Biography​

The arrival of Gary Clail at the On-U Sound stable brought with it the emergence of a previously undreamed raggamuffin tendency. Gary had come in from Bristol as an acquaintance of Mark Stewart and Gary’s background always turned out to be a good story – roofing, used cars, gypsies and then, the music. 

During the mid to late eighties Gary Clail became a regular warm-up for On-U gigs – with his “On-U Sound in the Area!!!!” crowd calls. The real impact of Gary was to introduce and roadtest new On-U rhythms and tunes, and also to re-version old favourites. Gary lifted X amount of cassettes of Sherwood mixes which otherwise would have been destined for an early tape wipe.
Gary made his first vinyl appearance back in October 1985 on “Half Cut For Confidence”. By the following year Gary appeared on the World Label – a venture between TackHead and John Loder of Southern Studios – the tune was “Hard Left”, with Gary taking the main credit. 1988 saw the release of “Reality” with the credits reversed and Gary as featured vocalist. Gary went on to negotiate future material through Paul Oakenfold’s Perfecto label. This union was to result in Gary’s appearance on TOTP, together with the wonderfully over the top Alan Pillay, when “Human Nature” became a number 10 UK chart position (by far the highest placing for an On-U act in its own right).
 The “End Of The Century Party” album was basically TackHead with Gary as lead vocalist and On-U Sound System was born!

“End Of The Century Party” was a follow-up to “TackHead Tape Time” effectively a greatest hits compilation released a year earlier via Nettwerk. “Beef” opened up the set and was radically reworked for its appearance as Gary’s first single on Perfecto. “Two Thieves and a Liar” is undoubtedly the top tune of the set, with a punishing bass line, great sample on the wickedness at work in the square mile, Bim Sherman crooning in sweet style in juxtaposition to Gary’s remonstrating chant, the effect is almost biblical in its impact.

Continuing Gary’s long-running theme of delivering lyrics concerning socially conscious current issues, “Privatise Pts 1 & 2” was particularly hard-hitting. Indeed the issue of privatisation was at its height under the Thatcher administration with the question raised “where would it all end?”. The track saw Gary as near as he got to a genuine early 80’s toasting style. The final track “A Man’s Place On Earth” finds Gary accompanied by ex-PIL man Keith Levene.

Gary Clail’s presence on the On-U Sound scene from the late eighties brought a new feeling of energy to the live gigs and he certainly got the best out of his bag for these tunes and the earlier singles.

Gary’s time under the wing of BMG / Perfecto probably brought him his biggest commercial success with “Dreamstealers” album.

A new deal was struck with Yelen Musiques in France for 1995’s album “Keep The Faith” which was generally well received and featured more of Clail’s characteristic lambasts against injustices of the world. 

During his time with Yelen, Gary was based in Paris and toured Europe playing in small to large venues, travelling with a carrier bagful of cassettes and DJing using 4-5 cassette decks. We believe that he is the only DJ in the world to do this! 

He slipped quietly out of the music scene in the late 1990s. He went on to buy a church in Penzance, England convert it into a guest house and then run it for several years. Since then, Gary has worked with the homeless and more recently has been working as a care worker, ‘practising what he preached in his music!’

In 2013 Clail formed the Gary Clail Sound System and began work on the album ‘Nail It To The Mast’. It was released on 15 December 2014.

In 2022, Clail released ‘Violence’.

https://garyclailsoundsystemviolence.bandcamp.com/album/violence-2

His performance in May 2023, on the Magical Sounds Stage at Bearded Theory Festival, totally smashed it, laying the groundwork for Gary’s long-awaited and welcome return to the live music circuit in 2024 playing brilliant shows at Alice’s Wicked Tea Party, Beautiful Days Festival, Shambala Festival and special guest of Pop Will Eat Itself at Manchester Academy and London Islington Assembly Hall, Moovin Festival, DeRanged Festival & Shiiine On Festival.