Thanks so much to Floyd Foreman for the interview! I wrote about Triple Blind some time ago on the blog, and one of the band members, Iain, got in touch with me. Then he passed my questions to Floyd, the guitarist and vocalist of the band, and he was up for answering all my questions! This is indeed great as there is very little information on the web about them. So sit back and discover this great High Wycombe obscure indiepop band!

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

Hi Roque, it’s a pleasure to answer your questions, thanks for your interest. I’m doing ok thanks, it’s been a really strange year for everyone you know, live music’s completely stopped! I’m still very much involved in music and play in a reggae/ska band called Dubious Roots. We’re now in our 5th year, but lost a year last year, it’s been horrible. Before the UK went into lockdown I was doing some stuff with another indie band from back in the day, playing guitar and bass when needed and driving the tour van. Rolling back the years!

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

First music memories are listening to my mum and dad’s records on an old portable record player in my bedroom. I was really young, 5 or 6 years old. To be honest the records were pretty shit, but there was some Beatles, Stones and Buddy Holly in there, a few treasures.
My first instrument was a guitar, a little ¾ size nylon stringed thing which I still have. The tuning pegs have snapped and it’s unplayable but I can’t bring myself to chuck it away. My dad taught me the chords D G & A and I was off. I got a Beatles Music book and taught myself to play along with their records.
I didn’t really like my parents records when I was younger, except for the bands I’ve mentioned, so I listened to my own stuff from quite young….. The Ramones, The Clash, early U2, Queen, Bob Marley, The Cure…. And some uncool stuff you don’t need to know about, ha ha.

++ Had you been in other bands aside from Triple Blind? If so, how did all of these bands sound? Are there any recordings?

I think Triple Blind was my second band, the first was a school based one called Dream Of A Tree. I don’t think there are any recordings thank god, but it’s through that band that I got in with Triple Blind. I joined another band while I was playing with Triple Blind called Blossom. I play the saxophone and couldn’t fit it in with the Blind so got my kicks elsewhere. Blossom were a great band, I loved it, heavily influenced by Cardiacs and The Stupids. There is some live stuff on Youtube and I was around in the earlier recordings.

++ Where were you from originally?

High Wycombe born and bred, my parents made the short move from London just before I was born.

++ How was High Wycombe at the time of Triple Blind? 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?

Wycombe was a fairly typical suburban town, just 25 miles from London so lots of commuters. It was very diverse culturally which was to Wycombe’s benefit, a melting pot of different races and religions. It had its rough areas and social issues at times, but it’s surrounded by beautiful countryside.
Just before Triple Blind formed and largely throughout the time we were together, Wycombe had an extra-ordinary live music scene. There were several bands locally who were an inspiration to us, the punk attitude of “anyone can do this” carried on for several years. I used to watch local bands every week and had seen loads of gigs before going to see the bigger more established bands in London. Particular favourites were Thee Hypnotics, Egon & the Worms, Sub Sound Thrash and Chainsaw Enema.
The best record shop was an independent store called Scorpion Records, run by Geoff and Steg, then joined by Cheryl. Scorpion had the biggest influence on me musically, I’m sure it did for others. It was a treasure trove of second hand and later on new independent records. They always championed the local bands, would sell your demo tapes if you asked them. Venue wise we had Pontons which became Heroes & Zeroes, The Nags Head which has a history of famous bands from the 60’s onwards, then later on the White Horse became the place to play. There were other pubs but these three were the main ones for music.

++ How did you all meet? How was the recruiting process?

We met at local gigs, Iain & I met at Wycombe College when we were 16/17 years old, he had started playing bass in Triple Blind and asked if I wanted to join as a saxophone player. I did a few gigs with them but the set was mostly cover versions, pub rock type stuff so I left. A couple of other people left soon after and just Neil (drums), Iain (bass) and Birdie (guitar) were left. They wanted a singer and to change the direction of the band by writing original songs. They invited me to try out for them, I think we had one rehearsal where were wrote 3 songs, then my “trial” which was a gig at Heroes & Zeroes. After the gig the three of them asked me to join and that’s how it was for the next 5 or so years.

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

I used to write the lyrics, the music I usually based around a riff that Birdie came up with. Then we’d all structure the song in rehearsal. We rehearsed in a few places, the back room of pubs, I think we rehearsed in a church hall for a while, then found a proper space at an industrial unit in Wycombe. It was by the Wycombe Wanderers football ground, so we would rehearse on Saturday mornings and go to the football match in the afternoon.

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

I wish I could come up with an interesting & elaborate story about this, but the band name was in place before I joined. Iain once told me that he went in to a book shop in Wycombe (WH Smiths), randomly picked up a book, opened it at a random page and the title Triple Blind jumped out at him. I think it was a book about aeroplanes ….. pretty deep stuff.

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

There were a couple of bands who we all liked and we each had our own favourites too. The bands who influenced us the most initially were The Cure, The Cult and The Alarm…. Then the Stone Roses happened! I remember driving back home together after recording our first demo tape, we were buzzing having just listened to it in the car. When the demo ended we turned the radio on and “She Bangs The Drums” came on…. We looked at each other and went “Ohhhh Fuck!”

++ As far as I know you didn’t release any records, is that right? How come? Was there any interest from labels at the time?

You’re right Roque, we didn’t release any records, I don’t think we were ever in the right place at the right time. We used to send our demos to record labels and were often told that an A&R person would be there, but none of them ever were. To be honest I don’t think we were good enough to be signed by a major label and the indie labels weren’t interested either. I do think that on our day, if the right person had been at one of our “good” gigs, it would have happened. Because when we were on it, we were on FIRE! We were always more of a live band than a studio band.

++ But you did make some demo tapes, right? I know at least of three songs, “Stoke”, “Bus Shelter Boy” and “Take Me Back”. Were they all in the same demo tape? Were there any other recordings by the band?

We made three demo tapes. Waste of Tape in 1989, 3 tracks – One Way Love, Locked Out & Waste of Time. The second demo tape was called Stories in 1991, 5 Tracks – Home, Story, Listen, Seven Day Domination and Spin My World. And third tape in 1993, the one you must have heard, Stoke ep, three tracks – Stoke, Bus Shelter Boy and Take Me Back. We did some other recordings around 1995, before we broke up but they never got put out. No one seems to have a copy of them either, although I just found a blank DAT tape in the loft….. maybe they’re on there!! The lost demos! Wish I had a DAT player!

++ I think my favourite song of yours might as well be “Stoke”, wondering if you could tell me what inspired this song? What’s the story behind it?

Thank you, nice to hear you have a favourite song. It’s just a love song really, and about getting all consumed with love for someone for the first time. Not knowing if this was how being in love felt, whether it was healthy or not. It was based on my experience and also my sister’s, she thought she was in love for the first time and this person lived in Stoke.

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

It’s something that changes, depending on mood, circumstances, memories. “Bus Shelter Boy” I like, especially the ending which we nicked from the Buzzcocks. We had a song called “Dragonfly” that was pretty cool, it was one of the last songs we wrote and we recorded it but it must be on the lost demo tape. A song called “When You Die” was also recorded at the time, that was a cheerful little ditty.

++ What about gigs? Did you play many?

Yes we did, we played many. If anyone ever questions whether we served our apprenticeship as musicians, we certainly did. Many nights sleeping in the back of vans, on people’s floors or pub benches.

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

The gigs we played in the north of England were my favourite. We did a tour supporting Thousand Yard Stare and all those dates were in the north and were great. We had been playing lots of gigs in London, where if you weren’t in the NME or Melody Maker people didn’t bother watching or paying any attention. Too cool for school attitude. When we played up north the crowd went mad for it, they didn’t care who you were, what press you’d been in, if they liked your music they went for it.
Just after the tour I was at a big outdoor gig in Finsbury Park, The Cure were headlining. I was stood around with my mates and saw a couple of girls walking our way wearing Triple Blind T-shirts! I thought I’d hit the big time, my mates would think I was so cool getting recognised. They were good looking girls, I remembered selling them the tee-shirts at a recent gig. So I tried to look cool, put myself in their way and tried to make eye contact….. they glanced at me and walked on by without a hint of interest…. Didn’t have a clue who I was.

++ And were there any bad ones?

Not too many luckily, one in London where only our girlfriends turned up. Some early gigs in Wycombe where fights broke out, people throwing drink glasses at us…. But it was a rite of passage, I guess.

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

I left the band in 1995, to go traveling round the world and as far as I know they didn’t do any more gigs. I kept writing songs, did a few little projects but wasn’t involved with any bands until 5 years ago when I joined Dubious Roots.

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

Neil and Birdie joined forces with the remnants of another Wycombe band and formed Subrosa/Subrosa 5. They were good and kicked around for quite a few years. Iain had a spell with Wycombe punk band The Xtraverts when they reformed.

++ Has there been any Triple Blind reunions?

Yes, just one on the back of the release of Small Town Glory LP we got asked to re-join our old friends Thousand Yard Stare and do a gig at the 100 Club in London. That was in June 2016.

++ Was there any interest from radio?

No

++ What about TV? I read you played in an episode of Eastenders. How was that experience? How did it happen?

We made a very brief appearance in November 1992 on Eastenders. The characters Michelle and Sharon went to see a band at Michelle’s uni and we were the band. I think we has about 6 seconds screen time then while our song played in the background of a scene the actors proceeded to slag us off. Twenty two million viewers watched as we got slated, a very public execution. I was told the script was written before we were chosen to appear, but who knows. It was a fun day, in real life the actors liked us and even came to see us at a real gig afterwards…. Only once though.

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

Local press was usually complimentary. They would review our gigs and demo tapes. I don’t think we ever got any national press.

++ What about from fanzines?

Funnily enough Neil and I used to write and produce a fanzine with another Wycombe band, Sub Sound, but it was a football fanzine, for Wycombe Wanderers. As it was written by mostly musicians there was a bit of a music theme in there now and then, but we never used it to promote our bands. I remember there was a Wycombe based music fanzine that did a couple of issues, they said I looked like Morrissey and Howard Jones. It was meant as an insult but I was quite flattered.

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

The dates with Thousand Yard Stare on tour, we played at venues in towns we’d never been to before, the audiences were awesome. TYS were a great band to hang around with, they looked out for us, gave us food and petrol money. I used to sleep on their tour bus in a spare bunk, you’ll have to ask Neil, Ian & Birdie where they slept, I doubt they can remember. We ended up in a police station at the last gig, well Neil and I did….. heady days.

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

I like surfing and skateboarding. I’m getting a bit old now and have got myself a Stand Up Paddle Board, much easier to paddle in to the waves on. Also I like making short films, music videos mainly.

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

I haven’t lived there for many years now and only really go back to watch the odd Wycombe Wanderers match. The town centre has changed a lot, none of the music venues are there anymore. The best thing about Wycombe though was the people, I do miss my old pals. Wycombe has always had good curry restaurants and they are still open. My pick of the bunch are Mr India, Chutney and Bombay Palace.

++ Anything else you’d like to add?

Yes, its been so good looking back on the Triple Blind days, I can honestly say that my time with the band were the best days of my life! PLUS….there could be another reunion gig in the offing at the end of 2021. There’s a 90’s, indie, music festival in the planning, in Wycombe and we have been invited to play. I can’t give out any more details because it hasn’t been announced yet (it has been confirmed though). There are some big old bands from back in the day playing. I’ve reactivated the Triple Blind Facebook page. Check that out for further details. We’re not done yet!

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Listen
Triple Blind – Stoke