Big Men Cry

Banco de Gaia is the pseudonym of Englishman Toby Marks. Named after a secret Italian masonic order dedicated to the irradication of 'wires on sticks' (i.e telephone poles), Marks began using the moniker in 1991. While Banco de Gaia's works are probably best categorized as ambient dub, Marks' recordings seek to cross genres, often using Arabic and Middle Eastern samples against a bass heavy reggae, rock, or trance rhythm to produce deeply layered and textured electronic effects.

Marks began playing the drums in a heavy metal band at age 14, though he'd moved to a more pop-rock style by the time he'd turned 22 and relocated to Portugal to play Beatles tunes for tourists. His first foray into electronica was 3 years later, when he bought his first digital sampler in 1989.

Inspired by the acid-house explosion of the late '80s, Marks began recording as Banco de Gaia, introducing elements of Eastern and Arabic music and other exotic sources to the standard electronica ambient-dub rhythms. His initial cassette-only albums were released in the early '90s and distributed through a network of clubs and artists known as Planet Dog. When Planet Dog became a record label, Banco de Gaia debuted on disc in November 1993 with the EP "Desert Wind", followed by his first full album "Maya" the following year, and an album about the Chinese invasion of Tibet, "Last Train to Lhasa", in 1995. Following the live concert recording, "Live at Glastonbury" in 1996, Marks began to move away from the preconceptions of a Banco de Gaia project with "Big Men Cry". Released July 7, 1997 on the Planet Dog/Mammoth Records label, the album expands the ambient dub bent of his previous work to include tribal drumming and live instrumentation, organized and tweaked to perfection by Marks' mature studio capabilities.

His most recent recording was 2006's Farewell Ferengistan for Six Degrees Records.

Track 3: "Drunk As A Monk": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAVM29nUCQ0

Track 4: "Big Men Cry": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjKn1qFb4NE&feature=PlayList&p=46377E4D8A...

Banco de Gaia recorded live--video for "Kincajou", original version on 1995's "Last Train to Lhasa": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ldzDwtl6ak