I wrote about the great Australian band The -Ists who released just one record back in the 80s a long time ago. Happily I got in touch with Jack Robins and he answered a bunch of my questions. There might be some day a 2nd part for this interview as not all questions were answered, but I wanted to share this and make them public as it is proper indiepop history!
++ Hi Jack! Thanks so much for being up for this interview! How are you? Are you still involved with music?
Yes, I’m still involved with music. I do acoustic stuff in the alt-country/country folk area as a solo artist under the name Jack Robins (Jack is a nickname I’ve had since I was about 13) and also have an indie rock/pop band called The Idea of Light. With the former, I have an album out called Notes by Jack Robins and the Pretty Problems, available on all major streaming services and with the latter I’ve recorded four tracks but am preparing some more.
++ 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 from the radio in the early to mid 1960s (I am quite old!). My first instrument was guitar and I’ve stuck to it, hoping to improve. I wanted to sing, play guitar and write songs from fairly early on and that’s what I’ve been doing since, interspersed with dull things like making a living. I was a fan of the Beatles, Stones, Bee Gees, Who, Small Faces and some folk and blues from the likes of Buffy St Marie from the early days. After that, it was Hendrix, Cream, Traffic etc, but then punk came along and blew it all apart. I loved the Clash, the Jam, the Pistols but mostly Elvis Costello, of whom I remain an enormous fan.
++ Had you been in other bands before The -Ists? I read you were in The Units, right? Tell me a bit about your other bands, any releases?
Before the -ists, I had been in The Jaggels but my first serious band was The Units (not the ones from the US of course), who had one single, Baby, You Flirt b/w Grill Room. The -ists was put together in 1987 on a 10 month visit back to Adelaide from London, where I had moved in 1983 to try to further my musical career there (with a notable lack of success). I got drummer Craig ‘Max’ Rodda into the the -ists from the Screaming Believers and also Rees Hughes, the Believers’ first bass player and an ex-bandmate from The Jaggels. We played for some months as a three-piece and recorded ’Rose’ during that time. Some tracks were subsequently played on John Peel’s iconic BBC Radio One show the next year, after I got back to London.
++ What about the other band members? Are there any songs recorded?
You can hear Craig on loads of records from Adelaide, including of course all the Believers’ stuff and also the first Exploding White Mice album, Brute Force and Ignorance. Craig plays for my current band The Idea of Light.
++ Where were you from originally?
I’m originally from Adelaide – born and raised here – while Rees was original from Blackpool in the UK, where his dad was a professional sax player and had a variety show on Tyne Tees Television at one stage before emigrating, and Craig grew up in Broken Hill, NSW.
++ How was Adelaide at the time of The -Ists? 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?
When the -ists were playing around Adelaide, the main bands I can remember were the Screaming Believers, the Spikes, the Dagoes and the Mad Turks from Istanbul; there were obviously loads of others but I can’t bring them to mind at the minute.
++ How was the band put together? How was the recruiting process?
The band was put together simply through knowing the guys and saying ‘hey, do you want to help me play my songs?’ There were no lineup changes; we didn’t last long enough for that!
++ What’s the story behind the band’s name? It’s a very curious name to say the least…
The name came from a friend of mine’s observation that there were so many ‘isms’ about, which meant of course that there were loads of ‘ists’ about to practice those ‘isms’. It was to leave the first bit open for people to fill for themselves. Being so esoteric, it naturally led to a pile of misunderstandings.
++ You released in 1987 the “Rose” mini-album. It came out on Greasy Pop Records. I don’t know much about the label, I know it was local, but I was wondering if you could tell me a little more about them?
Greasy Pop was set up by Doug Thomas, who was in the Dagoes. I don’t know what the process was but he had released records by other groups and some compilations under the name of ‘An Oasis in a Sea of Noise). Doug sent me some records when I went back to London and I passed them on to John Peel, who played some tracks from some of them that I know of.
++ And so, how did you end up working with them. How did you catch their attention? Was it through a demo tape?
As far as catching their attention, Adelaide was (and is) such a small scene that we had to come across each other at some stage and he offered to release the LP if we covered the recording costs, which we did.
++ There are etchings on the runout grooves of the record saying “The Ists Light Shines” on the A side and “Inwards Every Time” on the B side. What’s the story behind these phrases?
The runout etchings I have no idea about. I guess someone did them in the pressing process. I had no idea they were there.
++ Also do tell about the artwork, the flower which is not a rose on the cover. Who made it?
The artwork was initially to be done by my nephew. He did a wonderful, realistic drawing of a rose, which wasn’t what I wanted at all, so with my left hand, I drew a really crappy one and did the lettering as well. I wanted that childish, naive, approximate look.
++ Are there unreleased songs by The -Ists?
There are loads of unreleased songs by the -ists, some of which I now do in The Idea of Light and others that will probably never see the light of day; but hopefully will!
++ Why were there no more releases by the band? Was there any interest from labels?
I took the record to some record companies when I got back to London and apart from one A&R guy at Polydor, didn’t really get much interest. I sent one to Tony Visconti and went to see what he thought and pick it up if he didn’t like it but the prick had binned it. Arrogant arsehole.
++ I read that there is a documentary called “Rock in a Hard Place”. On my previous blog pot i was asking if the documentary was worth tracking down? If the bands featured are mostly rock or there are other styles? And how many minutes we get of The -Ists? If you were prominently featured? Tell me a bit about this documentary!
There is the documentary A Rock in a Hard Place but the -ists aren’t on it. Like I said, we only existed for a few months in 1987 and there was certainly no footage of us.
++ Were you involved in any other bands afterwards?
As for what I’ve been doing since, it’s a long story, but it involves continuously writing songs, playing in London acoustic clubs and working as a secretary for various record companies and John Reid Enterprises, at the time Elton John’s management company (also Barry Humphries’ management, so I’m in a bit of mourning mode at the moment).
++ Aside from music, what other hobbies do you have?
I’ve also been doing some acting, most recently as Prospero in a production of the Tempest, went to university and got myself a PhD, and written a children’s book.
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