Bio

Adam Poole – vocals, guitar
Mark Cooper – guitar, vocals, programming
Paul Baker – bass, vocals, programming
Jon Crookes – percussion
Petey Marten – percussion

Distant Signal was formed by four friends in Halesowen, a smallish town in the West Midlands. We practised for several years at the local rehearsal studio until we had the songs and sounds we needed. Those were strange days – locked in rooms with no windows, writing and recording and practising everything over and again.

Then we were ready. We started playing gigs: The Mitre, The Flapper, putting on our own shows and trying to get noticed. The Catapult Club got in touch, asking us to play a one-off at The Jug of Ale in Mosely. We put a good show in and got invited to play gigs for them on a regular basis, at some of the best venues in Birmingham. The turn-out kept growing as people brought their friends and the intensity of each gig increased. We headlined Christmas Eve gigs at the Bar Academy, added new songs to the setlist at the Barfly and recording an EP.

Jon went to Afghanistan with the marines and Mark went to Scotland but the band remained as tight as ever. We worked on new songs and sounds, and improved significantly on our instruments during this interim. Paul set up a successful punk and metal DJ night: Chaos A.D. As soon as we were reunited we played a few more gigs at the Bar Academy, sending that venue off in fitting style when one of the speaker cones caught fire. After that place closed we started gigging regularly at The Actress & Bishop, perhaps our favourite venue and recorded a new EP featuring Air on the Radio, Mexico, and Shotgun Orchestra, which you can download here.

On the 16th of July, Jon was tragically killed during a reassurance patrol in Afghanistan. He gave us many bright memories and brought many loyal friends together. We will be playing a tribute gig to raise money for Help for Heroes, featuring Pete on drums, a close friend of Jon’s and all of us.

Thanks for your support over the last few years!

Distant Signal