28
Sep

:: Exact Setting

author: Roque       category: recommended

Was the band called Exact Setting? I am not sure.

I think it may have been called that. There are four recordings on Soundcloud and they are part of a demo dating from 1991. The title is “Exact Setting”. Take your guesses.

The songs on this demo tape were “This Feeling”, “Cutting Edge”, “Standing” and “Overwhelmed”. They were recorded at Richard Allan Studio on June 1st of 1991.

The account owner goes under the name “bowenjaybee”. The location of the account says Dundee, Scotland. There are tons of songs.

There is barely any information about these recordings though.

Most are demos dating from the decade of the 90s. There are different styles. My favourite by far are the Exact Setting ones.

I think there might have been a band called Radius between 1997 and 1998, though there are recordings too dating from 2017. Highwired seems like another band the owner of the account might have been involved in the nineties.

It is all a mystery here. But these tracks are worth checking out. Who would know anything else about these Dundee band?

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Listen
Exact Setting – This Feeling

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27
Sep

:: Lipstick Vogue

author: Roque       category: interviews

Thanks so much to all Lipsitck Vogue members for this wonderful interview! Great to get the point of view of all four! I had written about Lipstick Vogue, an Irish band that only got to release two songs on a Danceline compilation, but who did record many more songs. The good news were that it didn’t take long for Cathal to contact me on Facebook and we agreed on the interview. Then he got aboard his mates, and here it is, a superb interview with lots of details. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

++ Hi Mark, Cathal, Denis! Thanks so much for being up for this interview! How are you? Are you still involved with music?

Mark: Through my job in advertising I still occasionally work with composers and musicians. My Son is now doing drum lesson. So, I’m finally learning how it should be done.

Denis: Not as a player. I still buy records and go to gigs. And I suppose I have a kind of professional interest, as an academic researching early and silent cinema, in what music was played in those venues.

Tony: Not directly, but as I work for a high-profile book publisher, I have met various musicians and bands who have written books. All that must stay confidential.

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

Mark: I loved watching the Beatles movies as a kid. Then The Rolling Stones and the Boomtown Rats were the bands that I really got into. REM came along and that was like discovering the music I actually wanted to make. Through the Stones I discovered Muddy Waters. I got his Hard Again album and got a harmonica to play along to Mannish Boy. 

Cathal: First music memories are probably Irish folk music – The Dubliners particularly which I would have heard as a kid. My parents liked music well enough but didn’t have music collections per se.  I remember Abba becoming huge in the mid 70’s. First band I really got into was the Boomtown Rats – coming at the tail end of punk but being from Dublin which was important. I remember having a huge Tonic for theTroops badge that I wore everywhere!  I bought a Yamaha accoustic guitar around 1984 and struggled with it. Eventually when I joined the band Tony showed me a few chords so I could play rhythm in some songs to free him up a bit for frills and solos and to flesh out the sound a wee bit.  To my embarrassment I’ve never really expanded beyond a very basic level of competency (if you could call it that!!).

Denis: My first instrument was probably a tin whistle – a kind of small flute used in Irish traditional music – for school music lessons, but that was more a torture instrument for all concerned, and not an experience likely to engender love of music. I had no other formal musical training.

At home, my mother didn’t have much interest in music, but my father enjoyed classical music and light opera that he mostly listened to on the radio rather than buying records. I slowly requisitioned an old cabinet radio-record player combo, and although I didn’t have much money, I began to buy singles. Bob Marley was an early favourite. Music programmes on TV and radio were also major sources of new sounds. We got UK TV stations in Ireland, so Top of the Pops and The Old Grey Whistle Test on the BBC and the more anarchic The Tube on Channel 4 were staples at various stages.

Tony: First musical memories – Has to be Opera!! My uncle supplied and fitted sound systems to the major supermarkets in Ireland from the 60’s onwards and had serious audio kit at his home. His gig was Opera and on many a Sunday as a child my family and I would visit for dinner, what followed afterwards was a complete loud fest! My internal organs felt like they moved position as the floor vibrated to Verdi!

My first instrument was a Guitar – An acoustic Suzuki, which I confiscated (without a fight) from my eldest brother and which I still have to this day.

How did I learn to play – I fiddled around on it for years before actually learning a single chord, I might have accidentally created a new genre of music by the age of eight.

Music at home – I was the youngest of 5 kids, I had no choice! My one goal in life was to rid this world of Chris De Burgh, Leo Sayer and The Stylistics!!!
I was a blank canvas in my early teens when I fell into the arms of Mark, Cathal, Denis and our other good friends, they deserve all the credit for my musical education.

++ Had you been in other bands before Lipstick Vogue? What about the other band members? Are there any songs recorded?

Mark: No and No. 

Cathal: None of us had been in other bands before really – been to plenty of gigs etc but not really played.

Denis: This was the first band for us all. Mark, Tony and myself did a few gigs as a three piece before Cathal joined out front, with Mark doing the main vocals from behind the kit.

Tony: Never!! That would have been treason.

++ Where were you from originally?

Mark: Dublin

Cathal: We’re all northside Dubliners and knew each other from school in Glasnevin.  Myself and Denis left school in 84 and Mark and Tony in 85.

Denis: Dublin; always Dublin. But I did migrate to the less soulful Southside suburbs after school. I’m back on the Northside of the city now.

Tony: Ballymun, North Dublin – probably best illustrated musically in Running to Stand Still by U2 – I see seven towers, but I only see one way out, add in a diet of Chris De Burgh, Leo Sayer and The Stylistics and the deck is stacked against you. Once again, I credit my band mates and other friends of The Vogues for that one way out.

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

Mark: Economically still quite depressed. A lot of emigration. But the music scene was vibrant. Lots of bands playing live. 

Yea, Something Happens, A House (we supported them a couple of times) A little earlier The Blades. They were the Irish bands we admired. Others were Light a Big Fire, Stars of Heaven.

Were there any good record stores? Freebird records was the go-to indie store. Sounds Around was a another good one. Music World was the closest to home. It wasn’t great but it was local.

The Baggot Inn was the venue that up and coming bands aspired to play. We headlined there and played support to other bands including Auto de Fe, who were produced by Thin Lizzy’s Philip Lynott. David Bowie did a surprise gig with Tim Machine.

Cathal: That period in Dublin was the aftermath of U2 becoming huge so there was a lot of interest from record companies in the next U2.  In addition it was the middle of a huge recession so a lot of unemployment and young people with nothing to do so that combination meant there were a lot of bands playing in Dublin at the time. I liked lot of bands from that period and a lot of them are still playing in one form or other.  Loved Something Happens – very jangly kind of stuff, did cover versions of REM and Jason and the Scorchers alongside Borderline by Madonna. Also the Stars of Heaven who were more Television meets Gram Parsons and had a bit of Indie success in the UK with John Peel sessions etc.  A House were the other big band at that time and were more kind of arty/clever.  Their singer was in college with Mark so we got a support slot with them at some stage.  Light A Big Fire were also kinda big at that time and looked like they might break big but it never happened for them.

The venues really were Underground – a tiny basement bar which ran gigs 7 nights a week and hosted all three bands listed above. I spent a lot of Friday and Saturday nights in there in 1984 and 1985 and a live Mini LP was recorded there around then.  If you outgrew the Underground you moved on to the Baggott Inn which was a more standard music venue and was kinda t-shaped. When Something Happens got a record contract they moved to a Friday night residency there for a while. Another fave of mine – the Blades – also gigged there regularly.  U2 had played there in the late 70’s and it also hosted visiting bands – I saw Wilko Johnson there and Roger McGuinn played there too.  In later years it hosted David Bowie in his Tin Machine incarnation.

As far as record shops go – there was an Irish owned chain which is still operating called Golden Discs which was fairly mainstream but you could find the odd gem in.  I loved Sounds Around on O’Connell St which had more variety and Freebird Records which was on Grafton St at the time.  Freebird is still on the not far from the original shop and I still shop there fairly regularly.  Sadly Sounds Around is long gone.

Denis: Dublin was pretty economically depressed and looked it. A lot if people were on the dole or emigrated after school. Music was a way out of that, in both being something creative to be involved in – connecting with friends and things you were listening to – and Irish bands were seeing some success. We went to a lot of gigs, bigger ones by international acts and often smaller, pub-based ones for local bands. I got a job in the post office straight from school – college came later – which meant I had money for the first time in any useful amounts. A lot of that went on music: records and gigs. I felt I had to make up for lost time, build a collection. Freebird on Eden Quay was the record shop with the best stock of what I was interested in, but I visited them all, looking for something unusual, bargains, whatever.

Lots of pubs had a back room/function room that could be hired for an occasional gig, but there were venues that specialized in gigs and had back line and a sound engineer. The main places where we went to see local bands were places we played in later ourselves: the Ivy Rooms, the Underground and the Baggot Inn. The more successful bands played clubs like McGonagle’s, the TV Club or even the SFX.

Tony: Both Mark and Cathal have pretty much nailed this one in their replies, it was grim, but it was also fun, there was a unique character to Dublin and characters in Dublin back then.

++ Were there any other good bands in your area?

Cathal: I didn’t really know any other bands in the area (Cabra/Glasnevin/Ballymun) but there were a lot of bands in Finglas which was close by including Aslan whose singer Christy Dignam passed away recently.  A few work friends were in bands too – Pat Dalton in the Anthill Mob and Joe McDonnell in Giant.

Denis: The area of the city I grew up in – Glasnevin – is famous as the site of the city’s largest cemetery. Growing up, there wasn’t much for the living, and no local bands I was aware of. You had to go into the city for that.

Tony: We all hung out together and went to the same gigs, once again I refer to my learned colleagues.

++ How was the band put together? How was the recruiting process? You were brothers? related?

Mark: We were all in school together. 

Cathal: As I mentioned we were all school friends really. Mark and Tony started the band and rehearsed in Mark’s bedroom as a singer and guitar player. Mark had a drumkit too and sometimes would play in the kitchen. Not sure when Denis joined on bass but I remember seeing them as a 3 piece in the Ivy Rooms with Tony out front and Mark also singing from behind the kit.  They did a cover of Bob Dylan’s Isis which Tony sang.  At some stage after that they asked me if I would be interested in being the singer – based on my dress sense more than any singing ability I think.

Denis: We went to school together and had common interests in music. When I heard that Tony and Mark were starting a band and looking for a bass player, I bought a bass. Then I began to teach myself how to play it.

Tony: The embryo of the band emerged after a conversation in the Addison Lodge Pub, Glasnevin between Mark and I, if memory serves me right.  We roped in Denis and Cathal very soon after. All of us were in school together.

++ Was there any lineup changes?

Mark: No, there were only ever four Vogues. Much like the Beatles. 

Cathal: The band probably lasted 4 or 5 years max but was always the same lineup.

Denis: No, not really. We were pretty consistent.

Tony: No, just us four. We were loyal and never considered changes to the dynamic.

++ What instruments did each of you play in the band?

Mark: Cathal Peppard – Vocals and occasional guitar. Tony Purdue Guitar, Denis Condon bass, Mark Nutley Drums/Vocals.

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

Mark: We’d jam ideas for songs, usually starting with some riff or chord sequence that Tony came up with on guitar, or a bass line from Denis. Cathal and myself would contribute lyrics. We’d put it together and see what happens. We rehearsed mostly in a place called Alan Furlong Studios in Dublin. A kip.

Cathal: At first we practiced in a friend’s garage and then rented rehearsal rooms in Alan Furlong’s studios which was pretty run down but we rehearsed there twice a week for a good while and that was where we would have written most of the songs that are on that Soundcloud page.  Often the songs would  start off with a guitar riff from Tony but Mark and myself usually had bits of lyrics on the go too. As thing progressed it was something from everyone really though.

Denis: Somebody would have an idea that we all worked on at rehearsals, developing the various parts and arrangements. In the early days, we rehearsed in our parents’ houses, which was not popular with family or neighbours. Better for a while was a friend’s large house which had a part where a crèche operated during the week but was largely free on weekends. Later, we would meet at one or other, most dingy, rehearsal studio.

Tony: We’d jam mostly and work on various ideas we had, time was always against us as we had 3 hours here, 5 hours there. Looking back, I would have loved to get us in an isolated barn for three weeks on the west coast of Ireland with a good power supply, good PA and see what would have happened.

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

Mark: Took it from an Elvis Costello Song. I liked the sound of it. Maybe I thought it was a bit New York Dolls or something. Kinda punky, but sort of smart. Anyway, we went with it. 

Cathal:Taken from Elvis Costello song – much loved by us all. If I remember rightly it was decided at a band meeting in Mark’s kitchen but now I’m wondering were the 3 piece version called something different….

Denis: Unhappy with a previous moniker and needing a change for an upcoming gig, we were listening to some Elvis Costello and the Attractions in Mark’s house when “Lipstick Vogue” came on. The rest is rock-and-roll history.

Tony: We just loved that Elvis Costello song, it pretty much had everything to aspire to musically so the name just stuck.

++ There’s very little information about the band but one thing that seems to be clear is that the only songs that got released were the tracks “Riversend” and “When Will You” that appeared on the “Swimming Out of the Pool” compilation. Is that right? No other songs were released?

Mark: No, that’s it.

Cathal: No – they were the only songs foisted upon the unwitting public!

Denis: I think that’s right.

Tony: That was it, unfortunately.

++ Why didn’t you get the chance to release more songs? Or your own record? Was there interest from any labels at any point?

Mark: We got face to face meetings in EMI, MCA and Chrysalis where A& R guy Bruce Craigie was the most encouraging. However, the deal never happened.

Cathal: At the time self released singles were really expensive to doso we didn’t go down that road.  We had looked at the possibility of giving a song to a Comet Records compilation too (another really good record shop I forgot to mention above!!) but it never worked out.

Denis: Lack of money, I think. We had enough to write songs, rehearse them and hire a studio so we could get to the demo stage, but we found it hard to get beyond it. Serious label interest I don’t remember.

Tony: We would have loved to; Mark and Cathal did great work in London but the interest shown never developed beyond that,

++ Back to the compilation released by Danceline Records. How did you end up on it? Did they approach you? Did you send them demos?

Mark: I think we sent in a demo and got picked. 

Cathal:I worked (and still do) in the Civil Service and a lot of civil servants were in bands and/or caught up in the music scene.  Pete and Eddie who ran a club night in a Civil Service club in town and also the Danceline label had given a write up for one of the demos in the Public Sector Times (very rock ‘n’ roll I know!!) so knew the songs and were looking for bands for a new compilation.  Think Eddie also did the local band column in the Hot Press (Ireland’s version of the NME) and had reviewed an early demo so knew us a bit through that.  Myself and Mark went to London with copies of the demo and visited some of the record companies there. No hard interest but if I remember Chrysalis had talked about maybe funding further demos but nothing came of it so that may be me recollecting things in a more positive light than was the reality!

Denis: I think they contacted us – may be wrong. Possibly on the back of the Hot Press Battle of the Bands?

Tony: I think Cathal detailed that perfectly.

++ This compilation features many great Irish bands. Wondering if you were fans of any of them, or even friends? Or perhaps you shared with some of them some gigs?

Mark: From memory I don’t think we really knew the other bands. 

Cathal:I remember the Outpatients well enough – they were kinda quirky. Think the Storm were more straight ahead rock.  Don’t think we ever shared gigs with any of them after. We supported Giant who also had a single released on Danceline once or maybe twice – I also knew their bass player Joe who was another Civil Servant!

Denis: Looking at it now, the only band I can remember is the Outpatients, but I don’t think that’s because we were in a mutual appreciation society. I seem to remember a Danceline gig; did that actually happen?

Tony: I didn’t know any of the other bands personally but would have seen posters for forthcoming gigs about the town, that was it.

++ Another tiny thing that caught my attention is the spelling of the song “River’s End”. On the Soundcloud appears as two words, on the compilation as “Riversend”. Mistake?

Mark: I think two words was how we intended it.  

Cathal: A mate posted the songs on Soundcloud a few years back and that’s his typing! The title is Riversend – in retrospect I like the James Joyce kinda vibe with the two words running into each other. I was mad about a record by Nikki Sudden/Jacobites called Robsepierre’s Velvet Basement at the time and that had a song on it called Where the Rivers End so that also fed into it I’d say.

Denis: It was the days before the spell checker. Likely an editorial decision by Eddie or Pete at Danceline, dislike of apostrophes or the like.

Tony: I have to admit that I always wrote it on playlists as one word, so not a mistake.

++ From what I understand you recorded a demo tape in 1988 at Windmill Lane. Do you remember if this demo had a name? And what songs were included in it?

Mark: We recorded the two tracks that ended up on the ‘Swimming” compilation in the Windmill session. We just did those two tracks. 

Cathal: Don’t think it had a name per se.We recorded in Windmill 2 which was on Stephens Green – rather than the main studio which was where U2 recorded. The main claim to fame for Windmill 2 was that Def Leppard had recorded Hysteria there.  The demo was the 2 songs from Swimming Out of the Pool – Riversend and When Will You?

Denis: I don’t have a copy of that, but I don’t think any of the demos had a name. Likely a name seemed like an extravagant waste of cassette-label space that was needed for our contact details for radio producers and A&R people. When I do play any of the old songs, it is from a CD compilation called One for the Money that Mark put together, with some entertaining liner notes. That has nine songs: “When Will You Be Home?”, “River’s End”, “You Think Too Much”, “Raintown”, “Walk Alone”, “Dreaming”, “Tidal Wave Woman”, “Anywhere But Here” and “Malthouse.” Those are the ones that are on Soundcloud.

Tony: It didn’t have a name, happy to refer to it as the Windmill Session. Both Riversend and When Will You recorded that day and featured on Swimming Out of the Pool.

++ And how was Windmill Lane Studios? How was your experience there? Did you work with a producer?

Mark: The recording took place in Windmill Two which was just off St Stephen’s Green. John Grimes was the engineer, he was very helpful. We had no producer. We got a good deal on the studio from the then manager of the studios, Irene Keogh. She was later married to the Waterboy’s Mike Scott for a while. It was a great experience. Kate Bush had been in the week before. It felt like the big time.  

Cathal: It was enjoyable – we worked the night shift Saturday night into Sunday if I remember right.  A good friend of the band,Don KcKevitt was there with us and knew studios a bit. He was a bit older than us and had been in bands in Dublin in the late 70’s. My main memory is the engineer getting us to put the feedback in Riversend and the backing vocals on When Will You.

Denis: That was a great experience in lots of ways. It felt like a step up in terms of our own ambition and the quality of the material we produced. This was down to our own preparations but also to the engineers; we didn’t have a producer. It was, like all of this, self-financed, so we only had a limited time. But it really felt that we worked those songs.

Tony: It was Windmill Lane 2 just off Stephen’s Green, a small studio but with a strong pedigree. We had no producer just a very good engineer. I remember being very well rehearsed prior to going into that session, you had to do that to maximise the time you had, it wasn’t limitless. We never had the luxury of sitting back for a long mixing session, it would have been nice to do that.

++ Were there any other demo tapes the band put out? If so, can you share a demo-graphy?

Mark: When will you be Home?, River’s End: Recorded 27th February 1988, Windmill Lane Two, Dublin, Engineer – John Grimes assisted by Richard O’Donovan.

You think too much: Recorded Origin Studios, Dublin. February 1987. Engineered by Quill.

Raintown: Recorded at The Lab, Dublin. 18th of March 1987, Engineered by Louise McCormack,

Walk Alone, Dreaming, Tidal Wave Woman, Anywhere But Here, Malthouse: Recorded 21st December 1988, Origin Studios, Dublin. 21st December 1988, Engineered by Terry Merrick

Cathal: Think all the stuff on Soundcloud covers most of the demos apart from some very early stuff.  We recorded a bit in a studio called Origin in Santry – which was essentially a converted garage and had an engineer enigmatically named Quill! You Think Too Much was recorded there and later on Walk Alone, Malthouse, Anywhere But Here, Dreaming and Tidal Wave Woman.  We recorded Raintown in Litton Lane Studios after the manager there saw us playing support to someone in the Baggott Inn (think the idea was the engineer and band both got some experience out of it).  The band sound great but my vocals less so which I think was hangover related!

Denis: My rarest recording is our first demo, recorded in Origen studios, 8 November 1986. This I have as a cassette, with a hand-drawn cover by Harry Purdue. Those songs didn’t make it onto One for the Money, probably because of the quality of the recording. I know from Mark’s One for the Money liner notes that there were two other Origen sessions in February 1987 and December 1988, and that between these, we recorded at the Lab in March 1987 and Windmill Lane in February 1988. The Danceline compilation was also 1988, so those three years were the productive ones.

Tony: Mark listed them all, although I do have a secret DAT recording session we did when I was training to be a sound engineer. I have no idea as to what’s on it or how good or bad it is. I must investigate a DAT transfer one of these days as I still have the tape.

++ Generally, what would you use your demo tapes for? To send them to the press? Sell them at gigs? Try to get the attention of labels?

Mark: To get gigs, press and ultimately to get a deal. Plus, we felt, we’ve written these songs, let’s record them. 

Cathal: Generally we sent the demos to Hot Press, Dave Fanning (the Irish John Peel) and touted them to record companies.  Think they got us the Hot Press competition gigs too.

Denis: More as a means to an end: record company attention and radio play, where we would have the opportunity to make the recordings better. We never sold them, unless I’m forgetting something.

Tony: All the above except for selling at gigs, our business acumen and economically viable production facilities hadn’t developed to that level at the time.

++ Are there more songs recorded by the band? Other songs that are not on Soundcloud?

Mark: I think that’s the lot. 

Cathal: Just some very early songs and possibly another later one called Good To Have You Back we recorded in Sun Studios (Dublin not Memphis sadly!) when Tony was training as a sound engineer later on.

Denis: The songs from the first demo are not there, as already mentioned. And no doubt there were a few others whose names escape me.

Tony: None but the secret session I engineered, I’m now in fear of listening to it!!!!!

++ My favourite song of yours is “River’s End”, wondering if you could tell me what inspired this song? What’s the story behind it?

Mark: That’s one for Cathal to answer. 

Tony: Cathal Peppard – our great wordsmith can answer that one.

Cathal: Listening back to it now as I write this.  Pretty sure the lyric is mostly me.  Think it was the standard dark come on to a girl type of song but living in Dublin there has to be lot of bad weather references!! Don’t think it worked as a come on either!  In general though I tend to agree with Ian McCulloch that it’s more about what words sound good with the melody.  The music is great on there too – especially like the staccato drum thing at end of the chorus.

++ If you were to choose your favorite Lipstick Vogue song, which one would that be and why?

Mark: Maybe, Walk Alone. I still think it could be a hit! 

Cathal:I think it’s a toss up between Anywhere But Here and Walk Alone.  Anywhere… has that kind of Stars of Heaven sound and some lovely guitars. If I remember Mark wrote most of the lyrics with a bit of input from me when we were in London touting the demo around. The kindred spirit mentioned in the song is Don McKevitt who we were staying with and who had a band called the Kindred Spirits.  Loved to play Walk Alone live – it was good and noisy and we often opened gigs with it!

Denis: “Walk Alone”, when it worked, was the one in which I felt we were most together.

Tony: I have one we never recorded as it had a life of its own, it was called Vague Traces and existed with no exacting structure. I again refer back to time limitations, given a wild expanse it could’ve flown into something extraordinary.

I also have another which we never really nailed, Raintown! A bit more time, a key change and who knows. It possible had the strongest structure but we didn’t have time to add the beautiful finish.

++ What about gigs? Did you play many?

Mark: Yea, a good few. Do wish now, in retrospect, that maybe we should have gone over to London to play, just to experience it.  

Cathal: A good few – We did few support slots in the Underground and at least one headline gig there. Also did a good few support slots the Baggott Inn and one memorable headline gig on 4th July which saw us come on stage to Jimi Hendrix’s version of the Star Spangled Banner.  I remember it as one of our better gigs.

Denis: We played quite a few, but we never had a regular slot, so looking back, it was a hard graft to hire a venue, advertise it, get the gear in before actually playing. And then get the gear out and starting arranging the next one.

Tony: We played a fare few, some good some bad. I think Mark and Cathal have detailed these extensively.

++ You mentioned that there were Hot Press band competitions gigs in Cork. How did you fare in them?

Mark: We played it once in 1988. We were robbed!

Cathal: We played two years in a row 88 and 89 I think. It was exciting to go on the road as we hadn’t played outside Dublin.  We didn’t win on either occasion but we put in a good performance in 89 as I recall. We were playing a fairly demented version of Alex Chilton’s No Sex in the set at that stage and I remember having a drunken in depth conversation with an audience member about that.  The audience was bigger than any other gigs I remember.  As I recall we also had an altercation with one of the other bands – can’t remember what it was about but most likely about the backstage beers!

Denis: We should have won; we were robbed. Particularly the second one.

Tony: It was a great experience to play in Sir Henry’s in Cork City, I’m still unsure how we ever managed to ship us and all our gear down there in a Renault 12, it was a minor miracle and as Mark says, “We were Robbed”.

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

Mark: We did a gig on the 4th of July in the Baggot Inn, I remember that as being amazing. And that’s the way I will always remember it. 

Cathal: The 4th July gig in the Baggott was a good one – we had decent songs and were a fairly tight unit by then.  We played a version of Patti Smith’s Dancing Barefoot in most of the sets with a medley of other tunes including Gimmer Shelter in it and I especially loved that.  We also played a reunion gig in 2003 (I think) in the Sugar Club (the other side of Stephen’s Green from Windmill 2!) and that was a good night – mix of the tunes from the Soundcloud page and covers – Driver 8 (REM), Wide Open Road (Triffids), State Trooper (Bruce) and Creep (Radiohead).

Denis: I don’t think it was our best musical moment, but we somehow got into a Battle of the Bands in one of the distant southern suburbs of Dublin. I think it was a church hall, and there was an attempt by the people running the event to limit alcohol consumption. Having none of this, we proceeded to get pissed on beer we had brought in with our gear, played out set and expected to get thrown out. Instead, we won the competition. We felt we’d raised some hell.

Tony: 4th July, Baggot Inn. Everything clicked. I remember irritating numerous Trinity college students as I stuck up posters in the archway of the College in the days leading up to the gig, they weren’t too pleased with the American flag design and staged a political protest there and then.

++ And were there any bad ones?

Mark: Yea. But let’s move on. 

Cathal: Oh yeah!  Remember playing to a handful of people upstairs in the Earl Grattan – the gig wasn’t bad per se but the attendance was a bit demoralising!  Still it’s the kinda thing that happens to all bands I suppose.

Denis: Quite a few, no doubt, but not worth remembering.

Tony: All memories have been erased, bad make you get better.

++ When and why did Lipstick Vogue stop making music? Were any of you involved with other bands afterwards?

Mark: No, I think we all left it behind after that, really. I think we finished because we had other things that we wanted to do. Further education, jobs etc. 

Cathal: Around the end of 89 – was just a feeling that things had run their course.  I don’t recall anyone being in bands afterwards.  Tony did a course as a sound engineer but don’t remember anything beyond that really.

Denis: It began to feel like another job added to the day jobs we all had. The breakup was amicable, but it crystalized my decision to leave the post office and start filmmaking and eventually university. For me, some rehearsals with Niall Austin was about the only musical thing I was involved in afterwards.

Tony: No bands, I had a short-lived dalliance with sound engineering which didn’t come to anything.

++ Was there any interest from the radio? TV?

Mark: We got played on the legendary Dave Fanning Show on 2FM. That was the one show all the bands listened to and wanted to be on. 

Cathal: Think the Swimming Out of the Pool tracks got an airing on Dave Fanning’s radio show – he played alternative stuff and demos etc from Irish bands.  They also did sessions for bands but we didn’t do one of those.

Denis: Not really.

Tony: We got radio plays but no TV,

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

Mark: Couple of reviews in Hot Press magazine. 

Cathal: Some reviews in the Hot Press for gigs/Swimming Out of the Pool/demos.  Maybe a notice in In Dublin too – a listings magazine at that time.

Denis: We got some coverage in Hot Press but felt we should have got more as we drank with them in the International Bar.

Tony: The legendary Bill Graham reviewed us in The Irish Press after seeing one of our gigs and compared us to Television!! That was either a highlight or a dream! I’m sure it happened.

++ What about fanzines?

Mark: No. I don’t remember fanzines being a big thing in Dublin. But maybe I just wasn’t interested. I only read the NME.

Cathal: Can’t say as I recall fanzines in Dublin at that time – would have been a small scene for them during punk I think but not much after that.

Denis: I wasn’t really aware of a big fanzine scene at the time.

Tony: I’m afraid not, we might have been to early for that bus.

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

Mark: Probably that 4th of July gig. And getting a couple of tunes out on vinyl. And just having three great mates and a small band of followers who were all great people to be around.

Cathal: Getting songs released, those 2 gigs I mentioned above and so many after gig nights drinking and talking nonsense with guys who are still good mates to this day.

Denis: Recording-wise, probably the Windmill Lane session. Gig-wise, the 4th July Baggot Inn or the second Hot Press gig in Sir Henry’s.

Tony: Getting those two tracks on vinyl, that was special. Not discounting all the good memories.

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

Mark: I think we were all interested in cinema and other areas of the arts. 

Cathal: While I don’t play I still collect music and listen to a lot so that takes up a fair bit of my spare time.

Denis: Going to the cinema, swimming in the North Atlantic.

Tony:Travel, reading, gardening, walking, cinema and arts in general.

++ I’ve been to Dublin once and really had a good time there. But still I’d love to ask a local. What do you  suggest checking out in your town, like what are the sights one shouldn’t miss? Or the traditional food or drinks that you love that I should try?

Mark: I think the best thing about Dublin is to enjoy it without much of a plan. See where it takes you. Have a Guinness. Have fish and chips from Burdocks in Christchurch. I’m afraid the live music scene is nothing like it used to be. But do go to a trad music session.

Cathal: Lots of good pubs – away from the tourist trail of Temple Bar etc.  The Long Hall, the International Bar, Grogans, Idlewild – all around the Georges St/Grafton St area. Just wander around and that area and see what you fancy.  If you’re venturing outside the city centre do the Glasnevin Cemetery tour and have a pint in the Gravediggers! As far as music goes there are still plenty of venues – the Workmans, Whelans and the Grand Social have a mix of local and visiting bands. Have a look to see what’s on in the Olympia – lovely Victorian theatre which recently hosted Wilco (Mark was there) and the likes of Paul Weller, Jason Isbell.

Denis: The Dublin pub remains an important institution. Have a sneaky pint in the middle of the day. The city has become much more ethnically diverse since the 1990s and has many good restaurants that reflect this; areas like Parnell Street or Stoneybatter are worth visiting for this reason.

Tony: After all the Guinness and fish dinners that have been suggested take a long walk down Dollymount strand and clear your head.

++ Anything else you’d like to add?

Mark: Thanks for showing an interest! Keep up the good work!

Cathal: Not really- was a nice trip down memory lane alright.  Always nice to hear someone enjoy the songs.  Thanks for the mention and look forward to reading more on the Cloudberry blog.

Denis: Thanks for asking and invoking the memories.

Tony: I think that it. Thanks for showing interest and liking the music we but out.

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Listen
Lipstick Vogue – River’s End

0
26
Sep

:: Flower Gang

author: Roque       category: interviews

Thanks so much to Donald Larson for the interview! I had written about the superb New England band Flower Gang in the blog some time ago, and I was surprised when Don got in touch. Flower Gang was part of that scene that included legendary bands like Small Factory or Honeybunch and released two records that I highly suggest tracking down if you haven’t already.

Now join me in discovering more details about them!

++ Hi Don! Thanks so much for being up for this interview! How are you? Are you still involved with music?

Hello! The last gig I played was the Flower Gang reunion show in 2012. I am currently retired from the music business but I still play my banjo at home regularly. My love of music and records has never faded and I am an obsessed 45s collector. I spend much of my free time digging for rare rockabilly, soul, surf, garage, girl group and bubblegum 45s at flea markets, yard sales, junk shops, estate sales, etc.

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

I recall the first record I ever bought was a Queen “We Are The Champions/We Will Rock You” 45 when I was 6 or 7. I also have a vivid memory of going into a record store and being awestruck by the display for all four of the recently released Kiss solo albums a few years later. My first instrument was an inexpensive, no name acoustic guitar that I received as a birthday present when I turned 14. I took guitar lessons on and off throughout my teens with a handful of local guitar teachers. I gleaned valuable things from each of them that all came in handy when I started wrtiting songs and playing with others. My parents were not big music fans but they were very supportive of my musical interests.

++ Had you been in other bands before Flower Gang? What about the other band members? Are there any songs recorded?

My first proper band was Laverne. We formed when I was 18 in 1988. We were a trio with me on guitar and vocals, Alec K. Redfearn on bass and Art Tedeschi on drums. We played a handful of shows but did not do any recording. My next band was called Wavering Shapes, which also featured Alec on bass, Rick Ross on drums and Jamie Brolin on vocals (Bill Reed replaced Jamie on vocals and second guitar towards the end of our tenure, Art Tedeschi returned to his rightful throne on the drums and future Flower Gang drummer Matt McClaren joined us on additional percussion). We recorded a 4 song demo on a friend’s 4 track cassette recorder but I am unaware of any surviving copies. We played frequently at AS220 in Providence. Concurrent with Wavering Shapes, Alec and I started another band with Jen Dollard (guitar and vocals) and Phoebe Summersquash on drums (pre-Small Factory) called The Big Wazoo. We played one show in Providence and broke up. Matt and Jack had a pre-FG primitive Misfits/Horror garage combo called Mole People.

++ How was your Mansfield/Plainville at the time of Flower Gang? Were there any bands that you liked? Were there any good record stores? Or what about the pubs or venues to go check out up and coming bands?

Mansfield and Plainville are small, adjacent towns about 15 miles north of Providence, RI. There weren’t any other local bands in our immediate area that played even remotely similar music (mostly metal bands doing Anthrax and Metallica covers) with the exception of nearby Attleboro punkers Neutral Nation. They were a great band who showed me it was possible to be from the uncool burbs but still play original, left of the dial music. There was a good record store just one town away in Foxboro called Good Vibrations. They were a Mass based chain that had 8 or 9 stores and were the only local resource for punk, post punk and indie records.

++ How was the band put together? How was the recruiting process?

Wavering Shapes broke up when Alec K. Redfearn traded his bass for an accordian and began his lifelong journey as a critically lauded composer and band leader (Space Heater, Amoebic Ensemble, Alec K Redfearn and the Eyesores, D.U.M.E, SWRM, etc). I had already played with Matt in Wavering Shapes so we snagged Matt’s buddy Jack Hanlon as our bassist and Flower Gang was born!

++ Was there any lineup changes?

We added Erin Sharicz on vocals before recording our double 7″ for spinART but otherwise our lineup was stable during our existence.

++ What instruments did each of you play in the band?

I played guitar and sang, Jack played bass and sang and Matt played drums.

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

We practiced in the basement of my parent’s house in Plainville, Mass. I was 20 when we started and Matt and Jack were still in their teens.  I usually worked up some ideas on guitar in my bedroom and then we would flesh them out and see where they took us during band practice. It was a collaborative process. We were quite dedicated and rehearsed 3 or 4 times a week.

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

As I mentioned earlier, the local scene in Plainville/Mansfield was mostly metal cover bands. Our initial plan for Flower Gang was to play impromptu acoustic sets in the parking lots of local American Legion/VFW hall metal shows under the name “Hairy Diarrhea” (an idea that sadly never came to fruition). When we had an opportunity to play a local “battle of the bands” event, we chose the wimpiest, least metal sounding name we could muster and it stuck. We embraced our outsider status as the only indie/punk rock band in Plainville and did our best to antagonize the locals.

++ Your first release was the “Guys with Glasses” 7″ that was released by Boy Crazee Records. My first question has to do with this label. Was it yourselves running it? Or who was behind it?

Boy Crazee was our label and “GWG” was our only release. We recorded that record before we had ever played a show. It was the first time any of us had been in an actual recording studio and it was a hurried, bewlidering experience. I’m just glad some of our energy and youthful enthusiasm came through on the recordings. Matt was going to school at Emerson College in Boston at the time. He ditched class one day, went to the Boston Public Library and found an Olympia, Washington phone book. He found Calvin Johnson’s phone number, called him and asked if K would distribute our record. Calvin obliged and also helped us get distribution in the Netherlands via Semaphore (which explains why you can find numerous copies of that record for sale on Discogs from the Netherlands).

++ This release came with sleeves in different colors, orange, red, blue, green and yellow. Why was that? And am I missing any other colors?

No, you have not missed any colors! I think that the lady at the local print shop gave us that five-different-colors option and we thought it was a fun idea.

++ Another thing that caught my attention is that you are listed as Dan, not Don or Donald. How come?

I have copies of the yellow, green and blue covers and I am listed as Don. I’m unsure what color cover you have but perhaps it was a typo on that particular color cover.

++ This is a great record and has great songs. One song that I was curious about was “Matt’s Dilemma”. Is it about the band’s drummer Matthew Edward McLaren?

Yes, that was one of our earliest songs and was written by Jack as an homage to our drummer complaining about feeling parched.

++ Later you would sign with spinART Records in New York. How did that happen? Did you send them demos? They came to see you at a gig? And how was the relationship with this label?

The spinART guys saw us at the Providence Indie Rock Explosion in 1992 and liked what they heard. It was a three day indie pop festival organized by Dave Auchenbach from Small Factory and local promoter Ty Jesso. I can’t recall everyone who played but I know that Small Factory, Honeybunch, Magnetic Fields, Velocity Girl, hypnolovewheel, Love Child, Belly (their first show), Tsunami, Versus, The Swirlies, Dambuilders, Fudge and Lois Maffeo all performed. Flower Gang broke up shortly after our spinART record was released so our relationship with them was brief but amicable.

++ With them you released a double 7″ record, “Junkdrawer”. Of course I am curious about the format, doing a double 7″ is not common, probably a 10″ or a 12″ would be a more normal approach.

I was a huge fan of the Fastbacks and loved their “The Answer Is You” double 7″ release on Sub Pop. In addition to tipping our hat to the Fastbacks, we all thought it was a unique format that might help garner some attention.

++ And yeah, who is on the cover photo of this record?

That is my nephew Matty on the cover. The gatefold inner is a painting by Matt McClaren and the photo on the back is Jack’s father.

++ On this record there are vocals by Erin Elizabeth Sharicz. Was wondering if she was in another band or how did she end up collaborating with the band?

Erin was a fan and friend of the band. Flower Gang was her first and (I believe) only band. I was obsessed with Talulah Gosh and wanted to have female vocals on some of the songs. She sang on a handful of songs but sadly only “Shiny Grease” and “McNutt” were recorded.

++ You mentioned that you appeared on the “AS220 1992 Compilation”. I see that this one is online these days, but can you tell me more about this release?

AS220 was (and still is) a non-juried performance space in Providence. It was essentially a compilation of bands who regularly performed at AS220. It was a cassette-only release recorded by Joe Auger at AS220 and holds up as a unique document of Providence area musicians from that time and particular place. I first went to AS220 in the spring of 1988 on a whim and serendipitously happened upon the first ever Honeybunch performance opening for Beat Happening on the Jamboree tour. It was an impactful experience and I soon became an AS220 regular most weekends.

++ My favourite song of yours is “Metzger’s Farm”, wondering if you could tell me what inspired this song? What’s the story behind it?

That song was inspired by walking around my old baseball field at age 20 and remembering how it feft playing little league baseball as a kid. The baseball field was across the street from the farm that provided the song title.

++ If you were to choose your favorite Flower Gang song, which one would that be and why?

Of the songs we recorded and released, “Metzger’s Farm” is probably my favorite.  It’s super catchy and has that spastic-but-still-locked-in-a-groove energy of the early Minutemen recordings (my biggest inspiration). We were pretty prolific. I would guess that our recorded output was only about 20% of what we wrote and performed and I wish we had gotten more of our songs on tape.

++ What about gigs? Did you play many?

We played every chance we got. In addition to AS220, Club Babyhead (formerly the Rocket) in Providence was one of the places we played often. We opened for Ween, Uncle Tupelo, Yo La Tengo, King Missle, Velvet Crush, Jad Fair, Sleepyhead and even a freakin’ King Diamond cover band at Club Babyhead. The band we shared the most gigs with was small factory. Our sounds weren’t that similar but we started around the same time and we turned out to be a pretty good fit musically and personally. We also really enjoyed renting out American Legion halls and playing truly local shows in Plainville and Mansfield.

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

We played a poorly attended but fun Sunday matinee show opening for Grant Hart’s Nova Mob at Club Babyead. We hung out with him after the show and when he found out the club stiffed us on our fee, he paid us out of his pocket. We were all huge Husker Du fans and having that kind of interaction with one of our heroes was memorable. I also vaguely recall a wild, drunken, ramshackle show at Wheaton College in nearby Norton, MA with small factory and Love Child that ended with our booze confiscated by campus police and the student from the college radio station who organized the show having her booking-on-campus-shows privileges rescinded.

++ And were there any bad ones?

We were scheduled to play with small factory and Heavenly on their first US tour at Club Babyhead in Providence. I was a huge Talulah Gosh fan and was psyched to be on the bill. However, Gang of Four had a night off from the Lollapalooza tour (or some similar shit) and wanted to play a club date so they were added to the bill and we were kicked to the curb. I still attended the show and Heavenly did not disappoint but it was a major bummer to get bumped from that bill.

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

We started sometime in the fall of 1990 and called it quits in the late spring of 1993. After we broke up I spent a few years learning to play the 5 string banjo in the Old Timey Clawhammer style. After focusing on writing and playing original music for years it was refreshing to learn how to play roots music in a traditional style. I played banjo with StringBuilder from Providence for a few years in the late 90s/early 2000s. We released two 7″s and a CD on a local label (Handsome Records) and did one memorable two week tour. A few years later, Joel from StringBuilder formed a new project called Death Vessel and I played banjo, uke and guitar on his Sub Pop debut “Nothing Is Precious Enough For Us” and joined them for three U.S. tours supporting that record. Jack Hanlon found much greater success than Flower Gang ever attained with his next band Amazing Royal Crowns. Matt teamed up with our old friend and Wavering Shapes bandmate Alec K. Redfearn in the Eyesores (who I also played banjo with sporadically over the years). Both Jack and Matt blossomed into amazing musicians and are still actively playing.

++ There was a reunion gig in 2012 supporting Small Factory and Honeybunch! What a lineup. How was that gig? And what prompted you to reunite?

There was a brief resurgence of interest in indie pop music from the early 90s around that time. I think Slumberland Records did a series of well received reunion shows with some of the bands on their label and that planted the seed. Dave from Small Factory asked us if we wanted to do a reunion show with them and Honeybunch and we agreed. A Small Factory/Honeybunch/Flower Gang bill was something straight out of Providence circa 1991 and it was a fantastic, very well attended night.

++ Was there any interest from the radio? You did a session at WFMU, right? How was that?

We did live-on-the-air sessions at WSMU (Southeastern Massachusetts University)) and WRIU (University of RI) that were lots of fun. We also recorded (not on the air but strictly playing live in one take) at the WERS studio (Emerson College) where Matt was a student. I’m unsure if any copies of those Emerson recordings still exist but they were the best example of what we sounded like live back then.

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

The local press was very kind to us despite our relative youth and often snarky demeanor. Mike Caito was the local music writer for the Providence weekly arts rag The NewPaper and he gave us a fair share of favorable ink in his columns. We played an outdoor block party in 1993 organized by Providence subversive bookstore Newspeak that was reviewed by Creem magazine (the writer seemed smitten by our “Association style power pop”). I think we got reviewed by a few fanzines but I can’t remember any details.

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

Just being three young, awkward guys with glasses from the uncool burbs who formed a band that put out a few 7″ records and made a minor impact in Providence was quite a thrill.

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

As I mentioned at the start of the interview, I am an avid 45s collector. I don’t consider that a hobby – it’s more like a disease for which I never hope to find a cure. When I’m not obsessively digging through boxes of unsleeved 45s in some rando’s garage or basement, I can be found reading, hiking or spending time at the beach with my wife and partner in crime Anya.

++ Anything else you’d like to add?

Thank you for posing such thoughtful questions and taking an interest in Flower Gang. It was fun remembering what it was like to be young and playing in an indie rock band in a pre-Nirvana, pre-internet world.

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Listen
Flower Gang – Metzger’s Farm

0
25
Sep

:: Photo Jenny

author: Roque       category: recommended

I first heard of Photo Jenny thanks to their 2000 7″ EP on Elefant Records titled “A Japanese Present For You” (ER-222). I thought it was the band’s only release for years. I never looked into it. Now I look at Discogs and I notice I’ve missed many records, many songs, by this Japanese band that took their name from a Belle & Sebastian song.

The 7″ I mentioned had four songs, “Rainbow Dolly” and “Clover Chain” on the A side and “Beautiful Girl” and “Painted Knees” on the B side. This band was actually a duo that formed 3 years before, in 1997, by Satomi Takeuchi who sang and played the melodeon and metallophone and Tetsuya Kobayashi who played  guitar and bass.

Previously, in 1998, the band had self-released a tape titled “Ladybird Go Home” that I’d love to listen one day as it includes a cover of one of my favourite bands, The Would- Be-Goods. This tape had these songs: “Do Me a Favor”, “Trip Pop”, “Watermelon Crush”, and the aforementioned cover of “Perfect Dear” on the A side. The B side had “Blow Up Your Funny Face”, “Skinny Guinea Pig”, “Umbrellas Go Round” and “Ladybird”.

The band also started to contribute songs to compilations in 1998. “Blow Up Your Funny Face” ended up on “Sunshine Pop Show!! Vol. 2” released by Sunshine Pop (SP-008) aand “Watermelon Crush” was on “Pop Japanese Style!” released by Flavour of Sound (TFCC-87589). Both were Japanese releases.

The following year, 1999, the band would release a mini-album titled “Tier Quartett” on the Left Bank label (LBCD-03). This mini album included 8 songs, “Do Me a Favor”, “No One Brings a Flower”, “Clover Chain”, “Watermelon Crush”, “Blow Up Your Funny Face”, “Window Painting”, “Ladybird” and “Y’Aura T’il de la Neige a Noel?”. Many songs from the tape. I wonder if that tape demo served the purpose of getting the attention of the label?

In the year 2000 the band started working with Minty Fresh Japan. With them early that year released thee mini-album “Painted Kites” (MFJ-1001). Five tracks appear on this CD, “Painted Kites”, “Waiting for the Dawn”, “Rainbow Dolly”, “Umbrellas Go Round” and “Beautiful Girl”.

“Beautiful Girl” also gets included in Minty Fresh Japan’s compilation LP “Get Yer La-La’s Out 2000 Vinyl!!” (MFJ-2000). On the same label, this same 2000, we find the song “Teenage Phase”. It was on the compilation CD “Minty Fresh Japan Compilation Vol. 1 A Small, Good Thing” (MFJ-1002).

That same year on the CD comp “Trolley Bus Music Tour” released by Trolley Bus (TB-001) they contributed the song “Winchester Monday”. Trolley Bus was the label ran by Yoshi from Aikagi!

2001 sees the band release a split CD with the wonderful Birdie (that band fronted by Debsey from Dolly Mixture that I dream of seeing live one day). The split CD was released by Minty Fresh (MFJ-1006) and It Records. Photo Jenny contributed 2 songs, “Bizarre Dream” and “Marshak”. Both were mastered by Tetsuya Kase at Bazooka Studio. Birdie also contributed two songs.

“Marshak” was an EP that came out in 2001 on Minty Fresh Japan (MFJ-1007). Again five songs, “Bizarre Dream”, “How Much Do I Love”, “Teenage Phase (Album version)”, “Marshak” and “Empty Church”. I see ‘album version’ so I wonder why they never released a proper album?

Lastly in 2016 the band had the song “Beautiful Girl (2000)” on “Everybody Knows? Radio Sessions 1997-2014″ a 3CD boxset that came with a DVD that was released by Travelin’Word (QFCT-1001). For those unaware Everybody Knows was a radio program on Shibuya FM.

But wait, there’s another release that came out on Lil’ Red Wagon. It was a split 7” titled “Slumber Party EP” (LRW 08). This came out in Canada but I don’t know what year it was. The interesting thing here is that they shared the split 7″ with the great All Girl Summer Fun Band. And it is on the A side that Photo Jenny appears with two tracks, “Winchester Monday” and “Umbrellas Go Round”.

There is a Tetsuya Kobayashi that is a producer/composer/lyricist. Could it be him? He has worked in a lot of Japanese shows and animes. Would it be the same one as in Photo Jenny?

What about Satomi Takeuchi? I couldn’t find anything else about her, at least related to music.

As with Japanese bands it is a bit difficult to track the musicians down. I don’t know what happened to the duo of Photo Jenny. Why did they call it a day? Did they play many gigs? There’s barely any info on the web, so any help will be great.

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Listen
Photo Jenny – Watermelon Crush

1
21
Sep

:: Closer than Comfort

author: Roque       category: recommended

Kingston upon Hull or just Hull. Many bands from this town have been featured on the blog. Today I want to share details about Closer than Comfort who I didn’t know anything about until a few hours ago!

Indiepop fan Joel Dantas has a Soundcloud with lots of great treasures. There he had uploaded a song called “Closer then Comfort” by a band with the same name. Mentions that it comes from a tape. But that’s all the info he has shared.

But there is another Soundcloud account, one by Richard Hood from Hull. He has uploaded 2 other songs by Closer than Comfort, “I Think She Knows It” and “Turn to Me”.

Again there is little info, but at least we know that Richard was part of the band. The photo of the band shows 4 guys and a girl. A five-piece.

We also know that “Turn to Me” was recorded at Fairview Studio in 1988. That “I Think She Knows It” was written by Andy Blair. One thing I suspect is that Richard Hood was the vocalist. He was the vocalist on many of the other projects on his Soundcloud. These projects include Radio, General Wolf and The Sons of Freedom.

Then I found something interesting. I don’t know if it is complete, but it is a gig list by the band. We know that they played at least 4 gigs. On July 31 of 1986 they played quite a gig at The New Adelphi. The lineup included The Gargoyles, Pink Noise, Vicious Circle, The Velvetones and Johnny and the Carbon Chain. Then on January 28 of 1987 at The Wellington in Hull they played with The Last Supper Dance Band.

On February 11, 1987, they played at The Wellington alongside The Last Supper Dance Band. A month after, March 11, at the same venue they played again with The Last Supper Dance Band and The Kicks.

Then I find more stuff from Richard Hood and figure out where the song Joel had found. Richard has a Youtube account. There he has uploaded the song “Closer than Comfort”. The best part of it is that the band lineup is shared!

Andy Blair was on guitar and vocals, Martin Hyde on drums and Darren Gordon on bass. The track was recorded at Angel Studios in 1985. And Richard Hood? Why is he not listed?!

But that’s not all. The songs “Turn to Me” and “I Think She Knows It” were actually released! Wow, didn’t know! They were released on Label Records (LAB001) in 1989 as a 7″ vinyl single. Produced by Steven Larkman and remixed by Fran Ashcroft.

Discogs also lists two demo tapes. Wow. The first one dates from 1985 and had 5 songs “17 Tomorrow”, “Shallow”, “Closer than Comfort”, “If Dreams Come True”, “20 to 5”. These 5 songs are repeated on the B side.

The other demo tape is from 1987 and is titled “8”. It had 4 songs, “Passion is Poison”, “Let You Runaway”, “I Think She Knows It” and “Poor You”. Again the songs are repeated on the B side. This demo was produced by Steve Larkman who had worked with The Bloody Marys and Red Guitars.

How cool! Lots of interesting stuff I ended up finding out.

But of course this is not the full picture. We dont know much about the band still. So here I am hoping for Hull indiepop fans to share anything you remember about them. Would be good what happened to them, and especially I am terribly curious if Richard Hood was or wasn’t part of the band!

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Listen
Closer Than Comfort – Turn to Me

1
18
Sep

:: Ego

author: Roque       category: recommended

Matinée Recordings has an amazing catalog. I’m not saying anything new.

In the early days there was a French band that released with them, a 7″ single and an album, and then it seems they disappeared. They were called Ego and they were great.

The 7″ was titled “The Question Mark” and it was Matinée’s 2nd ever release (Matinée 002). It came out in 1998 and included three songs, “Do You Want to Be My Love ‘Till 1998?” on the A side and “What Am I Supposed to Do?” and “Can’t You See I Love You?” on the B side. All songs had a question mark, hence the EP name.

On the back of the sleeve we find the names of David, Emmanuel, Marc and Yvan. We see that on the record other friends of them played, Caroline, Marie, Pierre, Ludovic, Philippe, Romain C. and Stéphane.

Then an address in Clapiers, France. Where is Clapiers? It seems it is close to Montepellier I read this about this small town: “Located to the north of Montpellier, this little village was the home of wine makers for centuries.
Now, Clapiers has developed considerably. One of the jewels of this village is its forest. It covers 170 hectares. A paradise for all walkers, hikers and bikers. The Tomato Festival in September is an opportunity to discover and taste 250 varieties of this colourful fruit.”

Then I find the band members’ last names, David Frayssinet, Emmanuel Vigne, Marc Collombet and Yvan Ros. This is thanks to Discogs, and thanks to Discogs I find thata the band recorded a demo cassette in 1995 called “Superego”.

This tape was recorded between the 18th and 19th of February in 1995 and it was mixed on the 20th by Joel Cébé at TYMIX. This tape had four songs, 2 on each side: “Place on Earth”, “3’55”, “A Liquid Song” and “Do You Want to Be My Love ‘Till 1998?”. I notice on this tape that the first and third song were written by David while the other two by Marc.

The band would release a full-length album in 2001 on Matinée (MATCD006). It was titled “La Main Devant La Bouche” and included 13 tracks: “Oriane”, “What Am I Supposed to Do?”, “Sunny Day”, “To Sleep Like You”, “Alone in Rome”, “(Die For) Drew Barrymore”, “Charlie”, “Under my Tree”, “The Speed of Sound”, “Patricia’s KItchen”, “What is Fame?”, “Une Petite Fantaisie Sentimentale” and “Faire L’Affaire”.

The band also contributed many songs to compilations.

In 1996 the band contributed “3’55” and “A Liquid Song” to “Les Belles Promesses – Collection “Acoustique”” that was released by XIII Bis Records and Ora Pro Nobis. That same year on “Imbroglio”, another tape comp, they had “Kaori” and “Under My Tree”. This compilation was released by Pâte A Modeler (PAM 008). Continuing in 1996 the band released the songs “Do You Want to Be My Love ‘Till 1998?” and “Place on Earth” to the tape comp “Press Play” released by Candy Chérie. All of these compilations were released in France.

On the French tape “Galée Royale” released by Maya Label (BZZZ 2) from 1997 the band contributed the songs “What Am I Supposed to Do?” and “Under My Tree”.

Another tape comp wroth mentioning is the Italian “The Colours of an Enchanted Dawn”. This was on the label Shiny Sunset (SUNSET 9) and there Ego contributed the song “Do You Want to Be…”.

Then in 1999 there was a Matinée Festival in Paris, where four bands participated, The Windmills, Ego, Sportique and The Lucksmiths. So a tape was made for the occasion and was called “La Soirée Matinée”. This tape included unreleased tracks and also a set of six badges. Ego would contribute 3 songs (same number as the other bands), “Do You Want to Be My Love…”, “Nothing Succeeds to Success” and “Under my Tree”.

On a double 7″ compilation released by Matinée called “A Smile Took Over” (Matinée 005), where four different bands were featured, Ego appears as the last song, on the D side, with “Stephanie”.

I look if any of the band members is also listed on other bands. I notice Yvan Ros also played in a band called Astrïd as the drummer.

Not much more info on the web about Ego. Also the name is not Google friendly to search for them. So I hope some of my French friends can help me learn more details about the band!

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Listen
Ego – What Am I Supposed to Do?

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14
Sep

:: Petersfield

author: Roque       category: recommended

Today I want to feature a band that I’ve always been curious about. They are quite mysterious to me as they don’t promote themselves much, they had great looking records, and they sound great.

They were active during the latter part of the last decade and hailed from Japan. Not sure why they called themselves Petersfield either.

Back in 2017 I was in touch with one of the band members, Hiroyuki Tomita, from whom I bought three records, their “Anorak Girl” 7″ that was released in 2015, a split 7″ and the album “A Girl Like You” from 2017. I notice today that they released two more records afterwards. I missed them!

There is very little info about them online, so hopefully my Japanese friends can help me with more info. Would love to know any other details about them. Starting with band members names!

The first release was the “Anorak Girl” 7″ that had the title song on the A side and “London Weekend” on the B side. This 2015 release was out out by Radio Underground Records (RS002).

This same label released in 2017 the album “A Girl Like You” (RUG025). This album had 10 terrific songs, “Summer Time”, “A Picture of Dorian Gray”, “Creation”, “Afterhours”, “Anorak Girl”, “A Girl Like You”, “Cool Guitar Boy”, “Distant Shore”, “Londonweekend” and “Will You Love Me Tomorrow”.

Then the band released a split 7″ on Neo City Records (NCR001) in 2017. This record had them on the B side with the song “Nostalgie”. On the A side was the Japanese band Flashlights which is also pretty good. Here we find some names, not the complete names, but some names nonetheless. “Nostalgie” was written by Hiroyuki Tomita with lyrics by Fumi. We know then that Tomita, Go and Fumi were on Petersfield.

Neo City Records would release in 2019 an EP titled “Starry Eyes” (NCR002). This EP adds a few members to the band. I notice too that we get the instruments here. So we know Fumi was on vocals and bass, Miki on chorus, Rieko on drums and Miki and Tomita on guitar. The songs on this record are “Starry Eyes”, “There She Goes”, “Fantasy World” and “As Tears Go By”.

Lastly in 2020 the band released yet another split 7″. This time shared with the superb The Clovers. It was released by Big Cat Records (BCR0002) and the song Petersfield contributed was “Afterhours”. This track was recorded at Studio Ichinosuke in Tokyo in June of 2020.

Lastly the band contributed two songs to a 2022 LP compilation titled “Nu Psychic Teen Sounds!” released by the fine KiliKiliVilla label (KKV-128VL). On this record the band had thee songs “I’m Not Sayin'” and “Lazy Sunday”. The back of the sleeve of this record shows the band as trio, one guy, two girls.

And it is that same lineup that I see on a video of a live performance of the band playing the song “Window Shadow“.

And that’s all there is to say about them. I know it wasn’t much, but I hope that I least I am making you discover a very cool band!

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Listen
Petersfield – Afterhours

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12
Sep

:: The Decemberists

author: Roque       category: interviews

Thanks so much to Andy, Andrew and Colin for the interview! I’ve been a huge fan of The Decemberists of Liverpool for so long. I think the first time I heard them was thanks to my friend Jessel who shared with me the track “Gift Horse” and I was blown away. That must be more than 15 or so years ago.

Since that time I had wanted to interview them. And even though I’ve been in touch with Andy on and off for years the interview never happened.

But hey, the wait is over now. At last I get to know more details about this fantastic band that you wonder how come they weren’t huge!

Also do check the interview I did with Andy about Hellfire Sermons, the band he was in after The Decemberists, many years ago, and Swim Naked, the band before The Decemberists!

++ Hi Andy, first of all I won’t call you The Decemberists of Liverpool. For me you are The Decemberists and the other band that came later and is more popular can suck it. They are not as half as good as you were. But let’s start this interview. It was 1984 and you start The Decemberists. Who were the members and how did you knew each other? 

Andrew: The original members were:

Colin Pennington – Guitar/Vocals, Andrew Deevey – Lead Guitar. I didn’t know the other members of the band as I answered an advert to join the band. Andy Ford – Bass and Tom Gent – Drums.

Andy: Originally – Andy Ford Tom Gent and Andy Ford from Swim Naked, and Colin Pennington from Tunnel Users

++ And why did you choose the name The Decemberists?

Colin: Think it was one of the early guitarists is my recollection it was based on pre Russian revolution revolt?

Andy: They were the first Russian revolutionaries, 1820s, and were exiled to Siberia. I seem to remember 4 names going into a hat and the ones I can remember were ‘The Generals’, ‘The Green Wallpaper’ and ‘The Decemberists’. We pulled out one of the others and everyone said “No, let’s have the Decemberists”!

Andrew: When we were thinking of a band name there were a lot of bands around at the time whose name ended in ‘S’ and described a group of people such as The Comsat Angels

++ Tell me a bit about the two bands that you all were previously in, Swim Naked and Tunnel Users?

Colin: The Tunnel Users were more a live band but did release one single the double A side Dance b/w Sun arise dub. It was shite tbh but they were a fun group of people.

Andy: Swim Naked were me and Neal Carr and Tom Gent on drums, and others, played 2 or 3 gigs in Liverpool, a couple of favourable reviews of our demo. It was sort of Joy Division/Cure/Velvet Underground. A CD was put out last year in memory of the singer, Chent, as he died young. CD is called ‘We Are All Singers’ and it’s on Amazon, I-tunes etc. Neal went to The Lids (girl singer/acoustic guitar stuff,) then Jenny Lind.

++ You played extensively, lots of gigs. Which ones are the ones that you remember the most and why?

Colin: Yes the ULU gigs, the Pyramid supports inc James and the Bangor gig for all the wrong reasons. We’d quite often do a truncated set which was a punchy way of ‘leaving our mark’.

Andy: Our first gig was actually The Cavern in Mathew Street, to about a dozen people at lunchtime – June 1984. We played lots of Liverpool gigs – one place called The Venue you ended up playing with 3 bands you had never met before, usually terrible. Some of them were trying to be the new Frankie Goes To Hollywood, or else Duran Duran – in a flea bitten Liverpool backstreet club… We had a good poster for Kirklands and we stuck up loads of posters round town, got the name known. I remember the Otterspool Peace Festival in a tent, Mardi Gras in Liverpool January 1985 was great (with the Membranes) but ended in a huge argument with the venue about money. Supporting James was memorable – they were strange – requested no alcohol in the gig area, and at that time they played the songs differently every time they played. They were really special then, far better than later incarnations. The Neptune in support of Liverpool City Council (November 1986) went down really well and it was recorded. I was listening to it the other day.

Andrew: I remember the London gigs as being the most exciting the University of London and especially the Rock Garden in London as it was like a mini Hacienda back then plus there were lots of people there to see us.

++ You recorded great demos that attracted interest to John Peel and Rough Trade. First of all, how many demos did you record in total? Which songs were included? And how come you didn’t get a proper release?

Colin: Can’t remember Andy you’d have this info. I do remember trailing round the record companies and meeting dickhead A & R men who said things like there’s – the songs have too many choruses

Andy: First demo was with Karen Jones – Upwards From Here/ Good Man/This To That and it was pretty good. Me and Colin made appointments with various record companies. You sat there and they listened to one verse and the chorus of the first song, and that was it, that was your chance. Some said nice things about the harmonies – “Come back in 6 months lads” one said, but at Rough Trade Geoff Travis said it was excellent potential, and he would help us play in London and that’s how we got the ULU gigs.

Andrew: The demos that we recorded were.

Upwards from Here/From This To That/A Good Man – recorded at The Inevitable Records Studio, Liverpool. 02 September 1984

This Town/Simpler To Say/For Just One Instant – recorded 02/03 and 05 February 1985 at The Pink Studios, Liverpool.

Always Caught in The Rain/Bush Recorder/What Possessed You – Recorded at Station House Studio, New Brighton

There It Is/The Man Who could See Through Everybody – Recorded at Vulcan Studios, Dock Road.

James Is on 15 July 1985/Gift Horse/Up In Marble Room – Recorded at SOS Studios, Liverpool.

Freak Storm/Rachel Clean Single completed 20 December 1987

We didn’t get a proper release as we couldn’t afford to release anything ourselves as we were students, unemployed or in low paid jobs. We were hoping that some record company would help us out but it didn’t happen.

++ You did appear on a couple of compilations, right?

Colin: Over to you Andy

Andy: There was ‘James Is’ on Discreet Campaigns and Gift Horse on ‘Ways To wear Coats’ with the other Vulcan Studio bands – Half Man Half Biscuit, Jactars, DaVincis. Then later on every now and then Decemberists songs went on various indie compilations.

Andrew: The Decemberists appeared on:

  • Discreet Campaigns – James Is
  • Ways to Wear Coats ( A Vulcan Street Compilation) Gift Horse

++ I read that none of you could buy the Discreet Campaigns tape. Is this true? Well I think that was true- I had a copy but gave it to someone at a venue.

Andy: What happened was it came out and we didn’t get a courtesy copy, and we were actually quite poor – unemployed, on benefits etc. Colin did buy a copy at Probe, and then gave it to someone at a venue trying to get a gig, who promised faithfully to give it back..and of course didn’t. So for literally 30 years no-one had a copy. I eventually got one in 2020. The cassette sold well, especially in the US, as it had New Order on it and we did get some fan mail for James Is.

++ So who is this James from “James Is (Still the Same)”? Was it based on a real character?

Colin: Yes a lad I knew at school- he was a twat- lack of empathy and human compassion- and I met him years later and he was still the same…… I chewed round James is ( Still a cunt) but hmmmm maybe not

++ Some time ago you posted the FABULOUS “Simpler to Say”. I was gobsmacked. You really know how to make great pop songs I thought. Care to tell me the story behind this great C86 nugget?

Colin: Thank you its lovely that the music still has some impact.

Andy: The bass and guitar have some jazz influence, it has no middle 8, but it does have an end bit which has a bit of ‘Ceremony’ by New Order in there. The vocal harmonies are what people like. Plus it’s short!

Andrew: From my perspective, The Smiths were around at the time and I liked the way Johnny Marr played a bit different to everyone else – picking the notes rather than strumming. We didn’t want to be a band were both guitarists were strumming the same chords so I developed a style were I’d pick the notes over a strummed chord back ground. We were also discovering more elaborate jazz type chords like major and minor sevenths typical of what you would find with The Smiths and Aztec Camera.

++ And of course the only other song I’ve had the chance to listen has been “Gift Horse”. It’s also fantastic. It’s hard for me to believe no one released these great tracks. Have you ever thought about doing a retrospective CD? 

Colin: Yes Gift Horse is a banger.

Andy: I have been going through the demos and gig tapes, its about 30 songs, and we will release them it just depends which songs. There is half an offer in from an indie label to do it.

Andrew: There have been offers from record enthusiasts that release music must it just never materialised.

++ Tell me about this residency you got at the University of London Union? How did that work?

Andy: We got ULU through Rough Trade, they were really good for us – a big audience, good sound system and being paid! And a crate of beer. We played well. Couple of years later Andy Deevey was recognised in the street as “one of the Decemberists”. On ‘Man Who Could See Through Everybody” he bent the neck of his guitar to get a big WAH sound. People loved it.

++ There’s a point were lots of people join The Decemberists. Karen Jones joins as backing vocals, Roger McLoughlin on drumsand even a new manager, Jackie Gribbon. How did all of this affect the band and what did they bring to the table?

Colin: Karen we brought in to beef up the vox- we could see from some of our influences the impact of the vocal harmonies. This has stayed with us into the Hellfires I think.

Andy: We found Roger for drums through an advert after Tom left, Karen Jones was with us January to August 1985, Roger left to travel the world in November 1985, and Chris Harrison joined us from Jenny Lind (Neal’s band of the time). Jackie had managed Del Amitri but they froze him out when they got a record deal. He moved from Glasgow to Liverpool to manage us which gave us a certain status in Liverpool. The first Del Amitri album is genius – top lyrics, and the music, far better then their later stadium rock efforts.

Andrew: Roger McLouglin was a drummer brought in to replace Tom Gent who left to concentrate on his Architecture Studies. Karen Jones was brought in to beef up the vocals as we had a phase of developing harmony vocals and trying to sound like the Mamas and Papas. Jackie Gribbon came to help manage us and get us to the next level. He was good at Artwork and Photography.

++ What about those days at Vulcan Street studios. What do you remember hanging out with so many creative bands? Any anecdotes you could share?

Colin: We had a great laugh and there were significant artistic developments for us as a band. There was some good relationships and competition between the bands many of who we would share gigs.

Andy: Vulcan was very friendly – the owner Barry was just a music fan, and the bands down there were similar – unemployed young creative people. We tended to play most with The Jactars because firstly they were musically excellent and secondly nice sane people. But we also played with the Da Vincis and Jenny Lind, and went to see The Room, Half Man Half Biscuit, Innocents Abroad and One Last Fight. It was a scene without us knowing it. The friendly competition with Jenny Lind spurred us on. Tog from The Jactars worked there a lot. Vulcan was this disused warehouse on the Dock Road, parts of it had no roof, one floor was full of pigeons…it was a one off. I went past the other day and it was great to see a load of scrawny youngsters stood outside.

Andrew: The bands of note that I can remember from Vulcan Street were The Jactars, The Davincis and Half Man Half Biscuit. Nigel from Half Man Half Biscuit worked behind the desk and used to tell us lots of tales about weird things. Tog from the Jactars used to work the night shift and we’d have to wake him up so we could drop off our equipment to our lock up at 3am.

++ So what happened, why did you decide it was time to move on and change names?

Colin: I think we felt we’d flogged the Decemberists as much as we could and thought a name change might help. Andy D had decided to leave us and head to London. We asked Neal to join which brought a sharper more angular sound to the Hellfires.

Andy: I wasn’t sure why at the time, but looking back I think we lost confidence. You have to remember at that time it was so difficult to release your music. You had to be let in by the gatekeepers at the big record labels (or an indie). After we changed the name we found out that people had been going into Liverpool HMV asking if The Decemberists had released a record. Chris went to college, Andy Deevey moved to London, and so me and Colin linked up with Neal and formed a band called ‘The Know Nots’ for a few months, then Freak Storm got a great review and we started to be offered gigs – but only if we played as Hellfire Sermons. It worked out OK!

Andrew: There was still some life in The Decemberists name but ultimately all bands run their course. We had gained some notoriety in Liverpool and should’ve released the Freak Storm single under the Decemberists name. The B side ‘Rachel Clean’ should have been the A and the A side ‘Freak Storm’ was a new song that was recorded too quickly – I was trying to write my guitar parts in the studio as I was recording them! We’d never played it live before.

I moved to London to see if I could get into some bands there and tried out with lots of bands such as The La’s and Pete Shelley. I’d always loved The Buzzcocks but they say don’t meet your heroes so I didn’t turn up! Anyway the Buzzcocks reformed a few months later. I ended up in a band called ‘The Caretaker Race’ whose frontman was Andy Strickland of The Loft fame. He’d started the band after the acrimonious split of the band onstage at The Hammersmith Odeon on The Colourfield Tour. The Caretaker Race were signed to Steven Streets’ ‘Foundation Label’ and helped us record the Hangover Square album.

++ I was thinking, when you formed there was no C86 or indiepop. Having being around before and after that defining tape, do you feel things changed for guitar pop bands or not?

Colin: Well C86 was very influential – We were on the cusp of getting on C86 which really would have helped us to a wider audience. I think we’d become a bit cynical about the music industry by then. Yes I feel that guitar pop became very popular although guitar pop probably peaked with Brit pop, Oasis, Blur, Suede etc. There’s still great guitar bands out there but it seems harder t break through- although rap/ hip hop are way bigger than it used to be in the 80’s. BBC radio 6 still invests lots of time in UK in guitar music.

Andy: C86 just recognised something that was massive at the time – not in sales, but in bands, gigs, venues and record labels. It was what people wanted to see in a live environment. A lot of the bands were a ripple effect from The Smiths – bright guitar pop, anti-macho pop star bullshit, thoughtful, good lyrics. The tape kind of legitimised it. And in turn built it. Creation Records came from that scene. So it was influential, and still is.

++ I haven’t been to Liverpool yet, I should go next time, I’m actually, when it comes to Premier League, a fan of Liverpool FC, so… Anyhow, aside from Anfield, where else would you recommend visiting?

Colin: Liverpool FC are shite btw. If you’re going to Liverpool hit the museums, go to the Albert dock, Baltic Quarter for culture, food, drink, live music. Lots of good places to drink/ eat out in City centre. Sefton Park and Lark Lane is great to hang out.

Andy: Liverpool is great to visit. If you came (or anyone else) we would take you down the Dock Road with all its warehouses, Vulcan Street, the docks and ships, and the dock wall built by Napoleonic prisoners of war, then into town to The Lion Tavern (we always go after practice) then up the hill to The Everyman bistro and The Philharmonic pub (with its historical toilets)

++ And what about eating? Where do you think they make the best scouse in Liverpool? and what about butties?

Colin: Ma Egertons.

Andy: Maggie Mays on Bold Street, Ma Egertons by Lime Street station I have also heard said as good scouse. It’s a very nice food (if it’s made right)

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Listen
The Decemberists – Gift Horse

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11
Sep

:: Bien

author: Roque       category: recommended

Very little is available by this electropop band from France.

Bien was actually the moniker of Pascale Borel. He started this project in 1996 and called it a day in 1999. His three releases came out on the Madrid based label Siesta Records.

Pascale may actually be more known thanks to have been in Mikado. With Mikado she released a bunch of singles and an album in the 80s. But that’s a more known story. I am curious about this short-lived project called Bien.

She also has released many solo records.

Discogs lists some other band members for Bien like  Arnaud Fontanes, Bertrand Lapicorey and Vincent Lapicorey (these last two are brothers).

The first Bien release was the “Balthazar” 7″ single that had the title song on the A side and “Soleil D’Automne” on the B side. This record was put out by Siesta (SIESTA 43) in 1997. The songs were recorded by Christophe Chavenon with Vincent Morel as his assistant in Paris in 1997. The design for the sleeve was made by Olivier Legrand.

This same record was released as a CD single that same year. It included a couple more songs, “Oublie-Moi” and “Sunny Side”.

These two songs would be released by Siesta as a 7″ that same year. “Oublie-Moi” (SIESTA 45) came with “Sunny Side” as mentioned.

When it came to compilations the song “Soleil D’Automne” appeared on “Expreso (Otra Recopilación de Canciones de Siesta)” (SIESTA 60) in 1998 and then in 1999 a song called “If (Version)” was included in “Social (Bodies)” a CD compilation released in France by Kung Fu Fighting Recording (FIGHT 001).

Sadly this is all the information there is about these songs and this band. Of course, as I said earlier, Mikado is quite the legendary band and you could find more info about that part of Pascale’s music. But even so it is surprising that about Bien there’s barely anything online.

I believe her last solo record was “Par Ailleurs” in 2015. There are at least 2 more solo releases. Seems that’s what she did after Bien.

Did Bien play live? Were they only a recording project? Anyone has any other details?

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Listen
Bien – Soleil d’Automne

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07
Sep

:: Floraline

author: Roque       category: recommended

Floraline released a self-titled album in 1999 on the Minty Fresh label (MF-31). Other than that they appeared on a few compilations. Then it seems they disappeared.

The album is really nice. Has this particular sound of the late 90s, upbeat with electronic arrangements and female vocals that was a bit of a trend during that time. I’m thinking of Super, Syrup USA, Cinnnamon… or of course Komeda and The Cardigans.]

The band was formed by Linda Sharp on vocals, Darren Tablan on keyboards, Jason Winter-Jarnagin on guitar, Jesse Atchison on drums and Abe Burgess on bass. They were based in Atlanta.

As mentioned their album came out in 1999 and had the songs “Just the Way”, “Harmony”, “Morningside”, “Concourse”, “Eighty One”, “I Should Say”, “I Forgot”, “Picture Show”, “Fade” and “Wedding Day”. There are programming credits for the first two songs and the last one for Scott Herren.

The album was recorded and mixed at Kingsize Soundlabs in Chicago though “Just Say”, “Harmony”, “Eighty One” and “Wedding Day” were originally recorded at Microgroove Studios in Decatur, Georgia. The album was produced by Dave Trumfio with Kenny Sluiter as the engineer.

Other album credits include Dave Max Crawford on trumpet and flugelhorn and Paul Mertens on flute and saxophone. Gretchen Dietelhoff is credited for the photography.

Floraline appeared on three compilations. The first one is “You are Here #6”. This CD caame with the magazine of the same name. The song Floraline contributed was “Harmony”.

In 1999 they were on “1999 Summer Rock Campaign”, a Japanese promo sampler released by Rock Records (RCP-5008). On that compilation they appear alongside Cinerama, Broder Daniel, The Aluminum Group, Mojave 3 and more. The songs they contributed were “Just the Way” and “Wedding Day”.

“Get Yer La-La’s Out 2000 Vinyl” was a vinyl compilation released by Minty Fresh Japan (MFJ-2000). On this one they have the song “Wedding Day”. Here they are with top bands too like Papas Fritas, The Legendary Jim Ruiz Group, Komeda or Photo Jenny.

I can’t find any more details or info about the band or the band members. I was able to find many reviews for the album, all giving it lots of positive remarks. But nothing extra to say. Why did they only released one record? Did they record any more songs? What did they do afterwards?

There are many questions. Makes you wonder why so obscure!

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Listen
Floraline – Just the Way

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