A big thank you to Hitoshi Oka for the interview. If you haven’t checked yet “With Kisses Four”, the debut album by Sloppy Joe, you are missing a rare treat. It sounds timeless! On top of that it contains all the right indiepop influences mixed together. There’s no distribution yet for the record outside of Japan, but definitely try to get it, you will enjoy it! You can check more of their stuff either on myspace or bandcamp.

++ Hello Hitoshi, how are you doing? I know it’s a difficult time in Japan but how positive are you about things getting back to their normal pace?

A big earthquake hit Japan, and has caused a large disaster. I think that the recovery is going to be a long process because Tohoku and Kanto received a large damage. We will support them. I’ve experienced severe earthquakes and was very shocked that there was no big damage in Tokyo where I live. The electricity shortage continues because of the nuclear plant accident, and even the companies and the individuals are saving electricity. The railway company has suspended it’s service Tokyo is gradually regaining it’s usual pace, but still everyone is confused. The aftershock uneasiness continues.
The club business has also stopped to save power. Therefore, the gigs in Japan of Edwin Collins were canceled and it was regrettable. However, we, Sloppy Joe, will play some gigs in April as it is in schedule.

++ I notice you have three gigs planned for the upcoming month, do you always play this often or is it because of the album promotion? Which of these gigs you are looking forward the most?

Usually, we have a gig once a month or every two months. This April, there is three gigs. One gig in Kyoto, one party for promotion, and one gig is to support the visit to Japan of “The
Monochrome Set” and “Friends”. It’s very exciting for us, because we love “The Monochrome Set” and “Friends”.

++ And what about past gigs, what has been your favourite one so far? And why?

We supported the “Television Personalities” and “The Lotus Eaters” last year. It’s still one of my favourite ones. And we have supported some bands we love like The Starlets, The Pearlfishers, Nice Man, Amber Smith, and more. I think the gigs with them were great!

++ So yeah, I was telling you on email that your album is perhaps my favourite one so far this 2011. It’s fabulous! I hear so many great influences, from Happydeadmen to Friends, passing by The Jazz Butcher and The Orchids. Are you a big indiepop fan? If so, can you tell me what are your favourite five songs and favourite five bands? Did indiepop inspired you to make music?

Great!I’m honored that you felt like that. These bands are my favourite bands. Especially, I love The Orchids. I got very excited because I saw their gig at Indietracks Festival last year.

I love 80’s bands like Orange Juice, Aztec Camera, The Pale Fountains, The Monochrome Set, Felt, etc. And I’ve listened lots of indie pop band’s songs from around the world. When I was twenty two, I helped writing the book “Neo-acoustic”. It’s the disc guide book for 80’s-90’s indie pop fans.

My favourite bands and their songs are:
Orange Juice / Love Sick
The Orchids / Apologies
The Monochrome Set / I’ll Cry Instead
Gangway / Out On The Rebound From Love
The Man From Delmonte / Water In My Eyes

And I want to choose several tunes with trumpets. Today’s my favourite songs with trumpets are:
The Groovy Little Numbers / Happy Like Yesterday
Die Fünf Freunde / Jetzt!
Great Scott / You’re Off Again
The Brilliant Corners / Oh!
The June Brides / Every Conversation

And my favourite indiepop from flexi discs are:
These five songs are on the flexi disc!The flexi disc is so Independent.
Today’s my favourite songs on flexi disc are
Brighter / Airhead
The Potting Sheds / Unsaid
Hope / Suffocate
Ever / Sleepyhead
The Cherry Orchard / Built it up

And indiepop from more recent releases also inspire me to make music. My favourite songs from recent releases are:
Northern Portrait / Waiting For A Chance
My Teenage Stride / Cast Your Own Shadow
Hari and Aino / A Considerate Kind of Home
Crystal Stilts / Shake The Shackles
Catwalk / Past Afar

++ Alright, let’s go back in time. I knew you were on My Coffee Moment before, and hopefully we should try to cover that on another interview, but when did Sloppy Joe started as a band? What happened in between both bands?

My Coffee Moment played for five years. In five years, many changes happened between us and we decided to stop. The members of My Coffee Moment are still good friends now. My Coffee Moment split in 2002, and I started making some songs for my solo project. My first recordings after going solo are in a cassette that was given away along a free paper at DJ party which was organized by Takeyoshi (drummer of My Coffee Moment). It included three songs: “Silent Dream (demo version)”, “Sloppy Joe” and “The Raspberry Field”.
After that I tried my friend Hisashi on bass and Takeyoshi on drums. At first I thought I’d play solo, but I I realized I wanted to continue as a band. Not so long after, after some changes in the lineup Sloppy Joe was born.
Now, we don’t have a trumpet player. We want to have a trumpet player again.

++ Tell me a bit about the members of Sloppy Joe, including you. How did you all meet each other? What instruments you play? Who writes the songs?

Sloppy Joe are
Hitoshi Oka: vocals, guitar
Riichiro Sato: guitar
Hisashi Iwabuchi: bass, backing vocals
Ryuji Kimura: drums, backing vocals

Riichiro was a member of My Coffee Moment. My friend introduced him at an indiepop party to me. I’ve played with him for over 10 years. Hisashi plays bass on some other bands like “Boyce” (great mod style band) and “Clandestine”, which is also a great band. Ryuji plays drums on a band named “Coleslaw”. He has played for about three or four years with us in Sloppy Joe. I play guitar and sing. And I wrote all the songs . The songs were arranged by all members though.
We love indiepop. However, it is not only that what has influenced us. We’ve been influenced by soul, jazz, and a lot of other music.

++ And why did you choose the name Sloppy Joe? Do you love sloppy joe sandwiches by any chance?

I like meat, but I’m not a fan of sloppy joe sandwiches because I’ve not been at a sloppy joe’s bar.

I chose the name as it means “loose-fit sweater”. I think our band should not be focus in just one style.

++ Your first release was the “Trying to Be Funny” single which I have on CD. I know there was a 7″ version too. This was in 2006. The CD version was released by Rosemary Records of the lovely Toshiko Matsumoto. I feel she has given so much to Japan fans with her enthusiasm and passion for music. What do you think about that? How did you end up doing this single with her? Must be a privilege to release with her!

I agree with what you say. At that time, her shop ‘Apple Crumble Records’ was very important for indie-pop fans in Japan. Of course it still is. I respect her motivation and passion for music.

She has been my good friend for a long time. She also supported the disc guide book that I was talking of before. I’m grateful that she gave us the chance to release and that she supported Sloppy Joe.

++ And the 7″ release happened on Cubbyhole, which I don’t know much. Care to tell me a bit about this label?

Cubbyhole Fabrication is my own label for releasing Sloppy Joe. I don’t plan to release any other band.
But I might release the songs by my solo project with it sometime.

++ Then second single, “Portrait”, was released last year, again by Cubbyhole. It included a fanzine and a CDR, right? What was the fanzine and the CDR about? Which makes me wonder, are you a fanzine fan? Have you ever done one?

That’s right. The CDR includes a remix version of “The Country” by Pegasus. You can listen to this version on iTunes. Thre is also a version of “The Who Talks About Someone” remixed by HNC. We released a limited single “The Who talks About Someone” on iTunes too.

The fanzine is brilliant. It contains interviews to Stefan Larsen (Northern Portrait), Grame Elston (Love Parade), and me. It was made by Satomi. She is a member of Twee Grrrls Club and my wife.

++ And also for this song “Portrait” you recorded a video! How fun that must be! Any anecdotes you could share about filming it?

Yeah! It’s a cool video! My friends Tomonori Midorikawa produced it. He loves 80’s indiepop too, so it came out as a good video as he could easily tell the atmosphere and the feelings of our songs. “Portrait” is a song about painful feelings that cannot break the husk of the mind.

++ On March 9th this year you released your first album called “With Kisses Four”, which is a gem of jangle pop! First thing that comes to mind is what does the title of the album means? And who made the beautiful artwork?

It is a song that sings about the sorrow of parting. “The boy said good-bye to his girlfriend kissing four times”. I think this feeling of painful desire is all over most songs included in this album. And so it became the best title to represent these songs..

The owner of the White Lily label is YUPPA. He designed the artwork of the album. It is a wonderful artwork and I think that the design also matches to the atmosphere of the album.

++ This album was released jointly by Cubbyhole and White Lily Records. Why was it a joint effort? And who is behind the White Lily label?

White Lily label is ran by YUPPA and GIKYO. They have their own music acts: YUPPA plays as HNC and GIKYO as a pegasus. They are my old friends. Because they had liked our single “Portrait” released on Cubbyhole Fabrication, they said that they wanted to release it on their label as well and wanted to put the logo of Cubbyhole by all means.

++ How is the album doing in Japan by the way? Are you getting any sort of distribution abroad? It deserves so!

If that was to happen, we’d be very glad. If more people listen to Sloppy Joe I’d be happy.

At the moment I’m very glad to have received a lot of good reviews in Japan. I’m surprised that our album reviews have been published on some major magazine.

++ I wanted to ask you about my favourite song on your album: “Sometimes”. What is the story behind it? This song should is a modern classic I think!

Perhaps, “Sometimes” reminds you Friends or Die Fünf Freunde, right? Yes I love them.
There is no perfect man. Everyone occasionally get depressed. However, these feelings are over as the rain cloud passes away the next day. And the clear trumpet was necessary to dispel the bad feelings.

++ Now it’s your turn, what are the songs you are most proud of in this album and why?

“Portrait” and “The Boy Who Talks About Someone”. A groovy rhythm and shining guitars are my favourite style.

++ How long did it take to record? What do you remember of the recording sessions?

Most tunes were finished recording two years or more ago. There was no chance to release them then, and it might be one reason that our trumpet player left. We decided to release the single ourselves finally. It was in December last year that we started recording to add three songs more to the album. It don’t regret not being able to release it earlier. I am satisfied with the timing of the release.

++ I have a curious question, do you ever write songs in Japanese? Why did you choose English for Sloppy Joe?

I have not made any songs in Japanese. I think that singing in English is a important thing, because I think that it makes you feel the same style as the indiepop bands in the 80s. I hope everyone feels the sensitivity and pain from our sound and melody instead than the message delivered straight from our words.

++ What is coming up for Sloppy Joe now, perhaps another single? Maybe time to play abroad?

We will play some gigs for the promotion of the album. And I think we have to make some new songs. I hope to release our new songs on an indiepop label overseas.
And I want to play abroad. We are planning to play abroad. I think that I can surely inform you of it soon.

++ So tell me what are your favourite places in Tokio to hang out? And to party? Best record store?

I often go to Twee Grrrls club’s DJ party. There are a lot of DJ, organizers, musician around the party; it feels that the indie scene is active.
I love record shops very much. I like Jet Set Records and Big Love. A lot of new records can be found in those shops. And many used records can be found at Disk Union.
Also, even if it’s website only, Apple Crumble Records is a wonderful record shop as you know.

++ And what about Japanese food? What are your five favourite dishes?

Sushi is my favourite one. Besides that, I like simple Japanese food like grilled fish, yakitori, miso soup, and Japanese-style barbecue.

++ Last question, the nerdy question, do you like anime?

I have not seen anime so much recently though I saw anime when I am a student.

++ Thanks again Hitoshi! I’ll keep enjoying the album and recommending it around, it’s a keeper! Anything else you’d like to add?

We love indie-pop of all over the world forever! Thank you.

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Listen
Sloppy Joe – Sometimes

Thanks so much to Phil Wilson for the interview! If you have been living under a rock you must know that Phil made a comeback in 2008 with a couple of releases. Then, the ex leader of the mighty June Brides, surprised us all late last year with one of the best indiepop albums in a while, one that is bound to be a classic “God Bless Jim Kennedy”. So I trust you that if you have not bought it yet, head to Slumberland if in America or YesBoyIcecream in Europe to get it. It’s great!! And after that, come back, and enjoy the interview.

++ Hello Phil! How are you doing? I hear you live in Buckfastleigh? To be honest, never heard of that place. How do you like it there?

Hey, Roque! All is good, thanks – especially living down here in lovely Buckfastleigh.It’s a little, old town on the edge of the Dartmoor National Park in Devon. One of the most beautiful places in the UK. We live in what is officially the new end of town- a much later addition. So our house is quite new, only having been built in 1792 😉 I moved down here from London in 2007 – I couldn’t stand the big City life any longer. Best thing I ever did.

The town is mainly famous for producing “Buckfast” tonic wine. It’s the preferred tipple of violent drunks in the Glasgow area – just ask any Scottish band about it!

++ I’m going to stick to your new stuff, but we’ll have to do a June Brides interview later! I still remember 2002 or so, when I was downloading from you on soulseek all your June Brides videos, before Youtube times! But let’s leave it that for later. Now let’s focus on this great  album you’ve released. It’s just fantastic and the press reviews say so too. How proud and accomplished you feel with it?

I am terrifically proud and pleased with it! I wasn’t even sure I could write any new songs, so coming up with a whole album of pretty decent tunes was just great for me. I’m not sure how many people have actually bought it, but the reviews were fantastic. I was very worried about the possibility of being mocked for trying to come back, so it was a real relief to have the album be so well received.

++ Do you feel any differences between this solo period compared to the one in the late 80s after the Junies split?

Yes! There’s no pressure now at all – as nobody really expects anything from me. At the time of the solo stuff on Creation, it felt that I had to compete with the success of the June Brides to prove something. But that feeling has completely gone.

++ “God Bless Jim Kennedy” was released by both Slumberland and YesBoyIcecream. Is there any difference between releases? Why did it happen in two labels?

It was mainly a financial decision! Who knew if the album would sell at all? So it made sense to spread the cost and risk between two labels. The only difference between the releases is that in Europe/The UK, the album is only available on vinyl. But you can get a CD in the US.

++ Tell me about the title of the album…

Jim Kennedy is/was my maternal grandfather. But he died of leukemia at the age of 17 before he and my grandmother had a chance to marry. Disastrous for him, his family, my grandmother and my mother. Everybody’s life was somewhat ruined. But me and my family all come from that terrible time. So the title is somehow ironic and truthful at the time – God (if he/she exists) didn’t bless Jim much when he was alive, but we all come from him…

++ You recorded the album at Off the Rails Studio, which Andy Fonda, your drummer, runs. Must be very convenient and helpful! I wonder what advantages this gives you? The album sounds so much fun, that I guess recording it must have been a bliss?

It was great to record it in a comfortable place. Cheap, too! It gave us the opportunity to develop the songs slowly, and to amend and re-record when new ideas arose. A far better way to record than to have to rush it all in a swanky studio! And Andy did a fantastic job recording it so well on fairly basic equipment.

++ So yeah, tell me how did the band came together? I know you knew Frank and John since the Junies, but the rest?

Arash Torabi, the bassist, found me on Myspace! He was desperately trying to find anyone within a 50 mile radius who might have heard of the TVPs, and he got me…And Arash then found Andy, too – so I had a little band together without really trying at all.

++ What about the video for “I Own It”? It’s so nice! Did you come with the idea? Where did all these Swedish kids come from?!

I wish I could take some credit for it, but it had nothing to do with me! The director, Bo Mikael Hall, had done a video for Suburban Kids With Biblical Names, who have also released stuff on the Yesboyicecream label. Emmet, who runs Yesboy, simply asked him if he’d like to earn very little money by doing one for me!

++ Going back t the album, which is your favourite song on it? And what does the number 32 mean on the song Pop Song #32?

I think “Small Town” is probably my favourite. It’s the only old song on there, and was originally due to have been a June Brides single after “This Town”. And it’s quite a personal song, about my violent stepfather and my wonderful Mum. So it’s very personal, indeed…

There’s no particular meaning to the number 32! the title is just a slightly ironic dig at myself for writing yet another little pop song that won’t set the world on fire. Not that I don’t think it’s a great song!

++ You’ve been playing a lot of gigs since you came back in 2008! Some even abroad! Which gigs have been your favourite, and why? Any backstage anecdotes you can share?

Playing abroad is always best! I’ve really enjoyed the concerts in the US, Germany and Spain. Concerts abroad are always MUCH better than in the UK. The UK is desperately fashion lead when it comes to music. This can, of course, be great and probably has meant the UK gets more than its fair share of important acts. But It also makes it damned hard for an old bugger like me to persuade UK folk to come to the concerts! I seem to get much more respect when out of this country. And there are no mad backstage anecdotes to report – I’m far too sensible these days 🙂

++ By the way, did you get to do any touristy stuff while abroad?

Always, always!! I’m not very happy about just going to a place and doing concerts – I really want some time to appreciate the place I’m in. For that reason, I always try to have days off between concerts to explore…

++ You are playing the next San Francisco Popfest too! What expectations do you have?

I really don’t know, to be honest! For the band, I’m just hoping for a decent crowd and that we don’t embarrass ourselves too much 😉 But I’m really looking forward to seeing some of the other acts.

++ How do like the indiepop scene these days? Is it by any means more cohesive than during what we consider they heyday of indiepop back in the 80s? Are there any big differences?

I enjoy an awful lot of what I hear, and I love the fact that we are all so connected via the web these days: it makes everything a lot easier, and helps make you feel part of a wider community. What’s not to like about that?! The things I’m less keen on are things that have always grated with me – anything over-twee or too precious is always going to stick in my throat. Call me an old rockist if you like 🙂 And I do believe that the interconnectedness can’t help but make things a little more homogenized – we all hear what everyone else is doing, so the weird stuff is less likely to be developing in isolation – and I like the weird stuff!

++ Speaking of which, I know you are quite up to date with indiepop bands and releases! What are your latest discoveries? Any recommendations?

Well, I do love a great pop song, so I’m always keen to hear the new bands. I’m sure I won’t be surprising anyone here by mentioning Summer Cats, the Tartans, Lets Wrestle, Sexy Kids, Standard Fare, Honeyheads, Tap Tap, Just Joans, Lininanas,Internet Forever and The Starlets. But I think the last year or two has also been a great time for resurgent older guys! Great stuff from Vic Godard, The Sexual Objects, Edwyn Collins, Television Personalities, Sarandon, Factory Star (new album coming very soon) and The Wild Swans (While I’m here, can I also please mention the other band I play in?! The Granite Shore are worthy of a listen if you like pop music big, bold and epic- think Scott Walker and you won’t be too far wide of the mark).

++ Back in the 80s the June Brides appeared on hundreds of fanzines. These days fanzines are almost extinct. Do you think the internet and it’s blogs can replace fanzines?

I’m not sure how they compare. I think the sheer effort of writing, printing and selling a fanzine meant that relatively few people did it – so those that did were pretty damned dedicated. But it doesn’t take anywhere near as much effort to create a blog. How that affects the quality of what’s written is probably a topic for an interesting debate! What is undoubtedly true is that few people will be re-reading a music blog in 25 years time, whereas my fanzine collection remains a thing I treasure.

++ I have a question from my friend Jennifer, she thinks you are a snappy dresser! She asks: “What are your fave shops, places, web sites for men’s clothing (new or used) in the UK?”

Your friend Jennifer is clearly a person of taste 😉 I really do love good quality clothes. I think a psychiatrist would probably put it down to growing up dirt poor and yearning for the finer things of life! TK Maxx (or TJ Maxx as it’s called in the States, I believe!) is brilliant for good clothes. Ignore the well known Designer labels and shop with your hands would be my advice! Just feel for the quality – and only buy design classics. TK Maxx sells a lot of boutique stuff from small European designers – which nobody buys in the UK because the labels aren’t famous enough! So you can get classic stuff in high quality materials at a fraction of the normal cost. Free advert over 😉

++ So yeah, why did you leave London? And why so many people think you are Scottish?

I was sick of my job, which had actually made me quite ill with stress. I was sick of commuting. I was sick of the dirt and the noise. And I didn’t like having to go through highly armed policemen on my way to work at the Treasury every day! So we got out. Exciting cities like London are, I believe, fantastic places to be young in. But you yearn for something a bit more beautiful and peaceful as you age a bit.

As for being occasionally described as Scottish, I guess that mistake happens because sonically we were often compared with the Postcard bands – until it got to the point where some people believed we must actually be Scottish to sound like that!

++ What is coming next for Phil Wilson? Have you written more songs recently? Is it true that you are planning a country album? :p

I’m not sure where we go next, to be honest. I’ve never been that great at planning! I tend to write songs when they are needed – so haven’t currently got any on the boil. If I decide to do another album, I’ll have to get writing again soon!

I am actually planning to do some recording with my dad in a country style! He’s a great singer and needs to be properly recorded before it’s too late. So I have about 10 backing tracks recorded, including a country style version of “Velocity Girl”, ready for when he next comes down to visit me. I’m not sure what will happen to the recordings once they are done…

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

You know, mainly just the usual…books, walking, nature. The only outlandish thing I do is try (and often fail!) to repair old mechanical watches. I love the beauty and workmanship they involve and the patience they impose on you…

++ I see these photos of Dartmoor, lots of cows, sheep and horses, and I wonder, are you an animal lover? Do you have any pets perhaps?

I think you’ve probably got an important part of your soul missing if you don’t get immense joy from nature – I’m definitely an animal lover! We don’t have animals of our own, as our house is small and old and has no garden, but we do spend a lot of time looking after ducks in our local park (here is where I begin to sound like a real weirdo!). We feed them and rescue them and the chicks when the river floods. My wife and I are also part of a rota of people who spend a lot of time trying to keep the local foxes from eating them! I go out every night between 11 and midnight to our park to discourage the foxes. Told you I’d sound weird 😉

++ And what about Phil as a cook? What is that dish you make that everyone has to lick their fingers after tasting it?!

I’m a pretty rubbish cook! But I do make a mean soup – Moroccan style squash and carrot, or curried vegetable being my best…

++ Thanks again Phil! One last question, if you were to give some advice to this indiepop community better, what will it be?

Other than to buy my album?! OK…I wouldn’t presume I knew how to make anything better. But I’d just encourage everyone to be mutually supportive – we do need each other. And I’d encourage everyone to have the courage to express themselves – we all have something interesting to give if we put our hearts into it.

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Listen
Phil Wilson – I Own It

Thanks again to Bart! Some months ago we covered the great Pencil Tin and the relationship with Rob Cooper from The Sugargliders, now it’s time for Girl of the World, the first band Bart was involved with. They released three singles and a compilation CD in the early nineties, and all of them I recommend getting! You could tell that something special was brewing in Melbourne during this time, it was just before Summershine started and  people in town were getting influenced by the indiepop coming from the UK.  Anyways, sit down, read and enjoy!

++ Hi Bart! How are you these days? Have you written any songs this week?

Things are good. I’ve got a couple of songs on the go. The lyrics still need a bit of work, words don’t come as easy as they used to. My life is less of an indiepop cliché these days so I have less source material to draw on.

++ We did a nice interview about Pencil Tin, and I know, we should move now to the more known Cat’s Miaow or even The Shapiros, but I want to go even back, to Girl of the World! But you were telling me you don’t feel it was your band? Why is that?

I was definitely in the band but I didn’t form the band and my song-writing contributions were fairly negligible.

++ So how did Girl of the World start? Where did you know Tim and Cameron from?

I’d never met Tim or Cam before I joined the band. Girl of the World had probably been going for a year with a different bass player before I joined. I think they had only played a couple of parties but they did have a set of songs already written.

I’d just moved to Melbourne to go to college and was walking past a music store and saw an ad for a band that needed a bass player. The ad really stood out to me for 2 reasons. Firstly it had Roy Lichtenstein’s Drowning girl on it and secondly the list of influences was really unusual for an Australian band. I don’t think any Australian band before or since has listed the Pastels, Talulah Gosh, Wedding Present, Orange Juice and the Go-Betweens on an ad. I just had to join this band. I’m not even sure if anyone else contacted them.

++ Was Girl of the World was your first proper pop band? Which makes me wonder, did you three have very similar taste?

It was the first band I’d been in that released a single, so in that sense yes. Prior to that, I was in a band that went on to become the Ampersands. They released a few things on Harriet in the US. My replacement was Andrew, who I formed the Cat’s Miaow with.

I think the 3 members of Girl of the World had compatible tastes, rather than identical. I don’t think there was anything that any of us liked that the others hated. I was more into Flying nun and Beat Happening but there was a lot of common ground with the c86 era. Tim was into the Pastels and Pooh Sticks while I preferred the Wedding Present and Orange Juice, Cam had a leaning towards US guitar bands like Husker Du and Buffalo tom. All 3 us liked Teenage Fanclub and the Field Mice

++ You play bass on Girl of the World, whereas in the rest of bands you played guitar mostly. How did you pick up the bass this time? And of course, what do you enjoy playing the most, guitar or bass?

I’d been playing bass since i was 16 and at that point didn’t know how to play guitar. I was about 25 before I started to learn the guitar. I haven’t played bass in probably 10 years. I’ve just lent it to the teenage daughter of a friend from work so she can play in a band. A guitar is better for writing songs, I don’t actually consider myself much of a guitarist tho.

++ Why the name Girl of the World? That can’t be about a particular girl, can it?

It was a re-appraisal of the phrase “Man of the world”

++ First release was in Parasol, when they were just starting. It was the “Travel EP”, how do you remember the recordings of this one? And how come it ended up in far away Urbana, Illinois?

The recording of the Travel ep is probably one of my fondest memories of the band. It was incredibly exciting, recording at Simon Grounds home studio. I’d probably only been in the band about 9 months by then. We had been rehearsing twice a week since I joined and had a hell of a lot of new songs. Andrew had earlier recorded pretty much every song we knew one afternoon at the church hall where we rehearsed on the 4 track and we released the best 10 on cassette. Not long after we recorded the Travel ep Tim went on a round the world holiday and scattered demos along the way. It ended up on Parasol as they got to the phone quicker than Bus stop when they listened to it together. Heaven offered to do it as well but by that time we’d already agreed to do it with Parasol

++ Also the second release was on Parasol: “Le Cirque” 7″. This may be a very silly question, but do you like circuses Bart? I just got this nostalgia and had me thinking that I haven’t been to one since I was maybe 12 years old, but I always loved them, especially the magicians. Do you like any in particular about them?

I always find them a bit seedy, clowns give me the willies. I took my kids to one not long ago and they’ve changed a lot since I was a kid. Hardly any animals, but lots of acrobatics.

++ Ok, let’s get back to serious questions, who is the Emma that has lyrics credit on the “Le Cirque” record?

A friend of Tim’s.

++ I was always surprised by your release on Heaven Records, mostly because you sound very different to The Fat Tulips who I also love. In any case, they made a great choice to release you! How did the you deal with them?  Did you ever get to see them or meet them?

I know I never met them and I don’t think Tim did either. Back then it was a very slow snail mail sort of existence. It would take at least 4 weeks to get a reply back from either the UK or US, that’s if the person you were writing to was prompt…. and international phone calls were hideously expensive.

++ Heaven is one of my favourite labels, not only because of the music, but because you could tell the people behind it were very passionate, with all the little inserts, mini-fanzines, and real zines. It was a labour of love. I was wondering what was your take on that, and why do you think that kind of passion is not seen often these days? Not that it was often seen in those days, but you know…

I’ve just read Tim’s little story in the fanzine that came with the single and I think the only true thing in it was the bit about me being a little older than Cam and Tim. I think time and distance can act as a sort of prism to make things appear better than what they were at the time. In general, things weren’t all that great back then.

++ On the “Five Year Old” record, there was a photo of a llama included, was that your idea? It’s kind of dumb to ask I know, but I always feel proud about our Peruvian animal haha

That would’ve been Tim’s idea. I think that single was organised when he was living in the US and Cam and I didn’t have much input into the visual side of it. I’m sure there was a reason for the llama, but for the life of me I can’t remember the story connected with it.

++ With Girl of the World you started working with Simon Grounds as a producer, what did he bring on the table?

Simon brought a lot to the table. A wealth of experience and talent and a vast array of vintage guitar pedals. He projects quite an eccentric persona, sort of like a cartoon mad professor. I think we were all initially in awe of him. I’d been a huge fan of his band shower scene from psycho. They used to do bubblegum covers, but deconstructed, simplified, then exaggerated. Simon was bit like that as well.

++ Ah! and what about the “Wonderboy” compilation, why did it didn’t include all the songs? It should have!

Yeah, it probably should have. I think the Travel ep was probably left off simply because the master was on analogue tape and the others were on DAT.

++ I have to ask, how come none of your releases came out in an Australian label?

Because no Australian label wanted to release us. We thought Summershine might for a while but then they signed The Earthmen, and The Earthmen became our official nemesis and we were insanely and irrationally jealous of them. Which was funny, because I was actually a fan of theirs and went to see them live a lot, particularly when Rob was in the band. And it’s even funnier now as Scott is doing a bit of singing with Bart & Friends.

++ Looking back in time what is your favourite Girl of the World song, and why?

I tend to prefer the earlier songs stylistically and it was also the time of the band that I have the fondest memories of, but I’ve always thought that Circus was the best song Tim ever wrote. Good lyrics, melody, catchy chorus, a bridge that builds up. I’d love it even if I wasn’t in the band.

++ So why did you split? Are you all still in touch?

I left because I felt that Tim was treating Cam and I like a backing band and not acknowledging the contributions we made. Having said that, I can’t really think of a single instance now to support that and I think it was mainly being played out in my head rather than in reality. I’m sure I was a moody, pain in the arse to be around at that time (some would say I still am) but I mainly think now that being around someone as charming and confident as Tim just made me feel more of a loser. Tim was everything I wanted to be but wasn’t.

I’m still in touch with Cam, tho don’t see as much of him as I’d like due to him living in Sydney. I imagine if he was living in Melbourne he’d be in bart & friends.

++ And was it immediately after Girl of The World that you started Cat’s Miaow?  Did you do anything in between?

No, the Cat’s miaow started 18 months before I left girl of the world. There was quite a bit of overlap of when I was in both bands. For the most part during that time girl of the world were in hiatus due to Tim living in the US for about a year. There were a few months in early 1994 when I must have been playing in the Cat’s miaow, Pencil tin, Girl of the world and Blairmailer. I think I might have failed a couple of subjects at college around this time as well….

++ Oh! and before I forget, I’ve been meaning to ask you this before, on the On the Great Indie Discography it mentions that you were in a band called Blairmailer. I have never heard about it, do you mind telling me a bit about it?

That was David and Michael Nichols band. There was a CD, Home of the falcon which I don’t play on but I remember sharing bass duties with Andrew in a live version of the band. Blairmailer did a short tour of the US in 1994 and played at the Yoyo A Go Go festival. Afterwards I went onto DC and did the Shapiros with Pam.

++ Okay, let’s start wrapping it here, but one last question, what do you like better of living in Ballarat compared to Melbourne?

It’s so much easier living in Ballarat with a young family. I live in a really quite street behind a church near the centre of town. It’s like living in a little country village with church bells chiming on a Sunday morning. I’m walking distance to cafes, pubs, supermarkets, post office, my son’s school. I could even walk to work if I wasn’t so lazy. I do miss my friends in Melbourne tho.

++ Thanks again Bart, a pleasure as always, anything else you’d like to add?

I probably played more live shows with girl of the world than all my other bands combined. Our first show was supporting The Sugargliders at their record launch for the Butterfly Soup single on Summershine. We actually played with them a lot and we’d do combined band encores with all of us onstage doing songs like “Pristine Christine” or “Sensitive”. Girl of the World’s last show was at The
Sgargliders farewell show which provided some symmetry to it all.

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Listen
Girl of the World – 3000 FT

Thanks so much to Stephen Vesecky for the interview. If you are in Austin this coming Friday don’t miss out him and his band Strega! And well, what can I say about #Poundsign#? They released two fantastic, and classic, indiepop albums in the late 90s and these days they are sadly missed. Perhaps one of the best indiepop bands to come from America and I never got the chance to see them live. So here’s hoping a Popfest asks them to play again! Anyhow, enjoy the interview!

++ Hi Stephen! How are you doing? I hear you are going to SXSW! What are the plans there?

We’re going to play Michael Zakes’ mini-popfest at Waterloo Cycles on Friday at 330PM. I’m definitely excited for all the new bands that will be there. That’s the main thing. I have no preconceived notions. I’m excited to see Puro Instinct, Dessa, Brandt Brauer Frick, among others.

++ I know you are in Strega, and I really like what you are doing, but because I miss it first time around, I was wondering, do you ever miss the #Poundsign# days? Will there be any chance that you’ll play a one-off show, a reunion, one day?

I hope we can. everyone is busy with their lives but it does seem like everything comes back around again eventually, so i’m hopeful about the future. I think everyone feels that Poundsign was special, and so it has to feel right if we’re going to do it again.

++ So how did #Poundsign# start? Was it your first band?

I had a band in high school called “Strange Behaviour” that was just a 2-person outfit, inspired by Tears for Fears and Depeche Mode. Poundsign was the first band I was in where I felt like the songs we were writing were as good as anything done by other bands. Around that time I was in another band with a bunch of dudes and I played bass, which was sort of like a combination of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Sonic Youth, and The Dead Milkmen. Poundsign was great because I could be more myself with this band.

++ Was it easy to get the band together? How did the recruiting process worked?

It started with me and my friend Ravi hanging around in college, he was good about convincing me that we could do a band, that the songs we had written were good enough. Then in the fall of 1993 we recruited Alicia and Becky to be in the band. It was nice how it all fell together.

++ And why the name of the band? I never know what to search on ebay, to use or not to use the “#” is the question…

At the time, I liked Kraftwerk’s “The Telephone Call” song. It made me think about how telephones allow you to make a connection with someone in a weird distorted way. you can’t see the person, but the sound of their voice makes you imagine what they look like. one night I was staring at the phone touch pad while talking on the phone and just thought the poundsign was a good symbol for all that.

++ Your first release was the split with fellow Bay Area indiepop band Poastal. And that makes me wonder, how was the scene there back then? It seems like there was something going on! Which were your favourite bands there and what about the cool places to hang out?

Poastal were originally from Southern California, but they came up to SF around the time that we all moved there. The cool places were the Bottom of the Hill, spots in the Mission like the Make Out Room, Latin American Club, The Piano Bar, The Edinburgh Castle, Aquarius Records. The Mission is still my favorite part of SF. The Epicenter was still cool at the time, I think Excuse 17 played there.

++ What about the Michigan 7″. Is Michigan an important place for you? And who were Belmondo Records?

Becky wrote the song about Michigan. All of us in the band had ties to Michigan, my dad lived there at the time, and Becky would stay there with her folks and I think she was out there while she was thinking of a boy in California, or something like that, so that’s what the song’s about. Probably.

Belmondo Records was connected to Mod Lang records. I think the idea was just to do a few limited releases.

++ How did you end up signing to Fantastic Records? They are probably one of my all-time favourite indiepop labels from the US!

They wrote to us after hearing the Poastal split single, and then they released the “Almondy Many” single, and it was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

++ How many copies did you make of the “New Live and Rare” CD? It seems impossible to find! Actually most of your records are pretty rare. Maybe you could consider making some sort of retrospective box set or something?

I’d love to do another Poundsign release. we’d have to do something with a label where we could make it special … I know it can happen. i’m definitely open to it. it would be fun to make a package out of some of the rarer songs that some people never got to hear.

++ I’m also kind of curious about the artwork for “Underneath the Marquee”. What’s the story behind it?

I think the art was taken from a postcard that Becky found in Scotland.

++ I’ve always had a soft spot, and dearly loved, your song “Ayso”, why wasn’t it included in any of the albums? Care to tell me how this song came about?

It was one of Alicia’s early songs. I think it was based on her daydream about playing soccer. the first time we actually played the song was in a little stage in a park at the Chico indiepop festival in 1996, and i think Alicia was wearing some sort of soccer shirt. That was one of the first songs Alicia wrote that she could tell was really good, so it gave her extra confidence when she sang it.

++ Now it’s your turn, which is your favourite #Poundsign# song and why?

My favorite might be “Sundried” off the wavelength album. Although maybe AYSO is my favorite, come to think of it. This is really a hard question.

++ Are there any more unreleased #Poundsign# songs?

There are at least 3 unreleased songs that we never recorded.

++ Is it true that you prefer recording in home studio over a proper studio? Why is that?

At the moment I like going to a studio for special things, like drums, and I love working with engineers who know a lot about reverbs and effects. Otherwise it’s just better to record in a place where you are comfortable. Like your living room.

++ What about your Japan tour?! How did that go? What impressed you the most from Japan? Any other anecdotes you can share?

I enjoyed playing in japan. people were very appreciative. We had “taco” which is Japanese for octopus. i think it was a small piece of octopus surrounded by fried dough. Sort of like an octopus doughnut hole. We played with a band called “Running Catch” who were super cute. Kenji from the Fairways translated the lyrics to “Telephone” into Japanese so I sang it that way at the Japanese shows.

++ And here in the US, which were your favourite gigs, and why? Best band to share the bill?

We always liked playing with Imperial Teen, they were a popular band that we really liked. And of course there were the classic shows with Track Star, Aisler’s Set, Rocketship, The Fairways.

++ When and why did you call it a day? What did you do in between #Poundsign# and Strega?

I moved to New York … we played a few shows after that, but it just felt like it was time to move on.

++ So ok, you moved from San Francisco to New York. Which place do you like best and why?

I don’t want to say I like NY better, but that is in fact the case. I like SF, I love riding my bike over the golden gate bridge. It’s featherlight. NY is heavier, there’s more drama. At least, that’s how I perceive it.

++ And you DJ quite often, right? What are some songs that never fail as floor fillers for you? 🙂

Usually i start out with regular rock music including some indie pop like The Drums and The Pains, and then by the time everyone is a bit drunk I’ve moved on to electronic dance music and some hip hop, which you can listen to here:

http://stephenvesecky.com/resources.html

My dancefloor favorites are Florrie, Daft Punk, Robyn, “I’m Your Boogie Man” by KC and the Sunshine Band, “Dancing in Outerspace” by Atmosfear, LCD Soundsystem, Gold Panda, Ke$ha, “Kids” by MGMT. La Roux.

++ Let’s wrap it here, thanks again Stephen. Aside SXSW any other gigs coming up for Strega? Anything else you’d like to add?

We have a facebook page that everyone should check out, we’re doing a lot of recording, and I’m sure there will be lots of gigs in the Spring and Summer.

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Listen
#Poundsign# – AYSO

Thanks so much to Chris Morgan for the interview. I only knew about The Deddingtons thanks to the Leamington Spa series where their song “The Last Day” was included. Of course, this was one of my favourite songs throughout the 6 volumes that have been released so far, and I was always wondering who The Deddingtons were. They never got any proper releases mind you! But I hope this will change soon! Enjoy!

++ Hi Chris! Thanks so much for the interview! Are you still living in Nottingham?

I am, yes – but via a circuitous route that took me away and, happily brought me back. I live about 12 miles away from where we recorded as The Deddingtons.

++ First thing I wonder about your old band is if there are any more recordings other than “The Last Day”, you know we all have been craving for more! Did you record demo tapes or something? Do you remember the song names?

Well, I’m surprised to find out that people have been craving more stuff; mainly because we didn’t know that The Last Day was even released! I fear the hand of a mercurial ex-manager at work! There’s a reasonable catalogue of tracks that we recorded. In terms of names: She, Solitary Sunday, Happy Agai, Sheelagh and Naively immediately spring to mind.

++ Let’s go back to the late eighties, just before you were part of The Deddingtons. Were you involved with music then? Was the bass your first instrument? Self-taught?

I was playing guitar at the time, but just for myself which I first learned on my Dad’s old Hohner acoustic. He showed me a couple of chords, and I was off… I migrated to the bass a little bit later

++ It’s strange though that on the Leamington Spa liner notes it says you played guitars and Chris King the bass guitar? Mistake I guess?

Maybe, maybe not. Matt, Chris and me all played the guitars on the recordings – so it’s possible that he played the bass on this. Our live line-up was Andy on Drums, Matt on Lead, Chris on vox and Rhythm, me on bass.

++ So alright, let’s go a bit forward in time to the early nineties when The Deddingtons formed. How did that happen? How did you all knew each other?

I met Matt Wright when we were both working part time for a supermarket and, despite the funky brown nylon uniform, we recognised each other as groovy indie types. We got chatting about The Smiths, which was our favourite band Matt told me he was looking for a guitarist. I went round to Matt’s parent’s house with my really cheap guitar and bass and before I knew it I was in a band called The Social Divide. The SD seemed to have an almost revolving door policy on it’s members and eventually fizzled out.

At around the same time Matt and I started to play in a covers band, The Losers, which really helped us to learn our instruments. Chris King of the SD played keyboards. It also gained us an ace drummer, in the form of Andy Luczko. For The Deddingtons, we trialled a couple of singers, who both could hold a tune but didn’t quite “hit it”. We realised quickly that Chris King had the most fabulous voice – we coerced him into becoming our front man.

++ What inspired you all to make music?

We were at an age where, after girls, music was probably the biggest thing we were interested in. The Smiths had just split, The Stone Roses, The La’s and The Sundays had released their first albums and we just kind of thought, y’know, we could do this.

++ And why the name The Deddingtons? Where does it come from?

Rather prosaically it came from the name of the road that Matt’s parents lived on. We had to have a “the”, because all best bands at the time did. Except Teenage Fanclub. Matt’s parents house was also were we converted the loft into a recording studio – we had an old 8-Track reel-to-reel, a proper mixing desk all housed in a sound proofed booth – it looked and worked like the real thing. Can you imagine getting that chance What wonderful parents, eh? Jim Wright sadly passed away recently and we couldn’t have asked for a bigger supporter and fan. A truly lovely man. The Loft got really hot in the summer and, as the water tank was up there we had to stop everytime some one flushed the toilet….halcyon days.

++ So again, it seems to be some sort of mistake on the Leamington Spa liner notes, it says you never played live. But on the Youtube comments to the Last Day track, someone assures that he had been to at least a gig or two. Who is right? And if you did play them, do you remember any about them?

We did play live,but only on a handful of occasions.

++ What about the scene in Nottingham during those years? I can only think of Heaven Records and The Fat Tulips… what were your favourite bands in town and maybe your favourite places to hang out?

There wasn’t a scene as such. Other than The Tindersticks and The Yons, I’m hard pressed to name any bands at the time.

++ On these same liner notes it praises Chris King as a perfectionist in recording layer after layer of guitars. I can see that on “Last Day”! How did the creative process worked for you guys?

Chris King is a genius. We had eight tracks and he produced and engineered all the demos – what he managed by bouncing tracks and such, was incredible. It’s hard to say where the songs came from, we tended to work on feel. A couple of us would work something up and then we’d kick it around until it formed. We had the luxury of time: only Andy held down a full time job – we spent two long, blissful summers doing what we wanted to do. We pretty much kept office hours too, kicking off about 10 in the morning and finishing when Matt’s Mum and Dad announced that they were off to bed!

++ And of course, as it’s the only song we all know, I’m wondering what is this song about, how did you all came with it? Is this your favourite one from the Deddingtons repertoire by the way?

I guess The Last Day is all about the loss of youth, working within the moment and not missing the chances that life could give. The lyrics are Chris’s – he’d be best placed to explain them.

++ So what happened? Why didn’t you get a proper release? It feels a bit unfair!

Well we had a couple of moments where we thought we would get a proper release. We sent demos off around the word and the head of A&R at WEA called Matt up late one evening, saying how much he loved what we were doing and could we send some more tracks. We duly sent off more tracks and never heard from him again…

++ And so what happened after, why did you call it a day? I hear most of the band became The Days, but you didn’t right?

We had enlisted the services of a manager, who I didn’t get along with at all. I dislocated my shoulder, which stopped me playing the bass for a few weeks. The new manager introduced a new guitarist, who was a decent bloke, but without any consultation. I fell out of love with the band and quit – perhaps a bit rash but I was only 20 at the time. I haven’t really spoken with Matt or Andy since, which I regret. After I left, manager-bloke brought his brother into the band and pushed Chris King onto bass.

++ Could you say The Deddingtons and The Days were kind of the same band? Or were there too many differences?

In my limited view, very different. The Deddingtons were original and ahead of their time, eschewing the zeitgeist.

++ Have you been involved with music after those years? Are you still listening to guitar pop?

I joined a Derby band called Saltbox in 1994 and we enjoyed moderate success on the local indie-scene and played in London a few times. We had record company interest and got played on the radio – BBC Radio Derby’s Mark Sheldon (now working at 6 music) was a big champion of ours and even suggest in print that people should “ignore oasis and dry out with Saltbox”. How’s that for a press-clipping? I’m currently recording some solo stuff, mainly as a hobby, under the guise of Reporters. My wonderful kids and wife , as well as work commitments are the main focus now I’m old and boring!

++ Well, let’s wrap it here! Anything else you’d like to add?

I’d just like to say thanks for getting in touch – it’s great to know that some people liked what we tried to do and we’ll release more tracks onto YouTube soon.

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Listen
The Deddingtons – The Last Day

Thanks so much to Rob, Ben and James for the fantastic interview they self-titled “More Than is Healthy to Know About The Gits”. Also be sure to listen the companion piece “A Gitrodruction” where you can learn to an old radio interview plus bits and pieces of many of their songs. And if you are feeling even more curious, this Youtube channel, has lots of songs and live performances!

More Than Is Healthy To Know About The Gits
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++ How are things?

Rob: As well as could be expected

++ Whereabouts in the UK are you these days?

Ben: In Cairo. I spent yesterday and last night overlooking Tahrir Square when Mubarak resigned. Incredible atmosphere. People just went crazy. (Answered on 11th February)

Rob: I’m still battling the forces of evil in ‘Orsham. I had thought of travelling the world but as they say the best pictures are on the radio.

++ So The Gits, were they your first band? (if no, care to tell me a bit about your older bands?)

Ben: ‘Nigel the Impaler’ also with Rob.

James: No, I was in bands from 1980 – HPR, The Jackalsons and Under The Hanging Tree to name but a few.

Rob: There were many prior to the Gits that were even more unknown. But the first, who I am embarrassed to admit were called Strange Brew, was the most significant as we tagged along on a trip to Horsham’s twin town in Germany, Lage, where we played a couple of gigs and I got to know several of my later co-conspirators including Ben (during the rare moments he didn’t have his tongue down the throat of…)

++ How did the band start? How did you knew each other in the band?

Ben: In the pub. Rob heard (incorrectly) that I had a bass guitar and said if I joined the band he was forming he’d teach me to play bass. And he very nearly did. Deal sealed with a pint of Sussex.

James: The band started with Rob, Matt and Ben who all knew each other from College. I think Jason was asked if he wanted to be the singer first and I was brought in as back up.

Rob: Ben and I, as fans of The Misunderstood, were increasingly bitter about the pseudo psychedelic bands coming up from Brighton to play in Horsham so we thought we’d start our own to show them how it should be done. Of course we couldn’t do anything remotely like we’d set out to do so The Gits were a happy accident from that.

We asked Ben’s neighbour to join but he was rightly unimpressed by the stuff I’d written (he later became The Vessel of David Devant & His Spirit Wife ). I knew Matt and Jim from previous bands and I can’t remember how they got roped in but the latter actually wrote lyrics that made sense and with decent melodies which was a great improvement.

++ What inspired The Gits to make music?

Ben: Beer.

James: Living in Horsham meant living in a cultural and artistic backwater. Music was a release valve.

Rob: I’ve often wondered about that but haven’t the foggiest what the answer is.

++ And What inspired you to name yourselves The Gits?

Ben: After a rehearsal early on I was very unkind to a worm with a tonka toy. Matt rightly called me a git. The name was floated as a temporary name for the band and it stuck.

James: I think the name was a result of one of the band members torturing an insect and being called ‘A Git’

++ How was Horsham, Sussex, back then? Where did you usually hang out? Were there any other pop bands around?

Ben: It was dull but better than it became later. Horsham was voted into the top 10 of ‘Worst Towns To Live In’.

The Bear Public House.

There were few bands of any description. But you could occasionally go to a gig in ‘Champagnes’ a subterranean venue better known for the fights that regularly broke out. Far from glamorous but the only place to go after the pubs closed.

James: See above. Looking back, Horsham was a very safe and secure environment to either a/ bring up young kids or b/ wait to die. Suffocating in its normality and conformity.

The Bear pub was Gits HQ.

There were loads of other bands from Horsham, Crawley and Brighton, the majority of whom all thought they were rock stars with a small r.

Rob: Horsham used to be the major town in the region but lost that position over the last century and by the eighties it didn’t know what it was for anymore and had become a forgotten backwater.

So in The Gits era all there was in the way of entertainment were the large number of pubs left over from it’s days as a market town and a couple of crappy night clubs. It’s saving grace though was that one of the latter would put on local and out of town bands on a Tuesday night and a reasonable music scene developed around it most of whom seemed to meet in The Bear Public House.

Bands locally tended to be split between pub rock covers of the dullest veneer and what could be described as alternative though not necessarily indie pop. The Jackalsons (including Jim), No Geraniums and us were probably the pick of the litter.

* Horsham claims to fame * At one point it had three breweries and the most pubs in a square mile outside of central London!

++ What is the story behind the “Dave Evans” moniker you used in the concerts by the way? Did the rest of the band used fake names as well?

Ben: I’m sure Robs answered this. We once did a ‘Ben E Git Ben E fit’ gig. I was short of funds for Beer.

James: The Edge’s real name. I was Jammie Git

Rob: Stage names for the band was one of many daft ideas formulated over a pint of King & Barnes Brown & Bitter and for mine I thought I’d uphold the honour of a name that The Edge discarded as too boring for someone in a rock band. ‘Fat’ Git would be more apt now.

We also had Blind Lemon Git who later became Mat ‘Guitar’ Git (after the chap from the Blues Brothers Band), Jason Little Git – the token short person, who sang with us for a while and also, spoiling the theme, Chris T.

++ So right, what about gigs? Which other bands shared bill with you?

James: The Brilliant Corners, The Chesterfields, China Crisis!!

Rob: Our first gig in Brighton was with The Chesterfields and we also played with The Man From Del Monte and The Brilliant Corners on the Sussex Riverera. The Grooveyard, who I notice you have also interviewed, were on the bill of the second of those.

In theory our biggest gig was headlining The Powerhaus in Islington, London. That was where Throwing Muses & The Pixes played together! Unfortunately it was New Years Day and it could not be described as busy. I don’t remember the name of the first band but do recall they were fronted by two punkish young ladies wearing tu-tus and that the other support, Barf Roco, had what Mat described as the Grange Hill guitar sound. (For the benefit of overseas readers Grange Hill being a long running childrens program in Britain http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SlvZF6k5bE).

++ Any particular gigs you remember and why?

Ben: Champagnes one Christmas. The place was heaving and people were dancing right back to the bar at the opposite end from the stage. Alistair Adams from Test department played bagpipes for us.
As usual the promoter afterwards told us he’d made a loss and we would not be getting paid. He actually had bundles of cash bulging out of his pockets!

James: I remember a gig in London playing at a Nurses College where in the toilet afterwards I was accosted by a 17 stone skinhead who proclaimed we were the best band he had ever seen and why weren’t we signed to a record label?

Rob: The Powerhouse (How was it spelt?). Both the front of house and monitor engineers asked us to do encores and on the second one I decided to jump off the front of the stage. That went reasonable well, as did standing up against the P.A. speakers to create a wall of feedback. But it was at that point I realized how high the stage was and my rock and roll moment was rather ruined by my futile attempts to get back up onto it whilst still playing.

++ With all these guitar bands in the UK, did you feel part of a scene at all back then?

Ben: No, other bands couldn’t figure us out or just didn’t like us. We were like a pub band ‘done good’ and insufficiently miserable to be ‘serious’ band.

Rob: Not really. Our rare forays into enemy territory just showed up how out of place we were. But I got the impression that a lot of folks quite liked that.

++ How would you consider your music, indiepop?

Ben: No I think we were far too flippant to be indie pop. Humour was a big part of the Gits identity, I think – Which was part of our (limited) appeal.

James: No. We started Brit pop.

Rob: To some extent as I was influenced by the ‘Sound Of Young Scotland’: Orange Juice, Josef K, Aztec Camera and the like. But I wasn’t playing a black and white Stratocaster by accident and was as much into Clapton, Cream & Hendrix as well as XTC, The Kinks, ELO, The Fall and many many more. Frank Zappa was important for the humour and the way he would combine things, like do-wop and modern classical. And I’ve always been trying to make The Beatles White Album.

++ What about releases, you only released one single right? How did that came about? Who released it?

James: No one would sign us as we ‘did not have a dance element to our music’ so the only way to get national exposure would be to release a single by ourselves.

Rob: Another calamity. I think we were looking for something to give the band some impetus and put it together ourselves but once we had it we didn’t have the faintest idea what to do with it. But that was our problem, and our strength, we never had a plan.

++ What about recording it? Was it any different to all the other stuff that was put on tape?

James: Recording was at a home studio in one day with an in house engineer. It was obviously of better recording quality than the tapes but felt a bit clinical and too polished.

Rob: Martin Stephenson put it best, ‘letting someone else produce your record is like letting someone fondle your girlfriend’s breasts’.

Everything else we did was to four track cassette and either mixed to reel to reel or DAT. It’s by no means wonderful and I had very little idea what I was doing but I think it sounds more like us.

++ What is your favourite Gits song?

James: Mother Knows How.

Rob: There’s bits of quite a lot of them I still like though I find it harder to listen to those with my lyrics. The Greatest Gift is the best of the pre-Jim Gits, perhaps Happy Song of the early ‘pure pop for pop people’ era and either Happily Mad or Bear Up of the mature band. Time To Kill has the most coherent guitar solo I’ve ever played, but ask me tomorrow and I’d choose something else.

++ And how did the creative process work for you?

James: Rob pretty much did it all. I contributed on lyrics, some drum patterns and a very occasional guitar part but virtually all the music ideas were Rob’s. I would get a tape from Rob with whole song structures and add words and melody lines if needed. Firty songs in two years – Rob was a creative genius. Please leave that in, it needs to be said.

Rob: Err… fiddle about on the guitar until I find something I liked. Give it to someone to make up words or if desperate do them myself. Get bored, call it a song and move on to the next thing.

++ You pointed me to these links where there are more than 50 songs of yours recorded! And it makes me wonder how come you didn’t get to properly release them? Some of the songs are single material! Maybe there should be a limited CD with all the songs and some liner notes… just an idea!

Ben: My fault. Promoters and agents / management would approach us after gigs when we were getting very drunk and somehow I would be custodian of the business cards they’d give us. And I would lose them…

Rob: I’m glad you like them. Doing a CD seems a bit optimistic but I’ve thought of sticking them on Bandcamp so people can hear them in decent quality. They’re on LastFM at the moment but they’ve stopped hosting files before and may very well do so again. http://www.last.fm/music/The+Gits+(UK)

++ I have a couple of questions about some songs. First, what feeling is that from “That Dunkirk Feeling”?

James: The feeling? Accentuate the Positive!

++ Second, how serious is the message of “Thank You Fans”?

James: Deadly.

Rob: When we did it we had no fans and no expectation of ever having any so it wasn’t serious. It was a bit of a piss take but mainly just daft which is a theme in a lot of the Gits endeavours. Made up on the spot and done in one take though, I was as much a loss to the world of acting as music!

++ And last one, who was the one that had the “French Girlfriend”?

Ben: Geoff Poynter the cover star of one of the tape cassettes we released misheard a lyric from another Gits song

Rob: The Cover Shepherd from our third tape was convinced that was the name of the song of ours it was based on.

++ I heard you are appearing on the next Leamington Spa compilation CD with the great “JK Rant”. Care to tell me a bit about the song that will appear there?

James: JK Rant was about the scensters who incurred my inner wrath.

Rob: The JK is for Josef K as the guitars on the demo sounded a bit like the Scottish band so it was a way of remembering it before it had words.

The CD version is a combination of the vocals from the ‘Chris Morris’ cassette version, guitar from a late rehearsal recording and I managed to get Glen going so I recorded the drums again.

++ I did notice that you have a song called “Tommy and Brenda”, by your next band Voice of the Rain (who I hope we can do an interview with later), where it mentions a love for Prenzlauer Berg. You do know that the Firestation office is right there, in Prenzlauer Berg, what a coincidence! So just out of curiosity, how do you like Berlin?

James: I like Berlin. Especially Take My Breath Away

Rob: I remember being due to go there to collaborate with a brass ensemble or something but never did as my esteemed colleague became ill for a time. He writes… ‘I lived in Prenzlauer Berg for four years, in Dunckerstr, (with the best indie club in Berlin) and then in Wins str’.

A coincidence indeed. Incidentally Richard from VTOR was the chap I made up Radio Sussex Gits favourite ‘Turn Away’ with.

++ Looking back, what do you think was the biggest highlight of The Gits?

Ben: The beer. And being played on the radio.

James: Strangely, the biggest highlight and lowlight was meeting someone on the board of Skint Records nearly 20 years after we split up who told me he loved The Gits when he was a teenager, really thought we would be famous and why hadn’t I made more of my life.

Rob: Looking back in 20-20 hindsight through rose tinted spectacles – that some folks liked what we did when we were so unfashionable and didn’t fit in with any genre or scene. So they must have liked the music, or the funny clips, or the amusing radio interviews.

++ Alright, so what happened to The Gits? Why did you call it a day? What did you do after?

Ben: Being in the Gits filled the dull void of being in Horsham. But we came to a point where we had to choose between being a ‘serious’ band or getting into University and drugs. Personally I felt being serious was not really the ethos of The Gits.

[After the Gits] Drugs, University and being serious.

James: Ben went to fight in Nicaragua and ended up at Hull University so The Gits from an original line up of five were now two and didn’t feel like The Gits anymore.

Rob: In the end we just ran out of steam but the thing that killed us off was some time before when I got pissed off with Chris and chucked him out of the band for organising a gig but not wanting us to play it. We really needed the ideas and impetus he gave us.

++ Are you still involved with music? What are you all up to nowadays?

Ben: I started listening to music again a while ago…

Film, animation, games graphics, human rights activism… watching old Gits gig videos on youtube. Ah youth!

James: I played in one other band called Kvetch for a couple of years, moved away from Horsham in ’93 and never played another gig. Took up acting as my outlet and currently work for Sussex Police.

Rob: I help out and have done odd bits of recording for a local voluntary group involved in music, the HDLMA. I played my first gig for fourteen years in 2006 and since then I’ve been in a couple of covers bands but left one because I didn’t really add anything and another because I was playing bass, badly. I’ve been trying to get a few other things going but progress is slow so I’ll probably crack on with instrumentals under the ‘Zatapathique’ banner. If The Gits revival doesn’t take off of course.

++ Thanks so much for the interview! Anything else you’d like to add?

Rob: Push wasn’t about sex.

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Listen
The Gits – Two Many People

Thanks so much to Suzanne Muckley for the interview! I knew Blue Summer from the great tape compilation “You Can’t Be Loved Forever vol.3” but they were so obscure and there was no information whatsoever online. So it was great to find a bit more about them at last! Enjoy!!

++ So let’s talk about Blue Summer! I really want more people to hear and know your tunes! When did the band start and who were the members? How did you all meet each other?

I met Tina Lusher at college in 1984 doing a Art Diploma course in Harlow, Tina showed me some of her music and songs she had written but had never performed, from this we did some of her songs for Rag week in the Harlow town centre, I was probably the more confident and did a lot of singing in church but nothing other than that, but I like to think i gave Tina the confidence in her song writing to pursue it.

From Rag week some how we got together with my friend Tony Bennett (drums) and Angela Black (trumpet) also on the same course, and started gigging at college, as people saw us and liked us our venues got better mainly in and around Harlow with the exception of Exeter university which was great fun. We entered the Harlow Rock contest twice and i think we got through to the semi finals both times if i remember rightly.

++ What about the name Blue Summer? Where did it came from?

The name Blue Summer came from me and Tina i remember one night in the pub the Jean Harlow we was thinking of a name and it came from us both loving the summer and the colour blue!

++ On the Harlow Bands page it says that you had some sort of relationship with The Pharaoahs, The Neurotics, The Pillage People and Travis Cut. What was the connection?

The Pharaoahs, The Neurotics, The Pillage People and Travis Cut are all bands that we played with or supported probably mainly at The Square in Harlow, some were also in the rock contest, Tony Bennett (our drummer) went on to play with The Pharaohs and they still play once or twice a year still now so tony tells me mainly abroad they are a rockabilly band, I also used to be friends with some of the players.

++ So what were you listening at the time?

Music wise we was probably mainly into indie music at the time, although Tina loved Haircut 100, we loved Everything but the Girl, The Go-Betweens the list could go on.

++ So who wrote the songs? What was the creative process in the band?

Tina wrote all the guitar music in the band and most of the lyrics I remember I wrote two of the songs lyrics, the trumpet and drums were made up by Tony and Angela.
We didn’t have a bass player for some time, and then we met Paul Howard who was in various bands and very talented and is still a musician today, he became our bass player for quite some time while still doing other stuff of his own, Paul was older than us and more in the know and was a great inspiration for Blue Summer.

++ And why didn’t you get to release a record? Or at least record more songs?

I wish in some ways that our time was now as I think its much more easier to get a demo or some sort of deal than years ago and I think in them days you didn’t have that reality that you could be famous that people do these days, if you get what i mean.

++ The only song I know from you is the fun and poppy “Listen to Me”! What were the other songs on the demo tape? How did they sound like?

The song Listen to Me is one of the songs that was after my time and I wish you could hear some off our old songs as some where great, everyone’s favorite was “Beach boy”, people always remember that one and another one we did at the end of the end of the sets was “Now your going away from me’.

The band carried on and did a demo tape which we had been saving up for with our gig money unfortunately for me i never got to do this which i know regret. They gigged for a while but then Tony left the band to go into the Pharoahs and the new drummer was my sisters husband (at the time) Simon Thomson. I don’t really know why the band split after this but I guess they drifted apart, i will ask Tina.

++ What about gigs? Did you gig a lot? Any in particular that you remember?

We did a lot of gigs and loved it, I think i was the main organizer of the band that’s just the way i am but we all had input and a lot of the times we got asked to gigs either as main or supports, The Gamekeepers was a band we played with a lot as I was going out with Anthony Sullivan at the time so we either supported them or via verso depended who organized the gig.

++ When and why did you call it a day? What did you all do after? Are you all still in touch?

We were together for a long time it must have been about 5 years all in all, of which Paul left the band to pursue hes own stuff and that’s when it all went down hill in my eyes, we got a new bass player who i never got on with personally and the feelings where mutual and at the time as life does my life was changing and getting a career and also I bought a horse which took a lot of my time, I then split from the band which at the time was a bit messy but we stayed friends but had drifted apart and for some time went different ways.

I work in Repro and am a retoucher on magazines, Tina of whom I am really close with works in the shoe fashion industry and still plays her guitar but just for pleasure, we still have a jam now and then, but as we live 100 miles away from each other that’s as far as it goes.
Angela moved to Indonesia and is now married and lives there and is a English teacher, she came over and stayed last summer so still in touch and good friends.
Tony runs hes own business and i speak to him on facebook occasional, and still plays with the Pharoahs.
Paul Howard is still doing hes music and has made records and does gigs, I speak with him also on facebook and hes says we should get together one day for a gig.
The other bass player cant remember his name so don’t know about him and Simon, my sister divorced him some years back but as far as i know hes not doing anything musically.

++ Looking back in time, what was the best, the highlight, of being in Blue Summer?

I think we all loved our Blue Summer days and loved being in the Rock contests and gigging.

++ Thanks again very much! I hope the demo can be found and rescued one day! Anything else you’d like to add?

When I see Tina next I will speak to her about if shes got any music I can forward to you, I know the Rock contest was videod but we never saw it wish we could get hold of it.

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Listen
Blue Summer – Listen to Me

Thanks so much to Bart for the lovely interview! Don’t think Bart needs an introduction as he has been in bands like The Cat’s Miaow, The Shapiros, Pencil Tin or even Girl of the World. Nowadays he has been releasing under Bart & Friends, and later this month, well, in a couple of days, we’ll be releasing a 7-song mini-CD part of the Cloudberry Classics series. It’s hard to cover everything Bart has done, so this time we focused on Pencil Tin, but here’s hoping for more interviews later this year!

++ Hello Bart! How are you doing? How is Melbourne’s summer treating you?

Its been kinda wet. As in floods. But for the most part summer has found me working in the garden. Not very rock n roll but it’s the life I lead these days.

++ For those who don’t know, we are releasing a new little CD this month under the Bart & Friends name. What can people expect from it?

It’s sort of like a concentrated or distilled version Bart & friends. Its 7 songs in a bit over 8 minutes, all from the 90’s, all with me singing lead vocals. All were on the long list of potential inclusions to my live sets last year and some even made it all the way.

++ On one interview you said that The Shapiros, Pencil Tin, and Bart & Friends, are all the same thing. In the end they are you plus some good friends collaborating. And I thought, it would be cool to learn more from some of these “obscure” projects of yours, I say obscure because everyone associates you with The Cat’s Miaow as soon as they read your name. How important and how satisfying are these “side-projects” to you?

I guess more accurately I should have said what I do in each of those bands is the same and its what the other members bring that sets each band apart. The thing with all those bands and also the Cat’s miaow is that they each include another really talented song writer which stops me from getting too complacent and inspires me to try and lift my game. They were all pretty well of equal importance to me. It was never a case of “ooh, this song is pretty good, I better save it for the Cat’s miaow”. There’s this quite manic period from 93 to 95 where I probably wrote 90% of my back catalogue spread across the Cat’s miaow, Pencil tin and the Shapiros.
Pretty much all the bands ran to a natural conclusion with no unfinished business with the exception of the Shapiros. I think if the Shapiros had of continued for more than 6 weeks it possibly would have become the band I’m best known for. There was still a lot of untapped potential in that band, it would have been interesting to see what we could’ve achieved over 2 years.

I don’t mind being “Bart from the Cat’s miaow”. I’m flattered that the band is remembered at all. I’m quite surprised how the band is increasingly being referenced, with lyrics being used as titles of blog posts or even blogs themselves, and used as a point of reference in reviews. It’s quite gratifying to have become a small part of the lexicon of indie pop.

++ So how did Pencil Tin came about? What triggered you three to start recording together?

Rob was playing bass in the Sugargliders and I knew he wrote songs so I nagged him into forming a band with me as outlet primarily for his songs. I think you need to put this in the context that the Cat’s miaow was still only releasing cassettes at this stage and the Sugargliders were on Sarah, so there wasn’t any real advantage for him to play with me.

++ Why the name Pencil Tin?

I liked the way at school everyone customized there pencil tins with stickers and thought it made a good band name… sorry.

++ Your first release was the Poignant 7″ on the Quiddity label. You had already released with them a Cat’s Miaow 7″. And it seems you had a good relationship with them. I believe I bought lots of Library releases through them when they were Drive-In. But how did your relationship with them start? Did you ever meet personally?

This may not be correct as it’s such a long time ago, but I think Mike may have got in touch with us to buy a Sugargliders tribute cassette we had put together for their last show. Or possibly thru Dave Harris, we met a lot of people thru him. We were the first band on the label so he must have contacted us rather than us sending a demo? I may have been in DC at the time so the initial contact could have been with Andrew which is why I’m so vague about it. I never did get to Grand Rapids but I’m sure Andrew did a couple of times. It’s not too big a claim to say without Mike I’m pretty sure no-one would have heard of the Cat’s miaow and definitely Library records would never have happened.

++ So yeah, perhaps Poignant is the most known Pencil Tin song. So, what is the story behind it?

That’s one of Rob’s songs so I can’t say with any certainty but I always thought it was about him and Bianca. I do know that I wanted to give recording in a studio a try after a couple of years of home recording. As it turned out I hated the whole process but I loved the results. I’ve only done home recording ever since.

++ And it also has a video, was that Embassy Cafeteria your favourite place to hang out?

That was the only time I ever went there. It was near where Rob and Bianca lived. I’d forgotten we’d even done it until I stumbled upon it on youtube a couple of months ago. It was fun to make as I just had sit and eat a donut which was about the full range of my acting capabilities. I generally hate posing for photos but I can actually watch this without cringing. I really wish I still had that shirt.

++ How did the creative process work for you three by the way? Who did what?

It was either Rob or myself writing the songs, we’d bring finished songs to the band and whoever wrote it, sang and played guitar and the other played bass. Bianca didn’t get much of look in she was so quiet. Initially it was just me and Rob, it took us ages to find a drummer, by which time we’d already written a dozen songs. Early on Rob and I would rehearse once a week and each practice we’d each bring a new song.

++ That makes me wonder, how did you all get to know each other?

There was a circle of friends centered around Dave Harris (Munch videos, he made that Pencil tin video) which included amongst others, Josh (Sugargliders) Rob (Sugargliders, Earthmen) Andrew (Cat’s miaow) Ian (Super falling star) and myself. There were loads of other people as well, it wasn’t like an exclusive club for members of indie pop bands only. There were probably more dentists than anything.

++ And did you ever play any live shows with Pencil Tin?

No, we were meant to play at a party at Dave’s but the others got cold feet, so the Cat’s maiow stepped in and made a rare live appearance (third and last, there’s a distinct lack of ambition becoming evident here) as a 3 piece. You can hear it as the live songs at the end of Songs for girls to sing.

++ Going back to that 7″, it says on the back cover “all songs by Pencil Tin except the bits we pinched from The Smiths”. What are those bits? Or is it just a joke? 🙂

No, it’s true. The last few lines of In dreams.
“And I want the one I cant have, and it’s driving me mad, it’s written all over my face”
I want the one I can’t have – Meat is murder

++ Next release was the “A Gentle Hand to Guide You Along” album on Bus Stop. How did you end up signing with them? And how do you feel about the album 15 or so years after, do you think it has aged well?

See, I always think of them in the order they were recorded rather than released. This was recorded in June 1994, a year before Poignant was recorded and probably came out 2 years later.
By early 1994 Rob and I had about 12 songs written and as both of us were abut to embark on separate and hopefully lengthy overseas adventures (mine turned into the Shapiros) I thought it best if we recorded them for posterity. At this stage we hadn’t played with Bianca, so she heard the songs for the first time the afternoon we recorded them at a rehearsal studio down at the docks in an old warehouse. They were recorded really quickly with a near enough is good enough approach to the playing. I don’t think we imagined them ever getting beyond a cassette release. We must have sent a copy of to Bus stop along with the Cat’s miaow’s From my window as Brian offered to release both on CD. Unfortunately between then and the CDs being released the label ran out of steam and they sat in limbo for ages before finally coming out a few years later and I don’t think they got much distribution and probably no promotion. Which was frustrating at the time but having run my own label I know what it’s like so I don’t hold a grudge (which is odd, cause I usually do?)
I don’t think many people have heard this CD, Brian gave me big wad of promo copies a few years later which I was giving away to people who bought the Cat’s miaow re-issues just so people would hear it.

How does it hold up 15 years later? I think it’s got some really good songs on it but its let down by the playing and singing which is pretty rough around the edges. There’s only so much you can pass off as “naive charm”.
Even now I still find it hard to believe we were on Bus stop. I feel quite privileged to have been on the same label as 2 of my favouirite bands from that era, Veronica Lake and Rocketship.

++ Favourite song on the album?

The first one, Friday. One of Rob’s, it’s got a good groove to it.

++ You mostly recorded in 4 track right? What do you like about it? What are the advantages you think?

I like the control. You can do it inhouse (ie get Andrew to do it) and not have to try and convince someone else about what you’re trying to achieve. My limited experience with working with engineers in studios is that it’s really hard to translate your ideas thru someone outside of the band who doesn’t know what your frame of reference is.

++ And last release was a split, on your own Library Records along with another project of yours, The Shapiros. I’m kind of curious of those drawings you included in the sleeve and the record labels. Where did you get them? Oh! and why make a split of it, instead of just calling it Bart & Friends?

Good question. The drawings I pinched from a book of fashion illustration, possibly on the history of Vogue or something. I never had a great deal of respect for copyright. Seeing as I only wrote one of the Pencil tin songs and Pam wrote the lyrics to the Shapiros songs, to try and claim them all as mine is a bit of a stretch. I guess the difference between the other bands and Bart & friends is the others have some semblance of democracy while Bart & friends is more of a benevolent dictatorship.

++ And then what happened? Why no more releases? Are there still any unreleased Pencil Tin recordings?

It ended because Rob and Bianca had begun writing songs together and had formed their own band Paparazzi and wanted to focus their energy on that. What they were coming up with was infinitely better than Pencil tin. Sort of a Saint Etienne / Boo Radleys hybrid, Bianca it turned out was an amazing guitarist. You get glimpses of it on Rob’s solo album and they recorded lots of demos but never got it together to have anything released unfortunately.
I rehearsed with them once playing bass with the purpose of putting together a live incarnation but they couldn’t find a suitable drummer so it never really happened.
No unreleased Pencil tin songs I’m afraid, the cupboard is bare.

++ Do you still see Rob and Bianca often?

No, unfortunately. Rob moved to London and then I moved to the country and we’ve lost contact along the way.

++ Last time, and first time, I saw you was in Berlin. How did you like that city? And the crowd? You were monopolized by our dear friend Christos most of the time though!!

I loved Berlin, despite nearly getting run over by bicyclists twice. It’s somewhere I’d definitely like to visit again. The crowd was amazing, there were some down the front singing louder than I was. I’d never experienced anything like that before. It was quite touching, nearly brought a tear to an old man’s eye. Christos probably didn’t talk to me for more than half an hour which was barely any time at all. It’s not everyday I meet a fan as thoroughly charming as he is and it did my ego no end of good. I really should have talked to him more about the Sunny street tho, they’re easily my favourite band of the past 12 months.

++ Thanks Bart, and so looking forward to the release date, anything else you’d like to add? Any future projects coming up? I heard a Bart & Friends album is around the corner?

There is a CD of new songs tentatively scheduled for around April, we just need to do some minor finishing touches and mix it. Scott from the Summer cats sings on quite a few of the songs I’ll possibly also play live with the full line up around that time as well for the first time which I’m really looking forward to. Me playing live solo is a bit of dancing bear act, it has some novelty value but in the end bears can’t dance and I can’t sing and play at the same time.

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Listen
Pencil Tin – Poignant

Thanks so much to David for the interview! Sirens only released one flexi and they remained in obscurity. I found some time ago a video of theirs on youtube that sounded great. I was lucky enough to contact David from the band to learn a bit more about this long lost Exeter band!

++ Hello David! Thanks so much for getting in touch! I was really curious for long time about the video you posted on Youtube from your old band. Care to tell me how did this video came about?

Hi, Johnny (drums), Steve (guitar/vocals) and myself (bass) were studying film at Art College and we shot this video on 16mm Newsfilm and got the local news station to tag it onto their developing reel for free (in those days C86 the news was shot on film). I filmed it in my student bedsit. Simon Pledger was in the band at the time and it’s him in the video.

++ So let’s go back in time, when did Sirens start as a band? And how did you all knew each other?

We met at art college where we were studying fine art. That was 1984-1986. Exeter Art Colege has closed down now – but it was a great time. We were allowed to do anything!

++ Was this your first band?

Yes

++ So how was Exeter as a scene then? Any other good bands that you enjoyed there? Which clubs did you hang out at?

There wasn’t much of a scene in Exeter at the time, although a band called The Visitors had featured on an Are You Scared To Get Happy flexi disc. But the local scene was many pub acts and covers bands… there were no decent venues but we used ton put on a few bands at the local Arts Centre including the likes of The Flatmates. Also bands like The Wedding present and The Wolfhounds were playing at the time. Mainly we used to go and see bands in Bristol which had a great indie scene, I remember a club called the Tropic and something called Big Rock Candy Mountain where we saw bands like The Pastels, The Groove Farm, Mighty Mighty etc.

++ What about gigs? What were your favourites? Any anecdotes you could share?

I remember we played with I Ludicrous – a great band – at the Sir George Robey in London. What was that song – Preposterous Tales In The LIfe Of Ken MacKenzie? There was an exciting scene at the time with bands like The Sea Urchins, The Shop Assistants and many more. We were also really into bands like LOOP and Spacemen 3… although the band Steve and I always followed around when they toured the UK was The Cramps.

++ There was a flexi release, right? I’ve never heard about it. When was it released? Was it only that song from Youtube released on it? Was it self-released?

Yeah we self released that Flexi to be used on a ‘zine. Of which the name I have now forgotten. It was our only release although there are more recording knocking aound somewhere.

++ Why and when did you decide to split?

I think we split up when Steve moved to Bristol. Johnny went on to play on a band called Moose and I joined Mad At The Sun (which later became Annalise)

++ After the break up, you went to form a punk band. Usually it’s the other way around isn’t it? That’s cool! Anyways, what big differences were there between Sirens and Annalise?

Yeah shortly after Sirens split I met a guy called Martin Edmunds in Hendersons record shop on Exeter Fore Street and we had a mutual love of the US hardcore scene of the time (Minor Threat, he Minutemen, Black Flag and Guy Picioto’s band Rites Of Spring. MArtin said they needed a bass player and I went to a practise right away. We then decided to bring a bunch of bands from the DIY scene to Exeter and started putting on bands like Snuff, Senseless Things, Fugazi, Verbal Asault & Victim’s Family.)

++ You also started a club in Exeter, The Cavern. Tell me a bit about the story behind the club, and perhaps which have been the best nights that have been hold there?

After a while putting bands on in local pubs got to difficult. In those days pub landlords saw bands as a guy with a hammond organ playing covers, so when bands from the hardcore scene like Cowboy Killers turned up to take over their skittle alley it wasn’y long before they decided to pull the plug!. We realised we needed our own venue and approached the owner of a closed down bar called The Hop And Grapes to see if we could do shows there. That was the start of The Cavern. Our first ever show there was on St Valentine’s Day 1991 with a US punk band called QUICKSAND. At the time we set up a loose collective known as Hometown Atrocities and released a couple of split EPs. One of them is extremely rare now because it features the first recorded performance of Thom Yorke. He was part of the Hometown Atrocities Collective and was in a band called Headless Chickens with Shack from Lunatic Calm and Flickernoise.
We have done ten of thousands of bands since then including the likes of Sick Of It All, Muse, Coldplay, LaRoux, Samiam etc etc. Its the Cavern’s 20th anniversary this St Valentine’s Day….

++ Let’s wrap it here, thanks again for the interview! Anything else you’d like to add?

The Exeter scene has a few strong bands in it these days. Pippa (who owns the Cavern with me) manages a cool punk & roll band called the Computers who have just signed to One LIttle Indian and there are also OK PIlot, The Cut Ups, Iko, and loads more…who have grown up seeing shows at the Cavern.

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Listen
Sirens – Running Round the Garden

Thanks so much to Mark Hodkinson for the great interview! The Last Peach were a great guitar pop band from the early nineties that sadly didn’t break through. They released two 12″ singles, Jarvis and String-Like and received many positive reviews. Nowadays Mark is a writer and he runs his own publishing company, Pomona Books.

++ Hi Mark! Thanks for being up for the interview. You are a writer now and your latest was “The Last Mad Surge of Youth”, which I just ordered. The promotional blurb is really compelling to any music lover: “a novel about bands, growing up, moving away and getting famous, suicide, staying at home and getting bored, fanzines, the bomb, love, alcoholism, egotism and self-doubt.” Was the nostalgia for those 80s what inspired you to write it? How autobiographical is it?

I wanted to write about what I know about and that period felt particularly intense in terms of emotion and hopes. The book follows the characters into middle age, so it isn’t solely based in that period. There is some element of autobiography in the book, as there is with almost any work purporting to be ‘fiction’ but most of it is from my imagination.

++ How much of The Last Peach is in the book by the way?

Very little. I was 26 when I joined The Last Peach. Before that I was in two other bands – Untermensch and The Monkey Run. I tended to plunder this period for material because that’s when I was first starting out and doing so much, meeting so many people. I think it was a richer pool from which to draw inspiration, anecdote etc. We were more child-like and open with our dreams and one another.

++ So okay, let’s talk about The Last Peach, which I’m very curious about as there is almost nothing online about your old band. You had been in a couple of bands before though, right? How different were they to The Last Peach?

Untermensch were quite punk, really. We couldn’t play particularly well so we made a noise. It was a good noise, though, often built around driving bass lines. Some people have said we sounded a bit like the Dead Kennedys, which is fine. Although we lacked musical acumen we were devoted to at least trying to sound original, having something to say lyrically, and from the age of 16 (when we formed the band) we had a real, almost innate understanding of Art and integrity and how we were delivering the whole thing to the public. I know this sounds pompous but it was essential back then that everyone had a manifesto. I cover this approach in the novel, incidentally, how it was all very politicised and do-or-die.

We evolved into The Monkey Run when we realised we didn’t really fit comfortably in the ‘anarcho-punk’ movement. We wanted to broaden the sound. This was mainly inspired by hearing The Smiths early singles and a wonderful group called The Chameleons. I realised I could pick individual strings rather than whacking them all really hard. We were of the Manchester era that later spawned Happy Mondays, Stones Roses, Inspiral Carpets etc but just missed the boat. We played shows with The Stones Roses, Chameleons, Wedding Present etc, did Radio One sessions etc but we never met that one person (manager, label rep) who believed in us enough to take us on.

++ How did The Last Peach start? Who were the members and how did you know each other?

I packed in The Monkey Run in 1989 when I sensed we just weren’t going to ‘make it’. The music we were playing was still great but we kept getting false hope – labels asking for demos etc and then passing on us. It had become a slog – sending out tapes, hustling constantly and it wasn’t fun any more. About this time I started buying records from a store in Hebden Bridge (West Yorkshire) and the kid working there kept recommending lots of great stuff – I remember he was switched on to Kitchens of Distinction early on and most things he recommended were great. He was called David Cooper and had his own band, The Last Peach. They had already done local gigs and had a review in NME. He had just had some kind of fall-out with the rest of the group and we decided to have a jam. I brought along Pete Betham who had drummed towards the end with The Monkey Run and it worked really well. Darren Sharp, a friend of David’s played bass – he’d been in The Last Peach in a very early incarnation, I think: a lovely warm and funny bloke. I saw in David a real ambition and he had these great songs and catchy guitar riffs. I had a clear thought that being in a group with him would be more fun than The Monkey Run because he was a great organiser and grafter. I resolved that I’d be happy to play rhythm guitar, suggesting the odd minor chord here and there, but basically playing a supporting role to David. I’d been the ‘boss’ (or perhaps just thought I was!) most of the time in previous groups, which I enjoyed most of the time, but it can be a bit much and it means you take all the knocks far more personally than other band members.

++ I guess because of your writer background you were the lyricist?

Nope! I don’t think I contributed a single word or phrase to The Last Peach. Again, David had a clear idea of what he wanted to sing about and I liked his lyrics a lot. They were very conversational, nothing fancy or self-conscious – great little stories about our little lives and the people we knew. I always knew I’d one day be a writer and I much preferred the idea of novel writing to squeezing up thoughts to fit lyric meters etc.

++ Why the name The Last Peach?

David was in the garden (as a kid) mucking about with a peach and his mum shouted: ‘Hey, what you doing? That’s the last peach…and a legend was born.

++ The band hailed from Halifax/Hebden Bridge. How was the scene there back then? Any other good bands in town? What about venues? Which were your favourite spots? I guess you hanged more in Manchester proper?

The only band I really fell for was Wonky Alice, who we also put out on Pomona. They were fantastic – a cross between the Bunnymen, Pink Floyd and The Chameleons, but much more of themselves too – out there, musically and lyrically. We played the local Trades Club a few times in Hebden Bridge which was okay but our best gig ever was at The Return Club in Halifax, which was a sort of nomadic gig. On this particular evening we played in a sports centre and as good as sold it out. The nearest thing I can think of is the Nirvana video for ‘Teen Spirit’. The place went totally, utterly mad. We had kids all over the stage, falling into the amps, the drum kits. After each song I remember this roar went up. Each of us were grinning our heads off and I think we knew that we were in the middle of one of the most memorable nights of our lives. I’d played sell-out shows with The Stone Roses, and The Chameleons before, in Manchester, but it wasn’t like this. The Halifax crowd were there for us, so it was all the more special and it was out-of-control, on the edge. There was no security or anything, just the local lads that put on the gig, and we were all overwhelmed, in a nice way – there was no fighting or recklessness, just droves of kids piling on, like Assault on Precinct 13 or something. I may be exaggerating! A bit.

++ And I wonder, living in Manchester, how important were The Smiths for you all?

Life-changing, that’s all. They absolutely distilled everything about the environment and times we were living through and turned it into perfect art. I feel people like Morrissey have some kind of ‘visitation’ that enables them to say so much so succinctly and imaginatively over a short period of time. Marr, too, but this time on guitar. All those wonderful, wonderful tunes.

++ In 1992, Melody Maker named you “Tip for 1992” along Suede and Pulp. They broke through but sadly you didn’t. Why do you think this happened?

Again, we didn’t meet the right people. That’s all the difference is when you get to a certain point. We had fantastic tunes, a real commitment and understanding but, along the way, no one took a gamble on us. We played with Pulp once. They were always a great band and deserved their success. It’s a fine line, making it and not.

++ Your first release was the 12″ single “Jarvis”. Care to tell me a bit about this record? Was this a nod to Pulp by any chance?

Jarvis was the surname of David’s girlfriend at the time: nothing to do with Pulp. I’m not sure, but I think the song is a paean to her redemptive powers. David was at a low before she came along!

++ Also on this 12″ you included “Miles Over There” which is such a beautiful song. Do you mind telling me the story behind this song?

Sorry, that one was already written before I joined. We re-recorded it later. I always felt it was a bit skeletal sounding and wanted filling out but I might be wrong.

++ Second release was the “String-Like” 12″ which has kind of an odd cover artwork, very different to the bright coloured first single. Was there any reason for this? Did you as a band design them?

I found some postcards in a second hand shop and passed them to David who always did the graphics. I thought the design he did was brilliant. We just liked the image. David did all the artwork on the first single, pretty much independently. We liked it – four feet, four socks, four lads in a band that shook the Calder Valley.

++ Which was your favourite song of yours? And why?

Back of her Sleeve was always good to play live.And so was Jarvis. They were all great!

++ Both singles were released on your own Pomona Records. How did Pomona Records started? Where did the name come from? What was first, Pomona Records or Pomona Books?

I formed the label, purposely to release the band, and later Wonky Alice. I’d done similar with The Monkey Run. We had a manufacturing and distribution deal with APT who covered most of the costs, so we had all the ‘fun’ of recording, designing, promotion etc. The label came a long while before the books.

++ So what happened, why no more releases? Why no album? Were there more songs recorded that still remain unreleased?

I think David sort of grew up and lost a good deal of his ego! He became more tolerant and compliant and kind-hearted – all the things that work against you becoming successful. It’s always a lot easier if you’re a despot. He got heavily into the cooler elements of dance music (trip-hop etc) and tried to move us into that direction. I think this led to some discontent from the rhythm section and I was struggling a bit, too. We should have done an album, that would have been a lovely memento of the times, at least. We didn’t fall out or anything. I’m still best friends with David, Pete and Darren, and that’s a rare thing.

++ What about gigs? Any anecdotes you could share?

I’m not good with anecdotes. I recall the gigs all being rushed and nervy. It’s such a bizarre thing to do, standing in front of people showing off. I never truly got used to it.

++ When and why did you split? Where you involved with bands after?

I can’t remember when we split exactly – 1994? I’ve had an on-off thing with John Matthews (ex-The High) called Black September. We’ve done a couple of albums on Pomona. I was a massive fan of The High and tracked down John and he kindly agreed to ‘join’. It’s not a ‘proper’ band though – we’ve never played live. It’s the very occasional strumming and messing and recording. I’m proud of the records, though. I woudn’t put anything out I wasn’t proud of..

++ Just out of curiosity, what are you more passionate about, writing books or making music?

Books. I feel you can grow old far more graciously writing.

++ Looking back, what was the biggest highlight of being in The Last Peach?

Probably that mad gig in Halifax, or the numerous sessions in David’s cellar where we made some great noise and I always looked forward to seeing these very funny, friendly, happy (most of the time) blokes.

++ Alright, I’ve been listening to The Monkey Run stuff now, it’s really good! I wonder how those songs have flown under my radar. I will probably ask you for an interview about them some time soon. But let’s wrap up this one now. Anything else you’d like to add?

Do stuff. It’s fun.

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Listen
The Last Peach – Miles Over There