Who are 2112?
We felt it was only fair that each of the band members had the opportunity to introduce themselves to the world.  Find out trivia about each one of them, see what they look like, what kit do they use maybe even their favourite RUSH tune. 
You can either, scroll down the page and read about 2112 or you can click on one of the titles above to read about a specific band member

Damian

I have sung in numerous bands for the past 20 years of different music styles. Teamed up with Graham Clarke 2112 drummer in the 90’s to work on a project writing our own material (similar style to Queensryche). We had moderate success with a few TV and radio appearances but never managed to clinch the big deal we had hoped for.

We disbanded and I went on to join a number of bands playing covers from a wide spectrum of music styles, not just rock. Around 1996 we did our first Rush Tribute. It was only a couple of gigs but it was where I got a taste for it later on. 

Around 1996 I then worked in Club land for about 5 years. What an experience. Amidst the Bingo and the raffles etc it was a fascinating time and certainly helped me enormously as a front man. 

Around 2001 we formed 'Force 10, Graham had come back from Canada and wanted to start the Rush thing again.  I knew Tom and Mark from previous projects and it was the natural thing to ask them as they were and are excellent musicians. Out of all the drummers I knew there was only Graham that I felt could pull Neil off. (not literally)

After much persuasion with Tom we formed the band and the name soon changed to 2112 which seemed more recognisable to Rush fans and the rest is history.

I wouldn't say imitating Geddy Lee's vocals is easy but singing the stuff since I was about 14 has enabled me to mimic it quite well. Just wish I could play that damn bass guitar and bass pedals etc.....!  The whole thing does take a lot of effort and you can't take your eye off the ball for one moment. It is a constant challenge and as other Rush tribute acts will tell you takes a lot of dedication. However very rewarding when  its right. I am also planning a Zeppelin tribute in the near future.

I don't use much in terms of equipment. Senneiser Mic . I also use a vocal effects called Voice live (TC helicon). This helps with subtle backing vocals (though I am still trying to persuade both Mark and Tom to do some BVs and they are more than capable of this but argue they have 'more than enough to do !!!!!' I suppose they have a point.) The effects on voice live also help to provide different sounds such as the deep 'Subdivisions' voice or the middle eight to 'Roll the Bones' .

As far as Rush albums and individual songs are concerned I don't like to chose favourites but if I had to and to stick my neck out I'd go for 'Hold Your Fire' and 'Middletown Dreams' respectively. 

Finally, One Club secret; a few years ago I got to one of the final rounds of X Factor and Cowell said I was too old !!!!!  cheeky B**t**rd. Well at least I got Louis vote.

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Graham

The story so far...  I started playing drums a long time ago and some would say progress on my pursuit of perfection has been somewhat slow.  Umm well mastering the drum set is challenging. Getting four limbs to do different things at the same time is quite difficult, although strangely quite easy after a gallon of Stella!!  I digress.  My elder brother can be credited/blamed/abused/thanked for me playing the drums and as a result one of the reasons why I'm skint.  It was he who bought my first drum kit, a black premier.  Since then I've bought more drums, more cymbals (once at the expense of a holiday - oops!) even more drums and enough scaffolding to not only hold it all in place but also support major building developments the length and breadth of the country.  Throughout this period of profligacy (www.thesaurus.com) has been Frustration and Perspiration in my pursuit of drumming competence, mixed in with a fair amount of incompetence its fair to say!  So many years on and I find myself behind other like minded fools in a Rush tribute band, what were we thinking?  Queue much more F and P, in fact a lot of Fing P!!  We've been together 7 years and only last month did I finally figure out the intro to Subdivisions, thanks to Tom's much more musically talented brother it has to be said.  Gear wise, the firm who makes motorbikes also made my drums and an Armenian alchemist made the cymbals apparently.  A nice man called Roland helped with the electronic gizmos.  So there you have it, thanks from reading this nonsense.  Hope to see you at a 2112 gig in the future.  In the meantime any ideas on the crazy middle bit of Mission appreciated.

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Mark

“Write your profile for the website” they told me……….well here goes…….

Trying to re-create the music of one of my favourite bands of all time is a challenge in its self, not to mention the musicianship of three of the most talented musicians and song writers on the planet today, but after a brief meeting with Damian and Graham seven years ago (yes seven years ago) it was decided that I should give it a go.

I started playing the bass twenty five years ago, followed by the keyboards and bass pedals three years there after.

I stopped playing the keyboards fifteen years ago with the exception of the bass pedals now and again to pursue playing in an original and covers band which is still on the scene today, the band Mc Cooney in which Tom is also a member.

So setting up my equipment in the rehearsal room for the first time in fifteen years was daunting enough let alone starting to play the music of Rush, but here I am today still enjoying the experience and the challenges it entails.

Playing the bass in a Rush tribute band is hard enough on its own but playing the keyboards and dancing about on one leg playing the bass pedals or playing the bass and bass pedals at the same time is a challenge on its own, I admire anyone who tries to
re-create the music of Rush because I know how hard it is, endless rehearsals trying to achieve that perfect sound and playing it correctly.

I’m sure all you boffins out there would like to know what equipment I use to create the sound of Rush……….

I play a Rickenbacker 4002 Bass which in turn is processed through a Line 6 Bass Pod XT Pro, my speakers are Behringer Ultra bass 210 & 115 Bugera Driven Aluminium Speaker Cabinets powered by a Carlsboro 1500 Watt Power Amplifier (Bridged), I also have a Sure Wireless Radio Pack, all of this, the power supply and DI outputs are enclosed in one flight case.

Front of stage I use an Alesis QS6 I Keyboard with a Vintage Keys Q Card; I also have a writable Q Card I use for samples etc. Underneath the QS6 I have a set of Moog Taurus II Bass Pedals and to the left of the Taurus pedals I have a set of Roland PK5 Midi Pedals, which in turn are midi linked to the Alesis QS6 so I can play single notes, chords or samples while playing the bass.

I will update my profile in due course as I have a few ideas in mind to make my job on stage a little easier……..watch this space!

Thanks for taking the time to read my profile; I’ll look forward to seeing you at an up and coming gig, don’t be shy and introduce yourselves.

Cheers,

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Tom

Hi, my name is Tom and I play guitar and bass pedal keyboard in 2112. I also play in a rock covers band called McCooney I play keyboards, and guitar covering songs from Pink Floyd, Thin Lizzy, U2, Free, Bad Company etc.

The Guitars I use in 2112 are all customised by myself and a colleague called Niel Pascal. Here is a list of the guitars and what myself and Niel have done to them. (You are now entering anorak land!!!)

1. A black Gibson Les Paul Standard, with ivory binding, Niel has fitted it with an EMG 85 pickup in the bridge and an EMG 81 in the neck position, it is now active.

2. A Charvel dark blue Strat shaped thing, it has a two point locking Floyd Rose Tremolo System, an EMG 81 in the bridge position and an EMG SA single coil in the neck position.

3. A Fender USA Standard Strat, this has been fitted with Spurzel locking machine heads and an EMG 89 in the bridge position and two EMG SA single coils and is coil tapped so I can get that Strat sound in the bridge position.

4. A Gibson U2 Superstrat this has a Kahler two point locking tremolo and has the same pickups as the Fender Strat it’s red with ivory binding and is very light.

5. This is what I call my Frankenstrat it has a Strat body, but what looks like a Charvel neck with the pointy headstock, two point Floyd Rose locking tremolo and an EMG 81 in the bridge and EMG SA's on the neck, it’s a reddish sunburst.

6. Is my Ibanez Artcore semi hollow bodied arch top electric very similar to Alex's white Gibson E335 but this is a tobacco water ripple finish we haven't put active pickups on this because there is no access panels on the back to fit them.

7. An Ibanez electro acoustic fitted with a piezo pickup under the bridge and an electric pickup fitted in the neck position it has a single cut away and is kinda like a reddish sunburst it plays like an electric the model is called a 'Masa' named after one of the top Japanese luthiers in the Ibanez company.

8. This is my latest purchase it is no less than a USA Ovation standard Elite Electro acoustic with a mid depth bowl back, single cut away with a 3 band graphic EQ and an on board tuner (yum yum) it sings its an orange flame sunburst.

9. I Use a set of Roland PK5 bass pedals with 13 notes I put them through an A station 1U processor it has three oscillators. My Amp is a Hughes 'N' Kettner switchblade it has on board effects, delay, chorus, reverb etc, but I use a TC electronics G major processor I think the amp is the worlds first fully programmable valve amp. I use a Marshall 4x12 1960B cab and also a Marshall TSL 2x12 16 OHM cab its fitted with a 12" Marshall Vintage Celestion and a Marshall 12" Heritage Celestion.

I have been playing for about 25 years and enjoy the challenge of playing in a Rush Tribute Band, I am always striving to try capture the "Alex Sound" and believe that Alex is a very clever and talented musician who knows how to make simple things sound very tricky. My next purchase will be a Boss GT Pro 2U rack processor, it has a dual COSM amp modelling facility and an intelligent harmoniser, I can't wait to dick around with that! You may have noticed that most of my guitars have EMG active pickups; this is because they are very clean sounding and virtually noiseless.

Thanks for reading,

Cheers
Tom

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ã 2112  2005