Alan Stead
A genuine auteur, Alan makes music because he doesn’t know how not to. A child of prog and purveyor of obcurist experimentalism, Alan plays the guitar with utter disregard for convention but an acute affinity for melody. His effortless harmonies bring depth to the vocals and his individual experience of piano-playing and self-production lend additional flavour to the overall sound of the band. On Minus, his influence can be heard most keenly on My Desire, on which his distinctive vocals and lyrical carousel prompted one reviewer to declare the track a "Bowiesque pantomime".
His deranged-genius alter-ego, the Golden Elf has produced over ten solo albums, most of which only see the light of day via close friends and family, all of which remain unsung classics. At the insistence of James and Matt, his latest opus - Number 25 - is finally available in video form from YouTube.
James Rampton
The maestro of the lower frequencies, James’ sound is the engine of the band, his gifted riffing defying the rules of the instrument and his signature live performances prompting one reviewer to say "I’ve never seen a bassist do that".
This is perhaps even more impressive for it not being his first love, given that James – like Matt and Alan – is a prolific writer of solo material, a composer of soundscapes for live theatre work, a jobbing library-music maker and a sound engineer in his own right. Equally at home with guitar, keys, turntables, drums or pretty much anything else that makes a sound, he first met Matt when they were both in rival electonica duos on the Croydon live scene. Quickly realising they had a lot more in common than programming beats, James introduced Matt to Alan and the rest, as they say, is history.
As part of Kobayashi, James also forms one third of the vocal triumvirate, singing backup on most tracks and taking the lead on When I Want To. His vocalising, instrument-hopping and all-round production mastery can be heard on James first solo album, Revanants, which is available as a free download from www.jamesrampton.com.
Matt Searles
A self-taught keyboard-player since the age of 16, Matt formed Kobayashi to get back to playing synth. He had no desire to be a singer, let alone a front man, but Matt has inhabited this role with gusto, now considering himself more of a singer than a keys-player, but always returning to the strange noises, electronic blips and lush pads that inhabit the fringes of the Kobayashi sound. Alongside his ongoing library music compositions, Matt has now produced two solo albums, both available as a free download from www.matthewsearles.com.
His latest release "Disconcertion" is a piano album that has reviewers saying he "has created an alternative dimension to the classical instrument" and "sings with a blistered soul for sure and a deeply expressive vocal style that delivers painful conviction throughout.".
Louis Mills
The original drummer, Louis brought a lot of the trademark heaviness to the Kobayashi sound, drawing heavily on influences such as Queens Of The Stone Age, the Stones and Zeppelin. A classic rock drummer in every sense of the word, Mr. Mills bought a flat-out rock sensibility to the band without compromising innovation or being afraid to experiment. We parted company in mid 2009, having recorded the bulk of Minus together.
Mark Durham
From colleague to friend and back to colleague again (sort of), Mark met Matt through the ambulance service before Kobayashi was a twinkle in anyone’s eye. A firm supporter of the band, he turned up at numerous shows over the years and used to fantasise about joining us on drums for our signature cover of Goldfinger. In September ‘09, Mark got the chance to do just that as he stormed through his first live set and took his place firmly on the Kobayashi drum stool, so to speak. From Pantera to Presley and Tool to Tchaikovsky, Mark’s influences are manifold, putting him right at home with our unspoken remit of experimental, multi-faceted disregard for convention.