Alan Davey (musician)

Alan Davey (born 11 September 1963 in Ipswich, Suffolk) is an English musician, best known as the former bassist with Hawkwind. He is the original bass player in Gunslinger which started in 1979 and is still the bass player and vocalist for Gunslinger. He's currently writing a new album for 2018 release on Cleopatra Records as well as 2 solo albums for 2018 and 2019 release and is also writing music for movies and TV shows. He has also played and recorded with Meads of Asphodel, Dumpy's Rusty Nuts, Spirits Burning, Bedouin (1998-2003). He formed with the newly re-imagined Hawklords in 2008 with Nik Turner till 2012 and since then formed The Psychedelic Warlords in 2013 till 2015.

Alan Davey
GenresSpace rock, hard rock, heavy metal, proto-punk, acid rock, progressive rock, psychedelic rock, black metal
InstrumentsBass, vocals, synth, guitar
LabelsCleopatra Records Purple Pyramid Records


Early musical career

Davey formed his first band, Gunslinger, in 1979 with his cousin Nigel Potter. Influenced by Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Motörhead and Hawkwind, amongst others, they quickly gained a reputation for playing loud and built a solid following. They recorded a demo tape and a recording contract was promised, but the deal was never signed.

With Hawkwind

A long-time fan of Hawkwind, Davey had sent a tape of his playing to Dave Brock, and in 1984 Brock invited him to join the band after his debut at the Stonehenge Free Festival that year, moving Harvey Bainbridge from bass to keyboards in order to accommodate him, with Brock sacking keyboardist Dead Fred in the process.[1] During this first tenure with Hawkwind they released seven studio albums and four live offerings. However, by 1996 Davey was unhappy with the musical direction of the band, and, following a tour of Greece, left to form his own Middle-Eastern flavoured hard-rock group, Bedouin, and a Motörhead tribute act named Ace of Spades.[1] Bedouin had been the name of an Alan Davey solo album, and had a distinctive Arabic flavour to it; Davey built upon this, assembling his own band which toured the UK and Europe for several years, releasing one studio album and a live album. The group disbanded in 2003.

In October 2000, Davey was reunited with Hawkwind for the Hawkestra 30th anniversary event at the Brixton Academy,[1] and in 2001, in another major lineup shift, rejoined the group, which led to the departure of Ron Tree and Jerry Richards. Davey's second tenure in Hawkwind saw the release of three live and two studio albums before he left the band again in June 2007, frustrated with the group (seemingly both musically and personally), to perform and record with the re-formed Gunslinger and Meads of Asphodel.

Other projects

Of note, Davey's first venture outside of the Hawkwind camp (whilst still in the band) was a brief stint helping out on bass duties in Dumpy's Rusty Nuts, in 1988. One of the gigs was recorded and released on Razor Records (RAZ D39): "Firkin Well Live - Somewhere Else in England".

Davey has now released an album of Arabic-flavoured material with former Hawkwind vocalist Bridget Wishart.[2].

March 2008 saw the release of the début album by Gunslinger entitled Earthquake in E Minor. The album featured some of the material that had been written between 1979 and 1982 during the band's first inception. Gunslinger are currently touring on an increasingly busy schedule, through the UK and mainland Europe. The band have in particular built a following in Belgium, Holland, Germany and France. In September 2011, Gunslinger embarked upon their first US tour. In March 2012, the band headlined the British Steel Festival VI at the Camden Underworld.

On 18 May 2009, Davey released the solo album entitled Eclectic Devils, on his own record label Earthquake Records. It featured contributions from former Hawkwind violinist/keyboardist Simon House, Josh Dreamspirit, Nigel Potter, James Hodkinson, Louis Davey and Isobel from Bruise.

After his departure from Hawkwind, Davey was active in the reformed Hawklords band, consisting of several former members of Hawkwind. He joined the group for a one-off Barney Bubbles benefit show in 2009, a mini tour in 2010, and was part of the touring lineup for a major 2012 UK tour, sharing bass duties with Adrian Shaw. However, Davey did not appear on the subsequent Hawklords album "We Are One", and did not tour the album in September/October 2012 either, due to the album being recorded and mixed without his or Nik Turner's knowledge. The funds used to finance the project, Alan's and Nik's, were used without their permission.

In 2012, the band The Psychedelic Warlords were formed - featuring Alan Davey, Vince Cory, Meurig Griffiths, Radio Ray, Rich Om and Nigel Ward, with a plan to tour into 2013 as an anniversary celebration of Hawkwind's classic Space Ritual album - playing the album in its entirety. The 2013 tour, which eventually saw several line-up changes, included dates in the UK, and a headline act at the Roadburn Festival in The Netherlands. In 2014, Davey took The Psychedelic Warlords on tour once more, again with nearly a completely new line-up, this time fronted by vocalist and saxophonist Craig High, who had fronted the band during the latter part of the 2013 tour. The 2014 tour saw the band playing two classic albums in their near entirety, Robert Calvert's album Captain Lockheed and the Starfighters, and Hawkwind's Hall of the Mountain Grill.

Davey uses a 1986 custom built '1964 Maple 4003s' Rickenbacker bass with built-in pre amp with Seymour Duncan (Ric specific) neck and bridge pickups. He has always used Fender Bassman valve amps, and currently uses a custom 4 x 12" cab and a 2 x 15" Laney cab. He also plays a Korg Wavestation keyboard synthesizer and is endorsed by Korg, Celestion Speakers and Rotosound Strings (stainless steel, swing bass, 045 - 105.)

At the request and encouragement from Motörhead fans and Lemmy's friends once again started up his Motorhead tribute band 'Ace of Spades' he first started in 1999. The first gig was on Aug 12th headlining the Bulldog Bash in front of 6,000 people and a tour has been booked for November, December and January, the last gig will be at the Dagenham Roundhouse on Jan 20th 2018.

He is currently working on 3 new albums, all to be released on Cleopatra Rec's from Santa Monica. A new Bedouin album with singer Michelle Jimenez-Alder called 'The Soundtrack', a new solo album with some very special guests including Paul Rudolf and a new Gunslinger album to be recorded in America in 2018 titled 'Amped Up'. A Gunslinger tour of the USA and Canada is planned for 2018 & 2019. He has also done music for 3 movies and is currently working on a fourth project.

Discography

Albums

Captured Rotation 2 versions Emergency Broadcast System 1996

Bedouin 2 versions Emergency Broadcast System 1997

Bedouin Sampler (12", MiniAlbum, Promo, Blu) Not On Label AD 12 1997

Chaos Delight 2 versions Black Widow Records 2000

Al Chemical's Lysergic Orchestra 2 versions Alan Davey 2001

The Final Call (CD, Album) Centaur Discs CENCD 029 2001

Human On The Outside (CD, Album) Alan Davey AD-HOTO 2007

Eclectic Devils 2 versions Earthquake Records 2009

Unlawful Odds (CD/download) Flicknife Records 2011

Cyber Tooth (CD, Album) Earthquake Records EQRCD0007 2012

Al Chemical's Lysergic Orchestra Volume 2 (CD) Earthquake Records EQRCD010 2013

Sputnik Stan Vol.1: A Fistful Of Junk  2 versions Earthquake Records 2015

Cyber Tooth (CD, Album, RE) Purple Pyramid Records CLO 0547 2017

Singles & EPs

The Elf EP (2x7") Hawkfan HWFB3 / HWFB4 1987 Lessons In Logic (3 tracks) Flicknife Records 2012

Compilations

Four-Track Mind (Volume 1) (CDr) Alan Davey AD4TM-1 2007

Four-Track Mind (Volume 2) (CDr) Alan Davey AD4TM-2 2008

Four-Track Mind (Volume 3) (CDr) Alan Davey AD4TM-3 2008

Four-Track Mind (Volume 4) (CDr) Alan Davey AD4TM-4 2008

Four-Track Mind (4xCDr, Ltd, Comp) Earthquake Records EQRCD0004 2010 Hawklords, Friends and Relationd : 30th Anniversary Volume (also featuring Bedouin, Alan Davey)

Miscellaneous

Sci-fi-delic Ep (CDr) ELF (3) ELF001 1998

Dumpy's Rusty Nuts: Firkin Well Live (Vinyl Double LP) Guesting on bass duties and backing vocals Razor Records Raz D39

References
  1. Ian, Abrahams. Hawkwind: Sonic Assassins. SAF Publishing, c2004. p. 155,214,237. ISBN 0-306-80897-8.
  2. "Alan Davey Interview - September 2008". Live Music Scene. Archived from the original on 13 August 2009. Retrieved 21 November 2010.
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