NIK TURNER Psychedelic/Space Rock • United Kingdom

Nik Turner biography (http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=1744)

The free-spirited Nik Turner was an established member of the late 60s London underground scene and a founder member of space-rock pioneers HAWKWIND, contributing a unique saxophone and flute style, and an increasingly inventive stage presence. On leaving Hawkwind, Nik embarked on a varied and busy career involving a number of projects, some of which overlapped with the space-rock style of Hawkwind while others veered off in a totally different direction. Through most of the 1980s he led the eclectic punk band INNER CITY UNIT, joined Twink of the Pink Fairies in a band called PINKWIND, rejoined Hawkwind for a further spell, and relocated to a Welsh new-age commune from where he led a big swing band called THE NIK TURNER ALL-STARS. 

In the 1990s, Nik moved to USA where he immersed himself in an alternative-progressive scene, working with 'industrial' influenced artists including HELIOS CREED and PRESSUREHED. On re-establishing contact with former HAWKWIND members Del Dettmar and Simon House, he would form SPACE RITUAL specifically to play traditional Hawkwind covers and new music in that style, as well as recording as the spacey ANUBIAN NIGHTS. Into the 2000s, SPACE RITUAL remains as an occasional performing band with a fluid line-up of former Hawkwind members and associates, including the late Robert Calvert. He continues to guest for a number of artists such as jazz/funk band GALAKTIKOSs and American space-rockers SPACESEED.

Nik's 'solo' career has remained within the space-psych genre. His first post-Hawkwind project was a collaboration with Gong stalwarts Steve Hillage and Tim Blake [amongst others] under the pseudonym NIK TURNER'S SPHINX which in 1978 released a single album - 'Xitintoday' - of atmospheric psychedelia based on flute recordings from inside Egypt's Great Pyramid. He would revisit this style in 1993 with a re-worked version called 'Sphinx', while also returning to his Hawkwind roots with 1994's 'Prophets Of Time' and the live set 'Space Ritual 1994' that would provide the impetus for the establishment of the Space Ritual band.

Nik's contribution to classic line-ups of Hawkwind's pioneering years, and his continued work steeped in psychedelia and space-rock, makes him a core player in the space-psych genre and an essential addition to Prog Archives.

Joolz

Space Gypsy

Thanks Magal