COUNTY Durham-based band Lowdown release their debut EP on the Mutilated Notes label on October 30. The CD is the result of a bizarre series of events which culminated in Lowdown being created in 2009.

It was formed when reclusive musician and composer, Gary Chaplin, met with an old school friend Michael Ollier at a musical gathering in Wearside.

“I had not seen Mike in over 20 years, yet we found our interests had remained strangely in tandem over the years.” says Chaplin, who found fame in the late Seventies as the guitarist and songwriting dynamo behind the North-East’s premier punk ensemble, Penetration.

Since that early brush with fame Chaplin has shunned the mainstream music business, concentrating his creativity on soundtrack work for the television industry. The pair were joined by the rhythm machine of Dave Haskins (bass) and Steve Ford (drums), both hailing from the West Country.

A launch gig takes place at the historic Everyman Theatre, Spennymoor on October 30. The theatre is part of the Spennymoor Settlement. “I have a family link with this place and it is very dear to me. It is a special place with a unique atmosphere and great acoustics,”

says Chaplin whose uncle, acclaimed writer Sid Chaplin, was one of the founders of the Settlement. The EP will be available as a limited edition to buy at the venue on the night and will become a download from the beginning of November.