So where to start now?! My trip to Spain was great, I had such a good time, and I ate a lot, and drank a lot. No wonder I really need get back to exercise soon. Yeah, I think I’ve gained weight. What can one do?! That’s how holidays sometimes end up being!

While I was away I saw some nice reviews of the Salt Lake Alley 7″ on a few blogs, that was really lovely. I hope you all are liking this great record so far, I know it is only one song out of four you can listen so far, but you can tell how good it is! I remind you then that pre-orders are now available on our label website.

But what about Madrid Popfest? I guess that’s the question everyone asks me. What were the best gigs? What were the surprises? Who did I meet? I don’t even know where to start. Maybe by the basics. For example the venue chosen this time was dead on. The Galileo Galilei venue was big and comfy enough for everyone. Everyone had good vision of the stage. And there were different sort of levels, like the bar was higher than the dancefloor and so on. Also there were areas to sit down and relax and within view of the stage. So that was something that was a good thing. Another thing that surprised me throughout the whole festival was that all bathrooms were open for all genres. They were all shared. That was an interesting decision and I didn’t see any problems with it. I think it was a good way to show the politics of the organizers and I salute that. (The organizers have told me that this trend started last year as a recommendation by The Spook School, this idea  also matched the organizers’ politics)

The system for buying beers was quite odd though. You had to buy them “twice”, kind of. So you had to go to this old guy by the entrance door and pay 3.50 euros to get an orange ticket. Then with this ticket you had to go into the venue, to the bar, and exchanged this ticket for a beer or a soda. I don’t understand yet why you couldn’t just buy the beer straight from the bar. That was strange though if that was the reason why the beers were cheaper, then well, that is good. Also the bar had free popcorn and peanuts for those needing a quick snack. (The organizers confirmed me that this system of tickets was indeed for lower beer prices)

The organization was good. Most gigs started on time aside the Saturday afternoon ones at Matadero. Yes, Saturday afternoon was on a different venue and I must say I got lost trying to find it. This Matadero place is huge, enormous. Within this place there are many sort of barns or hangars where different cultural activities take place. The Popfest gig was at Nave de Terneras, but I couldn’t find any obvious signs to point me which one of the many buildings it was. So I had to look and look until I found it.

Merch stalls worked well too. There was a Madrid Popfest merch stall and then we could see several Spanish labels having their own spot. There was Annika, who were announcing a Clay Hips album soon, Meritorio Records and Kocliko Records. There was also a spot for the bands who were playing to sell their stuff. As you can imagine I did some shopping.

The bands? The DJs? Oh let’s leave that for another post! This is getting long already! Though to close this post, I have to say that it looked like the festival was a success and I hope there is Madrid Popfest 2019 next March (or whenever)!.

Now what have I found on the web these past days?

Espanto: I’m very sad I didn’t tell Grego Annika to reserve me a copy of the last Espanto EP. He had copies and I forgot about it until the last day of Popfest. By then all copies were sold out. Damn. And I need a copy!! Why? Just check this video for the song “Esqueletos” which is included in this last record of theirs called “Tres Canciones Nuevas”. Top top stuff by the Logroño based duo!

El Último Vecino: continuing with Spanish bands, one of my favourite of them all, have released a new video for the song “Un Secreto Mal Guardado” and no one should miss it. I was very unlucky in Spain looking for their last album, I couldn’t find a copy anywhere. I’m sad about that. But I’ll keep looking. This song is supposed to be part of their new collection of songs for 2018, whatever that means. If it means a new album, that is great. If not, I’m just happy to hear new music by them any day.

La Plata: I found out about this band as my friend Aitor directed the video “Me Voy”. I don’t know much about them, but Miguel Stamp was raving about them at Popfest. Do they have any records out? I don’t know. I didn’t see any at any Spanish record stores. It is a mystery, and would love to get their songs somehow to be played one after another at home. This Valencia band is formed by Carmona on drums, Salvador on guitars, María on bass, Patricia on synths and Diego on guitar and vocals. Sounds very promising!

Pop City Arizona: remember I interviewed this pre Mary Queen of Scots band some time ago? Now they have uploaded three more songs to their SoundCloud. This early 90s bedroom pop project has now shared “Mercy Seat” (a cover of Ultra Vivid Scene), “You’ve Got It All” and “Love is a Twelve Letter Word”. There is no information of the year these were recorded though.

The Wolfhounds: the classic C86 band announced on their Facebook that they will be releasing late spring/early summer all their Peel Sessions. Wow! That must have cost them a kidney or something! Nonetheless that is great news that these songs will be collected in CD and LP formats! The album will have a European release and perhaps a North American one as well. When there’s more news about it, I’ll let you know!

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Shrinking violet: an exaggeratedly shy person.

When did I hear Shrinking Violet’s “She Said” for the first time? I can’t recall exactly. I know it was many years ago and I have the feeling that it was through some Aussie pop compilations that were put together by John Carbonaro of the indiepop-list. What I can’t recall was if these compilations were shared to me by a member of the list or if they were put together for the whole list. Back in the day, if you remember, there was a cool thing about the mailing list, there were mix tape (or CDs) swap. I swapped mixes with many friends, some who I eventually met. It might be that some of these Australian indiepop compilations were made for these swaps and later shared to me. Either way, I was lucky to discover many bands, among them Shrinking Violets.

Their 7″, “Everything”, might have been one of the first records in my collection. I remember searching for these Australian bands that were unknown to me like The Stolen Picassos or The Palisades, and having no luck on eBay. I was lucky though with the Shrinking Violets, finding their 7″ for probably a good price. At the time I thought it was their only release, their was no Discogs. Today that I look for them once again I notice they actually had also released a mini-album. And I had no idea.

“Everything” was the A side on the 7″, while “She Said” was the B side. The latter was the song that introduced to me to them as I said. The 7″ was released in 1988 on Phantom Records (PH-31). This was the label that was established by Dare Jennings and Jules Normington in Sydney, back in 1980 and that had released The Hummingbirds or Even As We Speak among others! The two songs on the record were recorded at Disappearing Wilderness Studios on January 1988. This studio seems to be closely linked to Even As We Speak as many of their records were recorded here. But that is not the only close link with EAWS. Julian Knowles from EAWS was also part of Shrinking Violets, playing guitar, keyboards and vocals. On top of that, he produced, engineered and mixed the songs. The other band members were Barry “Fuzz” Hayes on bass and vocals, Andrew Clement on drums and vocals and Marcus Clement on vocals and guitar. Were Andrew and Marcus brothers perhaps?

Something curious too on this record is the runout groove on the B side, it says “Shrinking Violence. I had no clue Julian had been involved in this band. I met him only briefly when EAWS played in New York some years ago now. I mostly talked to Mary (whose The Singing Bush band is another EAWS side project I’ve covered on the blog). Maybe if I had known, I could have asked him a question or two about this band.

Now I’m checking their mini album, released as a 12″ on Phantom Records (PHMLP-5) under the title “Mask”. I don’t own this one and so far only heard two songs out of the six included. These songs were “Never Too Late”, “Small Talk” and “Colours of Ecstasy” on the A side and “Roman Hammer”, “Happy?” and “Mask” on the B side. Some of the songs were recorded at the Disappeareing Wilderness Studios and some others at Trackdown Digital Studios. They were mastered at EMI Studios 301. The 7″ was also mastered there, mind you. For this record we notice that a new engineer is credited for most of the tracks but one. A1 to B2 were engineered by Simon Leadley while B3 was engineered by Julian.

Also this record had some backing vocals credited to two girls, Carolyn Polley and Karen Banks. Polley had been part of the band Big Heavy Stuff and had also done  vocals for The Apartments. Banks on the other hand had done some vocals to a band called Crow. The record was individually hand numbered and the first 500 with coloured vinyl came with a poster. I should try to find a good copy of this record. I should travel someday to Australia on a record shopping spree!

There are two compilation appearances by the band. The first is on the 1988 compilation “Assorted Desecrations and Magnificent Mutations” released by Phantom (PHLP-4). On this compilation the contribute two songs, “Take Me Away” and “Love to Rule”. None of these appear on the records. Were these covers by the way? I see that “Love to Rule”‘ is credited to be written by Jeremy Oxley and “Take Me Away” to The Kelpies. My suspicion is true. “Love to Rule” is a Sunnyboys original and “Take Me Away” was a 7″ released by The Kelpies in 1982.

Their other compilation appearance is on the “Young Blood II” compilation that came out on LP, CD and cassette through the RooArt label. On this compilation they contributed just one song, “It’s Never Too Late”. This compilation was intended to be a showcase of the best up and coming bands from Australia.

Time to check out on which other bands the members are listed on Discogs. I see Andrew Clement played drums on Other Voices but not much more. Of course Julian had been involved with EAWS, Ohm and Social Interiors.

According to Wikipedia the band only lasted around 4 years, from 1987 to 1990. There is not much more information on their entry.

Then I find an interview with Julian on the website Cyclic Defrost that dates from 2008 where there are mentions to Shrinking Violets: The first releases with Shrinking Violets started off as demos. We recorded four songs at home on the eight-track. I mixed them and we made some cassettes and we sent them round to the independent record labels. Jules Normington [Phantom Records] contacted us and said, “I want to put it out’. I said, “It’s only a demo’, and he said, “No, no I want to put it out. What is on that tape, we’re going to put it out.’ They put out the demo recordings as a 7-inch record on coloured vinyl, which was very cool. Other bands heard the Shrinking Violets releases, and by the late 1980s were asking Julian to produce their records. This led Julian to working with indie pop band Even As We Speak. Initially, as producer, but in his words, It got so hands on that I just had to join the band.

On Julian’s website there is even a Shrinking Violets section. On there I see a clipping for the Haywire Charts were “Everything” is on the 3rd place, after The Someloves and The Go-Betweens for the Singles on the week of 17/9/1988.

MacQuarie University in Sydney also has a brief mention of the band. That is because this is were Julian Knowles seem to be at the moment, as a Professor in the Department of Media, Music, Communication and Cultural Studies.

Sadly I couldn’t find anything else by the band on the web. Nor for the other band members. Like they were only involved with Shrinking Violets and that was it? And what about more recordings? 8 songs and 2 covers seem to be too little for 4 years. I wonder if there were more demos or not. And why did they call it a day? Perhaps EAWS was taking most of Julian’s time in 1990? I need to find out. And in the meantime try to find a copy of “Mask” for myself!

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Listen
Shrinking Violets – She Said

Thanks so much to the 5 Marteen sisters and brothers: Babs Marteen, Lola Marteen, Malcolm Marteen, Hernandez Marteen, and Cholmondeley Marteen for the interview! Their brand new retrospective compilation came out on February 26th on Firestation Records. The first time I heard them was on the Sound of Leamington Spa, with the song “First Kiss”. It was fantastic, and since then I always wanted to hear to more songs by them. This will finally happen, and I’m very excited about that. If you have never heard about the Nottingham band before, or if you are like me, curious about them after hearing a few of their songs, here’s their story!

++ So let’s start from the beginning, like when did you know or what inspired you, to be in a band?

Hernandez: That moment when I saw Johnny Rotten singing Pretty Vacant on Top of the Pops on TV. Snarling, telling the truth.

Lola: Singing along to Blondie on the radio since 1978.

Malcolm: listening to our dad’s Jim Reeves albums – He’ll Have to Go is a cracking song. But what really inspired me to be in a band was the theme song to Fireball XL5, pure indiepop pathos in a perfect pop parcel. Here’s a great enhanced version of the song.

Babs: Always singing as a child with my hairbrush in my hand , loved the sounds of groups like The Supremes,The Ronettes, The Shangri-Las, ect . I used to daydream about being in a group.

Cholmondeley: when they showed all The Beatles films on the BBC: Christmas 1978. 

++ And what would be your first music memories? What was your first instrument and how did you get it?

Lola: A plastic recorder which I wasn’t allowed to play at home as my mum hated the sound. Then a beautiful left-handed Tanglewood acoustic guitar bought by an ex-boyfriend which I left in Australia as I couldn’t fit it in my baggage allowance.

Hernandez: Acoustic guitar. I worked as a newspaper delivery boy, and a cream (!?!) delivery boy to save up the money to get it.

Malcolm: a violin. I saved up my pocket money and asked relatives for money instead of Easter eggs. Then it was a choice between a new Action Man or a violin. Babs and Lola used to wet the bow without me knowing so it wouldn’t grip the strings – it sounded terrible.

Babs: A plastic recorder for me too, followed by an electric keyboard . It was massive like a church organ .

Cholmondeley: a kazoo. I had a kazoo band called The Brix. We had a great song called ‘’Dusseldorf Fart’.

Malcolm: what key was that in?

Cholmondeley: Dunno, but it was a real seam splitter

++ Had you all been involved with bands prior to The Marteens?

Lola: No. Although I did have a solo in a sixth form production of “Godspell”.

Malcolm: I played a five string electric guitar in a bedroom band called Citizens Band. It should have had six strings but the top E broke and I didn’t have enough money for a new set.

Babs: No never had the confidence.

Hernandez: A ghost-writer on our facebook page is suggesting that there are facial similarities between some members of Me and Dean Martin and The Marteens. We should have worn moustaches.

Cholmondeley: I’d been a terrible guitarist: so decided to become a terrible bass-player. Fewer strings!

++ When was the band formed? Who were the band members, what did each of you play and how did you all know each other?

Lola: Spring of 1991. I answered an advert for a female singer, left on a table or possibly in the toilets of Jacey’s Bar on Lower Parliament St. I didn’t know anyone else in the band could play! But I remember us all getting on. Much rehearsal fun. ‘Till they told us we had a gig. Then it was “Oh sh*t!”

Malcolm: I played guitar – I had six strings by this stage. I think it was Cholmondeley who left the note in the ladies toilets. We had no idea it would be one of our sisters who answered it. When Lola says she didn’t know anyone in the band could play, I’m sure she really means she didn’t want to know us, you know, big brothers are embarrassing and we used to show her up in front of her mates.

Babs: I was in The old Angel one night ,when one of my friends told me my brother Cholmondeley had just been kicked out by the bouncers . He was in the girls toilets again handing out his phone no . It turned out he wasn’t on the pull but trying to find a female singer for a band the boys were putting together. I was livid that they had not asked me so threatened to tell our parents about his toilet capers and the rest is history.

Cholmondeley: actually I was on the pull: the music was a sinister cover story. I’m not like that now.

Malcolm: so it was more than one female toilet block Cholmondeley was found loitering in.

Hernandez: I remember getting drunk enough to hand out leaflets, but can’t remember anything beyond that.   I do remember that I helped write the songs, and played occasional guitar.

Cholmondeley: I very much looked forward to Babs and Lola’s mates turning up for the auditions. It was very wholesome. I helped out with diaphragm exercises and stuff. We never recruited anyone else in the end, as we realised we’d have to pay ‘em.

++ What is the story behind the band’s name?

Malcolm: it’s the family surname.

++ What sort of music were you into at the time? What would you say were your influences?

Lola: Indie. Blondie. Humorous dance, e.g. Dee Lite.

Hernandez: The Paris Sisters, The Ronettes, The Shirelles, The Crystals, The Chiffons. These were the pure pop girls groups for me. They were absolutely the template for the songs we were aiming for, added to the indiepop feel. The Paris Sisters’ ‘I Love How You Love Me’ is almost unbearably beautiful. The Marteens’ version of it is on the forthcoming album release. I am so proud of it.

Malcolm: The Love Affair – great arrangements and melodies, The Beach Boys with their fantastic harmonies, Edison Lighthouse and Tony Burrows with their great tunes.

Babs: I was really into the indie scene at the time and The Wonder Stuff were top on my list , but I was a secret Madonna fan behind closed doors . ( would never have admitted to it at the time )

Malcolm: the Madonna thing explains that strange outfit you turned-up to one gig wearing, Babs.

Cholmondeley: ‘I only have eyes for you’ by The Flamingos. It’s from another planet!

Lola: That is truly beautiful, Cholmondeley.

++ How was Nottingham at that time? Were there any like minded bands that you liked?

Malcolm: The Legendary Dolphins, Hurt, Slaughterhouse Five, Hepburn, Idi Eisenstein, Dr Egg, Huge Big Massive, Po!, The Waiting List plus there was a very active thrash metal scene thanks to Ear Ache Records and bands such as Lawnmower Deth.

Cholmondeley: my cousin was in The Legendary Dolphins for two weeks but he got chucked out over a Hobnob incident.

Hernandez: That takes the biscuit.

++ And where would you usually hang out in Nottingham? Like what were the venues to check out bands or the good record stores?

Lola: I loved Nottingham’s social scene at that time. Playing pool at The Newcastle and Navigation. Sat nights at the Garage (indie club night) or upstairs at the Hearty Goodfellow and gigs at Rock City, where I also worked behind the bar.

Malcolm: Aldo’s coffee shop with the fantastic donuts, Jacey’s Bar, The Old Angel, Russell’s, The Hippo, The Garage, Eden and Rock City which is still the best live venue in the country and where Lola wouldn’t sell us drinks if she thought we’d already had too much.

Babs: Rock City and The Garage were my favourite hang outs, and I loved going into Selecter Disc rummaging through all that vinyl.

Malcolm: that was a great record shop. Do you remember Rob’s Record Mart? If you didn’t know the name of a song he’d ask you to sing it. He had everything. I bought an original copy of If Paradise is Half as Nice in there.

++ How was the creative process for the band?

Malcolm: on the earlier songs we wanted to contrast the lovely melodies with the harsh distorted guitars and driving bass – we tried to imagine what the Ronettes singing over the Buzzcocks as a backing band might sound like. On the later songs we tried to take this further by keeping the verses and choruses jangly and light and contrasting this with lots of noise in the instrumental sections.

++ The first song I heard by The Marteens was “A First Kiss” which appeared on the 4th volume of The Leamington Spa series. It is a fantastic song, I love it. You already told the story behind the song on the liner notes, but wondering how come it took so many years for the retrospective to come out?

Malcolm: First Kiss is a great song and it sits very comfortably on the Leamington Spa compilation. We all got jobs and went our own ways and the original tapes were lost. Then one day at a family reunion Babs turned up with a CD of all the songs. Apparently the tapes had been gathering dust in Cholmondeley’s previous flat from 20 years ago, and when he returned to ask if his banjo signed by Marlene Dietrich might be in the basement, he found it, plus the tapes. Babs copied them and kept them as a surprise for the three of us at the reunion.

++ I’ve heard a few other songs on Youtube. I think my favourite would be “Boys Talk“, it is such a great tune! What’s the story behind this song?

Hernandez: Babs and Lola spat that one out, when we three brothers were in the third hour of trying to work out which ice cream we prefer, and what colour of smarties is the best. I still don’t fully get what they are trying to say in the song.

Lola: It unabashedly glorifies a stereotype that I somewhat bought into in my youth. However it does raise a worthy topic for debate.

Hernandez: Again, I’m not really getting this.

++ You’ve uploaded some songs to Youtube like “I Hope It Rains in your Wedding Day” or “What’s a Girl To Do?”. Was wondering then how many more songs were recorded by the band? And will all of them appear on the Firestation retrospective?

Malcolm: The album is called ‘We’re the Marteens’. There are 15 songs on the album including different versions of a few of them plus a tremendous cover version of one of our favourite songs.

++ And how come none of these songs were released back in the day? Was there any interest by labels?

Malcolm: we never did get round to releasing anything although we always felt the songs were strong.

++ There weren’t any compilation appearances either, right?

Malcolm: Leamington Spa was the only one and then Boys Talk showed up on the internet.

++ Do tell me where were these songs recorded? And how was the recording process for the band?

Malcolm: All the songs were recorded in Nottingham. There were two main phases of recording. Some of the tracks were recorded at home on four-track and I’m surprised how much we squeezed onto those four tracks. The second phase was recorded at a small local rehearsal studio with an 8-track machine.

Cholmondeley: engineered by the great Dave Chang – who was named after his favourite guitar sound.

++ For you, what is your favourite Marteens song and why?

Lola: My Hopeless Friend. Classic teenage heartbroken angst. And May All Your Tears Beguile (‘cos I wrote the lyrics).

Hernandez: What’s A Girl To Do? ‘Sunset in a lonely sky, standing on a beach at night, I hear a voice say ‘oh, what a feeling’; Wind sweeping through my hair, walking like I don’t care, but, of course, I do’, and then Lola comes in with ‘La..la…la’. It gets me every time. Massive pop.

Malcolm: First Kiss, it’s got a good beat. I love the melody and the story plus it’s a little strange because it doesn’t really have a chorus.

Cholmondeley: love the ‘’Too much, too young”- esque guitar fills on that one. Sorry, talking with my mouth full of kiwi crumble….

Hernandez: Remember what mum used to say – ‘don’t mumble when you crumble’.

Babs: It has to be What’s A Girl To Do?. Only because I moved away from Nottingham to the seaside some years ago, and when life throws a turd at you I find myself singing that in my head when I’m walking my dog up the beach.

Cholmondeley: Cherry Trees – cos I’m sensitive as shit.

++ What about gigs? Did you play many? Any particular good ones that you remember and why?

Lola: I remember how nervous Babs and I were at our first gig upstairs at the Old Angel and every gig afterwards, come to think of it. Maybe our outfits didn’t help. Hot pants over black tights and a leotard.

Babs: OMG I remember those outfits lol. I think we may have even had our hair in bunches.

Malcolm: we played a great gig at The Navigation with Idi Eisenstein but their guitarist kept eyeing up my semi-acoustic so I had to keep an eye on him all night. I seem to recall we used to play a cover of The Bay City Rollers’ Bye Bye Baby – there were loads of key changes.

Cholmondeley: I don’t remember much about them. This was the early 90s if you get me. This treacle sponge is fantastic, but I fancy something a bit savoury now …

Hernandez: I think Cholmondeley has hit his sweet spot.

++ And where there any bad ones that you remember?

Malcolm: we thought it would be cool to play live with a drum machine instead of live drums once but we couldn’t hear the drum machine in the monitors. It turned out like some kind of a-rhythmic counter-culture fusion with the instruments half a bar ahead of the drums. The style didn’t catch on.

Lola: A stand out moment was when an audience member fell on the floor laughing during my spoken bit of “Boys Talk”. He said he thought I was trying to rap. He was an acquaintance of Cholmondeley’s who I was dating at the time. The relationship didn’t last much longer.

Malcolm: he was never right for you.

++ I saw some photos by the band and I notice you had a very colourful style! Was wondering about those shirts and dresses you wore. Was it your normal outfits or was it just for the band?

Lola: That dress was pretty much standard daywear for me back then. Vintage dresses from Backlash or charity shops. Black DM boots were my most expensive item.

Hernandez: That red paisley shirt I’m wearing is the one Me and Dean Martin sang about on ‘Me and My Paisley Shirt’.

Malcolm: I think I’m wearing a green polo shirt – that was racy enough for me

Babs: I was boring baggy jeans and black tops most of the time.

Cholmondeley: I was reviving the haircuts of Welsh rugby players circa 1973. Known as a short Bach and sides.

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

Cholmondeley: fab local fanzine ‘’Mutate” edited by Idi Blod was very supportive. We later featured in their top strip: ‘Ron Pemberton: Super Predator’

++ And then when and why did you split? What happened after? Did you all continue making music?

Lola: Sadly no. I travelled about a bit. Spent 3 years in Australia. Then a career change to nursing.

Babs: Can’t really remember what happened (it was along time ago).

Malcolm: it wasn’t really a split more a growing apart as careers and families became priorities. There was no big bust up over artistic differences or anything like that although I seem to recall that Hernandez still owes me a fiver.

Hernandez: We may have had a Banana Split, but actually I think I always preferred a Knickerbocker Glory special. It was never easy when mum and dad took us out to the ice cream parlour.

Cholmondeley: … thank heavens we stopped when we did… My gallbladder was the size of Manhattan by the end.

++ What about today? What do you do? Still making music or not? What other hobbies do you have?

Lola: I’m a part-time nurse and part-time post grad student, studying Person-Centred Experiential Psychotherapy. I like to sing in the shower and am trying to learn to play the banjo when I have time. I can make a good sound on my didgeridoo. I also knit scarves.

Hernandez: Banjo it up, Lola! I play acoustic guitar and sing in a music hall and folk band called Bendigo’s Bazaar. We’ve just started gigging and recording. Check out our youtube channel and facebook page!

Malcolm: I’ve got a banjo. Didgeridoo Lola?….please….didgeridon’t.

Babs: Hay i’ve got a banjo too, cant play it though. Still love singing in the shower, but keep me away from the Karaoke when I’m drunk!!!. I also take part in a village Panto once a year. We are known as The Old Farts. They are always really bad but very funny and all the money we raise goes to local charities.

Malcolm: three banjos and an acoustic guitar – I really hope Cholmondeley has a tuba, what a career we could have.

Hernandez: He’s got a tuba-smarties. I like the orange ones. But why do you want to know about our confectionery habits? Sometimes, I find interviews hard to follow.

Cholmondeley: I think it’s obvious what happened to my bloody banjo! This cherry pop’s nice.

Hernandez: Oh, somebody’s tightly strung.

++ Tell me a bit about Nottingham today, I’ve been there just for a couple of hours on the way to Indietracks many times but never had the chance to explore. If one was to go as a tourist, what would you say one shouldn’t miss seeing, and what would be a traditional Nottingham meal?

Lola: The old pubs like the Trip to Jerusalem, the Bell and the Malt Cross.

Hernandez: Lola’s tips are good. Also have a pint of beer in one of the little snugs in The Peacock, also a classic old school pub. The Alley Cafe for good, hearty veggie food. Edin’s for a cake and coffee. Go to a day’s cricket at Trent Bridge. Visit the mystically beautiful Sherwood Forest, especially around The Major Oak.

Malcolm: they’ve got two turntables in the Peacock and a nice open fire. Newstead Abbey is a must, as is a walk around Attenborough Nature Reserve where I’m told they have Sand Martins. Does Lola only ever hang out in pubs these days?

Cholmondeley: Sand Martins is my favourite beer actually.

Lola: I only ever hung around in pubs. But stayed within the government’s recommended weekly maximum alcohol limit (14 units).

Babs: Dont forget The Salutation and The Royle Children. Lola . LOL

Malcolm: why?..what happened in there then, anything we should know about?

Lola: Unfortunately I can’t remember.

Cholmondeley: Nottingham is officially the gaming capital of the UK; which is fat use to me, frankly.

++ One last question. Looking back, what would you say was the biggest highlight for The Marteens?

Lola: Meeting up with everyone again after 25 years over some fine food and drink. They hadn’t changed. And having our songs released in 2018. Stupendous!

Babs: I agree with Lola .

Malcolm: fantastic reunion and working together on the album.

Hernandez: The pure Knickerbocker Glory of it all.

Cholmondeley: something precious plucked out of the aether. We could have let it be, y’know ..?

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

Lola: If we gig again, we’d love fans old and new to join us. And if anyone does collapse to the floor, well I’m a nurse now, so I can help. Take care x

Hernandez: Respect to Lola for that brilliant arc! ‘M. A. R. T. Double E. N. S. What does that mean?… ‘

Malcolm: it’s just great to think that after 25 years there are still people out there, like those at Firestation, who want to keep the music alive and people running blogs and fanzines, like Cloudberry, who want to keep the memories alive through their writing.

Cholmondeley: pass the lime pickle please Malc …

Malcolm: you know I hate being called Malc.

Hernandez: Hey, Malc, why’s Cholmondeley having lime pickle with that Knickerbocker Glory? Sometimes, I find interviews hard to follow. Thank goodness, we have Babs and Lola to keep us right…. Oh, they’ve gone off into a huddle in the corner, and are muttering darkly. I think I heard them say something about ‘Boys Talk part 2’….

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Listen
The Marteens – First Kiss

Back now from Spain!! But to be honest I left this post ready before traveling. So won’t be able to tell my experiences here, that will have to wait until my next post. I just arrived last night, Sunday night, and I’m quite knackered. And I’m posting this Monday morning, right? So, no time to get my ideas and memories in order. But before I left to Spain I found some interesting sounds and news that might be a week old now but still worth mentioning!

Paris Popfest: the Paris, France, festival has announced its dates for their 2018 edition. The Paris Popfest 2018 will be happening during two days in September, the 21st and 22nd of that month. No other details have been announced but this is already great news! I’ll keep informing when the venue and the bands are announced.

Lucky Pigeons: I remember being a fan of this Swedish all-girl band back in 2006 or so. I believe I even exchanged some messages on Myspace, or maybe not. But I was never aware of a video for their classic song “Keep On Kingie” until Dennis from the Candy Twist fanzine/label posted it and I was quite surprised! Brought lots of memories and was singing along one more time since those golden days for indiepop!

Seven Tin Stars: the third release on the Mexican label Emma’s House is available once again. Already a classic when it comes to Mexican indiepop, Seven Tin Stars’ “Return to the White Tide” is a beautiful 4-song EP of dreamy indiepop including the songs “Return to the White Tide”, “Your Cigarette Was Glowing”, “Needless in Tour Shoes” and “Dissolve”. This new edition of the EP comes in a CD digipak and has brand new artwork. It is limited to 100 copies so run for your copy. The band is formed by Pablo García and Fernando de la Flor.

The King of Mirrors: the brilliant Swindon, UK, band will be releasing an album later this year. They have shared the first single for this forthcoming album. The new song is called “Fall into Place” and is really nice! The recording was made by Rich May on vocals, guitar and keyboard, Jase Bush on bass and Jamie Deighton on drums. The band is predicting the album to be finished by April, can’t wait!

Football, etc.: Just found out this Houston band formed by Lindsay Minton on guitar and vocals, Mercy Harper on bass and Daniel Hawkins on drums. They had released an album last May, and it was titled “Corner”. That’s what I’m checking out at the moment. There are 10 songs and it seems it got quite some support as it was released by Community Records in the US, Barely Regal in the UK and Stiff Slack in Japan. That is not common these days, to see releases by different labels in different regions. This is by no means their only release, it seems the band has been going since at least 2008 and there are many releases to stream on their Bandcamp. Direct guitar pop, no frills, some of my favourite songs on their last album are “Foul” and “Advantage”, where they sound the poppiest I think!

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An über obscure band and release today on the blog. I find out about this band on the From a Northern Place blog some years ago but only last week I managed to order a copy of Brown’s Gazette’s only known release, the “Jimmy Kept His Head” 7″.

As you might expect I know absolutely nothing about this band. I hope some of you know something about them, that maybe you can help me finding out even some basic details like who was behind the band. The few things that I do know, I will share with you on the blog as it has become the usual.

We know the band released this 7″ single in 1986 on their own label as a self-release probably as the catalog number is BG1, Fair to think that B means Brown’s and G, Gazette, right? This 7″ had two songs, on the A side was “Jimmy Kept His Head” and on the B side, my favourite, the bouncy “Blow Me Down”.

The art for the record is quite mysterious. It looks like ink drawings of a swan on the front and some tree trunks on the back side. There is no information on the sleeve. Just the BG1 on the upper right corner of the back cover. The labels have a print of a brick wall and in front a sign announcing Brown’s Gazette and the song on each side. There seems to be a signature on the drawings but I can’t figure it out, only the number 86. The year this record was released.

Discogs has an enigmatic note: “Apparently an off-shoot of the Crook Cassette label”. This, I thought, might be a good hint to keep on looking for information. I can’t seem to find much, but then on 45cat I see another comment that mentions that on “Sam Mauger’s website uk45.orgfree has this one listed as being a Crook Cassettes label release. There are no clues on the record or cover though. Anybody know the band who could confirm?”

That comment dates from 2016. I have my hopes up and try to find that website. I do and it looks so old. Like a pre-Geocities website if you can imagine that. Just plain HTML. And while I’m impressed by it, I search and I can’t seem to find the catalogue for Crook label. There are other catalogues listed it seems, but this one I can’t seem to find it. And when finally I find it and click the link for it to open. Guess what, it opens a porn page. Bummer. I guess the website was hacked not too long ago if that comment dated from a year and a half ago.

Now my best hint is useless. I do find that back in the days of George Washington subscribed to Brown’s Gazette among others. Who was this Brown? Or maybe it was a place? I also find that there was a famous horse in the UK that had that name but who died in a race in the 80s. Could this be the origin of the name?

I can’t find anything else. Not for the band nor the Crook Cassette label. Who were they? Where were they based? In which other bands were they involved? I’m hoping someone has some answers!

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Listen
Brown’s Gazette – Blow Me Down