1982-7 I sang with Welsh-language rock band Ceffyl Pren. We made 100 or so live performances, including headlining St David’s Hall twice, touring the Far East and North America twice. Always singing in Welsh.
After I left the band, I continued writing songs with collaborators like Heneghan a Lawson, Mal Pope and Steve Allan Jones.
I translated some The Alarm’s Change | Newid songs into Welsh and produced for the BBC the band’s recording of tracks for the album, including the song A New South Wales with members of what’s now called BBC Now, The Morrison Orpheus Choir, with Tony Visconti producing. The band presented me with a silver disc for sales of 60,000 copies of this album.
I produced sessions by artistes like John Cale, Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci, Datblygu and an experimental pilot mixing electronica and news by Ty^ Gwydr. This was 1989-93 when working as a producer with BBC Radio Cymru.
I presented Canu’r Byd (World Music) for the station at this time and I made my own field recordings in Sarawak, India and Australia.
I went to Mongolia’s Altai Mountains to present a TV documentary about khoomïy chanting for S4C in 1993, with producer Paul Islwyn Thomas.
While living in CountyKerry, Republic of Ireland, I played traditional Irish music every week at Joe’s Piano Bar in Ardfert.
Since the turn of the millennium, family has taken precedence over playing and producing music, but I still enjoy listening.
gareth AT einiog DOT com
