Altered States

The band were formed in London in 1985 by Robert Ryan (Bass), Martyn John Wimbury (Drums) and Yig (Mark) Hughes (Guitar & Vocals) and originally went under the name "Dark Asylum" until changing it to "Altered States" in 1986. They were signed to Ediesta Records (part of Red Rhino) and recorded the tracks that became the LP "Is Anyone Out There?" and the 12" "Lowlife" at Alaska Studios in London. The album was later re-released in CD format in 1994 by Primary Recording Co., who purchased the original master tapes from Red Rhino, and subtitled "The Complete Alaska Sessions" as it included the tracks "Drowning Children" (remixed by Martin Rushent) and "They Wouldn't Listen", which was planned to be the second 12" single but due to the demise of Ediesta Records was not released. The original line-up of the band also recorded a three-track demo EP at Alaska Studios in 1989 produced by Johnny Milton which was never commercially released. In the early 90's the band appear to have gone on a hiatus, with Robert Ryan and another member forming Pipedream (4), a largely live-only band, and with Yig Hughes forming another mainly gig band, being League of Nations. After the re-release of the album on CD in 1994 the band reformed - Yig Hughes recruited Steve Williams (bass) and Desmond Connolly (drums) in a new line-up of Altered States that toured the UK, Germany, Italy and Ireland and recorded a new three-track CD EP "Designer Reality", also released on Primary. Yig Hughes started writing and working on a follow-up album that would eventually be self-released in 2004 as "Designer Gene Pool" on Smashed Up Music with a third line-up that included Hunter Barr (keyboards / guitar) and Andrew Proctor (bass / backing vocals) along with Hughes and Connolly.