Krel

Real Name: Martin M
Back in 1988, Martin M. (guitars, keyboards, synthesizers, voices) and Radar Dave (guitars, voices) - who had formed a band called Moonstone, playing Hawkwind covers and original material - were inspired by Nik Turner's 'Watching The Grass Grow' to be more immersed in space rock scene. They recruited Mr. Dibs (bass) and Floyd (keyboards, synths) for the organization of a new space rock band Purple Otter Trotters, playing a gig for the Traveller's Aid Trust in Manchester and releasing a tape titled Mike Moorcock's Underpants, a creditable collection of Hawkwind covers. In the next year the band was reborn as KREL, with the addition of a new drummer Mike Man.

KREL made a great effort into gigging around Stockport and Manchester to promote their self-produced debut cassette 'Who's Next On This', and gained fame with their live performances or as a competent supporter for the famous space rock outfits, including gigs with Ozric Tentacles in Manchester and Wolverhampton. Asked to play a couple of support slots for Hawkwind at Bradford and York as a small taster for the British spring 1992 tour, KREL continued to gig locally as well as playing at a Club Dog event in London. They spent next few months rehearsing as well as recording lots of materials for the next cassette album 'Dark Star', which was released to accompany the British tour with Hawkwind. Over 45,000 people could get enthusiastic over KREL's performances with their original audio-visual system.

In May 1993, the next cassette album 'Earth Zero' could achieve high levels of interest, particularly in Europe. Although Mike Man was replaced by Gibo as a drummer, KREL could keep active and accept the invitation to support the Enid for charity gigs of National Association for Bikers with a Disability (NABD). In 1995, after Mr. Dibs' leaving the band for the formation of Spacehead, KREL recorded the excellent 'About Time (to Emit)' tape, almost a solo work by Martin M. and exactly the basis of their debut CD. 'About Time (to Emit)' was reworked & polished into a complete work 'As Astra', that was approved and released in 1996 by Dead Earnest label.

Nothing has been heard from KREL around the new millennium but Dead Earnest had planned to release a compilation CD of the remastered tracks from the previous cassette-only works. In 2003 Dead Earnest decided to ask Martin for releasing KREL's new album. This request was not his pleasure, but eventually their new work - consisting of tracks from the unreleased 1992 Shed Studio sessions, live tracks from their tour opening for Hawkwind in 1992, plus newer material - 'Out Of Space' was released in 2004.