How it All Started
A Brief Story by Duncan Philips...
The story of Strictly Banks begins during the Easter of 1996. I met up with some friends (Deb Wentorf, Mark and Paula Kirsch) in Moosewoods, a wonderful vegetarian restaurant, in Ithaca, NY, in the USA. Deb, Paula and myself had first met on Paperlate which is an internet based discussion group for fans of Genesis. We have a particular interestin Tony Banks' solo music and the conversation drifted to our frustrations that the music had never been performed live before. From a personal perspective, I was upset that great songs such as 'Island in the Darkness' were unlikely to ever be heard played live. The concept of developing a band that would only play Tony's music was born and on my return to England I set about trying to make the idea turn into reality.
Having an idea is one thing... convincing others that the idea can become a reality is something completely different!
I immediately devised the name for the band as being 'Strictly Banks' - an obvious idea that is a parady of Tony's album 'Strictly Inc.' and also a statement that the band would only play Tony's solo music.
So.. the band had a name... but no musicians, other than me. I self-appointed myself as drummer. The search was on for other people who I could persuade to get involved in this crazy idea!
and then there was Dave
Paperlate was a valuable source of people who shared mutual interests in Genesis, one of whom was a guy named Dave Whitehouse. I had done a few trades with Dave and later learned from his girlfriend that he was a pretty good singer so I told him about my ideas for Strictly Banks and asked if he was interested. As a way of an 'audition', Dave sang 'Island in the Darkness' to me in the lounge of his house in the early summer of 1996 and I was convinced that he had the right voice for the project. The fact that he had never sang in front of a live audience didn't put me off. Dave was duly appointed lead vocalist of Strictly Banks!
And I'll Be Waiting (and Waiting... and Waiting...!)
So.. I had a name, and a singer. The next step was to find a keyboard player. A series of adverts in the music press and appeals on Paperlate didn't produce any leads. I met a guy at a ReGenesis concert who used to play keyboards for an English prog-rock band called Pendragon. He was interested and during a later phone conversation he played 'From the Undertow' and the solo in 'Still It Takes Me By Surprise' to me. He said he could do the job but it would need two keyboard players as one would be physically impossible to reproduce the detail of sounds on the CD. Two!! I was having trouble finding one, let alone two! Unfortunately I never heard from him again, but at least he had educated me and gave me a valuable lesson that attention to detail was going to be a prime factor if this project was to succeed. The search continued...
As time went on, I met other people. One of whom was a keyboard player and Tony Banks fan named Andy Monk. Andy and I briefly played in a band together and I sowed the seed in his mind that Strictly Banks would be good fun for him to join. Another crucial meeting was with Richard Mills. Richard is a talented keybaod player with the Genesis tribute band 'Invisible Touch'. I was Manager of that band for a couple of years and got to know Richard well. On several occasions I tried to talk him into joining Strictly Banks but he continually refused as he had other projects he wanted to try. Andy said he would only join if Richard did. So.. I had to wait for Richard to change his mind. I waited.... and waited....
Finally, in early 1998 I managed to talk Richard into saying yes! This was probably one of the most significant moments in the project as from then on Strictly Banks took on a whole new life and we were up and running. Andy came on board straight away and I moved quickly over the next few weeks to find a guitarist (Manir Donaghue) and bass player (American, Doug Boucher). I was very lucky to find female singer Sophia Capernaros through an advert in a local music shop.
Strictly Banks was for real!! Now, I just had to find a venue, devise a set list and start rehearsals! (and a million other things!!) (oh.. I haven't mentioned money yet!!)
Still it Takes Me By Surprise
Looking back on it, I organised the concert in a remarkably short period of time. The whole thing moved at a rapid pace and it took up most of my time. My boss was incredibly generous in allowing me to spend much of my time at work doing all the administration for the show! I was very lucky indeed. I booked The Orchard theatre in Dartford, England, as it is a venue that I knew well and I believed it would offer the right kind of atmosphere for the show. It wasn't the cheapest theatre available (I could have other's for about half the price!) and indeed it was questionnable whether the show should have been in a theatre at all. Perhaps it could be staged at a large pub or club? No.. I decided that the show had to be at a quality theatre and that The Orchard would be the ideal place for it.
The Band
The band went into rehearsals in March 1998 and these required military style skills of organisation. Having so many people in the band created logistical problems with so many lives to juggle. Also, Doug, the bass player, lived in America and would only join us to rehearse two weeks before the show! We did the best we could but the real work was to be the mega-rehearsal session! This took place in a huge hall hired at Dartford Grammar School for Boys and we played for about 12 hours a day for nine solid days! Food was brought in to us by my mother and we rehearsed to a rigid time-table. Significant progress was made and we finally sounded like a band. The day before the show we did a dress rehearsal at The Joint studios in London. next stop.. The Orchard.
Sunday 6th September 1998 was a lovely late summer day. Warm with a light breeze - a perfect day for a concert. The morning was spent setting the equipment up, organising the lights and PA, getting Manor Mobiles in and then finally a sound-check in the afternoon. We were just hours from the show.... so, all was done and we went to the pub for some well-earned beers and food!
Time ticked by..... the moment was finally here...
Strictly Banks was ready to play the solo music of Tony Banks to a live audience for the very first time.. ever!
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