Sun Dial
Encyclopedia
Sun Dial is a British
space rock
band formed in 1990 by Gary Ramon.
, formed in the mid-'80s
with a loose lineup that never played gigs but did see the release of two studio albums. Ramon disbanded the group out of a desire "to make a more live-sounding group that could go out and play".
The band gained prominence after the release of their first album, Other Way Out, which quickly sold out its initial run through word of mouth alone. The album was near-universally praised in the independent music press, winning several awards and accolades. However, the album saw little popularity among mainstream critics and radio stations as their authentic '60s
psychedelic sound was out of fashion at the time. Other Way Out remains popular to this day in the psychedelic and progressive rock
communities, and has gone through eight reissues since its original release.
Subsequent albums have explored many branches of psychedelia, including space rock
, acid rock
, stoner rock
, neo-psychedelia
, and psych pop. Their music has been compared to, influenced, or praised by prominent artists such as Monster Magnet
, Nirvana
, Spiritualized
, and Spacemen 3
. Sun Dial in turn were influenced by the '60s and '70s psychedelia and hard rock of Jimi Hendrix
, the Beatles
, the Stooges
, Pink Floyd
, and Led Zeppelin
, as well as the drug-influenced "Madchester
" sound of the Stone Roses
, Inspiral Carpets
, and Happy Mondays
.
After the 1996 live album Live Drug, Ramon took Sun Dial on an extended hiatus and devoted his time to producing records by other bands, including Chemical, and Fantasyy Factoryy. Many of these records were released on Ramon's own Acme
label. During this time Ramon also worked with Coil
and Current93 and released Quad
, a solo project exploring ambient electronica and kraut rock. Sun Dial reconvened for a live performance in December 2002 and released their next album, Zen For Sale, a few months thereafter.
In 2010, they released a 20th anniversary 2-CD anthology, Processed For DNA, via Shrunken Head, their own imprint with Cherry Red, before returning with a new eponymous studio album, musically much heavier than before, and more influenced by early 1990s Seattle than late 60s psychedelia. It was released alongside a major Sun Dial reissue campaign.
, Sun Dial has always been an instrument of its frontman Gary Ramon; the band's lineup tends to change from album to album. The most stable lineups include the following:
only) become highly sought-after by collectors.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
space rock
Space rock
Space rock is a subgenre of rock music; the term originally referred to a group of early, mostly British, 1970s progressive and psychedelic rock bands such as Hawkwind and Pink Floyd, characterised by slow, lengthy instrumental passages dominated by electric organs, synthesizers, experimental...
band formed in 1990 by Gary Ramon.
History
The precursor to Sun Dial was Ramon's the Modern ArtThe Modern Art
The Modern Art was a psychedelic rock band formed by Gary Ramon in the 1980s. It had a loose lineup that never played gigs but did see the release of two studio albums and a number of self-produced cassettes. Ramon disbanded the group out of a desire "to make a more live-sounding group that could...
, formed in the mid-'80s
1980s
File:1980s decade montage.png|thumb|400px|From left, clockwise: The first Space Shuttle, Columbia, lifted off in 1981; American President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev eased tensions between the two superpowers, leading to the end of the Cold War; The Fall of the Berlin Wall in...
with a loose lineup that never played gigs but did see the release of two studio albums. Ramon disbanded the group out of a desire "to make a more live-sounding group that could go out and play".
The band gained prominence after the release of their first album, Other Way Out, which quickly sold out its initial run through word of mouth alone. The album was near-universally praised in the independent music press, winning several awards and accolades. However, the album saw little popularity among mainstream critics and radio stations as their authentic '60s
1960s
The 1960s was the decade that started on January 1, 1960, and ended on December 31, 1969. It was the seventh decade of the 20th century.The 1960s term also refers to an era more often called The Sixties, denoting the complex of inter-related cultural and political trends across the globe...
psychedelic sound was out of fashion at the time. Other Way Out remains popular to this day in the psychedelic and progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
communities, and has gone through eight reissues since its original release.
Subsequent albums have explored many branches of psychedelia, including space rock
Space rock
Space rock is a subgenre of rock music; the term originally referred to a group of early, mostly British, 1970s progressive and psychedelic rock bands such as Hawkwind and Pink Floyd, characterised by slow, lengthy instrumental passages dominated by electric organs, synthesizers, experimental...
, acid rock
Acid rock
Acid rock is a form of psychedelic rock, which is characterized with long instrumental solos, few lyrics and musical improvisation. Tom Wolfe describes the LSD-influenced music of The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Pink Floyd, The Doors, Iron Butterfly, Big Brother & The Holding Company, Cream,...
, stoner rock
Stoner rock
Stoner rock or stoner metal is a subgenre of heavy metal, combining elements of psychedelic rock, blues rock, traditional heavy metal and doom metal. Stoner rock is typically slow-to-mid tempo and features a bass-heavy sound, melodic vocals, and 'retro' production...
, neo-psychedelia
Neo-psychedelia
Neo-psychedelia is music that emulates or is heavily influenced by the psychedelic music of the 1960s. It began to be revived among British post-punk bands of the later 1970s and early 1980s and was taken up by groups including bands of the Paisley Underground and Madchester scenes, as well as...
, and psych pop. Their music has been compared to, influenced, or praised by prominent artists such as Monster Magnet
Monster Magnet
Monster Magnet is an American stoner rock band. Hailing from Red Bank, New Jersey, the group was founded by Dave Wyndorf , John McBain and Tim Cronin...
, Nirvana
Nirvana (band)
Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987...
, Spiritualized
Spiritualized
Spiritualized are an English space rock band formed in 1990 in Rugby, Warwickshire by Jason Pierce after the demise of his previous outfit, space-rockers Spacemen 3...
, and Spacemen 3
Spacemen 3
Spacemen 3 were an English alternative rock band, formed in 1982 in Rugby, Warwickshire by Peter Kember and Jason Pierce. Their music was "colorfully mind-altering, but not in the sense of the acid rock of the '60s; instead, the band developed its own minimalistic psychedelia"...
. Sun Dial in turn were influenced by the '60s and '70s psychedelia and hard rock of Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
, the Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
, the Stooges
The Stooges
The Stooges are an American rock band from Ann Arbor, Michigan first active from 1967 to 1974, and later reformed in 2003...
, Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
, and Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
, as well as the drug-influenced "Madchester
Madchester
Madchester was a music scene that developed in Manchester, England, towards the end of the 1980s and into the early 1990s. The music that emerged from the scene mixed alternative rock, psychedelic rock and dance music...
" sound of the Stone Roses
The Stone Roses
The Stone Roses are an English alternative rock band formed in Manchester in 1983. They were one of the pioneering groups of the Madchester movement that was active during the late 1980s and early 1990s...
, Inspiral Carpets
Inspiral Carpets
Inspiral Carpets are an alternative rock band from Oldham in Greater Manchester, England formed by Graham Lambert and Stephen Holt in 1983. The band is named after a clothing shop on their Oldham estate...
, and Happy Mondays
Happy Mondays
Happy Mondays are an English alternative rock band from Salford, Greater Manchester. Formed in 1980, the band's original line-up was Shaun Ryder on lead vocals, his brother Paul Ryder on bass, lead guitarist Mark Day, keyboardist Paul Davis, and drummer Gary Whelan...
.
After the 1996 live album Live Drug, Ramon took Sun Dial on an extended hiatus and devoted his time to producing records by other bands, including Chemical, and Fantasyy Factoryy. Many of these records were released on Ramon's own Acme
Acme Records
Acme Records, an independent record label based in Hastings, East Sussex, England, was formed in 1994 by Gary Ramon . It is known for reissuing classic progressive rock and psychedelic rock albums from the 1960s and 1970s, including out-of-print and previously unreleased material...
label. During this time Ramon also worked with Coil
Coil (band)
Coil were an English cross-genre, experimental music group formed in 1982 by John Balance—later credited as "Jhonn Balance"—and his partner Peter Christopherson, aka "Sleazy". The duo worked together on a series of releases before Balance chose the name Coil, which he claimed to be...
and Current93 and released Quad
Quad (music)
Quad or QUAD was the name of a solo music project by Gary Ramon.During his six-year hiatus from Sun Dial, Ramon embarked on an ambitious solo project, Quad, which combined ambient electronica with kraut rock. The result was a pair of self-titled albums...
, a solo project exploring ambient electronica and kraut rock. Sun Dial reconvened for a live performance in December 2002 and released their next album, Zen For Sale, a few months thereafter.
In 2010, they released a 20th anniversary 2-CD anthology, Processed For DNA, via Shrunken Head, their own imprint with Cherry Red, before returning with a new eponymous studio album, musically much heavier than before, and more influenced by early 1990s Seattle than late 60s psychedelia. It was released alongside a major Sun Dial reissue campaign.
Members
As with fellow psych rocker Nick Saloman's The Bevis FrondThe Bevis Frond
The Bevis Frond is a British musical group whose range covers hard edge to melancholy vintage indie rock to poetic, "classic-rock" songcraft with a thick Walthamstow accent. Nick Saloman is the band's frontman and songwriter...
, Sun Dial has always been an instrument of its frontman Gary Ramon; the band's lineup tends to change from album to album. The most stable lineups include the following:
- 1990 (Other Way Out)
- Gary Ramon (guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
/vocals) - Anthony Clough (bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
/keyboardKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
s) - David Morgan (drumDrumThe drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
s/percussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
)
- Gary Ramon (guitar
- 1991 (Return Journey)
- Gary Ramon (guitar/vocals)
- Anthony Clough (keyboards)
- John Pelech (drums)
- 1991
- Gary Ramon (guitar/vocals)
- Anthony Clough (keyboards)
- John Pelech (drums)
- Nigel Carpenter (bass guitar)
- Chris Dalley (guitar/backing vocals)
- 1991–1992 (Reflecter)
- Gary Ramon (guitar/vocals)
- John Pelech (drums)
- Nigel Carpenter (bass guitar)
- Chris Dalley (guitar/backing vocals)
- 1993 (Libertine)
- Gary Ramon (guitar/vocals/drums)
- Nigel Carpenter (bass guitar)
- Chris Dalley (guitar/backing vocals)
- Craig Adrienne (drums/backing vocals)
- 1994–1996 (Acid Yantra, Live Drug)
- Gary Ramon (guitar/vocals)
- Craig Adrienne (drums/backing vocals)
- Jake Honeywill (bass guitar)
- 2002 (Zen for Sale)
- Gary Ramon (guitar/vocals)
- Joolie Woods (keyboards/violinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
/fluteFluteThe flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
) - Peter Dunton (drums)
- Lee Moon (bass guitar)
- 2003
- Gary Ramon (guitar/vocals)
- Russell Barrett (bass guitar)
- Angelo Pantaleo (drums)
- 2008–2010
- Gary Ramon (guitar/vocals/drums)
- Russell Barrett (bass guitar/percussion)
Discography
Sun Dial are noted for releasing limited-edition albums and singles on independent labels. The discs (often printed on vinylGramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
only) become highly sought-after by collectors.
Albums
- Other Way Out — Tangerine RecordsTangerine Records (1990)Tangerine Records was a British record label....
(1990); Dutch East India Trading Company (1991); UFO Records (1991); Acme RecordsAcme RecordsAcme Records, an independent record label based in Hastings, East Sussex, England, was formed in 1994 by Gary Ramon . It is known for reissuing classic progressive rock and psychedelic rock albums from the 1960s and 1970s, including out-of-print and previously unreleased material...
(1994, 1996, 2003); Gallium Arsenide (1996); Lava (1997); Relapse RecordsRelapse RecordsRelapse Records is an independent record label based in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania. It was founded by Matthew F. Jacobson in 1990.-History:The label was started by Matthew F. Jacobson in August, 1990 in his parents' basement in Aurora, Colorado...
(2006) - Reflecter — UFO Records (1992); Dutch East India Trading Company (1992); Midi Inc. (1992)
- Libertine — Beggars Banquet RecordsBeggars Banquet RecordsBeggars Banquet is an English independent record label that began as a chain of record shops owned by Martin Mills and Nick Austin, and is part of the Beggars Group of labels...
(1994); CD/MC (1994); Atlantic RecordsAtlantic RecordsAtlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
(1993) - Return Journey — Acme Records (1994); Gallium Arsenide (1996); Relapse Records (2006)
- Acid Yantra — Beggars Banquet Records (1995); Acme Records (1995, 2007)
- Live Drug — Acme Records (1996)
- Zen For Sale — Acme Records (2003); Headspin (2003)
- Shards Of God — Acme Records (compilation, 2007)
- Libertine - Deprogrammed — Acme Records (2007)
- Processed For DNA (The 20th Anniversary Anthology) — Shrunken Head (2-CD, 2010)
- Sun Dial — Shrunken Head (2010)
Singles
- Exploding in your Mind — 12", Tangerine Records (1990)
- Visitation — 7", (1991)
- Exploding in your Mind — one-sided 12", UFO Records (1991)
- Fireball — 7", UFO Records (1991)
- Reflecter — CD, UFO Records (1992)
- Fazer — 12", UFO Records (1992)
- Fazer remix — 12", UFO Records (1992)
- Going Down — 7"/CD, Beggars Banquet Records (1993)
- Bad Drug — 7", Beggars Banquet Records (1995)
- Apollo — 7", Munster (1995)
- Ghost Machine — 7", Distortions (1997)
- Out of Space Out of Time — 7", Ace of Discs (2002)
- Free Sitar — 7", Acme Records (2002)
Videos
- Fireball (UFO Records, 1991)
- Going Down (Beggars Banquet RecordsBeggars Banquet RecordsBeggars Banquet is an English independent record label that began as a chain of record shops owned by Martin Mills and Nick Austin, and is part of the Beggars Group of labels...
, 1994) - Bad Drug (Beggars Banquet RecordsBeggars Banquet RecordsBeggars Banquet is an English independent record label that began as a chain of record shops owned by Martin Mills and Nick Austin, and is part of the Beggars Group of labels...
, 1995)
External links
- Sun Dial official website
- official webspace
- official webspace
- [ AllMusic Guide entry for Sun Dial]
- Psychotropic Zone interview with Gary Ramon
- Aural Innovations interview with Gary Ramon
- Aural Innovations interview with Sun Dial
- Nick Bensen interview with Gary Ramon
- Mentes de ácido interview with Gary Ramon
- Ptolemaic Terrascope interview with Gary Ramon