1992 - ~ First gig at ‘Summer
Madness’ Festival, Fermanagh, N.I. - played as
‘Iain Archer & Disreail Gears’.
Performance includes ‘When I Feel’.
~ Belfast studio owner Paul McAree impressed and offers free
studio time: nine tracks (first demos) recorded.
1993 ~ Paul Archer, Iain Archer and Jimmy
Symington move to Glasgow, for several months from October
‘93, developing lasting associations with cult indie
band/studio owners Lies Damned Lies and various other radical
religious and musical groups. ‘Mrs Valente’
and ‘Come Out In The Sunshine’ written
during this period.
1994 ~ Iain Archer goes forward with solo
career, recording first solo album Playing Dead
in Glasgow and moving to London.
~ Paul and Jimmy move back to Northern Ireland by Summer
‘94.
‘All Creation’ written and demoed during this period.
~ Gears return to Glasgow Christmas ‘94 to record three
tracks, including an early version of ‘Mrs Valente’,
at Lies Damned Lies’ studio.
1995 ~ Paul, Jimmy and Johnny Quinn complete
BTEC Diploma in Performing Arts.
~ Gears record 40 minute set at Belfast venue The
Warehouse, April ‘95, on digital multi-track gear
for phrenomenally successful local CD compilation Alive
In Belfast. Three tracks used, including live anthem
‘Mrs Valente’.
~ Paul working full-time for ‘Best Cellars’ music
collective, Belfast.
1996 ~ January: Gears win Northern heats of
prestigious Hot Press ‘Unplugged’
competition.
~ April: Gears appear at IMRO (Irish Musicians
Rights Organisation) showcase.
~ May: Another 40 minute set recorded on multi-track at
Belfast’s current hot live venue The Empire
for Live At The Belfast Empire CD - follow-up to
Alive In Belfast. Storming, if controversial, 9 minute take of
the group’s most uncompromising track and regular set-closer
‘She Waits’ captured for posterity and
featured on the compilation - now also featured on Pure
Groove
~ July: Three tracks recorded at Novatech Studios, Belfast
- two (‘Only Gone’ and ‘Dive
Deep’) later remixed and added to during sessions
for Pure Groove
~ August: The Gears’ 4th consecutive appearance at
the Greenbelt Festival, England. Joined on stage
by Iain Archer for sensational performance. Iain, having just
recorded his second, critically acclaimed, album Crazy
Bird, returns to Belfast for six months, playing live
with the Gears and using the Gears as backing band on his own
electric gigs.
~ October - December: The Gears' play a regular slot at The
Crescent Arts Centre, a live band venue started by
drummer Jonny Quinn and Generation X partner Brendan Mc Cauley.
They finished of here with a sensational New Year's Eve gig which
sold out in the first half hour of the doors opening.
1997 ~ The Gears continue to play live, reaching new
audiences with gigs at highbrow theatre venue, The Old
Museum, organised by theatre/dance musician Jules
Maxwell (an occasional live guest, on keyboards, with the group).
With the group’s creativity, stagecraft and repertoire at
its peak, the time is right to invest in the recording of an
album. Pure Groove is recorded, over
two intense, frantic days at Novatech Studios,
with 22 year old dance/rock production prodigy ‘G:Raff’
at the helm and Iain Archer (guitar), Jules Maxwell
(electric piano), Ursula Burns (psatlery) and Dave Birse (sitar)
guesting.