1990 saw the release of my final Eye Tapes cassette album, the 90-minute LABYRINTH, bringing to a close a significant chapter in my musical history.
LABYRINTH
1990 | Eye Tapes | 90-minute cassette | EYE 009
Following its release, Linda and I decided to bring the Eye Tapes label to an end. Since the early 1980s, I had been struggling with ME/CFS and, as my health deteriorated, everyday life became increasingly difficult. The associated financial pressures also made it impossible to continue running the label.
However, a new opportunity soon arose when Clive Littlewood, founder of the Cornwall-based Electronical Dreams label, approached me with an invitation to record an album. This provided some welcome relief, allowing me to concentrate on making music without the additional responsibilities of running my own label.
Unfortunately, after the album had been recorded, the equipment I had used to make it suffered an irreparable breakdown and could not be replaced. Consequently, the release of what was intended to be my tenth and final cassette album, CONTINUUM, was delayed for several years. When recording finally resumed in 1993, I had to recreate the album from scratch. For similar reasons, I also had to cancel several planned live appearances.
In the meantime, however, two recordings that had been mastered shortly before the equipment failure found their way onto a compilation cassette. These were “Continuum Pt 9”, an unreleased track from the forthcoming Continuum album, and “Eyes of Janus”, a collaboration credited to Andrews/Hillman. Both appeared on A CHANGE FOR THE DIFFERENT (Messenger MRJ 6), released in 1991 and compiled by Rob Andrews.
CONTINUUM
CONTINUUM
1993 | Electronical Dreams | 60-minute cassette | ED 031
1993: “Continuum”, “Transitions” and “Centre of Forces” appeared on the SEQUENCES No. 5 cassette-zine, compiled by Mick Garlick.
1993: An unreleased track, “Before Dawn”, featuring Linda on flute, appeared on ESCAPE FROM THE CAGE VOL. 3: IMAGES OF INFINITY (Auricle AMC 044), compiled by Alan Freeman. The track was subsequently released on CD-R.
1993: An unreleased track, “Mysterium”, appeared on the ARRIVAL sampler cassette (AM 001), compiled by Kevin O’Neill. It was later included on my CD Riding the Storm.
A NEW DIRECTION – CYCLOPS RECORDS
Later in 1993, I received a letter from Malcolm Parker, a long-time admirer of my music, asking whether I would be interested in signing to a new progressive rock division of the US and Canadian Griffin Records label, owned by Malcolm’s brother Neil.
Malcolm was in the process of establishing the new label and assembling a roster of progressive rock artists. Having followed my musical development through my later cassette releases, he was particularly interested in the increasing progressive rock influences within my music. He encouraged me to explore this direction further, with a much greater emphasis on guitar.
I duly signed to what was to become Cyclops Records, marking the beginning of a new phase in my musical career. In September 1994, the label released my debut CD, MATRIX.
MATRIX
September 1994 | Cyclops Records | CD | CYCL 011
1994: “Into the Blue (Alternative Version)” appeared on the CYCLOPS SAMPLER CD (CYCL 007), compiled by Malcolm Parker.
1994: “Into the Blue (Alternative Version)” also appeared on the SEQUENCES No. 9 cassette-zine, compiled by Mick Garlick.
Below: Home video footage from 1995 with music from “Matrix”.
RIDING THE STORM
It was decided that my follow-up CD, released in 1996, would take the form of a remastered retrospective, bringing together a selection of the strongest material from my cassette album years. The result was RIDING THE STORM, which provided me with an opportunity to revisit and present this earlier music to a new audience.
RIDING THE STORM
May 1996 | Cyclops Records | CD | CYCL 035
Below: Photos from the booklet.
1996: Several previously unreleased recordings, including “Winter Sketches Parts 1–4” and “Improvisation”, appeared on Rob Andrews’ Messenger label compilation cassette APHELION (MRM 9), compiled by Rob Andrews.
1997: “Dawning Light”, from my Matrix album, appeared on the Italian CD compilation NEW AGE BABEL (Gruppo Futura, NA10).
CONVERGENCE
For my next album, I decided to pay tribute to the progressive rock music that had been such an important influence throughout my musical development.
Released in November 1999, CONVERGENCE brought the decade to a close with an album that embraced the spirit of classic progressive rock, incorporating musical references and influences from artists such as Rick Wakeman, Steve Hackett, Pink Floyd and Camel.
The album also featured a reworked, more overtly progressive rock interpretation of the title track from my 1986 cassette album New Horizons, bringing an earlier chapter of my musical history into this new era.
An additional track, “Over the Edge”, had originally been earmarked for that year’s Cyclops sampler CD, but was withdrawn by the label at the last moment. It would eventually find an audience some years later.
CONVERGENCE
November 1999 | Cyclops Records | CD | CYCL 069