Metcalfe, John - Scorching Bay

"It is the music's eclecticism that make it "genre-defying". In this respect, John Metcalfe has impeccable credentials. Classically trained, he has an impressive record of non-classical arrangements to his credit including those for Morrissey and George Michael."
(MusicWeb Sept 2004)

"All of the tracks on Scorching Bay are linked by using at least 3 themes from a central pool of ideas. I have always been fascinated by the emotional impact of placing unchanged ideas in different contexts and I've used this concept as much as possible throughout. Therefore a theme may be melody in one piece, bass line in the next and background motor rhythm in another.

So the first track contains all new themes; by the last track there is only material that has been used several times over.

Scorching Bay is a small beach in New Zealand."
- JOHN METCALFE

From his early days in New Zealand listening to his father sing opera John Metcalfe has charted a unique musical route to the release of his debut CD, The Inner Line. Having moved to England he took up the viola aged 10 and joined his first band at school playing drums. Raised on a mono-diet of Joy Division this band influenced his decision to move north-west where he joined cult band Durutti Column on Manchester's legendary Factory label. He stayed for three years, adding his own unique sound and flavour to the enigmatic style of guitarist Vini Reilly.

Hard classical study continued along with hard dancing at the now defunct Hacienda, and scholarships took him to London and Berlin to finish his training. His passionate dislike of the standard classical recording industry led him to persuade Factory boss Tony Wilson to launch the groung-breaking Factory classical label aimed at bringing serious young talent and music to a truly new audience. Metcalfe's talents at A&R led to debuts for now major artists such as Rolf Hind, Steve Martland and John's owb string quartet, the Duke Quartet. In the meantime Metcalfe's hidden strengths as a string composer for bands came to the fore. Since his work on Morrissey's no.1 solo album Viva Hate he has become one of the UK's top arrangers working for artists such as Simple Minds, The Corrs, Blur and Catatonia. He provided all the strings for the Concert for Linda at the Albert Hall, working with George Michael, Johnny Marr and Tom Jones. After hearing his arrangement of Angel in The Morning for the Friends soundtrack, the Pretender's Chrissie Hynde asked John to arrange some of her most famous songs for the Aisle of View album, which featured the Duke Quartet.

Metcalfe's work with the Duke Quartet is well documented. As one of the country's leading quartets they have made numerous acclaimed recordings and toured world-wide.