The group was formed by
Euros Childs (vocals and keyboards),
John Lawrence (vocals and guitar) and
Richard James (bass guitar) whilst still at
Bro Myrddin Welsh Comprehensive School in Carmarthen. Beyond their main roles in the band, all three were multi-instrumentalists and often swapped around instruments both in the studio and onstage. With Sion Lane (keyboards) and
Steffan Cravos (violin) added to the lineup, Gorky's recorded the self-released cassette
Allumette (1991). Sion and Steffan left shortly afterwards (the latter going on to form
Welsh language rap group
Tystion) and drummer Osian Evans was recruited for second cassette
Peiriant Pleser (1992). Euros Childs' sister Megan Childs (violin) subsequently joined the group and the band signed to the Welsh record label
Ankst. The band's first release for the label was
Patio (1992), a 10" collection of various live, home and studio recordings (this was later expanded for the 1995 CD version) which
John Cale once proclaimed to be his 'favourite album ever'. Gorky's also released a number of singles and EPs on Ankst, demonstrating a taste for
psychedelia and playfulness evidently inspired by the
Canterbury scene of the 1960s and 1970s (
Kevin Ayers' album
Shooting at the Moon is cited in the notes to
Tatay as "the best LP of all time", and the record also includes a version of
Robert Wyatt's "O, Caroline"). The band began to be championed by
BBC Radio 1 DJ
John Peel (other than that, it was extremely rare to hear Welsh-language music on such a station). In 1994 Gorky's released their first full studio album,
Tatay. By 1995, Euros Rowlands had replaced Osian Evans on drums in time to record a second album –
Bwyd Time – which featured a wide range of instrumentation (such as the parts for the
celesta and
sitar credited on "Iechyd Da"). Both albums were produced by
Alan Holmes who also provided their colourful artwork. These early releases show a huge range of influences and styles: "Thema o Cartref", the opening track of
Tatay, for example, is a relatively gentle
harmonium-backed song, while "When You Hear the Captain Sing" appears to be a tribute of sorts to
Captain Beefheart and "Amsermaemaiyndod/cinema" presents one song in the right channel and a completely different one in the left. The 1996 compilation ''Introducing Gorky's Zygotic Mynci'' (the band's first release in America) compiled material from the Ankst album and singles and summed up this phase of Gorky's career. Now attracting the interest of larger record labels, Gorky's left Ankst and signed to Fontana Records. Their next album,
Barafundle (1997), was produced by
Gorwel Owen who had also worked with the
Super Furry Animals. The wide-ranging instrumentation remained ("Diamond Dew" has a prominent part for the
jaw harp) and there were still psychedelic touches, but the album as a whole was more laid back than their earlier work, tending more towards
folk music. This gentler direction was largely maintained and refined in their later records, though the occasional poppier and rockier number, such as "Poodle Rockin'" from
Spanish Dance Troupe or "Mow the Lawn" from
Sleep/Holiday, continued to crop up. Following their fifth album – 1998's appropriately-titled
Gorky 5, which was released on Fontana's sister label Mercury Records – the band were dropped by Fontana. They quickly signed to
Mantra Recordings (a division of the Beggars' Banquet label). In 1999, Gorky's released their first album for Mantra,
Spanish Dance Troupe. This would be the last Gorky's album to feature input from founder member John Lawrence, who left the group during the recording sessions. Richard James took on Lawrence's former role of main guitarist, and Gorky's also recruited former
Ffa Coffi Pawb member Rhodri Puw as a sideman to play guitar and bass guitar on tour. In 2000, Gorky's appeared with
John Cale in a movie called
Beautiful Mistake, in which they performed 1994 album track "O Caroline II". In the same year, the band released an acoustic mini-album called
The Blue Trees in 2000, after which drummer Euros Rowlands left Gorky's to take up a career in teaching. Rowlands was replaced by former Topper drummer Peter Richardson, and at around the same time Rhodri Puw was confirmed as being a full member of the band. This lineup of Gorky's recorded and toured two more albums –
How I Long to Feel That Summer in My Heart (2001) and
Sleep/Holiday (2003, on the
Sanctuary Music label). The latter would prove to be the final Gorky's Zygotic Mynci album. Although Euros Childs and Richard James would spend time working on separate projects for a while, the band did not announce their formal split until May 2006. In 2010 Richard James and Euros Childs performed at
Dan Rebellato's wedding, with him later telling
Lauren Laverne via Twitter, "We somehow got Gorky's Zygotic Mynci to reform and play our wedding last year, so it was wall-to-wall musical awesomeness". They've also collaborated on other short-term occasions, such as the online music video series "Outside My House" (2014). James and the Childs siblings also performed at the
Charlotte Greig memorial concert in Cardiff in 2014. Wales Online's David Owens called the band "one of the most original and unique bands in the history of Welsh music.” ==Origin of the band name==