Richard James
Richard James is the former bass guitarist for the Welsh prog/folk band Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci.
After going into the studio with Iwan ‘Recall’ Morgan, Richard James is set to release a new album this summer.
Born and bred in Carmarthen, West Wales, Richard James formed Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci with schoolmates Euros Childs and John Lawrence while in their mid-teens. He played bass and guitar with Gorky’s as well as writing and co-writing some of the songs. They recorded and released 8 albums and numerous ep‘s and singles, toured the world and split up when it stopped being fun. They are today regarded as one of the main influential bands in the renaissance of folk/pop psychedelic.
Richard now lives and makes music in Cardiff. He is also involved in curating the musical side of the Laugharne Weekend festival, a literary and sonic extravagance that takes place each Eastertide in Wales’ strangest township. His latest venture is a monthly multimedia event called in Chapters, taking place in Cardiff’s Chapter Arts Centre and featuring brand new collaborations with a range of Wales’ musical and literary talent.
Richard’s first solo album The Seven Sleeper’s Den was a slow burn collection of love songs and spacey instrumentals, sung in English and occasionally Welsh, Somebody said it sounded like the Velvet Underground with the ratio of New Yorkers to Welsh people reversed, and they weren’t far wrong.
Where The Seven Sleepers Den was a stripped back affair, new album We Went Riding is a multilayered extravaganza that sees Richard James letting lose his inner pop auteur, and together with long time producer/collaborator Iwan Morgan (aka Recall), it features some of Cardiff’s finest musicians helping to achieve his vision. This album offers clear notice that the exploratory spirit, which always set Gorkys apart from their peers, is still alive and well.
A future-pop classic from a deceptively low-key talent, We Went Riding is released by Gwymon at the end of May 2010
“Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci member cuts loose…a solo record that shines brilliantly in its own right” (Mojo)
“slips effortlessly from one perfect noise to another” (Plan B)
“this is a triumph of quiet perseverance: crafted, insidious and, at last, cool.” (The Times)
“The songs ebb and flow in creating an overall sense of happiness and wellbeing. Music for the soul” (Drowned in Sound)
“a sultry charming collection…carefully distilled influences: John Fahey, snatches of Dylan, Simon & Garfunkel and the atmospheric folk of the late 60s” (Uncut)
“Falling in love with a guy like Richard James would be as easy as falling off a log. Ditto his music” (The Times)
