Record label picks up on music of Newbury man’s rock band thanks to a 50-year-old recording

Out of the blue, a record label has picked up on the music of rock band Gomrath thanks to a 50-year-old recording from Martin Long’s schooldays, the Cold Ash musician tells Arts Editor TRISH LEE. The album is released today by Bright Carvings who specialise in unreleased and privately released rock, folk and experimental music from the Underground era of the late 1960s and early 1970s

YOU’RE never too old to become a rock star.

Now retired from a career in the computer industry, Martin Long has lived in Cold Ash for 20 years, but grew up around the New Malden/ Kingston area.

Once a very keen guitarist, he formed the band Gomrath with his brother Adrian and three others, while still at school at Kings College Wimbledon, where his father was the music master.

“The band lasted a couple of years, played a few gigs including a pop concert at my school.”

The concert was recorded and, unusually, released on vinyl.

So fast forward 50 years and Martin picks up the story.

“We were contacted out of the blue by a guy who owns a record label called Bright Carvings.”

This label specialises in seeking out unpublished underground/ progressive rock groups of the late 60s early 70s, recovering old recordings and issuing limited releases of the reimagined band on vinyl only, pressing a maximum of 250 copies.

“Bright Carvings had heard the KCS pop concert recording and was very interested.

“To cut a long story short, my brother and I signed a recording contract – just 50 years too late from our perspective.”

And their album is to be released today (Thursday).

The Gomrath story began with the musical brothers, Adrian born in 1952 and Martin three years later.

Martin excelled at the cello and Adrian French horn. At the end of their New Malden road lived childhood friend Roy Wiles, whose eccentricity and interest in music would later form the basis of the band.

It wasn’t until the late 60s that the brothers became interested in forming their own band in a Road to Damascus moment in their living room.

“I was already learning the guitar but then this band called Cynic Violation – friends of Adrian’s – came over and rehearsed at our place. I heard this guy (Jim Payne) playing Purple Haze with a fuzzbox and I thought that’s amazing – I’ve got to do that.

“My parents were very liberal minded for that time and they allowed groups to set up and play in the house without screaming to turn it down – though it did annoy the neighbours from time to time!”

The brothers reconnected with Roy Wiles, then playing in a band with drummer Clive Rutledge.

There followed a year or so of loose jam sessions and bedroom practices with Martin on lead guitar and Adrian on rhythm (later keyboard).

Joining them was Roy on bass and a friend of his, Paul Martin, on vocals. Completing the quintet was Clive on drums.

Gomrath’s name derived from Alan Garner’s 1963 fantasy novel The Moon of Gomrath – a suitably Tolkienesque name for a band very much into underground rock.

“We were into Jethro Tull, Jimi Hendrix, Caravan and Led Zeppelin. I was definitely influenced by blues guitarists like Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page and people like that.”

The band eschewed cover versions: “With Gomrath we always had material from Roy – he was very prolific and was a little bit of a Syd Barrett figure in his offbeat way.”

A few local gigs attracted the attention of a local promoter called Tony Derrington which led to a support slot at Ealing Technical College in April 1971.

Following that success a concert was organised for June at King’s College School.

“It was an attempt by the school to connect with those things most teenagers were up to, to be more relevant. The participants were all bands that had some link to KCS.”

Putting on a gig of that nature was quite daring for the time. There were 200 people or so there – it was packed out.

Following the concert, a privately pressed album of the gig, entitled KCS Modern Music Concert was made, capturing performances of all the bands that played that night, including headliners Gomrath.

June 1971 was a busy month for Gomrath as they were booked in to record at Eden Studios in Kingston.

“Our band gear was pretty basic at the time. Eden Studios was the real deal, hence I was like a kid in a sweet shop.

“The amplifier I was to use was a sweet little Fender combo that had an amazing overdriven sound.”

But unfortunately, Gomrath were unable to capitalise on that summer’s momentum as the band fell apart when Roy went off to university, although the brothers then formed a more progressive band called Fruitbat McTango.

Roy put together another band on his return from university but it didn’t feature the Long brothers, who were by then pursuing careers in the real world away from music.

Looking back at Gomrath it was clear that the impetus was in creating new music rather than ‘making it’ as a band.

As Adrian reflects: “If we were going to make it, someone was just going to discover us – we didn’t have that real drive.

“You need to be obsessional to make it and we were never like that.”

Martin and Adrian do still make music together in Martin’s home studio but they don’t play live.

“We concentrate on writing new stuff and recording it.”

They get together three or four times a year and create a new song from scratch, then put it on Soundcloud – take a listen on https://soundcloud.com/adzlong

“This revival of interest in Gomrath has inspired us to think about creating a set we could play live at the launch party.” ( In other words... to a sympathetic audience!)

https://www.brightcarvings.com/ Have a look at the Bright Carvings website who are trailing the up-coming release.