Several years ago when I was forging the Psychedelic/Space-rock mail order horizons for MLM, two guys heard about my activities and wanted to meet me for the purposes of seeing if I wanted todistribute their debut release. The guys were Mr Dibs and Phil. The band was Spacehead. The tape was'Sentinel'. I played it and could see that this band had potential. I said I'd take it, sell it and helpthem wherever I could.
SMALL BEGINNINGS
With the band unable to afford a CD release, I helped sell and promote their tapes..Here's the review forboth 'Sentinel' and 'Question Remains': "Mark my words - this band is going to be to Hawkwind, what Porcupine Tree are to Pink Floyd, if you get mydrift. The thing about this band is that spark, the force, that certain unidentifiable X-factor that made Hawkwind a major force through the years. They exude the whole fabric of sound, that you must have, to put them on such a high pedestal, with especially great attention paid to the construction of the songs and the feel of the vocals, as much as the overall sound of the group's instrumental work.'Sentinel', their first release, was recorde with guitars, synths and drum machines and, while it could do with a bit more attackin the drum dept, comes across as one hell of a set of great songs with tremendous vocals and high-flying instumental work. 'Question Remains', however, was recorded with a real drummer and the advance in the presentation of the overall sound is positively mind-bending as you enter a world of music,the likes and excitement of which you may not have felt from a non-Hawkwind release for many years. The sound, the songs, the synth work, the construction and the end result of dynamics, power andsubtlety just has to be heard to be believed. Sometime in the future, when the debut CD is out, the acclaim has been forthcoming and the group has become collectable,you'll wish you had bought these limited edition items instead of having to comb the record fairs and pay ridiculous prices to get the originals. Don't miss out!"
OF STARS AND TIME....
Spacehead get the attention of Hawkwind's new EBS label and sign up to have their debut CD released. Despite the limitations of the source recording, the album shows the bandin full flight and the compositions show the band on top form throughout.
DIVERGING PATHWAYS
Shortly after the release, the duo split with Phil recording a fantastic tape-only release under the guise of Cellular Structure and forminga new band called PXR-1. Mr Dibs, meanwhile, continues to forge ahead with Spacehead, in various line-ups, recording and playing live wherever possible. One of the most important developmentscame when Dibs recruited leading multi-instrumentalist and ex-Gong musician, Graham Clarke, to join the band, reshaping the whole Spacehead sound and giving them a new yet familiar identity. Before that,a previous line-up recorded and released, on tape, the mini-album 'Anasazi'.
NO TIME LIKE THE PRESENT
The line-up of Dibs, Clark and Kenny the drummer continue to gig, and get invited to do a couple of support slots on the '97 UK tour by Hawkwind. I only wish thatthe tour organiser had seen fit to give them the entire tour so that the audiences could have had a consistently excellent support band throughout the country.Into 1998, and more concerts, as well as Dibs helping out Hawkwind on a roadie/driving capacity, following actually playing with the band on one of the encores on the '97 UK tour.Prior to a concert in Chesterfield, Spacehead were the subject of a major inteview/article in the local Derbyshire Times: "He (Dibs) got the job (helper for Hawkwind) after chatting to Dave Brock. It was a good move for a musician who has been a fan of the band for 15 years. 'My ultimate dream came when Istood on the stage wih Hawkwind, playing bass on one song on their last tour'. His close ties with the band has paid dividends for Mr Dibs own group Spacehead, who supported the group on a couple of gigslast year including Mansfield. A recording of part of their concert in Morecambe will be released on a CD called Lost n Space later this year. The artwork is in the hands of Andreas Stuwe who has designed some of Hawkwind's covers. Like all bands, Spacehead have had their ups and downs with musicians coming and going. 'We had a stop-start period for a couple of years when the keyboard player left and the guitarist left' said Mr Dibs. But he picked up the pieces linking up with ex-Gong violinist Graham Clarke and drummer Paul Boers. The three musicians are bound by a mutual love of space-rock and are on a mission to take their music out into the provinces.'I think it is time for space-rock to make a comeback - there are a lot of young ravers getting into it', said Mr Dibs. Spacehead are landing at The Attic, Chesterfield tonight with Dr Hasbeen. During the summer, Spacehead will be taking off to Holland, Belgium and Germany for several gigs. The sky's the limit for a frontman who admits their name is inspired by an interest in space travel. Several days later, the band played Buxton and got this reaction from one reviewer: "Although only a three-piece band, the variety of sounds they can produce between them is pretty impressive. Highlights for me had to be the rendition of 'Odyssey' and a cover of Hawkwind's 'Upside Down'.Spaceheadare simply one of the best space-rock bands around. Encapsulating the essence of Hwkwind - they show the band's influence through the sounds, lyrics and lights, but at the same time remain an original force in the musicof space exploration". (Thanks to Marie for the review)
Spacehead signed to the Dead Earnest label, with Krel as labelmates. The debut CD from Spacehead on Dead Earnest features music from the 'Anasazi' album as well as live and new studio tracks. It will be a 'proper' release but is not the official studio follow-up to the first album.Distribution of this CD, called 'In Space We Trust:'95-'98', is through Greyhound Records, London. This featured for the first time, ex-Gong member Graham Clarkon violin, who has since figured solely on electric guitar in the band, on a guest basis.
In late 1999, the band gelled into a core unit of Mr Dibs, Craig Dewberry on drums, Fran Halsall on keyboards and synth, both young musicians who play with loads of energy and enthusiasm. Completing the new permanent line-up was electric guitarist Neil Flaw, and this line-up made their live debut on Jan 1st 2000 at Buxton.
Dibs got together with Hawkwind's Harvey Bainbridge to do two concerts, one supporting Bedouin at Rye Community Centre, the other headlining a gig at Buxton. Shortly after that, Spacehead headlined the second night of the German Hawkzone
festival near Hamburg and played over two hours, on a set that saw the band joined by Hawkwind's Nik Turner and Harvey Bainbridge. All these concerts have been recorded although it is too soon to say if an album will appear on Dead Earnest.
Like many before them, however, this line-up also failed to stabilise, following the daparture of the guitarist.
With new recruit on board, in the form of Dr Hasbeen's Martin N, Spacehead completed the preliminary sessions for the new album
and a demo version of the whole album was delivered to Dead Earnest, while a limited edition CD-R, featuring three exclusive tracks from this
demo, and a fourth track that will only be on this CD-R EP, called 'Escape Velocity Preview' was made available via CD Services Mail Order. I can report that the songs, playing and arrangements of the new tracks reveal that the band in general and Dibs in particular are coming along in leaps and bounds in the writing stakes, with every track a veritable dream mix of driving space-rock, great atmosphere and corking melodies.
It was hoped to have the band record the full album in a studio at some point, with a view to a release on Dead Earnest. In the interim, to document the line-up changes and musical output since their debut CD on Dead Earnest, the next release was elected to be an "In Space We Trust Vol 2", this time called "Explode Into Space" and documented a range of activities in which Dibs had taken command, from previously unreleased older tracks through live outings to new directions for the musician.
Shortly after this, Spacehead were asked to apear at the prestigious Hawkwind annual festivals and a recording of their performance was released on the , at the time, Hawlwind label, Voiceprint. In 2007, with bassist Alan Davey leaving the band, Hawkwind recruited Mr Dibs as full-time bassist, co-lead and backing vocalist and co-composer. Consequently, Spacehead as a band, are currently in hibernation.
