Brychan is a welsh singer-songwnter who can claim, in his aiready long career, Ìmportant collaborations,prestigious awards and an impressive collection of songs. In 1988 he formed JESS, a 4-piece band, in which he was lead singer and guitar player, With JESS he played several European tours and recorded 4 albums which made a big impact on the local Welsh scene of the time where the Super Furry Animais, Catatonia and the Gorkys were releasing their first recorded outputs. The evident vocal skills and unique slyle enabled JESS to win in 1990 the Wales Sgrin Rock Awards for best album, best band and best singer (Brychan).
In 1994 he took part in the recording and touring of Breathe, Mike Peters (ex-Alarm frontman) first solo record. After JESS splitting up in 95 Brychan plays a short solo acoustic tour to test his new material The success of which gave him the confidence to start a new project calied U4Ria, where his jazz/folk taìnted songs are mixed with the new Jungle/Drum'n Bass tendencies for a project that blends heart and technology. In U4Ria the vocal duties are often left to Sally Payne and Sian Williams leaving Brychan free to explore new territories with his music. The interest around the band rises along wlth their reputation for their explosive concerts, but Brychan's love for acoustic instruments attracts him back to his solo work with more European tours , special gigs and appearances in the UK (like the one on the Welsh television channel S4C with a 30-piece orchestra!).
This very prolific time lead him to record his first solo acoustic album entitled Veleno Rumoroso (an Italian title which means Noisy Poison) with songs sung both in English and Welsh. Veleno Rumoroso was released in the UK in September '98 on the Welsh Ffo-Bet record label. The record is a beautiful collection of stripped bare acoustic songs.
In May 1998 Brychan goes on tour in Italy (where both JESS and his solo gigs have had remarkable success)...the dates are a incredibly well received and Brychan is requested to go back in November for a longer Italian tour to promote the album..
7 gigs and 1 national TV show later and Brychan's name is on many journalists' lips. The activity continues in UK too with Brychan playing at the Welsh acoustic festival calied Snowdonation along with Stereophonics, The Levellers, Cartoon and Mike Peters. Italy calls Brychan again in February for a one-off experiment: a live colaboration with brand Jungle Italian dj and MTV presenter Alessio Bertallot.
In summer 1999 follows an Italian Open-air Tour; this and the start of the recording of a new album marks the months of July and August. The Italian dates confirm the strength of his acoustic shows even in oper air arenas and in front of very big audiences. For the first time the dates are in the deep south of Italy: Calabria, very close to Sicily. In those unique settings Brychan records some new tracks with local musicians guesting wlth their traditional instruments, Brychan also ends the tour jamming on stage with one of Italy's most popular bands: II Parto delle Nuvole Pesanti, leaving open the interesting possibility of future collaborations. The recording continues in another Italian studio with more guest musicians from Italy, and in Wales with the contribution of Newport's guitar maestro Hywell Maggs.
In October the album Vexed Fanatica is finished: 14 songs, mostly acoustic and simply the best collection of songs Brychan has ever put together. Musically richer than Veleno rumoroso the music on the album is stunning, often breathtaking. Brychan describes his music as panoramic roots. The record was released in Italy in Decomber 1999, while the UK release follows in August 2000 on Pendlehawk Music. Hailed by exceltent reviews the new recording is supported by Brychan's biggest Italian tour to date: a prestigious 9-date double headliine tour with US jazz/folk songwriter Eric Wood. Eric is very popular in Italy too and the gigs were held in theatres and bigger venues. Packed houses and rapturous reactions were a trademark throughout all the dates. And their rendition of Fred Neil's classic Dolphins was something very special.
In December Brychan's website www.brychan.com is launched.
To promote Vexed Fanatica Brychan often plays in Wales and London (@ the prestigious Kashmir Club, 12 Bar and Playpen Club, home of the New Acoustic Movement).
Italy really loves Brychan as in August with his 4-piece band he headlines 1000-seats arena in some of the country's most beautiful spots. In less than 12 months nearly 40 shows were played in the land of spaghetti!!
2001 already has an extremely busy schedule for Brychan with more gigs and tv appearances in UK and the rest of Europe.
Records
"Bad Pink Vibe" - Brychan
