 |
Mark Cawthra | |
|---|---|
 Cawthra in 2024 | |
| Born | Mark Andrew Cawthra 28 April 1961 Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire, England |
| Other name | Little Bobby Shattocks |
| Occupations |
|
| Title | Manager of the Infallible Ear |
| Relatives |
|
| Musical career | |
| Instruments |
|
| Years active | 1975–present |
| Member of | Redbus Noface |
| Formerly of | |
Mark Andrew Cawthra [a] (born 28 April 1961) is a British musician of the project Redbus Noface and formerly of Cardiacs.
Mark Andrew Cawthra [3] was born on 28 April 1961 [4] [5] in Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire, England. [6] His brother was the guitarist Gypie Mayo. Cawthra's first serious musical activity was in an early (unnamed) music project with schoolfriend Tim Smith (bass guitar) and David Philpot (keyboards), a band in which he was the drummer. The music, a mix of jazz and rock, drew inspiration from the "Canterbury" bands, particularly Egg. [7]
After a period of playing drums with other musicians around Kingston upon Thames, he moved to North Yorkshire and lived there for the whole of 1978. He returned to London in 1979, following an invitation to join Tim and Jim Smith in Cardiac Arrest, replacing Peter Tagg on drums. Other members of the band at this time were Colvin Mayers (keyboards), (later to play with Adrian Borland in the Sound), and Mick Pugh (vocals). The Cardiac Arrest album The Obvious Identity was recorded at this time. Subsequently, he and Tim Smith recorded the band – now renamed Cardiacs – for a number of sessions in a small Surbiton studio. The results became the Cardiacs demo album Toy World . Cawthra may be seen briefly dancing to Cardiacs' "R.E.S" in the Seaside Treats video.
Following a short period in 1982 in which he was Cardiacs' keyboard player and percussionist, he left the band, moved to Birmingham and briefly worked with two of the remaining members of the Birmingham band Dangerous Girls, following their split. The line-up, calling itself TAAGA, produced one single, "Friend of Mine", working with UB40 producer Bob Lamb.
Cardiacs Rude Bootleg was recorded from the mixing desk by Mark on a cassette deck in the effects rack at the Reading Festival. The EQ settings on the mixing desk were left behind from the band who had played last on the night before, Saxon, and needed little alteration.
On returning to London, he worked for the remainder of the 1980s as crew member or live sound engineer, touring with several acts including Immaculate Fools, It's Immaterial, Then Jerico and Bronski Beat. He was also Cardiacs front-of-house engineer at this time, and a member of the band Grown Ups with William D. Drake, Elaine Herman, Jon Bastable (The Trudy), Dominic Luckman and Craig Fortnam. Five tracks were recorded by this line-up but never released.
From 1988, his work was based in and around Leeds, culminating in the building of a 48-track facility, That Studio Where he worked with This et al., producing demo material prior to the release of their Baby Machine album, and with the North Sea Radio Orchestra, mixing their first two albums. The studio was closed down in 2007.
Today, his work is all studio-based, recording and mixing demos and masters in a new home facility in Leeds. Mixing credits include the Emmett Elvin albums Bloody Marvels, Assault on the Tyranny of Reason, The End of Music and Being of Sound Mind, and the Gong album, Rejoice! I'm Dead! working alongside Dave Sturt. His mastering credits in addition to the North Sea Radio Orchestra and Emmett Elvin albums, William D. Drake's second album, Briny Hooves, [8] as well as releases by Local Girls, the post-Oceansize project British Theatre, Charlie Cawood, Knifeworld, and Khyam Allami's debut Resonance/Dissonance, the latter nominated for the 2012 Songlines music award.
He contributed a track and compiled and mastered Leader of the Starry Skies: A Tribute to Tim Smith, Songbook 1 , an album produced to gain funds for Tim Smith and his ongoing care, and raise awareness of his work. His first solo project Redbus Noface album #1 If It Fights The Hammer It will Fight The Knife was released on Believer's Roast in 2011. He compiled and mastered Believers Roast's The Exquisite Corpse Game , a collection of contiguous fragments by various artists each of whom has only heard the closing 20 seconds of the previous section. J. G. Thirlwell, Bob Drake, Weasel Walter, Max Tundra and Katherine Blake were among the contributors.
 | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding missing information. (August 2026) |
| Title | Artist(s) | Year | Producer | Recording engineer | Mixer | Masterer | Instruments | Other | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Obvious Identity | Cardiac Arrest | 1980 | Cardiac Arrest | Simon (some) Peter (most) | Drum, voice, handclaps | ||||
| Toy World | Cardiacs | 1980 | Cardiacs | Mark Cawthra Peter Cunzler | Cardiacs | Drums, voice | Lyrics (with Tim Smith and Jim Smith) | ||
| "Friend of Mine" | Taaga | 1983 | Taaga A-Wop-Bop-A-Loo-Bop-Lop-Bob-Lamb | Drums, cymbals, percussives | |||||
| The Seaside | Cardiacs | 1984 | Tim Smith Graham Simmonds | Graham Simmonds | Drums on "A Wooden Fish on Wheels", "Ice a Spot and a Dot on the Dog" and "To Go Off and Things", keyboards and vocals on other tracks (not credited on every release) | Co-writer on "It's a Lovely Day", "A Wooden Fish on Wheels", "Ice a Spot and a Dot on the Dog", and "To Go Off and Things" | |||
| Seaside Treats | Cardiacs | 1985 | Tim Smith Graham Simmonds | Drums on "To Go Off and Things" | Wrote the words for "To Go Off and Things" | ||||
| Big Ship | Cardiacs | 1987 | Tim Smith Graham Simmonds | Yes | Graham Simmonds Tim Smith | ||||
| Cardiacs Live | Cardiacs | 1988 | Co-writer on "Cameras" | ||||||
| Archive Cardiacs | Cardiacs | 1989 | The Consultant Miss Swift | Drums, keyboards, vocals | Co-writer on "A Game for Bertie's Party" | ||||
| All That Glitters Is a Mares Nest | Cardiacs | 1995 | Co-writer on "To Go Off and Things" | ||||||
| North Sea Radio Orchestra | North Sea Radio Orchestra | 2006 | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||||
| Briny Hooves | William D. Drake | 2007 | William D. Drake Darryl Anthony | Darryl Anthony | Darryl Anthony | Yes | |||
| Birds | North Sea Radio Orchestra | 2008 | Yes | Marco Migliari Bob Reich Darryl Anthony | Yes | ||||
| King of the Down | Arch Garrison | 2010 | Craig Fortnam Mark Cawthra | Craig Fortnam | |||||
| I a Moon | North Sea Radio Orchestra | 2011 | Craig Fortnam | Yes | |||||
| Resonance/Dissonance | Khyam Allami | 2011 | Khyam Allami | Khyam Allami | Mark Cawthra Khyam Allami | ||||
| The Rising of the Lights | William D. Drake | 2011 | Gaz Williams William D. Drake | Gaz Williams | Gaz Williams | Donal Whelan | Slide guitar on "Me Fish Bring" | ||
| Clairvoyant Fortnight | Knifeworld | 2012 | Kavus Torabi | Chris Fullard (drums) Grant Leslie (piano) | Yes | Yes | |||
| I Will Be a Pilgrim | Arch Garrison | 2014 | Craig Fortnam | Craig Fortnam | Yes | ||||
| On the Dry Land | The Sea Nymphs | 2016 | Yes (track 1) | Ron Synovitz | Recording assistance in 2015/16 | ||||
| Rejoice! I'm Dead! | Gong | 2016 | Gong | Nick Howiantz Gong | Mark Cawthra [b] | Andy Jackson | |||
| The Divine Abstract | Charlie Cawood | 2017 | Charlie Cawood Amir Shoat | Amir Shoat Alex Fletcher Rich Davis Antoine Collin Ali Hakimi | Amir Shoat | Yes | |||
| Singin' to God | The 180 Gs | 2018 | David Minnick | David Minnick | David Minnick | Yes | |||
| Every Night Something Happens | Lost Crowns | 2019 | Richard Larcombe Rhodri Marsden | Richard Larcombe Rhodri Marsden Nick Howiantz (drums and bass) Eli Perl (additional) | Rhodri Marsden | Ron Synovitz | Vocals on "Housemaid's Knees" and "Let Loving Her Be Everything" | ||
| Nothing Is Ordinary (vinyl remaster) | Omnia Opera | 2019 | Neil Spragg | Omina Opera | Matt Colton Mark Cawthra (remastering) | ||||
| Paradise Park | Ham Legion | 2019 | Nick Howiantz Ham Legion | Nick Howiantz Ham Legion | Yes | ||||
| The Heart Is In The Body | Lost Crowns | 2025 | Richard Larcombe Rhodri Marsden | Richard Larcombe Rhodri Marsden Jon Clayton (drums) | Rhodri Marsden | Rhodri Marsden | Vocals on "She Didn't Want", "Et Tu Brute" and "O Alexander" | ||
| Optimal Eternalist | Emmett Elvin | 2026 | Emmett Elvin | Emmett Elvin | Yes |
| Studio albums | |
|---|---|
| Demo albums | |
| Live albums | |
| Compilations | |
| EPs and singles | |
| Other songs | |
| Related | |
