Howlin Wuelf Media :: Stuart Moxham

Stuart Moxham, who originally came to the public’s attention with the austere pop of Young Marble Giants is about to release the first record on his own hABIT label, a sampler of things to come called Personal Best. Moxham’s currently recording a new solo album in his own studio, performed exclusively on actual instruments, eschewing all sampling and other computerized tomfoolery. The album will feature contributions by his father Terence Moxham, daughter Melody Moxham and new sidekick Charlie Rose.

Cardiffian Stuart Moxham was born in 1955 – the year rock ‘n’ roll arrived in the UK in the form of Bill Hailey and The Comets. He benefitted from a rich musical family environment that included: singing old school hymns in church; a classical/opera parental record collection accessed c/o the mighty Bush mono gramophone; a Dad, Terence Moxham, who sings and -- in those days -- also performed in local musicals and light opera; and an elder brother, Richard, whose pivotal musical influence was introducing Stuart to stereo and headphones in the early ‘70’s.

Casually introduced to the guitar by a friend, Matthew Davis, in 1975, Stuart was galvanized by the idea that it could become the vehicle for his escaping the provinces as a professional singer/songwriter. Having had some childhood onstage experience with his father in various musical productions, Stuart took readily to singing and playing guitar with a local covers band called True Wheel formed by Davis that included his brother Phil Moxham on bass and Alison Statton on backing vocals. The latter two and Stuart formed Young Marble Giants in 1978.

The times were right and, having taken a year to create a body of original material, YMG approached Rough Trade who quickly signed them. They had immediate, then continued success thanks to their small but perfectly formed body of work, in particular the album Colossal Youth.

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Towards the end of 1980, Stuart laid down tracks as “The G!st,” a solo project with contributions from various friends like Lewis Mottram and studio owner/producer Dave Anderson, using the same facilities YMG had worked. Following tours of the UK, Europe and the U.S., YMG imploded and Stuart wound up squatting in London with friends from Essential Logic who’d also disbanded, and Logician Phil Legg first introduced him to the guilty pleasures of multi-track self-recording. A serious motorcycle accident, and an untimely eviction notice, prompted Stuart’s move to Nottingham. After a year in plaster and on crutches, he created what became the G!st album Embrace The Herd. Once he’d recovered his health, Stuart returned home to Cardiff and began an ongoing musical relationship with his younger brother Andrew, initially using the name The G!st, having converted a room in their shared house into a studio. It was during this time that Stuart met his wife to be and moved back to London.

By now, Stuart was pursuing a burgeoning career in animation paint and trace, starting out with the esteemed Cardiff-based company Siriol, then working for Disney’s London operations on Who Framed Roger Rabbit? Stuart recorded a new solo album on hired equipment at home during this period. The next four years saw him living on a narrowboat in Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire, and commuting into town and to the U.S. working Chicago-based label Feel Good All Over.

For three years Stuart flew regularly to The Windy City to gig, record and produce for artists like Barbara Manning, Beat Happening and Lois. He also released three albums: the London solo sessions which came out 1992 as Signal Path; his first collaboration with Louis Philippe and Ken Brake, Random Rules, commissioned by Parisian Patrick Fevret; and Cars In The Grass, a project which drew together the considerable firepower of his brothers Phil and Andrew and one Spike Reptile. A fourth solo album was recorded in Chicago, produced by the excellent Dave Trumfio, to be called Plan A but never released due to the label closing.

A multi-million selling cover by Courtney Love's Hole on Live Through This of his YMG-era song "Credit In The Straight World" and two platinum-selling covers the G!st’s "Love At First Sight" by French popstar Ettiene Daho enabled Stuart to give the day job a break and spend some time with his three young children for the next few years. A commission from children's charity Barnardos resulted in several years of fun as he wrote and produced in a home studio for their “Sponsored Toddle” events with chanteuse Melanie Klyne under the name “James First.” The family then moved to the rural wilds of Wiltshire and Stuart put music aside for a few years and worked as a driving instructor (?!), keeping his hand in by playing guitar at a weekly event at local rehab centre.

Following his divorce in 2003, Stuart turned to the catharsis of writing and, emboldened by their enthusiasm began to record the body of songs with his good friends Louis Philippe and Ken Brake, that he’d written during the child-rearing years called The Huddle House.

The G!st reformed last summer for a gig at The Big Chill festival and Stuart is singing Bass in a new local choir (as yet unnamed) which is performing material ranging from Burt Baccarach to Abba via Leonard Cohen and George Michael. Meanwhile Young Marble Giants reunited and continue to play live following Domino Records' rerelease of their catalogue in 2007.