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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.
2022-
Various Studio Sessions
Composing New Material
2023-
Rehearsing and Composing New Material
You Tube Music Clips added to YT Channel,
including "old" and previously unreleased material
(Native Son) from various international sources.
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