Nakedium stripped for action at Littlehampton gig

Mark was just 17 when he and fellow members of Hit 'n' Run won the Radio 1 Rock Wars competition, paving the way for a record deal with a New York label, touring, and gigs with the likes of Guns and Roses at Soho's legendary Marquee Club.

But there won't time for pre-gig nerves for Mark '” he will be warming up by playing for Angmering FC before joining the rest of Nakedium at Littlehampton's Cob and Pen pub.

The band gets its name from the stripped-down style of music. "If a song will stand up on acoustic guitar and singing alone, it's a good song. We wanted the songs to be naked, no keyboards or sound effects, no sampling," said Mark, lead vocalist.

He will be joined by two former members of Push, another branch of Mark's rock family tree, which also had success with a record deal and UK and European tours in the late-1990s.

Festival taster

They are bass guitarist Billy Gordon, and guitarist Paul Stenton, runner-up in Guitar Magazine's Guitarist of the Year competition at Wembley when just 16, and who has played with Alvin Stardust, Kenny Jones and, for the last decade, with the Willy Austin Band.

Completing Nakedium's line-up is drummer Richie Bannister, recruited from rock band Stickleback.

Mark met Richie when guesting with Stickleback at Eastleigh Festival last year, and was overwhelmed with the experience of singing in front of 3,000 people. It was Mark's first gig since Push's final night, at the Camden Underworld in 1999.

"It gave me back the taste for performing. We were also voted best band at the festival, and it made me think 'Why am I not doing my music any more?'," said Mark, now married and living in Beaumont Park with wife Karen and their two children, and running his aquarium business, Aqualife in Worthing and Bognor.

"I can't wait. It will be really good fun to play for friends and I know some customers are coming along too," said Mark, who cut his musical teeth with the band Into Exile, at Littlehampton School.

Plans are afoot for a tour after the warm-up gigs at the Cob and Pen and at Cheers Bar, Bognor, on May 9. See www.myspace.com/nakedium

-----------------------------

Click here to return to Gazette news.

Where are you? Add your pin to the Gazette's international readers' map by clicking here.

E-mail the Gazette: [email protected]