GED
Ged is:
Mark Cocking (aka Ged) - Vocals/keyboards/synths/minimoog
Rod Giles - Guitars & Midi
Mark was one of the founder members of the Union of Sound Synthesists in the 1970s, which split from the Musicians Union when it was considered heresy to promote electronic music. The wounds were promptly healed when it was realised that the Synthesiser was a legitimate instrument in its own right.
His first projects were at the SPECTRA artworks studios in Newcastle, and joined Tyneside band “Snyper” in the 80s playing Moog & Keyboards.
Whilst holding down a career in the Mortgage Industry for over 20 years, Mark pursued a passion for writing and recording his own material at home using only keyboards and tape, with one instrumental piece (“A Brief History of Time” on which the synthesised voice of Professor Stephen Hawking appears) being adopted by “Music Therapy” as their ‘Theme for a year’. He played with many other individuals, pursuing the idea of experimentation, but has not performed live since Snyper.
As the youngest person at the time to attain a Fellowship of The Chartered Institute of Bankers, but bored by the mundane world of finance and driven by a passion to write, Mark became a researcher of Global Economics, Banking, Natural Sciences, Comparative Religions & Occult History. This brought him into contact with many key global figures and gave him insights into areas where many fear to tread.
Discoveries made during his research inspired his writing. One song “Pierrots & Fools” actually predicted the 911 attack on the USA months before it happened. Driven by his insights and a passion for music, an album project of the same name is now ongoing.
Mark met Rod Giles two years ago. Blyth based guitarist ‘extraordinaire’ and ‘Prince of the pinched harmonic’, Rod plays with North East band “Twilight” but works with Mark co-writing and performing on the album project.
They have each built a home recording studio, Rods being MIDI based and Marks focussing on analogue synthesis and digital production, and have written and recorded many tracks which they soon hope to perform live.
The material explores diverse subjects, some serious…. such as global financial/political/religious and economic conspiracy, faked Moon landings, human extra terrestrial origins, Suppressed Science and Occult imagery and….. the truth about the 911 attacks and the ‘so called’ War on Terror….
The ‘heavy’ but well researched content is balanced by witty observations of modern society and culture….
“Lara’s Song”, about a boy who is addicted to “Tomb Raider” and is infatuated with ‘Lara Croft’ …
“Bumpin’ Uglies” which parodies masculine urges…
“Aprils Fool” concerns a man who has rediscovered his schoolyard fantasy on Friends Re-united. Only to realise the true nature of infatuation.
The material is an original and esoteric homage to ‘Electro Pop’, Guitar Rock and American Punk with influences as diverse as Iggy Pop, Bowie, Jacques Brel, Velvet Underground, New York Dolls, Alan Parsons, Pink Floyd, Rick Wakeman and a whole generation of singer/song writers.
A recent CD issued by NE Music contains a re-working of an intended album track, “Sand Dance” which was originally drafted on a Caribbean beach and later completed whilst sat on top of the Great Pyramid at Giza. It sounds like a love song but actually alludes to an ancient mystical ceremony.
When asked about the bands intentions for this year, Mark said “We hope to complete the album production this year and also to perform it as a live set. It a loose concept based on the state of the world today and it exposes some serious issues which are intentionally suppressed by governments and other bodies from the public. I found myself unintentionally involved with Politicians, Scientists, Bankers, Financiers, Religious Leaders and Secret Societies and found that there is a world ‘out there’ which bears no resemblance to the world we are lead to believe in. I discovered who manipulates the global financial system and how. The WHO and HOW are fascinating, but the truly incredible aspect of it all is the ‘WHY’. It just provided a wealth of material for song writing. It’s not intended to preach about anything, or to change the world…simply to draw on experiences to indulge my love of music and to fulfil my ambition to sing, whilst at the same time providing content which the listener can ‘think’ about if they choose to.
Basically it’s just a ‘primal scream’ to release some of the energy created by my involvements and the cynicism of the ‘company board room’ toward anyone who dares to change into stage gear afterwards and let rip on stage about sex ‘n’ drugs ‘n’ rock & roll and the foolish naivety of the ‘system’.
I aim to merge the 70s Prog Rock and the 80s electro-pop concepts but to bring it into this century and fuse them with the ‘American Punk’ and ‘Chanson’ styles that first inspired me as a kid. It’s an ironic fusion if you consider that punk, when it first hit the UK, was a rebellion against ‘progressive’ music. I have always loved the sound of guitar rock and think that it’s actually the perfect partner of electronic music….as long as it doesn’t get pretentious like some of the rock dinosaurs did in the late 70s. But the bottom line is…it’s fun…and its what I love doing.
It was only once I had met Rod, when he came to see me as a potential client, that I realised I had found a real talent who could make up for my own weaknesses and bring about the sound I longed for. We have worked together writing individually and jointly to create a balance of light hearted and truly heavy concepts. Without him my head would have been so firmly lodged up my own orifice that I doubt I would have ever seen daylight again.
I had recorded a demo for “Pierrots & Fools” which was ignored until soon after the 911 attacks which it predicted. That’s when friends and colleagues convinced me to resurrect it and to continue with the writing. Then I met Rod and we thought we’d indulge our ‘mid life crises’ and pursue our urge to write and play again, despite the fact we had careers and families to support. We gave up on the dream of being rock gods and on the ‘sex n drugs’, but the ‘rock n roll’ simply doesn’t fade. Stuff the system, we have things to say and do…so we’re gonna do them.”
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