A little white bunny outside our Travelodge window was the first sight of Saturday morning. Long day ahead. It was only 10 am. But we didn’t have any signs of getting tired. The excitement was still there. One by one to the shower, and then to our own little breakfast, consisting of diet coke and some cookies. By noon we met with the rest of the gang outside the hostel, on our usual spot, the big wooden picnic table, where also the smokers gathered.

We arrived just on time for The Hillfields. They put such a great show in the shed. Sadly there were not many people around to enjoy their elegant pop that takes the best of the Flying Nun stable. It was too early perhaps and most people were still suffering from the hangover. Or maybe they had terrible taste and went to see the other bands playing at the same time? I want to think it was the first option. For some reason I didn’t have much trouble during the festival with bands I wanted to see clashing in the schedule. Consider me lucky. Most friends did had to make decisions on the fly about where to go and who to see.  I had made a schedule, before traveling to the UK, of bands for Saturday and Sunday, so I never had this problem. Planning always pays off. Though, I would have had a big clash if Pale Sunday were to come to Indietracks as they were announced. They were playing at the same time as The Pooh Sticks. Tough one! But in the end the Brazilians didn’t come and well, Pooh Sticks it was. And that was such a treat, that show, I’m glad I didn’t have to make a decision in the end. The only other clash I would have had, was that between The Orchids and Stars in Coma. But I was going to see Stars in Coma in Berlin, in September, so the mighty Orchids it was.

Just after The Hillfields played I left the shed with them for a bit and went up to the merch tent. I bought their album and their EP for a good deal of 10 quid! And there was the great Mr. John Jervis. At last I get to see him. So of course, I asked what to do with my records that I had brought for selling. He asked me to bring them here and that we’ll figure it out. Again through the sandy and muddy patches all the way to the backstage room behind the shed. Got my box full of records and back to the merch tent. There wasn’t much space on any of the tables for my records. John told me to leave them next to the Odd Box stuff, while I was gone watching the Felt Tips, and when I came back, we’ll find a place for my stuff.

What can I say about The Felt Tips. First time I see them live and they were fabulous. I recorded on film most of their gig. And it was pure bliss, the great crooning vocals of Andrew, Miguel’s classy and luminous guitar playing, the striped-shirt Neal’s bouncy bass and Kevin banging the drums. And we were there, dancing in the front row, with Jennifer, Adria, Paulita and Kat. May I say that this November 15 we are releasing The Felt Tips album on our sister label Plastilina Records. I said it since the first time I heard it: “it’s the best album of the year. This is a defining album for these last wave of indiepop we’ve been going through. Brilliant really.

It was a good thing that most of the bands were not only playing their gigs at Indietracks but also staying for the whole weekend, enjoying it as fans even though most of them did the not so smart thing of camping. This was a very positive thing for the festival as there was always time to chat with the bands about the gig, their records, their fans, their dreams, and of course the gossip. This may be the most interesting topic of them all. Hear from bands about gigs and their organizers, the odd people they’ve met during their time as a band, and the silly anecdotes. Isn’t this one of the most beautiful things of indiepop? that bands, labels, gig organizers, clubs, and fans are almost at the same level, we all blend into one community? Everyone is a piece in the puzzle. Bands as fans, fans as bands, and everyone doing it to have fun! Doing it for the kids!

Next up was lunch. My options weren’t that many. The only place that served some sort of meat only had hot dogs (the bastard child of a good German wurst) and some very greasy hamburgers. I found this a bit annoying, as I love meat, but I don’t like greasy, unhealthy meat. There’s this believe around many popkids that meat is murder, and, whatever, they don’t have a clue of what they are talking about. Oh, dear Morrissey, the dumb things you’ve taught them. They think meat eaters, as most of them are vegetarians, are like pigs and we eat all sort of trashy stuff and we won’t have any problems eating a hamburger that sweats car oil. We’ve been demonized. This I do hope changes next year at Indietracks and we have some sort of decent place that serves nice chicken, beef, lamb, or fish. For the sake of all of us. I think the vegatarians had more options in general at Indietracks this time around. Quite different to reality though, when vegetarians have much more trouble finding a place to eat. No problem with that, that’s great actually, but don’t forget about the rest. Anyways, after a very short line, and for five pounds, I got a very nice curry at the stall. Rice, tofu and some red curry. It was quite tasty. This became my main meal through the festival. Eating it 4 times during the weekend!

Suddenly Paulita and Adria came by, and told me that Ivan and Eva from Linda Guilala, had just arrived. They were playing in 30 minutes and they needed urgently a keyboard. Where to find one? What to do? Can I save the day?

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Listen
The Felt Tips – Dear Morrissey

So here I am, in the promised land of Derbyshire. It’s almost 7:30 in the evening, and the noise coming from the stage welcomes me as I get down the steam train. There’s a small queue waiting to get in and I join it. Pete B, Rocker and Colm, go through the express lane, the band members queue, and I go through the slow not so special people queue. I had already paid in advance for my ticket, many months ago, so it was just matter of telling them my name. They don’t need an ID, which in these times it’s nice to know people believe in one’s honesty. As I’m leaving the counter with my Indietracks schedule/fanzine, they stop me. They say I have to pay for it, 2 pounds. I politely return it. I thought it was included with the festival ticket. I think it should be. All of this information was online, I had it printed. Sure this zine looked nicer, but for 2 pounds I can have a beer and my ugly printouts.

Anyways, now I’m walking by myself, with a big box of 7″s that I’m supposed to sell somewhere and someday during the festival. Beforehand Mr. Jervis had already sent spreadsheets with the schedules for when the bands will be able to sell their stuff, but not for when the labels were supposed to do so. I wasn’t sure when was I intended to sell them then, and especially because this year they had agreed that everyone who was selling records had to be behind the counter for at least 1 hour. I didn’t know when was my turn, and I wasn’t really looking forward to know that either. I was a bit annoyed carrying around the heavy box, holding fifty five 7″ records, with no certain direction, when I see Maria, now a volunteer for Indietracks. Great! Maria is here to save me! But she doesn’t have a clue.

I met Maria earlier this year, at London Popfest. She was one of the few Spanish speakers in the festival along with the guys from Aplasta tus Gafas de Pasta. It was nice to chat with her then, and then I stumbled upon her at Rough Trade, at another gig after Popfest and at the underground escalators. And she was always sweet. This time at Indietracks it was no exception. Even though she didn’t know anything about selling records or merchandise at  the festival, she went around asking trying to help. She asked the moronic Dan to see if he could help but of course she didn’t get any positive answers. “Let’s leave them backstage for now” she said. That was a good idea. So she took me to a small and cold room next to the shed, where guitars and drumsets were piling. Then there was even another room inside this one. A room within a room. Behind the big corroded door, there was nothing. Just a couple of empty shelves. I left my box there hoping they will be safe until the next day when Mr. Jervis arrives. As I was leaving the backstage room, Ronnie and Chris from The Orchids were walking it. It was nice to see them again after meeting in NYC Popfest just a couple of months before.

The evening was to continue in this same fashion, meeting old friends and new friends. Veronica Falls were playing their last songs when I approached the main stage to find Jennifer and Martin. There was Elisabeth too, making me faces. At that moment I get to meet my Spanish friends Cristóbal, Madidi, Javi and Alex. I know them online for years, since I was doing my Spanish language blog, probably in 2004. Cristóbal I know from soulseek, perhaps from 2002 or 2003. So many years, and now, for the first time I get to meet. They are great, and we make jokes and take photographs. Javi doesn’t believe me that I don’t like Veronica Falls. What can I do? I don’t get them. He says it’s been such a great gig. I had seen them three times now, and still not impressed. I can say they are one of the best looking bands around though, if that helps. Probably they’ll get big. I think they lack “romanticism”.

Also in the crowd is the great Mark Freeth, who has now joined the Spanish Armada from the Premier Inn. Nana and Andreas, fresh from their supermarket experience, also show up a bit late to the festival. We head to the bar, it’s time for beer. The distance from the main stage to the shed, where the bar is, shouldn’t take more than three minutes to walk. But it took us, no kidding, twenty five. Every four steps we were stopped by friends to say hello and talk for a bit. Isn’t that beautiful? On this trip to the bar the highlight was meeting Danielle and Stefan. Why haven’t I met them before I thought? They are just the kind of people that make the indiepop community worth it. I like them a lot.

Eventually we got to the bar, and to our despair, this was going to start our hate relationship with the warm beer they served. It all went to the point when we had to ask a glass with ice to cool it down. What’s the deal of drinking beer as if it was soup?

The night was dawning, and we kept on gossiping and drinking beer; I’m afraid I missed the next two bands while doing so. On another trip to the bar, over that sandy and muddy path, I met Kajsa, wearing her detective cloak, and invited her a beer. Then while talking about how Swedish people dress we notice that all of our friends are in that carriage in front of us, next to the shed. Let’s go! How did everyone ended up there? It was a bit cold outside perhaps, and most of us didn’t have coats or jackets. I didn’t bring any at all to the UK this time. It’s summer I thought. This is one of the nicest memories I have from the festival, the whole gang in the carriage, making silly videos and taking awkward photos. Emelie telling for the hundredth time the story about mouchak, Christin running away from the camera, meeting Tim for the first time, Jennifer having no beer, Anders speaking some sort of Swedish that I couldn’t pick up but the Swedes could, and Eli who still kept making faces to me.

When we got out of the carriage, the music was already over, and everyone was going to start heading to the discos or back to their hostels. Just outside the disco tent I met with Brian from The Understudies and he introduces me the rest of the band for the first time. I had already met Brian last March at a How Does it Feel dance party where he impressed me with his dancing skills, which still makes me wonder if the rest of the band can come close to his talents when it comes to dancing. The rest of the band seemed very nice, I joked with them and told them that it was a shame that are not playing this year. I’m not sure but later, when it felt as if they were avoiding to say hello again, I got the feeling the rest of the band weren’t that happy to have met me. Was it because I had too many beers and talked lots or maybe because it was too much for them to kiss the band’s only girl on the hand? Which I did, because it thought it was a nice detail. According to Wikipedia it is a gesture of extreme politeness. And I’m the epitome of politeness of course. Didn’t you know that?

As the clock approached one o’clock Jennifer got all of us, Travelodge guests, and said that it was time to go, that the last train was leaving. This was the first time that I was going to feel this recurrent void inside of me. I didn’t want to leave. I just want to stay for a while…

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Listen
The Baskervilles – Staying There for a While

Thanks so much to Jim Shepherd for this fabulous interview! Don’t think The Jasmine Minks need any introduction, do they? Though, many of you won’t know that they have a new EP out that you can and should order from Oatcake Records!

++ So let’s get into interview mode. So there are already a couple of great interviews online to the ‘Minks (Caught in the Carousel, Creation Records) , I’m going to try not to repeat any questions, and make you repeat your answers! So let’s go. First off, where does the name The Jasmine Minks comes from?

The name Jasmine Minks means a lot to me – the word mink or minker is a poor or ragged person in the north-east of Scotland where I come from. And, although it was never intended from the start, the word Jasmine is a street I used to live in Aberdeen, Jasmine Terrace.

++ The lineup. I’m wondering how did the band came together, how did you all meet? How did you all knew each other? Was this your first time in a band?

The first line up to record was with Martin Keena, who was a London-Irish fella. The rest of the original group, Adam, Tom and I were all from Aberdeen and were in a few bands before, mostly to do with the punk scene and then the post-punk scene. We did audition Harry Howard for bass but Martin was the one for us. Martin was also in a punk band, Premature Ejaculation (great name!) We did go on to use quite a lot of different musicians and have enjoyed the variety of musicians we have been lucky enough to have in the band over the years. There have been many other people too who have been hard working for the Minks over the years, including Mark Allan, Chris Narayan, Kevin Pearce and Nick Jones to name a few.

++ Most of your discography came under McGee’s label, but there was this one odd 7″ on Esurient Records. Was Alan McGee okay with it? How was your relationship with Kevin Pearce? How did this 7″ came about?

Cut Me Deep was the impetus for the live ep from Esurient. We had recorded the song for Creation and we went a bit over the top taking two weeks in the studio with the oine song, trying to make it a really big production with synths and drum machines and everything. Alan didn’t like it, so although we used an early, more ‘live band’ type recording for the Another Age album it still had the stigma of the time when we tried to make it a big production. So Kevin Pearce decided to start Esurient and to have an older live version of Cut Me Deep and 3 other songs on it too. The best things about the Esurient ep were mastering it (from a caassette) at Abbey Road studios and also the groovy gold and red picture cover. The recording is quite poor quality.

++ Thinking about the last question, I feel during the 80s most bands stuck to one label, whereas nowadays, bands jump from label to another label. Do you think there are any pros or cons to this?

Maybe groups are more promiscuous nowadays. It was nice to be able to stay with one label for a long time and develop a relationship with people and get to know then well enough that we could take the piss out of each other. I always wanted to stay with Creation but we ran out of fans really and people just stopped coming to see us. If we had moved to another country or maybe just even another record label I’m sure we could have built up a following again. So there may be times when it is an advantage to move to another labe .

++ Dan Treacy  when interviewed on a fanzine, back in the day, when asked about the early Creation bands, once said: “The Jasmine Minks are the only sort of serious band. They’re the only ones who’ll make it”. Sadly you didn’t get a true breakthrough, though you did deserve it. You had SONGS!! Why do you think it didn’t happen?

We were pretty amateurish really and that probably came through in our sound and in our image. Our songs were good and, with a bit more hard work, could have reached a bigger audience. But we were probably too eager to move on to our next lot of songs and didn’t like the amount of time it took to actually get a record released from writing it and rehearsing it to getting it into the shops. Quite often we were fed up of the songs by then and we wouldn’t play them live, not a great way to make fans!

++ How was the experience of being managed by Simon Down from the Pink Label? Any anecdotes you could share?

Simon did manage us briefly but we didn’t really have a good relationship. He wasn’t as sharp as Alan McGee by any stretch of the imagination and perhaps after McGee managing us we expected a lot more. He did well with Pink of course and I’m sure he came skinny-dipping with us once!

++ I’m curious about the name of a couple of songs. Who were Veronica, Johnny Eve and Marcella?

Veronica was a fictional old maid who had grown up being scared of the world and continued to hide away from it as much as possible rather than accept the ugliness (and perhaps the beauty too) around. Johnny Eye was one of Adam’s wonderful song titles and I truly believe that he is one of the most overlooked lyric writers of those times. There are only one or two lyric writers I would actually say compare to him and that is saying something!

Marcella is a very special song to me. Marcella was Bobby Sands’ pen name when he was in prison and the name he used to wrote poetry and other stuff to the outside world whilst there. I was fascinated by the human side of the troubles in Northern Ireland and he was a particularly interesting character who died for what he believed in.

++ You said that “Ghost Of A Young Man” is your favourite ‘Minks song, and indeed, it’s such a GREAT song. Can you tell me the story behind it?

Another Adam Sanderson lyric and what an amazing lyric it is too. I can only say I wrote the tune so it’s difficult for me assess the words. But they are wonderful nevertheless and tell the story of growing up and coming to terms with changes in life. I often sing this song and did so at a gig last year 25 years after it was written and it still affects me. This song was recorded for a demo for London Records and they had a wonderful organ with a leslie cabinet in the studio there at Denmark Street in London’d West End. McGee famously stole the tape and put it out on Creation, hee hee hee!

++ What about gigs? Did you play outside of the UK? Which were your favourite gigs you played? why?

Jasmine Minks played in Germany, France, Holland, Switzerland and Belgium. We’d have loved to have played the USA too – maybe one day we will! Gigs often were a different experience for the audience as they were for the group. I remember getting an amazing reaction in Greenock at Subterraneans but not really feeling we played any different than normal. Sometimes we did go a bit crazy and make up long jams for an encore but it depended on how we felt. I remember playing at Woods in Plymouth and getting in a few skirmishes with the audience, including me punching a member of the audience and Chris, our roadie, casually returning glass bottles to skinheads at the back of the room. The club owner thought we were great and expected us to be the next Jam!

++ How was your relationship with fanzines back then? What are your take on them? Were the ‘Minks showcased a lot on them? And do you believe blogs can capture the magic of the printed fanzine?

I read quite a few fanzines, both musical and political ones, and enjoyed people’s individual approaches to writing them. Some fanzines mixed writing on music with an almost philosophical approach. Just like blogs nowadays. They were way ahead of their time!

++ This year you released a new EP on your own label, right? The “Poppy White EP”, with songs recorded in 1992. Why did it take 18 years for them to get released? And can you tell me a bit about the songs included?

Creation knocked us back on the songs. I think Dick Green such said it wasn’t what he was looking for.(I think he went off us after Scratch The Surface album.) We paid for the recordings ourselves at a studio in West Ham in London. The songs were written around 91/92 and we had many more ready to go if we had the go-ahead for an album. It was very different for me as I had only written one of the four songs, having been used to writing all of the songs for years so I took on more of a production role working on arrangements and sounds much more than I had done for years. Tom and Foosky (a replacement for Tom on one tour when he he broke his leg and, eventually guitarist and singer) wrote three of the songs. They have strong melodies and some nice individual lyrics. But more than anything they remind me of Foosky and Mark (roadie for years) who both passed on recently. It is a good tribute to both of them. They both played big parts in the group!

++ Bob Stanley wrote once “Like far-left factions, groups that had much in common built up petty rivalries. The June Brides and the Jasmine Minks were the biggest names at Alan McGee’s Living Room club and couldn’t stand the sight of each other.” How much of this is true Jim? Were there any other rivalries going on?

I was definitely not interested in many of the bands around at the time. I really liked The Television Personalities and Primal Scream both bands with strong melodies. I had gone off the post-punk scratchy guitar sound heading more towards a rock/pop sound. I had nothing against any of the other guys personally. I had my own agenda and they did not figure in it. There were a few bands that I really did not like around the scene but The June Brides were okay in my books and I particularly liked Phil Wilson’s songs when he signed to Creation.

++ What happened after Soul Station? Why didn’t you continue releasing music during the nineties?

If we had the audience we would have I’m sure. No one was really interested as far as we could see and the rave scene was not the kind of thing that we could tap into. I did get into a lot of different kinds of music as a result of not being on the indie scene any more so it did open up my eyes to dance/ electronic music and classical music too. I carried on writing and playing occasionally and we never really recorded properly as The Jasmine Minks until 1999 when we did 3 tracks which eventually came out as a CD single called I Heard I Wish It Would Rain for Bus Stop Records in the USA.

++ What do you think of the new Creation movie?

I haven’t seen it. I did support the majority of what McGee did with Creation and it was a huge force in the 90’s so they deserve a movie! I wonder if there will be any Jasmine Minks mentions on it?

++ If the ‘Minks had started this decade, how do you think you would have sounded like?

I think we would have been an alt-folk group just like the one my niece, Hannah, is in (Withered Hand.) I love the mix of folk and pop and it allows for decent lyrics and a few sing-along tunes too. I would sign my own youthful group up to my new label Oatcake Records of Scotland  www.oatcakerecords.co.uk I’m sure!

++ There are reissues of some of the singles on Vollwert, and then the “best of” compilation on Cherry Red, but are there any plans to reissue the albums one day?

Werner in Berlin and Cherry Red have been brilliant at keeping some Jasmine Minks records available. I may release more myself if there is any demand for them. Some of the albums are better as complete albums and could do with being heard that way (1234567 All Good Preachers Go To Heaven, Another Age, Scratch The Surface, Pop Art Glory) even though I think less people actually listen to albums, preferring playlists a bit like the old cassette mixes we used to do – hee hee.

++ What is left to come from the ‘Minks? Any plans for the future?

I have hoped for a get-together with Adam as he and I had the best songs together and I don’t think either of us wrote as well separately – that would be interesting! We will play again in some form very soon I’m sure – there are a few things coming up which mean that, sooner or later, we will make an appearance or two. I’d like to release a new Jasmine Minks single on vinyl on Oatcake Records. I have loads and loads of songs and a few sound to me like the Minks could do them justice!

++ One last question, what makes an Aberdonian  different to the rest of the Scots? 😉

We can be a forthright bunch with little grace and a very down to earth attitude, maybe that sums up The Jasmine Minks! I have been working with a few Aberdonians, apb, on a new single for Oatcake called Jaguar and that will be out soon and there is a classic rock/pop single called The Fire all ready to go on Oatcake too, a song written by me and the Beat Hotel so there is a lot happening and, for me, these are very exciting times!

++ Thanks Jim! Anything else you’d like to add?

I would like to add to all your readers that I welcome anyone who wants to to get in touch with me if they want any more information about Jasmine Minks news or Oatcake Records of Scotland at info@oatcakerecords.co.uk

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Listen
The Jasmine Minks – Ghost of a Young Man

Thanks so much to Karin Reilly for the interview, and scanning some photos for me!  Celestial Daffodils were an indiepop band from Germany from the early nineties that sadly didn’t get any proper releases but did appear in a couple of cool compilations. They later became Sugareen and nowadays they are called Telesushi. Enjoy!

++ Hi Karin! How are you? I see your new band is split between New York and Göttingen, where in the world are you nowadays?

Hi Roque! I am just fine, thank you! All members of my new band t e l e s u s h i live here in Göttingen, Germany, but since I am originally from New York, we decided to emphasize that interesting piece of information to make us more exotic than the rest.

++ This new band is called Telesushi and you’ve just released a 10″ record. Care to tell me a bit about this new project of yours?

The band includes Olaf, our guitarist, Daniel our drummer and myself: the 3 pillars from the Celestial Daffodils. We then became Sugareen and now we are in our new band t e l e s u s h i. Our bass player Robert, the youngest in our band, was really gung-ho on getting our 6 latest songs on vinyl. Our first 11 songs are on CD, but CDs are so common nowadays, so we went for vinyl (each record comes with a download code to access the MP3s – we know not everyone has a record player – neither do I! But the record looks great on the shelf!). Robert also did the art work for the lovely cover. We still hope to do a video.

++ So let’s go back to the early 90s, that’s when Celestial Daffodils were formed, right? Was this your first band ever?

It was my first band ever and fulfilled a dream I had always had of singing in one. They were looking for a new singer. A friend of mine “auditioned” and I was really in awe of her courage. She returned saying that the music was not quite her thing, but she was convinced it was mine. I just laughed and pooh-poohed the idea. But she was really convinced of this and despite my resistance, she pushed me into singing for them: she gave me their demo tape, arranged a rehearsal time and even picked me up from the café I was waitressing at to take me to the rehearsal! And from then on, I was in.

++ Who were Celestial Daffodils? Where were you based? And how did you know each other?

The original constellation was Olaf/guitar, Carmen/drums, Jan/guitar, Alyiar/keyboard, Michi/bass. I was their 3rd singer who had joined them after they had been together for 2 years. They were school friends who decided to form a band and basically learned to play their instruments in this formation.

++ Why the name Celestial Daffodils?

Due to the Brit-poppiness of the music, a happy name in English was opted for Olaf told me that the name “Poppyfield Smile” was also in the running.

++ I know about some compilation appearances from your band, but were there any proper releases? Maybe demo tapes or something?

We had three full-fledged tapes: A red one entitled Simple, A blue one Different Facial Creams, and a green one Waiting for a Call.

++ Ok, so help me about your compilation appearances, I know the “Everything Went Pop” one with two songs, then on “Fieberkurve Vol. 3” and on the “Hopping Hobgoblin” tape. Any other that I’m forgetting?

We also had the original version of our song “It’s hard” on a Fieberkurve sampler tape, we were written up in a fanzine called Time Thief from Bremen, and we were told by friends that we were also on an Italian fanzine sampler tape, but we don’t know the name of it.

++ Which was your favourite Celestial Daffodils song? How did the creative process work for the band?

Favorite song? Can’t answer that one, sorry! We had so many wonderful songs! Simple? It’s Hard? Agent Dan? Breakfast Special? Nowhere To go? The creative process was usually based on a guitar riff someone had in mind and we jammed and improvised from there, filtering until the parts crystallized and pleased us.

++ Who were you listening to at the time? What were the bands you’d say influenced you?

I always loved and always will love Blondie, Kim Wilde, The Bangles and Depeche Mode. Olaf listened to lots of stuff from Sarah Records (Bristol), Heavenly, Talula Gosh and all the other bands that Amelia Fletcher sang in. Daniel is very 60’s-infuenced.

++ And what about the German guitar pop bands? Were there any that you liked and you’d recommend me?

Olaf mentioned Blochin 81, 5 Freunde, Jesterbells and other Marsh Marigold bands (that’s a label in Hamburg).

++ Did you play many gigs? Are there any you remember? Any anecdotes to share?

On the whole we played many gigs, although we never counted. Averaged per year, however, it wasn’t that many compared with other hobby bands. Some of them I remember, but sometimes Olaf will mention something I have no idea what he is talking about. You must realize that 15 years have passed since I started out with the Celestial Daffodils! Olaf likes to reminisce about when our temporary drummer Kai vomited over a clothes drying rack in the apartment we stayed in after a gig in Dresden. I prefer to reminisce about a gig we had in Bodenwerder in the woods when the young audience totally flipped out to our music and interrupted our songs to buy our tape!

++ When and why did you call it a day with the band?

That was my wish. I had two young children for whom I wanted to be there in the evenings more often. I felt exhausted and did not have any creative energy and suffered from a bad conscience of feeling like the others in the band were waiting for me to come around. The positive things we had working for us as Sugareen to move us from a hobby level to a more serious level had dissipated and I did not feel motivated. The last straw was a gig we had in a neighboring city: we were on the go for 13 hours in total to play in front of 200 people in a bar who were not the least bit interested in us. Then it was clear to me that I would rather do other things with my time. Our good-bye concert on Göttingen was absolutely wonderful. If more gigs had been like that, I wouldn’t have stopped. Afterwards, I greatly regretted the decision and greatly missed the musical creativity, but in the meantime I am very happy with
t e l e s u s h i and having reached an internal peace of not trying to impress anybody but myself.

++ Looking back in perspective, what were the best moments of being part of the band?

One highlight was when we placed 4th out of 5 bands in a band contest, but were nevertheless contacted a few days later by Enola Records, a small label in Hannover, who had been there and loved us, believed in us and wanted to cooperate. It showed how subjective music taste is and that there is a musical place for everyone. We were also always thrilled about being on samplers. The Sugareen song Black and Blue was even on a New Music Express sampler and we our video to that song was in rotation on VH-1.

++ How different was Sugareen from Celestial Daffodils?

Sugareen was a step toward professionalization. We had a record contract to make a CD and video and were optimistic we would rise above the hobby level. Regarding the band name, our experience had made it clear that no one here in Germany could either understand, spell or remember “Celestial Daffodils” so we changed it to something sweet and sugary for the CD: Sugareen. Our songwriting had matured over the years, we all had become better musicians and the best songs were selected for our CD “Ready, Steady, Go!” and produced by a producer who even strongly suggested things we almost broke up over.

++ What other things do you enjoy doing when you are not making music?

I love spending time with my kids, cooking and painting old furniture with pastel colors – that’s my “homey” side. In addition to t e l e s u s h i, I have a duo with Daniel: he plays the ukulele and I sing and we only cover songs from the 80’s. We are called l’uke and you can find us on myspace (if you look hard) and on youtube under “ukuleighties”. This quirky project really interests a lot of people. I often say “but, but, but actually we have a really great band with our own songs!” And then there’s theatre: 3 years ago I discovered an incredible and creative amateur theatre scene here in Göttingen that I have since then been acting and active in, sometimes in English, sometimes in German.

++ And this I always ask my German friends, because I love a good German hefeweizen, what is your favourite beer? 🙂

I’m not a beer freak, but I am happy drinking Becks. I never took a liking to hefeweizen. Olaf’s favourite beer is Uslarer Altstadt Dunkel.

++ Thanks again Karin! Anything else you’d like to say?

Yes! It was so nice to be contacted by you all the way from Miami! Thanks so much for your interest in the Celestial Daffodils/Sugareen/Telesushi and we hope this interview has sparked the interest of your readers as well! Please contact us! We’d love to play in Miami and we would love to be on a compilation again!

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Listen 
Celestial Daffodils – Stay

The indiepop detective seems to have been on a long vacation. Someone told me that he had been sunbathing on some idyllic Caribbean island. Another friend told me he was skiing in Norway. But I needed him to solve a case for me, the mystery of  The Hermit Crabs. So I sent him an email yesterday asking where he was, if he could help me with something. He answered:

“Hi Roque,

I could take the case, but I don’t have access to my indiepop archive, I can answer you from the top of my head. Tell me what it is about and I’ll get back to you.

Life is good now, I’m in Vietnam and I plan staying until December. I came to rest and to surf.  You should join! I know you have the beaches very close to you, but you can’t compare the exoticism of this place to South Beach. Look, I’ve traveled a lot, and I can say that the most beautiful and uncrowded beach in all of Southeast Asia stretches from Da Nang’s Son Tra Pennisula to the tourist town of Hoi An. This 30 kilometer long white sandy beach was the site of the famous China Beach R&R spot for GIs during the American War, as well as an international surfing competition in 1992. Despite the fact that Five Star resorts are popping up like mushrooms along the Da Nang/Hoi An corridor, surfers and other beach-lovers are few and far between.

This section of the coast is beach break. We have pretty consistently surfable waves beginning sometime in September and trailing off in May. During the summer months of June, July and August, the seas tend to be quite calm. Off-shore storms can be a source of wave action, stirring up the usually calm seas of August to yield a couple of days of good surfing or making the usually surfable November seas so rough that you might think twice about even walking on the beach!

looking forward to hear from you!”

What a coincidence I thought. These Hermit Crabs loved to surf, and actually they had a song “Surfin’ Vietnam”! Go figure! They also had a song called “Surfing Mice”.  So I wrote him again, and told him to tell me everything he knew about The Hermit Crabs, the 80s band, not the contemporary one from Glasgow that I had the chance to see in New York Popfest 2008.

“Roque, first thing you have to know is that the word hermit comes from the Greek ‘eremites’, “person of the desert”. Second, you have to learn about this little animal that many people like having as pets. In general, and despite their moniker, hermit crabs are social animals that do best in groups. They also require a temperature and humidity-controlled environment, and adequate substrate to allow them to bury themselves while moulting.

Most frequently hermit crabs use the shells of sea snails; the tip of the hermit crab’s abdomen is adapted to clasp strongly onto the columella of the snail shell. As the hermit crab grows in size, it has to find a larger shell and abandon the previous one. This habit of living in a second hand shell gives rise to the popular name “hermit crab”, by analogy to a hermit who lives alone. Several hermit crab species, both terrestrial and marine, use “vacancy chains” to find new shells: when a new, bigger shell becomes available, hermit crabs gather around it and form a kind of queue from largest to smallest. When the largest crab moves into the new shell, the second biggest crab moves into the newly vacated shell, thereby making its previous shell available to the third crab, and so on.”

This was clearly not much help, but quite interesting. Especially the Greek part.

“About the band I don’t know much to be honest, they seem to like to surf like me. And probably they came to surf to Vietnam, you know they have that song and I see a lot of British tourists around here. There was that 12” EP on Thunderball that I have never got the chance to get it. I don’t even know the tracklist. Last time I saw it on eBay was like two years ago. Then of course, the iconic song, “Surfin’ Vietnam” that appeared on the “Lets Try Another Ideal Guest House” the compilation that was released by Backs Records where all profits were donated to Shelter on a National Campaign for The Homeless. Right? Some ace bands on that compilation, Talulah Gosh, TVPs, Close Lobsters. Their other known song, “Surfing Mice”, appeared on a split flexi shared with 14 Iced Bears on Frank Records. This one is a live version. A shame, because the song is GREAT! and I’m sure that properly recorded it could have been a smash hit. On the sleeve it says:

THE HERMITCRABS
greg waverly – vocals, malibumo – bass, tam tam tareago – drums, marky – guitars & vocals, recorded dec’86 by Juliet.

But checking on the flexi itself, the song “Surfing Mice” is credited to J. Martin and M. Hellings. I assume it is Marky Hellings. But what about J. Martin?

That’s all i have, hope it helps! I’m off to put on my wetsuit, the waves are calling me!”

And so, that’s all? What a disappointment.

Clearly, the mystery is still not solved. So many loose ends, and not that many clues to figure out about these Hermit Crabs. Whatever happened to them? Anyone wants to give it a shot at being detective and telling me anything else about this lost band from the golden days of indiepop?

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Listen 
The Hermit Crabs – Surfin’ Vietnam

“So that’s Nottingham castle.” Up on the hill, through our window, just as the train was slowing down. This was the first interesting sight while crossing the English countryside but we weren’t going to visit it and quench our Robin Hood fantasies. No, we had other plans for this Friday. We were heading to our own indiepop Disneyworld, to Indietracks.

We’ve parted three hours ago from St. Pancras, around 11 am, with no breakfast and tired faces due to a late night at HDIF in Brixton. In charge of our delegation was Jennifer, of course, as she had already been at Indietracks, while this was my first time. Joining us was Martin, capo di tutti capi of train platform locations and timetables; Emelie, future senator of Sweden and now a popular blogger; Luise, our own German partisan who would soon desert our brigade to join enemy forces; and Christin, the angelic voiced singer of The Garlands, my partner in crime. But we weren’t prepared to what the train had in store for us: no space for our rally. We did know that coach train had reserved seats and that all of our seats were all over the place. And even though the carriages seemed half full, all the facing seats with table in the middle seemed to be taken. So we scattered. Christin and me sat together and we lost touch for three hours with the rest. One headphone for her, one headphone for me, and we shared some of the music I had just uploaded to the iphone. The fast slides, the visions, of the green fields, were flashing through us while we listened to Fantastic Something’s “The Angels Took Over the Train”.  Then The Orchids came on. The train kept galloping on it’s northbound way.

After a short break in Nottingham station, some Diet Coke breakfast, and the proper visit to the loo, we were en route to small tiny Alfreton. The commute was quite short, but at last we could conduct our small rally as the seats weren’t reserved and the wagon was quite empty. We traced on paper the plans for the rest of the day. To begin with, we hastily left the station and took a couple of taxis to our new home, the Alfreton Travelodge. A decadent little hostel that boasts having a Little Chef restaurant in it’s grounds. And just outside the hostel doors, as we were arriving, we could see some familiar faces were smoking cigarettes. I believe they were waiting there to greet us. They weren’t Little John and the rest of the Merry Men, but little Eric and the merry kids. Quite close.

By now Luise had already defected as she was going to stay were the wild indians were, at the tent encampment on the outskirts of Indietracks. Meanwhile, in our room, we were choosing and claiming our towels, stocking cups, and reckoning the surroundings through the window. We pinpointed some curious white rabbits outside, prying to be our lunch. Suddenly a huge spider calmly, sewing it’s web, came sliding through the wall behind the bed. This was the moment I knew I was alone in the fight, the girls panicked and ran into the bathroom. With precision, and a big sized shoe, I sent the spider to a better life. Emelie and Christin came out and started jumping on the bed, non stop.

There was a big Tescos store not so far away, on King’s Road, maybe 20 minutes walk. Now Jennifer and Martin had joined us, or better, we’ve joined them. Avoiding bumblebees, and smelling flowers, blowing dandelions and taking cheesy pictures, the walk was quite amusing. But more amusing and more surprising, was meeting Nana and Andreas in the middle of one of the aisles at Tescos. It was so natural at the moment though, as if these Germans have always lived in my neighborhood. I believe they were looking for a picnic mat. Nana, as a good big sister, recommended me to buy an umbrella. Me, as a good little brother, didn’t listen. My purchasing history in Tescos only included a 2 liter Diet Coke. Emelie bought water and bananas, Christin got some cookies and a Corona, “la cerveza más fina”, six-pack. Little Eric and his crew also popped up at Tescos. With the speed of a shoplifter, but the naiveté of a Swedish provincial boy, they swept all the San Miguel cans Tescos had. Them, bad boys, with a big proud smile and their white plastic bags, walking out the door. Timeless.

On our way back our starving souls found an oasis at the Swan & Salmon pub. It was almost 5pm and it was empty. They had a very good deal where you could order two meals for the price of one. As we were five, Jennifer was left out, but she was happy because she only eats salads, no meals. Martin and me ordered fish and chips, Emelie and Christin some pasta primavera. Beer for the boys, and juices and soft drinks for the ladies. The conversation revolved over the bright red napkins of the pub. First I taught everyone how to make paper boats. And after, we found a better use, making masks out of them, impersonating Raphael the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle.

If by now we thought we’d had no energy, we were really wrong. The excitement was too big to even think of anything else than Indietracks. A quick walk back to Travelodge, thanks to a shortcut among the bushes Martin found, leaving some stuff and taking some other stuff from our rooms, and calling the cabs to come pick us and take us to Butterley station, home of the steam train that will transport us to the magic kingdom of indiepop, everything happened fast, one thing after the other. Now we were in separate cabs riding to the station. I happen to be without the rest of my team, but with Markie from the Parallelograms, and Colm and Ben from Help Stamp Out of Loneliness. Really great company! And by no means wild indians from the camp site, just proper popkids that sleep in real beds.

How did we end mixed up in the cabs? I don’t remember, I guess we all just wanted to be at the Indietracks as soon as possible. What I do remember is making a big noise, us little indiepop devils taking over that steam train, and landing at last at the promised land!!

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Listen 
Fantastic Something – The Angels Took Over The Train

This is a very special interview with my friend Olaf. Milchblumen FC were Olaf and Jan during those early 90s in Berlin. They were also making music under the name Abramczyk and Going Down With Brilliance. Later Jan would start Firestation Records with Uwe. Then he’d leave Firestation Records! And who joined Uwe this time was Olaf. I have just saw both of them in Berlin a month ago, and it was great fun. And in between jokes, talking about this blog interviewing bands that are so obscure and that the interviews are too long, I told Olaf, “be prepared that you are next”. And he said, “bring it on!!” And here it is! Hope you enjoy! Thanks so much Olaf!!

++ Hallo Olaf! Thanks for doing this interview of course. It was nice to see you at Indie Pop Days Berlin, how did you like it? Who were your favourite bands?

Hi Roque, it´s an honour for me being interviewed by my favourite blog. Thank you very much for your interest in my music career. Okay, the Indie Pop Days. I really enjoyed those days very much, have seen brilliant bands and met old and new friends. Apart from many other bands I personally preferred Lucky Soul and Allo Darlin´. First for Ali´s amazing presence on stage and their professional set which I enjoyed pretty much during three days of pure Indie-Pop. Second because of their zest for life and playing. I mean, look at Bill Botting on stage… Further highlights were Zipper, who woke me up on Sunday afternoon, Lisa Bouvoirs version of “Thunder Road” and those four minutes of pure pop magic of The Pocketbook´s “Fleeting Moments”. Also my DJ set with Kitten on Fire was fun, we both would have liked to dance to it.

++ Do you think Milchblumen FC would have fit just fine with the lineup of this festival? Were there any festivals along these lines going on back when you were playing?

I think so. We had been pure Indie-Pop. Yes, there have been a couple of small festivals, but for German bands only and mostly just for one or two days. I like to remember the Marsh Marigold Weekender in Dresden, truly funny days with little sleep with the complete Hamburg popgang. Great was also a festival in Darmstadt, where I witnessed the only gig of Wind In Den Weiden and met personally pen pals (for the younger readers: that had been something like Facebook) like Andreas Knauf, Olaf Grossigk or Frischluft-Krischan.

We played at the Harmony Beat Festival in the Dresden Starclub together with Fünf Freunde, Blinzelbeeren, Ein Warmer Sommermorgen (both Blam-a-Bit) and the Noise-Poppers Honeyloops from Worms. This festival had been organised by our friends from Dresden Trixi and Susi, real Indie-Pop pioneers in Eastern Germany. Memories come up on Rock `N Roll Lifestyle including stage invasion, bloody hands from excessive tambourine playing and Frank Kabs – singer of Twee-Pop-Punks Ein Warmer Sommermorgen – who had fallen asleep amongst beer, potatoe chips and I-do-not-want-to-know-what-else.

++ So let’s go back in time. Who were Milchblumen FC? What did each of you played? How did you all meet?

Milchblumen FC were Jan Kühn (guitar), Birgit Peters (guitar), Alexander Freyer (bass) and me (vocals and drum computer). When Uwe and I wrote our first fanzine in 1991 we also received some orders from Berlin. Curious for the people behind the addresses we met Jan at a Pariahs gig. We noticed him at various other gigs before because of his Clint Boon memorial haircut. Jan and I were on the same wavelength immediately and soon after a long night out clubbing we decided to record a dance version of “Please Rain Fall”. Well, not really successful, but that weekend we recorded four Low-Fi songs. We knew Birgit and Alex from the Indieclub Dogwash and after some talking both were very much interested in joining. Birgit took quickly some guitar lessons and we started…

++ Why the name Milchblumen FC?

We wanted a slightly ironical Twee band name, therefore Blumen (flowers). FC has got to do with our enthusiasm for football and also because we all were fans of Teenage Fanclub. Because I have the Berlin typical articulation weakness in the different pronunciation of “ch” and “sch” this was included jokingly by the word Milch (milk). Of course, altogether the bands name does not make sense at all.

++ Was this your first band? Which other bands were you involved with?

Yes, that was my first band apart from the badminton racket guitar band with our gig at the age of six. Milchblumen FC was an incarnation of our music creation. We played and recorded under various band names such as Jetstream (our shoegaze outfit), Going Down With Brilliance, Snowblind, Abramczyk (named after a German football star of the 1970ies), Northbound and I am sure various others. Some of these “projects” were duos or trios but Jan and I were always part of it.

++ The only song I know by you is “Auf Dem Halensee” that appeared on the 16 Goldene Hits CD. Were there any other songs released?

On „19 Goldene Hits“ were also „Grungemädchen“ (Abramczyk) and „Only Place“ (Going Down With Brilliance with Jans vocals) included. The tape compilation “It´s All About Love” included our first two demo recordings.

++ You were telling me you will digitise many tapes full of songs by the band. So when will that be?! 😀 and more or less how many songs did you had?

As soon as I have the technical equipment, but I am not a freak for technology. All in all it should be about 30 tracks. Amongst them cover versions of Depeche Modes “What´s Your Name”, Aspidistras “Sunrise”, Eternals “Breathe” and “Nothing Much To Loose” from My Bloody Valentine in a folk version. I heard my favourite song of us “Wir Sind Nur ´Ne Neue Krachpop-Band” (We Are Just Another Noisepop-Band) only once because later I lent the master to somebody and never got it back.

++ Why didn’t you get to do a proper release?

I don´t know. I wanted to produce a flexi single but the only pressing plant was in England. Including import tax it would have been too expensive. It was pretty difficult to arrange a proper release on a different label in the mid 1990ies as the number of Indiepop Labels reduced rapidly. The only considerable label would have been Marsh Marigold but I am sure we would have been too bad for Olivers expectations.

++ What about gigs? Where was the farthest from Berlin that you played? And which were your favourite gigs and why?

We did it for the gigs! Between 1992 and 1995 we had some gigs but outside of Berlin one only but that one was very special. A huge club, stage light like at Pink Floyd, a nice accommodation and we even got money for it! Weekenders are the funniest anyway. The record release party of “19 Goldene Hits” was also good although the CD wasn´t finalised yet. Almost 300 guests watched apart from us and various other bands also Groovy Cellar, Westway (Pre-Blochin 81 / Lato) and the only gig of Uwes band Thorn (Fallin´from stage, loosing his t-shirt and breaking young girls hearts) at the “Insel der Jugend” club.

++ Which other bands from the period did you like? Was there a scene in Berlin?

There was only a small scene in Berlin, just like today. Also the bands from “19 Goldene Hits” were mainly from the sixties scene and their members were mostly a bit older than us. Indiepop took rather place in Hamburg where I spent almost every second weekend in the early 1990ies. Great time. In fact I liked all early Marsh Marigold bands very much, especially the Fünf Freunde and The Legendary Bang. Their gigs were always very very funny. I remember how we entered a local posh disco in a noble suburb of Hamburg after one of their concerts. We shocked the local rich youth with a wild dance style and a lot of spraying beer. Within minutes the dance floor was flooded. I´ll never forget their faces in my whole life. Marsh Marigold boss Oliver Goetzel is the best dancer I know till today. Besides of Marsh Marigold bands I loved the products of Frischluft for their style, bands like The Sheets or Ein Warmer Sommermorgen and especially Germanys best band Merricks…

For international bands of that time there is not enough space here, there has been too much of good music at that time just like today. It is striking that so many come from Glasgow, therefore I name as a representative for all great ones my eternal hero Roddy Frame. Nobody manages to publish only two bad songs in thirty years.

++ When and why did you call it a day?

We were quite frustrated, meant not to be good enough. After Birgit moved to Lübeck in late 1994 we split up more or less. We tried some rehearsals with Anja but because of new hobbies and interests the band project simply paused. I personally got lost in my enthusiasm for football since mid 1990ies, visited almost every match – also away matches – for many years, so in weekends I had almost no time for the band.

++ Are you still in touch with the other members of Milchblumen FC? What happened after you split up?

Jan is one of my best friends until today and was my predecessor at Firestation Records. We still meet regularly. He´s becoming father soon. I have not been in contact with Birgit and Alex for a couple of years and honestly said I don’t know what they are doing today but I believe they made their career.

In the mid 1990ies I had a weekly radio show called “Radio Heaven – International Pop Underground” with my friend from Hamburg Martin Fuchs which was big fun. I still need to laugh today when I occasionally listen to old recorded programmes. We did 48 programmes in total amongst which there were specials like “Flexi only” and “Tape only” or specials about Edward Ball (The Times etc.) or German Indie Pop. Later I wrote some Pop-/Football fanzines and worked occasionally for my football clubs magazine. Around the year 2000 Jan and I got back to enjoying making music again. We recorded a few good demos with our friend Guido, a very talented guitar player, who a short time later became seriously ill. This is a very sad story.

++ Be nostalgic now, what are the best anecdotes of being part of the band? What were the best moments of being part of Milchblumen FC?

The concerts of course! At least I had little stage fright, amazing. Just this: When we recorded some songs in Hamburg I squeezed by accident the bass guitarist Alex´ thumb between the door of the car and the frame. I think that was the reason why our producer Gerrit Herlyn (Red Letter Day) commented Alex´ bass play as terribly ungroovy that night… At our last gig in May 1995 we replaced the band WESTWAY in last minute. They had had a terrible argument because of their “victory trophy” in a band competition so they broke up two days before the concert. Jan and I had to replace a contracted 45 minute gig, otherwise the promoter (Ship Shape Club) would have had to pay a penalty payment. Because we hadn´t practised rehearsals for about two months and had lost our guitarist and bass guitarist, our repertory consisted of six songs only. The other 25 minutes we tried to compensate with bad jokes. The 200 guests who had come to see WESTWAY were not really pleased…

Personally my highlight was to read my lyrics of “Grungemädchen” on the way to work in Berlin’s biggest city magazine. I´ve rarely been that proud ever.

++ So aside from music, you love Tennis Borussia Berlin. Why do you like such a small team?! Is that why you are not very good at table football? 🙂

The same what I like about the Indiepop scene, to be part of a small rather informal group of people. At Tennis Borussia grew a feeling of belonging together in the 1990ies when we were attacked verbally and physically in Eastern Germany. We were judged as a pretty wealthy football club from West-Berlin. But it was rather exciting to sing with 50 people in the stadiums guest area against 8.000 fans from Dresden. At the moment the clubs situation is very bad, we are last in 5^th league, there come hardly 400 fans, but I still cannot let my club.

++ Haha, okay, so what other things do you like doing?

So many. people say that without a job they would be bored. This does not apply to me. Amongst other things I ride racing bike since a few years with a lot of enthusiasm (no, I do not dope) which is a kind of midlife crisis thing ;-). I am very much interested into science fiction literature including secondary literature, like to travel mainly to Spain and go hiking there. Although my job is pretty interesting (organising and working at fun fairs and christmas markets) I like to change in future. Unfortunately you cannot pay your rent from music business.

++ Tell me about Berlin, it seems I’m going too often, but you still haven’t shown me your favourite restaurant or your favourite German beer! Or your favourite hang out places!

You should not hang around with the pretty girls only! I like to eat sushi and Berlin seems to be the cheapest city for this kind of food. Almost all sushi restaurants have long term offers. The “Kuchi” in the Kantstraße seems to be the only full price restaurant but there you get the best sushi in town. Furthermore I love the “El Borriquito” in the Wielandstraße, original Spanish cuisine and live music until 5 o’clock in the morning. That’s why you meet weird people there. Is it coincidence that my new flat is in just five minutes walking distance from both restaurants? With the beers I prefer the Bavarian “Hell”, especially those brewed for the Oktoberfest, alternatively I like Czech beer very much. As an original West-Berliner I love the Grunewald forest and the river Havel where my racing bike training area is situated. On a tour through the Grunewald I can let my thoughts flow.

++ So now you are part of Firestation Records. Is it easy to work with Uwe? What are your favourite things about running a label?

It´s so easy to work with Uwe as we are best friends. Although he seems to be confused somehow, at the label he works more accurately and punctually than I do. Both we are 50% shareholders so that each of us has the power of veto. We never had to use it so far as we work on the same wave length with regard to music and other objectives of the label. My highlight in two years at FST was the release of the album of Der Englische Garten which was a special pleasure for me as a big fan of the Merricks. The cooperation with Bernd, Alex and the other members of the band was big fun, also because I was responsible for the promotion work for the first time. The CD is selling pretty well. Although I hope a big label will be interested into the band, I would like to release their next album.

As a teenager I dreamed about a career at a music label and always had great visions about the big music business. Now we work from an old sofa and a store room…

++ Tell us a bit of the future plans, 6 projects in the pipeline right?

Yes there are various things in the pipeline. We will start our autumn / winter offensive with a compilation of the first three records of The Cherry Orchard whose song “So Blind” is one of my favourites. We will proceed with the debut of The Soulboy Collective. “Clique Tragedy” contains 11 wonderful songs between Northern Soul and Indie-Pop. The guys of Mighty Mighty and the Orchids were very pleased by the songs and judged it big hit potential. Furthermore we are looking forward to the compilation of the Indie-Jazz-Pop-Outfit Playing For Time. Those who know the single “With My Heart” only will be surprised and should discover various interesting songs. A never ending story is the release of the 7^th Leamington Spa sampler. Repeated we had some problems with the artwork, some of it got lost by computer trouble, but we almost finalised it now. For me the best edition, honestly! Amongst other it will contain Ala Pana Fuzo, The Gits, The Dadas or Penelope’s Web among others.

Next year, with a delay of ca. 23 years, the second album of our heroes Mighty Mighty will be released, what a pleasure. We also thought about releasing some vinyl again, amongst others a Super-Sound-12’’-Maxi single.

++ And not so long ago you organized Popfest Berlin! How was that?!

Wow, what a night! The Indie Pop Days were great but that night was much better. All bands were wonderful, starting with the very charming Paisley and Charlie, the totally groovy live experience of Der Englische Garten, the very short but impressive gig of The Soulboy Collective, the concert causing goose picket by the Orchids (Whooooo needs tomorrow…) and the absolutely party atmosphere by Mighty Mighty. We had no problems with time or the technical equipment, the bands and the audience enjoyed themselves obviously. I was locked in the heat of the Bang Bang Club from 2 p.m. till 6. a.m. and do not want to miss a single minute of that experience. It was overwhelming to walk in the morning to my living room after 90 minutes of sleep and see Hugh of Mighty Mighty ironing his shirt. In boxershorts! What a view! What a popstar!

We plan the next Popfest in March 2011, again with a warm up party. One or two old heroes will pretty likely join, wait for the surprise.

++ Thanks again so much, next time I interview you in person, anything else you’d like to add?

Yeah, hope to see you at London Popfest. I would like to thank you for the interview, now I am in a line with many of my old heroes and idols. I would like to  ask for an interview with Bernd Hartwich about the Merricks and Der Englische Garten.

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Listen 
Milchblumen FC – Auf Dem Halensee
Abramczyk – Grungemädchen

Thanks so much to Mark Pearson for this thorough interview! Ambition Records was one of the best indiepop labels of the late 80s, one of the ones that actually influenced my taste, and who knows, maybe there wouldn’t be Cloudberry if it wasn’t for his passion for indiepop then. I’m not exaggerating.

++ Hello Mark! Thanks so much for being up for the interview. I reckon you live now in Japan? How come?

Hi Roque! Thank you for asking me. It is a pleasure to answer your questions.

How come Japan? Good Question! After Ambition Records folded I decided to distance myself from the Indie Scene and concentrate on study. Then as luck would have it I got made redundant from my factory job in 1993. The redundancy money got me through university, where I studied Philosophy and English at the University College of Saint Mark and Saint John in Plymouth. I graduated in ’97 and got a post-grad diploma in Teaching English as a Foreign Language. After much thought I decided that I couldn’t teach a language if I didn’t know what it was like to learn a one. So, I went to WHSmiths in Southampton and picked the first book that fell off the shelf. It happened to be Japanese for Beginners. I’d practiced Judo when I was a kid, and I’d picked up a bit of Japanese then, so I didn’t find it so difficult to get into. In fact it was fascinating language with an even more fascinating culture. It made me want to go to Japan. So in August of ’98 I came and made a life for myself here. I’ve got a pretty decent job now and I’m married with two kids. Life could not get much better than this.

++ So let’s go back to the late 80s, what made you start Ambition Records? What was your ambition? 😉

Well, you know, I could say that I wanted fame and fortune. I could say that I wanted to create something worthwhile. I could say that I wanted to make a bit extra cash to buy records. But basically I was an eighteen year old music addict who just wanted to escape the tedium of Factory Life. I repaired machine tools eight hours a day for ten years. It was tedious. Ambition was a way to let of steam. It was something to channel my creative energy into. It was a dream.

++ Why the name Ambition Records?

That was down to my guru and friend, David “Hammy” Hamilton. In 1985 I was eighteen. I used to go to Riverside in Southampton on Friday nights where I became friends with Hammy. We used to go back to his flat in Highfield and play records until six in the morning. Hammy introduced me to a load of second division punk bands from the late seventies, among them Vic Goddard and the Subway Sect. I picked up a copy of their 7” single Ambition from Underground Records in St Mary’s Street and after that it never off my HMV record player. I used to drive my parents nuts with it. I took the name from that.

++ Was Ambition Records the first time you supported, hands-on, the indie pop scene?

It was the natural progression from being a DJ. In 1987 I bought a seventies Dansette twin record deck and a couple of burned out speakers for an unspecified sum from Hammy and started up an indie night at the Labour Club in Southampton that remained popular among the indie kids, psychobillies, goths, and grungers up until 1990. We put on local bands and played music—mostly what I liked and what I thought everyone else ought to like. I played things like the Wedding Present, Pop Will Eat Itself, The Shop Assistants, and the Soup Dragons. Among the bands we put on were Accrington Stanley and The Kinky Boot Beasts. The Kinky Boot Beasts were a daft bunch who played shambling feedback guitars with moments of 13th Floor Elevator genius. When the KBB split Martin became one of our doormen and Richard Stark formed Jane Pow. Jane Pow would later blow Sarah Records’ Field Mice off the stage the night they played the Labour Club (They had a tendency to blow any band off the stage in those days). They told me with their usual arrogance that if I knew what was good for me I would sign them to my label. Signing to Ambition was a verbal agreement, so I told them there and then I would finance a 7” single and we went down to Bristol to record Safe/That’s My Girl.

++ The first release was a 7″ by the incredible Mayfields. I’m actually good friends with Mark and Iain, and I’m kind of curious if you have any anecdotes you’d like to share about them!

I was Djing at the Tinderbox—I think it was probably Loop or Pop Will Eat Itself. Iain might correct me. I was playing “On Tape” by the Pooh Sticks and Iain Mayfield handed me his band’s tape. He’d heard that I was thinking of starting a label and thought I should hear his band. The funny thing was I had heard of the Mayfields before. There were a load of Indie Pop Fanzines around at the time and their demo had been mentioned and reviewed in a number of them. I took the tape home and played it. And played it again. I thought it was fantastic. I don’t remember exactly how it happened, but I was whisked away by the Mayfields and my adventures as an indie pop guru began.

I went down to see the Mayfields rehearse in a church hall in Salisbury. I was hooked. The songs were so polished and tight. The lyrics were incredibly sharp. I wanted them to be AMB001. The only thing that worried me was that there seemed to be some real high tension among the band members. But I’d read the NME and I’d heard this was pretty usual in bands. Tension can make or break a band. In the end the tension in the Mayfields broke them.

Paul the bassist created the cover for the Girl of My Best Friend single.

I used to go down to Mark’s house in the Cotswolds. It was a lot of fun. Once we recorded a bunch of ultra-twee songs under the name of “The Chocolate Anoraks”. One of them was called Winnie the Pooh’s My Hero. It was too twee but a lot of fun. Unfortunately the tape got “LOST” and Iain got an electric shock off his bass.

I remember the last time I saw the Mayfields before they split up was the infamous Pooh Sticks gig at the Labour Club. We put them on as support but there was a lot of tension in the band and they split up not long after that. (Incidently we recorded the Pooh Sticks gig that night and it was released on Fierce Records under the name “Trade Mark of Quality”—ironically named after me)

++ So how did the band signing process work for Ambition Records? What were the requisites?

I was nineteen years old without a care in the world apart from which record I would buy next and when the NME was coming out. Neither did I particularly care for the business side of it all. As most of the bands would tell you, to sign to Ambition Records went a bit like this:

Band Member: “You’re Gnome aren’t you?
Gnome: “Yep.”
Band Member: “Well, what did you think of us?”
Gnome: “You blew me away.”
Band Member: “So, are you gonna sign us.”
Gnome: “Sure! Let’s record a single next week.”

++ Then you released Jane Pow. They were the only band that released two records with you. Which were your favourite songs from them?

My favorite Jane Pow song was without a doubt “That’s My Girl.” I insisted that was the track they recorded for their single. But Richard insisted they record a new song for the A side. I agreed; I was all for the band having control of their product. The new song turned out to be “Safe” and I loved that too. From Greg’s notorious stumbling drum intro, through the dropout guitars, Vincent’s classic melody, and Richard’s barely audible lyrics, it is a rollicking pop song that never got the polished production it deserved. I will never forget hearing it over the speakers at Abbey Road Studios as it was being cut. The engineer turned to me and said that it was a damn good song. He was not wrong. As for other tracks I liked, well I still get the shivers when I listen to “Warm Room” and I will never forget their live show at the Labour Club with Rupert and Richard smashing their heads on their guitars in time to “Above Your Head”.

++ The Love Buttons record is a bit hard to find! It’s sought after especially by Japanese fans! How many copies wre pressed? And I’m wondering if you can tell me a bit about this band, as there is not much information.

The Lovebuttons famous in Japan??? Unbelievable! They were a bunch of University student lads fronted by a sweet spicy girl called Jo Bisseker. They used to turn up at all the gigs and one day they approached me with a tape by their band The Buttons. It was classic Indie-Pop and I loved it. Unfortunately by the time they arrived on the scene I was beginning to struggle financially. My turntables had been stolen from the Labour Club, I was in debt because of the money I had put up for Girl of My Best Friend, who had split soon after the release of the single and showed little interest in promoting their record. In addition to that the “Bobby Stokes Salutes the Fall of Manchester” compilation album was costing me more to compile than I had anticipated. But Jo and the boys were insistent that they wanted their single to be on Ambition, so I said sure, go ahead and create it and I’ll give it a catalogue number　AMB007. They certainly came up with the goods and even changed their name, dispensing of the twee in favor of something that would reflect the sexiness of the band. Looking back I would have liked to have spent more time with them because they had a lot of passion and energy and they were very sexy. We pressed 500 copies and they sold out almost immediately. We should have pressed more, gone on tour and blown the world apart, but I was starting to feel the pinch. My only regret about those times is that I believe I let the LoveButtons down.

++ The other band I’m very curious on your catalogue is Girl of My Best Friend. First, because I like their name, and second because they made some great songs! But again, not much information about them. Anything you’d like to tell me?

Girl of My best Friend got their name from an Elvis song. They came from Northampton. I discovered them on Chris and Neil’s Corrupt Postman tape. Their song stood out above all the others because of the haunting quality of the singer’s voice contrasted against the jangly guitars. It was different. It was exciting. I went down to La Cave in Bristol to see them. They performed a really spooky set. I think they were supporting The Bachelor Pad. I offered to cut a record with them. They asked me if I was kidding. They came to Southampton to do a gig with Jane Pow. They performed a really spooky set. Not long after that I lost touch with them. I think they split up. I like to think they were a ghost who came to haunt me for a few months before disappearing.

++ Ambition 006 is Colette’s Groovy Badge. So, who is Colette?

A lot of Indie Kids used to write to me in those days to buy the records. Colette was one of them. A sixteen year old girl from Lytham St Annes with a passion for music and writing as intense as Jane Pow and the Mayfields put together. I thought if she were a band I would sign her. So I did. It was a true indie-pop moment. Colette went on to study English at Oxford University and now she is a best selling author.

++ What is the story behind the “Garden Gnome” fanzine? Why that name?

Why the name? Hammy again. It was six o’clock in the morning one Sunday in 1985 or 1986. We’d eaten our chips from Big George in Swaythling. We had emptied a case of lager. We had listened to everything from Scott Fitzgerald’s The Paranoid Ward to John the Postman’s Toothache. We had watched the latest episode of Filthy Rich and Catflap. Then Hammy put on Chance in a Million. You know the old show where Simon Callow played a guy who had unbelievable events happening to him all the time called Tom Chance. He was parking his car when he backed over a Garden Gnome. The head came off of the Gnome and Tom Chance said “Gnome Dead”. Hammy looked at me flaked out on his sofa and repeated it. The name stuck.
After that everyone knew me as gnome. So when I was looking for a name for the fanzine and I just knew it had to have a gnome in it so the brand would be instantly recognizable. There were 3 issues of the Garden Gnome Experience, which I wrote myself, and one issue of the Garden Gnome which I co-wrote with Colette. I wanted to create something disposable, and twee, and in the vein of all the other fanzines around at the time.

++ What was the idea behind the “Bobby Stokes Salutes The Fall Of Manchester” compilation?

It was 1976. Saints beat Manchester United with Bobby Stokes famous goal. Saints were thrown into the first division and suddenly we were playing in a much bigger field. Of course it was a field which belonged to the big guys, like Manchester United. Just like the music scene always belonged to the big guys up North. Inspiral Carpets, Happy Mondays, The Stone Roses.

Then in early 1989 just before Madchester and the Stone Roses hit the big time their tour manager called me. He said the band was supposed to play in Salisbury, but the promoter had done a bunk. Could the Stone Roses play at the Labour Club on Wednesday night? I said, “The Stone Roses? Who are they?” He told me they were The Next Big Thing. Of course all the bands said that. I said they wouldn’t pull in much of a crowd on a Wednesday night and put the phone down. The following week the NME came through the door and who was on the cover but the Stone Bloody Roses. I could have kicked myself.
Bobby Stokes Salutes the Fall of Manchester was conceived as an ironic tribute to that moment. That was my big “Fall”, but I still remembered the time when Bobby stokes scored that famous goal.
I decided to invite bands that I respected from all over to contribute to Bobby Stokes. I sent them all a small amount of cash to work with. I told them it didn’t have to be too polished. It was supposed to be in the spirit of second division punk, (the punk that Hammy had introduced me to in his flat in Swaythling in 1985) the underdogs of pop paying tribute to the overlords. I loved the Madchester movement with a passion and I wanted to be in on it at all costs. When the songs started coming back I was stunned at the quality and what a mixed bag I had. Strawberry Story did a twee version of Made of Stone, The Cudgels carbon-copied What Do I Get? I even managed to get a track from Thrilled Skinny! But by far the best track on the compilation was Mad Cyril by Jane Pow. They made that song their own.

Unfortunately, Bobby Stokes never made it to vinyl, which I guess was also with the spirit of the times. I made about two hundred cassettes and they were sent out all over the world. I even had a Japanese guy turn up on my doorstep asking for one. He said he’d travelled to England to collect rare records and tapes. Of course I let him have it free of charge.

++ You mostly released bands from Southampton, am I right? Not counting the Bobby Stokes compilation, which was the band lived farther away from you that you released? Did you get to see all the bands you put records out live?

Strawberry Story were from Northallerton. They travelled to Southampton to do a gig at the Labour Club. A band called Aspidistra covered James’ Come Home. They were a bunch of nice friendly chaps from Scotland. And if I remember correctly, Pure were from Glasgow. I got to know them through the Fanzine network.

++ Which other bands from the period would you have loved to release? Was there any band that was Southampton “best kept secret” that never got to be released?

Oh, Yes! I would have loved to have gone back in time and snapped up the Kinky Boot Beasts before they disseminated into Jane Pow. They were funny, trashy, exciting, and everso young. I often tried to get Richard to reform them for a mini-album that was to be called “Bowl Haircuts and Pointy Boots!” But I could never convince him. And then there was the Chocolate Anoraks…

++ So when and why did you call it a day?

It was the day after I pressed 500 EVOL singles and EVOL told me they had decided to split up, thank you very much. I managed to sell about fifty copies of the single. I still boxes of them in my parent’s attic in Southampton—if they haven’t been trashed by now.

++ Do you still follow indie pop? If so, what are your latest crushes?
Indie Pop will always have a place in my heart, Roque. I am a little out of touch these days, though. (I listen to a lot of podcasts about writing. I write science fiction and fantasy stories that are published in small press magazines you can find links to some of the stories at markleepearson.blogspot.com .) The songs on my ipod are all about ten years old. Right now I am listening to Belle and Sebastian’s Dear Catastrophe Waitress. I never gave up on the Wedding Present; I still think George Best is the greatest album ever recorded. I also listen to Sleeper a lot—especially Smart and The It Girl, and I have just read Different For Girls by Louise Wener.

++ Being in Japan, I’m quite curious, what are your favourite dishes there?

The food here is great! Much more of a variety than can be found in the UK. Where do I start? おにぎり、 カレーライス、豚カツ、鯖味噌、秋刀魚、牛丼。。。the list is endless. Just don’t get me on the subject of whale. Someone thought it funny to order in a restaurant without being honest about what it was. When I found out the truth, that someone was soon crossed off my New Years’ card List, I can tell you. And Japanese beer is by far the most refreshing beer in the world. Stop by some time and we’ll share an Asahi Super Dry.

++ Let’s wrap the interview here, anything else you’d like to add?

If you want to be successful at any level of the game you have to work hard to improve yourself. You have to get out there and brand yourself, find out what is different, special about you and shout it from the rooftops. If you are in a band and you are not out there promoting your own stuff, playing the gigs, spreading the word about your product, then you are doing yourselves a disservice. Don’t leave it all to the labels and publishers. Nobody is going to do it for you. Nowadays, nobody is going to come knocking on your door to ask if you have a record they can buy. You can have all the talent in the world, and you could have written the most amazing and original songs ever, but if you don’t do something for yourself, then you ain’t worth a thing. There are so many opportunities around now to be creative and get known. The internet is a wonderful thing. People say that the internet is killing music. I disagree. It is providing us a space in which anyone can be successful if they work hard at it. Success is not limited to the bands on the big labels any more; success if for the ones who work the hardest. Now is the best time to form a band. Now is the best time to start a label. Even if you come away with nothing but an empty pocket at least you can say you tried. And even if you fail, there might be someone in twenty years down the line who will come back and say, what you did back then was pretty cool, you know. Now wouldn’t that be something?

All the best with Cloudberry Records, Roque. It was a pleasure talking with you.

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Listen 
The Mayfields – World of Your Own (From Ambition 001)

It was only the start of Anders winning streak.

Midday at the Hasenheide park in Berlin at a mini golf course that didn’t stock Diet Coke. Sunny day, thirsty me, and contrary to popular belief, they didn’t have beer either. Just regular Coke. We decided to divide in two groups, one would start from the first hole, the second from the last, eventually meeting up at the middle, or so we thought. Our group was taller, older, and probably better looking. We were four and they were five. The competition was on, indiepop camaraderie was off.

I can’t stop stressing that the mini golf course was terrible. Sounds like an excuse to why I came in last, but let me stick to the facts. First of all, this mini golf is an eternite course. I’m used to the felt courses, where there is some sort of friction between the ball and the surface. Here the ball would just go so fast, bounce so fast, as it was pinball. Secondly, the areas around the hole were warped. So accuracy wasn’t really needed to win. Many times you’d bounce the ball off the sides, and suddenly by magic, the ball would keep rolling and fall into the hole. Luck was very much needed to win. Nevermind talent. No wonder why the world record  on one round of minigolf of 18 strokes on 18 holes has been achieved only on eternite. More than a thousand players have officially achieved this score. On other playing systems a perfect round of 18 holes-in-one is extremely rare, and has never been scored in an official tournament.

In any case, I achieved some hole-in-ones, I missed many shots, shot my ball out of bounds, threw the towel, and challenged my opponents. Around 70 hits for an 18 hole course. Gone were the days that at Boomers in Fort Lauderdale I would smash my opponents on the felt course. I was last now. Perhaps it was because I wasn’t the “home” team, but the “away” team. I felt the pressure of the opposing team, the different ground, the climate, the enraged atmosphere of the German hooligans spitting hefe beer, the lack of diet coke, the long commute from my town to theirs, or any of all the other mathematical possibilities that can be thought of. On the other hand, Anders, already settled in Berlin for many months, cruised the mini golf course. Showing skill and fortune, and a clinical knowledge of each hole, he finished first, just over 40 hits.

Second came Kat, third came Dirk. The other team was slower than us, they must have spent 30 more minutes to finish the course. When they did we averaged our scores, and our team was the victorious one. But that was just a consolation prize for me. I was expecting to win.

It did open our appetite though, and half of us, the winning team went to a German restaurant to savor the delicacies of schnitzels, sausages and roasted kartoffel. The rest, the losing team, faithful to their destiny, just went for plain bagels.

Later that day Indie Pop Days festival was raising it’s curtain and Anders was going to win it all in table football.

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Listen 
Ultrasport – Ballgames

Thanks so much to Mathias Hill for the great interview! You can check more about Die Busfahrer on their myspace. Now time to discover one of the strangest and most creative bands from the late 80s and early 90s in Germany.

++ Tell us a bit of the early days. Who were Die Busfahrer? How and when did you start a band? How did you all knew each other?

Die Busfahrer were, in the very beginning, two friends, me (Mathias Hill – voc. and melodica) and Tobias Usula (voc.), living in a small town called Bad Soden-Salmünster, in Hessen/Germany. We were friends from kindergarden age on and in 1986, at the age of 14, we decided to start a band. we called the band “DIE PENTECHOS” and as we didn’t have any musical basis at all, it was quite terrible.

So in early 1987 we asked Magnus G. Schmerfeld, a guy we just got to know, if he would like to play the Casiotone. He did. So we recorded our first proper song “Mofa fahrn”. After a while, it got played on the radio by our hero Klaus Walter – he is some kind of a hessian John Peel. He compared our music to Andreas Dorau and so we got into listening to his stuff as well as (a bit later) Die Merricks. And we loved it.

Meanwhile, in 1988 we found a friend from school as a guitarrist, Volker Hagemann, but after putting together a Pentechos tape with approx. 12 songs, we dissolved the band. The Pentechos were just home recording with a cassette recorder, never playing a single gig, basically just a reason to tell school mates that “we’re in a band”…

We didn’t manage to get a good reputation because we weren’t punk rock, we didn’t have a drum set or electric guitars, and i guess Magnus, who is a real good keyboarder, was a bit pissed off that his friends were mocking about him – being a Pentecho wasn’t really cool.

But I insisted to re-form the band with the same members, but a different name: DIE BUSFAHRER. the plan was: we wanted to record a tape of the busfahrer without any information about the band, so people would ask themselves: “Who are these cool guys..?”

Magnus said: “Okay, i’m in, but only if we don’t play any live gigs”. We wrote some songs like “LKW Führerschein” (“truck driving license”), “Rasenmähn” (lawn mowing) and “Cowboy Horst” and we didn’t play live until 1990.

Then came Rocko Schamoni, a nice guy from Hamburg, and asked us to take part in his tour. He was on the edge of becoming famous at that time, he had a major record deal and his album was produced by Bela B. of “Die Ärzte”, one of our favourite bands of all time!

So we played our very first gig at Batschkapp/Frankfurt in front of 500 people. Schamoni did some kind of a casting show with his support bands, and as we were quite drunk and quite charming, we won the hearts of the audience. I guess this evening was the real birth of DIE BUSFAHRER.

++ Why did you call the band The Bus Drivers?

Well, that’s easy: Didn’t you know that this was the profession of George Harrison’s father?

++ Where does the unique style of Die Busfahrer comes from? I hear some influence from maybe Die Dorau und Die Marinas? Could that be? What else was an influence to your music?

As told above, we were compared to Dorau before we really got to know his music. Of course, we knew his song “Fred vom Jupiter” because it was a massive hit (to this day, i guess almost every pop interested person in germany knows this song), but we weren’t aware of how he carried on. After being compared with him, i bought his early records and we all really liked it.

But in the beginning, we were really heavily influenced by Die Ärzte (the doctors), some kind of a fun punk/pop band with a unique sound, but to be honest: I guess you won’t hear similarities to the bus driver sound.

But we got in touch quite early with Frischluft Tonträger, a nice P!O!P!-label from Friedberg and we managed Krischan, the label manager. So the bands from this label, Honigritter, Fahrraddiebe, Der Wind in den Weiden and first of all Die Merricks became a major influence for us.

To this day, the only Frischluft long playing album (“Mit Sonnenschirmen fingen wir den Blütenzauber”) and the first two Merricks album have some kind of a holy status for us.

++ You come from a small town in Hessen, was that some kind of handicap to make your band more known? Was it easy for you to get gigs around?

It definitely was. But even if we would have been from Hamburg (were most of the really influential stuff came from in those days), we wouldn’t have made our way as we were too naive in those days. But we never complained, we made friends with Marc Liebscher from Blickpunkt Pop, with The Merricks, with I,Ludicrous, one of our favourite bands from England, and so we managed to play in Munich, Hamburg, London, Reading.

++ You toured London and Reading! How did you end up going to England? How was this experience? How different was the crowd compared to the one in Germany? Any anecdotes you can share ?! 😀

Lots of anecdotes – I was a pen pal to Will Hung from I,Ludicrous since 1988. I’ve heard of them via Klaus Walter, he played quite a few of their songs, and they’ve also been favorites of John Peel. After a while, in 1992, I decided that they needed to do a tour in Germany, So I organised a little tour for them, it was a bit chaotic, but everyone who saw it still talks about it today.

And so Will thought that the bus drivers should play in England. He put together the two gigs (in 1993 or 94?) and we drove to England with an old VW van. As we slept in the van, we didn’t need a hotel. Especially the gig in London was very good as we’ve spent a wild evening with the opening band, they were called Psychopussy and they were really nice and funny people.

The crowds really liked our stuff, especially as it was quite exotic for them that we were singing in german. (BTW: Will wrote a review of the gig, it can be found in the BUSFAHRERSTORY)

++ You released two EPs: “im Elektroland” and “in der Walpurgisnacht”! What do you remember from the recording sessions?

We recorded the first EP live on one sunday afternoon in 1991 in my bedroom. In “LKW-Führerschein” you can hear a live crowd roaring during the keyboard solo. This was a crowd we recorded on tape after a busfahrer gig and we just turned up the stereo during the solo, that’s all. No mixing, no overdubs.

(On a second sunday afternoon, we glued the covers together)

“Walpurgisnacht” was recorded by Thilo Päch/Tapp Production in a small but proper 8 track studio in Schlüchtern. The studio was above some kind of a farm and during the recordings a little girl came in and asked about the cars in the backyard – we didn’t quite know what she wanted until it turned out that one of the horses had slid and fell on Tobias’ car. Quite weird…

Thilo is still a good friend of ours and he recorded two albums of Magnus’ and my new band, Rockformation Diskokugel, which is still going –> www.rockformation-diskokugel.de www.myspace.com/rockfo

++ Which is your favourite Die Busfahrer song and why? Are there any more recordings from Die Busfahrer that are still unreleased?

I still like most of the songs. They have a certain innocence and naivity to them and that’s what i like about them.

Some of the unreleased songs:

“Mofa fahrn” – Our first song, recorded on tape and played on the radio – but we never managed to get a proper studio recording and we never played it live- perhaps i should make an MP3 of it.

“Rasenmähn” – Always a great live favorite, we did a studio version and it can be found on a tape compilation on Steinpilz Tonträger.

“Statist bei Stefan Derrick” – A song about being a bit part actor in the german crime TV series “Derrick”. We recorded it in the very last days of Die Busfahrer and the busfahrer version is still unreleased. But we re-recorded it with ROCKFORMATION DISKOKUGEL and it can be found on our first album (“La Bola Privada”, Apricot Records / Blickpunkt Pop).

“Primitive Busfahrer” – A cover version of the Felt song “Primitive Painters” with german lyrics about the band, some kind of a “Ballad of the Busdrivers”… Magnus and me have always been huge Felt fans and there’s even a Busfahrer version of “Voyage to Illumination”. This one (Primitive B.) is the last song the bus drivers ever recorded. It can be found on our myspace-site.

(Unfortunately, we never heard from Lawrence, I guess he doesn’t have an e-mail-account..)

++ These two EPs were released on the Eiswürfel Tonträger label. It was your own label, right? How was the experience of running a label? What’s the complete catalogue? I haven’t found much info about it online!

Let me think about it:

eis-1

Die Busfahrer – Im Elektroland
7″, Eiswürfel Tonträger (1991), 500 copies

titles:

· Cowboy horst

· Alles klar

· Elektroland

· Lkw-führerschein

Some of the records have silly writings on the cover-inside.

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eis-2
wegweiser durch’s eiswürfelland
c-60-cassette, 20 tracks, eiswürfel tonträger (1992), lots of copies

labelsampler feat. die merricks, schade schokolade, busfahrern, blinzelbeeren, prinz eugen, im zerrspiegel des mutantenzirkus, married minds, rosecoloured pinholeburns, sofa head, dancing chromosomes, kitchen cynics,…

As far as i know all the songs are exclusive. the song “grundsuppe” by prinz eugen ist censored.
There are two different versions of the tape with two different covers and two different kitchen cynics songs on them.

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eis-3
i, ludicrous – we stand around
7″ep, eiswürfel tonträger (collaboration with roman carbage vinyl) (1992), 660 copies (and 6 testpressings)

titles:

· We stand around

· Quite extraordinary (live)

· Oh really

· Spock’s brain (live)

Football anthem which was voted “gloomy but optimistic single of the week” by new order in the n.m.e. in 1992.

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eis-4
Married Minds – Bewahret einander vor herzeleid
7″ ep, Eiswürfel Tonträger (1993), 550 copies.

titles:

· Toysoldier song

· Oedipus rex

· Kurz ist die zeit

· Gefall’ner engel

· Come again and we will see

Magnus’ solo project, quite dark , but very nice. There are two different versions with two different backcovers. this was the last time christian hauke designed the labels.

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eis-5
Friends Ahoj – Grandstand Girls
one-sided 7″, Eiswürfel Tonträger (1993), 550 copies.

titles:

· Grandstand Girls

· Have you seen that Girl?

Some of the records include a stamp out of g. gottschling’s collection and a pack of ahoj-brause. Some kind of an off-shoot from the Merricks, with Günter Gottschling singing, quite charming, very 60s-pop.

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eis-6
Die Busfahrer – In Der Walpurgisnacht
7″, Eiswürfel Tonträger (1994), 550 copies.

titles:

· Beliebt

· Walpurgisnacht

· Roy Black (Popstars in der Arbeitswelt, teil 1)

· Ein mann ist keine maus.

Some of the record labels have pictures of the band members sticked on them.

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eis-7
Various – Die Schönste Platte der Welt
cd, 19 tracks, Eiswürfel Tonträger (1994), 1000 copies. Our only CD; a compilation with Eiswürfel-related bands covering each other; with Merricks, Friends Ahoj, Schade Schokolade, Die Busfahrer, Kitchen Cynics and many more

titles:

· Schade Schokolade – Sommerlied

· I, Ludicrous – Kick into his face

· Die Busfahrer – Liebe aus der dose

· Sirken Sikora – Die krawatte. konzert für den wellenbahnhof. satz iv (frech, geschwind!)

· Married Minds – Die ersten tage des frühlings

· Die Merricks – Johnny der held

· Schade Schokolade – Tomatensuppe

· Die Moosblüten – Allein zuhaus, so ist das leben

· Sirken Sikora – Partymädchen

· I, Ludicrous – Hats off to Eldorado

· Friends Ahoj – We Might be Giants

· Kitchen Cynics – feel the hope

· Der Profi – Mona Lisa in 3-d

· Married Minds – Mistakes

· Friends Ahoj – The man who sold Manhattan (for a dime)

· Der Profi – Cheer up

· Die Busfahrer – der getarnte macho

· Die Merricks – Brian, bitte bahai

· Kitchen Cynics – It’s your own fault if you’re feeling lonely

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eis-8
Die Busfahrer – in: absolut klassische meisterwerke?
cd-r, cassette, eiswürfel tonträger (forthcoming, 200?). Still Unreleased.

best-of-Busfahrer, featuring live and cellar versions of the classic single tracks as well as unreleased gems such as “Rasenmähn” or “Hagemann”. If their lawyers don’t do anything about it, it will also feature guest appearances of The Merricks, I,Ludicrous and Klaus Walter.

++ What was the biggest highlight?

The whole time being in the band was a highlight!

++ Why and when did you call it a day? You did reunite after for some gigs, right? How was that experience?

We did reunite for a one off in 1997 which was also the first gig of Rockformation Diskokugel. Very strange.

And then we played on a festival in our hometown in 2006 which was very nice.

++ What are Die Busfahrer members doing nowadays?

We all have proper jobs.

Hagemann is a business man, Tobias is a craftsman, Magnus is a music teacher and me, I’m a school teacher.

And then there is Kick, a punk rocker who replaced Hagemann on guitar in 1991. He’s still a punk rocker.

++ Now just out of curiosity, what’s the typical dish of your area? and your favourite beer? and…. what team would you like to win Bundesliga next year?

dish 1 – Handkäs mit Musik – hard to explain, vegetarian, cheese, very strong.

dish 2 – Rippche mit Kraut – pork with sauerkraut, very meaty, very strong.

beer – Augustiner hell

Bundesliga – I don’t have a special bundesliga team but I’m always happy it any other team but Bayern München manages to become champion.

++ Anything else you’d like to add?

Yes, I’d like to send you some photographs of the band members, as soon as i found them.!

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Listen 
Die Busfahrer – Roy Black