Gorky's Zygotic Mynci

Gorky's Zygotic Mynci
Gorky's Zygotic Mynci
Background information
Origin	Carmarthen, Wales
Genres	Psychedelic folk, indie pop, neo-psychedelia, indie folk, folk rock, britpop
Years active	1991–2006
Labels	Ankst, Fontana, Mantra, Sanctuary
Associated acts	Tystion, Ffa Coffi Pawb, Infinity Chimps
Past members	Euros Childs Richard James John Lawrence Megan Childs Euros Rowlands Steffan Cravos Sion Lane Cenwyn Brain Sammy Davies Osian Evans Rhodri Puw Peter Richardson

Gorky's Zygotic Mynci were a psychedelic folk and alternative rock band which formed in Carmarthen, Wales in 1991. The group performed music in both Welsh and English, and had eight Top 75 singles on the UK Singles Chart during their career. The group disbanded in May 2006.

The group was formed by Euros Childs (vocals and keyboards), John Lawrence (vocals and guitar) and Richard James (bass guitar) whilst still at Bro Myrddin Welsh Comprehensive School in Carmarthen. Beyond their main roles in the band, all three were multi-instrumentalists and often swapped around instruments both in the studio and onstage. With Sion Lane (keyboards) and Steffan Cravos (violin) added to the lineup, Gorky's recorded the self-released cassette Allumette (1991). Sion and Steffan left shortly afterwards (the latter going on to form Welsh-language rap group Tystion) and drummer Osian Evans was recruited for second cassette Peiriant Pleser (1992).

Euros Childs' sister Megan Childs (violin) subsequently joined the group and the band signed to the Welsh record label Ankst. The band's first release for the label was Patio (1992), a 10" collection of various live, home and studio recordings (this was later expanded for the 1995 CD version) which John Cale once proclaimed to be his 'favourite album ever'. Gorky's also released a number of singles and EPs on Ankst, demonstrating a taste for psychedelia and playfulness evidently inspired by the Canterbury scene of the 1960s and 1970s (Kevin Ayers' album Shooting at the Moon is cited in the notes to Tatay as "the best LP of all time", and the record also includes a version of Robert Wyatt's "O, Caroline"). The band began to be championed by BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel (other than that, it was extremely rare to hear Welsh-language music on such a station).