Deccan Traps The Deccan Traps (Blue/White)

Neil Fairclough, Lois Fairclough, John Dagnall, Neil Edwards, Andy Treacey and Johnny Heyes met at Manchester Music College in early 1990s. In addition to becoming lifelong friends, they have worked together on and off ever since. The Deccan Traps project began when Neil F, Lois and John started writing songs together over a decade ago. As Lois is Neil’s sister and now John’s wife, the chemistry was immediate. Between them, they had a shared passion for Rock, Funk, Jazz and Classical music, having grown up listening to everything from Queen and Rainbow to Stevie Wonder and Weather Report, to Mozart and Prokofiev. However, they were writing epic Rock songs and wanted to create an brilliant Rock band with the guys to do the music justice; not only to record but to play live. Only one thing missing… Ricardo! Big songs needed a big singer; enter Ricardo Afonso. Ricardo was born in Angola, Africa but grew up in Portugal. After singing in local bands, he made the move to London to take up the lead role of Galileo in Queen’s musical We Will Rock You at the Dominion theatre, London and blitzed the role of Judas in Andrew Lloyd Webbers Rock Musical Jesus Christ Superstar at the Barbican. Neil had been the touring bass player for Queen + Adam Lambert since 2011, a position he still occupies today. Through some mutual friends, Neil reached out to Ricardo and following a meeting in a back street pub in London, it was immediately obvious that Ricardo was not only a phenomenal vocalist but also the musical soulmate that they were looking for. The Deccan Traps was born. Initial recordings with the now completed line-up began at Parr Street, the legendary Liverpool recording studio, but shortly after disaster struck when Ricardo suffered a career ending medical problem with his vocal cords. It looked like The Deccan Traps was over before it had begun. Ricardo returned to Portugal to recuperate and reassess his options. In between tours, the rest of TDT continued recording the backing tracks, backing vocals and solos, with the sad realisation that eventually, they would have to find a new singer. However, unbeknownst to the rest of The Deccan Traps, Ricardo had been secretly, slowly and patiently working with a vocal specialist in Portugal to bring his voice back so he could complete the recordings ̶ it worked. He flew into Liverpool and after an incredibly hardcore vocal recording session (9 tracks in two days!), the songs could be completed. The guys put finishing touches to the recordings, rehearsing in Manchester ready to launch in the early part of 2020 after Neil completed the Queen + Adam Lambert tour in the Far East. Then the pandemic hit… With Ricardo in Portugal and the rest of the guys split between Manchester and London, rather than being defeated by the disappearance of gigs and international travel and postpone release.. The album also includes songs, Spellbound, Until You Love Me, Are You Ready To Rock, Beautiful and Dream of a Thousand Nights. Dream of a Thousand Nights is the centrepiece of the album which shows that when two opposing sides will not yield, when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object, chaos ensues. The song features an epic guitar fanfare and an introspective, bluesy guitar solo played by none other than Queen legend, Brian May. Brian also contributes his voice to beautifully narrate one of the most iconic passages from cosmologist Carl Sagan’s Pale Blue Dot speech at the closing of the song. TDT were delighted to have the words authorised by Ann Druyan, Carl Sagan’s wife and cosmological partner.