News:
05-03-2007:
Paul Clark made a news announcement to say that he has won an endorsement by Marshall Amplification:
"I've been a Marshall user for many years and I am deeply proud to become an endorsee - Clarky"
03-03-2008:
Confirmation that new band for Paul Clark: Curse of the 9th will not be all instrumental like the Clarky stuff, but still they intend to create music that is passionate, hard hitting and powerful yet dynamic and filled with thought provoking themes. Live, they will be playing a mixture of Curse of the 9th and Clarky music. Expect to see them on stage this year!
01-03-2008:
Finally, here it is, The official fan site for Paul Clark fans and fans of Curse of the 9th!
www.clarkyteam.com
The fansite is online now, but never finished. There will be more music to listen too or download, there will be a members only section in the nearby future, and there are ways to participate for the real fans!! Send clarky your artwork, your creative wallpapers, your pictures and help us build an even better fansite!!
Curse of the 9th are on MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/curseofthe9th
Who are Curse of the 9th?
Drums – Jamie Woods
Bass – Mick Paul
Keys – Alex Hall
Guitar – Luke Walker
Guitar / Lead Vocals – Paul ‘Clarky’ Clark
23-11-2007:
Paul Clark's band has a new guitarist - Luke Walker. Luke is currently studying music at the Academy of Contemporary Music (ACM) in Guildford, UK. Paul Clark says:
He is a superb young musician with a tremendous energy and enthusiasm.
I'm looking forward greatly to us working together.
12-09-2007:
Thanks to Willem Ipema for the heads up on another heavy duty track "Feast Of The Buzzards". The titanic opus weighs in at 8 minutes plus of emotional progressive metal. Check out Clarky's handywork on his MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/clarkymusic
. Clarky describes the track as:
The Feast of Buzzards is a little thing I wrote that is to be a part of a larger compilation work called The Symphonie of Birds.
Several artists were assigned a bird and asked to create a piece of music depicting the character of the bird.
I was assigned the buzzard.
When composing this work, this is the "movie" that was running through my mind upon which the music was based:
The Feast of Buzzards
Imagine a large beast like a bison slowly walking through a dried up river bed with high cliffs either side.
The sun is beating down. The beast is dying of slowly thirst but the search for water goes on.
High over head the buzzards are circling on the thermals, looking down on the beast as it struggles to take each step.
Eventually, it all proves to much and the beast collapses to the ground, utterly exhausted, it's life ebbing away.
Pushed at last far beyond the limits of it's ability to endure the lonely suffering of the great beast comes to an end.
The buzzards see the opportunity, their endless circling slowly but surely descending towards the ground.
Timidly at first, almost with an air of suspicion, the buzzards land and lightly make their way over to the corpse.
A little peck. Then another and another. A sudden pause of indecision ending with the realisation that the beast is dead. The then buzzards fall onto it's still warm body in a chaotic riot of ripping and tearing. There is no order. No quarter given. A feeding frenzy. Torn flesh. Slashed blood. Talon gouged bone.
In the end, all that remains are the dry bones bleaching beneath the oppressive sun in solitude as that lay in the dust.
01-09-2007:
Paul Clark from the cd Shredz of an Exhibition. Live in Eindhoven on the Rusty Cage Records 1 year anniversary festival. Its a piece of over 14 minutes but after about 7 minutes
03-08-2007:
Mr Clark is back...with a new track....but not black....
Purple
This song is my own arrangement and interpretation of the song "Red" by King Crimson. I've always loved Red, it has a sort of wildness about it. The style of harmony is a typical display of Robert's [Fripp] phenominal 6th sense when it comes to handling dissonance. Additionally, Robert does things with a guitar in the song Red that were simply years ahead of it's time - technical tricks that were later to become stock tools in the modern shredder's arsenal. In my opinion, Robert had an integral contribution to the evolution of the modern rock / metal guitarist - it's not obvious on the surface, but look a little deeper and suddenly it stares you in the face. Hmm.. "not obvious".. but then nothing with Robert ever is..
This song - Purple - has taken the principle themes and general structure of Red and stuck them in a big ol' pot to be mixed with a liberal helping of metal and blues..
Red and blues... seems like Purple to me..
so why did I do this...
I play for David Cross - which has been an amazing and significant part of my life both as a musician and as a person..
and David being a former member of King Crimson is obviously completely immersed in that unique tonalty.. much of what has inevitably rubbed off on me..
Purple is my own personal way of "tipping my hat" to Robert, David, John and Bill..
My way of saying thanks and celebrating what is in my mind, the absolute source of the great river that was to become progressive rock / metal..
That source being King Crimson.
hope you all enjoy...
cheers Clarky
20-07-2007:
A section from Paul's recent news up date...Paul says:
Sunday 15th July, 2007 – Terminal Studios, London. The First Ever Band Rehearsal
It’s been a long time coming. There have been numerous little setbacks – each of them eventually overcome. Here’s the line-up:
Drums – Jamie Woods
Bass – Mick Paul
Keys – Alex Hall
Guitar – Neil Morgan
Guitar – Clarky
This was not only the first time that the band played together, but also the first time that everyone met face to face, so obviously I how no idea of what to expect. And to my great pleasure, everyone hit it off right away both as musicians and as friends. It was really amazing to see everyone together, big smiles and playing so well. One of my greatest concerns was how Shredz would translate from a studio project to a live band. I knew that the music would need some slight adjustments to the orchestration and I felt reasonably good that the sound I imagined in my head would work. That said, I was still a little nervous about it. Once we got playing I had a wonderful surprise. Shredz actually sounds better live than studio. The music has a better ebb and flow, wider dynamics and much more power. Given that this was our first time together it was not perfect, but the 70% to 80% that went well, went extremely well and filled me with a great feeling of encouragement. We need a few more rehearsals to polish off a few rough edges, but beyond that the band has bonded phenomenally well. This line-up plays with tremendous passion and energy.
The set for the first rehearsal was:
The Rape of the Sabine Women
The Raft of the Medusa
The Chosen One
Artaud: On the Fringe of Insanity
Guys – I’d like to say a massive thanks for all your hard work in preparation. This is a passionate and highly capable line-up. I’m deeply proud of all of you. You make me feel that I’m an extremely fortunate person, I could not ask for more.
Cheers Clarky
Look out for tour dates soon.
09-05-2007:
Not a Shredz tour...but Paul Clark will be on tour with the David Cross Band, Live in Rome, Stazione Birra 22 febbraio 2007, during Progressivamente Rock Festival (XIV year). Also they will be on air on RomaUno tv, CH 31 in Rome, CH 860 Sky, satellite Hot Bird 6 - Freq.11.137 - SR 27,5 - P.Horizontal. www.indielive.tv and www.stazionebirra.it
Tour dates MAY 2007
Tuesday 8th - 23.55 pm
Thursday 10th - 1.00 am
Saturday 12th - 16.00 e 23.55 pm
Sunday 13th - 18.00 pm
Monday 14th - 1.00 am
09-04-2007:
"Shredz at an Exhibition" is CD of the week at Rock Express radio with DJ Gezinus Dangremond, and Erik Nijkamp. Their show is every wednesday evening fron 21.00 till 23.00, To listen to Rock Express.
Also Paul has a new seven string guitar "Avarice II"
I know some of you have been keen to finally see pictures of this guitar. This is - the 2nd incarnation of this 7-string...She is a "half-breed" UniversalJems body fitted with a prototype Morgan Custom neck. The Morgan neck completely transformed her from a nice guitar into something extremely special. The new neck, in addition to being extremely pretty, is ultra fast and transformed the tone. Tonally she is now brighter, fatter, tighter and feels amazingly "alive". This is due to the combination of the neck being made from a single piece of top quality West Coast Birdseye Maple with a stunning Ziricote fingerboard, that is built to staggering tolerances. Surprisingly, although she's a 7-string, she is the fastest and most comfortable of all my guitars. The icing on the cake is the scratchplate, made by Paradise Pickguards with the Clarky stickman logo engraved into it. She's cute, sounds like beast and has the agility of a gymnast.
...only one problem with the stick man...he's right handed!
05-04-2007:
Paul "Epic" Clark now has a forum.
27-03-2007:
Mr Paul "play every note as though it was your last" Clark, delivers the review of his recent GAS fest show. Still gutted that it was sold out...as it sounds soooo good:
Take it away Clarky boy:
Saturday night I played a concert in Bristol at the wonderful GASFest event. GASFest is an event that was created exclusively by and for the forum members of Intermusic's Guitar Magazine website. GASFest is also a charity event too, so all money raised by ticket sales, merchandise sales and raffles is donated to the Drake Music Project- which uses high technology to help children with disabilities make music. GASFest this year was sponsored by Guitarist Magazine and Morgan Custom Guitars. The basic format is something like this:
- The GASFesters all meet up the bar of the hotel that they are all staying in to await the coach to take us all to the venue. OK so we have almost 100 musicians, all forum buddies from all over the UK, with guitars [electric and acoustic] hanging out in a bar. The obvious outbursts of drinking and jamming are inevitable. So things are a lot of fun and seriously cool before anything has officially started.
- Once the GASFesters have arrived at the venue, the inevitable socialising, drinking and jamming resumes prior to the event officially kicking off. It really is amazing to see this group of people together. It has the vibe of a far flung and huge extended family that found itself suddenly thrown together. Some folks are meeting face to face for the first time, some people are old friends, some are related, and just about everything in between.
- The event is kicked off by Simon Bradley from Guitarist magazine via his welcome speech.
- This is the part where the GASFesters each get up on stage and play a song.
This is without doubt the coolest part of the event and what's it's all really about –playing a song to friends. Some GASFesters play in groups, some play alone, some are all instrumental, some have vocals, some songs are original, some songs are cover versions. The is everything from pop, to blues, to jazz, to rock, to metal. The players themselves range in experience levels from those that are playing live for the first time that night through to fully professional musicians. The killer part is that is simply does not matter. Everyone gets equal kudos for getting up there and playing. The is no competitiveness and no central musical genre. For me this is the enjoyment of music at it's most pure. It's a truly remarkable event. The amplifiers are all donated for the event by the manufacturers. This gave those playing the opportunity to choose from Marshall, Ashdown, Matamp, Wild Cat and New Moon Amplification – which adds even more kudos to the event. I guess you could argue that this is not really a gig but a gathering of friends. That said, it became very clear to me very quickly that everyone had put in a serious amount of preparation in order to put in their best possible performance. So from that stand point, and from the feeling on stage during the performance, it was most certainly a gig. Everyone was superb and totally committed irrespective or their level, but most of all it was great fun and a warm and friendly atmosphere.
- I had the honour of being invited to play as the "Guest Guitarist" – something I took very seriously with respect to my preparation and performance.
The set was:
- The Rape of the Sabine Women
- The Raft of the Medusa
- Artaud: On the Fringe of Insanity
Playing my set to these guys felt absolutely wonderful, and I gave it everything.
Their response was phenomenal and made me feel so deeply proud.
- The raffle had many prizes, all seriously cool but far too numerous to list here.
Two in particular however are especially worthy of special a mention.
One was a stunning Morgan Custom Guitar. The other was a fabulous New Moon amplifier.
The winners looked like they were totally overwhelmed, it was simply amazing. After the official event, most of the GASFesters returned to the hotel. The bar was completely overrun and turned into the single most massive jam session / sing-a-long I have ever seen in my life. To summarise: GASFest was an unforgettable event that was a fund raiser, a serious, concert, a friendly jam, a party and a family gathering."
19-03-2007:
Paul Clark informs me his recent Gas Fest show in Bristol was fantastic...now how did I miss that...Also Paul just finished a gig on 17th March 2007, Eindhoven, Holland,
Clarky:
"Saturday night I played a concert in Eindhoven at the superb Dynamo music venue. That venue is such a cool place. Great sound, great lights and a great vibe. The concert was a festival celebrating the first birthday of Rusty Cage Records and so all of the bands signed to the label were called upon to play. It was a fantastic evening of great music in great company.
My set list was:
The Rape of the Sabine Women
The Raft of the Medusa
Artaud: On the Fringe of Insanity
It was I felt an interesting set, lots of changing dynamics and moods and for me personally it was technically very demanding. This concert was very special for me. There were so many "firsts":
- first time to play this set since the release of Shredz
- first time to play my own music overseas
- first time to play a 7-string live on stage
- first time to play a Morgan Custom guitar live
- first time to not play an Ibanez live in over 10 years
- first time to play my own music as a signed artist
The audience seemed to really enjoy my music and were very warm towards me – which was hugely encouraging and made me feel very special.
All the guys in the bands back stage were seriously cool too. It was a real party vibe. I was hanging out with Sander [one of the guitarists from the superb metal band Cypher], he's such a cool guy and awesome player too. We got talking about music stuff and great musicians when he told me that the famous Dutch shred monster Marcel Coenen was at the gig, and he went on and introduced me to the man himself. I've had a huge respect for Marcel for several years and so it really was quite a thing to get to meet and chat with him – and he's a seriously cool guy too. All of the bands were simply superb, I really had an awesome time both as a musician and also as a spectator. I'd like to take this opportunity to say some very special thanks:
- Special thanks to all of the guys in the bands, especially the guys from Defender and Cypher. You all made me feel so welcome.
- Special thanks to Remco and Manfred from RCR for creating such an awesome event. Guys, we got to do this again, it was fantastic.
- Extra special thanks to Huib and Maria from ArtnoiZe for taking such great care of me all weekend. Without you guys none of this would be possible.
- And finally, special birthday wishes to Huib... What a superb evening ! ! ! !"
live Dynamo Eindhoven
08-02-2007:
For those who have not had a chance to check out Paul's epic release "Shredz at an Exhibition"...well now's yor chance...visit his web site...credit card in hand..and listen to the full CD version of "The rape of the Sabine women". ...why are you still here? click the link...
01-02-2007:
Lots of positive reviews for Carky's "Shredz" CD. For fans there is additional background, compositional notes, available that covers the breakdown and construction of the track for you.
12-01-2007:
That chirpy, cheeky, chappy Mr Clarky has been nice enough to add some more suicidally sexy tracks from his new CD "Shredz at an Exhibition"...which I now have on order....why haven't you ordered your copy?...you know you want to ...don't you?...
06-01-2007:
Don't forget to get your copy of "Shredz at an Exhibition"
Paul will also appear with David Cross live in Rome, Italy, for the concert in Rome, Feb 22nd 2007.
Clarky live:
In March Paul will be playing live at the Rusty Cage Festival in Eindhoven. He'll also be playing a few pieces from Shredz over backing tracks. Paulis also planning live performances with the full band.
18-12-2006:
Sound samples now on ine from rustycagerecords.com. Sound very tasty...need to get out my cheque book!
13-12-2006:
Blabbermouth note:
Rusty Cage Records has announced the Benelux release of debut solo album from guitarist Paul Clark, entitled "Shredz at an Exhibition"..
According to a press release, "Shredz at an Exhibition" contains "seven great instrumental tracks telling the stories of seven well known paintings. When you listen to the album you will certainly hear that Paul Clark worked at this piece of art for over five years
11-12-2006:
To order Shredz at An Exhibiton you need to use Paypal and the paypal address for the vendor is: paulclark@rocketmail.com. The cost for the CD includes post and packing.
£12 from within the UK
£13 from the rest of the world
08-12-2006:
Paul Clark releases Shredz at An Exhibiton: After around 5 years of work that had suffered numerous interruptions and delays, Friday, 8th of December 2006 is a truly momentous day for Paul as it is the release date of his first ever solo album:
The Rape of the Sabine Women
The Raft of the Medusa
Requiem
The Chosen One
Artaud: On the Fringe Of Insanity
Virtus Junxit Mors Non Seperabit
The Beheading Of John The Baptist
To buy £ 10 + p&p and order send an email to paulclark@rocketmail.com
Also more free downloads of instrumental bonus tracks
Space Time and Curvature Exotic
Our Blood on their Hands
Satan Salad
Mutha of Muthas
PRM Boxter
17-09-2006:
Lots of news from Paul Clark...In August:
"A few weeks ago I played in a match and made a save which has broken one of my fingers. The piece of bone that has broken off was part of the socket joint to the outermost bone in the little finger of my right hand. And most of you guys may say “that’s ok, at least you can still play cos that’s your picking hand right??” Erm…. No, cos I’m a leftie."
Then September:
"Last Friday I went to hospital to have the dressing removed from my finger.
The specialist took a look and seemed to be happy with the way it healed. At first I couldn’t bend it at all, but that’s largely because it has not moved at all for several weeks. Now a few days on, I can just about – but not quite – make a fist.
The finger is a little swollen, very stiff, still painful and the skin is very dry.
This coming Friday I’m set to begin physiotherapy to get it all moving properly again. I still can’t use it to play guitar with yet as I can’t apply much pressure on it."
"Well given that I’ve broken one of my fingers, you’d have think I’d had to put this on hold until I’ve fully recovered. Naah!!!
I may not be able to cut a solo on the same scale as I’m used to, but I can still riff with the fingers that are working."
I know all truthinshredding fans will be wishing Paul a speedy recovery and no lasting damage to his awesome playing talent.
31-07-2006:
Paul Clark has just returned home from Holland having spent almost a week there working with ArtnoiZe and Autumn Music to work on Shredz at an Exhibition. He's really happy with the mix and the artwork looks like being decided with an urban graffiti motif. So the release date looks like late October / early November.
15-07-2006:
Shredz at an Exhibition:1
Paul Clark is now mastering his CD, which is the next step towards completing his first solo album. He will be attending Autumn Music Studios in Holland to complete "Shredz at an Exhibition". He will also be working with ArtNoize to complete the CD artwork.
23-06-2006:
Paul Clark has a myspace web site: http://www.myspace.com/clarkymusic
18-06-2006
Item first published
Background:
Paul Clark was musically educated at the University of London, where he studied classical music fron the 16th to 20th century. He is one of the "lefty" players. Paul also played many diverse styles like blues rock, heavy metal, funk, reggae, progressive rock and fusion. His music combines elements from Baroque, Classical and Romantic periods, in conjunction with rock and metal styles creating a wide ranging dynamic canvas.
In 1994, Paul joined The David Cross Band and has performed on several albums and international tours playing complex progressive rock music and King Crimson classics.
Listen to his music o r visit his soundclick web site.
Paul also has some guitar tutorials