Tim Hughes talks to Mark Gardener  about reforming the mighty Ride

THEY were one of the biggest bands of the 90s. A pioneering bunch of Oxford lads united by a love of rock, Ride went on to earn chart success and amass a global fanbase which has remained loyal since the band’s split in 1996.

So fans couldn’t believe their luck yesterday when it was revealed that the band would be reforming – with a series of live dates planned for May.

Announcing the reunion, the band’s Mark Gardener, who lives in East Oxford, said: “Two things rob people of their peace of mind: sonic work unfinished and sonic work not yet begun.”

Yesterday’s announcement ended two decades of speculation and was heralded with a flurry of excitement on social media. 

He told the Oxford Mail: “We’ve had offers coming in for years, and have been asked about it in every interview I have done. But we realised three years ago that the time was right. It’s really exciting and I’m made up it’s happening.”

He said he had been taken aback by the response to the announcement – particularly in Oxford: “It feels really good as there is obviously still a lot of respect for our work. For any artist that is amazing.” 

Having been sworn to secrecy over the move, Mark and bandmates Laurence ‘Loz’ Colbert, Andy Bell and Steve Queralt were scooped in their announcement by the organisers of Barcelona’s Primavera Sound festival – who on Tuesday unveiled a huge banner confirming the band were to play next year’s event.

Mr Gardener, who has a seven-month-old daughter Nancy, said: “We tried really hard to keep it secret until this point. And then that banner went up – sending everything into overdrive.”

They will be playing shows in Glasgow, Manchester, London, Amsterdam, Paris, Barcelona, Toronto, and New York. The closest shows to Oxford are those at London’s Roundhouse in May and the capital’s Field Day in June. 

However, the former Cheney School student revealed exclusively that hometown fans may be in for a bigger treat.

He said: “I have not forgotten my Oxford roots. So keep your ears and eyes open.”

The announcement comes hot on the heels of the break-up of former Oasis star Liam Gallagher’s band Beady Eye, which featured Andy Bell on guitar. However, Mr Gardener insists the reunion had nothing to do with the split, with plans for a reunion going back three years.

“That wasn’t the reason,” he said. “Though it does make it easier. This just felt like the right time.”  
 

Oxford Mail:

  • The band in their heyday

Shoegaze pioneers

* Formed by Mark Gardener while the band were at college in Banbury in 1988, Ride played their first shows at the Jericho Tavern and Oxford Polytechnic - now Oxford Brookes University.

* Purveyors of what became knows as ‘shoegaze’ they paved the way for Britpop and gave Alan McGee's Creation label its first UK chart breakthrough. As well as success at home, they went on to tour the world, becoming stars in the USA, mainland Europe and Japan.

* Since their split 1996, the band’s members have kept busy. Guitarist Andy forming Hurricane #1 before joining Oasis as bassist — a move which saw him not only having to learn the instrument but also the band’s back catalogue before his first show. Following Oasis’s split, he played guitar with Liam Gallagher’s band Beady Eye - which recently broke-up.

* Mark and Loz joined the band Animalhouse with Supergrass producer Sam Williams. Mark then toured and collaborated with Oxford musicians Robin and Joe Bennett and their band Goldrush, as well as The Brian Jonestown Massacre. He has also had success as a solo artist and producer.
Loz meanwhile, has played with The Jesus and Mary Chain, Supergrass and Oxford vintage jazz group The Original Rabbit Foot Spasm Band.
 

  • Today Forever

  • Leave Them All Behind

  • Birdman


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