05
Mar

Thanks so much to Robb Monn for the interview! Razor 18 was a superb shoegaze band from Washington DC. They were active in the early/mid 90s which was a great time for DC bands. As you’ll read they were contemporaries to Velocity Girl, The Ropers and more. Must have been a terrific time for an indiepop fan in DC.

The band released one 7″ during their time, the “High Intensity Noise” on Popfactory Records in 1994 (Robb tells me he hates the art for this record)

I had written about the band previously on the blog after finding their recordings on Soundcloud. Now I get to learn more details about this great band! Enjoy!

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

I’m doing well! It is a sunny, windows-open kind of day here in Pasadena and that’s keeping my chin up.

Music is a big part of my daily life, but more of a private thing now… a practice. I play piano every day, and I spend a good bit of time building processes and effects that I use to make music. I mostly just play solo improvised pieces that make a lot of use of tape loops, looper pedals, and things like that.

And for the past year I’ve been making music with some folks from my hometown when I visit. Also all improvised, like ecstatic jazz.

++ 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 musical memories are from when I was really young. Two or three. My parents had a very good stereo and my favorite records were Mike Oldfield’s “Tubular Bells” and The Beatles “Sgt Peppers”. I can remember laying with my head near the speaker on our green rug with my eyes closed and just traveling into the space in the music. I took crazy amounts of medication during that time to prevent asthma attacks and I feel that my love for the psychedelic kind of music, music that was about certain sounds in based in that.

I played violin from age 8-10 through my school. And then I dropped it for alto sax at 10 years old, which I still play often. At first I had lessons through my elementary school, and then school band, and in high school jazz band. I was serious about sax and took private lessons and worked really hard at it. I wanted to go to school for jazz performance.

I was born in 1973 in a small town (pop 6000) in the middle of rural PA. So the music around me me was top 40 and country. We didn’t have cable or MTV, so it was a total music desert—it might be really hard to understand for people that didn’t live through it, but there was no way to know that there was any other music. There was a “classic rock” station from Baltimore called WGRX that sometimes we could hear in the car a few towns over. I convinced my dad to wire up an antenna on our roof for FM radio so that I could get it. There I fell in love with Bowie, Led Zeppelin, The White Album, and Pink Floyd. My uncle in Pittsburg would also let me tape his records when I visited and he gave me King Crimson, and, most importantly Jean Michelle Jarre’s “Oxygen” and “Equinoxe” and Vangelis’s “Spiral” on tapes, which I am still obsessed with. Then when I was maybe 13 I found another radio station called WHFS which was an “alternative rock” station and I was off to the races. REM, U2, The Replacements, Squeeze, The Smiths, and most importantly The Cure came to my ears.

I figured out that a newsstand a few towns over had SPIN magazine, and then when I was 16 I called the radio station at a college in Washington DC, which was 2 hours away, to ask where the good record store was. I started making covert trips to Vinyl In in Silver Spring, Maryland after school in my Honda and spending every penny that I had there.

An eclectic mix tape from my senior year of High School would have The Cure, Something of My Bloody Valentine’s Isnt Anything, something from Miles Davis’s Bitches Brew, The Smiths, Throwing Muses, The Pixies, some Vangelis.

++ Had you been in other bands before Razor18?

I was in a really good high school jazz band that played gigs, and then in college I was in a pro-level jazz ensemble. I played with Junction for a little while, which then became The Delta 72.

++ What about the other band members? Are there any songs recorded? 

Bill was in a band called Soft Pleasing Light and there is a split 7″ (I think) with them and Eggs, which was a popular DC band in the early 90s. Sarah had written and played her own songs for years and years. Ivan and our first drummer Greg were in a college cover band that played a bunch of gigs.

++ Where were you from originally?

I am from Waynesboro, PA. Sarah was from Washington DC, Ivan was from Croatia, Bill grew up in Boston, and the drummers: Greg:Indiana, Ben: Philadelphia, John: Louisville KY, and Tim Arlington, VA.

++ How was DC at the time of Razor18?

It was maybe the best possible music city and time that I can imagine. DC had been in decline as a city for a decade when I moved there in 1992. As in the population was going down every year… a very late stage white flight. Rent was cheap for apartments and for commercial places, so there were a lot of bookstores, cafes, record stores, and venues. I’d been going to the 930 since high school… the old one that was maybe big enough for 150 people, and that place was amazing. Before alt/indie really broke that’s where you’d see the touring bands like Ride, Lush, My Bloody Valentine, PJ Harvey, Throwing Muses, The Pixies… in a tiny little room. There was also the 15 minute club, DC Space, punk shows at St Stephen’s church basement. DC was full of people trying to make things work for themselves, lots of group houses with a shared mission, or a label, lots of band houses with a practice space in the basement. Fugazi was there, Bad Brains, lots of hardcore shows and history, which I loved. And when I get there there were some other things happening. The Lilys were in DC at the time, making singles, Teen Beat was releasing really good stuff. Unrest Imperial FFRR had just come out and was playing everywhere.

++ Were there any bands that you liked?

I loved Velocity Girl — before they signed with subpop they were doing something really radical. Archie Moore’s guitar sound was so enormous you could lose yourself. I loved the Lilys a lot, they played really fantastic shows… Archie was in that band, too. I have always been deeply committed to Fugazi since the first song I ever heard… their sound and their politics are incredible. Unrest was a huge band in DC at the time. Going to see the good local music was a religious thing for me… the idea that something wonderful was happening, that people were making something new, it was a real inspiration.

++ Were there any good record stores?

My girlfriend worked at Tower on George Washington University’s campus where I went to school. She was the indie buyer and they had really amazing records there. GO! Compact disks in Arlington was even better, and I went there every week to spend my paycheck. And Vinyl Ink had the deepest catalogue and their clerks weren’t snooty. You could go in there and tell them what you liked and they would load you up with things you didn’t know about.

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

So many! There were too many great bands from DC to keep track of. So many good 7″ releases and we would get together and tape from each other’s collection.

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

Ben put an ad in the city paper for a drummer and guitarist. Ivan and Greg answered. They had moved from Indiana and wanted to start a band. They were metalheads that had found Ride and The Pale Saints, and Lush and wanted to make music like that.

Ben was living in an insane house near American University with 13 other guys, including my best friend Matt from my hometown. Matt told me they were looking for a female lead singer and they played “the kind of music you like” and so I went up with my girlfriend Sarah to sit in. They hired her that day but didn’t want me. I convinced them a few weeks later.

++ Was there any lineup changes?

We had a lot of drummers. Greg moved away, and then we asked a high school friend Ben Azzara (capitol city dusters, junction, delta 72). Then John Weiss from Rodan drummed with us for a year or so, then Tim Soller through the end.

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

Sarah sang, Ivan and I played guitars, Ben bass and the drummers drummed.

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

Ivan was a bit of a genius with songs. He wrote most of the chord progressions, then Sarah would write the words and melody, and Bill and I would figure out our parts. I always liked to write guitar parts for songs that were already written — I feel like I would make the *sound* of the song, that this was my part.

We practiced in the basement of the house near American U, then in Arlington in a group house, then in my house in Mount Pleasant. We practiced for 3-4 hours, 1-2 times a week.

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

We were having trouble agreeing on anything. Ben got obsessed with called the band Seizure 17 after a friend of his that had just had 17 literal seizures because of a brain injury. Ben was much more into very heavy and extreme music and was always trying to steer us that way. No one else liked it. I said “how about razor 18 instead of seizure 17?” and it stuck.

++ So I found a bunch of recordings of yours on Soundcloud. From what I understand they come from different recording sessions. How many were they?

We had three sessions. One at American University’s recording studio, one at Evil Genius — both of those with Rob Christensen from Eggs. Then we did one at my house with an ADAT setup and minimal equipment. Recording was really, really expensive for us. We were all broke and it cost a minimum of $250 a song to get a good recording, and then $500 to put out 7″s.

++ And these were recorded at the American University and Evil Genius Studios, most of them recorded by Rob Christensen. Can you tell me a little bit about each of these studios and how was working with Rob?

Rob didn’t like our band. We didn’t like his band. I felt like he was a total snob, to be honest. I saw him on the street maybe 15 years ago and we chatted for a while. He works at a really good public radio station in NYC now and seemed like a really nice guy. But back then it was oil and water. He was a good engineer, though — he was able to capture the guitar sounds to a much higher standard than it seemed like other studios were able to, which was important for us.

Studios then were pretty basic affairs. Rob was recording Labradford at American at he same time we were there. American had an EMS SYNTHI synth there and we used that on the P Street Beach track we recorded which was really fun… those were all over the early Stereolab tracks and we were obsessed with those.

++ Were these demo tapes sent to radio stations? Were they used for promotion by the press? Sold them at gigs? What did you do with them?

We cut a 7″ called P Street Beach with Queen Bee on the b-side. We planned two more and we wanted to do a regional tour. We were on a label called Popfactory run by a good friend of mine Josh Banks that had a few other bands on it. Josh sent the tapes out which is how we got played on John Peel.

++ You mentioned you had some 7″s in the works. What happened?

I graduated from college, Sarah and I broke up, Ivan had to finish a thesis and got really, really into Surf music. Then Bill graduated and started applying to PhD programs… it had run its course.

I mean. There had a been a lot of bands that had taken that next step around us for years. It didn’t seem like it was working out for most of them. Everyone doing shitty jobs and saving for short tours a few times a year and trying to recoup recording and pressing costs at merch tables. And the music changed around us. We were a really, really loud and energetic shoegaze band. I think the group that resembled our approach on stage the most was Adorable. We jumped around and made a racket and the sound was the thing. Music shifted in the scene to twee, to indie, to low-fi, to “cool.” We were not cool.

++ Those 7″s were already recorded? Did you already have the songs decided for them? What about a label to put them out?

Yeah — #2 was going to be Wake and Carrying Hostile and #3 was going to be La llorona and Temple. We recorded all the tracks for them.

++ I suppose that must have been frustrating, but did you ever think of posthumously releasing your songs?

No. I loved playing in that band — maybe more than any other band I’ve been in, and we were really good, especially at the end, but I didn’t look back. And when I got into self publishing I did put them out on my soundcloud.

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

I love that song. It was our first song. It is a tribute to Stereolab, whom we had recently seen in an in-store performance. Ivan starts that song with a direct lift of the Stereolab song “The Light that Will Cease to Fail” and then I clobber it with my best version of “French Disco” over top. Sarah’s vocals are a not so buried reference either with her “do do do” chorus. WIth our normal lack of restraint we blew out the chorus of it with big distorted MBV-style sounds.

Sarah and I lived and went to school in Foggy Bottom, a neighborhood in DC just south of Dupont Circle. Dupont, along with the West Village in NYC and the Casto in San Francisco were ground zero for gay liberation in the US and Dupont was still a very wonderful out-out gay enclave in the 90s. P st is in Dupont and where it meets Rock Creek there is a grassy park that goes down into the water… called P st beach. It was a very popular hookup spot for men and I think Sarah came up with the idea for the song after I got propositioned while we were walking by it one night.

++ If you were to choose your favorite Razor18 song, which one would that be and why?

I like La llorona. I love the words, the story of it — about a vengeful ghost who cries out at night over her dead children. I love how Sarah inhabited that personae singing it. I think the guitars on that song are really, really powerful and love the sound. It was my favorite song to play.

++ What about gigs? Did you play many?

We played the 930 a couple of times, the Black Cat a couple of times, the 15 minutes club, Artslab, we played at a local TV station but I never saw the show, we played some acoustic sets… maybe 10 shows?

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

Our first Black Cat show was the best. I think that we opened for the Ropers. The place was packed. The Black Cat had just opened and everyone loved the venue. The 930 was great, but it was small, it was in downtown, and it smelled really, really bad. The Black Cat was a literal breath of fresh air. The stage was higher and the sound was perfect. I think we outdid ourselves that night, we dressed to the nines, and we closed with a 15 minute version of P Street Beach. That gig was better than anything else we ever played, people were blown away. The band was kind of done after that, to be honest.

++ And were there any bad ones?

Really bad!  We played a battle of the bands at a college after only a couple of rehearsals and it was terrible. We got 0 votes.

++ So I counted 8 original songs on Soundcloud. When you played live, did you use to play these 8? Or did you have more in your repertoire? Perhaps some covers?

We played all of these and we played a cover of It’s All Too Much by the Beatles. We had a few covers that we rehearsed but now I can’t remember any of them!

++ And as you mentioned, you played important clubs in the DC scene. Also shared gigs with some important bands from the time. Why do you think you didn’t get the same attention like I don’t know, The Ropers?

We were more popular than the Ropers in DC when we opened for them… I think that is ok to say. I guess we were not as committed and didn’t play as much. We were all in school at the time… and we all got good grades! I know that I was working full time, going to school full time, and playing in razor18. A lot of the people in bands we played with at the clubs had dropped out of school and had made the band the primary focus. We never did that. I don’t think we ever considered it. I didn’t want to get signed to Sub Pop– I figured it would ruin the band and ruin my life… and you know what? I know some folks that went that route and that is exactly what happened.

++ When and why did Razor18 stop making music? Were any of you involved in any other projects afterwards?

1996 sometime is when Ivan quit to focus all his energy on his surf band, The Space Cossacks. We had been fighting some before that.

I never played music with any of those folks again. I started a psychedelic jazz trio called The Julia Galaxy that played a lot of shows through 1999 in DC, and then I started an electro acoustic trio in NYC called Noumena, then another group called Ohler.

Bill played in a band called The Jealous Type for a while. Sarah married the drummer Ben Azzara and is now Sarah Azzara and she has done a few solo records that are very good.

++ Was there any interest from the radio? TV? You mentioned Peel played you?

We were on a public broadcast show in DC once and Peel played us twice. I think that is it!

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

We got a review in Maximum Rock and Roll — they liked it. The DC city paper reviewed us a couple of times and called us “the loudest band in DC.”

++ What about fanzines?

Not that I know of. Just your blog!

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

That Black Cat show I mentioned for sure. I just loved playing our songs and that performance was the highlight. I’ve never felt so comfortable and powerful as a performer before or since.

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

I like photography and making prints, I’m a pretty serious film buff and love to go see films at reparatory film houses.

++ I’ve been to DC just a couple of times but I’d still 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?

I lived in DC from 1992-1999 and have only been back a few times. I’m sorry to say that nearly everything about the city that I loved has gone. I’m sure that it is a fine place to live, but I strongly believe that DC, NYC and Boston have been very much wrecked by the late-90s to present trend of the very wealthy moving back into cities and driving up the rents so that the creative class has had to move out. When I moved there the internet as a conveyance of culture had barely started and you *needed* to live in a city to get exposure to culture– you simply couldn’t find the community, the books, the films, the art, the music anywhere else. It isn’t like that now, I guess.

But if you do find yourself in DC you should see if you can find:

  1. Pakistani food in Arlington, VA (just over the bridge) — look the least fancy place you can
  2. Vegetarian Ethiopian in Adams Morgan (18th street north of U in DC)
  3. The East Wing of the National Gallery
  4. The Rothko room at the Phillips Collection
  5. Go down to Rock Creek near Dupont — past P St Beach — it is very pretty

++ Anything else you’d like to add?

Nope! This was a lot of fun. Thanks for the interest in the music. It inspired me to listen to it all again and it is a very pleasant memory.

I hope you’re well and have a fine day.

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Listen
Razor 18 – P Street Beach (American University version)

04
Mar

Kiddo: used as a friendly way of speaking to a child or young person, especially one you know well: Careful kiddo, stay close to me.

I have remembered a band I used to listen quite a bit back in 2004 and that is Cleveland’s, Ohio, Kiddo.

When I played them again I remembered the songs, especially from their first album, the self-titled “Kiddo” from 2003. There you find the superb boy/girl vocals featuring Christian Doble (also on guitar) and Liz Wittman (on bass). Completing the band was Greg Hyland on drums.

As mentioned the first album came out in 2003, released by Drive-In Records (drive59) and included a bunch of super fun songs. The record had 12 songs: “Woodward Avenue”, “To the Moon”, “New Year’s Resolution Haircut”, “You’re Not Who You Said You Were”, “1992”, “The John Song”, “Amy”, “The Greg Song”, “The Makeout Song”, “Surfin’ Thru”, “The Hell Song” and “Still Not My Girl”.

Worth mentioning is “Woodward Avenue”, which is a location in Detroit. Liz was from Detroit, so no wonder she sings about coney islands, the city’s culinary gem.

It is worth noting that this wasn’t the band’s first release. Previously, in 2002, the band had put out a self-titled EP CDR that had what looks like a dinosaur or some reptile on the artwork. This EP had 5 songs that would end up in the album, “Woodward Avenue”, “The John Song”, “You’re Not Who You Said You Were”, “New Year’s Resolution Haircut” and “Still Not My Girl”.

Lastly in 2004 the band would release “Okay Sweetheart” their second and last album. On Discogs it appears that in 2004 a promo version was put out while the proper record came out in 2007 on Microindie Records (microcd8). I wonder if the dates are correct. In any case the album featured 15 songs, “K-N-O-C-K-O-U-T”, “Mr. Virtuoso’, “This Could Take Forever”, “Julia”, “Otherguys”, “Apple Tree”, “Sunday”, “Annie (Can See)”, “Rocketship”, “I’m Still Alone”, “About You”, “I Won’t Try Again”, “Rollerskating Dream”, “Neverday”, “‘Till My Face Turns Blue”.

Then there’s a bunch of compilation appearances. The first one dating from 2002 when “Woodward Avenue” appeared on “Fundraising for the Field Trip #1” compilation on Boy Arm Records (ARM02CD). This same song would be on “Cleveland / Kansas City” a CD compilation released by Pabst Blue Ribbon (yeah, the beer) in 2003.

In 2004 the band had “This Could Take Forever” on “Boompa Volume 1” released by Boompa Records (BOOM 801) and also this song is on “Microindie Records Sampler II”.

2005 saw the band contribute the song “This Could Take Forever” to “Test Tones Volume 05” released by Clairerecords (fern 046) and to “Music from Radio Free Roscoe, Volume 1” on Decode (DEC101).

The other compilation appearance was on the “Free Audio Flyer! – Free Show!”  a CDR comp put together by Microindie Records for a show that happened in Grand Rapids, Michigan at the UICA Film Theatre.

Other facts we know is that Christian Doble would be on other bands including Belle Ghoul, Child Bite, Copper Thieves and Fawn. Elizabeth Wittman was on Arc Pelt, Friendly Foes and Lettercamp. Greg Hyland was on Dehumidifier Vs. Humidifier and The Twilight.

I keep searching and then I find some live footage on Youtube. Kiddo playing at the Toledo Indiepop Fest from 2007!

I keep looking. It seems Christian moved to Detroit and that’s where he was in Fawn.

Not much more info about Kiddo. At least I cant find more details. The band used to have a website, and I was able to access it through the Internet Archive but there is very little info too.

Where else to look? I guess fans who remember them would be my best bet. So yeah, if anyone out there remembers this fun sounding band let me know! Any details would be great, even stuff like where did they play? Just Cleveland? What venues?

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Listen
Kiddo – New Year’s Resolution Haircut

01
Mar

Thanks again to Mark D for the interview! A week or so ago we were chatting about the superb Fat Tulips and I asked if he was keen on answering a few more questions about other bands he had been in. He said YES! and so here is the second interview with Mark, this time about the fantastic duo Confetti who I had written about on the blog some time ago. Enjoy!

++ Hi Mark! Thanks so much for being up for another interview! How are you? I see Peterborough United is fifth in League One, do you think there’s a chance to get to the Championship?

I think automatic promotion chance has gone but hopefully will make the play offs.

++ This time around I’d love to chat a bit about Confetti. I do have the records but I definitely know less details about the band compared to Fat Tulips. My first question though, is why did you call yourself David in this band?

I wanted to distance myself from the Fat Tulips so used my middle name instead. Simple as that!

++ How did the duo start? Where did you and Julie meet?

I was going out with Julie (aka Virginia) and we just ended up jamming and coming up with tunes. We were both fans of the Young Marble Giants and felt that nobody else had tried to do that restrained choked guitar sound since them so made that our sound.

++ Who chose the name Confetti for the band? Is there a story behind the name?

Can’t remember where name came from – probably Julie came up with it?

++ And why did you decide to be a duo? Why not a full band?

Wasn’t any need – wanted a minimal sound so less band members the better.

++ I have met Julie quite a few times thanks to the fact that she was on The Sunbathers as of late. She was previously in The Artisans too, a fantastic band. Wondering though, was Confetti the first band she was in?

I believe so.

++ And music-wise were you both on the same wavelength? Did you like the same bands? Or were there any disagreements?

No we were very much aligned with musical tastes

++ Something that I am curious about is that both Fat Tulips and Confetti were around the same time. Wondering about how you pick which songs would work on each band? Or perhaps there were some Confetti songs that ended up being played by Fat Tulips and vice versa?

No always kept them separate – all Confetti songs were restrained but could do what I wanted with Fat Tulips.

++ All of your songs were recorded at Sideways Sound in Attenborough. You had used this studio for some Fat Tulips releases as well. Wondering what you like about this studio in particular and if it was the one you liked the most?

Confetti only did two recording sessions ever. The studio was local and cheap and we knew the engineer well!

++ Confetti would find home in the same labels that the Fat Tulips released, Heaven, Sunday, Marineville and Vinyl Japan. Last time we talked about most of them but Marineville Records. Wondering how you started working with Andy Parker and how was your relationship with this label?

Never met Andy personally but did correspondence with him – was simply a case if he asked if we would do a record , we agreed a budget , we recorded it and sent him the tapes and he released it! Very simple!

++ With Confetti you also did quite a few covers. You did Josef K, Au Pairs and the Wedding Present. Were there more covers you used to play perhaps live?

I don’t think so – all bar one song was recorded . That was called Hardly and was set to be the next single but never got recorded.

++ Curious about the photos that appear on the artwork of the 7″s and the compilation. Where do they come from?

Matt from Fat Tulips took them I think – mostly around Nottingham station!

++ The band also appeared on many compilations during its time. You were on the legendary “The Waaaaaah! CD ‘ or the “123456 Road Runner” tape that included tons of terrific bands of the time. Wondering then, in the UK, which bands other than the Heaven bands, did you feel close to. Were there any bands you would have loved to play a gig with that you didn’t?

Heavenly were lovely and we played with them a couple of times. We also liked the band Earwig who we felt were closest to our sound.

++ Then there’s a song, “Who’s Big and Clever Now?” (Live)”, which I believe only appears on the “Teeny Poppers” tape on the French label Anorak Records. Where was this song recorded?

No idea!  Not even aware of that release!

++ Why did you gave the retrospective compilation the name “RetrospectivelE.P.” as it is clearly not an EP?

We just wanted to follow up on all the EP name themes and as it was a retrospective of our short career it kind of made sense

++ This compilation came out in 1994 on Vinyl Japan, the band was over by then. It includes 15 tracks. But I do wonder, if there are any other recordings or unreleased songs by Confetti?

No

++ Confetti didn’t play many gigs. Just five. And four of them were with The Fat Tulips. Do you remember where these five gigs happen?

A couple in Nottingham, and think one in Oxford? Maybe at the Fountain in London as well

++ And the one you played without the Fat Tulips, who did you support or supported you?  

Think was the Artisans?

++ Why was the band so short-lived? What happened? Why did you call it a day?

Me and Julie split up as a relationship and that was it

++ Did you and Julie collaborate ever again? Are you still in touch?

Only spoke to Julie a couple of times briefly after splitting- not spoken in 30 years now.

++ Your bands were quite involved with fanzines, but wondering if you ever got a chance to be featured on the music press?

Don’t believe Confetti ever did

++ Let’s start wrapping the interview. What would you say was the biggest highlight for Confetti?

Still think the first single is a minor classic- the second one was our attempt to be the Marine Girls !

++ And I forgot to ask that last time, what about the biggest highlight for you with the Fat Tulips?

I guess playing with Throw That Beat on tour in Germany

++ One last question, I have visited Nottingham a few times, but just for a day, kind of quickly… but I would love to go and explore more someday. Wondering as a local what you would recommend checking out? Any sights? Record stores? Any local foods or drinks that one shouldn’t miss?

Record shop wise Rough Trade easily the best. Nottingham Castle is great as is Djanogly Gallery at the University

++ Thanks again for everything! Anything else you’d like to add?

Thanks!

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Listen
Confetti – Whatever Became of Alice and Jane

26
Feb

Described as the most hated guy in Göteborg, Alexander Gustafsson used to lead the band Portrait Painters about 15 years ago. In 2009, when he was 22, we saw the band release two digital singles on Bonjour Recordings and after that they just fizzled out.

“Forgive/Forget” (BJR004) was the first song they put out and then came “A Future Crime” (BJR007). As mentioned both came on Bonjour who was the home of two bands familiar to Cloudberry, Bye Bye Bicycle and Bonnie and Clyde.

On Discogs there are some details about the songs worth checking out. “Forgive/Forget” had Adam Bolméus (from Bad Cash Quartet and Hästpojken) on electric and acoustic guitar, as well as in arrangements and co-producing. Kalle Von Hall (from Bad Cash Quartet) played synths and co-produced while Alexander Sand sang and made the music. I supposed Alexander Sand is Alexander Gustafsson.

On “A Future Crime”, the people on the song changed quite a bit. Now we see Jakob Schroeder (from Bye Bye Bicycle) on acoustic guitar, Nils Bengtsson Blomstrand on bass, Viktor Englund on drums, Samuel Petersson  (from Bye Bye Bicycle) on electric guitar and arrangements, Mattias Glavå as the executive producer and André Vikingsson (from Bye Bye Bicycle) who made the music together with Alexander Sand who also wrote the lyrics.

Also make sure you check out the video that was made for “A Future Crime” which is quite fun. The video was shot in Göteborg and Stockholm during June of 2009.

A good find is this 2008 interview with Alexander on the newspaper Borås Tidning. There it mentions that he used to live in the town of Sätila. Also another interesting bit is that “Forgive/Forget” was a song he had written when he was 16 years old. Another good bit of info is that the band’s name came from a song by The Bear Quartet.

We also learn a little bit more about Alexander. He was self-employed at the time as a graphic designer. He was studying art science.

I notice that the band played a few important places like Pustervik in Göteborg, Musikens Hus, or Underjorden where there is some live footage on the web.

Lastly I believe the band had more songs. I have found on the web two more, one called “Yellow Car (Demo)” and another called “The Game“. Not sure how these got their way on the web, maybe they were on the band’s Myspace at one point?

And then, what happened to Alexander? He seemed quite talented. Hope he continued making songs? Anyone knows?

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Listen
Portrait Painters – A Future Crime

20
Feb

Thanks so much to Mark D for the interview! If you love indiepop you most probably know who the Fat Tulips were. A fantastic band that recorded an album and a bunch of singles that sound so fresh still! I am very honoured to have been able to interview Mark D and learn more details from a band I am a big fan! This was amazingly cool!

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

Hi and thanks for the interest in my old band –  I haven’t been involved in music for many years now I’m afraid though.

++ I usually have a list of questions I send to bands as I normally know very little or nothing at all about them and I want to cover the basics. I feel, and maybe I am wrong, that I know a bit about the Fat Tulips as I’ve been listening to your music for so long! But I wanted to start with a question, that you already told me the answer, and that’s why the Fat Tulips are not that present on the internet (though you do have a great website)?

The Fat Tulips didn’t exist when the internet really started – we split in the early 90’s and mobile phones weren’t even around much then! All our promotions and activities revolved around the underground fanzine scene – we were pretty well accepted on that scene and most of us got involved in putting on gigs by other bands we liked at the time too.

++ So as I said, I won’t ask the obvious questions, but some very specific ones. When exactly did the Fat Tulips start?

I formed the Fat Tulips around 1987 – I had been in a few bands before and had some songs but they weren’t getting used by the bands I was involved in so started Fat Tulips – originally was just me and I asked my friend Sarah to do some vocals – we recorded “You opened up my eyes” for a flexi I released with my fanzine 2 Pint Take home alongside a track by the Rosehips. That and the two other tracks we recorded later got released on Sunday Records as The early years EP.

++ Did you have a different name then perhaps?

No

++ Did you have any other names as options?

Was a last minute decision on the name based on a kids to series Tales from Fat Tulips Garden.

++ Before starting the Fat Tulips, had you been in other bands before? I know you were in The Pleasureheads, right? But that was around the same time, no?

The Pleasureheads I was in from 1984-6. I left them to go to university but they did continue with a replacement guitarist for a few more years. Prior to that I was in a dodgy goth band called Transmission who played a couple of gigs – the keyboard player in them was Jim Abbiss who went on to become a major record producer (he produced Adele!) and produced the first Pleasure Heads single I was on. 

++ From what I understand the band was originally formed in Peterborough but the band was then based in Nottingham. How did this relocation happen? What made you move there?

I simply moved to Nottingham to study at Trent Poly / University

++ Originally, in Peterboro’ it was Sarah and you. As a duo, you recorded the “You Opened Up My Eyes” demo tape that would later be repressed by Sunday Records as the “Early Years” 7″. I was wondering about that demo, how come it ended up being released by a US label, Sunday Records, many years after its recording. Was it your idea? Or maybe it was Albert who came up with the idea?

Albert simply asked us and we said yes – such a lovely guy and supporter of us we couldn’t say no!

++ “You Opened Up Your Eyes” was also a single track on another flexi, the split single with The Rosehips. How did this record come about? Were you friends with The Rosehips at the time? I know later on they would be on your label!

I was a big Rosehips fan but didn’t know them at that time – just wrote to them and asked them and they sent me a tape! Later became good friends with them and followed them around to gigs quite a lot.

++ And was that the only thing that was recorded by that first version of the Fat Tulips?

Yeah just that.

++ And did Sarah continue making music afterwards? No she was a reluctant singer 

I read that she went to Peru on your website, but is that true? No but reality was too boring! She just wasn’t interested in singing

++ How did the new Fat Tulips in Nottingham come to be? 

I was going to the same gigs as the rest of the band – eventually befriended them and started to going to gigs out of town with them. How did you recruit or find the new members? The rest of the band were all friends with each other – I just persuaded them to have a go at a band rehearsal – I had several songs already written. After one rehearsal we agreed to go in the studio the following month and record our debut single.

++ Had they been in other bands previously?

I don’t think so.

++ Having lived in two different British towns, I was wondering what was your take at the time comparing Peterborough and Nottingham, which town had the best bands? The best music scene? Were there any bands in these towns that you liked?

Nottingham always the better musically- I went to University in Nottingham because of  the Garage – legendary music venue in Nottingham.

++ This second version, with Katie in the band, didn’t last that long, just the superb EP “Where’s Clare Grogan Now?” single. It is clear you were big fans of Altered Images then, but what other bands would you say made an impact on you?

I loved loads of types of music but around that time was the classic indie bands like Orange Juice, the Fall, Wedding Present, Pastels C86 scene

++ Speaking of impact, you released a covers single, “The Tulip Explodes!”, with three songs by The Teardrop Explodes. Was that your idea?

Kind of a joint decision between me and Sheggs.

++ If you have had the chance to do another covers single, what other band would you have liked to cover?

I would have loved to have done Orange Juice or the Au Pairs – although did do It’s obvious cover by another band Confetti.

++ Maybe there’s a chance to do a Heaven Records interview later on, but I wanted to know if Heaven Records was originally a vehicle to release the Fat Tulips or was it always thought of as a full-fledged label that was going to help/release other bands?

No was just a vehicle to release our own single at first – just made friends with Vicarage Garden and had some extra cash from our records to allow us to support other bands – never in it for the money but it kind of expanded to allow us to help other bands we liked  – a very much punk rock label of love

++ Maybe it is too obvious, but I want to confirm, the song “Amelia” that was on the Spindly Killer Fish flexi, was it about Amelia Fletcher?!

Of course – is just a list of Amelia Fletcher song titles and references 😂

++ “Four Songs for Simon” and “Albie”. I am terribly curious, were Simon and Albie real persons or not really? What about Sarah from “Sarah”?

Simon was a friend who we used to put bands in with and he used to slag off bands that weren’t in true indie spirit and short changing fans with 2 track singles so we called it 4 songs for Simon to shut him up!

Albie is about Albert at Sunday Records and was written by Sheggs.

Sarah was about my friend Sarah from Twa Toots who I was briefly in a band called Sundress with.

++ I’ve never been to Hull, but my British friends don’t usually have great things to say about Hull (even though I know there are many great bands that came from there). You must have liked it though as the name “Ferensway” from your single was taken from a street from that city. What did you like about it? Just the name?

Sheggs write the lyrics for that and I wrote the music – she would just give me a sheet of lyrics and leave me to write the music- worked well like that as she was a more prolific lyricist than songwriter. Believe she just liked the name Ferensway!

++ I was always curious about the “Nostalgia” 12″. The artwork is totally different from your other releases. Why was that? And also wondering who is the girl that is on the front cover? A friend of the band? A

hnnie was the girl in the cover and was Sheggis sister from Glasgow. Just liked the photo and it got used. Sheggs did that cover – no reason it was different really!

++ And speaking of artwork, was it you who made the cool drawings on your demo tapes of the indiepop girl, 7″s singles, or in the Heaven Records art, or the one I’m using here on my blog? Was there an inspiration at all where you got the idea of how to draw them?

Sheggs and our friend Theo did the artwork between them. I have no idea if the inspiration there but was tongue in cheek piss take of the twee indie pop scene.

++ You seemed to be more of a singles or EPs kind of band, but you did record a wonderful album, “Starfish”. I wonder was it any different for you to make the album compared to all your other records? Was it more difficult? More demanding?

Yeah the album recording pushed the demise of the band – was exhausting for all of us but we had a contract we had to finish it .

+ How did you end up working with and how was the relationship with Vinyl Japan? You had mostly worked with your own label, Heaven Records, and suddenly you were with a biggish indie label from Japan.

I had known Tetsuya at Vinyl Japan for several years before we signed with them – he started out buying 300 advance copies of our singles from Heaven records – they obviously sold in Japan so he signed us up.

++ Was there any chance to play in Japan?

Yes we had a contract to play there but split up before it happened annoyingly.

++ Another thing I have to ask is about the amazing German tour you did alongside another favourite band of mine, Throw That Beat in the Garbagecan. That must have been fantastic! I know you cover a lot of it on your website, but I am curious about your impressions about Germany. Like how would you compare the gigs to the ones in the UK?

Germany was great fun and we loved touring with Throw That Beat. Was a last minute decision to tour but so glad we did – we loved Germany.

++ And what was your favourite gig in Germany and why? Also did you get to do any sight-seeing at all? Was there any city you liked best? Any good foods you tried? What about the beer?

Very little sight seeing as we just turned up did rehearsal, slept and left for next town the next morning. No favourite places .

We did a gig in Belgium that was very strange though and they had very unusual beers there we tried!

++ And you drove there, all the way from the UK, and even took the good ol’ Peter Hahndorf in your car. I wonder, it must have taken so many hours, days to get there. How did you manage these roadtrips? Rented a van? Had to have a bunch of mixtapes or something to make it more bearable? Switch drivers every couple of hours? What were the logistics for this?

Yeah we just rented a van , me and Matt shared the driving so wasn’t too bad. Matt really annoyed everyone playing 2 unlimited tapes 😂.

++ What about gigs in the UK? Did you play all over? What was the farthest from Nottingham you got to play in the UK? And what was the town you always liked to play again?

We rarely played live at all – but we used to play in Deptford a few times for our friend Dave and supported Heavenly a couple of times. Not many folk in the uk liked us at the time!

++ Did the Fat Tulips got the chance to be on TV or radio at all?

No although the track “So Unbelievable” was used on an American kids to show called The adventures of Pete and Pete!

++ Also there are no promo videos from the band, right? Why was that?

No – never had the time or money or opportunity

++ When and why did you decide to call it a day? I know you broke up while still at the top, which is great, but still, don’t you think there was more for the Fat Tulips to say?

I didn’t make the decision to split – was more the rest of the band that felt they had had enough. I would have happily carried on. You can’t force folk to do things they don’t want to do though. I just told them I respected their decision but if we did split I said we would never reform in any circumstances. All accepted the terms and moved on but stayed friends.

++ Are there any unreleased songs by the Fat Tulips? Or has everything being put out?

Only one professional recorded song unreleased “Human Timebomb”. Was planned to be a flexidisc release on Vinyl Japan but never happened. They still have the master tape I believe. Was a great track and recording though so a bit of a shame

++ These days you are most known as an artist, I wonder though how did your time in music, being in many bands and doing fanzines and a label, had helped in any way your artistic career?

Not sure about that – my involvement with band sleeves was limited- just threw them together to be honest without a lot of thought! Sheggs and Theo probably had more involvement with them and I left them to it. Loved doing the fanzines though – done pre-computer age with old school typewriter and blue and scissors! Guess that helped a little!

++ Aside from music and art, are there any other hobbies you have? Maybe a fan of footie? Nottingham Forest or Notts County?

Neither of those two teams – still like football and support Peterborough United – don’t get to matches very often though. Visiting galleries and exhibitions mainly but do love Just the Tonic comedy club

++ Anything else you’d like to add?

Thanks for your interest and support!

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Listen
Fat Tulips – So Unbelievable

19
Feb

I am not sure how to classify the Mousetrap Conspiracy. I have only heard one song, “The Skies” from 1987. It had appeared on the LP compilation “Underground Resistance Volume 2″ released by Reaction Records (UNREST 2) along a bunch of bands I have never heard before.

The record is categorized on Discogs in the Rock genre and the styles are goth rock and gothic metal. Maybe this is goth? I feel it is more post-punk sounding, as I can see some great pop hooks in the chorus. It is a catchy song though somewhat dark-ish. I found it good and interesting, and thought sharing it.

I have no clue where the band was from. Well, from the UK for sure. The aforementioned compilation is British. But that’s not all. The band released another song in those late 80s. It was on a compilation 7” that was released by Fantastic Records (FAN002) called “Welcome to the West”.

This label hailed from Exeter, Devon. So I wonder if there’s a chance the band also hailed from this area. On this record the band contributed the song “Girls Stroll at 8”. The other bands in the record were Colonial Club, Fairly Perfect People and Jive Turkey.

Then my suppositions prove to be right. There is an address on the back of the sleeve. It says the band hailed from Plymouth in Devon. We also finda. name, that of Dave Martin. Probably a member of the band.

I may be wrong, the name is not uncommon you know, but there is a Dave Martin in the Plymouth area that is in a jazz band these days called Jabbo Five. Could it be the same Dave?

The only other interesting bit is that the band supported Pulp on July 4th of 1986 at the legendary Tropic Club in Bristol.

And that’s it. Would be interesting to find out what happened with them and listen to more songs, wonder how they sounded like!

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Listen
Mousetrap Conspiracy – The Skies

12
Feb

I wrote years ago about the Swedish band Little Big Adventure on the blog. That was Magnus Lindroos moniker and the one he used to release his very fine “Saltsjö-Duvnäs” CDR EP.

Magnus had been in other bands too of course. He was in Penny Century and one called The Paper Merchants which I know nothing at all to be honest.

So here I am looking on the web if I can find any information about it.

The one thing that I find is a song called “The Lovers (In the Face Of)” which is very nice.

From what I understand it was released in 2012 by the blog Eardrums. Can I find this release?

So far no luck. I do see that there was another song released called “I Don’t Care”. Was it part of the same release? I see it in Rateyourmusic as a 2009 release. I also notice that it is a Swedish band but probably another with the same name? I see the band members listed but I don’t see Magnus Lindroos. It is quite a coincidence of two bands in Sweden, in around the same period, with the same name.

I keep searching. I see that Magnus DJed at Club King Kong on 2012. That’s a long time ago.

But that’s it. Maybe it would be good to get in touch with Magnus someday if possible and learn more about his projects. That’d be cool!

EDIT:
Our friend Jonathan Rieger has just told me that he saw the band play at Cosy Den festival in Stockholm in 2009. He bought a CD album then by the band called “A Friend of Mine”. Didn’t know that existed! The tracklist for the album is as follows: “Better”, “I Can’t Walk With You into Doom”, “I Don’t Care”, “Wedding Picture”, “East Coast”, “The Lovers”, “Death will Come”, “The Kids at  the Club” and “Bourgeoisie Beheaders”. It has a label too, one called Den Manskliga Motsvarigheten, and the catalog was MOTCD01. Probably the band’s own label.

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Listen
The Paper Merchants – The Lovers (In The Face Of)

05
Feb

First things first. We have a new release! It is coming out on February 15 and it is a 10″! It is by the superb band Blind Terry from Sweden. It includes 6 songs that have never been released and finally see the light now! It is limited to 250 copies and it is a beauty if I may say so. You can preorder now on our website, www.cloudberryrecords.com and also on our Bandcamp! Enjoy!

So I return to the Blue House Records Bandcamp. After discovering the Tender Lugers, I know there are more goodies in there.

The goodies have names. And the first one I really like is called As Is. They have a collection of songs called “Heavy Big Pop” which sounds really interesting to me. 17 tracks in total, recorded in the 80s.

I learn that the band was formed by James Partridge on guitar and vocals, Paul Read on drums and vocals, Steve Mears on bass and vocals and Paul Taylor on guitar.

The band had stopped playing in 1989, on Thursday 16th of March of that year in Felixstowe. Where is that?

Felixstowe is a port town in Suffolk, England. The estimated population in 2017 was 24,521. The Port of Felixstowe is the largest container port in the United Kingdom. Felixstowe is approximately 116 km northeast of London.

The songs on this collection are: “Take it From Me”, “Wherever You Go”, “Badlands”, “Hey! Judas!”, “World Full of Eyes”, “I Don’t Want To See You Again”, “Too Tough to Die”, “Say it Again”, “Faith”, “Storm Warning”, “Church of Comedies”, “Under Two Flags”, “Big Love”, “The Big Adventure”, “Black Sun”, “Wade into the Water” and “(If You’ve Seen the Light) Tell Me”.

One nice thing is that there are copies of this release on CD still available.

And then there’s more. There is a collection of demos called “Where Four Seas Meet” that has 21 songs. These are “Love is Here”, “I Feel For You”, “Be My Evangeline”, “(I Want To) Move (In With You)”, “Away From You”, “Time to Cry”, “Love Me”, “Forbidden”, “We Could Be Happy”, “I Can’t Trust Myself”, “Almost Summer”, “Drop It”, “Incredible”, “Boomerang”, “Round & Around”, “Take a Little While”, “If You Gotta Go, Go Tomorrow”, “Better than the Rest”, “Heart is Blue”, “Why Can’t I Touch It?” and “The Prettiest Girl in the World”.

Then something that confuses me. I read the band had their last hurray in 1989. But I see that the first seven songs were recorded in February of 1990. At Hammer Hi Tech Studios and produced by Martin Hawkes and James Harding. So that doesn’t make sense chronologically, right?

The songs “Forbidden” and ” We Could Be Happy” were recorded in 1989 in Westerfield. While the rest of tracks up to “Heart is Blue” were recorded on April 1990 also on Westerfield. “Why Can’t I Touch it?” was recorded in May 1990, live, in Christchurch Park in Ipswich. It is a cover of The Buzzcocks. The last track was never finished but it was rescued and mixed in 2001.

On this recordings the band had changed a bit, James Partridge was still on the band, but the rest had changed, we see Malcolm Hawkes on drums and vocals, Ross Geraghty on bass and vocals and Shane Kirk on guitar and vocals.

Then I find something great, live footage. As Is playing live at the Colchester Arts Centre in May 22nd 1990. The song available is “Away From You“. Then another video, 20+ minutes worth, of them playing at the Ipswich Corn Exchange on May 21, 1988. The songs played in this video are “Cry (Most of)”, “Faith”, “Under Two Flags”, “Wherever You Go”, “I Don’t Want to See You Again” and “Badlands (most of)”. And lastly another full gig, almost an hour worth, of the band playing in Grimsby on September 13, 1988. That time they played “Take it From Me”, “Wherever You Go”, “Your Way”, “Shadows”, “Fire Away”, “Faith”, “Badlands”, “Church of Comedies”, “I Don’t Want to See You Again”, “Real Life”, “I Don’t Mind” and “Wade into the Water”.

Another find is this Soundcloud by James Partridge where he shares more tracks of him. Just not sure to which bands they belong to. I know he also recorded as Partridge-Read with Paul Read.

Steve Mears and Shane Kirk had been in Gods Kitchen

And that’s all there is about them. But hopefully we’ll find more information soon. Songs sound great!

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Listen
As Is – Big Love

29
Jan

Went back to that flyer for The Timebox from November 1986. That flyer helped me discover the band Call Dr Bunny. There are many bands on there that I have never heard but also that I can’t find any recordings on the web. For example Escape From Burma who played with The Chesterf!elds on November 24th. On Discogs there is a demo tape listed that is categorized as indiepop. I am so curious.

On the other hand sometimes I am lucky, and I have found a trove of recordings by a band called Tender Lugers. They played on December 2nd  at The Timebox supporting The Pop Icons and The Psylons. I haven’t heard these bands either.

It is on Bandcamp, on an account set up by Blue House Records, that I find 31 tracks by Tender Lugers. It is a collection called “Closer to God“.

This collection includes the band’s releases. I notice on Discogs that the band released three records as well as appearing on 2 compilations.

The first release is the “Johnny Orgy” 12″ released in 1986 by Kick! Records (KIK 1). This EP had six songs, three on each side. “Get it While You Can”, “You’re So Cruel” and “Roadfucker” on the A side and “That’s Really Something”, “Licks” and “She Wants it Now”. This one was produced by James Partridge.

The music of the band can be indiepop at points but it can get rockier. I like the indiepop tracks a lot. They are nice. So yeah, listen with open mind, skip the ones you don’t like, enjoy the ones you do.

“Enjoy Yourself” is the band’s second EP. It came out in 1987 again on Kick! Records (KIK 2). This was probably the band’s own label. The songs on the record were “Enjoy Yourself” and “If I Were You” on the A side and “Teenage Cream” and “Closer to God” on the B side. This record was produed by Pete Dee.

Lastly the 12″ EP “Ugly Boy” came out on Rare Lad (R.L. 1) in 1988. “Junkie Fag Hag” and “I Wish I Was Lovely” appear on the A side and “What Good Will it Do” and “Why Should I?” are on the B side. This record was produced by Andy Boyce, Tracey Kelly and the band. Tracey Kelly also provided backing vocals while Andy Boyce played keyboards and backing vocals. The record was recorded at The Lodge, Clare, Suffolk.

On compilations they had “Don’t Talk About It” on the tape “Vicrub” which was released by the Venue for Ipswich Campaign (RUB001) in 1989. Then in 2011 their song “Junkie Fag Hag” was on the double CD comp “The Ugly Truth About Ipswich 1981-2011” released by Antigen Records and Corndog Records (Antigen 41, CORN 017).

On Bandcamp the collection is much larger. It includes the aforementioned songs but also “The Best Thing”, “Don’t Talk About It”, “C’mon Baby”, “Ramblin’ Man”, “I Wish I Was Lovely”, “Why Should I?”, “Candy Fuck Pig”, “Honestly Baby”, “My Best Friend”, “Country Honey” and “Dogshit Blues” from the band’s first demo from July 1987 that was produced by James Partridge.

Then tracks 12 to 17, “I Can’t Wait (For my Daddy to Die)”, “Thank God (He Didn’t Take Too Long)”, “Guts”, “Roadfucker”, “Dirty Muscle” and “She Wants it Now”, are from a demo recorded on 16-track in 1986 also produced by Partridge.

Then something interesting to me. Tracks 32 and 35 were a Peel Session. You can’t stream these songs unless you download the whole thing. The session dates from September 16, 1986 and was produced by Dale Griffin. The songs were “Johnny Joanne”, “Enjoy Yourself”, “A Little Protection” and “Teenage Cream”.

I try to find any names that may be in connection with the band. I find that of Bruce MacGregor from the band EMF. It seems he was part of The Suckers and The Blowers but also of Tender Lugers.

Another thing I notice on the web is that the band played at Dingwalls with Hurrah! and The Jack Rubies.

And that’s it…

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Listen
Tender Lugers – The Best Thing

22
Jan

First post I am writing since returning from my holidays. To get back into blogging I need to go back to my “origins”, to the time I remember with nostalgia, when I was discovering indiepop, those early 2000s.

A time where Swedish pop reigned supreme. Lots of great bands and labels. Mostly lo-fi bedroom pop which we found through the peer-to-peer program Soulseek. We made friends, we became fans. It was a good time.

There was a label called Bedroom Records then. I’ve written about some bands on it like Thehelpmeplease, Happy Go Lucky or Agent Simple. These were mainly guitar pop bands, today’s band Back in Judy’s Shack, it was more of an eletronic pop one.

On this label most, if not all, of its releases were CDRs. That was the format of the day. Very limited copies but we still would get physical releases with artwork.

Back in Judy’s Shack self-released mini-album came out in 2005 with the catalog number BED021. It had 7 songs, “Winter Days”, “Burning Cold”, “Breath”, “The Puff, The Drag, The Whiff”, “Silence”, “The Forest” and “What Are You Doing for the Rest of Your Life”.

The songs had been written, produced, mixed, arranged and played by Johan Cederberg and Josefine Jinder.

Johan would be in other projects like Montauk and HNNY, as well as playing solo, while Josefine is more known as Little Jinder. She was also part of the fantastic Your Place or Mine, a band I hope I can interview someday (it is one of my favourite bands of that period).

Sam Carlshamre from Corduroy Utd. and the fantastic Jämna Plågor, who also contributed trombone to a song of Your Place or Mine, played trombone in the song “Burning Cold”. Andreas Wallgren, also known as [brus], wrote and sang the song “Breath”.

The art of the CD is credited to Helga Bärnarp.

This CDR would be repressed 3 years later, in 2008, by the US label Series Two (ST015). Same tracklist. 300 copies. Just different artwork.

The band would also appear on two compilations. On “Series Two Compilation Vol. 23” (ST51) from 2009 the band had “The Puff, The Drag, The Whiff” and on “Series Two Records Christmas Special” (ST89) of the same year they had “Footsteps in the Snow”.

Then they split of course and released more music with different projects I already mentioned. I wonder though where are they now? I’d be curious to know what their thoughts are looking back to those days of Back in Judy’s Shack. And of course, who wouldn’t, I am curious about the band’s name. Was Judy a real person?

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Listen
Back in Judy’s Shack – The Puff, The Drag, The Whiff