BIOGRAPHY
Duncan formed his first band The Flood in the UK in 1985 attracting interest from Chrysalis Records. After the band dissolved, producer Ronnie Stone (THE PIXIES, DAVID GRAY and MANSUN) suggested Duncan as a worthy replacement for the guitar player who had just left Irish band PICTURE HOUSE, then with London Records.
By the end of 1993, Duncan was a full time member and one of the bands principal songwriters signing a deal with Chrysalis publishing. In 1994, Duncan moved to Ireland and a few months later, the London Records relationship came to an end. The band recorded their self-financed EP Probably in 1995 and support slots with THE KINKS, BIG COUNTRY and THE SAW DOCTORS followed.
Following a licensing deal made with German label Koch International, the band recorded their debut album "Shine Box" which included Duncan's song "Fan Club" and a track he penned with Pete Glenister, "Heavenly Day", which became a massive Irish radio hit. The album was released to widespread acclaim
- ".the excellent 'Fan Club' ranks among the best songs never recorded by the Beatles " - John Walshe, Hot Press
Intensive gigging followed including support slots with Bon Jovi and a Polish festival appearance. The band continued to tour Europe the following year and in 1998 began work on their second album "Karmarama" for which Duncan wrote many songs, including "Sunburst", which went on to become the bands biggest record.
In March 1998, the band accompanied THE CORRS on their breakthrough UK tour and subsequently signed a deal with Warner Ireland for the distribution of "Karmarama", preceded by the single "Sunburst". Both album and single received massive acclaim and reached the upper regions of the charts. After the success of the second single "All The Time In The World" (co-written by Duncan and Dave Browne) the band embarked on a string of sell-out shows across Ireland.
The beginning of 1999 saw "Sunburst" being used in a two year long TV ad campaign and the band playing Wembley Arena shows with THE CORRS and MEATLOAF. However, around this time, Duncan began to feel that PICTURE HOUSE had reached their peak and would be unable to progress much further. So, after a gruelling tour of Germany with MEATLOAF, he eventually made the difficult decision to leave and pursue his own solo interests.
After a short sabbatical, Duncan got involved with the highly acclaimed Irish band PUGWASH whom he had worked with briefly in 1998. He also began recording his own material at home and enjoyed several successful solo gigs across the country.
2001 saw Duncan gigging solo and with PUGWASH, as well as playing on their second album, the highly praised "Almanac". He also composed the soundtrack to a short film which went on to win an award at an Italian film festival. On top of this, "Sunburst" was featured in the comedy film "The Most Fertile Man In Ireland". At the end of the year, an acoustic version of his song "God Wont Mind" appeared on the Phutloose compilation "Its All Good".
More gigs and recording followed in 2002, along with a video being shot for the song "Terry The Toad". In August 2002, Duncan appeared at the Temple Bar Music Centre alongside other acts who were filmed for a mooted DVD called "It's All Live" for Phutloose. The release of the DVD was postponed but the master tapes were used to mix four tracks for Duncans live EP, "Live Alien", which was released March 2003 on the back of a nationwide tour with Irish band WOODSTAR.
Following on from this, Duncan returned to the recording studio in 2004 with PUGWASH to commence work on their third studio album, playing alongside XTCs DAVE GREGORY and the SECTION QUARTET at the infamous ABBEY ROAD studios. The recording of this album stretched on throughout the next year, during which time Duncan ventured into production work, working with COLIN HARE of much loved 60's wonders THE HONEYBUS on his "Down From Pittswood" E.P and ultimately alongside Jon Astley, famous for his remastering and production work with THE WHO and THE ROLLING STONES. He also found time to compose soundtrack music for the independent horror film "Detained" - a zombie flick which gathered great reviews for both film and music.
The beginning of 2005 saw Duncan returning to songwriting, co-penning the song "Anchor" with XTCs ANDY PARTRIDGE and PUGWASH's Thomas Walsh in time for the completion of the third Pugwash album, now titled "Jollity". Leading on from this involvement, Duncan was asked to contribute keyboards to the XTC song "Say It", penned by the group's bass player COLIN MOULDING and included on the band's APPLE BOX release.
