Charlie
Fink started playing the guitar when he was a young man. He started
writing songs when he was a little older. He discovered the concepts of
love, death and time shortly after this and soon could think about
little else. The remainder of his formative years Charlie spent with
his ears inside headphones recording his own songs or listening to
musicians with similar preoccupations.
The words and sounds of Dylan, Young and Wilson changed Charlie’s
frame of reference. Charlie obsessed about their sense of narrative and
their scale, and their ability to combine wit and seriousness. With the
proliferation of computer systems, Charlie discovered closer
contemporaries. He soon felt empowered by the honesty, immediacy and
authenticity of Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, Neutral Milk Hotel, Daniel
Johnston and Jeffrey Lewis.
Eventually it occurred to Charlie that his compulsion to expel in
song his deep-set morbid anxieties might serve some public purpose.
Initially he ventured forth beyond his gravel drive on his own. Soon
however, Charlie decided that he better have his brother Doug on board
otherwise he might get lonely and people might not listen properly.
Doug plays the drums which can be quite loud, so Charlie took away his
cymbals and forged them into a triangle and tambourine. The searing
strings of classical violin prodigy Tom Fiddle had long impressed
Charlie. Tom liked Charlie’s songs and ‘Noah and the Whale’ was
conceived. They played their first gig in late 2006 to the sound
engineer, Doug’s housemate and Tom Hatred. They all loved it. So began
months of gigging in corners, on tables and inside cupboards.
At length it was decided that more instruments would be needed. It
just so happened that an age-old child actor friend of theirs, the
dapper chameleon and instrumentally dextrous Urby Whale, who had sunned
with the Fink family in seaside Wales throughout the early nineties,
was available having recently departed other projects. With his
patented wardrobe, cultured dance moves and the ability to play bass
guitar and glockenspiel simultaneously, Urby Whale represented the
realisation of the famed and famous ‘Noah and the Whale’ stage show which continues to tour to this day. Check them out this summer at Lollapalooza!
Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down
Track List
2 Atoms In A Molecule
Jocasta
Shape of My Heart
Do What You Do
Give a Little Love
Second Lover
5 Years Time
Rocks and Daggers
Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down
Mary
Hold My Hand As I’m Lowered
For more information about Noah and the Whale, please visit:
www.myspace.com/noahandthewhale
www.youtube.com/realnoahandthewhale
www.noahandthewhale.com
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