Presence (band)

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Presence
Origin England
Genre(s) Punk rock
Progressive rock
New Wave
Years active 1990 – 1993
Website www.presenceuk.net
Former members
Gary Biddles
Alan Burgess
Michael Dempsey
Roberto Soave
Rob Steen
Lol Tolhurst
Chris Youdell

Presence was a short-lived British rock band started by Gary Biddles, Lol Tolhurst, and Michael Dempsey. Dempsey and Tolhurst were founding members of The Cure, and Biddles was a former Cure roadie who previously played in a band with Simon Gallup called Fools Dance. In their brief existence, Presence released only one full-length album, called Inside (through Smash Records, a subsidiary of Island Records).

In 1990, Michael Dempsey, Lol Tolhurst and Gary Biddles were recording demos together with a view to forming a new band following Lol's departure from The Cure. [1] With the addition of keyboardist Chris Youdell (of Then Jerico) and drummer Alan Burgess the band emerged in 1991 as Presence with the singles In Wonder and All I See. Dempsey received co-writing credit for Amazed; a b-side from All I See[2], but took a background role as a session bassist and did not appear in the band's photos or press. Porl Thompson also made guest appearances on guitar for some of these recordings, but by 1992 both Dempsey and Thompson were officially replaced by bassist Roberto Soave (formerly of The Associates and Shelleyan Orphan) and guitarist Rob Steen respectively. However, Dempsey received co-writing credits for two tracks on Inside.[3] Although Inside was well-received by critics, the album was a commercial failure, and led to the dissolution of the band.

Tolhurst confirmed in an interview several years later that Presence had recorded a second album, but he said it was unlikely that it would ever be released. He also said that he felt the band "was really too much too soon I felt for me."[4] However, he also said in another interview that he doesn't discount his experience with Presence either,[5] and according to another interviewer, this band does spark interest among some Cure fans. [6]

In 2007, Gary Biddles started a MySpace page for the band. (See External Links below.)

[edit] Members

[edit] Trivia

  • When Presence were formed, there was another band with the same name. Because of Lol Tolhurst's fame, the other band had to change their name to Puressence.
  • Roberto Soave has also played a brief stint with The Cure. When Simon Gallup fell ill during the European leg of the Wish tour, Soave filled in for him on bass. [7]
  • After Presence broke up, Roberto Soave and Rob Steen played in another band called Babacar along with Boris Williams, another former member of The Cure. [8]
  • Both this band and The Cure have released songs called "Never." (See Inside and The Cure).

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

[edit] Singles

  • 1991
    • "In Wonder"
    • "All I See"
  • 1992
    • "Act of Faith"
  • 1993
    • "Never/Act of Faith"

[edit] References

  1. ^ [1] "Interview with Robert Smith" 5 August 2007
  2. ^ [2] "All I See"29 August 2007
  3. ^ [3] "Review of Inside" 5 August 2007
  4. ^ [4] "Interview with Lol" 1 August 2007
  5. ^ [5] "Levinhurst" 1 August 2007
  6. ^ [6] "Interview to Lol Tolhurst" 1 August 2007
  7. ^ [7] "Cure Archive" 1 August 2007
  8. ^ [8] "Babacar" 1 August 2007

[edit] External links


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