Tony Banks

Tony Banks

Anthony George Banks (born March 27, 1950, in East Hoathly, Sussex, England) is an English songwriter, pianist/keyboard player, and guitarist. He is one of the founding members of progressive rock/pop group Genesis, and he is one of only two members ・the other being guitarist/bassist Mike Rutherford ・to belong to Genesis throughout its entire history.
Banks had classical training in piano, and taught himself to play guitar. He attended Charterhouse School in the mid-1960s, where he met fellow student Peter Gabriel in 1965. Together with drummer Chris Stewart they formed a band called The Garden Wall. This band merged with another called Anon, which included Rutherford and Anthony Phillips. They recorded a set of demos which ultimately led to the formation of the band that became Genesis.
Banks's elaborate keyboard solos ・such as the piano intro to "Firth of Fifth" and the instrumental section of "The Cinema Show" ・helped to establish Genesis's sound. In addition to playing keyboards, Banks contributed to Genesis's 12-string acoustic passages ・in songs such as "The Musical Box" and the intro to "Supper's Ready" ・together with Steve Hackett and Mike Rutherford. Banks was also an occasional back-up vocalist and sang lead on 1970's unreleased "The Shepherd" (a duet with Peter Gabriel) which finally surfaced on the Genesis Archive 1967-75 boxed set.
Notable Banks-penned songs from the band's repertoire include "Mad Man Moon," "One for the Vine," and the anthemic ballad "Afterglow," which remained a popular exeunt to the Banks-driven "medleys" (conglomerations of Genesis's most popular keyboard solos)that the group played during live shows for years.
Equipment used by Tony Banks over the years:
From Genesis to Revelation - 1969Acoustic Piano
Trespass - 1970
Acoustic Piano Hammond L-122 tonewheel organ Hohner Pianet N Mellotron Mk II - hired from King Crimson
Nursery Cryme - 1971
Acoustic Piano [used on album only] Hammond L-122 tonewheel organ Hohner Pianet N Mellotron Mk II - hired from King Crimson
Foxtrot - 1972
Acoustic Piano [used on album only] Hammond L-122 tonewheel organ Hohner Pianet N Mellotron Mk II - hired from King Crimson
Selling England By The Pound - 1973
Acoustic Piano [used on album only] - notably Firth of Fifth Hammond T-102 tonewheel organ Hohner Pianet N Mellotron M400 - with the 3 violins, 8 voice choir and Brass tape sets. The flute set is used on The Battle of Epping Forrest ARP Pro-Soloist analogue synthesiszer
The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway - 1974
Acoustic Piano [used on album only] - Steinway - used on intro to The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway and elsewhere Hammond T-102 tonewheel organ RMI Electra 368 Electric piano Mellotron M400 - with the 3 violins, 8 voice choir and Brass tape sets ARP Pro-Soloist analogue synthesiszer ELKA RHAPSODY analogue synthesizer
A Trick of the Tail - 1976
Acoustic Piano [used on album only] Hammond T-102 tonewheel organ -> Leslie Rotating Speaker RMI Electra 368 Electric piano -> Fender Blender fuzz effect and MXR Phase 100 phaser Mellotron M400 - with the 3 violins, 8 voice choir and Brass tape sets-> Echoplex tape echo and MXR 10band EQ ARP Pro-Soloist analogue synthesiszer -> Echoplex tape echo andLeslie Rotating Speaker ARP 2600 analogue synthesiszer -> Echoplex tape echo - [studio only} Roland RS202 string synth
Wind and Wuthering - 1976
Acoustic Piano [used on album only] Hammond T-102 tonewheel organ -> MXR Phase 100 phaser and BOSS CE-1 stereo chorus RMI Electra 368 Electric piano -> Fender Blender fuzz effect and MXR Phase 100 phaser Mellotron M400 - with the 3 violins, 8 voice choir and Brass tape sets-> Roland RE-201 space echo and MXR 10 band graphic EQ ARP Pro-Soloist analogue synthesiszer -> Roland Space echo ARP 2600 analogue synthesiszer -> Roland RE-201 Space echo - [used on album only} Roland RS-202 string synthesizer - [used on album only] Fender Rhodes electric piano - [used on album only]
And Then There Were Three - 1978
Acoustic Piano [studio only] Hammond T-102 tonewheel organ -> MXR Phase 100 phaser and BOSS CE-1 stereo chorus Yamaha CP70 Electric Grand piano -> BOSS CE-10 stereo chorus Mellotron M400 - with the 3 violins, 8 voice choir and Brass tape sets-> Roland RE-201 space echo and MXR 10 band graphic EQ ARP Pro-Soloist analogue synthesiszer -> Roland Space echo ARP 2600 analogue synthesiszer -> Roland RE-201 Space echo - Roland RS-202 string synthesizer - [used on album only] Moog Polymoog polyphonic analogue synthesizer -> MXR Distortion+ and Phase 100
Duke - 1980
Acoustic grand piano (studio only) Yamaha CP70 (through boss ce1 chorus) Yamaha CS80 (through boss chorus)(studio only) Sequential Circuits Prophet 5 (through boss ce1 chorus and mxr phase 100) Arp Quadra (trough MXR Distortion) Moog Polymoog (studio only) Roland VP330 (trough MXR 10 band EQ and Boss chorus) Hammond T102 organ trough MXR phase 100 phaser and Boss CE1 chorus)
The CS80 was used a lot on the album aswell as t he CP70 piano. Tony used the Prophet 5 and Quadra on just a few occasions on the album. But the Quadra especially was used a lot as a polysynth and lead synth on the duke tour. The Prophet 5 was used more for string like sounds aswell as the flutes on dukes travles (last bars before dukes end kicks in) and cul-de-sac.
Abacab - 1981
Acoustic piano (studio only) Yamaha CP70 (through Boss CE1 chorus) Moog Polymoog (studio only) Yamaha CS80 (studio only) (through Boss CE1 chorus and mxr distortion) Arp Quadra (through mxr distortion and lexicon digital delays) Sequential Circuits Prophet 10 (through mxr distortion, mxr phase 100 and boss ce1 chorus) Roland VP330+ vocoder (through MXR 10band EQ) NED Synclavier 2 (studio only on just a couple of things. Banks had a lot of problems with the Synclavier at that time and he even regretted buying it) Rumours go that the EDP Wasp was used. Though I never could spot it on the album and there is no evidence that it was used at all... Tony didn't talk about it in interviews, nor did he mention it in tourbooks or liner notes. I wonder if he really had it...
Genesis - 1983
Yamaha CP-70 electric grand piano -> BOSS CE-1 Stereo Chorus ARP Quadra polyphonic analogue synthesizer Sequential Circuits Prophet-10 polyphonic analogue synthesizer - MXR Phase 100 and BOSS CE-10 stereo chorus NED Synclavier II digital synthesizer -(FM and Additive, no sampling option) E-mu Emulator early digital sampler Roland VP-330 Vocoderand string/choir [studio only] Some equipment put through MXR and Lexicon digital delays
Invisible Touch - 1986
Yamaha CP-70 electric grand piano (with Kenton MIDI retrofit) ARP Quadra synthesizer/string machine Sequential Circuits Prophet-10 synthesizer (with Kenton MIDI retrofit) NED Synclavier II digital synthesizer -( FM and Additive, no sampling option) E-mu Emulator II digital sampler (with analog SSM filter and VCAs) Yamaha DX7 digital FM synthesizer AKAI S900 12-bit Digital Rack sampler Roland MKS-80 analogue rack synthesizer Yamaha TX816 digital FM rack synthesizer - 8 DX7s in a rack Korg DVP voice processor - vocoder Equipment put through Yamaha REV7 digital reverb and Lexicon digital delays
We Can't Dance - 1991
Korg Wavestation digital vector synthesizer Roland JD-800 digital synthesizer Roland Rhodes MK-80 digital piano / mother keyboard Roland Rhodes VK-1000 digital organ / electric piano Ensoniq VFX digital synthesizer Yamaha CP-80 electric grand piano- (88 key version of CP-70 E-mu Emulator III digital 16 bit sampler Equipment put through Yamaha SPX1000 and SPX90 effects plus Roland reverb unit
The Way We Walk (We Can't Dance Tour) - 1991 - 1992
Korg Wavestation digital vector synthesizer Roland JD-800 digital synthesizer Roland Rhodes MK-80 mother keyboard Ensoniq SD1 digital synthesiser - More reliable sibling of VFX Sequenced by Alesis MMT-8 Tony used these synths to also control his 2x 20HE rack units with the following stuff in it:
E-mu Emulator III digital 16 bit sampler in rack form Kurzweil 1000PX digital piano module E-mu Proteus/2 XR sample playback modules (four units with Tony's own samples, one with Proteus presets) Voce DMI-64 MkII digital organ module (two units) Yamaha TX7 synth module - DX7 in a rack All of the above are mixed into 2 Roland M480 mixers and put through Yamaha SPX90 effects and a Roland SDE3000 reverb unit. All midi routings done by 2 MidiTemp MMP88 patchbays. Audio routings from the mixer through the effect units done with the Yamaha PLS1 line switcher which is also used to extract the JD800 audio and send it to the main PA desk.
Also used was a Midi Gate unit (brand unknown) which is used for the song Mama which they performed 5 times in the USA leg of the WCD tour.
Calling All Stations - 1997
Korg Trinity digital workstation synthesizer Korg Wavestation digital vector synthesizer Roland JD-800 digital synthesizer Roland JV-1080 digital rack synthesizer Yamaha CP-80 electric grand piano
Calling All Stations Tour - 1997 - 1998
Korg Trinity Plus digital workstation synthesizer Roland A-90 MIDI mother keyboard Roland JD-800 digital synthesizer These are then linked into 2 Opcode Studio 5 LX MIDI processor and 2 Custom-made MIDI mixers and used to control these rack units:
Two E-mu Emulator 4 digital 16bit rack samplers Two Korg Wavestation SR digital rack vector synthesizer Korg Wavestation A/D digital rack vector synthesizer and vocoder Korg 01R/W digital rack synthesizer Roland JV-1080 digital synthesizer 3 E-mu Proteus/2 XR digital sample playback modules E-mu Proteus/2 XR Orchestral digital sample playback module E-mu Proteus/1 digital sample playback module2 E-mu Vintage Keys digital sample playback module Yamaha TX7 synth module - DX7 in rack All of the above are mixed into a Mackie LM3204 line mixer then put through Yamaha SPX1000 effects processor (four units)and Roland SRV-2000 effects processor. A Yamaha PLS1 line selector sends this to a Chiddingford Mixer for his Shure SM600 transmitter to his ear monitor.