Jonathan Darbyshire , widely known by his stage name Mr Dibs or Dibs Hawkwinder, is a British musician, best known as a former member of the space rock group Hawkwind.
Career
Before Hawkwind, Mr Dibs played in two underground space rock bands, Krel and Spacehead. Krel released a series of cassettes, the first unofficial release "Bring on the Clones" having a handful of Hawkwind songs on the tape, the later "official" releases being sold commercially. Krel supported Hawkwind at 2 gigs in 1991, before being invited to do the entire Electric Tepee Tour, in spring 1992 as support band. Occasionally, Krel would perform a Hawkwind song, notably "Where Are you Now", during their set, and "Visions of You Know You're Only Dreaming" in their soundcheck. Indeed, at Brighton, on that tour, Hawkwind played first, and Krel last on the bill, so that night, Hawkwind were supporting Dibs and the rest of Krel.
Hawkwind 2007-2018
Dibs became a member of the Hawkwind road crew in 1997, where he remained for a decade, often guesting onstage reciting poems. In 2007, Dibs became the band's bassist, following the departure of Alan Davey. Hawkwind's own festival, 'Hawkfest' 2007, heralded Dibs's debut appearance with the band as a full-time member. Subsequently, Dibs's role shifted to more of a frontman role at live shows, owing to Dave Brock's preference against taking centre stage, with him sharing lead vocals with Brock, as well as cello, bass, audio generator and baritone bass. Since 2011 when Niall Hone went from guitar to bass guitar, Dibs became the constant live frontman/bassist... Dibs relinquished the bass completely in 2017 when Haz Wheaton joined the band to become the sole bass player, Niall Hone moved onto electronics/keys. Since his induction to the band he has appeared on five studio albums, 2010's Blood of the Earth, 2012's Onward, 2016's The Machine Stops, 2017's Into The Woods and 2018’s ‘’Road to Utopia’’ as well as three live albums, 2007's Knights of Space, 2014's Space Ritual Live and 2017’s ‘’At The Roundhouse’’. Dibs also appeared on 2013’s compilation Spacehawks. In 2017/2018, Dibs had been more involved with electronics/audio generator on stage. Dibs left Hawkwind in August 2018 with the following message posted on the ‘Hawkwind Fans Worldwide’ Facebook Group Page: ‘ My friends, it is with a heavy heart that I must confirm that due to irreconcilable differences, I left Hawkwind on Tuesday 28 August 2018. I've had the most wonderful 21 years on board, both as roadie and musician and I'm very proud of everything I've achieved and everything I've become. Not many people get the break I did. Thanks to all the fans for their support and love over the years, and to the great friendships forged. Hawkwind is so much more than the music and band. Well then. See you all out there! Peace and Love Dibs XX‘ Dibs has also played with fellow Hawkwind members under the guise of The Elves of Silbury Hill. Dibs appeared on the ‘’Acoustic Daze’’ LP released in 2019 Acoustic Daze was also the bonus disc of the ‘’All Aboard the Skylark’’ CD release. The band went into the studio after the 2017 tour and recorded acoustic versions of songs which appear on this LP which were subsequently given to Mike Batt for the 'Road to Utopia' album.
New ventures 2018-
Dibs was guest bassist for Evil Blizzard and played cello on 2 tracks on their Worst Show On Earth album. Dibs announced on Facebook on 28 October 2018 that he had joined the band Evil Blizzard in the guise of Mr Freshcrawl. It was also announced on the Strip Search Tramp Facebook page on 11 December 2018 that Dibs had joined the band on ‘Dirty Sonics.’ A 4 track EP was released in July 2019 on CD and download via Bandcamp with live performances in July and December. Dibs appeared on the cover of the February 2019 issue 5 of the glossy music magazine Eighth Day which included 10 pages of an interview plus pictures. Dibs talked about his Hawkwind - Krel - Spacehead days and his plans for the future. Dibs announced on his ‘Howlin Dibs’ Facebook page on the 2 January 2020 that he was recording a new solo album ‘with guests from Evil Blizzard and a few surprises to come.’ Dibs announced on the 12 February on his Facebook page that he had set up a Bandcamp account https://mrdibs.bandcamp.com/ where ‘older electronic type stuff from the archives’ could be purchased as well as brand new tracks.
