Captain Face are a Scottish

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band formed in 2003 in

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

, Scotland. The band consists of Euan Wemyss (

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

), Lee 'the tenderness' Morrison (

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

), David Liddell (

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a guitar technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse (music), pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., d ...

), Joseph 'Sep' Moore (

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

) and Jonathan 'Joe' Brew (

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

History

Formation and early years (2003–2011)

The band's original line-up came together in the later part of 2003, and consisted of Lee 'the tenderness' Morrison (

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

), Joe Brew (

), Dave Liddell (

) & Duncan Taylor (vocals/keyboards). Liddell soon moved to rhythm guitar duties after Brew recruited former colleague Joseph 'Sep' Moore to take over bass duties at the beginning of 2004. After only a few months the band parted company with Taylor due to "creative & personal differences". The remaining quartet continued to rehearse, mainly writing instrumental music. At the beginning of 2005 the band recruited vocalist Euan Wemyss, with whom Morrison had previously collaborated in the bands 'My Everyday' and 'Lynas'. The band's line-up remained unchanged until they played their last gig in 2010.

Kinmundy

Captain Face claim to hail from "the mythical land of Kinmundy,

Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire (; ) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the Shires of Scotland, historic county of Aberdeenshire (historic), Aberdeenshire, which had substantial ...

" portraying this location as a fictional land of strange occurrences. Although there is a village and various other properties bearing the name of Kinmundy in the Aberdeenshire area, the band actually took the name from a water pumping facility close to the village of

Newmachar Newmachar is a village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, about 10 miles (16 km) to the north-west of Aberdeen. The settlement has a long history previously being known as Summerhill within the parish of New Machar, later being renamed Newmachar. ...

. Captain Face are in fact based in Aberdeen itself, with Lee, Dave, Joe & Euan coming from the Dyce area of the city. Sep is originally from the Scottish West coast town of

Greenock Greenock (; ; , ) is a town in Inverclyde, Scotland, located in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. The town is the administrative centre of Inverclyde Council. It is a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, and forms ...

Live performances

Captain Face play the majority of their gigs in their hometown of Aberdeen, but have also toured frequently around Scotland, playing venues in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

Inverness Inverness (; ; from the , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness") is a city in the Scottish Highlands, having been granted city status in 2000. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highland ...

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

and various other small towns. The band also toured the

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

area of

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in 2007 with fellow Aberdeen rockers Hot Mangu.

Studio recordings

In the Autumn of 2005 Captain Face were invited to record a song for Aberdeen label Fat Hippy Records ' "Fat Hippy Sampler Vol. I" compilation, featuring a mix of experienced and emerging bands from the North-East of Scotland. The band recorded one of the earliest songs they had written, "Welcome To Kinmundy", and having suitably impressed Fat Hippy the band then released their debut EP "BOOM" through the label in July 2006. The band also recorded "The Return Of Horace Batchelor" for the label's "Fat Hippy Sampler Vol. II". 2007 saw the release of three singles - "Awesome! No Way!" (April), "Small Joy" (June) and "100% CRAD" (October). In 2008 the band recorded "Glittermyne II - The Glittering" for the label's "Fat Hippy Sampler Vol. III", and also their first Christmas song, the topically titled "Credit Crunch Christmas". Released on a limited scale by the band themselves, with proceeds going to charity, the disc was only available at live shows.

'Live' versus 'Recorded' music

While Captain Face have been praised for their entertaining live shows, it has been noted by some that their music does not seem to have the same impact when heard on studio recordings. The band's approach to creating original music has been applauded, but it is also seen to sometimes split audiences. As such Captain Face's offerings aren't typically deemed very radio-friendly, however the band have had exposure on various FM and internet radio stations.

Media Exposure

Captain Face's singles "Small Joy" and "100% Crad" have been played by DJ

Vic Galloway Michael "Vic" Galloway (born 4 August 1972) is a Scottish radio and television presenter, writer and DJ. He hosts a self-titled show on BBC Radio Scotland every Monday from 8pm to 10pm and previously broadcast the BBC Introducing Scotland sh ...

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

, the U.K's most high-profile radio station. The band have been interviewed and have had songs played on local radio stations Original 106 (Aberdeen), Shmu FM (Aberdeen) and

Northsound 1 Northsound 1 is an Independent Local Radio station based in Aberdeen, Scotland, owned and operated by Bauer Media Audio UK as part of the Hits Radio network. It broadcasts to Aberdeenshire and North East Scotland (Scottish Parliament electoral ...

(N.E Scotland), also performing live in the studio for that station's 'Sunday Session' programme. A preview piece on the 2007 Scottish Parliament Election for

STV North Grampian Television was the original name of the Channel 3 (UK), Channel 3 service for the north of Scotland founded in 1961 and which, decades later, was merged with the Central Belt channel STV. The northern region's coverage area includes th ...

's ''

North Tonight ''North Tonight'' was a Scottish nightly regional news programme covering the North of Scotland, produced by STV North (formerly Grampian Television). History During the late 1960s and 1970s, Grampian's regional news service consisted of daily 1 ...

'' programme (where front-man Euan Wemyss works) featured the band's first single release "Awesome! No Way!".

Break-up and final gig

Due to Joe Brew's upcoming relocation to his wife's native Finland, Captain Face would be left needing a new drummer. However, after much discussion it was decided that it was time for the band to end. The band played together for the final time at an intimate show for friends and family at Captain Tom's studio, Aberdeen on 19 December 2010.

Discography

EPs

Singles

References

External links

Official MySpace page

Official Bebo page

Official YouTube channel
{{Authority control Scottish rock music groups Musical groups established in 2003