1989 - 2020

Once upon a time...

1989-  Mark Barratt searches for like minded musicians to form three piece
                 power trio.  Eric Van de Velde and Davide Bozzatto join to complete
                 line-up of band.  The year is taken up rehearsing songs comprising
                 new arrangements of 1980s material written by Mark, songs by 
                 Davide plus new original group arrangements.  Demos recorded.

1990- Live work commences in and around London with more songs being
                 added to the repertoire and further demos recorded.  Recording
                 sessions for first album commence in a London studio.  Live work
                 continues and Native Son are signed by Robert Corich to his
                 independant record company 'Red Steel'.   Native Son also sign
                 an exclusive publishing and management contract. 

1991-  Band promotes forthcoming album with continuous live work all
                 year.  Sessions for first album move to Studio 125, Sussex.
                 Album (Solidground) completed, mixed, mastered and eventually
                 released end of December.

1992-  Live work continues. Band rehearses new material.  Recording starts
                 for second album. Davide departs band to return to Italy.  
                 Band enlists Ian Herron (studio engineer) to complete bass tracks.
                 Michael Syslo (bass/vocals) joins band.  Live works resumes
                 immediately.  

1993- Band works on extra songs to add to new album.  Live work
                 resumes.  Four new songs recorded for second album on Easter
                 weekend.  Album mixed a few weeks later and mastered in May.
                 Live work continues.

1994- Second album (No Man's Land) finally released end of January.
                 Band promotes album with live work all year.  End of December
                 Michael departs band.

1995-  Band auditions new bassists without success.  Eric departs band
                 in the middle of the year but would return for future sporadic
                 appearances.

1996- Mark writes new songs for future projects.

1997-  Original concept of Native Son still alive and in September, Mark 
                 and Eric re-unite with new bass player, Mark Snowling for one-off
                 London gig.  This line-up rehearses new songs for self-financed
                 third album.  Bass and drum tracks recorded in December.

1998- Mark Barratt completes album over several sessions.  Third album
                 mixed and mastered June/July to be conveniently released on
                 previous record label.  Leap of Faith not available until end of
                 December.

1999-  Third album Leap of Faith released officially in April.  In May 
                 Native Son record two songs for
Heepsteria A Tribute to Uriah Heep.
                 (various artists).   Line-up for this session: 
                 Mark Barratt (guitar/vocals), Mark Snowling (bass), Pete Cowan
                 (drums)

2000- Mark Barratt searches for new rhythm section.  Bill Croft (bass) joins
                 the band in May.  Eric returns to help out. 
Heepsteria finally
                 available in November with official release scheduled for March
                 2001.

2001- Mark and Bill spend all year in search of the right drummer to 
                 complete line-up.  Several drummers fail to commit.
                 Native Son continue rehearsing/demo-ing new material for inclusion
                 on next album Utopian Sky which has a projected completion date
                 of 2003.

2002- Mark calls time on the latest line-up during March after two years of 
                 perseverance with rehearsing/writing and line-up changes.  The 
                 continuing absence of viable live work on the London club circuit 
                 also meant the band couldn't continue in its present format.  The
                 demos of new material were scrapped.  The concept of Native Son,
                 whilst still alive, needed a fresh bass/drums combination to advance
                 with the next project.   While hopes for the fourth album are still
                 planned to re-commence in 2003 with all new material, no definite
                 time has been decided. 

2003- New line-up forms in May. Terry Peaker (bass / vocals) and Les
                 Hammond (drums) join Mark to commence work on material for
                 proposed next album and on a new live set comprising old and
                 new material.  Native Son return to live gigs during the year.  

2004- No Native Son activity.

2005- Mark returns to live work during the course of the year making  
                 several  guest  appearances at the Kings Langley jazz, rock and
                 blues music club nights. He is joined by Chris Garner (Bass) and
                Terry Finn (Drums).  For the November and December gigs Eric 
                 van de Velde returns on Drums to join Chris and Mark for a 
                 selection of Native Son songs and Jazz/Rock instrumental 
                 covers.

2006-  Live work continues with Chris and Terry throughout the whole 
                 year  at the Kings Langley and Chipperfield clubs.  The Rock, 
                 Jazz and Blues workouts prove very enjoyable and both venues 
                 are regularly full.  If it wasn't for other plans the trio would have  
                 ventured into the recording studio to lay down tracks for a new
                 direction in the Native Son sound.  At the year's end Mark would 
                 look forward to his planned relocation to the southern hemisphere
                 and the next chapter in his music projects.

2007-  Mark relocates to Brisbane, Australia and continues studio work
                 on new original material and Live work as a member of Johnny 
                 and the Phantoms who also comprise ex-pat NZer's.  Johnny and 
                 the Phantoms gig throughout 2007 playing 1950's style Rock 'n' Roll
                 and Surf Instrumentals.  The band line-up is John Stroud - gtr/voc.,
                 Ray Stroud - bs/voc.,   Mark Barratt - gtr/voc.,  Tony van der Puten
                 - (OR)- Max Butler - drums/voc.  

                 This musical liaison reunites Mark and Ray who first played 
                 together in bands 30 years ago in Wellington NZ. 

2008- Mark spends part of the year writing songs and planning 
                 a new Native Son line-up for future recordings and live work.

2009- Midway through '09 a new Native Son line-up is finalised with
                 Adam Kerezsy ( Bass/Vocals ) and Chris Gorman ( Drums/Cymbals )
                 joining forces with Mark Barratt ( Guitar/Vocals ).

                 Native Son begin a rehearsal and writing phase which sees the trio
                 plan the recording of a 4th album which is expected in 2010. 

2010- Native Son release a 4th album 'Calling Time' but encounter
                 musical and personality differences during the recording and the
                 band splits up before the CD is released and planned Live work is
                 immediately scrapped.

                 Mark oversees production of the CD, takes a short break and 
                 makes plans for a new Native Son line-up with the focus on the
                 correct balance of creative musical ability and personnel chemistry.

                 Midway through November a fresh new line-up of Native Son is
                 formed with Bruce Anthon ( Drums, Cymbals & Vocals ) and
                 Mick Bohl ( Bass & Vocals ) joining Mark Barratt ( Guitar & Vocals ).

                 The group spend December rehearsing new, old and cover material
                 and plan for the recording of a 5th album and Live dates in 2011.

2011- Native Son release a 5th album 'The Live Sessions' which 
                 are collection of songs that form part of the current Live set. 
                The band recorded and completed the tracks over a 2 day "Live in  
                 in the studio" rehearsal session.  The CD project was an experiment
                 in 'Live Studio' recording and hastily released to coincide with some
                 forthcoming gigs.

                 Native Son also make 3 albums available for online download.

                 During 2011 the band perform some public and private gigs and 
                 take a 2 month break before returning to the rehearsal studio 
                 late in the year to begin work on some new material for a 
                 possible forthcoming CD.

2012- Conflicting time constraints and scheduling problems keep the
                 project on hold for most of the year apart from the writing of
                 new material

2013- A strange year, partly taken up with a six month lay off from
                 most activities following some scheduled surgery.
                 The time reserved for musical pursuits was used to work
                 on some new instrumental and song ideas for a future recording
                 project which hopefully should commence sometime during 2014.
                 A completely new band line-up is planned and as there will
                 be very little old Native Son material expected to be used for 
                 any Live work the project will probably feature 
                 a new band name.  2014 begins with the search for suitable
                 like-minded musicians.

2014- Most of 2014 was taken up with preparation work for a future new
                 original recording project under a yet to be disclosed new band
                 name and line-up.   A guest appearance with local Brisbane band
                 'The Groovemasters' was the only Live performance in 2014.

2015- The year was filled with the procurement of some new guitar 
                  equipment and the almost complete re-working of the new 
                  material for a forthcoming recording.
                 The later part of the year was taken up with the continued search
                  for a suitable and available Bass player and Drummer who may
                  wish to contribute to the new project. 
                  Hopefully some advancement can begin in due course.

2016-  Instrumental music was composed during the course of the year
                 and the blueprint for a Mark Barratt solo CD was prepared for a
 
                 projected release sometime in 2017.  The new material has  
                 elements of Jazz/Rock/Blues/Funk and while some tracks feature
                 Bass & Drums backing other tracks are Solo Electric Guitar only.
                 Rehearsals commenced in late December with recording to begin
                 in January.

2017- The Mark Barratt Trio release the 'CHOONS'  CD in July.
                 Recorded, mixed & mastered by Paul Day at Angel Studios
                 Brisbane, the (all) instrumental album features Mark Barratt - guitar,
                 Mick Power - bass & Bruce Anthon - drums.
                  
                         

2018- The Mark Barratt Trio release the 'MANY FACES' CD in September.
                  Recorded, mixed & mastered by Paul Day at Angel Studios
                  Brisbane. The album is part vocal and part instrumental and
                  features Mark Barratt - guitar & vocals, 
                  Mick Power - bass & backing vocals & Bruce Anthon - Drums.

2019-  Most of the year spent composing new instrumental music for
                  solo album, Mark Barratt - "Electric Guitar" which will be recorded
                  and released during 2020.  Despite attempts to form a new trio
                  with new local musicians (Bassist/Drummer) nothing was
                  completed to satisfaction so the search will continue through
                  2020 for fresh new available members and hopefully a
                  Keyboard Player with a similar musical vision and a Fender Rhodes
                  and Hammond Organ will be sought.
                  A suitable new band line-up continues to be the ongoing project
                  and further album releases and gigs planned in due course.

2020-  Plans continually change during the course of a turbulent 2020
                  with upgrades to some guitars and equipment rig etc. and
                  refining solo music for the next (forthcoming) CD which finally gets
                  underway with recording commencing late December.  The new
                  instrumental solo CD has a planned release during the early part
                  of 2021 and features "condensed" versions of  new material.
                  Another "song based" mini album solo CD is planned for 2021.

                  The website internet address has now been changed from
                  nativeson.com.au to markbarratt.com.au and any future projects
                  undertaken will be Solo, Trio or Quartet with fluid line-ups or
                  under a yet to be specific "new band name".
  
                  The Native Son band name will no longer be used although the
                  existing info on this site will be retained. 

2021-  "Germs from the Gene Pool" was recorded and released during the
              year and consisted of 11 solo electric guitar instrumental tracks.
          Some pieces were "stand alone" tracks while other pieces were
excerpts of longer (full band) instrumentals.
  All tracks recorded were one single electric guitar without
  overdubs.  All original 11 pieces of music recorded on the
      solo CD project were undertaken "band less" mainly due to
the current times and the virtual impossibility to find
suitable musicians to involve.
   
To be continued
..............

                
                

 

Back to homepage
   

 

 

These pages are © Copyright 2001-2022  Mark Barratt