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February 24th, 2023 - Back In The Time Machine album is released on all download and streaming sites by Rock Avenue Records USA. February 2023 - UK Live gigs announced for this August, Blues Bar, Tring, Herts on the 3rd, The Piper, Hastings/St.Leonards on the 5th. February 2023 - The follow-up, Scarlet Lady is released to radio stations worldwide. October 2022 - Angel From The Sky released as a the first single from the upcoming remixed Back In The Time machine album. August 2021 to August 2022 - Producer Harvey Summers remixes and refurbishes the Back In The Time Machine album from the ground up, for worldwide release by Rock Avenue Records USA. July 2020 - - Factory signed a deal with Rock Avenue Records USA, and they released the Aiming High album worldwide on September 25th! April 2020 - Factory return with their second album, "Aiming High", their follow-up to 2016's "Back In The Time Machine". Again the songs are all based on original songs written in their earlier incarnation in the '70s. All the original members are involved - Tony Qunta, lead guitar, electric violin & vocals - Andy Qunta, keyboards, electric 12-string guitar, vocals - Laurie Cooksey, drums & vocals - Jaffa Peckham, bass & vocals - plus Jaffa's replacement from '74-'76, bassist Steve Kinch, on 6 of the tracks. As usual with Factory, there is a lot of variety in the material, from shorter more commercial songs, to longer, more adventurous ones. With superb production by Harvey Summers, this is an album for all music-lovers who appreciate '70s creativity brought up to date. |
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AIMING HIGH SONG NOTES Free & Easy (L.Cooksey/A.Qunta) Towards the end of our first incarnation in 1976, our managers were asking us to write hit singles, which we had not really bothered much about before. This was Laurie's attempt. Andy wrote the lyrics to his music, and gave the song its title. Dreams of Home (T.Qunta) Everyone can relate to the feeling when one is apart from a loved one. Born a Dreamer (A.Qunta) This was the one song we demo'd at Roger Daltrey's studio in the '70s that he said he didn't like, much to our surprise. He still let us record it, fortunately, as that's how we knew how it went when we recorded it for this album. Pinky (T.Qunta) Inspired by a chance viewing of a TV documentary about Israeli concert violinist, Pinchas Zukerman. Lamp Post Lil (G. Peckham) Geoff/Jaffa: Lil was a skinny woollen doll with ruby lips and starburst eyes, that was given to me by our friend, Alex. She named her after someone who might be seen leaning on a lamp post, offering "some company". Lil used to appear on stage with us, whenever we played her song. Sadly, she now resides in that doll's house in the sky, but luckily I'd written this song to remember her by. Mama Called Me (A.Qunta) A bluesy song inspired by Free. No idea where the storyline came from, it just seemed to go with the music. I See The Sun (A.Qunta) Andy: Like most of my songs, it came from just noodling around, this time on the 12-string. I'm still trying to work out what the lyrics mean. Apparently they came from somewhere in my subconscious, and by-passed my brain. Want Your Love Right Now (A.Qunta) Andy: The first time we got together, in May 1970, Laurie was bashing around, checking his drums were positioned to his liking. I heard a great rhythm in there, and asked him to play it again. Of course he didn't know what he had played, so I hummed it to him, as best I could remember. That rhythm was the inspiration for the song. Ice Age (G.Peckham) Geoff/Jaffa: When listening to tone poems and symphonies on old 78s as a child, I was captivated by the recurring musical figures and motifs in different guises (time signatures and keys). This was my first attempt at assimilating it into the Rock idiom. (Howard was the second). The subject matter was a climate change fear I'd read about and absorbed. I was perhaps ahead of my time, albeit the wrong way round!.. Razzle Dazzle Man (A.Qunta) Our managers were always asking us to write more commercial songs. We had given them several that we thought would fit the bill, but they kept saying they wanted even more commercial. We hoped this song would finally shut them up. Their reaction was "just take out the guitar solos, and you'll be on the right track!" Aiming High (A.Qunta) Andy: I always intended to play organ with Factory, but it was over a year after the band formed before I could actually afford one. This was the first song I wrote on it. Most of the lyrics were written shortly before this new version was recorded, as the original lyrics were never completed. Out With A Bang(A.Qunta) We used to end our live set with our heaviest and best-known song, Time Machine. It was hard to follow it when the audience wanted an encore, which was, let's face it, most of the time. We thought if we could come up with a new song to end with, we could keep Time Machine for the encore. So, what would that song be? Well, we definitely want to go out with a bang. Ah, there's the title! What could it be about? Double-entendre to the rescue |
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December 2019 - Work continues on Factory's 2nd album, due for release by the Spring. It has again been recorded at Broadoak Studios in Bexhill, UK, as was the first album, with Harvey Summers once again in the role of engineer & producer. Basic tracks began in August, and now it's the mixing stage. The tracks are all original, and vary from radio-friendly, shorter tracks, to more progressive pieces. As always with Factory, it is full of great musicianship and vocal harmonies. |
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April 2016 -  |
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After
45 years of incubation, Factory finally felt that the world was ready
to hear the band’s musical creations. With the help of that Internet
thingy, Andy, Lol, Tone and Jaffa reconnected as the original lineup of
the band. They confessed that they had each always wanted to reunite to
record an album and play live together. As Andy was stuck in LA (poor chap,) the other three started rehearsing from the summer of 2014. In March 2015, Andy crossed the pond and the band spent a week in an undisclosed location somewhere in France for intense rehearsals after which they played an emotional gig in a bar nearby, Andy then returned to the US. That October, Factory resurfaced in the UK as a four-piece again. After a few days of rehearsal, they entered Broadoak Studios. Under the guidance of the all-knowing Harvey Summers, they proceeded to record the long awaited album. All the songs had been performed during Factory’s first incarnation (1970-76) and were faithfully remembered and relearned using old studio reel-to-reels and a cassette tape of a 1974 live gig recorded in Peterborough UK found in various cellars and attics. You can get the album now online at CD Baby, iTunes, Amazon and at our upcoming gigs! |
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Now, here's Andy's track-by-track take on the album: Back... serves as an intro to the album, suggesting the sounds of Factory's time machine in full flight! A remix of the new version of Factory's best-known song, Time Machine, taking us "back in the time machine" to a piece of the original 1971 recording. Call of the Wild bursts right in with the full force of Factory. Originally conceived as a live set opener, you can tell right away this a band that means business. It features lyrics full of positive messages, vocal harmonies, 6 & 12-string guitars, and thundering drums and bass. Castle On The Hill has a more folk-rock feel, with tinkly guitar sounds, and a story inspired by a view of Hastings Castle. Factory originally recorded this song in 1971, as the B-side of Time Machine. At that time there were just two verses, and the song took 18 minutes to write. 45 years later a new verse was added, so the song finally took about 45 years and 18 minutes to write! |
| Lightning From
Heaven
is another rocker, originally featuring the violin. When the band
reformed in 2015, Tony hadn't played the violin in decades, so while he
was getting back to speed on it, he played guitar instead at
rehearsals. By the time of recording, he could play equally well on
either instrument, so in fact ended up playing both! What a sound! Angel From The Sky is another up-tempo song, already becoming very popular, thanks to its newly-released video. This song sums Factory up perfectly - all the band showing off their instrumental skills and vocal harmonies, on an exciting and catchy song. Amulci is a slightly quirky song about an ancient Egyptian rat catcher. (You don't hear that every day!) Musically it has a foot in Prog Rock, and the band definitely has some playing to do, but it has a driving beat you can tap your foot to. Tonight's The Night brings us back to straight ahead pop-rock, with harmony vocals, and also harmonies between the 6 and 12-string guitars and the 4-string bass, and some Hammond for good measure. Scarlet Lady is a song that has been described as "classy pop". Swirling keyboards and vocal harmonies, with twin lead vocals alternating between falsetto and full voice. The verses have an unusual time signature, but the band handle this so smoothly that it's hardly noticeable. Am I Dreaming, Am I Mad has Factory back in Prog-land. It's a song in two halves. The first half starts with a jazzy feel, and then goes through a few changes and has a more thoughtful feel. The second half rocks, with classical chords and great vocal harmonies. Lol's Jig is a tune written by Laurie, which originally just featured Tony on the violin. By the time Factory reformed, Jaffa had learned to play the button accordion, which he added as well. Lady Muck is an out and out rocker, with a heavy guitar riff, overdriven Hammond, and more thundering bass and drums. Unusually for this kind of song, it is laced with soaring vocal harmonies. (FYI, Lady Muck is British slang for a female who thinks and acts like she's something, but really isn't). I'll Sing You A Song almost sounds like a traditional Irish folk-song, but is actually an original by Tony, featuring his amazing violin playing. It has a great call and response chorus, and goes through a few changes, all of which have a great beat for dancing. It's always a favourite part of the live set. Howard is Factory's epic tour-de-force. A long song brilliantly conceived by Jaffa, and featuring just about everything the band is about. Starting with solo electric 12-string guitar, it builds through several changes and moods, from mouse-quiet to full-on rocking! Great lead vocals, harmonies, drumming, bass playing, guitar playing, layered keyboards, it all adds up to a very impressive track. As a bonus, we have what may be the first example of the sound of crying on a rock song, thanks to Laurie's acting skills! As The Crow Flies has a more simple, folky sound with "love song" lyrics. Originally this was a song Factory did only to fill in time when Tony broke a string. When they recorded a version at Roger Daltrey's studio in the early days, Tony added slide guitar. For this he used one of Pete Townshend's guitars, which was hanging on the wall. When the band first went there, the neck was hanging off it, but it had since been repaired enough that it could be used. By the time of the new recording, although Tony had again played slide guitar, Andy had thought of a melody for the solo, which he persuaded Tony to play on the violin. Time Machine was always the climax of Factory's set, and was their best-known song. It is full of excitement, with Tony's guitar riffs and solos, Jaffa's wonderfully original bass playing, Laurie's drums sounding like he must have two sets of limbs, and Andy producing vocal sounds previously only heard from robots! There is nowhere to go by the end of this track, except back...in the time machine! |
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