Conan Welcome New Bassist David Riley
Founding Conan guitarist and vocalist Jon Davis has made absolutely zero secret of his love for Fudge Tunnel. Over the years, on social media and in interviews he’s heralded the undervalued noise metallers who called it quits in 1995 and whose 1991 debut, Hate Songs in E Minor, remains a landmark. In August, when Conan announced they’d be undertaking a series of 7″ singles, one of the songs included in the first was a Fudge Tunnel cover, and David Riley — Conan‘s new permanent bassist as per an announcement today — has played alongside Davis in his Ungraven project as well, so his joining Conan seems like a natural extension.
Nonetheless, it’s a significant change in the band, whose low end has been on utter lockdown since 2014 thanks to Chris Fielding. Also one of the UK underground’s foremost producer/engineers, Fielding wasn’t Conan‘s first bassist, but he brought a presence and aggression to the stage that set well alongside Davis‘ own, his low growls and Davis‘ higher shouting style developing a dynamic between them that I doubt anyone could’ve guessed Conan would’ve featured when they started out and that made them a richer band. Conan has said that Fielding will continue to act as their producer, as he recorded them before he joined as well, and while they’re not far removed from 2022’s Evidence of Immortality (review here), an even partially new lineup inevitably leads to questions of new studio work. I’ll be interested to hear that, of course, as well as to see what Riley brings to the three-piece on stage with Davis and drummer Johnny King.
Those questions can I guess just kind of hang out for a bit, since Conan kept the announcement short and sweet in welcoming Riley to the band. Here’s what they had to say and a video they put on Instagram to mark the occasion:
*NEW BASSIST ANNOUNCED* Those of you who know how much of an influence Fudge Tunnel have been on us, will no doubt know how exciting it is to be able to be able to announce our new bass player. David has played and toured with us several times since 2018, it gives us great pleasure to have him join us formally. @fudge_tunnel @ryley.barr #heavymetal #cavemanbattledoom #riffs #fudgetunnel thanks to @alterystudios for the graphics
CONAN is:
Jon Davis – Guitar, Vocals
David Riley – Bass
Johnny King – Drums
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That is pretty fucking epic news. I love Conan and I really really love Fudge Tunnel. Hate Songs, Creep Diets, and Complicates Futility of Ignorance are still in rotation pretty often on my early AM commute to work.