Thanks so much to Declan Meehan for this interview! The Fantastics was an early 90s band from Derby. They were formed by Sean Foster, Stuart Harrison, Justin Hughes and Declan Meehan. Declan would later be in the superb Screen Prints, who time ago I interviewed Richard Farnell about them. And yes, it was thanks to Richard that I discovered The Fantastics. He shared with me a Bandcamp link where four recordings, the “Arches EP”, surprised me. So as I am always curious, I needed to know more details about them!
Also linking here some cool photos and flyers Declan shared with me: The Fantastics at The Werehouse in 1992, Declan playing at The Dial, gig flyer at The Dial alongside Antiseptic Beauty and The Almanacs, gig flyer supporting Deskimos at The Dial.
++ Hi Declan! Thanks so much for being up for this interview! How are you? Are you still involved with music?
I’m well thanks Roque and thank you for the opportunity to talk about The Fantastics.
Yes I’m still involved with music and Screen Prints have a new album released by Fastcut Records this year following the ‘Look Forward’ EP which was released at the end of 2021.
++ 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?
My first music memories were the records I heard at home, usually my Father’s Irish music and the records he played every Sunday afternoon.
As the youngest of five, my older siblings brought many records into the house in their teenage years. This ranged from Two Tone bands, The Jam, The Smiths, The Human League, Dexys to even more Irish music such as Planxty and the Pogues that my brothers and sister also loved !
This led to me picking up the mandolin as my first instrument at 8 years old and largely playing Irish traditional and folk music until my early teens.
There was an Ukrainian lady who played mandolin during mass at the church we went to and she taught me the basics of the mandolin for about 6 months or so.
I progressed playing along by ear to the folk records we had in the house.
At the same time as this, my uncle had bought my sister The Beatles Red and Blue albums on cassette; they probably made the biggest impression on me in terms of forming a lifelong love for melodic guitar pop.
++ Had you been in other bands before The Fantastics? What about the other band members? If so, how did all of these bands sound? Are there any recordings?
In my early teens during 1986 -1988, I learned to play guitar and joined a school band with friends playing covers at social clubs and weddings. Also in that band was Sean who played keyboards at the time, he went on to play bass in The Fantastics.
++ Where were you from originally?
We were all from Derby, in the East midlands.
++ How did you all meet? How was the recruiting process?
Sean I met at school when I was 13 and he was 15 and then he joined the covers band I mentioned before.
I met Justin through an art class at school when I was 14, we had a shared love of music. The school band came to an end when I was 15 and when Justin and I left school in 1990 we both went to college to primarily study art.
Around this time I was mainly playing guitar on some of Sean’s songs and ideas which were based around his synthesisers and sequencer and some of these songs eventually got on some local Fanzines and tapes.
Sean was a few years older than me and Justin and had already been at college for a few years. We all socialised together and went to pubs, clubs and gigs in Derby and Nottingham.
Justin and I were also studying music at college and we were drawn to the music department facilities, they had a basic studio with 4 track cassette portastudios. From here we started to demo formative original material.
We met many like-minded people at college through our art and music courses and that led me to meet Stuart, sharing a room with him on an art trip to Paris. I found out that he could play guitar as well, so through 1991 Stuart, Sean and myself started to get together regularly, playing some songs I had written and with Sean now on bass.
Our drummer at the time was a friend of a friend and although competent, really wasn’t into the same type of music as the rest of us and didn’t really gel with the music we were listening to at the time.
This was mainly American alternative bands such as Dinosaur Jr and Sonic Youth as well as Teenage Fancub and My Bloody Valentine.
On needing a new less fancy and less roto tom obsessed drummer, Justin had started to play drums and joined in with rehearsing and playing with us during autumn of 1991.
Fantastics were born with myself on guitar and lead vocals, Sean on bass and backing vocals, Stuart on guitar and Justin on Drums.
++ I do know that after The Fantastics you were in the amazing Screen Prints. Would you say there are any similarities between the bands or not?
The main similarity would be that even then, as my first proper band and as the main songwriter in Fantastics, I wanted to have melodic pop songs at the core of the sound.
Whilst there are obvious major differences in that the Fantastics were a snapshot of our then love of the loud alternative noise bands of the time, in some of the earliest rehearsals we chose to cover Bananarama’s ‘Robert De Niro’s Waiting’ and were drawn to a classic pop sensibility.
There was certainly an intention to meld the two together in Fantastics. We were aged 17-19 and the energy you have at that age is certainly apparent on tracks that were recorded during our rehearsals.
Screen Prints formed in 1997 after Justin and I moved to Manchester.
After five more years of life experience, our tastes and record collections had expanded, resulting in Screen Prints being a more mature and considered project in relation to sound and arrangements, but still with a pop sensibility at the heart of it.
Justin had also started to write songs, he also sang and played other instruments as well as drums which inevitably added to the Screen Prints sound.
++ How was Derby at the time of The Fantastics? 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? Also were there any bands that you liked?
Derby was then, and probably still is now, a very heavy metal and heavy rock obsessed town. If you weren’t musically into that, you were inherently a bit of an outsider.
That was certainly the case in 1991/1992 but fortunately around that time one of the record stores, Way Ahead, had a new manager who steered it away from metal and heavy rock to more alternative genres, stocking US imports from independent artists and labels and also more UK independent bands.
Other interesting records they stocked were things like Pebbles compilations of 60’s garage punk.
Also at that time another Derby record store BPM, whilst predominantly selling acid house, hip hop and dance music, stocked the likes of Creation and Sarah records which we were also buying and into.
The Dial was a great music venue with many UK and US independent bands playing there, which we regularly went to see.
Also in 1992 the Wherehouse opened which went on to become a relatively successful venue putting Derby further on the touring circuit throughout the 90’s.
We shared gigs with several local bands and I would say our favourite local band at that time would most definitely be The Almanacs who were also college friends.
Paul and Ian were good lads with good songs and Justin also helped them out on drums on a few occasions (as well as several other Derby bands at the time such as Pathfinder and Toolbox).
Paul gave me a cassette with a collection of Almanacs songs on one side and a collection of I think his dad’s Postcard label singles on the other, as well as some Pre-Forever Changes Love tracks. That tape was a firm favourite for several years to come. I also recall they covered Wings ‘Band on the Run” which in grunge obsessed 1992 was certainly brave and something we could relate to!
Another Derby band we also really liked were The Deskimoes fronted by Nick Glyn-Davies and who I think like The Almanacs, got to release tracks on the ubiquitous cassette compilation tape with a fanzine from around that time. Nick still plays with his band Paytron Saint.
++ How was the creative process for you? Where did you usually practice?
Looking back, my memories are that the creative process for the Fantastics songs came from me writing them at home and then bringing them to the rehearsals pretty much fully formed as in intro/verse/chorus etc. and then each member of the band then suggesting and adding their own parts.
At the time I recall that I was really getting into the Beach Boys and The Byrds. Sean was great at naturally getting the harmonies and Justin and Stuart were also fans of that sound. Sometimes I’d already have a demo done on the four track at college and then would share that with the others.
Initially we practised at Sean’s flat which was in the centre of Derby, we would practise acoustically to keep the noise levels down, and then go to the Blue Note afterwards – a great club where lots of other Derby bands went to!
Once Justin had joined, we moved to rehearsing in the Arches as Justin had his drum kit permanently set up there.
++ What’s the story behind the band’s name?
At first we had the name The Fantastic Four – There were re-runs of the cartoon at that time on TV and also there was a band called Captain America that we liked.
Justin may have had a few old comics of Fantastic Four too though I don’t think the rest of us were particularly fans of Marvel or comics!
There was also a pop art element to it as well and it was all very tongue in cheek – we often did things such as coming on to a track by Slayer as intro music at some gigs.
We eventually changed our name to Fantastics (probably fear of getting sued if we hit the big time!) and did most of our gigs with that name.
++ Also you have this cool logo using the Fanta imagery. Is this new? Or was this used back in the day? Who came up with it?
I think that added to the pop art vibe we were going for.
Sean was solely responsible for this at the time and so I asked him :
“That Fanta logo was originally used in the early 90s.
I was in a supermarket and noticed the Fanta orange bottle, and realised the first 5 letters of the band’s name were already done for me, all I had to do was fill in the rest!
At the time there was no such thing as photoshop or illustrator, so I had the label enlarged on a colour photocopier (which were relatively new and very expensive at the time) at a local copy shop called Derby Canon Colour Copy Centre or D4C.
I then traced the letters, cut and pasted (physically with scissors and Prit stick)and also used dry letter transfer sheets called Letraset for the rest of the text.
I’ve since redone the logo in illustrator, but was not nearly as much fun!
We also had a set of t-shirts done with the logo, again printed by D4C.”
++ Who would you say were influences in the sound of the band?
On listening to the Arches rehearsal tape for the first time in many years , it was very apparent to me that we had a few core contemporary influences at the time.
Firstly the overall wall of loud open chord strummed guitar was our version of Dinosaur Jr, Neil Young’s Weld LP and God Knows it’s True era Teenage Fanclub.
Secondly the songs, harmonies and structures came from a time when I was getting totally engrossed in ‘64 – ‘65 Beatles and Beach Boys; in particular I can hear a big ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ LP influence on those songs. Definitely channelling that feel anyway.
I was also really getting into Phil Spector and his girl groups around then but not the paranoid obsessive behaviour and guns!
By mid 1992 we were getting into different bands as you do at that age, but for me I also recall listening a lot to Big Star Third album as I had picked up a second hand vinyl copy in Way Ahead records. I hadn’t realised that the on trend Big Star records at that time were the two first ones.
Third is still one of my favourite records to this day and can certainly hear the influence of some of its more melodic moments in those Fantastics songs.
We also all enjoyed Matthew Sweet’s Girlfriend LP that year and covered a song from it at the last few Fantastics gigs.
++ From what I understand there was only one tape recorded, a live to two-track at the Arches rehearsal space in Spring 1992. Is that so? Or are there more songs by the band?
Yes, that’s right. It’s a shame we never properly recorded our songs in a studio or even on a 4 track.
The Arches EP is essentially a rehearsal at the Arches one night where Sean had the idea of taping our set at the time live to his cassette deck.
He brought down a little line mixer and a few cheap microphones and we just tried to get a reasonable balance of all the instruments after running through the first few songs.
This was made very challenging given how loud we played and not hearing each other without headphones or monitors.
There were other songs on the tape but they were just us having fun and running through covers of Neil Young, The Vaselines and My Bloody Valentine when Sean had popped out to pick up his girlfriend ! Thankfully they’ll never see the light of day.
In terms of more Fantastics songs than those released on the Arches EP, I think we had by the time we played our last gig another 5 songs (Chequered Shirt, Beat Girl, Mick Johnson – named after the Brookside character, Always Wonder and Baby I Don’t Go There).
++ Tell me about this tape. It was thought lost, right? How did you end up finding it?
It was in Sean’s possession thought lost many years ago. On Sean locating it, he transferred it to CD and sent copies to us all.
During the lockdown in the early part of 2021, I thought I’d have a go at cleaning it up and trying to rebalance it as best I could using some techniques I’d discovered through doing the Screen Prints stuff.
++ The Arches rehearsal space doesn’t exist anymore. Where was it? I read there were secret tunnels and rats?! What can you tell me about it?
Justin and I had part time jobs at a Petrol station on the outskirts of Derby city centre and directly behind it was a series of dark and damp tunnels used mainly by car mechanics under an old disused railway depot.
Justin rented a room in the Arches which became our rehearsal space for several months during 1992. The picture on the Arches EP is a photo of the entrance to the Arches from that time.
It’s been disused and bricked up for many years now, there are a number of YouTube videos where various people have recently explored the derelict tunnels, if you’re curious, search for Abandoned – Great Northern Railway Warehouse – Derby.
++ And how hard was to restore this tape? Who did this job?
Through recording Screen Prints material over many years, I’d gotten some gear and software that I thought could both clean up and enhance the Fantastics live rehearsal tape.
It wasn’t that difficult as I didn’t want to overdo it and clean it up too much, which could lose the obvious rawness of the performance.
What was done helped bring out the vocals and bass quite a bit and got rid of some of the muddiness that was on the original tape.
We all agreed that it was nice that a document of the band had survived (albeit a rough one) and we should self release it on digital platforms and to archive it as such.
++ On the “Arches EP” tape there are four songs that seem to have a teenage/young love sort of narrative. How old were you at the time if I can ask?!
I was 17,Justin 17, Stuart 18 and Sean 19.
++ And do tell me, why weren’t proper recordings by the band?
I suppose that we were only a gigging band for 6 months in 1992, so playing gigs and having fun as a group of friends was our main focus.
I think we would have eventually recorded our songs on 4 track if we had played together into 1993 as Sean had set up a little studio and then Justin and I really got into recording on 4 track in the following years.
Justin and I did go into a proper studio in Mansfield for a day in 1993 (using dole discount!) and recorded 2 songs, one of which was a song the Fantastics played called ‘ Always Wonder’ and had lyrics by Justin.
I think we had an idea of doing something under a new name but it never happened.
I have them on cassette somewhere and should do something with it as ‘Always Wonder’ sounds good to me for a rushed session. It certainly gives an idea of what a studio recorded Fantastics might have sounded like.
++ Was there any interest by any label to put your songs out?
No none at all. We weren’t together very long, didn’t play outside of Derby or have any songs recorded on tape to give to a fanzine or label.
++ And lastly, if you could have picked a label at the time where you think your music would have fitted, or a label you would have loved your music to be released, which would that have been?
In 1992, a lot of the bands we all loved were on Creation Records so I’d have to say Creation. However, given our sound at that time and that they already had Velvet Crush, Teenage Fanclub and were about to release the Sugar album, I’m not sure they would have been interested in us!
I think realistically and with the songs properly recorded, we may have fitted on some of the smaller independent labels such as Paperhouse or the early Slumberland records. A single on Seminal Twang that year would have been great too!
++ I think my favourite song of yours might as well be “Dream Meeting”, wondering if you could tell me what inspired this song? What’s the story behind it?
I don’t have any recollection of writing that song to be honest though I do recall playing it live and thinking it was one of our better songs.
Listening to the lyrics, I would say they have very little personal significance or meaning at the time! I was getting into a very pure pop and bubblegum aesthetic and therefore wanted the lyrics to be very universal and probably somewhat clichéd in its themes of unrequited attraction or the rush of a new relationship.
++ If you were to choose your favorite The Fantastics’ song, which one would that be and why?
I like Dream Meeting too but would say from the four songs on the EP, Longing Desire is my favourite.
As an early piece of songwriting, I’m particularly fond of the melodies and how they cascade down and react against the 7th chord .
I also remember being pleased with the melody and harmonies against the major to minor chord change and then the key change for the chorus.
It’s all about melody and the lyrics will just be pure bubblegum again!
It would have really benefited of course from being properly recorded so all this could be heard better.
Also we had a song called ‘Baby I Don’t Go There ‘ which I think we all really enjoyed playing. It was a song where the guitars were less overdriven, cleaner and was more out and out jangle pop. We did rehearse it on the night we recorded the Arches EP but the take of it wasn’t great. It’s unfortunate there’s not a Fantastics version to share but part of it does make an appearance on the new Screen Prints record.
Sometimes it’s good to go back to ideas and reuse them !
++ What about gigs? Did you play many?
We played around 6 or 7 gigs from April to August 1992.
++ I read about two venues you used to play that are defunct now, The Warehouse and The Dial. How important were these two places for the band?
We played all our gigs at those two venues. These were all joint bills with other local bands and never progressed to supporting touring bands.
As already mentioned, both venues were great for Derby at the time in that they brought some bands that we actually liked into Derby.
During 1992 and the next few years, you’d get bands in Derby such as Pavement, Velvet Crush, Urge Overkill, Jad Fair, The Pastels, Eugenius, Heavenly, BMX Bandits.
I remember being at quite a notorious Bikini Kill & Huggy Bear gig at the Wherehouse in 1993 that ended up in a sort of Jesus and Mary chain type mini riot ! I think there was an awful sexist comment from someone that triggered it all and on reflection kind of sums Derby up at that time. A clash of progression and the provincial.
++ And what were the best gigs you remember? Any anecdotes you can share?
I recall one of our gigs at the Dial having a nice buzz around it. I think it was our 2nd or 3rd gig and quite a few friends from college and family turned up. A friend of a friend was a photographer and took pictures. I still somewhere have the negative sheets.
++ And were there any bad ones?
We played upstairs at the Wherehouse for Sean’s sister’s sixth form leaving party.
I remember being very nervous a few hours before and thought it would be a good idea to calm the nerves by having a few drinks and so Sean, Stuart and I went off to a nearby pub.
I overdid the self medicating for the nerves and we turned up quite intoxicated to say the least!
What followed was a pretty disastrous performance from us as I couldn’t remember the songs but I do remember doing a 15 minute white noise feedback solo at some point.
It would have been charming if we had the stage presence and charisma to blag it!
I hold my hand up for that embarrassment and apologies again to the rest of them.
++ When and why did The Fantastics stop making music? Were you involved in any other bands afterwards?
Stuart and Sean went to university in Salford and Leeds respectively in September 1992 so I think it just came to a natural conclusion for us. We would visit Stuart in Salford and Sean would come back to Derby quite a bit in the proceeding years, we would occasionally all meet up and sometimes the guitars would come out and we’d go through the Fantastics songs.
Justin and I did some 4 track recordings of ideas and played in some projects with some friends in Nottingham, but didn’t do anything particularly serious and pop song based till forming Screen Prints in Manchester in 1997 with Richard Farnell.
Richard was originally from Sheffield and was working in Vinyl Exchange and had been in the early 90s band The Suncharms.
++ Has there been any The Fantastics reunions?
For the last ten or so years we all meet up in Derby when I’m back visiting family. This tends to be about 2 or 3 times a year.
About 5 years ago, we got together with guitars and drums in a workshop Sean was renting one Saturday afternoon, before going on our usual pub crawl!
We had a great time playing some Fantastics songs and managed to remember most of them without too much trouble, we also took some photos to mark the occasion.
++ Was there any interest from the radio? TV?
No. For the reasons above.really. It was all over soon as a gigging band and was all very local and low key.
++ What about the press? Did they give you any attention?
Only a feature on us in the local paper, Derby Evening Telegraph. I think Sean still has the clipping and it was for a gig we did at the Dial in July 1992. Supported by another local band Ghia who I think were one of the many bands that a college friend Gary Thatcher led. He seemed to have a new band or project every week and had been in White Town with Jyoti.
++ What about fanzines?
Fantastics didn’t get into any fanzines from memory. Some of Sean’s songs and projects from before the Fantastics that myself and Justin had played on were in Fanzines that would come with a cassette of songs by bands.
++ Looking back in retrospect, what would you say was the biggest highlight for the band?
Due to how things panned out, I don’t think there was one big highlight. I look back on the whole experience – six months of writing and building the songs and sound up, and then six months of gigging was a great formative experience and time musically, with some great life long friends.
++ Aside from music, what other hobbies do you have?
Most of my passions and hobbies are music based. Aside from playing instruments and recording music, I do still buy a lot of music and particularly vinyl records. I’ve never stopped buying vinyl really for the past 30 years.
I also enjoy football and whiskey!
++ I always like to ask to UK friends, what football team do you support? And if you go to the matches often?
I’ve supported Celtic since I was young and this was mainly due to my Irish heritage and what teams you were encouraged to support or follow. My older brothers had Celtic tops which I inherited and always liked their ethos as a club.
In terms of English and local teams, I was a ‘Junior Ram’ when quite young and would get taken to Derby County matches. In my late teens I got into following them again and particularly since leaving Derby.
I try to go to as many home and away matches as I can living in Manchester, and have been to quite a few this season with my son. It’s been quite the season but at least we now know we are in League One next year. Upwards and Onwards as Edwyn Collins once said!
++ Never been to Derby so I’d like to ask a local about what you would 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?
As I haven’t lived in Derby for the past 26 years, I can’t say I know what’s new or up and coming, but as a city I do still have a great fondness and love of the place and the people.
When the Fantastics get together or after football, I tend to enjoy going to the many pubs that Derby has – it’s known for having lots of pubs within a small distance of each other though I’m not sure if it holds some record for this like I was once told !
Unfortunately, Derby no longer has the music venues it had when I was living there, The Dial was demolished to build student accommodation, the Wherehouse became a club rather than live music venue which has since closed, but there are now other places to play such as The Flowerpot,The Hairy Dog, The Venue, and the club we used to frequent, The Blue Note, is still going strong and occasionally has live bands.
There is a great art space and Cinema which shows independent films (QUAD) and a fair bit of industrial heritage to show off with places such as the Silk Mill Museum, Derby being the very centre geographically in the country played an important part of the industrial revolution.
++ Anything else you’d like to add?
Just to say thanks so much again Roque for showing an interest.
I hope to put some more Fantastics related music on the bandcamp page in time (Chequered shirt / 4 track rehearsal recording of Beat Girl) so please follow us on Bandcamp and keep an eye out !
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Listen
The Fantastics – Dream Meeting
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