Zorch

(c’73-’76) Basil Brooks (synth), Howard “Gwyo Zepix” Scarr (synth), Neil “Captain Electric” Thorpe (synth / auto drum), and Cary ? (?).

Brooks was living in the Charrington Street squat, Kentish Town and had been drawn to electronic music by an uncle who produced documentary film scores. Scarr had arrived in London, having dropped out of East Anglia University, and placed an ad in Melody Maker: “Anybody from Planet X wanted to join synthi freak for band.” The audition saw Brooks and Scarr connect with synthesizer player, Neil Thorpe. They formed Zorch; with the final member, American Cary, being brought in by Thorpe.

The Band played the Stonehenge and Windsor free festival in ’74. At the later they met event organizer Simon Renshaw who became Zorch’s manager; sound man Tony Andrews who took over the PA and unrelated John Andrews, then with Max Master and The Meteorites, joined on lights. In addition, John Andrews’ wife, Silver Layla, began dancing with them. Cary didn’t seem to fit anymore and split. In ’74 everyone else moved to a cottage, owned by Brooks’ gran, called Churt House Cottage, Churt; forming a small commune; living and working together; Brooks, Scarr, Thorpe the music, sound and light by Tony Andrews and John Andrews, and Silver, dancing. Glyph Owenson, an Exeter University drop out, joined them here and he played guitar through a Hi Fli synthesizer (while referred to as a synthesizer in company marketing, this was an analog multi-effect processor).

They recorded their first demo cassette at the cottage. What response they did get was not encouraging, with Island Records A&R man Richard Williams later writing “synthesizer / electronic music hadn’t come of age yet and the only band as yet to pull it off were the American Tonto’s Expanding Head Band.” It was the cottage location that gave Scarr his ‘nom de plume’: The nationwide rollout of postcode’s was completed in ’74 and a letter arrived at the cottage with an additional line added to the address: GU10 2PX. Scarr was unable to find GWyO ZePiX amongst the bodies strewn about the house so assumed the identity himself. On 16 November ’74, Zorch, supported by A Phantasy Circus and Private Property, played the Corn Exchange, Devizes.

The band continued to perform, sometimes with TV’s on their heads, tracks like “Nice bananas, Nasty Bananas” and “All Bran Barn Flan”, and we know they appeared at Farnham Art College, and the University of Sussex, Brighton amongst others. The Virgin Acts agency took them on, securing them just one gig, supporting Groundhogs at Liverpool Stadium. They were not well received. The band subsequently sent letters to the music press under assumed names, with Jane Westbrook of Liverpool’s “I left my mind somewhere last night and Zorch are welcome to it” appearing on the letters page of the Melody Maker.

’75 started with the band supporting Byzantium at the University of London on 25 January. Then, around Easter ’75, the four-piece band played their last gig together in Horsham. Thorpe’s amplified prayers over the bands intro tape had become the straw on the camel’s back, and Thorpe left the band shortly after and headed to India, closely followed by Owenson. Brooks and Scarr continued with three monophonic EMS analogue synthesizer and two reel-to-reel tape machines as a delay line to fill out the sound through Tony Andrews’ sound system; while Silver danced, and John Andrews’ Acidica provided the psychedelic light show. Interest in the band was increasing, with a full-page article ‘Zorch Light Up’ in Let It Rock. But with all the gear they never played more than once a week.

The duo still played Meigan Fayre and Stonehenge in ’75. They also played the Watchfield Free Festival in August ’75, kicking off their set – at just gone 1am – by firing a flare over the crowd and what was described by one attendee as ‘a strange noise from the stage to reawaken us….a kind of weird synth band”. Unfortunately, before they had progressed very far the rain came down and they had to abandon. They also recorded in Peter Zinovieff’s Electronic Music Studios (EMS), Putney (the only band to do so); using the EMS Synthi 100 to lay down the “Ouroboros” Suite; some of which was used as the soundtrack for a short film titled “Mother Earth”. Zorch split up in ’76 sometime after their last gig at the College of Technology, Brighton.

Brooks joined The Steve Hillage Band and did the live sound effects for The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy stage shows; and still lives at the cottage reportedly. Scarr joined Skywhale before moving to Germany in ’79. He returned in 2000 to join Gong and in 2008 was working with Hans Zimmer on “The Dark Knight” soundtrack as well as touring with his German band Ayefore. Zorch also reformed in 2000 and have played a few UK gigs including playing the Assembly Rooms, Glastonbury; recording the “Glastonbury Live” LP in 2001. In 2006 they took part in the Gong Unconvention in Melkweg, Amsterdam.

The band still exists, loosely. Tony Andrews continued his work on creating the smallest, loudest, and most accurate sound box leading to the formation of Turbosound, and eventually Funktion-One. John Andrews, who sadly passed in 2015, improved on his lighting equipment and sold it to companies like Optikinetics and continued to live in Churt House Cottage.

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