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Dewi Evans
Dewi is the most "musical" member of the Parking Non-Stop collective and is a well-known and respected composer, arranger and musician both in his native Wales, and throughout the World.
Visit Dewi's website at www.dewievansmusic.com
"At a time when most musicians' idea of grandeur was buying a white suit in the hope of getting on TFI Friday, Dewi Evans was spending all his money on equipment when he should have been spending it on food. This dedication has paid rich dividends, as he is now the post-apocalypse Nelson Riddle."
Ben Thompson (from his book "Seven Years Of Plenty")
Dewi filming in Paris, 1994
Biography
Although best
known internationally for his acclaimed work as arranger and composer
for Rheinallt H. Rowlands, Dewi's musical history stretches
way back to the late seventies.
He first came under the spotlight as synthesist with Anglesey New Wave
group Straightjacket, who are fondly
remembered for their heroically doomed attempts to prematurely drag Welsh
music into the modern age.
During the opening years of the eighties, Dewi recorded and performed
solo as The Casio Kid, a stripped
down unit featuring just Dewi and his trusted Casio keyboard enchanting
audiences with his poignantly bittersweet kitchen-sink dramas.
A publishing deal with Solchromatics led to the release in 1983 of a limited
edition album entitled: "Hey! It's The Kaseo Kid" (spelling
amended to avoid litigation). The album was produced by Alan Holmes in
what was to be the start of a long and fruitful musical association.
Always the perfectionist, Dewi was unhappy with some of the recordings,
and re-recorded some of the songs, together with a handful of new recordings
for the following year's "Blank Expression", again recorded
with Alan but this time released under his own name.
At the time, Alan was also working with local singer-songwriter Alun Rhys Jones, who was looking to form an extended group in order to do full justice to his songs. Alan immediately introduced Dewi to Alun, and the legendary 8-piece Alun Rhys Jones Task Force fell into place, Dewi's keen ear for an arrangement helping to crystallise Alun's idiosyncratic compositions.
Although this legendary group existed concurrently with The Casio Kid, it proved to be less lasting, playing it's final gig in August 1982, well before the release of the first of Dewi's solo recordings. However, another lasting musical relationship did come out of the group - Dewi was to team up with the Task Force bass player Gary Stubbs many years later in Cut 23 !
Dewi at the Dukla Pass, Northern Slovakia, Summer 2001
Dewi, Lomnicky Stit, Summer 2001
By the late 80s,
Dewi was living in London and working with Frankfurt techno wizard Hans
Valentin, with whom he formed the underrated (and to date unreleased)
europop duo Go Johnny Go, and released
a series of 12" dancefloor classics under the guises of Mass
Reaction, Technomania and
Silo 7. During this period, Dewi also wrote the book "Play
Rock Keyboards", which remains to this day the definitive text
for aspiring musicians. Concurrent with this activity, he also worked
with Annie Stubbs in Aquarelle and Pillow Talk
and played in Country'n'Irish function band Paul
Murray & Easystreet (later the
O'Men, minus Paul Murray) who reached the dizzy heights
of supporting The Bachelors in Milton Keynes !
When Hans returned to Germany, Dewi returned to North Wales and renewed
his relationship with Alan, playing synthesizer with Alan's group Fflaps
on a TV session and on their third, self-titled LP. Geared
up to London's hectic pace of life, Dewi threw himself into the Welsh
music scene with gusto, working in several groups simultaneously: Y
Crwban Glas, Siani Rhuban A'r Tri Gwr Drwg, Mudiad Moes, Topiau Tanc and
Cut Tunes to name but a few.
His big break, however, came through his association with Rheinallt H. Rowlands, often described as "the Welsh Scott Walker", with whom Dewi recorded 3 albums between 1991 and 2001. Working as orchestral arranger, co-composer and instrumentalist, Dewi created a cornucopia of exotic and evocative settings within which Rowlands could weave his magic. By the time of their second LP / CD "Bukowski" on Ankst Records, they were gaining full-page features in major UK daily newspaper The Independent, as well as being regulars on TV music shows. A multi media theatrical production was also staged in a derelict chapel, in collaboration with Welsh theatre company Brith Gof (famed for their collaboration with Test Dept. during the 80s).
In addition to his work with Rheinallt, Dewi still managed to find time during the late 90s to participate in sessions with Ectogram and The Serpents, and to renew his relationship with Gary Stubbs, co-writing and recording the Cut 23 CD "Metal Ghosts", which was released on the Naga label in 2001, highlighting a different side to Dewi's arranging and programming skills, with its hard edged electronic rhythms.
Slovak High Tatras, 2001
Since 1999, Dewi has been a full time member of Parking Non-Stop, but has still found time to engage in several other musical activities, the most recent being "Club Luz", a piece of modern musical theatre performed with avant-actress Eddie Ladd in various locations in Wales, France, Slovenia, Spain and Canada.
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