Biography
So who are Simplexity?
Musicians Ian Cleverdon and Haydn Jones' first collaboration actually involved ox-bow lakes and cumulo-nimbus clouds, rather than crotchets and synths. They met when they sat next to each other in Geography lessons with Mr Clowes (aka Santa) at King George V Grammar School, Southport, England back in the 1970s. Whilst studying (very hard, of course) they found they shared a great love of music ranging from Mike Oldfield and Emerson Lake and Palmer to Marshall Hain and Sparks. The realisation of this mutual interest in music was "sparked" by the following conversation:
| Ian: "When I get home from school today, I am going
to listen to Tubular Bells" Haydn: "What's Tubular Bells?" |
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In 1979 they abandoned their books and record collections and journeyed
to the Royal Festival Hall in London to see Mike Oldfield on his first world
tour. This inspired them to work on their first musical partnership in 1980,
an ambitious but successful live arrangement of Tubular Bells performed
to raise funds for charity - they didn't have Mike's 90-strong orchestra,
choir and band, but just themselves and 11 mates who fancied the chance
to play live music…and Virgin Records' blessing and permission to
do it!
Moving on down the years, the advent of home recording technology allowed them to dabble with the likes of Atari ST computers, 4-track cassette recorders, various synthesisers and guitars…and eventually…Simplexity was born!
The availability of computer-based music making, and the internet, has made possible the writing and recording of the whole Simplexity first album, with neither artist in the same room at the same time. Very helpful given that they currently live 250 miles apart.
So, all things considered, you could say their first album was 30 years in the making…
Ian Cleverdon Acoustic and electric guitars, cello-mandolin, keyboards |
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Having studied 'O' and 'A' level Music at KGV, Ian caught the live music
bug with co-arranging and performing 'TB' with Haydn in 1980. In the mid-80s
he cut his musical teeth working on studio production with local bands Way
Ahead and Unchain The Light, and also offering to provide live support for
them at their gigs where he knew bottles wouldn't be thrown at the support
act.
In 1983, he spent his first full-time wage packet on what else but a very rare Martin E-18 electric guitar found in Hobbs Music in Lancaster whilst visiting a friend who was studying at Lancaster University...someone called…er…Haydn Jones! Vowing with his musical blood brother never to part with the guitar, this beauty (the guitar, that is) just had to be used on Time Stood Still and indeed has been used for most of the electric guitar work on the album.
Stints with bands Picture This and The Visitors in the 1990s helped him learn both live work and recording studio techniques (namely the ubiquitous cheese-on-toast and mug of tea at lunchtime - rock and roll!) to the extent that he released his first cassette album, Approaching Alpha, to critical acclaim in 1995 and to help raise funds for the Nordoff Robbins Music Therapy charity. Two more solo albums materialised: the chronologically titled Beyond Alpha (1999) and Night Visions (2001).
However in the late-90s he couldn't resist the bug of live performance and adulation, and co-founded folk-rock band Odd At Ease with his other big (well, medium-sized) musical mate Nigel Mawdsley. To this day the Easies tread the boards on a regular basis with live UK performances including Broadstairs and Middlewich Folk Festivals, and supporting the world-famous acoustic duo Show Of Hands. With two albums under their belt, a third one is on the cards for late 2008. For more details, why not visit their website www.oddatease.co.uk ...and don't forget his own site either, www.iancleverdon.co.uk
Oh, and despite all this, he still has his lovely wife of over 20 years'
standing (you think he would've given her a chair by now) Gill, and…surprise,
surprise…musically talented son Stuart.
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Haydn Jones Keyboards, synths and rhythm programming |
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Born into a very musical family, Haydn's first instrument was the trombone
which he started to learn to play at the age of 7 and joined the local Salvation
Army junior brass band. Catching onto pop music in his early teens, the
next instrument was the bass guitar (self taught) which he played in a number
of musical projects including the Tubular Bells collaboration with Ian and
then performing in a number of bands at university and later.
Haydn's interest in music technology grew over this period, eventually leading to the setting up of his own computer-based (the ubiquitous Atari ST) home studio for writing and recording solo material and for working on collaboration projects with other musicians and close friends.
Deciding that he certainly didn't want to travel down the road of live performance with his musical productions, Haydn took the sensible route of learning how to use his equipment properly (recording, that is). As a result his intricate and expert sampling and editing skills have made the rhythm and synth programming on Time Stood Still sound very simple, yet as any electronic musician will know, it is actually quite complex.
And so it came to pass…that Simplexity was born…