Back in 1998 I formed Disco Gecko Recordings as an outlet for my music as I couldn’t find another label that I was happy to work with. My earlier experiences working with both independent and major labels had left me less than convinced that I would find anyone who actually understood, or cared about, what I was trying to do, so I thought I had better just do it myself. It can’t be that much work, right?
20 years later, I’ve managed to release albums and EPs by a bunch of other artists, and to celebrate getting this far, I decided to do something a bit more interesting than just a ‘best of’ compilation. As there are now nine artists releasing music on the label, plus various ‘associates’ (such as Andy Guthrie who was with me at the birth of Banco and still remixes and contributes the odd track when he can), I decided to ask them to each remix each other. The pairings were picked randomly but the results are anything but.
“In the Blink of an Eye” comes out on Friday 8th June, but is available to pre-order now, either on CD from the label website or as a download from Bandcamp. As wtih previous pre-orders, I’m happy to sign CDs, but unfortunately, for logistical reasons, I won’t be able to arrange for the other artists to sign them.
To launch the compilation, I’ve arranged a couple of shows: dr trippy is playing live and 100th Monkey and myself, as Banco de Gaia, are DJing at Haunted Bar in Leamington Spa on Friday 8th June; the next night, Saturday 9th June, dr trippy and myself, as Banco de Gaia, are playing live, and 100th Monkey and Animat are DJing, at the Trades Club in Hebden Bridge.
I’m also playing as Banco de Gaia at Solar Systo Togathering, just outside of St Petersburg, on Friday 18th May, and Extreme Chill Festival, in Reykjavík, on the weekend starting Friday 7th September.
I have three solo ambient gigs as Toby Marks coming up too: I’m playing with White Noise (David Vorhaus), Andrew Heath and Joseph Hyde at The Silk Mill as part of Frome Festival on Sunday 8th July; at the previously mentioned Extreme Chill Festival, in Reykjavík, on the weekend of Friday 7th September; and finally, I’m very excited to be playing in London with Andrew Heath and visual artist Patrick Dunn on Friday 21st September at The Old Church in Stoke Newington.
Ticket links for all the shows are below.
In other news, I’ve been uploading my radio shows for Glastonbury FM to Mixcloud, with the latest one just submitted and I’ve started adding the tracks from each show to a Spotify playlist. I’ve also nearly finished compiling ‘Strange-Eyed Constellations Vol.2’, which I’m happy to report now includes a few tracks submitted in response to my last email. Finally, to keep up to date with what’s going on with Disco Gecko, please follow my Spotify playlist.
Cheers
Toby
Ticket links
18/5 Solar Systo Togathering, Leningrad Oblast – https://bit.ly/2HPQXfQ
8/6 Haunted Bar, Leamington Spa – door sales only
9/6 Trades Club, Hebden Bridge – https://bit.ly/2JRqwah
9/7 The Silk Mill, Frome – https://bit.ly/2rewbQN
7-9/9 Extreme Chill Festival, Reykjavik – https://bit.ly/2Id6VUC
21/9 The Old Church, London – https://bit.ly/2KlSEmM