Thanks again to Zisimos for the interview!! Just a few weeks ago we were talking about his band One Night Suzan that just got a retrospective compilation on Make Me Happy. As he has been in many great indiepop bands I asked if he’d be up to do another interview, this time about The Crooner. And he was up for it! Very very happy about this. Now I am hoping for the next one, Impossible Tymes? the Make Me Happy label? We’ll see! Now it is time to learn more about the superb The Crooner!

++ Hi again Zisimos! Thanks again for doing a second interview! How are you doing? When was the last time you picked up your guitar?

Hello Roque! Just returned home after a great trip to South Korea and Japan…plus the One Night Suzan retrospective compilation LP has just been released by Make Me Happy, so I’m really happy about it…And as a matter of fact I’ve been playing some guitar now and then, but mostly improvising on chords that I love…

++ Last time we were talking about One Night Suzan and today I want to talk about another project you were involved with, The Crooner. You were telling me that the main difference between them was that The Crooner is was mostly you coming up with the ideas and then sharing them with Makis P. How did that relationship work? And how did you two meet in the first place?

Actually, Makis and I met back in the early ‘90s, when he and some other friends formed Next Time Passions, one of the best Greek indie bands! We played in some gigs together, and discovered many common musical ideas and influences. So we formed Impossible Tymes, a psych-pop trio, together with Elias, another good friend and member of Next Time Passions…Very soon the need to release our bands’ music led Makis and me , together with graphic designer Christos L., to the creation of This Happy Feeling records. Makis also helped with the recording and production of the Crooner 7’’ EP “Sounds from the Valley of Love”…It was at this point that we realized we make a great team, so we started working on the Crooner project as a duo, Makis being the keyboard & programming whiz, bass player, sound engineer, co-writer and co-producer… the rest is history, as they say… 

++ Then The Crooner was also a more “open-minded” electronic version of pop as you said. I was wondering what different influences were part of the band, what made you go in that direction? 

One reason was that we started expanding our musical horizons, listening to stuff like jazz, bossa, lounge, ambient, drum’n’bass, house, and more…Also, we needed a rhythm section, so we started relying on programming and computers…and finally, we were excited by the “new” technology of sampling, which allowed us to incorporate some samples  from obscure but favourite tracks into our own songs, either as our basic beat, or  in order to create a warmer and more exciting sound…

++ There were also female vocals on the songs, by Eirini and Natasha. How did they end up being an important part of The Crooner? Had they been in other bands? 

Some of the main influences on our sound were 60s/70s lounge music, Italian soundtracks and bossanova…In all these kinds of music, we can hear amazing  female backing vocals and “pa pa pa” melodies…So, naturally, we wanted to achieve a similar effect in our own songs…The girls were very good friends with beautiful voices! Eirini was my girlfriend then, and we’ve been together ever since ! Natasha actually formed Berlin Brides some years later, a really good and popular electro band!

++ Oh, and I was wondering about the name Eirini used to use Miss Honeybeetle, do you know the story behind that?

Well, she was, and still is, a very sweet girl (honey) and  a fan of psychedelic pop (beatles) , so she came up with this clever pseudonym…

++ So what sparked The Crooner to start? When was it? Was it originally some sort of bedroom project, or was it always going to be a collaboration with Makis P.? 

Originally it was a bedroom project, just me -and my guitar- playing more acoustic and jazzy stuff (in the tradition of Everything but the Girl, or Felt) that I couldn’t play with One Night Suzan. This was in 1992, I think…

 ++ What’s the story behind the name The Crooner?

‘’Crooner” is a term used for some 50s-60s singers (like Frank Sinatra, for example) who would sing ballads and love songs. I used it as a form of tribute, as a way to explain that my music was NOT rock music, but also as a form of irony…plus I liked the sound of it!

++ For The Crooner, where did you usually practice? 

Makis had created a home studio in the basement of his home. It was the legendary Sunnyside Studio, where all the Next Time Passions and Impossible Tymes songs had been recorded! This also became the Crooner rehearsal and recording studio!

++ Your first release was a 7″ on This Happy Feeling titled “Sounds From the Valley of Love”. It came out in 1994 and included 4 songs. I was wondering if these were the first ever recorded songs by the band and where were they recorded? Was it much different to record them compared to One Night Suzan?

Apart  from some solo acoustic stuff I’d recorded on cassettes, yes, these were our first “official” recordings. They were recorded in another studio where Makis used to work as a sound engineer, and not Sunnyside. The difference was that we recorded every instrument separately, while in most of the Suzan recordings the whole band played together, and then added some extra elements.

++ And is that you on the sleeve photo?

Yes.

++ It would take 4 years for your next release, the “Heaven Airlines” album. Why did it take so long? And do you think there was an evolution of the band’s sound between the 7″ and the album?

As you know, during this period Makis and I were also rehearsing, performing and recording with One Night Suzan, Next Time Passions and Impossible Tymes. We were also running our record label, plus we were both working in other jobs, to make a living. So, the Heaven Airlines project took off in 1995, when our other bands had started to become inactive. Of course there was an evolution : the sound became much more electronic, as everything was now recorded on Cubase and Logic. !!  

++ This album was released by Shelflife Records in the US. How did this happen? How was your relationship with the label?

This Happy Feeling and Shelflife had been in contact, because Shelflife were preparing their first release ( the ‘WHIRL-WHEELS” international pop compilation) and they were interested in our bands. So we sent Ed two songs by ONS and NTP, and we decided to record a new one for the Crooner, ‘Alberto Caeiro’. So we sent it to Shelflife, they loved it, and we started recording more songs for them…We were originally planning a single, but we ended up with 7 songs, so…we decided to release all of them as a mini-album.

++ Something interesting about the album was that it was licensed in Japan and the Philippines. Were you aware at the time of the interest of pop fans from there in your music? Or was this a surprise? Did you ever go to these countries?

We knew that we had  fans in those countries, because we used to receive some fan letters from Japan and the Philippines, but we didn’t know they were so many that there could be an official release in those countries ! it’s also interesting that they wanted their releases to be unique, so each of these releases features some extra songs, which weren’t  featured in the Shelflife mini album!! I was lucky enough to visit Japan a few weeks ago, and I was amazed !!

++ Afterwards you would release a second album, this time around on the Greek label “Pop Art Records”. Was there any reason to go local for this release? And how did you know Pop Art?

Pop Art Records belonged to a really good friend, Nektarios Pappas. We had helped him with his label’s debut compilation cd “Try a little sunshine” by giving tracks, bringing him into contact with some bands, and so on…When we had enough material for a second album, we were interested in becoming more popular in Greece, and Pop Art was in the same wavelength as we were…so it seemed like the natural thing to do.

++ You released two albums and just one single, I was wondering if you think the music of The Crooner was better suited for albums or it was just how things happened?

No, it just happened like that. I guess it was a period when everyone was into cds, but we also liked the idea of creating a musical environment for the listeners…Still, I think that many of our album songs, and also a lot of songs which were released on cd compilations, could have been singles…

++ You also appeared on so many compilations in the 90s and all the way to 2005 or so. I will ask you out of curiosity if there is one of these compilations that you really love, that you like all the bands and songs that appeared alongside your music?

Obviously, it’s difficult to choose…But surely we were very pleased when Bungalow Records chose one of our favourite songs, “Over the Rainbow”, for their Atomium 3003 compilation…

++ I have many favourite songs by The Crooner but I’ll pick one, “Alberto Caeiro”, I was wondering if you could tell me the story behind this song? Is it about Fernando Pessoa?

You are right, it’s a song about the alter-ego of my favourite poet, Fernando Pessoa. It’s a celebration of life, seen from Alberto Caeiro’s point of view…BTW, this was the first song The Crooner  recorded on computer software, and there’s a different female singer -Paulina- who used to sing for another greek electro pop band, our good friends Sound Devise.

 ++ Speaking of Pessoa, what are some of your favourite writers? Have they inspired your lyrics in any way?

Some of my lyrics, especially during the One Night Suzan period, were influenced by British romantic poets we used to study at university, like William Wordsworth, for example. But in general I prefer novelists, like Thomas Pynchon, David Wallace Foster, Philip Roth, J.G. Ballard, Martin Amis and many more..

++ If you were to choose your favourite The Crooner song, which one would that be and why?

Sorry, I can’t choose only one…maybe a top-10 would be easier…

 ++ What about gigs? Did you play many as The Crooner?

We didn’s play many gigs, as we were mostly a “studio” group, but we played some great gigs in Athens, Madrid and Mallorca, where we took part in an amazing music festival!

++ When and why did The Crooner stop making music? Were you involved in any other bands afterwards?

After and during the Crooner period Makis and I recorded some stuff for Siesta records under another name, and also recorded more electronic stuff as Hyplar (we released an album, a 12’’ single for the French label Aquatic, and appeared in many electronic & lounge compilations…). I guess at some point we were beginning to get tired with the pop sound and wanted to explore other music directions…And as I told you, Natasha formed Berlin Brides… 

++ Has there ever been a reunion? Or maybe plans to reissue all or some of The Crooner songs?

You’ll have to wait and see !!

 ++ Did you get much attention from the radio? What about TV?

Some radio airplay from specific radio stations, in Greece and Spain, and a couple of  TV channels played our video clip for “Concorde baby”, but that’s all…

++ What about the press? Did they give you any attention?

There was no free press in Greece at the time, so there were few articles or reviews about us on ‘mainstream” music press. But there were pop fanzines that liked and supported us. 

++ Anything else you’d like to add?

Pop is a way of life!

Thank you !

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Listen
The Crooner – Alberto Caeiro

Thanks so much to Paul, Ian and Rob for the interview! I wrote about The Almanacs a couple of weeks ago and was lucky to get in touch with the band members who were very kind to answer all my questions! The band released just one 7″ but recorded many songs, appearing on lots of compilations. Now it is a good time to rediscover them!

++ Hi all! Thanks so much for being up for this interview! How are you? What’s going on with you all? Are you still making music?

Paul: All good here. Rob is still making music, Ian lives in the country and I’m growing my hair.

++ I’d like to start with the very beginning. What are your first music memories? Do you remember what was your first instrument? How did you learn to play it? What sort of music did you listen at home while growing up?

Paul: As a child I liked Abba and then Duran Duran!  At secondary school I became more aware of other kinds of music, especially New Order, Prefab Sprout, Scritti Politti, the Blow Monkeys, the Smiths, and Lloyd Cole.  It wasn’t until doing A Levels that I met more like minded people like Rob and Ian !

Ian: I used to like to record the pop charts from the radio each week on an audio tape (I only had one) and bought the odd 7” record during my childhood. I learnt the violin at this time too, but only stuck it for a couple of years. I got more bands at secondary school such as the Human League, Depeche Mode and the Smiths, then getting more into the indie scene from there. Paul got me into some of his favourite bands just around the time we became friends, then formed the first version of the band.

Rob: My Grandmother played piano and knew every hymn in the Methodist Hymn Book (this is how boring life was before the internet) and my mum sings opera, so I suppose I had a musical family. I was forced to learn piano and trumpet but I soon gave up on both and taught myself the guitar instead. My sister suddenly stopped listening to Duran Duran and played me Hatful Of Hollow when I was 14. After that I started listening to John Peel and a whole new world opened up.

++ Was The Almanacs your first band or had you been in other bands before that? If so, how did these bands sound like? Are there any recordings?

Paul: I was in another Derby band called The Deskimoes before The Almanacs. I learnt to play the guitar (sort of) in order to join them.  Apart from Nick who sang and wrote the songs, we all learned to play our instruments from scratch.  There was a track released on a Flexi and of course a cassette compilation
https://www.discogs.com/artist/4220635-The-Deskimoes

Ian: I (very) briefly played  bass for Iris before deciding I’d rather do my own thing with The Almanacs.

Rob: My first band was called The Ego Balloons with Nick (Deskimoes) and Gary (The Beekeepers) Despite some promising songs and some devastatingly floppy haircuts, we never gigged or recorded, Jyoti poached Nick and Gary for White Town and we split up. I was then briefly in a band in Leeds while at University, but again nothing was released.

++ Where were you from originally, Derby?

Paul: Yep, we’re all from Derby although Ian was actually born in Burnley.

++ How was your city at the time? Were there any bands that you liked? What were the good record stores? Or what about the pubs or venues to go check out up and coming bands?

Paul: Derby was all I really knew at that point, though you had to go to Nottingham or Leicester for the best record shops and music venues.  In retrospect it felt like a very insular period but it was all good fun. Every so often though, Derby would pull something out of the hat, so at Derby’s best venue – the Dial – we saw the Sea Urchins, the Field Mice, Heavenly, Primal Scream, Teenage Fanclub and loads of other great bands.  The Wherehouse was good too – saw the BMX Bandits, Stereolab, Captain America (Eugenius) and Shonen Knife there.  That said, there was always something lacking on the Derby scene and I think it is a shame that Derby has never produced a really great or popular band.

We only ever played in Derby!  We’d send and receive letters and tapes from all over the world but never left our own town as far as gigs went…  Like I said – insular, though we had some great times playing with other Derby bands like Peru and the Fantastics (our first live drummer Justin was in them too, with a lovely chap called Declan).  Our big moment was when we were booked to support 14 Iced Bears, but a few hours before the gig the promoter told us they weren’t going to turn up…  We were gutted.

Ian: Yes, it was fairly provincial compared to the nearby cities Paul mentions. I guess we all felt a bit different to other people who weren’t into the same things as us, which bonded us together. But it could also feel pretty suffocating too and looking back must have contributed to why we formed a band.

Rob: There were actually loads of record shops in Derby back in the late 80s/early 90s. RE Cords/BPM, Siren/Oasis, , Collectors Records, Richard’s Records/Spot-On Sounds, Way Ahead – and then the chain stores – HMV, Our Price, Virgin, Woolworths. Most Saturdays were spent doing the circuit, deciding where to spend the money you didn’t have!

++ When and how did the band start? How did you all meet? 

Paul: Ian and I formed a largely imaginary band called the Hairgods and took it from there.  We played a few gigs as the Almanacs with various line-ups but when Rob joined he added some extra musicality to the group and rescued us !

++ What’s the story behind the name The Almanacs?

Paul: The Hairgods had booked our first gig but we thought we needed a new name…  We had a few days to think of one and we were listening to a lot of Kinks songs in 1992, so the name came from the song Autumn Almanac.  Funnily enough I now live round the corner from the house where Ray and Dave Davies grew up, so whenever I pass by their house on the bus I not only think of the Kinks but also of the Almanacs…

++ How was the creative process for you? Where did you usually practice?

Paul: I think we tended to write alone, though there were a few songs where one of us would write the music and the other would write the melody and lyrics.  As far as I can remember we practiced at each others’ houses when our parents were out !

Rob: Paul and Ian wrote the music and the words – my creative input was limited to just a bit of arrangement and extra guitar/bass parts where it sounded good. I loved the simplicity of the songs, so I tried my best not to ruin them! As Paul and Ian both wrote and sang it would be easy to say they were like Lennon & McCartney but in actual fact I think Paul was more prolific and almost Lennon AND McCartney. Ian was George Harrison – fewer songs but those he contributed were amazing.

++ And who would you say were influences in the sound of the band?

Paul: I can only speak for myself but I tended to be influenced by what I was listening to at the time, Orange Juice, Small Faces, Kinks, T-Rex and of course loads of other bands around at the time or from the late eighties – Weather Prophets, St Etienne, Pastels and Teenage Fanclub were favourites of mine at that time…  and Britpop was just around the corner.  Ian and I liked Suede but Rob hated them !  We all liked Pulp as far as I can recall.  Even then we all thought Oasis were total shite.

Ian: We used to go out several nights a week so yes, we all got a bit sick of Oasis which seemed to be on constant rotation, but you would also get to hear some good stuff too. It was a time for constantly discovering new and old music, which was definitely an influence especially in the early days

++ Your first release as far as I know was “The Derby Tape” that was released by the Greek fanzine The World of Suzie Wong. How did this connection with Greece happen? And how come this was your first release and not one in the UK?

Paul: I think they contacted us out of the blue.  No idea how they got our address – especially before the internet existed !  I think though that perhaps that was our second fanzine tape.

++ That was 1992 and that same year you would appear in the “C92” which I’ve always been curious about as it is a great one even though it seems it doesn’t get the recognition it deserves and there is not much info about it anywhere. Do you know anything else about it? Like who put it together for example?

Paul: I have no idea about that one !

Ian: Nor me

Rob: Me and Ian were only looking at the Discogs page a few weeks back and laughing at how many fanzine tapes were ended up on that we had never heard of. We assumed that Paul had sorted them all out – but it seems not.

++ Then you appeared on comps on Elefant Records from Spain and Anorak from France. It seems at this point you were more of an international band. Did it feel that way? That you had more recognition abroad that in the UK?

Paul: It definitely felt that way – I used to get letters from all over Europe, Canada, USA, and strangely from Thailand too.  The international interest definitely outweighed the UK interest.

++ Another French label would have you on a compilation called “From the Derwent to the Garonne, a Derbian compilation”. It feels that there was quite some interest in the Derby scene no? And I wonder too how close you were to the other bands that are featured here like Antiseptic Beauty, White Town and Iris?

Paul: We all knew each other really well, and saw each other all the time (except maybe Iris, who were a little aloof).  The three of us went for a drink with John from Antiseptic Beauty last summer, and are still in touch with Nick from The Deskimoes and Gary from the Beekeepers.

Rob: There definitely seemed to be a “Derby Scene” at that point, although it didn’t last long. That said, the four bands on that Alienor compilation all sounded very different – which may have been the problem!

++ In 1994 you finally release your first 7″, “Another World EP”, on Anorak Records. How did this release come to be? Did you ever meet with the guys behind the label? Did you play France?

Paul: Again they contacted us after we had been on one of their tapes.  It was great to be picked as their first release and was really exciting at the time, though I think we had to wait a year or two for the single to come out, as we agreed to do the record with Anorak in 1992.  All done by letter again., we never met them and never went to France either…

Rob: I ended up Facebook friends with Fabien (via Brian from the band Peru) when he was celebrating his 20 years of Anorak Records. I think there was some hope we might be able to go over there and play but it wasn’t to be. He seems a lovely chap

++ The songs were recorded by Jyoti Mishra from White Town, how was that experience?

Paul: Exhausting, for us and for him.  We tried to get it all done quickly so we could save money and so he didn’t have to deal with us for too long.

Ian: Although we were friends with Jyoti, it’s fair to say he wasn’t really an Almanacs fan! It was quite interesting to learn how to record though as it was all new to me, but the novelty soon wore off.

Rob: All of the sessions with Jyoti were done several years before he had his hit single. He was the only person in Derby with an 8 track recorder in his bedroom, so back then recording bands was his only source of income. He probably put up with a few bands worse than us!

++ The title song had a promo video which is really cool. Was wondering where was it filmed? Did it take long? Was it aired on TV? How was the experience and any anecdotes you can share? 

Rob: This was all my work I’m afraid. I was the only person who owned a video camera so I used to record as much as I could (my Andy Warhol phase maybe). Most of the footage is from a band rehearsal in Paul’s parent’s back room. I didn’t have any editing equipment, so to piece together the video I had to record the various sections to a VHS tape using the pause button. Then to dub the music on top I played the VHS tape on the TV and recorded that back onto the video camera whilst playing the song. That’s why it’s so fuzzy and has scan lines all over it. You can probably get a retro digital filter to achieve much the same thing these days!  It was never aired anywhere other than to friends and family.

++ Something that I was wondering, as you appeared on many compilations and I counted in total 15 to 16 released songs, how come there was no album by the band?

Paul: Looking back we never had a plan, and just went from one tape or record to the next which was largely determined by whatever was offered to us from the people we sent tapes to.  I wish we had released another 7″ single.

++ And why not any more releases?

Paul: With us scattered around the UK it became harder to organise recording sessions or play gigs.

++ Aside from all these releases are there any other songs that remain unreleased? Or songs that only appeared on demo tapes?

Paul: Here is the full recording list:

Session 1:  No Difference, When Things Get Too Much, Sunburnt Skin, Time to Develop

Session 2: Got to Wait, Beautiful Bore, I’m Not Violent, Yours Hopefully, Peeg Sex, Accurate and Cool

Session 3: I Might Miss It, Taken Too Long, I Can Live With That, I Sure Do, Confession Time, Living On Another World

Session 4:  I Like The Water, Morbid Interest, I’d Think I Was Dreaming, A Job Worth Doing

Session 5:  Plymouth Almanac, Out of This Room, That Was the Day, Bitter and Twisted, Clinical, Louise, My Last Day

The first four sessions were recorded with Jyoti.  The last session was recorded by Rob and I on his four track.  We have two albums on Spotify – On Vinyl and On Tape.  In terms of physical releases I think you have listed them all, the Alienor compilation did come with a free 7″ single which we had one side of.

Rob: We did demos of the Session 4 tracks at my house first before recording them “properly” at Jyoti’s. The demos probably sounded better to be honest. We also did a few cover versions at gigs. Rod Stewart’s “I Don’t Want To Talk About It” and “Maggie May”, Wings “Band On The Run” and KC & The Sunshine Band’s “Please Don’t Go” – there are some bad bootlegs of these.

Paul unearthed the DAT master of the first 3 sessions not long back so most of the songs have survived (although a couple seem lost). Sessions 4 & 5 are the ones on Spotify.

Paul: Ah yes – the live covers!!  I’d forgotten about those.  We tended to pick songs that we could cover in an irreverent way. ‘I Don’t Want to Talk About It’ was done in a Bandwagonesque style, for ‘Band On The Run’ we chopped out two thirds of the song and only did the final jangle section (in the style of ‘Never Seen Before’ by the Close Lobsters) and ‘Please Don’t Go’ was just weird.  At the time there was a terrible cover of that song by KWS who were a mainstream dance act from Nottingham.  It got to No.1 in the UK charts – our version was Derby’s answer back!

++ I think my favourite song by The Almanacs is “Living in Another World” , was wondering if I could ask what’s the story behind this song, what inspired it?

Paul: The song is the usual relationship stuff about missed chances, lack of confidence and other stuff getting in the way.  It was Rob’s idea to add the Planet of the Apes recording.

Rob: Ha – yes I was obsessed with the film at the time, and particularly Taylor’s soliloquy at the start. It seemed to fit the mood of the song, and probably our lives at that point.

++ If you were to choose your favourite The Almanacs song, which one would that be and why?

Paul: To quote Lawrence from Felt ‘you know I love them all’.  Not quite true, but I can’t pick a favourite.

Ian: Louise!

Rob: So many favourites but of the Paul songs, probably “A Job Worth Doing” and of Ian’s – definitely “When Things Get Too Much”

++ What about gigs? Did you play many? All over the UK?

Paul: We only ever played in Derby!  We’d send and receive letters and tapes from all over the world but never left our own town as far as gigs went…  Like I said – insular.  Our big moment was when we were booked to support 14 Iced Bears, but a few hours before the gig the promoter told us they weren’t going to turn up…  We were gutted.

++ And what were the best gigs you remember? Any anecdotes you can share?

Paul: Our best gig was the last one in 1994 – Nick from The Deskimoes played drums for us and Marc from Bulldozer Crash played bass.  That meant that Ian and Rob played guitar and I could just sing – and look ahead instead of down.   And we never played together again !

Ian & Rob: Definitely agree. Just that small change in line-up made it sound so much better. Typical Almanacs perversity that we promptly stopped after that one great gig.

++ And were there any bad ones?

Paul: Our first gig in 1991 was dreadful.  We played with the drum track on a tape player and for some reason missed out a verse of some song or other so finished playing whilst the tape just carried on drumming for about another minute.  I particularly remember another gig where Antiseptic Beauty switched on a strobe light and smoke machine at the same time whilst we were playing, which caused a power cut and shut off the power in the venue.  To top it off their banner fell down and covered Justin our drummer (a real person this time) in canvas. He carried on playing of course.

Ian: The worst one for me was the second one when I broke a string and my guitar went out of tune! Paul was a bit cross and I sulked afterwards. Ha ha!

Rob: I enjoyed all The Almanacs gigs – as I wasn’t singing and they weren’t songs I’d written I could relax a bit more than Paul & Ian. Even the disasters mentioned above were funny from my side of the stage!

++ When and why did The Almanacs stop making music? 

Paul: In 1994 it just fizzled out really, as so many small bands do..  I do recall a ‘moment’ when for some reason I was back in Jyoti’s studio laying down the rhythm guitar and drum tracks for what would have been our sixth session, before Rob and Ian added their bits.  I can’t remember why we didn’t just use Rob’s four track as that was perfectly good for our sound.  Anyway, it was a difficult session in many ways and the process was so painful I just decided there and then that that was probably it and abandoned the session half way through.  They were good songs too!

Rob: As I remember it, Paul & Ian both moved to London and logistically there didn’t really seem any point in trying to carry on. I don’t think we even formally split up. We just never mentioned it…

++ What about the rest of the band, had they been in other bands afterwards?

Paul: The other two did.  It was Almanacs or nothing for me.

Ian: I recorded some songs with Rob under the name of Motorcade One and we did one gig, but I lost interest. I’ve dabbled on and off since, but it’s been about 10 years since I’ve written or recorded.

Rob: After The Almanacs stopped, myself, Nick and Marc (along with Brian from the band Peru) started a new band called Boy Scout. We didn’t do any Almanacs songs (it wasn’t a Doug Yule’s Velvet Underground situation) – it was all Nick’s stuff. Grunge had happened and he was obsessed with Smashing Pumpkins so the sound was a lot more aggressive than The Almanacs. We came perilously close to being signed but it fell through as these things tend to do. I then became a father and didn’t do much music for a couple of years until I joined MJ Hibbett & The Validators in 1999. We’re still gigging and recording 20 years later. Along the way I did a few guest sessions on trumpet for Airport Girl and  The Chemistry Experiment. Oh and I played guitar in White Town for a while (a rite of passage for Derby musicians)

++ Has there ever been a reunion? Or talks of playing again together?

Paul: We talk about it from time to time.  And Rob and I recorded a Northern Soul cover version in the early 2000’s which qualified as an official Almanacs track !

Rob: Haha – that version of “Love Slips Through My Fingers” is brilliant. I must dig it out!

We went to Cologne PopFest together last year and I’m pretty sure we drunkenly reformed at about 4am after a night of dancing, but then forgot about it again by morning.

++ Did you get much attention from the radio?

Paul: We were interviewed by Radio Derby!  I thought we were famous by that point!

++ What about the press? Did they give you any attention?

Paul: Nope.

++ What about from fanzines?

Paul: Yes definitely!  That was one of the best things about it all – the fanzines are now great historical documents of all the enthusiasm around that particular scene at that time.  There should be a museum of indiepop that keeps them all.

++ Looking back in retrospective, what would you say was the biggest highlight for the band?

Paul: The Anorak Single, the Alienor Compilation, the last gig.

++ Aside from music, what other hobbies do you have?

Paul: Morris Dancing and photography.

Ian: Buying and selling records, walking the dogs, going to the pub, going to the football.

Rob: Ian and I have season tickets for Derby County so we share that frequently disappointing hobby!

++ Never been to Derby, well, I was at the train station once on the way back to London from Indietracks, but I do know you have a beautiful cathedral, right? and I would love from a local for recommendations! What are the sights one shouldn’t miss? Or the traditional food or drinks that you love that I should try?

Paul: Rob and Ian will know about that.  I live in north London now and only visit Derby to see my parents or people who used to be in the Almanacs.

Ian: About once a year they allow the public to take the steps up the cathedral. The view from the top is quite impressive, especially on a clear day. There are a few old buildings and couple of pleasant streets, but it’s quite run down in other parts. I don’t go into the city much these days. There are no food specialities, but there is a grotty takeaway called Sarry’s that does a weird mix of kebab meat, baked beans and other random stuff that seems to have a cult following with some people I know. Derby has also got some good pubs where you can get a decent pint if beer is your thing.

++ Anything else you’d like to add?

All: Thanks for getting in touch and bringing back fond memories of being young and excitable in the early nineties.

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Listen
The Almanacs – Living on Another World

Thanks so much to Peter Loveday for the interview! I wrote about Tiny Town some weeks ago and then I was able to get in touch with Peter and I was very lucky that he was up to answer all my questions (which as you know are many!). I didn’t know much about Tiny Town but have liked what I have heard and I am very happy to know now more details about them!

++ Hi Peter! Thanks so much for being up for this interview! How are you? I notice that you live these days in Barcelona and play music there. Any upcoming news regarding your music?

Yes, I’m about to release a new album recorded last year, THROUGH THE MIRROR, a limited edition CD and book of illustrations and lyrics in English and Spanish. This is the first album since ROADSIDE BALLADS, in 2013, not counting the collaboration with David McClymont (ex Orange Juice) last year, BORROWED LANDSCAPES. I will be playing launch gigs, mostly in Barcelona, in May and June. Also scheduled early June is the recording of another album with my habitual collaborators, Sarah Davison and Naomi Wedman.

++ And how did you end up in Barcelona? From what I understand Tiny Town moved from Brisbane to London, did you move from London to Barcelona? What do you like to your new city?

Well, Barcelona just fell into place for me, but this is not a recent move. Tiny Town ground to a halt in London in the late 1980s. We’d been there since 82. I got itchy feet and planned to be in Barcelona for a month, but as you can see, I never left. This was back in 1989. After a month here, I had a job, a place to live and had also met my wife, Gina. Barcelona has changed immensely since then but is still my favourite city and home.

++ And have you learned Catalan? Spanish? Do you make music in these languages?

I’m not a good language learner, though I speak Spanish and a little Catalan, which I understand completely, as our kids speak Catalan at home. From time to time I’ve thought about and even tried to write songs in Spanish, but usually don’t get very far. Maybe I should try harder, but when I try, the voice doesn’t seem to be mine. When you speak another language, your identity shifts somehow. To some extent you lose control of language, of the subtleties and nuances. I keep telling myself that I’ll do it one day, write songs in Spanish or Catalan. It’s good to have a challenge up ahead.

++ As you know I did this piece on the band and learned a thing or two, but would love to know more about Tiny Town. So let’s start from the very beginning, what are your first music memories? Do you remember what was your first instrument? How did you learn to play it? What sort of music did you listen at home while growing up?

We had a piano at home. My mother sometimes played in the evenings and we’d stand around it singing songs. I loved to sit at the piano and daydream, to experiment with sounds and made up chords. I had piano lessons for a while but it was all theory, discipline and even threats, knuckle rapping and that kind of thing, so I quickly gave that up. Then I started to teach myself guitar. My brother had one. Also, with elder brothers, there were records in the house, singles and albums of the time; the Who, the Animals, the Young Rascals …. I was seriously into the Monkees and loved the TV show. Maybe I thought a life in music would be like that. As it turns out, it’s quite different. However, writing and playing songs is one of the things I like most to do. As a teenager I listened to the music that was at hand; CSNY, Neil Young, Led Zeppelin, Creedance, the Faces, some Dylan.

++ Was Tiny Town your first band or had you been in other bands before that?

I have seen names like The Supports, The See Bees, Birds of Tin and Mute 44, care telling me a bit about them and if there are recordings by them? In the late 70s in Brisbane there were a lot of bands around. It was social thing to do. Just about everyone was in a band (exaggeration!). Bands played at house parties. The Supports started as a cover band playing things that were new and exciting at the time. The singer, Leigh Bradshaw worked as a DJ at the university radio station, 4ZZZ, so had access to all the new releases. Towards the end of that frantic but brief time, I started to write songs of my own and to sing. Birds of Tin was a prolific three-piece. Songs from this band were included in a number of cassette compilations of the time. We released a 4-track cassette SAME BOTH SIDES, and yes, the same four songs on both sides. It was a nod to one of the first UK bands to release an independent record, THE DESPERATE BICYCLES. Their first single had the same song on both sides, as it was cheaper that way. Jeff Titley, the Supports drummer was in London by then and playing with the Desperate Bicycles. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Desperate_Bicycles Anyway, this recording by BIRDS OF TIN, was re-released in October last year by the Brisbane label LCMR. https://lcmr.bigcartel.com It’s a 7″ four-song vinyl now with a screen-printed reproduction of the original poster that came with the cassette. The other bands you mention produced rehearsal or live recordings only, except for Antic Frantic, which also released a four-track cassette.

++ I read that you were in Antic Frantic, which would become Tiny Town, how did this band sound like? Are there any recordings?

Antic Frantic was a mixed bag, sound-wise. Jeff Titley was visiting Brisbane at the time. He had a song or two as did Leigh Bradshaw, and as did I. We were feeling our way, I guess, working on songs together. I went to see the Birthday Party and also the Laughing Clowns (Ed Kuepper from the Brisbane band, The Saints). Antic Frantic generally sounded fast and somewhat wild, in a timid kind of way.

++ Where were you from originally, Brisbane?

I was from Toowoomba, a small city inland, up in the hills. I moved to Brisbane to go to university and was soon swimming in the late seventies Brisbane music scene. It was a lot of fun and quite a creative atmosphere to be in.

++ How was your city at the time? Were there any bands that you liked? What were the good record stores? Or what about the pubs or venues to go check out up and coming bands?

Well to tell the truth, there wasn’t much going on in Toowoomba at the time. Toowoomba was a just a big country town. I knew a couple of people who played the guitar in pubs, but there weren’t any venues as such, or bands that I knew of. The youth of Toowoomba spent their evenings driving up and down the main street, looking for action. There were one or two record shops. Back then you could go to a record shop and ask to listen to a record in one of their special listening booths. Quaint. Brisbane, however, was much more exciting, with a fertile music scene and an import record store, “Rocking Horse”. There were a few venues, mostly in pubs, and we also used to play in church halls, people’s houses, wherever we could really.

++ When and how did the band start? How did you all meet? How was the recruiting process?

We met at a party, no doubt. Rob, the bass player was the only one in the band who could actually play an instrument. The rest of us just made it up as we went along because we wanted to be in a band.

++ So just to get this clear, Tiny Town started in London as such or did Antic Frantic moved to London and then changed names?

Yes, basically, Antic Frantic moved to London and became Tiny Town.

++ What’s the story behind the name Tiny Town?

Well, I guess coming from Toowoomba or Brisbane and finding yourself in London had something to do with it, you know, small fish, great big enormous big bewildering pond. Also some kind of reference to the all-midget western movie “The Terror of Tiny Town”. I don’t know what we were thinking at the time, to be honest. It’s not easy for four people to decide things.

++ How was the creative process for you? Where did you usually practice?

We lived in Hackney, mostly in squats, and rehearsed in rooms that were also, or had also been squats. It was quite normal in those days. These rehearsal rooms were dark and dank, smelling of sweat, spilt beer, and mould. We worked away hard, always coming up with new material. I usually came along with a song idea, and we’d work it up into something.

++ You were around at a time in Australia, and later in the UK, where there was quite a scene independent pop bands. Why do you think that happened at that time? Did you feel part of a scene?

Yes, definitely felt part of the scene. It was stimulating. In Brisbane it was liberating to discover that you could write songs in your own way, you didn’t need to be a guitar hero. Forget guitar solos. You could even record and release songs independently. Suddenly the floodgates were opened and new ideas, new ways of doing things gushed into the world. I imagine it was related to economic situation, politics, culture in general. London was a bit later on and a much harder scene to break into. So, we navigated through various sub-scenes.

++ And who would you say were influences in the sound of the band?

From the start we weren’t rock at all. It was some kind of hybrid. I liked bands like Pere Ubu, the Pop Group, the Slits, the Fall, Elvis Costello, … and then of course the Velvet Underground, Patti Smith, Talking Heads, Television, … the list goes on and on.

++ Most of your releases came out on the Elastic label. I was wondering if it was you behind the label? Or who was running it?

Yes, it was us. It seemed to be such hard work getting on and staying on a label. We made our own label. It was easier. But of course you don’t have the same backup or the contacts, the people out there hustling for you. We kind of fell down in that department.

++ The first release by the band was a flexi released in 1983 with two songs “Back to the Bow” and “Big Fish” was this a self-release? And why release a flexi? Was it because of the price? Was it a promotion sort of release?

A bit of both. It was cheap, and it was a promotional thing. We already had the idea of including it in an edition of the fanzine Distant Violins.

++ That same year you released a tape with the same two songs of the flexi, and two more. I was wondering if this was a demo tape, or was it a proper release?

Any tapes from that time were purely promotional. We sent them out here, there and everywhere with whatever new songs we had going at the time.

++ A year later you put out a fab 7″ with “Drop by Drop” and “Know Better”. The sleeve doesn’t have much information, so I was wondering who designed the sleeve, if it was yourself, and also where were the songs recorded?

The sleeve was designed and printed by me, with the help of the other band members. I screen-printed them in the living room in London. The shapes on the cover are supposed to be raindrops, but they look more like shards of glass as I was using torn bits of paper for a stencil. I have always made the band and gig posters and designed the sleeves. This single “Drop by Drop” was recorded in the now fashionable Shoreditch, in London. In Wave studios. I love the violin in these recordings, courtesy of Caroline Bush.

++ Then another 7″ came out with “Living Out of Living” and “Queue Up”. I notice now that you had a picture sleeve this time. Where was those trees photograph taken? And how was working with Colin Bloxsom? Was it your first time working with him as a producer?

At some stage for some reason I decided to have some singing lessons, so I went along to a voice teacher who was very much in fashion at the time, Tona de Brett. She had given lessons to many well-known singers of the time, including Johnny Rotten, Ozzy Osborne, Adam Ant, Linda McCartney, and Joe Strummer. I must have seen an ad in the NME. Anyway, she lived in a nice house in Highgate, I think it was, lovely house, a posh neighbourhood. I took the photos of the bare winter trees on the way to her house. Very striking in high contrast black and white. I used the same photo on the album cover of LITTLE TIN GOD. Working with Colin was always a delight. Colin had recorded Birds of Tin in Brisbane and then the first two Tiny Town singles. Colin is very down-to-earth. Lovely guy, but don’t get him started on anecdotes.

++ Then came your album “Little Tin God”! How was recording the album? Much different to the singles? Did you enjoy it more?

Recording an album is a big project and takes time. Singles are recorded in a day. For an album, there are a lot more decisions or choices to be made. This album was recorded in the middle of winter in a studio in Brixton called Cold Storage. It had been, in fact, a large cold room in a warehouse complex. The studio itself had quite a history and was filled with interesting instruments, like a clavinet, an electric clavichord. The machines were 16-track tape machines, of course. We worked with the engineer, Ben Young. It was quite intense spending night after night in the studio and then driving home at three or four in the morning through deserted snow-covered, eerie London.

++ For the album you even included Caroline Bush to play violin and Cameron Allan to play bass (who was the founder of Regular Records), what do you think they added to the band?

It’s a different Cameron Alan. Cameron came over with us from Brisbane. We met Caroline in London and she played with us on the album and also live. She’s such an inventive violinist. I love the long string sections and violin parts she played. She could conjure up whole landscapes or slice you up into little pieces with that violin.

++ Perhaps my favourite song by the band is “Inside Fire” and I was wondering if you could tell me what’s the story behind this song? What inspired it?

Cold, bleak London of the mid-eighties, living in a squat on a public housing estate, or in an abandoned house with no bathroom, … nothing like that matters if the coals are aglow within, your inside fire. Also, up in Toowoomba, where I grew up, it could get cold in winter. When my mother said “I’m going to light the inside fire” you knew that warmth and comfort were on the way.

++ Your last release came on a different label, Very Mouth. Can you tell me a bit about them and how did you end up working with this label?

At the time we were playing regularly at a venue in Kings Cross, the Pindar of Wakefield. There we became friends with other bands we sometimes coincided with. Very Mouth was a small label run by one of these bands. They were nice people. We like them and they like us and offered to put out an EP of ours.

++ If you were to choose your favourite Tiny Town song, which one would that be and why?

I don’t know. We moved through material rather quickly, always on to the next new song. I haven’t listened to any of these recordings in a long time except for Living Out of Living. That’s a fun song. Very much about living in London at the time, trying to make a living from temp jobs, ironing and cleaning houses, with this nagging delusion of making a living from music.

++ You contributed “Queue Up” to a compilation called “Distant Violins Number 12”, I see many good bands on this comp, but I’m a bit unfamiliar with Distant Violins, who were they?

Yes, Distant Violins (issue #8) also included the first Tiny Town recording, a flexi-disc, Back to the Bow. It was a fanzine written and produced by David Nichols. He was about 15 or 16 at the time, or so it seemed. David wrote a book about the Go-Betweens and an extensive book on Australian bands, “Dig, Australian Rock and Pop Music, 1960-85”.

++ Are there any unreleased songs by the band? Or everything recorded was released?

Yes, a have a number of rehearsal recordings and a couple of studio recordings on cassette.

++ What about gigs? Did you play many?

We gigged quite a lot, in or around London, and occasionally further afield.

++ And what were the best gigs you remember? Any anecdotes you can share?

One night at the Pindar of Wakefield, the Go-Betweens were supporting us for a change. There were about ten people in the audience, two of who were BBC DJ John Peel and his producer, John Walters. John Peel played our singles occasionally on his show.

++ And were there any bad ones?

After one of these gigs at the Pindar, we loaded all our gear into the shared Citroen Diane that we had. This is a French car of very simple construction, with a two-cylinder “engine” and a canvas roof. Being inside is a bit like travelling in a washing machine. The car was shared among five friends –I wouldn’t recommend doing this– it was quite old but mostly reliable. However, this night it had a flat battery, so once all the gear was in it we push started it and had it idling in the street there while we chatted and said our goodbyes, etc. Then everybody happily trotted off to the underground or bus stop to go home, each thinking the one of the others had driven the car home. It wasn’t until midday the next day, after a number of phone calls, that we realised that the car had been left there in Kings Cross with all our gear in it and the engine running. Imagining the worst I ran to the nearest underground and back to Kings Cross, to find the car and all the gear was still there where we had left it. Someone had gone to the trouble of turning off the engine. Maybe they thought it was a trap of some kind. Sometime later I lost all the gear anyway, when the front door of the flat was kicked in half on New Year’s Eve.

++ When and why did Tiny Town stop making music? Were you involved in any other bands afterwards? Did you end up returning to Australia?

After the losing all our equipment and the wear and tear of the years, we wound down. I was in London for a time longer then moved to Barcelona. I did very little music then for a long time, until about 2001.

++ What about the rest of the band, had they been in other bands afterwards?

No, not that I know of. We all live in different countries now.

++ Has there ever been a reunion? Or talks of playing again together?

Not at all. We are all into different things.

++ What about the press? Did they give you any attention?

Some radio and press in the UK and Australia; NME, Sounds, Melody Maker, Rolling Stone, etc. At that time Australian bands in London were exotic. There were the Birthday Party (Nick Cave), Moodists, Triffids, Go-Betweens, etc.

++ What about from fanzines?

Yeah, there was one called “Another Spark” in Cambridge, written by Chris Heath. He went on to write a biography of the Pet Shop Boys.

++ Looking back in retrospective, what would you say was the biggest highlight for the band?

We were doing it because we enjoyed it. When you are in a band, working on songs together, the highlights are the moments of magic when everything seems to fall into place. The best performances are inevitably in the rehearsal room or someone’s living room. It’s a personal thing. Performing live is never quite the same usually. I guess the biggest highlight for the band was being in London during that time and being part of the scene there.

++ Aside from music, what other hobbies do you have?

The usual things; movies, books, art, travel, … I like drawing and painting.

 ++ Anything else you’d like to add?

You must be kidding after all of these questions I’ve answered!

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Listen
Tiny Town – Inside Fire

Thanks so much to Heather (and Eric too, who answered one of the questions) for the interview. I wrote about The Electrosonics on the blog some months ago and Heather was kind enough to get in touch and answer all my questions, giving me some new perspective on the Canadian scene and also learning many more details about her band. I suggest now to relax, give yourself some time and enjoy this lovely interview!

++ Hi Heather! Thanks so much for being up for this interview! How are you? Are all The Electrosonics still in touch? 

Hi! I’m well, and thank you for your previous post about the Electrosonics! That was a treat to find.

The original line up of the band was myself (keys, guitar, backing vocals), Eric White (songwriter, bass, lap steel, vocals), Clare Kenny (guitar, vocals)  and Curtis Hobson (drums, percussion, keys). I’m occasionally in touch with Clare (we are connected on Facebook and she lives in the area). Clare still does music projects occasionally and also is involved in a cool collective that builds cob mud buildings (The Mud Girls).  Eric is a professor and now lives in Oxford in the UK, and I believe Curtis is an elementary school teacher somewhere on Vancouver Island. I email Eric occasionally about the Electrosonics (he saw the article, thought it was great!). I haven’t heard from Curtis since the band dissolved in 1998. I work at a mental health non profit as an Office Manager.

Clare left the Electrosonics after Rampion came out, and Michaela Galloway replaced her on vocals.  Michaela is a philosophy professor here in Vancouver and I am connected with her on Facebook as well. Wendy Young also joined the band at that time to play guitar and sing backing vocals. I am not in touch with Wendy at all and have no idea where she is or how to reach her, unfortunately.

 ++ You are still making music these days with Kinetoscope. How cool! Tell me a bit about the band. When did you start? Any releases? Band members? And how different or similar is this band compared to The Electrosonics?

 Kinetoscope is me and my partner, Ian Tomas. We met and started the band in March 2018, about a year ago.  It’s just the 2 of us, we use MC-303s for drums and sequenced bass and samples. I would say it’s similar to the Electrosonics in that we are specifically aiming to make shoegaze music; I also still have much of the same equipment that I had in the Electrosonics so my keyboard and guitar sounds are similar. Ian’s pedal board is the size of a spaceship!

We’ve recorded 5 songs and they are up on bandcamp and soundcloud for free downloading:

https://kinetoscopeyvr.bandcamp.com/releases

https://soundcloud.com/kinetoscope-yvr 

++ Let’s go back in time. What are your first music memories? Do you remember what was your first instrument? How did you learn to play it? What sort of music did you listen at home while growing up? 

I started taking classical piano as a child, so keyboards have always been my main instrument. I play guitar too but not as intuitively.  My dad was a musician too (guitar) and there was always music on in the house and the car; I grew up loving a lot of music from the 50s and 60s because that’s what he listened to. My first “favourite” band was the Monkees, then The Stray Cats, and then for a lot of my teenage years I was deeply into new wave.

++ Was The Electrosonics your first band or had you been in other bands before that?

 No, I was in a number of bands prior to the Electrosonics.  My first band was The Picasso Set, a sort of twee mod pop band. Then I was briefly in a garage band called The Worst. After that was a Manchester-inspired band called Alice Underground. I met Wendy Young in Alice Underground. When Alice Underground disbanded, Wendy and I started a band called Honey.  Then finally the Electrosonics.

The Picasso Set: https://www.citr.ca/discorder/october-2015/picasso-set-take-one-million-and-three/

(I replaced their original keyboard player, Jonathan Wong, although I’m not mentioned in this article; sadly no music online anywhere).

The Worst: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ssiyz_fOhdA

(nothing online for either Alice Underground or Honey). 

++ Where were you from originally, Vancouver? 

I was born in Ontario, Canada and moved to a suburb of Vancouver at age 10.  I moved into Vancouver proper at age 17 when I started university. I’ve lived here mostly ever since, although I did live in the UK for about 5 months in 1998 and in Winnipeg, Manitoba from 2000 to 2005.

 ++ How was Vancouver at the time? Were there any bands that you liked? What were the good record stores? Or what about the pubs or venues to go check out up and coming bands?

 Hmm, I feel like there were more live music venues in the 90s then there are now, at least small to medium sized ones. There was a small shoegaze scene here in Vancouver, with bands like Readymade, Pipedream, and The Perfume Tree. I was probably out watching live music at least 2 or 3 times a week. Vancouver and Toronto are the 2 Canadian cities that touring bands usually make it to, so there were a lot of great US and international band coming to town all the time.

https://soundcloud.com/readymade-yvr

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNTqrbPOSyQ   (pipedream)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfume_Tree 

++ And out of curiosity, what would be your favourite Canadian bands all-time? 

Oh man, of all time? Honestly, I spent a LONG time loving the Grapes of Wrath, I never missed a show of theirs. I’m a fan of Stars as well, I have most of their albums.

++ When and how did the band start? How did you all meet? How was the recruiting process?

Wendy and I were living in a house with some friends, Honey was sort of in its demise and I answered an ad in the Georgia Straight musicians wanted section. That’s how I met Eric. We started dating and a few months later I moved into the house he was sharing with some other folks. Clare was a good friend of one of our roommates; we were having a party one night and heard her sing, we recruited her on the spot and shoved a guitar in her hands. We advertised for a drummer in the same musicians wanted section and connected with Curtis. It seemed like a magic combination and we were making music shortly after. 

++ What’s the story behind the name The Electrosonics?

Oh jeez, I think it was just a mad brainstorming session.  We were really into Stereolab and wanted something along those lines. We were briefly “Les Electrosoniques” until we realized it was extremely pretentious and changed it to The Electrosonics. 

++ How was the creative process for you? Where did you usually practice?

Curtis was a photographer and he shared a large photography studio with 2 or 3 other photographers. They were only in there during the day so we chipped in for rent and used the space in the evenings.  We were really lucky to have this set up, it meant we were able to leave all our equipment set up and just cover it up with sheets — important when your instruments include 5 keyboards, synth bass pedals, lap steel, drum machines, etc.  Eric was the sole songwriter for the band. He wrote all of the lyrics and either wrote or orchestrated the music. Some songs came to rehearsal all sketched out (i.e. verse/chorus structure and chords) and some started as improvisational jams and then were massaged into songs by Eric.  It was a great creative process though, everyone wrote their own parts and Eric valued everyone’s input into crafting the songs. 

++ And who would you say were influences in the sound of the band?

Spritualized, Spacemen 3, Stereolab, Slowdive were the main ones. You know, all the shoegaze bands with names starting with “S”. haha.

 ++ Most of your releases came out on Drive-In Records and its sister label Quiddity. How did you end up working with them? How was your relationship? Being a US label, did you ever meet? 

Oh gosh, I’m not sure I even remember… this was way way back in the beginnings of the internet. There were a lot of e-mailing lists around and I was on a bunch of them for music stuff. I think Blair from Endearing Records (Winnipeg) maybe connected me with Drive-In? We had a great relationship with Mike Babb from Drive-In.  We did meet them when we toured across the country and back, he let us crash at his house with his family. He’d just had a baby, and Clare and I made a tiny Electrosonics baby t-shirt for her. 

++ And before signing with them I suppose you had some recordings or demos? 

The first EP, (self-titled) was pretty much our demos. We put them out on a cassette and that’s what we sent to Mike; we remastered them and he put out the CDep. 

++ Your first release was the “Infra-Yellow” EP. Something that caught my eye is the photo on the back, where it shows two guitars, a bass and a drum set. I was wondering if these was your own setup, if these were your instruments? 

These are indeed our instruments; at the time, we were thinking that our gear was better looking and more interesting than us — and we had a policy of no band photos on album art.

 ++ Again I’m really curious about the art when it comes to the 2nd release, “Rampion”. Where was the photo taken? And what kind of birds are those? Does it have any particular meaning?

 The Rampion artwork are reverse coloured (negative) Beatrix Potter images, from “The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin”. We didn’t have permission to use those images — surprisingly no one ever said anything about it.  We felt it thematically worked with the lyrics and mood of the album.

 ++ Your first CDEP had 3 songs and now the 2nd had 5. I was wondering how come you never got to release an album? 

The really short answer to this question is money.  Drive In would definitely have released a full length album, and indeed they gave us some money to help with the recording costs for Neutron Lullaby, but this was before any old person could record on their laptop. All 3 releases were done in proper studios and recorded either on 16 track or 24 track tape machines. We were all broke 20-somethings, Eric was still in university, and we could only ever scrape up enough cash for a few days of recording.

++ And how come no 7″ vinyl for your releases? I remember Drive-In released many of them too…

Heh, our songs were generally too long to fit on one side of a 7”!

++ Lastly, in 1999, you put out “Neutron Lullaby EP”. 3 new songs plus 3 remixes. I see many of the bands that remixed had connections with the label, so am I right to assume it was the label that picked them? Or was it you who wanted these artists to remix your songs? 

Michaela’s friend Kevin did the Object remix and then Mike from Drive in got in touch with Andrew from the Cat’s Miaow and HK from Buddha on the Moon to also do remixes.  We couldn’t afford to record more than 3 songs but we wanted to make the EP worth purchasing. 

++ Also on this record we see Michaela Galloway joined to sing and play flute. How did you recruit her? 

As mentioned earlier, Clare left the Electrosonics after Rampion, so we needed a new vocalist. We put an ad in the local musicians wanted section and that’s how we found her. 

++ How different was recording in different studios around Vancouver, like Downtown Sound Studios, Lemon Loaf or Bullfrog? Which was your favourite and why?

Recording at Downtown sound was really my (and I think everyone in the band’s) first experience recording in real studio. Paul was the engineer there and we recorded to 16 track analog tape. After that, Howard Redekopp recorded the next 2 releases — this was before he had his own studio (which he does now) and so we just paid him for his time and paid the studio(s) for space.  Rampion and Neutron Lullaby were recorded on 24 analog tape. Howard’s kind of a big wig now 🙂

https://www.howardredekopp.com/ 

++ Why weren’t there more releases by the band? Was there any interest by any big labels? 

Drive-in (and Quiddity) were really the only labels that were interested and they were so incredibly nice to us, we had no interest in anyone else. It was cool being a band from Vancouver and having our label in Michigan.

++ Are there unreleased tracks by the band that never got to see the light of day?

Nope. I mean we definitely had more songs than we released, but they were never recorded, not even just a recording of rehearsal.

 ++ I know you appeared on a compilation called “Tiddleywinks (Volume One – Fun For Kids of All Ages!)”. Is it a children’s music compilation? Or it is just the name?

 It’s not a children’s album, it’s a compilation put out by my friend Simon Hussey, who was in Speedbuggy.  He made a label called “Chester’s Funtime Record Collection” and put out an album full of songs from his friend’s bands. I still have my copy. Simon’s an actor now, he’s been playing Major Marcus Mason on Riverdale. 

++ Then you had a song on a compilation called “Losing Today Volume 1” that came with a magazine called “The Sky is Grey”. What was this magazine about? And how did you ended there?

Losing Today was an Italian shoegaze magazine that contained an accompanying CD compilation of the artists featured in the magazine. There is some more info here:

http://www.pennyblackmusic.co.uk/magsitepages/Article/2595/Losing-Today

 ++ Did you appear in any other compilations?

One of the remixes was in an edition of Mass Transfer magazine.

 ++ It is hard for me to pick a favourite song but I really like “Triamene”, was wondering if you could tell me the story behind this song?

Eric: Triamene, like a lot of our songs, is really about Vancouver, which in the 90s felt like a vanguard of North American culture, and its tail end all at the same time. The title is the song’s persona, a kind of Casandra figure associated with ocean travel, staring out at an ocean whose role is changing. I grew up on the North Shore and a lot of families were affected when the ship building yards closed down. That sense decline, and the rise of the various booms left a lot of people uncertain, and sometimes in pretty desperate circumstances, and the song ties that to a creeping sense of ecological peril, which you’re always aware of in Vancouver. If there is such a thing as a West Coast gothic, then that’s what it was trying to capture – the rooms, piers, and buildings in the song are crumbling, and the chorus keeps returning to the hope that ‘the tide will still be here’. As always with the electrosonics stuff, if there is hope there, then it’s the connections that exist between the parts. We were into space rock, shoegaze and indie music that stressed the ensemble over the individual, which came through in production and instrumentation as well as in the lyrics. Clare’s voice on this tune captures a perfect balance between unreasonable optimism and twitchy despair, and combined with Curtis’s rolling drums, when she and Heather hit the distortion pedals, you get swept along that in that tide – and hopefully reminded that it’s still there.

++ If you were to choose your favourite The Electrosonics song, which one would that be and why? 

My personal favourite is Memory Bar The Door. I really like the slow build of that song, how it goes from soft to loud but holds your attention the whole way.  The 2nd runner up would be Roo, I think that song really demonstrates our control over the loud/soft dynamic by switching back and forth. Plus I really like my lead synth parts in Roo.

++ What about gigs? Did you play many? All over Canada?

 We mostly played in Vancouver. We did one cross-Canada/US tour in May of 1997.  We went east from Vancouver across approximately half of Canada to Winnipeg, then we dipped down into the US and played Chicago and Michigan, and then a couple shows in Ontario, then we headed home.

 ++ And what were the best gigs you remember? Any anecdotes you can share?

Tour was really fun… We got to play with Windy & Carl in Detroit, that was quite exciting. Our best Vancouver show was probably the Rampion CD Release show in early 1998, with the Perfume Tree at the Starfish Room.  There was a great crowd, we had projections and fog, the night went really really well.

++ And were there any bad ones? 

We played at the People’s Pub on Whyte in Edmonton when we toured and there were about 10 people at that show.  People were yelling at us to play some Zeppelin and were slow dancing (think highschool slow dancing). I thought that show was a complete write off but then we had a review in the paper saying it was the best Edmonton show since Yo La Tengo, and we were pretty pleased with that.

++ When and why did The Electrosonics stop making music? Were you involved in any other bands afterwards aside from Kinetoscope? You were in the wonderful Paper Moon, right? What about the rest of the band, had they been in other bands afterwards?

The Electrosonics officially disbanded in 2000 but, in reality, it was over before that. Eric moved to the UK to do his masters degree at Cambridge in the fall of 1998, we put out Neutron Lullaby as sort of a swansong, knowing the band would never play live again. Eric continued making music under the name Recurring.  He came home from the UK for the summer of 2000 and did a vancouver-based Recurring recording, including a number of members of the Electrosonics (not me, though, we were no longer a couple at this point).

http://www.microindie.com/recurring/

I’m not sure what Curtis has been up to musically at all. Clare has done a number of music projects, including the Eye Lickers. Michaela was in Hinterland and The Hope Slide. Wendy was in a project called Kaneva. I moved to Winnipeg in 2000 to become part owner of Endearing Records, joined Paper Moon and I also played in another band there called The Mandarins.  I moved back to Vancouver in 2005 and took a long (motherhood-related) hiatus from music. In 2014, I started a band called The Intelligence Service with my then boyfriend, Alex Pen. We split up in early 2018 (The Intelligence Service continues on). Kinetoscope formed in March 2018.

https://theintelligenceservice.bandcamp.com/

(I am on all of these recording, as well as an upcoming one called Beatrice’s Guitar). 

++ Has there ever been a reunion? Or talks of playing again together?

No reunion and there never will be one. Eric is the main songwriter for the Electrosonics and he lives in England so that’s that, pretty much.

 ++ Did you get much attention from the radio?

 Absolutely none, aside from some extremely sporadic play on college radio in Canada.

++ What about the press? Did they give you any attention? What about from fanzines?

Just the usual live or release reviews in things like Discorder and The Georgia Straight. I think we got a smidge of press for the tour but nothing crazy. It’s possible there was more we weren’t aware of.  This is pre-internet days after all.

++ Looking back in retrospective, what would you say was the biggest highlight for the band?

Oh definitely touring. That was a first for all of us and quite an accomplishment. We booked all the shows ourselves, by telephone primarily. It was 3+ weeks of togetherness in a small VW Vanagon and we managed not to kill each other. I caught a cold in the prairies and had to medicate myself for the Winnipeg show.  We were also in Winnipeg right during the 1997 Red River flood, that was cool/scary to see. We had a killer show in Toronto at El Mocambo at the (in)famous Blow Up — we played our best brit rock set (which everyone seemed to love) and then were treated like celebrities for the rest of the night while the DJs were doing their thing.

 ++ Aside from music, what other hobbies do you have? Do you follow any football team? 

I’m utterly not a sports person at all. I have a 14 year old daughter, she is a “hobby” haha.  I also do a lot of crafting like sewing and cross stitch. Music is still a huge part of my life.  I also have a small rescue mutt from California that I adore.

 ++ I was once in Vancouver and I really liked it, but as I have the chance I will ask a local for some recommendations! What are the sights one shouldn’t miss? Or the traditional food or drinks that you love that I should try? 

Well, Vancouver is incredibly scenic so a trip up Grouse Mountain is definitely worth it. You can hike up it, called the “Grouse Grind” or take a gondola up.  It’s also hipster/vegan central here so there are more local breweries than you can shake a stick at and SO MUCH vegan or vegetarian food. Ian and I are both nearly life-long vegetarians (and Eric is as well) so this is kind of a haven for us.  I have a few favourite restaurants — The Black Lodge (vegetarian Twin Peaks theme), The Storm Crow (scifi gamer nerd bar) and What’s Up Hot Dog (punk rock hot dog beer joint).

 ++ Anything else you’d like to add? 

Nothing except thanks for taking such an interest in the Electrosonics.  That band was definitely a magical time for me and I’m really proud of it. It’s flattering anyone outside of the people who were in the band even are aware of us!

Thanks so much to Zisimos for the interview! One Night Suzan was one of the wonderful bands that were part of that wonderful first wave of Greek indiepop in the early and mid 90s. They released just one 7″ on the legendary This Happy Feeling label and appeared on many compilations. Now the band is about to release a retrospective compilation on the Greek label Make Me Happy which no one should miss. If you are not familiar with the band or want to know some more details about them don’t miss out this great interview!

++ Hi Zisimos! Thanks so much for being up for this interview! How are you? What’s going on with One Night Suzan? I hear there is a retrospective in the works? When will it be released?

Hello ! It’s nice talking to you ! Well, there is a compilation LP on the way, with songs recorded between 1990 and 1995. It will be released by Make Me Happy records in May, if everything goes according to plan…

++ Tell me a bit more about it. What will be the title for it? And what songs will be included? Does it include all your recorded output?

The title will be “ONE NIGHT SUZAN : 20-year hangover, a retrospective collection”. “20-year hangover” is actually the title of one of the 11 songs which will be featured on the lp. During the compilation process we tried to find a balance between unreleased tracks and tracks released on CD or cassette compilations, but never before on vinyl…(with the exception of “Is it true ?” because it wouldn’t be a retrospective without at least 1 song from our 7’’single). Some other songs included will be the previously unreleased “In my Dream” (which was one of our favourite opening tracks in our gigs), “No Guts” ( in its original version ), “Billy Liar”, “Reading Weekends” and “Mariaaah” (from 2 very rare Greek CD compilations) and more…plus a surprise cover of a favourite song…There is a lot more recorded stuff, which (who knows?) might be released in the future…

++ And what do you think of this great labour of love by Make Me Happy Records, releasing all these great gems of the Greek indiepop past? What other bands do you think should be rediscovered in the future?

The guys at Make Me Happy are doing a great job ! They’re full of energy and ideas, so they can introduce younger people to the sounds of 90s Greek indie-pop! As for the second part of your question, take a look at the line-up of their brilliant compilation LP “A sparkle from the past” and you’ll have your answer…

++ Of course you were also in The Crooner, and would love to ask you so many questions about that great band so maybe we can do an interview at another time. But I do have a question today, what would you say was the main differences and similarities between One Night Suzan and The Crooner?

I guess the main differences were the way we wrote and produced the songs : The creation of a ONE NIGHT SUZAN song was usually a joint effort, with the collaboration between George Kyriazis (the lead singer of O.N.S.) and myself. For example, I might have some lyrics and he would add the music, or vice versa…Then, the bass and drums were added by Thomas and Dimitris…So, we are talking about a group effort, in which each musician brings his own style and ideas, and the rehearsals are actually a process of “building-up” the songs… On the other hand, the music and lyrics of THE CROONER were mostly composed and written by me . Then I would play them in our home studio to Makis P., who would start proposing ideas about orchestration and rhythms, and then trying out different beats and sounds … in addition to guitars and bass, we used keyboards, computers and even sampling, as well as the female vocals of Eirini and Natasha ! So, the guitar-punk-pop sound of O.N.S. had evolved into a more “open-minded” electronic version of pop, mixing many more styles and elements.

++ Let’s go back in time. What are your first music memories? Do you remember what was your first instrument? How did you learn to play it? What sort of music did you listen at home while growing up?

My father is a pretty good guitar player, so I grew up listening to a lot of acoustic and classic guitar, as well as the Greek and International pop hits that were on the radio during the late 70s/early 80s… However, it was my older cousin who showed me the basic chords and generally taught me how to play “rock” music on the guitar!

++ Was One Night Suzan your first band or had you been in other bands before that? What about the rest of the members? If so, how did all of these bands sound like? Are there any recordings?

I was always interested in playing and writing music. During high- school, my best friend Dimitris Faris and me wrote and recorded our own songs In his parents’ flat, using primitive (but very creative) recording methods. Then we would sell these cassettes to our classmates !! At this point we called ourselves “THE TURN”, and some of the songs we recorded still sound amazing… Then, during the tenth or eleventh grade, I think, another classmate joined us. He played the bass, and he would eventually become the bass player of O.N.S. (Dimitris Kostandellos) a few years later…As a trio, I still remember playing live cover versions of some Fall and Cure songs at a school concert. Then at university I joined a short lived band, until I met George Kyriazis at a lecture…and we started hanging out together, especially after realizing we were born on exactly the same day and we both played the guitar!!This was the beginning of O.N.S.

++ Where were you from originally, Athens? How was your city at the time? Were there any bands that you liked? What were the good record stores? Or what about the pubs or venues to go check out up and coming bands?

Yes, I was born and raised in Athens. The city was really chaotic when I was in my early teens, and the majority of the people were more interested in politics than anything else…There were only 2 TV channels, and very few radio stations, promoting bad quality Greek music. As for the young people, the majority listened to classic rock or danced to dance hits in discos… the only Greek bands I liked were “dark wave” bands, like Yell-o-Yell and Metro Decay (there was a cult indie record label called CREEP who fortunately released singles from such bands) but of course they were completely underground. They used to play in clubs like Pegasus or Mousiki Apothiki, but I was too young to go to these places very often…(Greek parents were very strict in those days about going out on school nights or coming home after midnight…) The best record stores were Happening, Jazz Rock and some others, but the imported records were quite expensive in Greece until the late 80’s. That’s when more specialized record stores started opening (like the legendary Pilgrim Records) , bringing more copies of stuff we wanted, and therefore at lower prices …

++ When and how did the band start? How did you all meet? How was the recruiting process?

As I have already mentioned, the start of the band was when I met George at university. We started playing and composing songs with our acoustic guitars at George’s place…Then we recruited my old school friend and bass player Dimitris K. and another friend introduced us to Thomas Peppas, our drummer.

++ What’s the story behind the name One Night Suzan?

A university professor was giving a lecture about Pop Art and Andy Warhol…one of the stars in his movies was called One-Eyed Suzan, but George and I misheard it, and thought it was One-Night Suzan…then we realized that this name could have many more meanings and interpretations (for instance, it could be the beginning of a short story : One night, Suzan…). Plus we liked the sound of it, so we kept it !

++ How was the creative process for you? Where did you usually practice?

As I’ve already said, the songs were conceived in our rooms, on our acoustic guitars. Then we showed the songs and explained our ideas to Dimitris and Thomas at the studio where we used to rehearse (Backstage studios). Dimitris came up with a bassline, Thomas proposed some beat, and we gradually built up the rhythm and the structure of the songs…

++ And did you ever thought about writing songs in Greek for the band?

Never ! After all, both me and George studied English literature, and we loved English and American novels and music…

++ You were around at a time in Greece where there was a small but very creative scene of pop bands. Why do you think that happened at that time? Did you feel part of a scene?

There were already a couple of fanzines that raved about stuff like C86, or the Smiths, and tried to make the British indie music scene popular in Greece. When we started playing, these fanzines embraced us as the first Greek band who played something similar to their British “heroes”…and month after month, more similar bands emerged. So a pop scene started to build up.

++ And who would you say were influences in the sound of the band?

The Velvet Underground, The Smiths, The Cure, The Buzzcocks (we used to play ‘Love you more’ in many gigs) ,The Go-Betweens, Pale Fountains (probably the reason why we used trumpet on ‘UNTIL’), Television Personalities, The Jesus and Mary Chain, R.E.M., C86, Creation records (our favourite record label ), Sarah Records …and many more!!

++ Your one and only release was a 7″ on the wonderful This Happy Feeling label. How did you end up releasing with them? How was your relationship with the label? And how come there were no more releases? “Don’t Let Them Kill Our Taste…” was the title of the 7″? Tell me about it? I think you actually had a song that doesn’t appear on the 7″ with that name, right?

THIS HAPPY FEELING was, in way, the evolution of INNOCENT LABEL, a cassette-only label which was set up by Dimitris Emannouil and Vasilis Kollias (the creators of “In those days” fanzine), Christos Lalios (who had “Little Charmer” fanzine) and myself. That’s the label that released Suzan’s ‘Autumn Falls’, a 6-Track tape (our first “proper” release) in 1992. When this short lived label ceased operating, me and Christos joined forces with Makis P. (from Next Time Passions and, later, the Crooner ) and decided to make a label releasing 7’’ singles by our bands and other Greek pop bands that were gradually emerging…Christos was actually a brilliant graphic designer, so he was in charge of the artwork, while Makis and myself were responsible for the music part…”Don’t let them kill our taste” was a garage-pop song from the ‘Autumn Falls’ cassette, and, although it wasn’t as strong as the 3 songs of the single, we liked the message of the title, so we named the 7’’ after it.

++ The songs on your 7″ were recorded at Praxis and Backstage Studio. Why did you use two different ones? How were these recording sessions? Who did you work there with?

‘UNTIL’ was recorded in the studio where we rehearsed, and was also included in ‘Autumn Falls”, so it was recorded in 1991-2…When we decided to release the 7’’ with THIS HAPPY FEELING ( which was in 1993-4 )we decided we should include some newer recordings, so we recorded “IS IT TRUE “ and re-recorded “POSTCARDS” at Praxis studio. This was a better recording studio, where the sound engineer was a friend (and now famous electronic music producer) called Coti K. Also, these 2 songs feature another drummer, Petros , because our original drummer had been drafted in the air-force and was away for a year or so…

++ And do tell me about the rice paper insert that came with the 7″? What’s the story behind using that material?

I really don’t know! You have to ask Christos…

++ Even though you released one 7″ you did appear on many many compilations all around the world, Germany, Spain, the US, the UK… how did you end up appearing on them? Did you send tapes to these labels? Or did they contact you? How did it work back in the day, pre- email days?

The fanzines I told you about had many contacts with other fanzines and small record labels around the globe…they often exchanged tapes, so that’s how we became known overseas…then we used to trade 7’’ singles with some of these labels…so it was more like a form of exchanging music rather than sending demos…

++ The first appearance I notice was one from 1989, a tape called “ΑΝ- εξάρτητη Rock Σκηνή”. At that time your name was One-Night Suzan, with a dash, and I believe the songs were recorded at a club called AN? Care telling me a bit about this rare tape?

This cassette was a compilation of recordings from different bands and concerts at AN club (AN means “if” in Greek), which was the main live venue for underground rock bands in Athens….This was the place where we later gave most of our gigs, and organized a lot of pop parties…As for the “dash”, as I told you before, we realized that without it the name of the band could have more “ interprerations”…but the guys who released this tape obviously didn’t know about it !

++ One last question about compilations, there was a compilation called “Weapons of Happiness” where you appear with the song Die in Wonder. This was released by a Greek label called The World of Suzie Wong. I must say I know nothing about this label so I was hoping you could tell me who were they?

“The World of Suzie Wong” was another Greek fanzine, which was run by a good friend, Pierre Kosmidis. It operated between 1994-1995, if I remember well, and of course it supported Greek indie music and organized a couple of successful pop parties. They also released this compilation.

++ It is hard for me to pick a favourite song but I really like “No Guts”, was wondering if you could tell me the story behind this song?

It’s one of my favourites, too. The lyrics expressed perfectly my ideas about life at that time ( I could describe them as ‘post-teenage existentialism” or something like that !!) and I think the rhythm and music is a perfect blend of noisy pop and new wave…BTW, the forthcoming compilation will include all the lyrics, because they are such an essential part of our music…So you will be able to read them and see exactly what this song is about.

++ If you were to choose your favourite One Night Suzan song, which one would that be and why?

Sorry, I can’t make a choice. But most of them are included in the compilation by Make Me Happy !

++ What about gigs? Did you play many? All over Greece? And what were the best gigs you remember? Any anecdotes you can share?

Well, we played a lot of gigs, not too many though, because we also had to work or study at the same time…Most of them were in Athens, but also in other cities like Patras or Thessaloniki…One of the best was a gig organized by some pop fans in a remote village on a mountainous area on the island of Evia. It was literally a pop trip! Many fans and band members came by train or bus…some stayed in tents near a river…the venue where we played was a local bar built on the edge of a cliff, with an amazing view of the mountains…the bands that played were ONE NIGHT SUZAN , NEXT TIME PASSIONS and GROOVE MACHINE…it was an awesome experience !! Another unforgettable night was playing as a support band for the British band THE HEARTHROBS in RODON club, which was the best live venue in Athens, where we had seen so many of our UK and USA “heroes” performing the previous years…and here we were, playing live on that stage!!. We would return to the stage of RODON club 5 years later, at one of our last gigs, supporting THE DIVINE COMEDY …

++ And were there any bad ones?

The worst was during a gig in the city of Chalkida, where a small but loud part of the audience started insulting us and throwing some empty bottles, demanding that we should play HARDER, like MEN, and not “stupid pop music”. We got angry, there were arguments , and I think we finally told them to fuck off and left the stage.

++ When and why did One Night Suzan stop making music? Were you involved in any other bands afterwards?

As you know, during 1992-3 I started recording some solo stuff as THE CROONER, because I was slowly getting into other kinds of music, like bossa, jazz and soul…and after 1995, when I teamed up with Makis P., I got involved more with electronic and lounge music. So, I was gradually giving my attention to the Crooner project, as it felt more relevant to what I really liked at the time, and the music was generally evolving to a different direction…So, by 1997 there was no time for rehearsals and work with O.N.S., as I had so many things going on with THE CROONER and our more electronic side-project, HYPLAR…plus recordings for Elephant Records and Siesta Records with other side- projects, and more…

++ What about the rest of the band, had they been in other bands afterwards?

Dimitris has been the bass player for our good old band mates, NEXT TIME PASSIONS !! He’s been playing with them for the last 7 or 8 years , maybe more!

++ Has there ever been a reunion? Or talks of playing again together?

We are not the “re-union” types, if you know what I mean…but ,on the other hand, “never say never”…

++ Did you get much attention from the radio? What about the press? Did they give you any attention? Fanzines?

As you have guessed by now, only the fanzines paid attention to our “scene”…there were also a couple of radio shows, but nothing organized…as for the music press (actually, we’re talking about 3 magazines…) they promoted mostly Greek- speaking pop and rock music…there was no free press at the time, which helped a lot the underground bands, but this was after 2000…

++ Looking back in retrospect, what would you say was the biggest highlight for the band?

I really can’t answer that. But the first time I held OUR 7’’ single in my hands, it was a childhood dream come true for me !!

++ Aside from music, what other hobbies do you have?

Watching movies, reading literature and travelling.

++ I’ve never been to Athens, but I am dying to go, so I will take advantage ask a local for some recommendations! What are the sights one shouldn’t miss? Or the traditional food or drinks that you love that I should try?

Obviously, you should visit the Parthenon and The Acropolis Museum…and don’t miss out on walking around the areas of Monastiraki, Plaka and Psyrri, they’re full of surprises, great bars, hip shops and restaurants, and you’ll see a mix of the traditional and the modern. If it’s summer, you could also visit some nearby beaches, they’re not bad! As for food and drink, try to eat at small tapas restaurants (called OUZERI in Greek), where you’ll taste a large variety of delicious dishes, and drink TSIPOURO or RAKI, which are much better than the more “famous” OUZO…

++ Anything else you’d like to add?

No, it’s been a pleasure.!

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Listen
One Night Suzan – No Guts

Thanks so much to Richard for the interview! Not so long ago I was interviewing Richard about the great band he is in these days (since the 90s actually!) The Relationships! But as I am a big fan of all the records The Anyways I realised I needed to ask him questions about his previous band and he was up for the challenge! So here are his answers, please sit back and enjoy!

++ Hi Richard! Thanks so much for being up for this interview! How are you? We were just talking about The Relationships some days ago, now it is time for The Anyways. How different or similar do you find the two bands?

Hi Roque, and many thanks for inviting me! I’m well, thanks, if a little deaf after many decades of amplified music. (Pardon?) The Anyways lasted from 1986-1994 and encompassed many different people and musical styles in that period. Meanwhile The Relationships have been going since 1994 (25 years old – how did that happen?!?). Again, there have been a few line-up changes, but maybe the musical feel has been slightly more consistent. The main similarity between the two is that I was/am the main songwriter in both bands. The main difference is that The Relationships – while influenced by a wide variety of acts including many fine American ones – has a more British approach. I admit it, I frequently used to sing in (my version of) an American accent in The Anyways, which I probably wouldn’t do now.

++ Was The Anyways your first band or had you been in other bands before that? What about the rest of the members? If so, how did all of these bands sound like? Are there any recordings?

The Anyways wasn’t my first band. I’d done cover versions in a school band, then had a one-gig punk incarnation in 1978 (Dick Terminal and the Deathbeds, no less). Things really got going when I joined a local Oxford band called Discontinued Lines, which morphed into Ward 10 in the early 80s. After the demise of that, Pete Lock (the drummer from those two bands) and I got together with Angus Stevenson, Peter Momtchiloff and Valerie Howell – Here Comes Everybody was the result. It was kind of a springboard for Angus joining Razorcuts, Peter M forming Talulah Gosh with Amelia Fletcher, and Pete L and me starting up The Anyways. As for recordings, I believe there might be one track by Here Comes Everybody on a MySpace site if you can still find it! There is also some footage in Jon Spira’s 2009 Oxford music film, Anyone Can Play Guitar.

++ Where were you from originally, Oxford?

No, I was born in Woking, Surrey, home of Paul Weller and The Jam! I came to study in Oxford and stayed on.

++ How was Oxford at the time? Were there any bands that you liked? What were the good record stores? Or what about the pubs or venues to go check out up and coming bands?

There was quite a polarised scene in Oxford when I first arrived here. On the one hand there was a hard rock basement venue called The Corn Dolly – I went there once, but didn’t have a dirty denim jacket, so didn’t feel at home! I preferred The Oranges and Lemons, which hosted punk bands. But I wasn’t really punky enough to fit in there either, so didn’t go very often! There was a tremendous chain of record stores called Music Market, which I used to hang around in. Later I used to go to The Cape of Good Hope and the Caribbean Club, both to see other bands and to play gigs with my own groups. Good local acts? The Stereotypes, Strange Fruit, the Leather Fish, The Communists, The Mistakes.

++ When and how did the band start? How did you all meet? How was the recruiting process?

In 1986 I recorded some of my new songs – literally in my bedroom – with Pete Lock and a guy called Ste Nunn who played amazing orchestral keyboards. Ste was staying there temporarily, having moved up from a house-share in Bristol with one of my friends. He was involved in making videos for the Jesus and Mary Chain, and wasn’t up for forming a band, so Pete and I started looking around. We met Alan Buckley through HCE fans who’d become friends, Chris Hill and Tim Breadin, at a gig in an old converted church in Oxford. Alan played bass and really liked the Velvet Underground – so he was in! Then my friend Susan introduced us to Jennie Crisp and Trudy Aspinwall – who joined on keyboards and vocals/tambourine. Our first gig was a kind of a warm-up, just to the members of an Oxford college. Trudy stayed in the audience – she wasn’t quite ready to perform yet! Later she became an enthusiastic onstage presence, and she used to bring along quite a following to gigs!

++ Were there any lineup changes at all?

Jennie – who started dating a member of Talulah Gosh – left after about a year, and Ali Day joined on keyboards. Lead guitarist Hamish Ferguson joined a couple years later, then Karen Cleave came in on keyboards when Ali and Trudy left. The final incarnation saw Mark Price on lead guitar after Hamish and Karen left to form their own country band! Pete, Alan and I were the constants throughout.

++ What’s the story behind the name The Anyways?

I suppose it was a word I liked, and it seemed to convey the slightly amateurish nature (in a good way) of what we wanted to do!

++ How was the creative process for you? Where did you usually practice?

I enjoyed – and still enjoy with The Relationships – the whole phenomenon of bringing a song along to the rest of the band and seeing what they do with it. We rehearsed mostly in the same place where The R-ships still rehearse – South Oxford Community Centre!

++ You were around in the late 80s and early 90s in the UK and there was an ebullient scene of pop bands and labels. Why do you think that happened at that time? Did you feel part of a scene?

As an older pop/rock fan [puts on tweed cap and puffs at briar pipe], I think that there seem to be waves of creativity in the world of music. Or at least used to be in the late 20^th century… about every ten years. The late 60s/early 70s revolution was one. Then the punk phenomenon in the late 70s/early 80s. Then the indie explosion in the late 80s/early 90s. Yes, we felt like part of a scene – certainly at first, playing at the Black Horse and The Falcon in Camden, chatting to Bob Stanley when he still ran a fanzine (long before St Etienne), receiving advice from Bobby Gillespie about having more guitar solos in the band!

++ And who would you say were influences in the sound of the band?

Hmm, let me answer that by telling you some of the songs we covered at gigs during the days of The Anyways. Sweet Jane by The Velvet Underground. See My Friends by The Kinks. I’m Free by The Rolling Stones (long before the more famous chart version by The Soup Dragons!). Call On Me by Captain Beefheart. Codine as interpreted by The Charlatans (original American ones). Circle Sky by The Monkees. The Beatles’ If I Needed Someone. The Bangles – Going Down to Liverpool. I Can See For Miles by The Who. Robert de Niro’s Waiting by Bananarama (with Amelia Fletcher on vocals).

++ Your first release dates from 1987, the “Confession” 7″ that was released by Notown Records. I have never heard of this label, other than on your release. Was it your own label? Or who was behind it?

After our low-key college debut, our first ever public gig earned us a review in Sounds, a national music paper! We were supporting Talulah Gosh at the Jericho Tavern, Oxford. The reviewer, Roger Holland, later set up Notown Records. He released our 7” Confession/Now You Are, followed by a 7” by another Oxford band, Shake Appeal (who later morphed into Swervedriver), a few months later. Then he ran away to Bologna with an Italian waitress he’d met – so that was the end of Notown Records!

++ The two songs on the record were recorded at Union Studios in Oxford. How was that experience? Was it your first time at a proper studio?

It was very, very exciting. Yes, first time in a proper studio. (Actually in the basement of a terraced house in East Oxford, a few streets away from where I lived). There was a squeaky door at the top of the stairs. As I finished my vocal take on Now You Are, someone opened the door. You can hear it at the end of the track. Hence also the message scratched on the run-out groove of the 7”.

++ I suppose you did release demo tapes? I saw one on Discogs with “Some Psychedelic Song”, “Painting the Desert” and “Silver” on it. A green cassette. Was this the only one? Or were there more? Did you sell them or were mainly for promoting the band?

We did some more recording for Notown at Union Studios, but then Roger the Notown man disappeared off to Italy. We eventually released three of those songs on that green cassette – just on sale in local shops and at gigs. Meanwhile we appeared on an Oxford compilation album, The Jericho Collection, in 1988. Dave Newton who later became Ride’s manager was behind it. Shake Appeal and The Anyways had a track each on the album proper, and were also featured on a free single given away with the album. Some more recording followed at Union Studios, including a session engineered by Tim Turan – who now drums for The Relationships! Then we recorded a whole lot more – at Dungeon Studios, out in deepest rural Warwickshire – with the Hamish/Karen line-up. Only one song from those sessions got released at the time, on Revolution No 9, a charity Beatles compilation which also featured my fellow Woking-ite Paul Weller!

++ Then it took 5 years for your next release, the “Sunshine Down EP” on Marineville Records. Why did it take so long? And how did you end up signing to Marineville? How was your relationship with them?

I suppose it didn’t seem that long, given all the line-up changes and recording sessions and compilation and cassette releases in between! The lead guitar player in our final incarnation, Mark Price, lived in Brighton. I can’t remember how he came across Marineville, but they were based down there too. The Marineville guy was nice, and worked as a baker! I only met him a couple of times, and we exchanged some cassettes of music we liked. I recall he was very into obscure glitter rock – the kind of stuff later compiled by Bob Stanley on his ‘junk shop glam’ albums.

++ Tell me a bit about the photo on the sleeve. Is that you all? Where was it taken?

Yes, that’s the final line-up. You know what – I have no idea where it was taken. Probably outside the South Oxford Community Centre (like the picture on the Confession/Now You Are sleeve).

++ Then the next year your album “Older than Yesterday” was released. It took me a while to find a copy 10 years ago or so, because I think only 400 copies were pressed. Why so little?

Thank you for your kind words about Older Than Yesterday! Yes, it was a compilation of recordings from 1987 to 1993, which we put together in the final days of the band. Mastered, incidentally, by Tim Turan (R-ships drum dude!). It came out after the band was over. That fact plus financial considerations meant only 400 were produced.

++ Tell me about the photo on the front. Is it Marston Street in Oxford? Does it have any particular meaning?

The little girl pictured is Helen, daughter of Pete Lock. Yes, Marston Street is in East Oxford – it’s where a few of us lived at different times, in a legendary shared house which I moved into in my final year as a student (Amelia Fletcher, Peter Momtchiloff and Chris Scott from Talulah Gosh spent some time living there too). It was unofficially known as Indie Central for a while in the late 80s! The cover shot has no particular meaning – just a fun image.

++ It is hard for me to pick a favourite song but I really like “Silver” and “Sweet Marie”, was wondering if you could tell me the story behind these songs? Was Marie a real person?

Oh thanks. Silver was kind of a reaction to seeing My Bloody Valentine play at The Wheatsheaf in Oxford. Maybe the first time we tried mixing the vocals way down low, so they just peeped out of the guitars. Modern psychedelia! Sweet Marie was influenced by the Country Gothic end of what was going on in American alternative music at the time – Violent Femmes, The Gun Club, later stuff by The Dream Syndicate. I’d like to say Sweet Marie was a real person… maybe she was Sweet Jane’s country cousin!

++ If you were to choose your favourite The Anyways song, which one would that be and why?

It changes from week to week. Special One had a real enthusiasm to it – possibly the best interplay between Trudy and me on vocals. I think it was the first session when we were really well recorded by someone who ‘got’ the band. (Stand up, Mr Turan!) Then Tower of Fools had a beautiful feel to it – loved that drum intro from Pete (later used again, shamelessly, at least once!), and all the shimmering layered guitars and keyboards. The late great Hamish Ferguson did an absolutely amazing 12-string guitar break on that one – makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck. But this week maybe I’d have to say The Way I’ve Found. Another example of that Country Gothic style I was talking about earlier. Lovely tone on Alan’s bass in the intro. More of those layered guitars and keyboards. Splendid backing vocals courtesy of Pete Lock, with Karen’s housemate Selina. I even like the hilarious impersonation I do of Mick Jagger on the middle eight!

++ What about gigs? Did you play many? All over the UK?

Yes, a lot – Oxford of course, but also London and surrounding area, Brighton, Bristol, mid-Wales. Pete Lock was heroic driving us around in a van! We used to think nothing of getting home at 2 or 3 in the morning, then going to work the next day, young tykes that we were!

++ And what were the best gigs you remember? Any anecdotes you can share?

We played at a Hindu wedding in Hendon (London outskirts). When we inspected our set-list, all the songs were called things like Love Gone Bad and Cold & Blue. Not exactly wedding-y. They seemed to enjoy it anyway. We also did a rather notable set supporting One Thousand Violins at this club in Aldershot, Hampshire. Aldershot is a big army town, and the audience were all military kids, we reckoned. They came in to see all the bands, clapped and whooped enthusiastically, then all filed out in orderly fashion to the bar area in between bands. Otherwise our gigs in Jeff Barrett’s clubs in London were always a blast – the Black Horse and The Falcon. (Though one of the ones at The Falcon featured a terrible smell – the pub cat had come in and disgraced itself in the gig room before sound-check!) We did a couple at the 100 Club in London, organised by Dan Treacy from the Television Personalities. It felt absolutely like being in a film, playing at this legendary London venue with this punk/indie legend promoting!

++ And were there any bad ones?

Hmm, there was the one where Jennie knocked over her fizzy soda and it shorted out the keyboard – oops! Oh, and the one we did at the Fulham Greyhound. We got a terrific crowd along… but when we went to get paid, the tough-guy promoter informed us there was no money. He had burly mates with dogs… we didn’t argue! But for the most part they were pretty good gigs, though maybe that’s the rose-tinted spectacles of nostalgia! Most of the acts we shared bills with were really nice people, which helped. For example, I had terrible stage fright for a while. We supported Jonathan Richman at the Jericho in Oxford, and he was extremely kind and understanding and talked me out of my nerves. So it all came good in the end.

++ When and why did The Anyways stop making music? Were you involved in any other bands afterwards?

Things changed in people’s lives. Alan, Pete and Mark wanted to do more of their own songs. Pete wanted to move out from behind the drumkit and develop his singing and guitar-playing. I had some new song ideas which maybe suited a new vehicle – which became The Relationships.

++ What about the rest of the band, had they been in other bands afterwards?

Yes, Pete, Alan and Mark formed a band called Blue Kite, which later turned into Moiety when Alan left to become a performance poet! Meanwhile Angus, Pete and I started putting The Relationships together.

++ Has there ever been a reunion? Or talks of playing again together?

The Anyways got back together for various different reunion sets in 1998, 2008, 2009. Plus one song in 2015 at a birthday bash for Pete!

++ Did you get much attention from the radio?

Our most exciting radio play was on John Peel’s show in 1987! Just one play of Confession. The late great Mr Peel commented on and chuckled over the name of the label, Notown Records, and said in his distinctive lugubrious voice, ‘I don’t know where this lot are from’. I had it taped off the radio on a cassette… but then, unbelievably, I recorded over it by mistake!

++ What about the press? Did they give you any attention?

As previously mentioned, our first ever public gig was reviewed in a national paper, Sounds, and Melody Maker did a couple of short pieces about us too. We had some good press in Oxford music papers – Local Support, Curfew and Nightshift. I remember the Oxford Times gave us one good review and one bad one. A load of local fans wrote in to complain about the less positive review, which was gratifying! Ronan from Curfew and Nightshift has always been very supportive. (He does an amazing job, by the way –  Oxford would be a far less exciting place without his tireless efforts as a chronicler of the local music scene).

++ What about from fanzines?

Bob Stanley’s fanzine – Caff, I think it was called – gave us a nice mention in 1987.

++ Looking back in retrospective, what would you say was the biggest highlight for the band?

Hmm, I can’t pick one. But… all those ‘for the first time’ things, I suppose. Playing to a packed Jericho Tavern with cheering people hanging off the walls. Being reviewed in a national music paper. Being offered a record deal. Going to a real recording studio. Being played by our hero John Peel on the radio.

++ Aside from music, what other hobbies do you have?

My girlfriend and I like to go for walks and eat nice roast lunches. We both read quite a lot. Otherwise old movies are pretty popular. For example Whistle Down the Wind, with Hayley Mills and Alan Bates. Brilliant combination of funny/sad, realistic/fantastical, child’s-eye-view/cynical.

++ I asked this same question to Angus in the Relationships interview, but would love your take on it. I’ve never been to Oxford so I will ask a local for some recommendations! What are the sights one shouldn’t miss? Or the traditional food or drinks that you love that I should try?

Try the Prince of Wales in Iffley Village (on the outskirts of East Oxford) for a traditional British Sunday roast lunch!

++ Anything else you’d like to add?

It’s been a pleasure talking to you, Roque!

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Listen
The Anyways – Silver

Thanks so much to Nick Potter and Sean Bergin for the interview! I wrote some months ago about the brilliant Moss Poles on the blog and was lucky that Nick got in touch and that both him and Sean were up for answering all my questions! The Moss Poles released a few records in the 80s, mostly on the Idea label, leaving classic songs like “One Summer” or “Underground”. Sadly their 2nd album remains unreleased and I wish so much it sees the light of day in the near future! Now, time to rediscover them!

++ Let’s go back in time, let’s go in chronological order. What are your first music memories? Do you remember what was your first instrument? How did you learn to play it? What sort of music did you listen at home while growing up?

NICK: I grew up on punk with bands like The Clash and the Damned.  I always wanted to play guitar, but was never particularly competent – still not.  I still can’t get too far past a nice distorted guitar even if the song is marshmallow.

SEAN: punk band in Stafford Sensa Yuma lent me a bass then kicked me out after first gig /older brother raised me punk/mum and dad Ray Charles /Rretha and Beatles

++ I believe some of you were in the V8s before being in The Moss Poles, right? How did they sound? Were there any recordings?

NICK: The V8s were a very early version of the Moss Poles with Sean, Michael Kemp, myself and a drum machine.  My recollection is that we just morphed into The Moss Poles when we got a drummer.

We kind of left Michael behind at the direction of MCA who first picked us up.  Absolutely horrible situation – we were just friends having fun in a band, but effectively being offered a deal if we dropped the guitarist.

SEAN: Mick wanted to finish his degree

++ And aside from The V8s were you or any of the members involved in other bands before being in The Moss Poles?

NICK: I was in a punk band called The Wasted (for not too subtle reasons) with Jebs, Steve and Jamie.  I think I have a really bad tape somewhere.  The World is Full of Happy Little Oranges; Beyond the U, This is the End – songs that never got past the local village hall!

SEAN: one gig with Sensa Yuma then Moss Poles

++ Were you all originally from London?\

NICK: I am from London, but grew up in Bedford, then went back to London.

SEAN: Stafford

++ How was your city at the time? Were there any bands that you liked? What were the good record stores? Or what about the pubs or venues to go check out up and coming bands?

NICK: London was great for music and student life. Cheap beer, always something to do.

SEAN: lots of gigs and people who talked very nice

++ When and how did the band start? How did you all meet? How was the recruiting process?

NICK: Sean and I met whilst working over the summer at UCL.  I had hardly ever written a song before, but we somehow just complemented each other.  I think One Summer was one of the first songs we wrote together.

Michael was also working there behind the bar.  We kinda all just got on.

I also met my wife – Allison – who was on a placement from Glasgow Catering College (or something like that).  It’s fair to say that she is behind a few of the songs!

SEAN: nail on the head good times

++ You were in the University of London at the time, right? What year were you in in your studies? And what were you all studying when you started The Moss Poles?

NICK: I was studying Philosophy.  Same year as Paul Breuer who was in a band called Kill Devil Hills and then went onto form another band who I believe were reasonably successful, but I can’t for the life of me remember their name.

SEAN: I was on placement like Allison but from Stafford sixth form my mate crutch had done it year before and met Nick told me someone who liked Gun Club at the time unknown

++ Were there any lineup changes?

NICK: We had about 8 drummers with Dave Kirk the main man playing on the album(s) and singles.

I guess the core of the group was always Sean and myself, with Michael there at the start.  Sean and I split up after the third single was recorded, so Paul Breuer played bass on the second album – it wasn’t the same although there are so great songs on there that never got any exposure.  What could have been if we’d stayed together – sigh…….

I recorded a third solo studio album, but by then it was really all over.

SEAN: Dave Bickley drummed on one summer his band The Big Boat are worth a look /and later The Skinny Millionaires did some cool stuff but Dave Kirk was the man really for the tour and album then Jim? seem bit Star Trek related

++ What’s the story behind the name The Moss Poles?

NICK: We couldn’t agree on a name, but sitting in the front room one day, Allison said ‘Moss Pole’ – it was the first name that we all didn’t hate, but I don’t think I would go there if I had my time again!

SEAN: shit name last of the V8s was far less catchy

++ How was the creative process for you? Where did you usually practice?

NICK: Usually drunk sitting around a four-track recorder just smashing things out.  I remember it being very productive and creative even if a bit crude at times.  Sean would write songs, I would write songs and sometimes we worked things out together.  Michael also wrote some classics – Don’t Worry is one of my favourite songs ever!!

Sean has a gift for lyrics and songwriting.  He is also a tremendous bass player.  I remember thinking it, but not always saying it.

We usually hired a rehearsal studio when we could afford it.  Looking back, I don’t know how we managed to pay for things – strings, petrol, cigarettes, studios – we were pretty much broke all the time.

SEAN: yeah get drunk spew it all out /pretty organic /finish each others songs /even crap sounded good when we were in the right mood

++ You were around in the late 80s and in the UK there was a great explosion of guitar pop bands, why do you think that was? Did you feel part of a scene?

NICK: I don’t honestly know.  If anything I remember feeling that we were out of phase and had missed the wave.  I don’t think we were what we were because of what was happening around us – I think we just played what we thought sounded good and that happened to be guitar-based, melodic love songs for the most part

SEAN:pop music with guitars is always great/never felt part of a scene

++ And who would you say were influences in the sound of the band?

NICK: I don’t think we consciously were influenced by a particular band, but were a blend.  We were described as a mix between The Beatles and Jesus and Mary Chain.  I like that, but it wasn’t deliberate.

SEAN: everything that went before us

++ Your records came out on Idea Records. Who were behind this label? How did you end up working with them and how was your relationship with the label?

NICK: We were first picked up by MCA, but after a failed attempt to record a demo of One Summer with them, somehow we got passed over to Jeff Chegwin who became our publisher.  Geoff put us in touch with Harry Barter who became our Manager.  Harry was well-known in the business and managed Johnnie Walker (Radio 1 DJ), Roger Cook and a few other big names that I now forget.

We got a recording deal with IDEA who were a development label owned by Warner Chappel.  They had a studio near Marble Arch where we recorded the album and first two singles working with Andrew Fryer as producer.

We didn’t really know too much about how it all worked at the time, but were just blown away to be taken seriously.

We were signed to Mayking records for the third single (10,00 Miles) and second album, but they went belly-up so the tapes were seized and that was that.

SEAN: Jeff was a nice bloke  don’t think there was a carreer plan to be honest

++ Your first 7″ was the brilliant “One Summer” that was released on both 7″ and 12″. This is a terrific song and I’ll ask you about it later. But something that always caught my eye about this release was the artwork, which is very different to the other two releases of yours. Who made it? And how important were the aesthetics and look of the band?

NICK: I remember the guy who designed it was called Paul – he was somebody known to Jeff Chegwin I think.  I don’t remember too much about how / why we chose that particular design, but it seemed to fit the song.

In terms of overall aesthetic, I think Sean was the only one who looked good.  I used to struggle not to look like ‘the Man from Millets’ as I was once labelled by a journalist!

SEAN: we had custard creams and tea from Mari Wilson /top eighties singer and her man husband was graphic designer for one summer based on me wanting it to be childlike pic thought he dd a great job

++ I want to ask the story behind at least one of them. So if it is not much to ask, in a few sentences, what inspired the fantastic “One Summer”?

NICK: Sean had written the song with a different verse.  I had a verse that worked with his chorus – happened really quickly.  They are Sean’s lyrics so he’d be best placed to explain what they are about.

SEAN: met Laurie at uni where the band all met she was visiting from America /spent one night chatting sharing souls blah blah wrote song /hope shes heard it

++ This first single and the next were released on 7″ and 12″. I always have the thought that if a label released a record in both formats it must mean they had big expectations in the band. Was that the case?

NICK: We were absolutely on a roll and were getting a lot of attention when we imploded.  The songs were getting better and better, but we blew it.  I know that the people around us – record label, etc. were pretty upset at events, but we weren’t the first and won’t be the last.

SEAN: I remember Jon Fat Beast not talking to me cos I left The Moss Poles. I didn’t know anyone cared that much. Sweet naive youth

++ This second single was the great song “Underground”. Would love to ask you again what is the story behind this song!

NICK: Another Sean song!

SEAN: Sean song arranged by Nick. I would still rather play or see a band in a small venue than a cavern, although Morrissey at a big place in Brum was excellent

++ This single and the album had for the artwork photos of you two. Who took those photos?  Where were they taken? Are they from the same session?

NICK: They were taken by a neighbour – David somebody (who lived with Elissa, who’s name we stole for our first daughter). The only serious photo session we had at that time.  There are hundreds of shots, but all pretty much the same – me and Sean looking moody with a white a background!

SEAN: I think the record company thought we were sorting out covers but come deadline we were asleep

++ Then came out the album “Shorn”. I always thought it was an original name for an album. On this record you got the help from Dave Kirk and Andrew Fryer. What did they bring on the table for the band?

NICK: Dave was our longest standing and best drummer.  He played in another band as well – the Groovy Chainsaws.

Andrew was the house producer / engineer for Warner.  He also played a few keyboards on some of the tracks.  Top guy!

SEAN: top studio /top guy /top session /Andrew had recorded Bolthrowers debut the week before so I brought it after /in battle there is no law/ gave it to someone who appreciates such aural violence

++ And how different was recording the album compared to the singles?

NICK: Shorn and the first two singles were pretty much recorded at. The same time and in the same studio.  10,000 Miles was recorded somewhere in Wales.  That was pure fun – a weekend away in the country with beer and amps!

SEAN: thought the album was Wales where damned recorded Black Album /bugger

++ I read that “10,000 Miles” should have been a 3rd single. What happened? Why wasn’t it released?

NICK: As per above – the record company went bust and the studio seized the mater tapes. Nightmare!!

SEAN: don’t remember

++ And what about the 2nd album? I believe it was fully recorded, right? What songs were in it? Where was it recorded? Why didn’t it come out?

NICK: The unreleased second album was recorded in the same studio in Wales as 10,000 Miles but with Paul Breuer on Bass. Corny, but true, the playing is tighter and Paul was a great bass player, but it was never the same as bashing out stuff with Sean.

++ As far as I know you only appeared on the compilation “The Idea Compendium”. Is that all or were there any other comp appearances by the band?

NICK: Not at the time, but Cherry Red released One Summer and 10,000 Miles on their C88 and C89 compilations over the last two years.

SEAN:.Nick just sent me copies /nicely done but one summer seems slow to me /could be my record player

++ Aside from the 3rd single and the 2nd album, both unreleased, are there any other songs that are still waiting to be released? Perhaps songs in demo form? Or other studio recordings?

NICK: There is the Soundcloud site where I’ve posted a few recently recorded songs – some of which are just rubbish but some of which I’m really happy with.

https://soundcloud.com/nicky-moss-pole

There are also a few Youtube videos.

SEAN: “Loop” should ve been second or third single /rehearsal with Mick on youtube /sad as shit

++ If you were to choose your favourite The Moss Poles’ song, which one would that be and why?

NICK: So hard – maybe “Don’t Worry” or “More and More”.  I think they are both naïve, but honest. Great melody, corny lyrics, but pure emotion.

SEAN: “Take it or leave it”, “Little prince”, shit songs didn’t really make the cut

++ What about gigs? Did you play many? What was the farthest you played from London?

NICK: We played a lot around London – most weekends I remember.  We had a national tour being driven around the country in a van as is the way.  Can’t remember all the locations, but I think we went to Lancaster, Nottingham, Retford (the worst), Andover, Hull, Peterborough, Manchester (tough crowd) and maybe a few more.

SEAN: Sir George Robey with extreme noise terror (Mickey Harris from Napalm Death on drums) and Cud was a great gig Micks true love Janet told me off for shouting shake your tits to this song (“Little Prince”) I was on a massive learning curve /and the bassist said we were alright after taking the piss all night cos we had a manager

++ And what were the best gigs you remember? Any anecdotes you can share?

NICK: Hammersmith Palais in front of 3,000 teenagers.  We got hired to play at some end of school party – or something like that.  The main memory I have is of Allison tipping an ashtray over some 15 year-olds’ head to stop him groping some poor girl.  There were huge amounts of hormones in the air that night – it was like Caligula.  Even the bouncers were struggling to keep the lid on things and it was supposedly a no alcohol event!!

SEAN: see previous /the Palais night my wife poured beer over someone they were scum probably our current government

++ And were there any bad ones?

NICK: Retford stays in the memory, not because we played bad – actually I think we were pretty good that night.  The problem was we were supporting 999 who still had a skinhead following.  After we played we couldn’t get out of the club – I think they had shut the lift down or something.  We had to spend an uncomfortable night dodging angry skinheads and a generally unpleasant bunch of people before we finally got out at something like 2 in the morning.

++ I read at some point Steve Lamacq followed you on a tour in his van. What year was it? Did he go with you to every single gig? How did that happen? What anecdotes do you remember from that time?

NICK: Yes – Steve Lamacq followed us around on tour in his Mini.  He interviewed us along the way and recorded the gigs.  He made up a tape and I think I have it somewhere.  It’s embarrassing stuff though!

SEAN: the live tape (besides the interview ) is great and accompanies the album swell/ Retford was shit /Manchester Boardwalk same

++ When and why did The Moss Poles stop making music? You moved to Australia, right? Were you involved in any other bands afterwards?

NICK: Sean and I had a big row one night after playing at the Rock Garden in Covent Garden. Stupid waste really. We tried to pick up again, but when it’s stopped being fun, it’s really too hard to keep going.

I moved to Edinburgh for 10 years and then to Australia.  I never really had an appetite to keep playing after the Moss Poles.

SEAN: don’t remember the row /but we met blossomed and died very quickly I think a natural thing /music is very personal but its gotta be fun

++ What about the rest of the band, had they been in other bands afterwards? I ready Sean was in a punk band?

NICK: Never really kept in touch so not sure about the various drummers. I haven’t played music for many years until maybe 2 years ago, but solo stuff using Pro Tools.  I know Sean has kept busy though.

SEAN: always played but never Moss Poles stuff  until recently some mates did “One Summer” it was horrendous. Flyboy and Painsville have stuff out there somewhere. With Nick I have three ex bandmates in Oz, I must be someone you’ve really gotta get away from

++ Has there ever been a reunion? Or talks of playing again together?

NICK: Never. We lost touch until maybe 2 months ago.  I managed to get in touch with Sean to share the royalties from the C88 and C89 CD’s.  I would love to, but it’s just not going to happen. What’s done is done.

SEAN: no we need a Moss Poles tribute band

++ Did you get much attention from the radio? or TV? Were there any promo videos?

NICK: We sure did.  Plenty of exposure on Radio 1, a live session on Greater London Radio and a few other things.

We recorded a video for “Underground”, but gave away the only copy we had to a French TV Channel.  It was pretty frickin cool though.  I’d love to see it again.

The only other video footage is on Youtube – we were filmed at an early gig in Dingwalls by some people from France.  At least it’s something.

SEAN: would love to see the “Undergound” promo

++ How did the Janice Long session come to be? How was that experience?

NICK: Janice Long is Jeff Chegwin’s sister so we had a bit of inside help to get that session.  But, to be fair Janice was a big fan and genuinely liked the band. Again, we don’t even have a copy of the session – we couldn’t afford to pay the BBC for a copy.

I was in awe at being in Maida Vale Studios – overwhelming!

SEAN: don’t think ive heard the session since

++ What about the press? Did they give you any attention?

NICK: We had a lot of press after a while.  Helen Meade from the NME gave us a page and a half and we had a lot of smaller articles in the Melody Maker, etc.  I do have all of those tucked away in the cupboard.  I think we were named on the cover next to Ziggy Marley and the Stone Roses!

There was also a story in the Daily Mirror about me being George Michael’s gardener – which was true.  However, they were after his new address as he had just bought a house in Hampstead.  They offered us a large piece if I told them where he lived.  I didn’t do it, but they still ran a small piece which is 50% accurate, but mostly exaggerated nonsense.

SEAN: remember a page in one of the weeklies

++ What about from fanzines?

NICK: None that I can remember.

SEAN: I read Steve :amacq did a fanzine with the tape of the tour but I never saw it

++ Looking back in retrospective, what would you say was the biggest highlight for the band?

NICK: Without doubt for me, the first album and being so proud to have been able to record songs that I / we loved and to then get that buzz when we made the charts and started to get noticed. Being in a band was all I had ever wanted to do when I was growing up.

++ Aside from music, what other hobbies do you have?

NICK: NOTHING!

++ I’ve been to London many times, but it is always good to hear from a local for some recommendations! What are the sights one shouldn’t miss? Or the traditional food or drinks that you love that I should try?

NICK: I’ve not lived in the UK for 18 years so not sure I’m afraid

SEAN: my daughter lives in London now and it is so different from the 80s /which is as it should be /always find it out for yourself

++ Anything else you’d like to add?

NICK: It was what it was – I would change a few things if I could, but I can’t.  I’m truly grateful for at least having done what we did.

SEAN: we were good I think and its not a bad album still

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Listen
The Moss Poles – One Summer

Thanks so much to Tatsuhiko Watanabe for the interview! The Penelopes have many albums and singles under their belt,  and many compilation appearances. They are definitely one of the most important Japanese indiepop bands but I noticed very little is being written about them in English for some reason. So I wanted to set things right and got in touch with Tatsuhiko who has been kind enough to answer all my questions! Hope you enjoy this great interview!

++ Hi Tatsuhiko! Thanks so much for being up for this interview! We’ve been friends on Facebook for a long time, but first time I’m going to ask you some questions about your music, so I’m pretty excited. How are you? Are you still making music?

Thank you very much for remembering me! I’m fine.
We are planning to release the new album next year, which have been finished 3/4. But actually, as caring for my parents in their mid 80s is now at more difficult stage than before, I have almost no time to concentrate on finishing some tracks these days. But I don’t give up its release. And when I have a little free time, I record bits and pieces of melodies and take notes for lyrical ideas or song titles.

++ Let’s start from the beginning. Are you originally from Tokyo? What are your first music memories? Do you remember what was your first instrument? How did you learn to play it? What sort of music did you listen at home while growing up?

Well, I’m not from Tokyo. I’m from Takarazuka, Hyogo and still live there. It is located in the west part of Japan, 45 minutes by train from Osaka. A very quiet and comfortable place to live in, which I’m sure has had a huge influence on my making music. The town is also famous for Takarazuka Revue,  whose long history has  I think made this town very beautiful and sophisticated, which also gives me some inspirations.

I was born in 1965, so my first musical memories are from a lot of Japanese tokusatsu/anime TV shows in the 60s, such as Ultraman, Ultraseven, Mighty Jack, Kaiki Daisakusen (Operation Mystery), W3 (Wonder Three), and Sasuke etc… I believe they have become my flesh and blood.

I started playing the guitar ( by sneaking into my brother’s room ) when I became aware of rock music, but my first instrument was not the guitar but the “electone”, which I met in Yamaha kids electronic organ class when I was six, which didn’t last long though.

As for the guitar, I started touching as mentioned above when I was sixteen or something. My brother also had a huge cassette tape collection in the late 70s to early 80s. Naturally I had so many accesses to 60s – 80s that I got exposed to “rock music”: from Motown classics, the famous big names like The Beatles,  The Kinks, The Who, Led Zeppelin, Thin Lizzy, , Steely Dan, Bruce Springsteen, Bill Joel to the New Wave greats at that time such as Elvis Costello, XTC, Squeeze, The Jam, The Clash, The Boomtown Rats, Joe Jackson, Graham Parker, Ian Dury, Nick Lowe, The Police,  The Knack, Cheap Trick, Cars, PIL, Pop Group, The Pretenders, U2, Echo and the Bunnymen, Madness, Culture Club …and many more. And then I got fascinated with more sophisticated New Wave pop of the era – Synth Pop (OMD, China Crisis, Depeche Mode etc) and Guitar Pop so-called Neo Aco (Aztec Camera, The Pale Fountains, The Bluebells etc). That is the way I was growing up and they made the core of The Penelopes.

++ Were you involved in other bands before the The Penelopes? 

Except for joining one studio session for my brother’s band The Sound Mirrors, I had never been involved in anybody’s bands before The Penelopes.

++ How was Tokyo back when you started the band? Were there any like-minded bands that you were friends with? What were the good record stores? Or what about the places or venues to go check out up and coming bands?

As I mentioned above,  I was not in Tokyo when indie pop was starting to catch on in the late 80’s, so I didn’t know how ‘the scene’ was, even didn’t know it existed!  In the early 90’s, I came to know there was a “neo aco scene” in the big city with the rise of Flipper’s Guitar. But for my part I only went to buy many UK New Wave/indie pop records in Osaka or Kobe, and sometimes happened to find Japanese guitar pop’s tapes too, so I couldn’t find any ‘scene’ and didn’t come to become friends. It was not until contacting Boshi Label in Nara that I found many indie pop artists in Kansai area too by listening to their compilation tape. It was 1990.

++When and how did the band start?

As you know, The Penelopes is originally a solo unit that I started. I had started to engage in music seriously since around 1986, making some demos by 1989 when I used pseudonyms such as The Love Parade (after The Undertones song) and Sunnyside (for my love of the Sara Label’s image). With these imaginary band images, I started to send the demos to both Japanese and overseas labels. Of course I had no reaction at all, except for Boshi Label in Nara, writing me back, which really encouraged me. So I became more serious, and I thought I should make more decent demos. And then more and more helping people were coming together. This is the way The Penelopes hoisted a sail.

++ The band has always been mostly you, right? But was there a classic lineup for the band? How many people have played in the Penelopes and how did you knew them?

It was basically my solo unit, but in the very early recording and playing live, I was pursuing “the sound of The Penelopes” with the help of other members. I had a session with my younger brother Satoshi (a huge fan of The Smiths and REM)on guitar and another guitarist named Yoshiji Awatani (also a fan of The Smiths), who I came to know through the ad he put out on a music magazine called Rockin’ On  in early 1990, and after that I started to use the name The Penelopes. I made some demo tapes with Satoshi between 1990 and 1991, which brought us the offer from Por Supuesto Records. So I recruited two more members – Tadashi Naoyama (guitar) and Satoshi Nishide (keyboard) for gigs and recordings. They contacted me through a tiny ad on a magazine called Player. So the lineup for “Evergreen” recording in late 1991was me, Satoshi, Tadashi N, and Satoshi N.

And after Satoshi and Tadahi leaving, Yoshiji, Satoshi N and I went into Studio 8 in Ashiya, recording the debut album “In A Big Golden Cage” in 1992. Shortly after the release in 1993, Chigusa Miyata (bass) joined us and recorded the 2nd “Touch the Ground” in Studio YOU during that summer, Osaka. She has supported The Penelopes sound since then.

So, many people have come and gone for more than 25 years, but as those who played both 1st and 2nd helped to build the “fundamentals” of The Penelopes, they are definitely the classic lineup I think. In addition, Kazuki Nashimoto , the drummer for “Eternal Spring”, was also a great player who grasped my music well. Though I couldn’t record his drumming well on the album, he should be also one of the lineup.

++ There were a few lineup changes too, right? 

Almost all the players on the songs since the 3rd album “Kiss Of Life” were guests except for Chigusa and Kazuki (on “Eternal Spring”), so there have been almost no lineup changes since “Kiss Of life”. That’s because I have come to understand what The Penelopes sound is.

++ Why the name the The Penelopes? 

“The Penelopes” were named after the 60’s TV show The Thunderbirds, where appears a female London agent named Lady Penelope. I felt a great yearning for the 60’s atmosphere that the show symbolized. I would often be asked if it came from Felt’s “Penelope Tree”, but it didn’t.

++ How was the creative process for you? Where did you usually practice?

The process is numerous. Sometimes melodies come to my mind first. Sometimes I think of a nice song title first. Sometimes they come altogether. And sometimes nothing comes but chord progression etc … the ways for rough ideas to become a song are countless. For my part I usually make a song demo with a basic format (guitars/ bass/organ/drums) by myself, and then other members hear the demo and add their own seasonings.

As for the “Cage”(1st) and “Touch”(2nd) era, we usually practiced in the studios we recorded the albums. Between “Kiss”(3rd) and “Light”(5th), we didn’t practiced in studios at all. In the “Eternal”(6th) and”Summerdew”(7th) era, We would often practiced in the studio in Nishinomiya (next to my hometown Takarazuka).

++ Most of your output happened in the 90s and I feel it was a pretty good time for Japanese indiepop, with many labels and even more bands. Did you feel part of a scene during that decade? If you were to make a top-five of the best bands in Japan during the 90s, who would that be?

The 90’s flew too fast for me, and were also hard years. Of course there were enjoyable moments as well… But as I started my own label and had to find distributors, to promote my new album by myself, which meant I had to see the business side more seriously. Shibuyakei was colourful but in a sense pretty biased and difficult time to sell the music I wanted to play actually.

So I still can’t regard and recollect the 90’s as ‘good old days’ nostalgically. I still can’t afford to feel like “oh, I was part of Japanese indie pop scene!”. I just remember I tried best to make good music heart and soul, and failed in vain.

And many bands seemed like rivals to me, not like friends in those days. I wanted the labels to promote my music more and wanted to sell mine myself.
But looking back now, I know we all felt the same, and I really regret that I couldn’t afford at all then.

So this is the ‘if you are out there, please listen. I loved your music…’ list. They are all Japanese indie bands in the 90’s that played near us, some of who still remain active.

1. The Roof
2. B-flower
3. Christopher Robin
4. Chelsea Terrace
5. Blueberry, Very Blue

++ And who would you say were influences in the sound of the band?

To cut a long list short, these are the tree main masts of The Penelopes:  (1) XTC, Elvis Costello, Squeeze, The Jam etc., so called early new wave , power pop and neo mod in the late 70’s (2) The Pale Fountains, Aztec Camera etc., jangly guitar pop in the 80’s (3) The Beatles, The Kinks, The Who etc., 60’s greats.

++ Your first release actually happened on one of these very fine labels, ¡Por Supuesto! Records. It was the “In a Big Golden Cage” album. How did you end up signing with this label? How was your relationship with them?

I think Boshi Label ( I mentioned above) had a compilation plan, and then it drew attention to a bigger label, ¡Por Supuesto!. Actually it
was established under a Japanese major label, Toshiba EMI. After the success of Flipper’s Guitar, many major labels were trying to find young new sounds. One day the label producer called me and told The Penelopes to take part in the label’s sampler, which became “The Birth Of the True” in 1992. When we were recording “Evergreen” in the studio in Osaka, I asked him if we would have a possibility to release an album. And he allowed us a small budget for it. Maybe that was the finest moment in the ¡Por Supuesto! years.

The relationship between them and us was literally minimum. While I was in Kansai, the label was in Tokyo,very far off place. As the early 90’s were the era of no Internet, the mutual communication tended to be deficient.

Though a famous music critic who was familiar with this kind of music got engaged in the recording as a producer, he was also not in Kansai and so busy he couldn’t come all the way so often to see us recording. I remember I alone, or in some cases two or three of the band attended the recording doing trial and error in the studio in Ashiya. While we had such a good time there, I was always feeling disappointed with the lack of　the heat from the label. I didn’t know how to get along with the label , and had an impression that they were puzzled how to sell our music. When I visited their office in Tokyo, they had almost no promotional staff about The Penelopes, which really made me want to cry. So, I wrote to them that we would provide various kit for promotional use, would attend the meeting if possible, but had no reply. After all, I think “guitar pop” wasn’t mature enough to become a big movement at the stage of 1993.

Therefore, every time I call up the relationship then, I’m really caught in the mixed feelings. It is true that I was so lucky in terms
of the way we got known, but I always had dissatisfaction that we didn’t get enough promotional support from the label.

++ Was this your very first record? Or had there been other recordings previously?

Apart from the vinyl recorded at our junior high school’s choral competition in 1980, “Evergreen” was my first recording, which was contained on the 1992 compilation “Th Birth Of the True”.

++ Two of the songs that appear on this first album were to be released as a 7″ single by the Spanish label Elefant Records. How did your music, before the internet, crossed the continents and ended up in Luis Elefant’s ears? Was there any chance to continue releasing music with them?

Circa 1991, there was a grass-root indie pop community in Western Europe
consisting of the people who love the underground guitar pop bands sounding like those from C86 to Sarah records at that time. Through several cassette tapes I made, The Penelopes seemed to be heard by some of those people. Communicating with Red Roses For Me (UK) and some French labels developed into their compilation tapes, which I suppose reached to Elefant’s ears. To tell the truth we had an idea of making one more single from the 2nd album “Touch the Ground”. For my part, I wanted a song called “Good music” to be a new single, so I wrote to Elefant  to do so, with a design draft for the sleeve I drew. But it went up in smoke unnoticeably.

++ And just out of curiosity, did you ever meet with the Elefant people? Ever go to Spain?

No, I ‘ve never been to Spain unfortunately. I’m sure it’s Chigusa the bassist that has been there, because She also plays for a mod garage band and they were invited to a music festival there some years ago.

++ Both of the songs on the 7″ are beautiful. It was actually how I discovered your music, through them. So was curious if in a few lines you could tell me what inspired them?

I think “It’s Not You” aimed at the world  the 80’s guitar pop bands such as The Pale Fountains and The Railway Children have expressed, while “Please Listen To Me” was strongly influenced by Shoes ( power pop fame in America) and early Elvis Costello. “A Place Called Home” (early version) was, with deep reverbs,  mixed more atmospheric than later one, because I would often listen to The Smiths and McCarthy in those days.

++ Your second album came out in 1993 and it was called “Touch the Ground”. Something that caught my attention was the art on the back cover, where a diagram explains how to “touch the ground”. What was the idea behind that?

Our 2nd album “Touch the Ground” came out in 1994 ( “In A Big Golden Cage” In 1993). The whole sleeve idea was come up with and created by Mitsunori Saski, who was the singer for the band The Roof (above mentioned), and he passed away many years ago, so I don’t know what he tried to imply.　At that time, I was just happy and excited to see someone make mysterious sleeve designs based on my music. More than that, I was worried about the front sleeve, because I thought it resembled “Frank” by Squeeze.

++ Then Discogs lists a 1994 tape album called “Power of Music”. Was this a proper release? I’m not familiar with that one at all. Care telling me a bit about it?

Maybe someone who made our discography on Discogs was wrong… “Power Of Music” was a cassette album released in 1995, and also “Magic Circles” in 1996. The only release in 1994 was a two track cassette “Chocolate Train (Part 1)”. They were all sold (except for “Chocolate Train”) through nationwide record shops then such as Tower Records and Wave, so “Power” was a proper release. I remember we took part in my friend’s cassette compilation as well , but this “cassette fad” in the late 90s is unknown, because the major labels imitated our ways at a lower price (sometimes for free), and it went outdated immediately. And then around the year 2000 the shops above mentioned started to stop selling the music from the labels with true indie /DIY attitudes. We were driven out.

The aim of these tape releases were all my self complacency. As I wasn’t sure when we would have our next CD out, I couldn’t wait. The sound quality of them was so low, but that was OK for me. I was really really starving to put out my works in those days.

++ The next, and following releases by The Penelopes were all on Vaudeville Park Records. Who were Vaudeville Park Records? Was it yourself?

Vaudeville Park Records is a micro indie label run by me alone. It started in 1996, when I had finished the 3rd album “Kiss Of Life” but the release was delayed. I got mad. So, I opened an extempore tiny shop to sell the next album, but It’s become my final abode. The name derives from the album by The Jet Set, an outfit led by Paul Bevoir, a great British songwriter I do respect.

++ I notice on one of the songs, “Today”, there is a another Watanabe doing backing vocals. Who is he? 

The lead singer on “Today” is not “Satoshi”, my brother (early member of The Penelopes). But who is doing backing vocals… isn’t it me??

++ I start to notice that the band was more of an album band rather than an EP or singles band. Do you agree? Was it intentional? Why do you prefer this format? 

I guess maybe you think so because The Penelopes has come out only few singles, compared with many albums released. The reason why our singles are only few and we have many albums is that simply I have written many songs and financially the format we can release many songs on at one time is album. Not for my preference but for convenience. Personally I love 7 inch singles, so if we have a chance to come out 7 inch, I’m really interested…

++ The “Inner Light” was your next album, released by the end of 1999. This was a very long album too, 19 songs! It was perhaps your most prolific moment?

The reason why I made a 19 song album was that I was obsessed with the idea that every band that started releasing albums is supposed to make a big album at some stage – at the fourth release or something – like double album or concept album. At least the artists I respected did so… The Beatles, The Who, The Kinks, XTC, The Clash…Elvis Costello who even put 20 songs on one LP! I think I followed the general principle.

So, I don’t think that period was my most prolific moment. I have more ideas about song writing than that period, but I take such long time to finish songs and I’m too busy these days.

++ And what about Lemonade Factory studios? That’s where you used to record a lot, right? Where was it? Does it still exist? Any anecdotes you could share from your recordings there?

Lemonade Factory is a room I used for recording, not really a ‘studio’. This is just a joke. The name came from a lemonade maker called “Wilkinson Tansan”, which our family had been involved in since my great grand father. The factory was sited by Muko River, which runs near my house, but the brand name was sold and the company was closed down in the early 90s, so when I started The Penelopes, the factory had been gone already. I wanted to remain the memory forever.

++ After 3 years of silence, you returned with another top album “Eternal Spring”. Here you got él Graphics to do the artwork. And that is super cool! Were you a big fan of the él Records designs? What about the music? What would be your favourite él Records?

I feel so flattered to hear you listen to “Eternal Spring” because I seldom see it praised (especially in Japan).”Eternal” and “Summerdew Avenue” were really unfortunate works that were completely ignored by
the world. Despite those wonderful artworks (and some songs I thought to be my best works), they met with adversity and went to the bottom, which I felt really disappointed with. Great sadness still prevents me from listening soberly.

When great Mike Alway contacted me, I thought I was dreaming. This is someone different with the same name, or someone impersonating him! As for él Records, though I was not such a huge fan as to collect the whole catalogue of the label, I always paid attention to the stylish artworks and music full of technicoloured images of swinging 60’s London, and first of all, he was the “father of Shibuya-kei”. I really liked many of
their works, of which my personal favourites were the “London Pavilion Volume One” compilation and several well crafted pop singles such as “You Mary You”, “Guess I’m Dumb” by Louis Philippe and “Reach For Your Gun” by Bid.

Along with “25 O’clock” by The Dukes of Stratosphear, their enthusiasm over the 60’s culture shown in the 80’s provided a spark for me to break free from New Wave things in a sense. It was a blast for a youth of 20
or so.

++ Your last album was the 2006 “Summerdew Avenue”, which I hope is not the last one. This might be a difficult question, but comparing this album to the first one you released, do you see an evolution of the band? Do you think your music changed much during these years? 

Of course “Summerdew” is not the last album. Actually we have continued the constant releases such as mini albums “Sweet Amazer” and “Spellbound” for the last decade. I promise you I will keep on writing songs and putting out works , as long as I live. In terms of songwriting, my music has made progress and got sophisticated to some extent I suppose… because I have written for 30 years! As I was forced to do home recording financially, the sound quality had a sharp drop in “Kiss Of Life” and then hasn’t changed so much since then, but I tried to improve the song quality with the ideas to overcome it, We couldn’t chase something like perfect band ensemble, but I knew those who run after two hares will catch neither… so I focused on songwriting anyway.

But well, that is something listeners judge though…

++ But then, I’m not sure about it, but I found on Youtube that there was a mini-album called “Spellbound” released in 2015? I couldn’t find much information about it, is it available somewhere? Or is it only digital? What songs are in it?

Yes that is the latest release by us The Penelopes. The 8 song mini album was released online only on Nov. 20th 2015. Unlike the previous releases, of the eight songs penned by me, the four tracks feature three
female lead vocalists this time. Of course it is still available at iTunes Music Store, AmazonMP3, Mora and Recochoku. The songs are as follows:-

01 The Penelopes – Here Comes the Light
02 Nana Ishii and The Penelopes – Shangri-La Green
03 Splendidville – Eye Of A Needle
04 Marilyn Lo and The Penelopes – Fundamental Thing
05 The Penelopes – All That Glitters
06 The Penelopes – Hello New World
07 Splendidville – Back In Time
08 The Penelopes – Carry On

I arranged different types of singers and songs crafted according to each style and taste – 60’s Motown / girl groups (Nana Ishii), 70’s mainstream pop (Marilyn Lo) and 80’s New Wave/Powerpop (Splendidville,
a collaboration with Marsh Branch). The other four songs are sung by me. This is truly a collection of the songs full of The Penelopes’ essence I think.

++ Aside from all the albums you appeared on many compilations, on so many labels. But one that I thought was odd and interesting one was the one “The First Triangle” was included. It was for an Auto Guide? 

Auto Guide was an indie label in Tokyo established in the early 90’s and I’m not sure what happened after that, but anyway that compilation was their first work I think. I remember three bands bringing two songs and The Penelopes offering “Except Her Eyes” and “Tiny Tree House”.　It was the era when something exciting was about to happen.

++ Also you contributed to two very fine Japanese magazines like Beikoku Ongaku or Cookie Scene. How important do you think these two magazines are for the Japanese scene? Are there any other Japanese magazines you would have loved to collaborate with?

They were two greats that tried their best in the lead at the grassroots level, because no other musical magazines had comparable quality to them. Not in the sense they achieved a great success or made their own tall building, but they played a sort of thankless role – like amateurs doing supercool. But I believe they built the foundation in certain fields of Japanese music culture.

++ And just wrapping up all these “songs and records” question, if you were to choose your favourite song from the whole Penelopes’ catalog, what would that be and why?

In general, songwriters are likely to be satisfied with and care for their latest tunes, because the songs reflect what they do want to express these days. For my part, I really like “All That Glitters” and “Carry On” from the latest “Spellbound” album in 2015. Though “Sweet Amazer” (from the 2013 mini album with the same title) and “Honeymoon Is Over” (from the single in 2012) are also my favourite but the way they were mixed is unsatisfactory to me, so I will put them together on next album. Before that, “Love Is” (from “Eternal Spring” in 2003) and “1983” (from “Summerdew Avenue” in 2006) are the songs that I have a special fondness for. As for the first five albums, I have so much to reflect on… In time they may sound nostalgic, they may be fond memories though.

++ Was there any interest in your music by any other labels that for a reason or another it didn’t work out? Perhaps big labels?

I have several tiny episodes: – someone from a major label came to see us play once, a well known music writer who also was a radio DJ picked up our song, or someone famous in the music business praised one song from “Eternal Spring”etc…but it didn’t necessarily lead to a wider acceptance, maybe because of my appearance, performance, or my poor responses to their praises.

++ What about gigs? Did you play many? What was the farthest you played from your town?

Not many at all. The farthest place we have played is Tokyo. Played twice. The rest are all in Kyoto and Osaka. As a guitarist of Rhythm Fantasy (a female duo whose two mini albums I recorded and produced), I have played in Shiga too.

++ And what were the best gigs you remember? Any anecdotes you can share?

The best gigs I remember are the events hosted by those who loved the same kind of music. One was “Neo Aco / Guitar Pop Night” (though I don’t think it was the correct title), where we played The Pale Fountains’ song. And the other was a record shop’s 15th anniversary all night party. We played around twelve at midnight, but no one threw things at us because they were drunk, but really welcoming, warm atmosphere was there. Nothing makes you feel greater than playing in front of smiling faces.

++ And were there any bad gigs at all? 

I couldn’t enjoy some gigs in our early days where four or five bands that I don’t care for or have nothing to do with musically gathered and the audience had no interest in our music. I think I tend to take interest in various music, but it was quite painful to play with typical J-rock cadets with conventional attitude, or songs with no enchantment where players are eager to show off how skilled they are…　Why are you going to all the trouble of falling into a trap? The more I wondered why, the less I could concentrate in my performing.

++ So what is in store for The Penelopes, are there going to be any new recordings or releases soon?  

I’m planning to put out a 12 song album consisting of half new materials and half remixed versions of old songs (released during 2012-2015). And then all new song album will come out. I’m also thinking of an album by renewing my earliest songs before the 1st album (written and recorded as demos between 1987 and 1992). These three are my main plans.

++ What about the rest of the people who have collaborated with The Penelopes, had they been in other bands?

Each female singer who collaborated with The Penelopes on “Spellbound” had been working solo, or with her own unit. Marilyn Lo was from a female duo Rhythm Fantasy, which is going to reactivate live and recording after a long time. Marsh Branch, who worked with me under the name of Splendidville, is in itself a solo unit by a singer/songwriter in vigorous activity in Tokyo. Nana Ishii is also a solo singer, who sometimes sings in her local area, As for the past collaboration, Kaoru Masui who took part in “Inner Light” was a lead singer from Bluevery, Very Blue since 1990’s , which has revived in recent years, and Mark Richardson who participated on “Summerdew Avenue” still is working as a singer of Age Of Jets.

++ Did you get much attention from the radio or press?

As a whole, we got quite modest attention actually. The first two albums’ distribution was almost equal to the major label’s, which gave us a lot of opportunities to be published on many musical magazines, and even to be invited to a radio show. But since the late 90s, we had got downgraded extremely. Especially since we started releasing through our own label in 1997, my biggest issue has shifted to let people know our new release. The two decades of struggling! Those decades were also the time when the way Japanese media treat indie labels has drastically changed. I think that is one of the main reasons why The Penelopes are almost unknown to the thirties and under.

++ What about from fanzines?

As far as the 90s is concerned, various fanzines wrote about The Penelopes. And since around the year 2000, Intenet has become predominant , and many of the netzines have reviewed our albums. But as you know there were quite few who kept on treating indie pop music out of pure love and lasted so long.

++ Aside from music, what other hobbies do you have?

Well, I quite like music actually… but apart from that, I really like watching, researching and in some cases collecting the items related to the following things… Japanese professional baseball (NPB)staff – Hanshin Tigers in particular, wild birds, sea shells. space, picture books, Paul Klee’s artworks etc.

++ And what do you think of the Japanese team in this year’s World Cup? Do you follow any team in your country?

As for football. I had been digging the Japanese team seriously by 2002 World Cup, but now….I have no interest at all. I’m sorry. The World is too small to dream of … I know the players really made greater progress than two decades before, but they don’t have any taste…

++ Looking back in retrospective, what would you say was the biggest highlight for the band?

In fact I believe that the highlight as a musician has not come yet, that I’m still on the upgrade. But, reconsidering when we belonged to some sort of “scene”, the days of recording and playing live during 1993 and 1994 always cross my mind… I cannot be satisfied with the results at all, but probably those were the youngest and brightest moments in the whole Penelopes activities, I can clearly say it now. Such moments will never happen again.

++ Never been to Tokyo, or Japan.  So maybe I can ask for some suggestions? Like what are the sights I shouldn’t miss? Or the traditional food or drinks that you love that I should try?

Well I do not visit Tokyo so often I can’t recommend with confidence, but you should pop in the old buildings such as temples and shrines, and the spots where you can enjoy traditional cultures like food, clothes and music. Especially music lovers should go to Shinjyuku. Tokyo is an extremely changing city, while there are lots of places in some small towns and the suburbs that stay the same. I really recommend you to try such places. Please enjoy yourself!

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Listen
The Penelopes – A Place Called Home

Thanks so much to Skippy for the interview! I wrote about his band The Autumn Teen Sound on the blog some weeks ago and was happy to get in touch with him. The band released just a 7″ and appeared on a few compilations but it is also worth noting that Skippy used to run the very good pop label March Records! So we talk a bit about that (hoping to interview him later on about the label) but mostly about his band!

++ Hi Skippy! Thanks so much for being up for this interview! How are you? Are you all still in touch? Still making or releasing music?

Who is all? I keep in touch with so many people from the 90s March Records scene, but I’m not really releasing music. The whole AUTUMN TEEN SOUND thing was just me goofing around with my home studio.

++ Let’s go back in time. What are your first music memories? Do you remember what was your first instrument? How did you learn to play it? What sort of music did you listen at home while growing up?

I remember my father putting huge 70s headphones on my head to listen to Roundabout by Yes. I learned piano early, we had one in the house and I often got bored and just taught myself. I listen to mainly 45s I’d pick up from the Bradlees. Anything Top 40. Gilbert O’Sullivan, Sweet, Seals & Crofts…

++ Was The Autumn Teen Sound your first band or had you been in other bands before that? What about the rest of the members? If so, how did all of these bands sound like? Are there any recordings?

I was in bands in high school, mostly cover bands, but I got into the music business when I was 18 and forgot about creating music until 10 years later when I started messing around with all the instruments I’d accumulated. Oh, when I played The Autumn Teen Sound live, maybe 2 or 3 times, I recruited a band I had put on Pop American Style called Igloo. They moved in next door to me in Chicago and helped me pull off shows at Lounge Ax and Empty Bottle. They were great, me not so much.

++ Where were you from originally?

The Jersey Shore but I lived in Chicago in summers and after high school.

++ How was your city at the time? Were there any bands that you liked? What were the good record stores? Or what about the pubs or venues to go check out up and coming bands?

In high school I got addicted to WHTG, a local radio station that maybe reached a 40 mile radius. I loved local bands like Spiral Jetty and Private Sector and The Feelies and Screaming For Emily. All totally different, but local nonetheless. I would go to City Gardens in Trenton or the Green Parrot in Neptune almost every weekend. I was often the sole winner of the free tickets that WHTG would give away and those were for shows up at the Ritz in NYC, etc. I would say I spent the majority of my last year or two of high school in NYC, Hoboken, New Brunswick, there wasn’t anything going on in my hometown.

++ When and how did the band start? Was it a one man band? What about when playing live?

I just started writing and recording songs in my basement in Chicago in the 90s as a goof. I was releasing records on my label and at night, I would either go see bands or stay home and record. I only used what I already had. No guitars, maybe a real bass sometimes. Mostly Casios, Farfisas, Moogs, weird off brand string machines. It was just fun to discover what everything could do and to see if I could actually document what I was doing.

++ What’s the story behind the name The Autumn Teen Sound?

I saw it printed somewhere, some old magazine, maybe it was part of a 60s psych scene or something. I just liked the way it sounded, I didn’t think about it too much.

++ What about the name you used for the band members, Lord Butterscotch, Queen Josephine, Leo Con Brio and DJ French Toast? Where do these names come from?

THAT part was very intentional. Since I knew this was a one man band situation, I referenced the Silicon Teens’ Music For Parties LP. I wanted to hide behind a fake band so I just conjured some characters out of thin air. The funny part is that I still use DJ French Toast sometimes when I spin records at clubs.

++ How was the creative process for you? Where did you usually practice?

I felt like I was really growing as a songwriter, the more I put myself into it. But, like I said, I had a 70 hour a week job, sometimes March, sometimes other labels concurrently. It was hard to find the time, it came in spurts. Practice? Hahahahaha.

++ You were around in the late 90s in the US and there was an ebullient scene of pop bands and labels. Why do you think that happened at that time? Did you feel part of a scene?

I think was happening way before I started my label in 1992 and I think there were labels that were much better at cultivating a scene. I adopted Cuddlecore after I heard Cub reference it, but to be honest, it was selling some of the bands on March short. Pee wasn’t cuddlecore, whatever that was. It was ambiguous, but it’s like twee, people tend to have opinions before they’ve heard the music. Even though it was a struggle, I look back on those days with fondness. I didn’t know I was part of any scene until much later when the label was sunsetting. It was a glorious time and I cherish the friendships I made even though no one made a great career out of it.

++ And who would you say were influences in the sound of the band?

Mostly I used whatever I had, so Casio maybe, ha! In the beginning, I was actually covering Holiday, a band that I released on March. There was a 2CD set that the members of an indiepop list had all contributed to, regardless of musical talent. It gave me license to maybe put a song into the world without harsh judgment, the indiepop listers were fairly passionate and accepting people. Other than that, when I was creating music, I often was subliminally referencing A Broken Frame-era Depeche Mode, Silicon Teens, OMD, etc.

++ Aside from the band you were also involved running March Records, which would be a fantastic interview too if you are interested. Was wondering if you were to say how much time did you give the label and the band, what percents would that be?

99.5% March, .5% ATS. I ran that label for the better part of 12 years and tried my best to pull off some miracles, but in the end, it wasn’t meant to be. We never had that big Arcade Fire type break out that would sustain any employees or anything.

++ And how come you didn’t release yourself on your label?

I don’t like myself 🙂

++ Your only release came out on the Paris Caramel label. I have most of their releases but I must say I don’t know much about this label. Who were behind this label? How did you end up working with them? And how was your relationship?

This was Mario from Ciao Bella (a band I put out) and a friend named Mark, all pals from Oakland. They released an amazing Bart Davenport album. I remixed a Ciao Bella song for the album they released with me and after that I likely sent them some demos which they released as a 45. Bonkers really, who puts their money where their mouth is? You asked if I didn’t release myself on the label, but I sang on the Holiday record, remixed Ciao Bella, remixed Barcelona and I played live in Takako Minekawa’s band and Club 8, so there’s that!

++ This 7″ included a Poison cover on the B side. That must have surprised many popkids I suppose. Any particular reason you chose to include “Talk Dirty To Me”? Did you use to do other covers? Well, you did OMD in a Shelflife tribute compilation, right?

In hindsight, I would’ve picked something way more metal, but I thought it was appropriate. It’s bubblegum and silly, which I thought ATS was. I think I had a version of 18 & Life by Skid Row worked up, but this one ended up being so easy. Yeah, I think there’s an OMD cover out there. I didn’t release a version of “Shoe In” by Secret Stars and “Sight Of You” by Pale Saints, I guess I just loved those songs SO much that I didn’t have the nerve, even if the recordings came out kinda sweet. Oh, there was “Permission Slip” by Holiday which ended up being the first thing I ever let people hear I think.

++ There are also a few compilation appearances, “Seven Summers international Pop Volume 2”, “Pop American Style” (Japanese version), “Christmas in Stereo”, “Millefeille” and more. Did being in a label help people contact you? Or were they well aware of your band and requested songs?

I never really told people about ATS, they just already knew and some of the labels would just ask for a song, sight unseen(heard). I guess that was the way back then. We didn’t over A&R anything, we just accepted demos from our friends and released them. Some of those songs, I cringe, but….it was fun. Paris Caramel ended up doing a 4 song seasonal CD sampler and I wrote a ‘winter’ song, which I think I’m the most proud of. Sprites ended up covering it on one of their records which I thought was so fucking super cool.

++ What about the compilation “Dreams are Free (With Purchase)”? I have no clue whatsoever about the label Dark Beloved Cloud, who were they?

Douglas Wolk, the illustrious music writer. He put out a bunch of cool stuff in the 90s.

++ There is a compilation I’ve always been curious about, one you put together within the indiepop-list, “The Family Twee” compilation. Your band appears here too. I hope to listen to it in its entirety one day. How many copies did you make? And how long did it take to put together? What are your favourite songs on it?

From what I remember, everyone was asked if they wanted to contribute a song and if so, throw like $40 at the pot so we can press up the minimum (1000 CDs)? CDs were super expensive back then and I remember it being a bit of a fiasco because I was chasing down half the bands to actually pay. If PayPal had existed, man, that would’ve been great. I think it took over a year, members of that list were located EVERYWHERE around the world. Indonesia, Sweden! I think we finally pulled it off, but I don’t remember it being a fun project. What looks good on paper…. that said, I met my girlfriend through doing that thing, so that was nice side effect.

++ Do tell me a bit about The Tiger Trap studio. You mostly recorded there. How were these recording sessions?

I think that’s what I called my room in Hastings On Hudson. I used an old DMT8 for ALL the ATS recordings. I had no idea what I was doing to be honest and didn’t have a lot of outboard effects or anything.

++ It is hard for me to pick a favourite song but I really like “Say Something”, was wondering if you could tell me the story behind this song?

I think it was about an ex who didn’t really know how to tell me things until it was too late. I think it’s probably a common thing in relationships, one person or the other isn’t communicating for whatever reason or another. You have to change and/or say something otherwise it all stays the same, doesn’t it?

++ If you were to choose your favourite Autumn Teen Sound song, which one would that be and why?

Winter Coat. I just felt like it was the most mature version of ATS and likely the last song I recorded.

++ What about gigs? Did you play many? You played a Popfest, right?

Maybe 2 or 3 in Chicago and yeah just that one in Athens. I had the Howard Jones thing going. Everything was tracked except a Moog and a Casio and vocals. Oh man. Olivia Tremor Control and Neutral Milk Hotel were on those shows I think. What was I thinking??!

++ When and why did The Autumn Teen Sound stop making music? Were you involved in any other bands afterwards?

I just didn’t have the time. After the label folded around 2002-2003, I didn’t know what to do. I opened a bar/music venue in Park Slope, Brooklyn which ended up being my calling really. The only band I’ve played in over the last 15 years was a cover band for my daughter’s parent-teacher talent show recently. I played bass on Surrender by Cheap Trick.

++ What about the rest of the band, had they been in other bands afterwards?

I’d love to know what Igloo are up to. Scott & Jenny. They were super nice.

++ Has there ever been a reunion? Or talks of playing again together?

I can truly say that won’t happen. There’s a better chance of getting me to sing karaoke.

++ Did you get much attention from the radio?

Wow, I really wouldn’t know, I don’t remember any radio play, but I imagine college radio?!

++ What about the press? Did they give you any attention?

I think there was a review or two on the Paris Caramel 7″. It’s hard to know because the internet wasn’t a thing in 1998 and it seems like the indie 90s have long disappeared from the radar.

++ Looking back in retrospective, what would you say was the biggest highlight for the band?

I think just being able to get ON a vinyl record was cool. I wouldn’t have done it for myself, so it was nice that other people were interested. There was a cool 7″ compilation of 4 bands on Motorway in Japan that I was on, that was cool.

++ Aside from music, what other hobbies do you have?

Currently, I’m plotting a ski trip, a trip to see my beloved Chicago Cubs, finishing a pool, and helping my kids with their homework 🙂

++ Anything else you’d like to add?

I can’t believe anyone knows about the Autumn Teen Sound!

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Listen
The Autumn Teen Sound – Say Something

Thanks a lot to Boris, Dragan and Andrej! I wrote about the superb Serbian band Mizu some time ago and was lucky to get in touch with the band members afterwards. I knew very little about them then. I was aware they recorded and album with a bunch of great songs that for some reason or another it wasn’t available anywhere. I had so many questions. Happily today they all got answered!

++ Hi Boris, Dragan and Andrej! Thanks so much for being up for this interview! How are you? Are you still based in Bečej? Still making music?

Boris: We have a half-and-half situation. Two of the four members of Mizu are still based in Bečej (Marko and Igor). Dragan moved to Novi Sad (some 50 km south).
I have uprooted and moved Becej>Novi Sad>Belgrade>Chester, UK. We are all still making music, more or less. And we all know that less is more.

++ How was Bečej in the late 90s? Where did the Mizu gang used to hang out? Were there any like-minded bands? Any good record stores? Has it changed much compared to today?

Dragan: Late 90s in Bečej, as in all backwater Serbian towns back then, were slow and dead. If you wanted something to happen, you had to make it happen. So, it just so happened there were a bunch of people liking pop music. Some instruments floated around along with a substantial amounts of zeal and dreams of youth, so various bands popped up, sparked by Eva Braun, of course, who proved you can actually make some good songs and record them. Noone really thought about a next step, it was just out of bounds for us; a song recorded was the ultimate goal.
Yes, it felt like something was going on, a movement of sorts. Bands were forming and evolving, people rehearsing in same rooms sharing equipment, gigging at the same places, writing songs, helping each other out in various ways. Looking back, it seems that the focal place where all the mingling happened was a pub-bookstore on a town square called Libero, where all the new music was played, where all the art and social and political issues were discussed, different views shared. A feeling that we were all part of the same torrent still remains vivid to this day.
In the meantime life happened, and I’m absent from Bečej for more that 15 years, so I really wouldn’t know what it’s like today. Rare visiting occasions are just not enough to get even a rough picture of what’s going on there.

++ What would you say are your earliest music memories? What sort of music did you hear at home while growing up?

Dragan: My older brother had EVERY Beatle album. Even ‘My Bonnie’ single with Tony Sheridan. I was marinated in them before teens even began. Later on it gets hazy, then there was a short punk period, and then The Stone Roses and Pixies and the likes emerged. It was then the music really got to me.
Boris: Rather than focusing on earliest music memories, I would point most inmportant one. Back in early 90s I’ve got cassete from my older sister, on one side it was Teenage Fanclub “Bandwagonesque” on the other Mazzy Star “She Hangs Brightly”.
I had that one on repeat for a long time and from that moment onwards I’ve been on amazing journey.

++ Had you been involved in any bands before being in Mizu? What was your first instrument and do you remember how did you get it?

Dragan: Yup, there was a punk band obnoxiously called Sniffin Glue, then there was Cricetus Cricetus which evolved into Vini Pu, later on it was My Melody Dreams. Somewhere in between was a band called Marry Popins.
I got my first drum set when I was 17. It was a yellow no-name set with make-shift and kludged parts which I bought for 400 Deutche Marks. I got them by convincing my dad it was a “very good investment in my future”. I still, to this day, don’t know how I pulled it off.

Boris: Yes, I’ve started to play with Dragan and my firend Vasko in the band we called My Melody Dreams, later evolved in Mizu. I’ve got first cccoustic guitar Melodija (copy of Ovation guitar) back in ’87 or ’88 and around ’93 I ‘ve got my first Squire Stratocaster guitar as birthday present from mom and dad.

++ When and how did Mizu start as a band? How did you all know each other? Was there any lineup changes?

Boris: As previously mentioned Dragan and I played in My Melody Dreams and later on our friend Srđan Čiplić (Čipa) joind us. Unfortunate event when Čipa suddenly passed away, My Melody Dreams stopped working.
It was quite some time later that Dragan and I joined some friends from Vini Pu (Igor Batinić and Saša Ajdanov) to form Mizu. Later on Marko Vujkov replaced Saša on bass and Saša remains spiritual guru of the band.

++ What’s the story behind the band’s name? Is it true that it comes from an Eggstone song?

Andrej: It is true. One of the early band members and one of the scene’s key protagonists Saša Ajdanov was always on the lookout for great new music. At the time we were all particularly interested in what was going on in Sweden, and Eggstone had a small cult following in Bečej. Saša got hold of the April and May EP and was instantly smitten by “Mizu”. He became so connected to the song that people around town even started calling him Mizu. After he joined the band — which was then in-between names — it somehow transcended his own persona and was imediately adopted by the four guys.

++ What bands would you say were influences in the sound of Mizu?

Boris: Eggstone obviously, but equally Ride, Stone Roses, Oasis, Supergrass etc. I am sure each of us would put a long list.

++ How did the creative process work for Mizu?

Boris: There were three songwriters in Mizu, each with a somewhat distinctive style and aproach. But we worked on each and every song collectively, arranging and re-arranging them until they seemed just right. I think that in the end we managed to make an album of seamlessly connected songs that reflected the inner dynamic of the band.
By the way, this is how Andrej describes it as being close to Mizu throughout it’s creative and recording phase.

++ What do you remember from the recording session for the self-titled album? Where was it recorded? And how much did Dušan Ševarlić from Eva Braun add to it?

Dragan: Looking back, I’d say we as a band didn’t know exactly what we were doing and were fortunate to have Ševa guiding us. He and Slobodan Misailović have recorded, tweaked the sounds and arrangements if needed, gathered additional equipment and people, took care of technical matters, even played on some of the songs. In a word, they performed one hell of a babysitting and had a tremenduous amount of patience with us.
Boris: to add to Dragan’s points above, it was really long recording, due to studio availability limitations. We also had a lot of friends joining/participating, so pretty cool party that lasted over a year.

++ Your album was supposed to be released in 2000 by the Automatik label. What happened? Why didn’t it come out?

Andrej: To be frank, the case of the lost Mizu album is still a bit of a mystery to us. Automatik Records at the time was a fairly successful label ran by the infamous Slobodan Nešović Loka. He played guitar in a couple of bands during the Belgrade New Wave but remained a bit of a footnote in the music history. During the 1990s he became an enterpreneur, and as it seems his enterpreneurship was of a specially exploitative kind. By the end of the millenium the indie pop scene in Serbia probably turned out to be less lucrative then he expected. And our album was recorded just as the time was ripe for him to start cutting costs. We’ve actually signed a contract with Automatik. Everything was ready for the publication. Then Loka insisted on minimizing the layout of the CD cover, to what we grudgingly agreed. And after that… It just never happened.

Boris: Once again, Andrej put quite good reflection of situation at that time, however I would like to add that in our case Loka was a proper prick. He was playing role of some record label mogul. He got fully recorded/produced album and video for the song 22 without investing single dinnar. Never understood why he did not release the album. if we only had soundcloud at that time.
Partly he done us a favour. By not releasing the album, it became rare piece of work not everyone could get hold of.

++ Some promo copies of it did get out, I guess thanks to them I got to listen to it in the early 2000s. Do you have any clue how many of those promo copies were made? And where did these copies go?

Andrej: The fact that the album had not been published was really painful. The band was practically shut down. There was the single (which in Serbia was the euphemism for the video), there were some gigs, some radio play, but this major thing that we worked on really hard was simply silenced. And we knew the album was good enough to be published. To hell with it, we knew it was much, much more than just good enough. So we took what we had – the CD of the album before the final mastering — did some in-house tweaking, digitally printed the covers and made some copies. Guerilla warfare it wasn’t, but at least a few people got the album in the form it was meant to be published in.

++ Eight years after, in 2008, the album was finally released as an MP3 release on Label Star. What made you make that decision? Who were Label Star? And how did it go?

Andrej: Label Star was a short-lived small label formed by Milan Glavaški, the man behind the band Rebel Star (and a former member of Eva Braun and Popcycle). We are friends (to say the least; I (Boris) played in Rebel Star for a while), but I think that his idea to publish the album was based on something else. It was an honest attempt to do at least some justice to this unfairly discarded product of our joint work, hopes and dreams.
Boris: Sptify just opened option to upload own albums. Finally in 2019 plan is to get in on spotify where it belongs.

++ And were the versions of the songs different from the Automatik album and the Label Star album?

Boris: No. Same songs. However we did not like post production of the album and left it with Dragan Bašić to do it again. Believe, only for us, music geeks to hear difference.

++ I love the song “Dobar Dan”, I think it is brilliant. If you don’t mind, care telling me the story behind it?

Dragan: THX. It was brought to a rehearsal, band gave it thumbs up. Igor surprised us with an excellent solo he came up with. While recording, Ševa and Vladimir Kolarić (Veliki Prezir) had an input with backing vocals; Ševa also pushed us in the right direction with the middle section; originally, it was ment to be more like one of the Dodgy Mid8s.

++ A song from the album, “Dvadeset i Dva“, had a promo video. When and where was it recorded? Did it take many days? And did it get much rotation on TV?

Andrej: The video was recorded in Belgrade, at the beautiful building of the department store of the now defunct textile manufacturer Kluz. Trivia says that the place is now a chinese store. Anyway, the focal point of the interior of the building is this huge crystal chandelier that you can see throughout the video. What is now obvious is the mercantile take on pop music that surrounded the scene at the time. We were filmed playing the song “Dvadeset i dva” inside a (stylishly post-socialist) department store, Mizu represented as a brand, there was even a female model stripped down to a bikini, for crying out loud. I guess that the whole commodification spiel perfectly represents the idea behind Automatik Records.

++ I notice that the band had a logo, which appears on the album cover as well as on your t-shirt on the video. Who made that logo? And were these t-shirts sold at all?

Dragan & Andrej: It was made by Dragan and Andrej Dolinka (who later designed the CD cover for the album in collaboration with Aleksandar Maćašev) at Saša Ajdanov’s home, on his PC, while waiting for a water to boil for their coffees. The approach was so hands-on that the logo was made with what was luying around. Believe it or not, it was designed in Microsoft Word! It was later applied in different ways. We only made a limited edition of the t-shirts and pretty much gave them away to friends and family members. OK, and some fans.

++ Do you think someday there will be a physical release for this record? I think it does deserve it!

Boris: I will make sure digital version remains available on Soundcloud &/or Spotify or similar. I would like to have an LP record of it one day. Who knows, maybe only few copies to keep it rare.

++ Did Mizu appear on any compilations?

Boris: Honestly, can not recall.

++ Are there any unreleased Mizu songs?

Boris: I do not think so, but there are unreleased My Melody Dreams songs that were later recorded on Mizu album.

++ From all the Mizu songs, what would you say was your favourite and why?

Dragan: I guess it is “Kraj”. Boris wrote it. I love it for a bunch of reasons, but the main thing is: it always came out right, from the first time we played it. Btw, I was always driven by the melody of Igors solo in it to hit cymbals and insert fills here and there; as I couldn’t be bothered to remember the pattern, poor Igor had to play a solo for me when drums were recorded. And that wasn’t done in a first take either.

Boris: Korpa Cveca, for the reasons that are difficult to explain apart from 2 chords song being my favourate structure.

++ Did you play many gigs? Do you remember which cities you played? And what would you say are the best Mizu gigs and why? Any anecdotes you could share?

Boris: We have played quite a few gigs around Serbia, mainly as opening band for Eva Braun, Popcyle or Veliki Prezir. Actually in my memory, travelling (Saša Ajdanov used to drive us in his Zastava 101 listening great music) and hanging before/after gigs with friends was the best part.
There was a live show at NS Plus TV (Andrej might be able to help as show is still available somewhere on the net) which I remember as great expereince.

++ Did you get much attention from the radio or music press? What about internationally?

Boris: We have mostly been present in local press, radio and TV stations. No international reach.

++ You appeared on TV on a live session for NS Plus. Who were NS Plus? How was that experience? Was that the only TV appearance by the band?

Boris: NS Plus was part of Radio Television Novi Sad and Nikola Šujica had his live show. We’ve been invited to play live and it was only TV appearance we had.
It was really kind from Nikola, we’ve been treated like stars.

++ Then what happened? When and why did you call it a day?

Boris: As Dragan previously mentioned, life happened. It was difficult to progress without having record out and we’ve invested everything in first album. It was just tiring.

++ What did you all do afterwards? Did you continue making music?

Dragan: Boris, Andrej Dolinka and me came together as Super Studio. I still feel I’m a Super Studio member, although this hiatus lasts a fair number of years. Generally, I get stuck at the first base, ie, fooling around with an instrument at home.

Boris: I’ve been playing with Milan Glavaški (ex. Eva Braun and Popcycle) in Rebel Star and as Dragan mentioned we started Superstudio (can be found on soundcloud) I am extremely proud of. As it is formed as very spontanious low fi music expression of 3 friends, I expect some ocasional, unpredictable surprises to continue form different parts of the world.

++ Are you all still in touch? Is there any chance of a Mizu reunion someday?

Boris: Every year around Christmas with few bottles of local spirit, there are big plans. I am more believer it was always meant to be music for family and friends, but who knows….

++ And today, aside from music, what do you do? What other hobbies do you have?

Dragan: You got me thinking now – I’ve got no other hobbies. Aside from making my own wooden shelves or some other simple piece of wooden furniture if I need one. It always turns out ugly, but gets the job done.

Boris: Taking advantage of living in the UK to see some great bands/gigs.

++ I’d love to visit Serbia one day, and why not Vojvodina and Bečej. Wondering if you could tell me what are the sights not to miss from your town, or the traditional dishes or drinks one shouldn’t miss? And if there is a good band there these days, recommend that too please!

Boris: You are more than welcome, but would suggest you plan/visit to Belgrade. In any case, I would be more than happy to organise you visit/stay and to meet/see some amazing bands.

++ One last question, looking back in time, what would you say was the biggest highlight for Mizu?

Dragan: Being interviewed by a fan from Peru, there’s no higher light than that.

Boris: nothing to add to Dragan’s point.

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Listen
Mizu – Dobar Dan