Gez Varley

In the wake of LFO's near-collapse during the closing years of the 1990s, with Mark Bell turning his attention to production work alongside Björk among others, Gez Varley—the remaining member of the pair—launched a solo path via a 1997 release on Studio !K7. Supporters who had cherished the group's 1991 album Frequencies, long regarded as among the finest electronic records ever made, endured more than half a decade anticipating new material before the project's conclusion followed closely on the heels of the duo's second effort, Advance, issued in 1996. Influences from Varley's formative appreciation of hip-hop and electro, encompassing figures like Juan Atkins, Mantronix, and Arthur Baker, resonated distinctly throughout his debut solo outing, Gez Varley Presents Tony Montana. The spring of 2001 saw the arrival of Bayou Paradis.