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Bio:
McClintic Sphere was formed in summer '83 by Conneely, Mordaunt and
O'Keeffe around a mutual interest in Talking Heads, King Crimson, Meredith
Monk, Steve Reich and others. Inclined to dismiss pop lyrics, their initial idea
had been to concentrate on music accompanying non-verbal vocalisations. A
repertoire based loosely on north African modal improvisation was assembled
before Byrne, Fox and O'Brien were added for timbral colour, vocal weight
and percussive impact respectively. Support slots were filled at every
opportunity and in autumn 1984 Donal Coughlan (The Departure, Hinterland)
produced the '3 Things' demo at the short-lived Ella Guru studios in
Baldoyle. Fox left when the other members wanted to incorporate
conventional pop tunes (Shadow Catcher, Master Of Disguise, The Lamppost
Song) into their set in an effort to develop a vanishingly small
audience. The band continued to gig, mostly as a support act, in pubs and
halls between Raheny and Howth, until the drummer's ex-girlfriend
went mondo-Yoko by seducing the guitar player at which point they broke up.
Drummer Paul O'Brien later joined Thee Amazing Colossal Men and
is currently in the Lee Harveys. Guitarist Mordaunt
continued to write and record under the name McClintic Sphere with keyboardist
Brian Lynch (ex Winter's Reign), cultivating some small interest from
Deke O'Brien (of Scoff Records)
which eventually came to nothing.
In 1988 Mordaunt went to London where
under the name Delta Gambit he produced ambient electronica for the warehouse
scene with Mick Donlan (ex Some Kind Of Wonderful). O'Keeffe spent a short spell
in The Incazincs (with clarinetist Byrne) then abandoned keyboards for bass
guitar, played with Big Black Train Ride, then double bass with The Texas
Kellys, a 'rhythm and bluegrass' outfit with Steve Wickham (The Waterboys) and
Paul Byrne (In Tua Nua), and managed by Louis Walsh. Mordaunt and O'Keeffe came
together again with Brian Lynch to form Jaylene Slide in the early nineties,
after which O'Keeffe kick-started Jack L's career by recruiting him as the
vocalist for his Jacques Brel showcase.
McClintic Sphere is a character in Thomas Pynchon's novel V, while
Jaylene Slide was a character in William Gibson's Count Zero.
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