Biography
Based in London and Worthing, Fosca is a foursome formed by Dickon Angel (aka Richard Dickon Edwards, lead vocal, lyrics, some guitar) after spending some years in the group Orlando, who released several singles - including one under the name Shelley (Reproduction Is Pollution, Sarah Records, 1995) - and an album, Passive Soul (Blanco Y Negro, 1997). His previous adventures also include modelling at various "unusual" fashion shows, playing guitar for the band Spearmint, and keeping an almost notorious Internet Diary ("Website of the Month", Select Magazine, 1999).
After leaving Orlando in 1998, Dickon experimented with the Fosca name via several line-ups, lead vocalists and musical directions, playing a handful of London shows and releasing a self-produced EP along the way (the Galaxie 500-bothering Nervous, London (Something Velvet, November 1999), before realising two things: (a) that he needed a musical collaborator for guidance and direction, and (b) that he should take the lead vocal duties himself in the interests of Lyrical Truth.
The former he found in February 2000: Alex Sharkey (guitars, bass, keyboards, programming, backing vocals). Alex's own history includes the groups Brighter (several singles and an album on Sarah Records in the early 1990s) Hal (one single, Vinyl Japan, 1994) and Pinkie. Dickon cites Brighter's Christmas (from their Laurel album) as one of his favourite tracks of all time, and when Alex wrote and suggested they tried making pop music together, he leapt at the chance.
Fosca was completed with the invaluable presence of two players who had both appeared on Nervous, London and at various pre-Alex Fosca shows. One was Rachel Stevenson (synth, backing vocals, band organising), who'd first met Dickon in the audience at a gig - a show by Brighter, in fact - and the other Sheila B (cellos, rehearsal space), a Londoner friend of Rachel's and member of a 1960s-style dance troupe. This permanent version of Fosca made its live debut in March supporting Trembling Blue Stars at London's Spitz Club.
April was spent recording an album, On Earth To Make The Numbers Up, with producer Ian Catt, whose previous credits include Saint Etienne, Kylie Minogue, Trembling Blue Stars and Shampoo. A single, The Agony Without The Ecstasy, was released on Shinkansen in June, and the album followed at the start of October.
At the start of 2001, Fosca began work on their second album, Diary Of An Antibody, again with Ian Catt. Due to various delays in the recording, an EP featuring the first three songs from the sessions was released in October, with Supine On The Astroturf as the lead track.
The band played a short tour of France with Trembling Blue Stars in April, and played the farwell Benno festival in Sweden in July. The band are currently hugely popular in Sweden - they've appeared on the front covers of fanzines, and Dickon has been interviewed by national radio - and they'll be returning there in mid-October for a 4-date tour. This tour will also see the debut of new recruit Kate Dornan on keyboards, as Alex has decided he no longer wished to play live.
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