Time...

...a brief history of Us And Them

beginnings

The story starts in 1997, specifically the King's Arms (sadly no more) in Yeovil, Somerset. A series of 'rock workshops' were the catalyst for the pub-combo covers band 'Kraken'. Amongst other songs nestled five from that sleeping giant, Pink Floyd.

Periods of intense activity and equally intense inactivity followed, but the rudiments of a Floyd tribute show started to emerge, originally under the moniker, 'Pulsed'.

early days

As many other bands will attest to, finding the right people is always tricky. Us And Them was no exception, there being numerous changes in the early days. Eventually, Andy Larkin stepped up to the mic, and although without much vocal experience to call upon, gave the band a voice, and new enthusiasm. Andy also played guitar in a previous band, and allowed us to fill out the sound with more rhythm guitar parts. For some reason, bass players are impossible to find, and then suddenly a whole clutch of them rock up. Chris Jones was the star, and over the years defined a great sound and band ethic. Not to mention an encyclopaedic knowledge of obscure 80's films.

During this period, there was no drummer available, so we used a sequencer to record these parts. We know this is often a controversial point, but it's an excellent practice aid if nothing else. A lot of work did go into the sequences, as a past-keyboard player, Jason was well aware of the risk of making a robotic rhythm section, so great care went into making the drum parts as 'human' as reasonably possible. The way that Pink Floyd music ebbs and flows is a central component of their sound.

in the main

In 2003, Andy Morgan provided a complete 'visual experience', filling up the entire stage with drums. The sequences remained, but now only include the keyboard and numerous sound effects that make up each song. It is during this period that Us And Them enjoyed wowing their audiences with the quality and fidelity of the sound, coupled with the lights and projections that are generally expected of a Pink Floyd tribute show. Not to mention the sheer amount of gear sitting up there on the stage, it has always looked pretty impressive.

To mark the 25th anniversary of 'The Wall', Us And Them played a number of shows featuring the entire double album, end-to-end. Since then, a number of the more unusual songs crept into the set, including 'Marooned' from 'The Division Bell'.

Highlights for us definitely include the second half of 'Echoes', with our lighting re-inspired after David Gilmour's incredible Royal Albert Hall appearances, the ending of 'Dogs' and, maybe, the inevitability of getting our van stuck in a field.

Good things always seem to come to an end, and the departure of Andy Larkin, followed a year later by Chris Jones, sent Us And Them back to the drawing board...

rebirth

From winter 2007, Us And Them made the collective decision to move forward, enlisting three new musicians to recreate the sounds to an even higher degree. Chris Brown joins as bassist, and for the first time we are joined by Mandy, whose effortless vocal add a whole new dimension to our sound.

In parallel with the change in people, there has been significant development from the equipment front, most notably with both Jason's and Neil's guitar rigs. Many fans of the band and devotees of Pink Floyd have commented on the guitar tones and sounds in our performances, but with some carefully selected new gear, our new shows should improve even further. See the bio pages for more details on the new stuff...

Now, in Easter 2009, rehearsals are progressing well, and we expect to be approaching the road in the closing months of summer. We have decided not to rush back out, we're taking this opportunity to get the show as good as it can be, with what we've got. It's our opinion that attention to detail is all-important when recreating Pink Floyd, it's more often than not the things you don't listen out for that are the ones you miss.

Profound witterings or not, we'll keep everyone up to date with goings on, this is not The Final Cut...