Bob Drake

Bob Drake is a recording engineer who, in his spare time, defined the ethos of avant-prog through his work with seminal bands like Thinking Plague and 5uu's. At first a bass and guitar player, he ended up touching every instrument known to mankind and fixed a couple of new ones in the process. He is also gifted with a high-pitched voice, not unlike that of Yes' Jon Anderson. He released a string of solo albums during the 1990s onward, each a more twisted aural journey than the previous one. But no matter how experimental Drake gets in his songs and producing, he usually keeps a foot in the rock realm. The rest of the time it stomps in bluegrass or Cajun. Drake spent high school experimenting with friends, showing an early interest in recording techniques and warped rock. After his studies, he settled down in Denver, CO, in the early '80s, working as a recording engineer in various studios. He recorded sound effects for B-series horror movies and a lot of local underground bands, some of which he also played with. The most important of these groups (although it wasn't obvious at the time) was Thinking Plague, which started circa 1982. The group self-released two LPs during the decade.

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