French and Regal
Taking the time it takes to get the sound we makes!! Using the best musicians: Paul Harvey (TRB, Mark Shaw), Les Nemes (Haircut 100), Chris Childs (Thunder), Ne
9
songs
2.1K
plays
Free To Run Free To Run
BIG song with South American drumming. Power(ish) cords from Paul Harvey (picture). Was written for Sports TV in mind (outro) Gray's singing was pretty unpretty.
Easy As Pie Easy As Pie
Fretless Bass & Piano led song. Slow. A plea.... Gray's Grandfather in picture (2nd World War)
If You Lost If You Lost
A plea with the desperate to remember that life ain't meant to be easy but it is meant to be lived. Slow, piano led piece. Nice fretless by Steve. (Rachel Gray's daughter in pic)
Lovely Girl Lovely Girl
Happy little number with eclectic borrowings and wonderful strat from Paul Harvey. (Rachel, Gray's daughter in pic)
Love Is Never Solitary Love Is Never Solitary
Cyclic song based on arpeggios. Fretless Bass by Chris Childs (now of Thunder -picture). Guitar by Paul Harvey. Keys by Steve. Vocals Gray. BV's Emma Byrne.
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Gray Regal is the Melodical Lyricist & Lyrical Melodicist who would flounder without his Fifty-50 partnership with Steve French whose Sensible Musicality and Musical Sensibility guides their Creative endeavors through the pitfalls and pratfalls of overdone & cliche production.
Together, with the advantage of owning a large collection of very loud, nylon shirts they have recorded over the years a substantial collection of music which though mastered and ready to go has not been pushed to the pimps of pain....
We record what we want to hear. We hope it's what you like to hear.Band/artist history
Steve was playing with the Tom Robinson Band back in the 80's. Gray was painting big colourful pictures (for little gain) and spending all his spare time on his 4 track recorder. After a TRB gig at The Lyceum Steve & Gray talked about doing more than the incidental, Jim Beam fuelled recordings they'd been doing for some time and set up their own 16 track studio. A wealth of material had been and was being written between them and recorded twice weekly. Musicians pulled in to help perform are French & Regals' favourites. Paul Harvey on his Strat' is, for example, in touch with every style on earth with THE best timing. He's incredible. Les Nemes of Haircut 100 is a really SOLID bass man. Sinks deep roots but moreover he is THE best guy to have in a studio...Hilarious character. We all cried with laughter. Chris Childs is an all rounder whose fretless bass skills are paramount not to mention regular bass. Neil Martin is your basic wonderful individual with a big heart: a helluva drummer. Nails it. Emma Byrne on fiddle & BV's is a lovely girl with selfless talent.
We've taken quite a break now to get kids into the world...Now we're back!Have you performed in front of an audience?We did a bunch of showcase gigs. Decided to stop for awhile until we could be certain the pimps of pain would attend when invited....oh, that's never?
Your musical influences
Wow....Steve and my influences are quite disparate......
My number one album is JJ CALE Troubadour. His is Pat Metheney....something or other. We both concur that Nik Kershaw in the early 2000's is at his all time best. A producer who recorded us in the late 90's described us as a cross between CROWDED HOUSE & STEELY DAN. That worked for us!!What equipment do you use?
A bunch of stuff.Anything else?
Peace & Love. No, really!
London,
United Kingdom
ID
932129
Contact
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Comments (3)
Oh, and it must be said that at that time I was ting an' tinging pretty regularly. That affected the edge of my voice in a way, which for me, was quite satisfactory. For interest's sake I sang into a run o' the mill Sure SM58 through a medium denier black hose!
Oh! THIS is where I reply....Also on Facebook...My usual recipe is a short, snap delay. Kinda'like a double track effect. In this case it IS a double tracking with the 2nd voice doing a lower harmony and low in the mix. No doubt a bit of Plate Reverb in there - small room kinda'thang.
Your voice reminds me very much of Peter Gabriel on this one. And it sounds like you've got some nifty subtle effect on your voice there. May one ask what effect if thee is one? May one? Oh please...
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