Martyn Bates

Biography

Martyn Bates (born 1957) is an English singer, musician and songwriter. Bates grew up listening to English folk music before as a teenager becoming excited by punk, getting involved in the more diverse and experimental post-punk scene. After releasing tapes of experimental, industrial music as Migraine Inducers he formed Eyeless In Gaza with Peter Becker in January 1980. The duo became known for their unconventional instrumentation and arrangements, and for Bates’s passionate vocals, which at times were whispered, howled, or stammered. Eyeless In Gaza released six albums on Cherry Red Records. These were Photographs as Memories (1981), Caught in Flux (1981), Pale Hands I Loved So Well (1982), Drumming the Beating Heart (1982), Rust Red September (1983) and Back from the Rains (1985), and then went on hiatus until 1992. A 2nd (unofficial) hiatus remains ongoing since late 2020, with Bates recording solo as Kodax Strophes. Picking up from 1982’s acclaimed Letters Written (1982) solo album, Bates then concentrated mostly on solo work for a while, going on to collaborate with Anne Clark (Just After Sunset 1998) – also starting the short-lived bands Cry Acetylene Angel, Hungry I, and The Sing Circus (with This Mortal Coil ’s Deirdre Rutkowski). He contributed to Derek Jarman's soundtracks The Garden and The Last of England. Then he temporarily relocated his main focus to Europe, releasing three solo albums on the Belgian based Antler Subway label – Love Smashed on a Rock (1988), Letters to a Scattered Family (1990) and Stars Come Trembling (1990), which musically offered initial glimpses of the acoustic folk roots of his youth. In 1993, Bates began working with former Napalm Death drummer Mick Harris, collaborating on a three album series of Murder Ballads, creating an innovative marriage of “isolationist” ambience with folk-song form. In the same time frame Bates created a virtually a cappella work – a two volume series of “song-settings” of James Joyce's Chamber Music

Bio from Wikipedia