Lucas Trouble by Fany Choursoglou
ONE FOR ALL...
Taken from us all too soon.
As Mark Enbatta he was the founding member of the Vietnam Veterans, their songwriter and main vocalist. He was an interesting guitarist but he always saw hiself as a singer songwriter, first and foremost. His musical influences were broad but his love of psychedelic sounds were at the heart of all his group work. His solo works were sometimes acoustic, a more stripped down sound that let his voice come to the fore… and what a voice! In some cases those songs were later developed as band songs, given the psychedelic magic of all those he played with.
As part of his legacy I will keep this website online, so people can read his lyrics and words, see the photos of the band members and the great times they all shared together in the various VV guises. Although I won’t be running the store, the last three albums, A Fistful of Love, Mark Enbatta's Tribe and Mark Enbatta, are available to download and will remain so. A Fistful of Love, on vinyl is available through Nova Express and Mark Enbatta’s Tribe, on vinyl and CD through Bam Balam records.
He was also, a loving, intelligent, funny, kind and generous man, with everyone. One I feel personally priviledged to have graced my life for many decades. Together, we shared so many things, not least his music and the art he inspired me to create for him down the years.
I miss you honey.
Bluebird
Hello, happy taxpayers. Welcome to the world of Mark Enbatta's Tribe!
You maybe know I'm the only remaining member of the original Vietnam Veterans...
I've decided that this name won't be used anymore for new records or gigs.
Lucas wasn't an original member but I will keep this decision until he stops being dead.
This is the collection of all of my music from The Vietnam Veterans, The Vietnam Chain, The Gitanes, The Thyrd Twin and my solo work, ME.
The TRIBE is more than a band. It's a chosen family...
Not only musicians might be members of the TRIBE and the line up of the band is an open one!
At the moment, Peter McConnel, Eric Lenoir, Erik Jeulin and I are holding the instruments whilst Zinzan Blue is minding the art but I hope Clarisse Bruyère and others are ready to join in! Soon into the studio to record a new album!
Mark Enbatta"s TRIBE album will be available on the 25th of October on vinyl and CD.
It's a worldwide release so you are not supposed to order from here! We will add it to our listing though... Postage became very expensive lately and I hope it will be available from your local dealers!
We wanted our first album as the TRIBE to sound in a way that would have impressed Lucas... Most of the songs have been written when we were still expecting him to record and play them.
He told me the kind of tapes he wanted for the session. I ordered them and they were waiting for us at the Kaiser Studio when we finally dared to work without HIM...
Now, our part of the job is done. Peter McConnel and I have achieved a fantastic production work. It took a lot of time but I'm sure Lucas would love it! He…
We're currently mixing 14 songs for the Mark Enbatta's TRIBE album. Quite a long work because new production ideas never stop coming in...
Eight of the new songs are already played on stage and perfectly fit with the older ones. Some of them already get more than just success when played live!
Click the picture for an excerpt from the gig. Not great quality but we hope to have a better film shortly.
Click picture for link to excerpt from the gig.
Catch a review of the gig by clicking on this text. Unfortunately it's only in French. Sorry guys!
After only two rehearsals, the tribe is ready to enter the recording studio... It won't happen before April but it's amazing how each guy understands the moods of all the songs! There will be more rehearsals in the Kaiser studio and I'm sure that everyone of us will bring new ideas for the final tapes...
13 original songs should be on the album. Maybe a cover too...
All of the Vietnam Veterans' songs have been written and brought to life with an acoustic guitar... Even Mark's guitar style is heavily influenced by the way an acoustic guitar is usually played. All along those recordings, you will hear much more than a guy singing and strumming his instrument. You will hear vocal harmonies, several instruments and a real production work. Even solo efforts like these ones are aimed to become band recordings. Just like the late PF Sloan's pre Grassroots or Barry McGuire's…
Read moreSince June 2015, I knew that Lucas would leave the Vietnam Veterans to join the Eternal Lost Stars Band. We couldn't blame him for it. Who would refuse to play with Jerry Garcia, Sky Saxon, John Lennon and Jimi Hendrix?
Many months before leaving us, he told me to ask his younger brother to take his place in the band. Emotionally it’s too heavy for Laurent... so we've decided that nobody would replace the one and only Kaiser.
Now the band is back to its original 1982-1983 form: bass, drums and two…
