The S4L Interview: Andrew Dawes & Trond Lysaanes

 (Photo by Mark Heybourne)

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I am very happy to be able to share this little interview with Andrew Dawes and Trond Lysaanes that I was able to do to over the past couple of days with the chaps, via Facebook. They are based in different lands but enjoy a happy working relationship together and they have recently released their Debut Album on Vinyl called Cover The Distance (more about that later after the interview).

I'm extremely grateful to both Andrew and Trond for taking the time and especially to Trond whose first language is not English but did a fine job providing the answers to the questions.

Andrew is no stranger to this blog as he was interviewed just a little over two years ago. You can read that particular Interview HERE.

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S4L: As an introduction I'd like it if you could both state your names, Country of Residence, your musical influences and what instruments you play and then a little bit regarding your partnership with each other.
  
AD: Andrew Dawes, live in England, born Wales, Martin 6 string, Martin 12 string, Rickenbacker 12 string, bass. I also played a little bit of Fender Rhodes on the record. According to a review in the Nottingham Post I bring a British style of vocals that contrasts nicely with Trond's 'Dylanesque' style. I like to get on with things and am quite focussed and organised I think. Trond likes to try different things but is a perfectionist too. I think all those ingredients put together make us tick pretty well. The strongest influences on my music are The Jam, The Alarm and Billy Bragg.

TL: I've never been called a perfectionist before haha! Trond Lysaanes, I live near Trondheim in Norway. Main instruments are a Martin Doyle Irish flute, numerous tin-whistles, a Tacoma acoustic 6-string and a Godin 5th Avenue 6-string semi-acoustic played through a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe. I have a band in Trondheim called In Other News, and I just became the drummer of my guitarist' band... I also play a bit of banjo and Irish bouzouki.

Main influences... ohh many, and they change as I discover more artists. Johnny Marr is one that Andrew brought my attention too, my song Channel 5 was very much inspired by Johnny Marr's song "New Town Velocity". A bit funny I think, me and Andrew had both discovered and loved the music of Dave Eugene Edwards before we met, I believe Andrew is more into Wovenhand and I'm more "into" or interested in 16 Horsepower. Other important artists for me, The Doors, Dave Sharp, Noel Gallagher, Christy Moore from the time I got involved in Irish music. Dylan of course, Warren Zevon, Jackie Leven... many more!AD: Some good examples a Trond being a perfectionist- we recorded Northern Light again for the 2nd session because he wasn't happy with the 1st version. Also, we were talking about having another song on the album- Seen. Trond wasn't 100% happy with it so it didn't make the cut. Trond is also great at soundchecks making sure everything is as good as possible.

(Andrew and Trond having a Jam Session at The Gathering - Photo from Andrew Dawes)

S4L: How on earth did you two begin making music together?

  
AD: We jammed together for the first time on a Friday night at the Gathering in January, 2013. I was buzzing from another inspiring Mike Peters performance and wasn't gonna go to sleep for a while so suggested we have a jam as Trond had mentioned that he'd brought his Irish whistle. We jammed for ages having a great time!

We played together for the first time at a festival in Norway in August 2013. When we played Northern Light there was a really respectful hush in the crowd. I got the sense we'd done something special. When we came off the stage, I said we'd have to record together now.

It has been said (by the Nottingham Post again) that we must have a telepathic understanding as obviously we have little opportunity to practice together- maybe 3 or 4 times a year. There is definitely a spark there when we play together!

TL: We don't write songs together, however Andrew is my main "touchstone" when it comes to song-writing. I often send him lyrics for advice, both artistic advice and to check the meaning of certain words since I am not a native speaker of your language. Apart from being a great guy who I love to spend time with he also adds lovely backing vocals and guitar harmonies (he's more advanced than me!) to my songs.

(Trond - Photo by Mark Heybourne)

S4L: How do you manage to record together? Do you do it in your respective homelands or do you have opportunities to get together in a studio somewhere?
 AD: We have recorded together on 3 occasions- all following when Trond has travelled over for The Gathering (of Alarm fans). All the sessions were at Superfly Studios in Ollerton on the edge of Sherwood Forest. We message each other with ideas for songs from time to time. If you go on our soundcloud pages, there are rough versions of songs there that have been built on. I like to try and work on harmonies and extra guitar parts for Trond's songs. The addition of Trond's Irish whistle and flute to my songs has really taken them up a level.

S4L: Your latest release, Cover the Distance has seen some of the tracks released before on Digital and CD formats, what was thinking behind getting a Vinyl Album out? 
 AD: When we recorded last January, the initial thought was to do a 7" single. I'd asked the crowd at a gig in Norway what format they would like our next release to be in. It was 100% for vinyl! It probably wasn't the answer I wanted as I knew it would be complicated and pretty expensive. That was true!

Once we'd recorded the tracks for what I envisaged would be the single (Channel 5 and Wreckage) I started looking at pricings. It was clear it'd make more sense to spend another £200 and do an album using the best of the songs we'd recorded before to make up an album. So, we went for a 9 track album. After some complications with the first test pressing, I'm really happy with the results and the feedback I'm getting off people is really great. 


TL: Our friend Geir Mr Happy Sollie is a vinyl collector, so I guess he is partly the reason that we chose to release our music on vinyl. I grew up with vinyl and cassette tapes, I have always preferred the sound of vinyl to CDs or tapes, and I love the size of the LP too, it's something big, solid and "concrete". I love the revival of vinyl and hope it's here to stay even after the hipsters are gone (joke!)

S4L: How exciting is it for you seeing the completed work on Vinyl? 
 AD: I'm really happy with the flow of the songs on the record and the accompanying sleeve.

 S4L: I know you have had a few opportunites of playing live together both here in the UK and in Norway, is there a greater buzz about performing your songs in front of an audience than just putting a record out? 
 AD: I'm probably happier playing live. With recording it feels like you could always tweek a bit here and there. There's pressure with recording too as there are always time and money constraints. All things considered, the record is absolutely amazing considering it was all done in 5 separate days over 3 years.

(Andrew and Trond - Photo by Mark Heybourne)

S4L: Obviously living in two different lands you are not always playing live shows together do you feel a difference between your solo outings than when you have the chance to play on the same stage together? 
 AD: We've had some amazing experiences playing live. The one where this photo was taken supporting Dave Sharp at Antikvariatet in Trondheim was a really special one. That was one of the most memorable nights of my life- what with the show and the aftershow party and all!

Without Trond, my songs Northern Light and St Kilda are distinctly lacking! Also though, without Trond, I can experiment a little using different pedals for instance or trying new songs. I think however, as with the slogan for the Wales football team, we are 'togetherstronger'. 

S4L: Where can people obtain a copy of the album from? 

AD: you can e-mail me HERE. 
 
S4L: What avenues are you seeking in order to promote the album? Listening to it last night I thought it might be good enough to send a copy to Bob Harris at the BBC as it seems to fit into his wheelhouse. 

 AD: There are a few copies of the album available at Rough Trade in Nottingham. At the moment, we're keeping it fairly low key until we launch the album for real in Trondheim with 2 gigs on the 9th and 11th of September. After that, we'll go for it a bit more. Interesting you mention Bob Harris, the guy who engineered our recordings said our music would suit Radio 2.

(Andrew - Photo by Mark Heybourne)

S4L: How would you best describe your music to someone who maybe hasn't had the opportunity to listen to you before? 

 AD: Alternative-folk or indie-folk suit it quite well. People have told me recently we remind them of the Go-Betweens and the Violent Femmes. I liked both comparisons.

 S4L: Besides your own songs what song or songs would you love to play at a concert?
 
AD: I have been practicing the Welsh folk song Calon Lan. It's such a beautiful song. Out at the Euros in France, it was stunning when that was being sung. Cerys Matthews does a nice version too. My mum, who's originally from Aberystwyth, has been helping me out a bit!

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Cover The Distance

Andrew Dawes and Trond Lysaanes 

In many ways I have been fortunate enough to hear these songs on CD and on Digital Formats before the Vinyl Album releasing so I have absolutely no problem in saying a few words about it. The very fact that it's here on my blog is a testimony to how good I think it is, because I make a point of posting only good music!

Musically it's very tight and lyrically I'm very impressed. Both Andrew and Trond have four songs on the album they have written and a ninth one is a co-write between Trond and Burgess (I'm not too sure who that is exactly but I quite like the song Enter in Disguise).

They said that it's Indie Folk/Alternative Folk - as one who has very little knowledge of Folk Music outside of the music of Richard Thompson and bands like The Men They Couldn't Hang (who do some Indie Folk style music at times) I find myself listening without any specific labels in mind or seeking to compare them to anyone in particular as I honestly wouldn't know who to namecheck.

What I found is this. These lads can write a pretty tidy tune. The Road Ahead, Wreckage, The Storm, Enter In Disguise and St Kilda are probably my favourites from the album.

It's an album that has a nice sense of pace about it with upbeat numbers like Wreckage and more gentle moments like St Kilda at the end of the album that seems almost pastoral with the sound of the Irish Whistle played throughout by Trond.

For a couple of chaps who are not full time musicians (yes some people have to do other things to pay the bills you know!), I think they have managed to bring together their particular talents and make a classy album. I've been playing it for a better part of week now and it's continuing to grow on me.

Links and More Information

Before we finish up it is worth pointing out that you can listen to music from Dawes and Lysaanes at various places scattered around the Internet, here's some important links:

Andrew Dawes Reverbnation Page. 

St. Kilda and The Road Ahead - both featured on the Cover The Distance LP can be heard here.

Trond Lysaanes Reverbnation Page.

Fish King Blues - that is featured on the Cover The Distance LP can be here.

Links To CD Baby

Return To Sherwood EP.

There are tracks from the CD EP that also feature on the Vinyl of Cover The Distance LP. You can listen to sound clips from it here.

Wreckage/Channel 5 CD Single.

You can listen to sound clips of these two tracks that are also featured on the Vinyl release of Cover The Distance LP.

Seen EP.

Contains Enter in Disguise from the Cover The Distance LP, and there's also the track Seen that sees Andrew joining forces with Trond. There are sound clips for all the songs here.

Fish King Blues.

Also on the Cover The Distance LP and there's a sound clip for it also.

On You Tube

The Storm.

St Kilda.

Andrew Dawes - Wreckage (2016)

(Photo Mark Heybourne)

It's always good to remind yourself that musical talent doesn't just reside with the folk who are signed to big record labels or are out on massive tours around the world. For many, their musical gifts are often unleashed in the midst of the daily grind of a normal work and family life with opportunities here and there to perform and to record and release their tunes.

So it is with particular delight to give the thumbs up today to my good friend Andrew Dawes. Andrew is not a stranger to this blog having written a wonderful piece on the Manic Street Preachers debut album and also having taken part in an interview for S4L in the past. Maybe it's about time to get him back for a new one so we can hear all about his travels and new music that he's recently been putting out. Until then I'm pleased to be able to share a few links where you can hear more of Andrew's songwriting. 

Andrew has had the opportunity in the past year or so to play in Norway again (this time supporting Dave Sharp, having already played with Mike Peters, if he can get Eddie MacDonald's Smalltown Glory and any band that Nigel Twist is playing with he would be able to say that he's played shows with all the original members of The Alarm!), doing some solo shows and a few weeks ago he was supporting Duncan Reid. Add to that the opportunity of a couple of performances in Llandudno along with his sidekick Trond Lysaanes during The Gathering Weekend, one of which was supporting Dave Sharp again.

Phoenix (Live in Llandudno)

The Storm - Andrew and Trond in Llandudno.

Andrew and Trond have just recently released a brand new single entitled Wreckage (that Andrew sings on), and Channel 5 (which Trond sings on).

You Can Listen to Wreckage and other tunes from Andrew over on his ReverbNation Page.

Or You can Purchase the Single from CD Baby or iTunes. You can also find Andrew and Trond's music on Spotify.

Whilst over at CD Baby you might also want to check out the six track Return To Sherwood EP that Andrew has made along with Trond Lysaanes. It was released last year.

St Kilda from the Return To Sherwood EP.

S4L Presents: The Best Debut Albums #3: Manic Street Preachers

The first of our Readers Choices

It gives me great pleasure to be able to turn this particular post over to the thoughts of a good friend of mine, Andrew Dawes. You will recall that Andrew kindly gave up some time to do an interview for Soundtrack4Life back in August last year. When I asked some folk for their choice of best Debut Album Andrew was very quick off the mark in sharing his love for what follows. Enjoy the read. - S4L

 Manic Street Preachers and ‘Generation Terrorists’ 

– The Soundtrack Of My Life, 1991 -1993

 Released 10th February 1992

Columbia Records

#13 UK Album Chart

   OK, I’ll admit it. The double album Generation Terrorists has its flaws. It was overly ambitious. But to me, despite its flaws, it was a brilliant light in the gloom. Anyway, it provided me with the soundtrack of my life between 1991 and 1993. And here’s why-

  From the moment I heard the single 'Motown Junk', I was hooked. I wasn’t really into the scenes of the time, baggy, rave, shoegaze or the fraggle rock of, say, Ned’s Atomic Dustbin. Motown Junk is a great tune, delivered with the fury of The Clash’s 'Tommy Gun'. I went to see them on the Motown Junk Tour in Sheffield in February 1991. They were shambolic but their enthusiasm won me over even more.

  They appealed because they were rebellious, wild and had a gung-ho attitude. This was backed up with well-read intelligence. They reflected their South-Walian roots. I’m originally from Cardiff and have a mostly Welsh family so this stirred me.

  The image of the band and what they were saying was was striking too. There was the glamour of Guns’n’Roses, the politics of indie band McCarthy or rappers Public Enemy and the situationist sloganeering. What a mix. They were saying they were gonna make this one great album, sell sixteen million copies and finish. It was hugely entertaining. Moreover, it flew in the face of the druggy baggy or rave kids, the introverted shoegazers and the scruffy fraggle rockers and crusties. They were the antithesis of ‘cool’ and the great majority of music fans and journalists were, at best, sceptical and, at worst, scathing. To many, they were a laughing stock. They had quickly amassed a small but fanatical following though. And I couldn’t stop going on about them to anyone who would listen.

  I identified with the despair that was reflected on Generation Terrorists. I had just moved to Nottingham when the album came out to be amongst friends and start a band. My band had its moments with the best one playing to a packed Potters House in September, 1993. Dressed in my usual biker jacket, doc martens and Manics inspired white jeans, I played guitar imagining I was James Dean Bradfield or an early Paul Weller. I ranted like Nicky Wire over the dangers of the rise of the far right as the BNP had just won a council seat on the Isle of Dogs. The rest of the band weren’t as committed as me though because of work or family commitments. Furthermore, my work prospects were terrible during this period. The country was in the middle of an awful recession. I had a degree but was doing low paid and temporary work. When out of work, I would be watching Prime Minister’s Questions on TV with the politicians that run our country baying each other like it was a Punch and Judy fight. The Manics’ slogan and lyric from 'Little Baby Nothing', ‘Culture alienation, boredom and despair,’ was my truth at this time.

  The next time I saw them after Sheffield was at Nottingham Rock City on the Generation Terrorists Tour. By now, James Dean Bradfield was becoming a truly outstanding front man and guitarist. They were also more refined now. Most importantly, they had the songs. Stay Beautiful, Slash n’Burn, Love’s Sweet Exile, Repeat and You Love Us were all great tunes delivered with rage. They also had their anthem now, the song that when you heard it at the show, you went mental. Motorcycle Emptiness still sends a shiver down my spine.

  Pretty much disillusioned with things in the summer of 1992, I returned to the United States to work on a summer camp as I had done the previous summer. One of my first purchases was the U.S. version of Generation Terrorists. Stripped back to fourteen songs, this version was less sprawling than the British double album losing the not so great songs of Born to End, So Dead, Damn Dog and Methadone Pretty. This was pretty much flawless now!

From Despair To Where? 

The Legacy of The Generation Terrorists

  Of course, Generation Terrorists didn’t sell sixteen million records and the band didn’t split up. It did change the musical landscape though from 1993 onwards.

  Initially, bands inspired by the attitude and music of Generation Terrorists appeared. There was the New Wave of New Wave scene with These Animal Men and Smash, Manics’ fanzine writers, Shampoo, and, featuring Lauren Laverne, Kenickie. Conversely, scenes that the Manics rallied against, shoegaze, rave, fraggle rock and baggy, at best stalled in popularity. The arrival of Nirvana was mostly responsible for this. It would take Britpop to revive the British music scene now.

  On another level altogether, U2 seemed to be inspired by situationist sloganeering that was revived by the Manics in their Generation Terrorists era. Packed stadiums throughout the world on U2’s Zoo TV Tour were bombarded by messages such as Everything You Know Is Wrong or beLIEve that could have been spray painted messages on one of the Manics’ shirts.

  Most importantly though, acclaim that began with Motorcycle Emptiness gave rise to a new attitude in Welsh music. Newport was, by the mid 90s, the new Seattle apparently. Catatonia, Super Furry Animals, The Stereophonics and 60 Foot Dolls were met with positivity from the music press and industry. The term ‘Cool Cymru’ was now used. The Manics themselves were on a roll. Generation Terrorists was quickly followed up with Gold Against The Soul and the perfect, yet incredibly bleak, Holy Bible. The praise that now met Welsh bands reflected a huge shift in attitude from the turn of the decade when the Londoncentric media was, at best, indifferent, or, at worst, derisory to The Alarm, Yr Anhrefn or The Darling Buds. The Rebecca Rioters of Blackwood had really stirred things up. So, when Nicky Wire accepted two Brit Awards for Best British Band and Best Album in 1997 following the release of the fourth album, Everything Must Go, draped in a Welsh flag, this felt as good to the Welsh as a rugby Grand Slam or beating Italy at football. It also felt like a victory for those who had believed in the band since they first heard Motown Junk.

The S4L Interview: Andrew Dawes

(All Photos by Mark Heybourne unless otherwise noted)

Click on the links to enjoy the music.

Name: Andrew Dawes

Age: 45

Occupation: Part time teacher/ part time PhD student.

Married/Single/Kids: Married to Christine with a daughter, Cerys.

Base of Operations: Nottingham.

First Record ever bought: This Is The Modern World (album) by The Jam.

Musical Weapon of Choice: Acoustic Fender 12 string or Rickenbacker 12 string.
 
Solo or a band: Solo.

Where can we find your music? reverbnation.com/andrewdawes, also on iTunes and spotify.

Doug:When and where did you first play live? Were you petrified or confident?

Andrew: I first played live when I was 15 at a local youth club in Boston, Lincolnshire. I was terrified and broke a string almost immediately- that's one of the reasons why I took up the 12 string- more strings to get through!

Doug: Did I hear that you recently played in Norway with a certain Welsh legend called Mike Peters? How did that come about?

Andrew: The Norway connection has come about through meeting two Norwegians, Geir and Trond, at The Alarm's Gathering event. We have become really good friends. Last summer I went to Norway to see them and go to the Vindmolle:Larm festival near Kristiansund. Initially, The Alarm were due to play but that didn't happen in the end because of Mike's commitments with Big Country at the time I think. All was not lost however as Geir knew the promoter of the festival and gave him one of my CDs and convinced him to give me a slot at the festival. It was a wonderful experience and the response I got from the crowd was lovely. The same promoter organised the Mike Peters gig in Trondheim on Mike's recent tour to Norway in May. As I was going over to Norway anyway to see a few of the dates and catch up with my friends there, I contacted the promoter and got the support slot in Trondheim. It was a magical experience to support one of my heroes and go down well.

 
The Vindmolle:Larm festival appearance went so well, especially when my friend Trond accompanied me with his Irish whistle on my song Northern Light, that I insisted we do a CD together when he was over next for the last Gathering. We jammed together whilst I was in Norway and throughout the Gathering weekend and recorded 4 songs straight after the Gathering in Ollerton, Nottinghamshire. I'm really pleased with the result of it and we hope to do the same when he's over for this Gathering and probably the one after too.
Checkout the Ollerton Session Here. 

Doug: I also heard that you wrote a thesis recently on Nottingham Forest, is that correct?

I have a few Forest stories for you:

Firstly, my old PE teacher at Forest Hill Boys was none other than Nottingham Forest legend Roy Dwight, he scored the opening goal in the 1959 FA Cup Final against Luton Town before being taken off after 33 minutes after breaking his leg in a tackle. Those were the days of no substitutions and so Forest had to play the rest of teh game with ten men (though Bill Whare got cramp about ten minutes from the end of the game so they basically won the game with 9 men on the field. Good job that they scored their two goals early in the first half.
Secondly, back in the 80's when Chelsea were in the old 2nd Division along with Forest on a match day at Stamford Bridge the Blues overcame the Reds and somehow I ended up getting stuck with a load of Forest supporters as I was trying to get home. The police though were keen to get the Forest fans onto trains and out of the city and I tried a few times to get away from the pack and ended up on a train to Nottingham with all these fans, it was only when we arrived there that I could make a break for it and ended up having to wait until Sunday morning before I could get a train back to London! I had to hide my Chelsea scarf down my trousers for fear that I would get my head ripped off by an angry bunch of Forest fans. Oh the joys!
Thirdly, I always had a bit of a soft spot for Forest because of Brian Clough. When my Dad was on the verge of dying a good few years ago I bought Cloughie's autobiography as a birthday present for my Dad and wrote to Cloughie and told him the siutation, he wrote a nice wee note for my Dad. I didn't know it at the time but Clough himself was quite unwell and my respect for him grew a lot more when I found that out. It was wonderful that he took the time to do that.

Andrew:  I love those stories! Yes, following football in the 80s could be pretty scary. I have a few stories like that. You're close on what my thesis is about. It centres around Forest and Notts County, two of the oldest clubs in the world, and the strong impact they had on football's growth. With regards Roy Dwight, there's a brilliant book that culminates with the celebrations of the 1959 F.A. Cup final - My Father and other Working-Class Football Heroes by Gary Imlach - you must read it! And that's lovely to hear about what Cloughie did for your Dad. I have a lot of admiration for Clough even though I'm not a Forest fan. I coach a school team and I'm very much inspired by Cloughie - our style of play and attitude.

 (Photo from Andrew Dawes Music on Facebook)

Doug: Do you find it a hard thing to write songs? You hear stories about guys who bang out a song in 10 or 20 minutes and it goes onto be a number one single! Does that kind of thing frustrate you? What inspires you to write?

Andrew: I always write from personal experience. Music has been an incredible therapy for me- a great way of 'getting things off my chest'! My best songs have all come fairly easily and naturally. Paul Weller wrote That's Entertainment in 15 minutes and, similarly, my best songs have initially been written in a short flurry of inspiration/ rage/ wonder. Hang On, Northern Light, Against The Tide, Colour, Wreckage and Image of a Dream all came about like that. I don't like things if they're contrived.

Doug: What musicians/bands etc inspire you as you develop your own craft? Who first made you want to pick up a guitar or write a song?

Andrew: The first songs that i heard as a boy that made me fall in love with music were Going Underground, Eton Rifles and Down In The Tube Station at Midnight by The Jam, Olivers Army by Elvis Costello and Denis by Blondie. It was The Alarm, however, that influenced me to learn initially the bass but then guitar. I saw them 3 times on the Strength tour in December 1985 and that was really inspirational. I spent the following long summer holiday getting blisters on my fingers learning Marching On and straightforward indie songs of the time like Some Candy Talking by The Jesus and Mary Chain as well as coming up with my own rudimentary songs.

I always like to ask people what is on their Soundtrack4Life?

Andrew: Soundtrack for my life so far? Setting Sons - The Jam, Declaration - The Alarm, Joshua Tree - U2, Everything Must Go - Manic Street Preachers, The Trials of Van Occupanther by Midlake and Verden Pa Nakken, Venner I Ryggen by Oslo Ess, a brilliant band that I saw at the Vindmolle:Larm festival.

Doug: What's the best piece of advice you have been given along your journey of being a musician and do you have a piece of advice that you can pass onto any of our readers who might be about to begin a similar musical journey?

Andrew: I've learned over the last two or three years to love what I'm doing. Sharing songs with people and have them sing along gives me an incredible thrill. I'm doing it for the joy and emotion that music brings. I saw The Hold Steady a few years back and the lead singer was thanking the crowd for allowing them to play and get so much joy from what they're doing. I completely concur with that.

Doug: The Future?

Andrew: So my plans for the future now are to demo a couple of songs. I've written a song called Healing Hands and I'm working on an English language version of the Oslo Ess song Alt Jeg Trenger which I really love. Then I'm going to be recording at Abbey Road with Mike Peters in September on the longest recorded song 'The Scriptures' which I'm very excited about and think is a brilliant cause. Then I'm hoping to play at the Lancaster Music Festival in October. After that, I'll be thinking about the next Gathering and hoping to do a short set at The George with friends on the Saturday at around 6pm before recording another CD with my good friend Trond Lysaanes on the Monday after.

Many thanks to Andrew for giving his time to do this, it's much appreciated.

I would like to finish with a little known fact about Andrew Dawes (well known in Alarm Circles though): at The Gathering 17 he defeated me by a point in the final of Alarm Mastermind! I have barely recovered from such a devasting loss!

The photo below is from The Alarm's website if I remember correctly.

Andrew also has a Facebook page: Andrew Dawes Music.