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Mark Roberts | |
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| Born | 3 November 1967 Llanrwst, Wales |
| Genres | Rock, Britpop, alternative |
| Associated acts | Y Cyrff, Cerys Matthews, Catatonia, Sherbet Antlers, Y Ffyrc |
Mark Roberts (born 3 November 1967) is a Welsh rock musician, first known as a founding member of Y Cyrff. He then met Cerys Matthews and formed Catatonia along with Paul Jones. [1]
Roberts claimed for a number of years that he had stumbled across Matthews busking in Cardiff and offered her a guitar string she was missing, [2] which led to their collaboration. The two had actually met busking, and were roommates by the time they formed the band. The string story was later revealed to be a fabrication by the band's publicist. Their split ended their songwriting partnership, and subsequently Roberts was responsible for much of the band's lyrical output.
In Catatonia, Roberts shared main songwriting duties with Matthews, whilst also playing guitar and providing backing vocals. After Catatonia split, Roberts worked as a record producer before co-founding Welsh rock band Sherbet Antlers with former Catatonia bass player Paul Jones, together with John Griffiths and Kevs Ford from the Welsh dance pioneer band Llwybr Llaethog. [3]
Roberts and Jones went to form Y Ffyrc. By 2012, Roberts had formed a Cardiff-based soul-inspired band The Earth, with Dionne Bennett (of The Peth) and Dafydd Ieuan (of Super Furry Animals).
Catatonia were an alternative rock band from Wales who gained popularity in the mid-to-late 1990s. The band formed in 1992 after Mark Roberts met Cerys Matthews. The first major lineup featured Dafydd Ieuan on drums, Paul Jones on bass, and Clancy Pegg on keyboards. With this line-up the band recorded two EPs, For Tinkerbell and Hooked.
Paper Scissors Stone was the fourth and final album by Welsh band Catatonia. It was released on 6 August 2001 in the UK, and reached #6 on the UK album chart.
Guto Dafydd Pryce is a Welsh musician best known as bass guitar player and songwriter in the band Super Furry Animals.
Ankst was a Welsh independent record label formed in 1988 at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth by Alun Llwyd, Gruffudd Jones and Emyr Glyn Williams. After a handful of low key cassette releases, the label relocated to Cardiff and became a more serious concern, providing a launch-pad for several popular Welsh artists, including Llwybr Llaethog, Super Furry Animals and Gorky's Zygotic Mynci. The Rough Guide to Wales described Ankst as "one of the most prolific, eclectic and innovative" of the 1990s Welsh music labels.
Wales has a strong and distinctive link with music. Singing is a significant part of Welsh national identity, and the country is traditionally referred to as "the land of song". This is a modern stereotype based on 19th century conceptions of Nonconformist choral music and 20th century male voice choirs, Eisteddfodau and arena singing, such as sporting events, but Wales has a history of music that has been used as a primary form of communication.
Datblygu are a Welsh experimental rock group formed in 1982. They are regarded as a catalyst of the new wave of Welsh rock in the early 1980s.
Cerys Matthews is a Welsh singer, songwriter, author, and broadcaster. She was a founding member of Welsh rock band Catatonia and a leading figure in the "Cool Cymru" movement of the late 1990s.
This is a summary of 2001 in music in the United Kingdom.
Y Cyrff was a Welsh language indie band in the 1980s, initially formed at the Ysgol Dyffryn Conwy secondary school in Llanrwst, Conwy. The original line-up consisted of Barry Cawley (bass), Emyr Davies (vocals), Dylan Hughes (drums) and Mark Roberts. They performed on Welsh language television, and internationally, until they broke up in 1991. Afterwards, Roberts formed Catatonia, with Jones joining the band a while later. Cawley was also a guitar technician for the band.
Llwybr Llaethog are an experimental Welsh language band that effectively mix such varied musical genres as rap, dub, reggae, hip hop, and punk in their music.
International Velvet is the second album by Welsh band Catatonia. It was the band's breakthrough, reaching number 1 in the UK Albums Chart, spawning two Top 10 singles, "Mulder and Scully" and "Road Rage", three other Top 40 singles, "I Am the Mob", "Game On" and "Strange Glue", and catapulted the band and lead singer Cerys Matthews into the spotlight. Album sales reached 900,000, as it became one of the biggest selling albums of 1998 in the United Kingdom. The album was also nominated for the Mercury Music Prize.
"Mulder and Scully" is a song by Welsh alternative rock band Catatonia, released as a single from their 1998 album, International Velvet. The song makes direct reference to fictional FBI special agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, the two main characters of the popular sci-fi TV series The X-Files who work on cases linked to the paranormal, called X-Files. In an interview Cerys Matthews, co-writer of the song, explained that while she was not a serious fan of the show, the basic premise of the series matched the concept of what she was trying to express.
Recordiau Anhrefn was a record label established in 1983 by Rhys Mwyn.
"Road Rage" is a song recorded by Welsh band Catatonia, taken from their second studio album, International Velvet (1998). It was written by band member Mark Roberts, with the production credit given generally to the band. "Road Rage" was released as the third single from the album on 20 April 1998, following their breakthrough success with the song "Mulder and Scully". The title "Road Rage" was based on the murder of Lee Harvey by his girlfriend Tracie Andrews in December 1996, something for which singer Cerys Matthews later apologised to Harvey's mother.
60 Ft. Dolls were a Welsh rock trio active in the 1990s, known as the Cool Cymru era.
Yr Anhrefn, also known simply as Anhrefn, were an influential Welsh punk rock group of the 1980s and 1990s.
"Game On" is a song by Welsh alternative rock band Catatonia, taken from their second studio album, International Velvet (1998). It was written by band members Cerys Matthews and Mark Roberts, and produced by TommyD and the band generally. Commercially, the song only charted in the UK Singles Chart, peaking at number 33.
For Tinkerbell is the first extended play recorded by the Welsh band Catatonia, also their first release. It features five tracks, some of which were later re-recorded on their first studio album Way Beyond Blue. All the tracks were later compiled with those from the Hooked EP on The Crai-EPs 1993/1994.
Cool Cymru was a Welsh cultural movement centred around music, independent film, and other artistic endeavours by young Welsh figures prior to and during the new millennium. It was highlighted in 1999 when the BBC announced that year as the "year of Cool Cymru".
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