by the relationship between guitar, amplifier and speaker cabinet and from the early years have always used ‘feedback’ in my armoury of sounds. ‘Harmonics’ and volume control have always played a large part in the style I have developed and I was bending plucked harmonics behind the nut of my trusty Gibson SG Standard and playing’violined solos’ back in the early days of Moonmouse.
True liberation occurred when I turned my back on the somewhat ‘esoteric’ but exciting and technically accomplished meanderings of The Brains Trust and bought my first ‘Strat’. ‘The White Strat’ saw me through the whole SIAM era and beyond and it was during this period that my hand came to rest increasingly on the trem arm (wang bar), such that I now cannot even play a guitar without a sympathetically set up trem arm, such has its use, along with my volume pedal, become an essential part of my playing technique.
To that end, my playing has (I believe) a recognisable sound, hopefully of my own, but with a large nod to my early influences which included Hank Marvin, the blues of Peter Green, Paul Kossoff, Eric Clapton and Mick Taylor, sitar player Purbayan Chaterjee and latterly the incomparable and totally amazing Mr Jeff Beck. If you have not enjoyed the delights of ‘Jeff Beck Live at Ronnie Scott’s’ available on BBC iplayer, then I can thoroughly recommend. I was lucky enough be there for one night and it was a wonderful experience!
For a taste of my music, please click here. This is ‘A Pernod for the Bamboo Man’ from the first Guitar Orchestra album.
If you'd like to know more, contact me here: TheRealWoodRecordingCompany@gmail.com
Adventures in the recording studio as an engineer / producer through the eighties and early nineties will have to wait for another day. Names such as PJ Harvey, John Parish and Red Box amongst others will feature.
Bands over the years
1968 Pagan Festival - with Nick Watson (dark heavy rock) no gigs
1969 - 70 Angus Buck - with Chas de Whalley, Robert Smith & Simon (blues based covers and originals) played school dances
1971 Fallout - with Andrew Millar, Tim Wilder, & Ben Russell (blues rock covers) played local village halls
1972 Fallout (Mk 2) - with Tim Wilder, Henry Howarth, & Morgan Manley (progressive /
alternative rock) first ‘serious’ gig supporting Mick Abrahams Band at Abingdon Tech College
1972 - 76 Moonmouse - with Dion Barker, Tim Mulley & Sean McGowan (progressive rock) numerous support gigs at Surrey University, to Barclay James Harvest,Camel and others, other local colleges, Hammersmith Odeon as support to Steeleye Span
1976 - 78 The Brains Trust - with Dion Barker, Gordon Wellard, Ian Gibson & Rob Kelly (jazz rock)
70+ gigs, clubs and pubs around Surrey and London, ‘upstairs at Ronnies’, Scottish tour, recorded demos with Steve Lillywhite
1979 Chris Baylis Band with Al Hodgson on drums, recording demos
1979 - 82 SIAM, with Al Hodgson, Jacqui Brookes & John Pethers, (new wave pop rock) Signed to A&M records - wages, road crew (Geoff Smith), & all the ‘glitz’!
SIAM (Mk 2) with Al Hodgson, Jacqui Brookes, Pete Bartlett & Simon Champion
70+ gigs around the UK, - clubs, colleges, large venues, regular headlines on the London circuit
The Marquee Club, Dingwalls, Rock Garden etc, supports to The Ramones, Squeeze, Split Enz,
3 singles and album released
1983 - 84 Naked in Paris solo recording project, (techno pop rock) 7” & 12” releases in UK, France & Holland
1983 Sport - with Nick Trevisick, Ginny Clee, Stuart Whitcombe & Ian Newman (rock)
endless ‘showcase’ gigs at Nomis, album recorded with Hugh Murphy
1986 Chris Baylis with Al Hodgson, Nick Reiber-Hodgson, Stuart Whitcombe (rock)
college and club gigs, 7” & 12” releases in UK & France
1987 - 88 Telling Stories - with Nick Holland, Katie Humble, Carole Cook, Brett Gordon, John Halliday, Graham Q, Volker Jansen, (soul / rock) pub and club gigs around London,
1989 Peculiar People - with Dicken and Paul Gibbon (rock)
college gigs and several German TV shows
1990 - 94 The Guitar Orchestra at first a solo recording project and then a live ‘orchestra’ of between 5 & 10 musicians with Tony Poole, Dave Bowmer, Jerry Soffe, Ricky Edwards, Dennis Fitzgibbons, Lol Ford, Hossam Ramzy, John Parish & Vic Worsley (orchestral rock)
40+ gigs around the UK in arts centres, Berlin & Holland, residency at The Barbican & The Prohibition Club with last ever performance at The Purcell Rooms. Released 2 albums in UK Germany and France
2006 - 20 tp & woodman - with Tony Poole and sometimes Ricky Edwards, Paul Gibbon & Pete Morgan (raga / rock)
club gigs, festivals (Woodstock Live, Cornbury)
2020 Recording finally starts on the recording of an album….
2020 4 live solo videos for NHS and front line workers receive over 1 million views on Facebook and Instagram. Amazing Grace, Somewhere over the rainbow, The Last Post and Hallelujah featured.
2020 - later this year : ’Farewell to Venice’ the new album will be released under my own name and TP (Tony Poole) will be releasing his own solo album, which I will be contributing to!
Seeing is believing...
Our showrooms are now closed and remaining stock, both new and pre-owned is listed under 'STOCK'. Pieces may be viewed by appointment only. We will be holding an exhibition later this year featuring some new pieces, new art and some remaining stock. Please subscribe to our mail list to receive updates.
