Thanks so much again to Jon for the interview! After The Word’s (who I interviewed last week) demise his next band was the great Poppy Factory who released four singles in the early 90s! If you have never heard them before, please make sure to discover them now!

++ Hi Jon! Thanks so much again for another interview! How are you doing? Are there any cool music plans coming up?

Hello Roque, good to hear from you again. This is becoming a habit!
I’m fine thanks and currently working on some new icecream4freaks tracks… I figure we have enough already for a first LP but no means of putting it out (other than band-camp, Soundcloud etc) so if anyone out there is interested…
Oh and look out for a new track “Oh What a Lovely War” going onto band-camp soon.

++ Last time we talked about The Word and today we’ll talk about Poppy Factory. Let’s get the chronology right then. When did Poppy Factory start, was it immediately after The Word? Was there any other projects in between or at the same time perhaps?

++ Compared to the time you were in The Word, had Bradford changed much? Were there any good bands that you were friends and liked to play with while in Poppy Factory?

We were quite insular at the time, almost working in secret…we didn’t mix much with other bands… I guess we wanted to have something to offer first.

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

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

I had read a book about the First World War, called The Poppy Factory, and I liked the two words together… sort of “pop” and “industrial”…It seemed to work.

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

++ Most of your records came out on Chrysalis Records, a sort of biggish label. How did you catch their attention? How was the experience working with them compared to working with an indie label?

++ I guess working with a bigger label meant that your releases came out in all sort of formats, CD, 12″, 7″, cassette. Just out of curiosity what would be your favourite format to release music and why?

Vinyl. It sounds better…

++ You were managed by Far North Music and personally managed by Gordon Roscoe. What did they bring to the table? How important were they to the story of Poppy Factory?

They got us signed after only a handful of gigs. I’m not sure they really understood the band dynamic though.

++ Your first release was the fantastic EP “Fabulous Beast”. I noticed you worked with two different producers for the tracks on it like John Williams and David Creffield. Did the label pick them for you? How were those recording sessions?

++ And in general, how were recording sessions for Poppy Factory different to the ones with The Word?

One big difference was the arrival of computers… everything had been analogue previously, now we had DAW. Technology opened up our horizons a lot, and we liked to experiment. Dave played a big part in that… also we didn’t have to worry about money as much.

++ All of your releases came out in 1991. You must have been terribly busy that year. So “7×7” single also came out then and this time around it included 2 mixes. I always wonder about mixes, like in my experience a lot of bands don’t like them but because of the times they had to go on with them as labels wanted to reach new audiences with them. What is your take on these remixes?

++ The song “7×7”, which is wonderful by the way, main refrain is “Call me Charlie Bubbles”. I am guessing it is a nod to the movie of the same name. Was this a favourite movie for you at the time? Did any other movies inspired you?

++ Then came the “Stars” single! It is yet another rush of pure pop. But what is a mystery to me is that on the back of the sleeve it says that the songs are taken from a forthcoming album called “Good Time”. As far as I know this album was never released! What happened? Did you record it? How many songs were on it? Will it ever see the light of day?

We recorded the LP and Chrysalis pulled it. They were being bought out/taken over by EMI at the time and all was chaos… we were downright unlucky… also they thought the sales of the singles were not good enough.
If they had promoted them a bit more, that would’ve helped.

++ Then there was a self-released 12″ with two different mixes for “Drug House” right? What happened with Chrysalis? Why did you decide to self-release? And how did that work out for you?

Those were released by Chrysalis but made to look like white labels for club DJs… they didn’t set the world alight ha ha.

++ When it comes to compilation I notice you were featured a couple of times on compilations given away by magazines like Lime Lizard or Vox. Did you read any of them? Or what was your music magazine of choice?

Lime Lizard interviewed us I recall, but we were too busy to worry about how we came across… our label and the management worried about that ha ha.

++ The compilation that caught my eye was one called “The Best of the Mark Goodier Radio 1 Sessions”. From what I understand the version of “Stars” that is included was recorded live at the BBC Radio 1 Studios. Was this the only song recorded at that time? Was it a proper BBC session?

++ Are there more songs that remain unreleased?

“Mosquito”and “Submarine” are the two songs missing (I really like them)… there are other tracks that weren’t going to be included and some demos.
I wanted “Mosquito” for the follow up to “7×7”, but I was out-voted.
By everyone including the janitor’s dog. I should put them online I guess.

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

It’s Jock’s lyric about one of his heroes… Twiggy!

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

++ What about gigs? Did you play many? 

We did two British tours… the first doing some support slots for the likes of Cud, then headlining, I can’t remember too many details. Touring rots your brain. 

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

I do remember two underage girls coming to a gig in Wales. They spent all their money getting there and on merchandise.When we found out we gave them a lift home. Their parents would’ve been worried.

++ And were there any bad ones?

Yeah… one or two, but you tend to blank them out.

++ When and why did Poppy Factory stop making music?

I think we lost the plot. Jock and me had stopped speaking to each other. I nearly walked from the second tour… it was pretty grim. I was asked to leave eventually… I would have left anyway…

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

Mick played with Cud and Embrace.

++ Has there been any Poppy Factory reunion?

No. I don’t think I would care to get into that!

++ Did you get much attention from the radio? TV?

We did some TV and a lot of radio.

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

A fair amount. “7×7” got single of the week in The NME and Melody Maker. 

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

++ Anything else you’d like to add?

Ok, well again, thanks for the interest.
There are videos for “7×7” and “Stars” on Youtube posted by various people I’ve never heard of…I’m the good-looking one with the keyboards!
If you liked Poppy Factory you may like icecream4freaks…
Regarding Poppy Factory… Thanks to all who bought the records and supported us.

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Listen
Poppy Factory – 7×7