Indus Rush is the vehicle of Stephen Whitby's own songs and productions written by himself, friends and collaborators and is entirely recorded in his Dalbeattie Studio, tucked away in Dumfries & Galloway, South West Scotland. Stephen started making music at High School in the 70’s but left the UK in 1979 at the advent of Thatcherism. After stints in Holland, Belgium and Thailand over a period of 30 years, he finally made it back to Scotland in 2008, together with his Thai wife and 3 children. Most of Steve’s music career was spent playing with European, American, Australasian and British musicians performing and blending many styles of music from around the world, playing in a glorious beachfront setting called Secret Garden, on the Thai island of Koh Samui. Some of the most notable performers Steve played with included Adrian Fisher (Sparks), David Glasper and Ian “Spike” Spice (Breathe), John "Sparko" Sparks (Doctor Feelgood), Mathew Kelly (Kingfish & The Grateful Dead), G Carlsberg (Herman Broods Wild Romance) Wölli Münchhausen (Die Toten Hosen) Jaap de Jonckheere (Urban Heroes) and Hans Vermeulen (producer and ex Sandy Coast front man) to name but a few. ‘Upon returning to Scotland it’s taken a few years to get settled and organised, but now I’m starting to be creative again, and so here are a few songs from over the years, some old, some new, but all of them being relevant in my move from Asia to Scotland, hence “From The East Down to The West.”’ Two of the songs will be known to Samui ex pats who frequent Secret Garden,as they were from that era and played live at Secret Garden every Sunday. Two other songs were written and recorded in demo form there and the rest are a mixture of ideas written down when I was at school and completely new songs written in the past year. Song synopsis by Steve himself: Land of Smiles (From the East) was written on Samui Island and James Whitby, my son, wrote the musical bridge and recorded the piano and drums in Scotland. I wrote the lyrics in Scotland too. It’s basically about leaving Thailand after living there for 20 years and returning to Scotland and the culture shock that ensues. I think you can probably guess what airline I flew out on!! Nowhere to Run to is a song about my childhood in Pakistan, where we lived as a family for 3 years. I mention the beautiful Khaghan Valley on the edge of Kashmir, as I remember it as a most beautiful place. And then the journey from there, with someone chasing me, ending up in Thailand, which is where I ended up all those years later. I always wanted to drive across India on a Royal Enfield, but I haven’t done it yet… The Market Place is another song written about my time in Asia, this time when I was in the Middle East, even though it was written on Samui. It’s a memory of how life goes on in the Souk’s of Arab countries and how similar it is to our market places and Pubs in Thailand and Europe. It's only the setting that's different, as you see, we are all basically the same, regardless of colour or creed. Mandingo started off as a project I had at College last year (2013) and became my first Techno tune. I think it’s easy going enough to win over a few of you older listeners and invite you to enjoy some of the great music electronic musicians and DJ’s are making these days. I recommend an afternoon on Soundcloud… Crackin’ Up was written by my good friend Tom Cleland from Woking, Surrey and later from Margate, Kent. I changed a lot of the song and added some lyric changes to suit my style. Tom started it all off in the late 80’s when he used to play the Pubs around the town. We used to play this song Live in Koh Samui when I was with The Big Buddha Blues Band. I Wonder Just How Long was another song from that era, and we played it Live as well on Samui. I wrote this song at school when I was about 17, and pulled it out of the Bag of old Songs some time in the 90’s. This new version has a bridge in it which I wrote this year whilst recording, and it refers to the boatman taking souls across the Styx. It compares Happiness and Depression and how that can lead to suicide…charming subject I know, but it just came out that way after a good friend passed away in that scenario. I Ain’t Scared of The Dark no More is about kids being scared in the dark at bedtime, and about being scared when they get lost in the park and so on. It’s a new song and was started pretty much by accident whilst I was messing about with GarageBand on Lex’s iPad. It gradually got developed into what it is now over a period of about 6 months. The Love Ambassadors is just an anti war song which I wrote this year. I guess you can gather what it’s about by the lyrics, how I remember John and Yoko in their beds in Amsterdam trying to get publicity for peace and Love. I’ve always loved John Lennon's anti war stance and the way he pushed his ideas and dreams through his music. Neil Young gets a mention too, I was thinking about a certain Southern song…and it’s implications and meaning. You Keep Throwing My Heart Away is a song I wrote with James…..well, it’s the same song, but with different mix, chorus and texts, and a whole different meaning. So it completes the journey from the dream of Koh Samui to the real world back here in Scotland, back in the West, with it’s macho culture and it’s aggressive lifestyle….I wonder how I’m going to follow this album up? I hope you enjoy it! Steve (Indus Rush)