Yarky
Guitar, Backing Vocals
Yarky, real name Paul Dean, has been playing in bands for over a decade. His first band (aged 15) was the wonderfully named Icarus, a "horribly bad, 80's hair rock throwback band." He even remembers the first song he wrote "It was called Don't Cry, and it was... well, pretty pathetic really. I was the lead singer for the band, but then they realized I really couldn't sing, but they wanted me to stay in the band for my songwriting- so I became the bass player."
Three years later, Yarky took up guitar at Oxford and started a long career of singer/songwriting. "I suddenly found myself in a position where I wasn't surrounded by musicians any more. I still had a burning drive to write songs, so I picked up a cheap guitar and taught myself how to play. I learnt G, D and C and wrote a soppy love ballad." It wasn't until he went to America, in 1999, though that Yarky got the confidence to start singing at some open mic slots. "I'd been writing songs for years and playing them at parties or when my friends came around. Then one day a friend told me about an open mic night, and I just thought "why not?" I'd been an actor and I'd even danced in front of 2,000 people and been on TV, I figured I should be able to play a few songs. It was a real watershed moment for me. I was playing my own material to over one hundred people a night, and it made me realize just how important it is for people to hear your music." (And yes, there was the Chad Deveaux Factor - another Vaughan 'special' idea :) )
After close to five years in the states, Yarky returned at the end of 2003. "Music was a big part of my reason for leaving. I'd been practicing as a lawyer, and all of a sudden I realized I hadn't written anything in nearly two years. I quit my job, went on a 10,000 mile 'voyage of self discovery' kind of thing and recorded a song called 'numb' that got some airplay on local radio. When I came home the first thing I did was search the internet for somewhere to play, and somehow I ended up in Bolton." In December 2003, Yarky found himself singing for Any Day Now with bass player Adam Farmer. Though the band only played one gig, and lasted just two months, Yarky and Adam founded Inaudible Magazine, which led to Inaudible Music Ltd and the release of Manchester's premiere music magazine.
Yarky met Gab and Heather and together they formed Out Of The Gray in December 2004. "Joining this band has been like finally making it home for me. I've watched over 1,000 bands with Inaudible, and I can safely say i'm privilleged to be working with not just one but two of the best singers I've ever heard. When I get ploughed under with work and the magazine, the one thing I have to look forward to is playing a gig or practicing with the band. I've never had it so good! Every gig we're winning over fans, we haven't had a bad gig yet - and that just drives me to strive harder and get better everyday. It was hard at first having someone else sing my songs - but I can't imagine anyone else I'd rather have singing them now."
