FALLen IVORy - Biography

Biography - the men behind the music...

FALLen IVORy is the unsigned group name of David Smith & Joel Lawrence. We are an independant group with no manager or record label. All our music is only available online.

The name FALLen IVORy originated from our names: David FALL Smith and Joel IVOR John Lawrence. We got together by chance, after knowing eachother for many years we one day ended up having a jam together and before we even decided to start writing it all happened for us, we quickly started writing little rifs for eachothers tunes which soon lead to the start of 'Songbook'. 'Songbook' happened very quickly and is the debut album to emerge from our combined minds. Inspiration has come from various areas of life, both personal and other peoples. We cant describe how our sound evolved, it was an instant fusion of our own styles that has now become FALLen IVORy. Songbook is the first of many for us so watch this space !

David Smith - Born in 1978 and raised in South Shields, North East England. I started playing when I was 13. My dad bought me my first guitar, a Hohner Rockwood Electric and a small 5w Practice Amp along with the usual 'Play in a Day' with Bert Weedon.

The first song I ever practiced was wild wood by Paul Weller, a brilliant acoustic track to learn...My musical influences have come from Cream, Hendrix, Paul Weller, Ocean Colour Scene, Jack Johnson and also alot of world music artists such as...Ry Cooder, Ibrahim Ferrer, Ruben Gonzalez, Barbarito Torres, Eliades Ochoa, Orlando Cachaito Lopez, Manuel (Guajiro) Mirabal, (all of the buena vista social club) Afro Cuban All-Stars, Orchestra Baobab, Hossam Ramzy, Souad Massi...too many to list.

I also have a solo name: Fuego Rojo, this is my world music name and my latest album 'mi sonido' is a mix of flamenco, cuban, fusion jazz. Check it out at: www.redstonemedia.com/davesmith

Joel Lawrence - Born in 1985, I started playing guitar around the age of 12. From a very young age i developed an interest in music when I used to sit for hours making compilation tapes and watching TOTP (Top of the Pops).

I studied music at comprehensive school for 5 years then went on to college where I received an A-Level in music tech & Grade 3 Guitar.

I have been writing music for a few years now. I have a real variety of musical influences such as The Cure, Dashboard Confessional, Led Zeppelin, Thomas Newman, Neil Young, Foo Fighters, Nirvana, Eva Cassidy, Alanis Morrisete...these are just a few of the many many many many more...