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Brothers Graeme and Iain Moncrieff
both learned to play guitar as teenagers,
and on the discovery that they could
both knock out a decent tune they
found inspiration to form a band.
Drummer Jim Davey and multi-instrumentalist
Stevie Yeomans (who turned up for
the audition with no bass guitar,
no amp, and no previous experience
of playing bass guitar, but possessed
instead the natural skill and ability
to bluff his way in as bass player)
joined the brothers to form what
quickly became known as Halo.
Their brand of fire-sign
rock sparked an instant industry
buzz and they were snapped up by
Sony Records and became sucked into
a whirlwind of touring, an album
release (Lunatic Ride), along with
a handful of singles and the Still
Here EP which saw them grace the
top 50 several times.
Halo came to an end
in 2003 and having parted company
with Sony and drummer Jim, the three
remaining band members recruited
man-mountain and drumming extraordinaire
Blake Davies in 2004 to become The
Vega Method. Their high-octane riff-laden
rock was as hard and heavy as their
partying had ever been, "We
were on tour and after a show we
were causing so much noise and commotion
around the hotel that two police
riot vans were called out. They
busted all the rooms associated
with us and arrested our tour manager
who had nothing to do with any of
our debauchery. We got away with
no comeuppance, although he was
none too happy with us in the morning
when we turned up at the tour bus
to find he'd spent most of the night
at the police station on account
of our fine selves." - Gray.
Their spell as The
Vega Method saw them secure a spot
on the NME new bands tour, but this
was as far as they were to come
as Blake had been harbouring an
insatiable urge to travel the world
and in 2006 he announced his departure
from the band in order to follow
his sense of adventure.
Blake's hard-edged
drumming style had a substantial
influence on The Vega Method sound
and the rest of the band reluctantly
concluded they had little choice
but to once again start from scratch.
After a number of
try-outs and one false start their
final hunt for the right drummer
concluded in Stevie's hometown of
Knighton, in Wales. Stevie had returned
for the weekend and ended up in
a bar watching a gig. The drummer
made a very good impression and
Stevie got chatting to him afterwards.
Destiny must have been shining a
guiding light because Johnny B was
already planning on moving to Bristol
where The Exhibition are based and
agreed to try out for the band.
The deal was sealed
in a rehearsal room by a river late
in 2007.
We can now fast
forward through the incident where
the whole newly completed band were
almost wiped out during a blizzard
at dusk in an ill-advised skiing
expedition and through an intense
period of rehearsing and refining
their sound.
Their music combines grand and soaring
guitar work, layered with huge three-part
harmonies and interwoven with largely
dark yet brightly emotive lyrics.
The Exhibition's debut release The
Only One EP was released in December
2008 on the band's own record label
Rags to Rags Records.
