Thanks so much to Tom Hilverkus for the great interview! The Happy Couple is still a band I listen often, very very often, and I really like every single song they recorded, and I have very good memories hanging out with Tom and Jane. So this is a very special interview for me. Hope you enjoy!

++ Hi Tom! How are things? I know you travel lots because of work, so where’s the next stop?

I am very well, thank you. I am just about to set off to Rome. Earlier this month I went to New York for a couple of days, and in between I went on holiday to Bath!

++ And you were here not so long ago, we even had some Peruvian food! What did you like the most of South Florida, or what surprised you the most?

The Peruvian food was fab, but I also liked what we had in the Cuban restaurant! That’s what I loved about this place. I’ve never been to the Caribbean or South America but in Miami you get a very good taste of what it is like. The best thing I brought home was this Cuban coffee you recommended. To be honest, I found the City of Miami itself a bit depressing, all those white skyscrapers reminded me of being in a holiday resort. Downtown Miami isn’t very attractive. It’s rather small actually. I liked the fact you have a mono rail which gave it a bit more charm. But then you showed me round Miami Beach, a City in its own right, I really liked it, especially the art deco architecture.

++ So, of course The Happy Couple was a German band, based in Hamburg, but these days you live in Brighton. Why did you move?

Because my then girlfriend and future wife is from England. We first lived in Edinburgh but after getting married in New York we decided to go to the South of England, which was mainly because of the job I accepted, but since we first met we always had the dream of moving to Brighton anyway.

++ Would you be up for a possible reunion of The Happy Couple? What would that require? A record deal? 😀

Jane and I live in two different countries and we completely lead separate lives. Besides, I think Jane still doesn’t have a computer, so I’d say the chances are close to zero!

++ So ok, I know the answer to this question, but surely it’s the question most people would ask. Unless you want to keep it a mystery forever, were you ever a couple?

No, we weren’t and that was clear from the start. She’s always been like a sister to me so that was out of the question. We were simply “music mates” as someone in the US once put it in review of one of our records. We hung out quite a lot so we must have looked like a couple, so Jane once made a list of all the married couples who make music together, you know, like Stereolab, Sonic Youth, Damon and Naomi, Broadcast… It’s more related to this than anything else. We thought it sounded cool but I wouldn’t choose hat name again, just google ‘the happy couple’ and you know why.

++ Let’s go back in time, where and how did Jane and you met? Did you have the same taste in music?

It must have been 1998, a mutual friend introduced us at University as she knew both me and Jane were into the same stuff. We met up for a formal “Musikabend”, a “music evening” as we called it. I remember the first one, she played a lot of Slumberland stuff which I didn’t know back then. Then we started to go to gigs and clubs on a regular basis.

++ You started as a DJ duo, not as a band. How did it all developed from DJ to band?

I think it was 1999 when I was asked to dj for a party at Brunswick School of Art. I panicked a bit and asked her to help and to bring a few records. That worked out well and we decided we should do this on a regular basis as we disliked the music scene in our town, so we made a mix tape and sent it to the local club we used to hang out. It was called Brain Klub and they actually said yes straight away. We did the same in the next biggest city, Hanover. There was a club called Glocksee. So we said, ok, we are DJs now, what’s the next step? We should make music together. At the beginning, we just joked about it but one day Jane came round my place and said she had written a song which was “Boyfriend of the Week”.

++ And why didn’t you ever get more people in the band? You know, drummer and keyboardist, that’s stuff?

Well, it was really just a personal thing and we knew that we could do almost anything with a guitar and a MIDI keyboard. We never thought of playing a live gig, it was more a sort
of project. We loved records and we wanted to release one. But along with that we also founded our own label, Félicité.

++ And then you start a label too. Which I think we should do another interview to cover all the great releases you put out. But in a nutshell, what was the main reason to start it?

Initially, we wanted to do our own club. We even found a location in downtown Brunswick but it failed because of planning permissions so we had a bit of money to spend and we thought the next project should be a 7″ record, but really, there are so many anecdotes and you’re right, we should do a separate interview for this.

++ What indiepop thing did you miss to do then? Maybe book gigs or make a fanzine? Or perhaps you did that too?!

Well, most of our nighters always involved gigs. We organised one for our local band and first band on Félicité, Les Aspiratuers, and then there was the Félicité label launch nicht in Glasgow where Roy Moller and The Catalysts performed live. I think the best DJ night we had was with Stereo Total. We also djed after a Fuzztones gig and they all came to see us and check out our records.

++ The Happy Couple released 3 singles and some compilation tracks. Was there ever plans for an album?

Actually, there was a plan for a proper career in music, and of course a proper album. The one thing I regret is that there is no 12″ vinyl – we only released 7” vinyl and CDs. Jane actually has a drawer full of songs she’s written but we never got round to record them.

++ There is of course the Quince compilation with all the tracks you recorded. But are there any unreleased tracks? I heard this rumour of a cover version of Heavenly’s “Shallow”…

That’s right, before we played our first gig in Athens we did a sort of warm up gig for a selected group of people in Jane’s flat the week before. We did “Shallow” as encore and one of the guys in the audience filmed it. It pretty much sounds more like a studio than a live recording because there were only ten well behaved people in the audience. We also did a cover version of a song by a 60s band called Twinn Connexion. I won’t tell you the name of the song which, mastered from the video tape, as it is due for release on a Félicité label compilation on Edition 59 this summer. Speaking of cover versions, the only other one we ever did live was “Nothing Can Compare To You”, a Northern Soul song by The Velvet Satins. Unfortunately, we didn’t record it.

++ What about the “Northern Altona Demos”?

That was simply the name of the demos for our 2nd EP which ended up on Matinée Records in the US. It includes demo versions of all the songs on the “Fools In Love EP. “Another Sunny Day” made it has hidden track on the Japanese compilation you mentioned. I don’t even have mp3s of the songs and must have lost the tape. Anyway, those songs are actually not good enough for a release but I always thought the demo of “Another Sunny Day” sounded alright because of all the reverb, that’s why we put it on the compilation.

++ On the first release you are Tom Sparkletone, what was that all about? And why was Jane, Janehoney?

As I said, at the beginning we didn’t take the whole thing serious. I can’t even remember why I choose that name, I guess because I was into the Sparkletones at that time, a band on an 80s indie glamour label called Compact Organisation. I dropped that name very quickly and actually hate it coming up, I saw it is even listed on Discogs. Jane also changed her names a couple of times, from Jane Zapp to Janehoney and then Jeanneaulait at one point.

++ How did the creative process worked for you two?

For most of the songs, Jane would come up with the lyrics and a basic melody, I would then record her without anything and work out a chord structure on my own. She would then come back for me to record a demo. The best composition was the final one, “Song for the Troubadour”. She had written the lyrics, I played a chord progression I liked and she just sang to it. It was composed in just 5 minutes, just a day before we had the “Fools in Love” recording session in Glasgow. So, there was no demo for this song.

++ Let’s talk about the releases? First one, was the Four Seasons EP. What was the idea behind the title of the EP? Each song represents a season maybe?

Spot on, a love song for each season. “Boyfriend of the Week” was spring, then we had “French Cinema Summer Love”, “Treason”, a song for autumn and finally “All the Time”, a song set in the bleak midwinter.

++ What’s your favourite season then? And why the orchids on the cover? Not a nod to The Orchids I assume 😉

I prefer spring as everything is fresh and in. As regards the sleeve design, Jane found that picture in a book and just thought it looked beautiful. It’s a sort of homage to other records with flowers on, “The Girl Who Runs The Beat Hotel” or The Wake’s “Crush The Flowers” single. Of course we also thought of The Orchids but I personally see it as homage to my late father who used to be a breeder of rare orchids.

++ And actually, Treason, is the only song were you sing, right? Why didn’t you do this more often?!

Back then I didn’t have the confidence to sing. I had never sung before and it was a big deal singing in front of Jane and Göran, our producer. And then I had to sing this bloody song at every single gig… Jane wrote it as duet, kind of Nancy and Lee style, so I had to go along with it.

++ What about the artwork for the Matinée EP, who made that drawing ? How did you end up releasing with the Santa Barbara label?

The artwork was based on a still of a 1950s German movie which name I forgot. Of course Jane came up with the idea and she made the drawing. She used to be the Creative Director of Félicité. I was just in charge of operations and kind of a graphic designer who puts everything together with Photoshop, the internet, contacts etc. But art direction, that was clearly Jane, the Peter Saville of Félicité, as it were. After the success of the “Four Seasons EP” it was clear that we wanted to record another EP professionally. I think there were only Matinée and Shelflife on our short list. Slumberland must have been still in hiatus so we sent Northern Altona Demos to Jimmy Tassos and he simply brought it out. We insisted on the spine. Did you ever notice the older Matinée cardboard sleeves don’t have a spine? A shame though that it never came out as 7”. Many people have asked me for that.

++ The songs on this EP were recorded by Ulric Kennedy (ex-Golden Dawn) & Dannie Vallely (ex-The Fauves). How was that experience?

They were great to start with: brilliant musicians, kind Glaswegians and they contributed a lot to the recordings but in the end we ended up arguing about the final mixes and even potential royalties. I mean, it was clear that we weren’t the next Beatles but they thought they were George Martin. Quite frankly, we fell out over this which was another reasons we called it a day with the band.

++ Then there is the “Song for a Troubadour” 7″ that had Stevie Jackson playing harmonica. How did he guest appeared on this release?

We knew him through Roy Moller who is one of his best mates. We released his debut single, Stevie produced it so we got to know him. On one occasion, I think when Belle and Sebastian played Hamburg, we just asked him.

++ And is this really a song for Jens Lekman?

Who told you that? Yes, that’s right. The whole song is based on real events, even the flower and stuff. We played a gig with him in Sweden, I think it was Rundgång Festival and after that we spent some time together with him and the band, that was in Karlskrona in May 2004.

++ The last release was actually a song on a split 7″ on Slumberland. I hear that’s your favourite version of “Song for the Troubador”. Why is that? And how did this release happen?

Mike Schulman wanted to do this “Searching for the Now” 7” single club and asked a couple of people via MySpace I think. It’s as simple as that. Roy Moller also replied, so there you have two Félicité artists on the first two releases of that series. Actually, it was the only release where we hadn’t been consulted on the artwork, but then it was a Slumberland split single. What more do you want to finish off your band when it started with a Slumberland Musikabend? Yes, as just mentioned, I didn’t like the final mix of “Song For the Troubdadour”. Jane’s voice sounds flat, it lacks volume and reverb, the intro is a bit too cheesy. I prefer the raw version.

++ Hey, there’s a very close relationship with Glasgow here. Why is that?

In 2002 I befriended Andreas Hering which I think you know as well, he used to live in Glasgow in the 90s and introduced us to Roy and Ulric. Besides, I spent quite a long time in Scotland because of my wife who I also know through Herr Hering.

++ Who were Cookie Bay publishing by the way?

We thought we needed a publishing company. In the end, that’s how you can make a bit of money, just look at Cherry Red and their company Complete Publishing on Incomplete in the US. But anyway, it was impossible to administer it and the rights should really be with the artists, so we switched to standard Copyright Control even for our own releases. As regards the name, Cookie Bay was the name of the club that never was. It’s a song by The High Llamas.

++ What about gigs, you didn’t play many did you? Any anecdotes you could share?

As mentioned, the first one was in Athens which was quite a big deal. Just think of these small bands coming out of the German hinterland, having to play a hundred gigs in their youth club before they play the next biggest city. I think we played more gigs outside Germany than actually within! In Germany, we only played Bremen supporting The Ladybug Transistor and the Marsh Marigold festival in Hamburg at Echochamber on Reeperbahn. The gig in Sweden was a bit of a nightmare as we had to play along a CD with pre-recorded drums and keyboard and Jane forgot the lyrics halfway through the songs. The best gig ever was the final one at Pop Revo 2004 in Ǻrhus, Denmark, with Pipas, The Clientele and Gary Olsen on the same night. In terms of performance it was the best gig and the other bands were great of course.

++ How was the Hamburg scene then? I really love it there, Altona and Sankt Pauli. Where there any other cool bands? What about your favourite places to hang out?

We always used to go the Revolver Club which back then was at Schlachthof and Echochamber I think. They played sort of Britpop and indierock which was of course very dance orientated but once or twice a night one or two good indiepop singles we were waiting for. An alright club if you are drunk, there were 200-300 people a night, I’d say. The people in Hamburg are very stiff and almost hostile so you would just stand there, smoke 20 cigarettes and talk to the same people whereas in other German cities you won’t come across this snobbism. Then there was the Molotov for Northern Soul nighters called Spellbound. One of the DJs was Lars Buhlnheim who was going out with my flat mate. He is in a band called Superpunk which was one of the best on the Hamburg scene. They play a kind of Mod and Northern Soul inspired pop. Their singer is Carsten of Die Fünf Freunde which I bet you know and which nicely leads on to Marsh Marigold, another indiepop label coming out of Hamburg. I went round to Oliver’s house a couple of times, that was always fascinating. And then there was Marina Records which was a different league. Like Félicité they were very internationally orientated and even Glasgow focused. You wouldn’t think they are a German label. They released albums by Paul Quinn, James Kirk, Teenage Fanclub, Josef K. We sent them “Song For The Troubadour” and asked if they would release it as a single. They rejected it because they only release albums.

I think the most interesting German band for you to discover is Blumfeld who also hailed from Hamburg. Me and Jane liked them a lot and regularly saw them live or bumped into them. They started off very Sonic Youth like in the early 90s then turned cheesy and even mainstream but in a very cool way. Have you heard of the Hamburger Schule? In the late 80s Blumfeld was one of the band that basically started a movement in of alternative German indie pop and rock. Most of it is pretty dull. I think my favourite band from that era is Kollosale Jugend which means Colossal Youth. The second or third generation, depending on how you look at it, that was around at the time Jane and I were making music is around labels called Tapete and Grand Hotel van Cleef who we loathed. There was this band called Kettcar, we really hated this sort of music. I think they are rubbish and they can tour Germany and Austria until they are in their 50s. Really, if you compare it to the stuff coming out of the US and UK most of the German stuff is pretty crap. German is simply not a good language for pop music.

And thinking of more locations of course there is Mutter bar where we would go for a warm up. All the local musicians would hang out there, even the ones touring. And hey, the first time I spoke to my future wife Jennifer it was there. Then there’s Saal Two in Sternschanze a place where you can meet up for a coffee. I used to live in NorthernAltona and later Ottensen, which simply is beautiful and a world of its own, sort of Bohemia. Well, Jane still lives in Hamburg so you gotta ask Jane what the scene is like nowadays. There is a sort of bar called Kleinraumdisko, with a tiny, tiny dancefloor and she has a regular night there called the Shoop Shoop Club. Then there was a bar between Reeperbahn and Elbe river, not sure if it still exists, I used to dj there a couple of times, once with Erlend Øye. And lastly, there is Meanie Bar. Me and Herr Hering once djed there!

++ The Happy Couple never split, but it’s been a long standby. In this time, have you made any music?

I occasionally record music with my wife; we are just doing a cover version of Calvin Johnson’s “That Was Me” and I am currently working on a track with Christian Flamm, you may know him, he is an artist and also is also a German who lives in UK. He published this book on Felt last year, it’s called “Foxtrot Echo Lima Tango”. Whenever I meet Göran, who recorded the “Four Seasons EP” we also make some music together.

++ Your favourite Happy Couple song? Best thing about being in the band?

“Song for the Troubadour”, then “Don’t call it”. That was the direction we were going, the early stuff is almost a bit too twee for me. The songwriting got better as I just said, the lyrics were more grown up. Last year Jane sent me a couple of lyrics and they were way better than the usual “I fancy that boy but I stay in bed all day, la di da”… I personally think we could have been bigger than… emm, let me think… definitely bigger than this Danish duo that sounded like The Jesus and Mary Chain, a couple of years ago, what were they called again? The Raveonettes?

Best thing about being in a band? You get to see places, make music and of course make friends. I am still in touch with many of the people from back then.

++ One last question, I’ve asked you so many already! English food or German food? Astra or Jever?

Jever! I wish they would sell it here in the UK. It’s a shame you can’t get Jever all over the world – unlike Beck’s. There is something very special about Jever the Germans call it “herb”, the best beer in the world. Astra is good for gigs, its cheap, tastes cheap but then you get used to everything. As regards food, I have no preferences. Like with everything else, there are advantages and disadvantages when moving to another country.

++ Anything else you’d like to add?

Well, thanks for asking me to do this interview, Roque, its been a few years now since the days of Happy Couple so it’s always nice to see that many people still remember the band. And many thanks for showing me around Miami and the Keys. I admire you are doing your label in these times after even CDs seem to be dead, Congratulations on 20 vinyl releases. We only did eight with Félicité!

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Listen
The Happy Couple – Song for the Troubadour

Thanks so much to Richard Starke for the interview! Jane Pow were a fantastic Southampton (and later Brighton) band that was quite modish! Maybe the band from the period that was influenced the most by 60s sound. They released records on many great labels as Ambition, Marineville, Target and Slumberland. Actually, you can still buy their CD on Slumberland that included both “Love it, Be It!” and “State” albums here.

++ Hi Richard! Thanks so much for being up for the interview! What are you up to nowadays? Still making music?

Hi. Thanks for the offer ! Well not anything too exciting or glamorous but i keep myself kinda busy. I’m still trying to make music though not in the serious or intense way I did back with Jane Pow. I live just outside of Seattle, WA USA. Moved here 15 yrs or so ago.

++ Let’s talk about Jane Pow, was it your first band or were you involved with other bands before it?

No I was playing since I was about 14. Played bass in a band with a friend, started playing with other people in variously dumb titled bands, The Kinky Boot Beasts, The Metric System, F Yes Bubble, Sunset Strip (With Mike from the Music Liberation Front).

Jane Pow came about from meeting various people that seemed to want to do something a little more serious. Greg McDermott was the only other constant member of the band. He is a great player and always kept me in line. He was the musician in the band. We started off playing this droney Spacemen 3 rip off . We would project Pop Art over ourselves (Bridget Riley I think) our gigs and make a huge racket. (The cover of “Safe” is actually a picture of one of our gigs that has been made super low res) It was pretty cool and the first time we met Mark who would start Ambition. We played at his “indie” nights. He spun records and we would play. I think he got other bands to his nights as well after a while. From there we started playing other venues and eventually other towns.

++ So how did the band start? How did you all knew each other?

We were just friends of friends and played in bands around Southampton. We were all about 16 or 17 so we would hang out and party and you just meet! We got it together pretty quickly. Me, Greg McDermott on drums, Rupert Hanna on Bass and Vincent Kellet on Guitar. We all kinda liked some of the same music and I think we all wanted to play in a serious band.

That first line up recorded our first few singles and the first full length “State”. Vincent is an accomplished classical guitar player and I think he got bored with me asking him to play one chord for 5 minutes ! He left after we did the first album. So at first we were all in school and just practiced when we were meant to be studying. At that point it kinda took over my life and I think everyone’s. We started to play bigger places and got a good following in Southampton. We were a pretty good live band. Loud and aggressive. We played fast and noisy !!

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

That’s pretty simple. We had to think of a name the night before our first gig and we sat around all night trying to agree. It got more and more silly and we ended up with Jane Pow. The name of a girl the 3/4 of the band went to school with! I though it sounded pretty Mod! It just stuck!

++ How did you like Southampton back then? What were the places were you usually hanged out? Was there a healthy scene there?

Yeah I think it was good. The place has changed alot. The scene was pretty underground. “Indie” is so mainstream now, it doesn’t mean what it did back then. Indie was everything from Goth to punk to folk music. It was a way of conducting yourself as a band and a fan. We were looking for something away from mainstream culture. It felt at the time like it had more integrity, I think that was cause we were young though. Now I’m so jaded !!!!!!!!!

We played at and watched many bands at The Joiners Arms. Its still going strong ! We supported Ride there and Primal Scream to name some big names. A good few others and also some great local bands. We played at the Labour Club at Mark from Ambition’s night. It was a club affiliated with the Labour Party. It was in the wrong end of town near the docks and had subsidised Beer !!!! You could get very drunk on not much money and have a great time jumping around to noisy indie music. There were always a few die hard OAP Labour Party guys there looking at us like we were crazy ! I remember some other pubs and clubs but its all a little hazy ! I lived in a small village on the outskirts of town called Netley. I remember some very long walks that seemed to last all night coming back late from shows. I also just remember hanging out at parks and by the water after staying up all night. We had a great time even though there was a lot of angst going down !

There were a lot of good local bands that i cant remember the names of !!!!!!!!!!

++ From the period, what we can consider the indiepop heyday, you must be the most 60s influenced band, at least you sound like that. What were you listening at the time? And just out of curiosity, which bands from those late 80s, early 90s, did you like or felt closer to what Jane Pow was doing?

Yeah it’s funny that it seems like a heyday ! I think there were other bands as into the sixties thing as we were. There were so many splintering groups of sub cultures that its hard to generalize. I remember being pretty frustrated with being lumped in with bands from say Sarah Records or such stuff. I never saw Jane Pow as in that group, we never seemed to go down so well with their audiences ! I remember bowl cuts and pointy boots being pretty big at Creation around that time ! Primal Scream, Razorcuts, Jasmine Minks Biff Bang Pow, Mary Chain etc etc We all seemed to look like cast offs from a Velvet Underground bio pic !

I used to like and still do Felt, Primal Scream, The Wolfhounds, Momus, McCarthy, The Jasmine Minks,Jesus and Mary Chain, Microdisney, The Chameleons, China Crisis, 808 State, The Blue Aeroplanes , Julian Cope, My bloody Valentine . You know the list goes on !

I always loved older stuff to and we became more and more obsessed with trying NOT to sound like an indie pop band. In the nineties it all got very britpop that never really did it for me. By that time I was more musically educated and preferred to listen to older guitar music. I did start to get into hip hop and electronic music . I had a bit of a Blue Note and early 70’s jazz phase!

++ Your first two singles came out on Mark Pearson’s “Ambition Records”. How do you remember signing to his label? How did the deal work out? Any anecdotes you can share about Mr. Gnome? 🙂

Mark : Lets make a record, ill put it out !
Us : OK !
Contract negotiations over !

I don’t think there was a deal as such. He paid for the recordings and the pressing and all and we got a record. We got to sell some at gigs and made a bit of cash. I don’t remember it being a big thing just cool. I honestly don’t have many memories of that time. I mostly spent my time being all angsty in the corner and writing songs!

++ You then released one single on Marineville, the Sanitized 7″, which is really great. I find Andy Marineville to always be in the shadows, doesn’t like much promotion though he has been quite a supporter of Cloudberry! Which I’m very thankful. Did you ever get to meet him?

Oh yeah. I think Andrew was friends of the Marineville guys and we hung out a little bit. This was when the band had relocated to Brighton, along the coast in the south of England. We had our own label called Target Records. We put out the Jane Pow album “State” and “Love It Be It”.

We also put out a few other bands, Arthur, Studio 68, High Llamas, Prescriptions, Monoland. We were always open to people putting out tracks as singles or on compilations. We were on the Slumberland “One Last Kiss” comp and a few others.

++ And also on this single you come up with what will be more or less your design aesthetics for the next records. Who came up with that look? Oh! and what is this song about?

Most of the design was done by Andrew. It was great to have total creative control over covers and music. It was our own label so we could do pretty much anything we wanted ! Also though we were responsible for all the mistakes !

We were very into late 60’s underground art and that stuff was influenced by a Richard Neville book called “Play Power” . He had been a leading light in the underground scene in late 60’s London. His book is great. We carried on the artistic style with the rest of our releases. Andrew spent a lot of time working on those covers. We were doing it by hand, cutting out letters and pictures to make the final cover art. This was way before we had Photoshop on our computers !

++ Then you suddenly release a 7″ in the US, on Slumberland. It wasn’t that common then for a UK band to release in the US. How did that happen?

Hmmmmm ! Cant remember to be honest ! I think he heard our stuff somewhere and just asked to do it. Pretty informal. Warm Room seems to be a song people liked. If I remember that was mainly written by Rupert the bass player in the band. We were not as connected as we are today so maybe fewer bands did it cause of that . I remember some other bands putting out 7 inch singles in the states on labels like “Bus Stop”.

We met Mike from Slumberland in DC and hung out with him for a night if I remember. He was very cool and into the music so we saw a like minded label.

++ Then two albums on Target Records from Brighton, listening to them today, how do you think they have aged? What are your favourite songs from them? What do you remember from recording them?

I think I like the “State” LP best. It seems more of a product of things rather than a copy of things. By the time we did “Love It Be It!” we were very conscious of NOT being an indie band. I was listening to pretty much all old music with a few bands like Felt and early electronic music like 808 state. We recorded “State” in a small 8 track studio with Peter Dale. We would have 3 guitar parts and a horn section on one track. Mixing the record was like playing the mixing desk. It was a fun record to make. Pete was a great engineer and into helping us with our sound. I felt like we had made a good record and was proud to have it out.

“Love It Be It” was harder to make. We tried recording in a 16trk studio but it didn’t go too well. We ended up recording 4 songs in our basement apartment ourselves ! I had a definite sound that I wanted and couldn’t get !!!! It was frustrating. There are some good songs on that record. I like the fact that “Sanitized” is mono until the last 30 seconds or so! but I don’t think the recordings do them justice.

As for favorite songs, I’d go for “Through”, “Latitude” and “Take”. On “Love It Be It!” I’d say “Sanitized”, “90’s”, “Playpower”, “It’s on Its way”.

As to how they have aged! Well sometimes I find it unbearable to listen to them!!!!!!!! They are badly played and sometimes badly recorded but they have a certain something! They were played from beginning to end, no computers chopping and re tuning. Just 3 or 4 or 5 blokes making a noise! I wondered how I played some of those guitar parts too! Thinking about it Greg did moist of the hard bits!

++ These same albums were released around the same time but on 1 CD on Slumberland Records. Why was that?

Well just cause Mike wanted to put them out and it all fit on one CD ! You couldn’t get our LP records in the USA at the time and it was cool to have them on a CD. We also put a few extras on there like “Sophia Green” and “Morning side”. Those are not on the vinyl version of the albums.

++ Ah! I have to ask, one of my favourite tracks of yours is “Sophia Green”, I always wondered who was that Sophia you sing about?

Well ask Mike Evil!!! I don’t know!

If I could change the world, I guess I would. /
If I could see what I need to see then you know I would /
But you gotta keep telling me now what to give /
wheres my independence oh wheres my hope. /
so i live my life in harmony /
try to stop my ideas getting chopped down with me /
cause there everything, yes there everything to me /
and Sophia.

Sophia Green to me was always that mythical Girl that was your ally, your love and your hope for life. Who you needed to be with cause they are everything, but who, of coarse you lost, or maybe never found.

++ Also you had that song 90s, which makes me wonder, which decade did you enjoy the most, the 80s, the 90s, or perhaps this one, the 00s?

I suppose they all were so different from each other. In the 80’s I was growing up and getting into life and music. I was 14 in 1984 when I heard the Jesus and Mary Chain, The Smiths, etc, etc, and it blew my mind. I loved listening to Peel and started playing music.

In the 90’s I struggled with playing in Jane Pow and trying to make that a success, ultimately fleeing the UK for the USA. I got married and that was another part of life.

In this decade I have worked at a few record labels and a few web companies, had 2 amazing kids and met some great people here in Seattle, I have also missed England and lost my Dad so its a toss up.

I always think that the next one will be the best until you are far enough away from the past to gain perspective.

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

Yeah we did. We played a lot in Southampton at first but then all round the UK and got as far as the USA and Germany. I remember the German tour being good. Playing Hamburg was great. There’s at least one show in the USA that I remember very well and changed my life for ever!

I remember supporting Primal Scream , playing at the Labour club at the Gnome’s night. I also remember playing to 4 people and a dog at various London venues, those gigs were the worst. Hoping that some wanker from the NME was gonna review the show or some A&R dude was meant to come down. I hated all that stuff. I loved playing at the Joiners Arms to a sell out home town show !

++ When and why did you call it a day?

When I moved to the USA I suppose. We had recorded a 3rd LP with myself and Greg as the only original members. It got screwed up and was unusable. There are a few tracks floating around from that time. We had gotten signed to a sub label of Acid Jazz but it didn’t work out so decided to do it ourselves on my old 8 track machine!

We had a new bass player Andy Jackson, Rudy on the congas, Paul Sutton on sax and my big bro Andy singing. The songs were sounding great and then we had some technical issues that screwed the whole thing up. After that it just kinda stopped. I have never played in a band since!

++ What did you all do after the band’s split? Are you still all in touch?

Ive been in the USA since then. Ive been to college, worked at a college radio station, a commercial station , some record labels and an internet company. I’ve made music under the name Firingbullets. Its pretty sporadic right now though.

Greg is back in the UK and has played with a few bands most notably Fiel Garvy. Rupert moved to Norway and Vince teaches guitar! Andy was in the Regular Fries for a while and now makes movies. We are still in touch. Everyone is on friendly terms!

++ Alright, let’s start wrapping the interview, but before, what was your guitar during those Jane Pow days?

A couple. I had a Fender Jaguar that I loved . A big Hofner semi acoustic and a red Telecaster. I had a 12 string acoustic as well. Rupert played a Fender Jazz bass. We also used a Korg ms10 , a stylaphone, Hammonds and an occasional synth horn section!

++ And one last one, what are other stuff do you enjoy doing aside from music?

I have 2 kids 8 and 10 so they take up a lot of time. I’m a soccer dad ! I help out on my kids team and generally potter around the house. I like the usual stuff books , UK TV and radio but to be honest if you take music out of my life you loose a huge chunk of it !

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

No problem! Not much just that its amazing and gratifying that people remember Jane Pow. I put alot of emotional energy and time into the music so its good to know that someone enjoyed it!

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Listen
Jane Pow – Sophia Green

Thanks again to Bart for the fantastic interview! We’ve talked before about Pencil Tin and Girl of the World, and now it’s the turn of this short-lived band that included the great Pam Berry on vocals. I guess The Cat’s Miaow interview is around the corner then? Anyways, sit down, read and enjoy.

++ Hi again Bart! Always lots to talk with you! Let’s cover The Shapiros this time, sounds good? First thing that I wonder is how did the communication between Pam and you started?

We had a mutual friend (Dave Harris, Munch videos) who sent Pam a Cat’s Miaow tape and me a Glo-Worm tape. we were all “love your band” “no i love YOUR band”

++ On the Girl of the World interview you were telling me that originally you came to the US, to the West Coast, to play at a festival. Was going all the way to the East Coast already planned? You didn’t do a road trip did you?

The idea was that I’d come over to DC afterwards and we’d record a single. I flew. It’s practically the same price to get an around the world ticket as it is to get a return flight to the US from Australia. so after DC Iwent onto London

++ And how was meeting for the first time with Pam?

Pretty cool. We’d already corresponded quite a bit so we kinda knew each other fairly well. If she wasn’t so nice it might have been a bit intimidating meeting a living legend.

++ Did you experience any sort of cultural shock in the US?

For me the biggest difference was the lack of a social security network, the poverty, the homelessness. those things exist in Australia as well but not to the same extent.

++ Which city did you enjoy the most in the US and why? When was the last time you visited this country?

I had the best time in DC but that was more to do with the people than the city itself. I liked New York and Boston as well. That’s the only time I’ve been to the us.

++ By the way, when you stayed in DC did you get to do any touristy stuff, I don’t know, like The White House?

not a lot, mostly just haing out with pam and her friends. i did a little, i went past the white house and visited some of the museums. i probably did more touristy things in new york like the empire state building and statue of liberty.

++ Why the name The Shapiros? Who were you nodding?

Helen Shapiro. We actually had a lot of trouble trying to come up with a name, nothing seemed right for what we were trying to convey. I think the Shapiros was the one that sucked the least and we needed to decide on something as we were playing at CMJ.

++ And I guess you experienced some gigs in the US, right? And you met people involved in the scene and the community here? How different to Australia was it? Any anecdotes you can share?

I remember seeing the Magnetic Fields a few times, holiday and charm of the highway strip had just come out and the live band sounded nothing like i expected. i expected a synth duo like yazoo but got something so much better. we played in New York with them and Lois which was a pretty cool bill in hindsight. when we came off stage i bumped into Jason Reynolds from Summershine. He was like “what are YOU doing here?” = “what’s a loser from Melbourne doing playing in New York?” He didn’t sign us obviously. I think that sums things up, in Australia i operate very much at best on the periphery or outside of things whereas with Pam being Pam and being involved with Chickfactor it did seem to be a bit closer to the center and connected to everything

++ So you recorded 12 songs in a span of two weeks, is that right? You recorded with Archie Moore, correct? How were those recording sessions? With so little time it sounds stressful, but I’m sure it wasn’t!

The recording was done really quickly in Archie’s and Trish’s basement were we rehearsed. Archie had a small window of opportunity between velocity girl tours. I don’t remember it being stressful, but towards the end trying to finish it got a bit rushed. And I’m not much of a team player when it comes to mixing. That’s all I’m saying

++ The Shapiros also included Trish and Scott, how did they become part of the band?

Friends of Pam’s, how else! Originally it was going to be Scott and Chip Porter who were both in Veronica Lake along with Pam. I cant think of a band that influenced the Cat’s Miaow more than Veronica Lake, it was going to be the perfect line up. Unfortunately Chip had to pull out so we got Trish in who was playing in a Belmondo with Pam. Still a pretty cool line up.

++ Looking at the compilation tracklist, first thing that pops up is that “When I Was Howard Hughes” was also released by Hydroplane. So I wonder, this song was intended for which band originally? Shapiros or Hydroplane? And of course I have to ask, was Howard Hughes an important figure for you?

Howard Hughes was the last song recorded, it was more of an idea rather than a song and we had never rehearsed it. I’m the only one on it apart from Skooter playing some tambourine. For me songs are a fairly transferable commodity not tied to any particular band. I do prefer the Hydroplane version, its a bit more fully realised, tho i was hardly involved in the recording other than the guitar solo. It’s more the notion of Howard Hughes as a metaphor, for what I’ll let the listener decide. He was as mad as a cut snake but i do find it interesting to see what people do when unlimited finances are at there disposal

++ Also you recorded three covers. You’ve told me before you were a big Beat Happening fan so “Cry for a Shadow” makes a lot of sense – is that your favourite Beat Happening song? – but what about “Cut” originally by the 14 Iced Bears and The Shirelles’ “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow “, whose idea was it to record these songs?

I think Beat Happening are incredible and because of their minimal instrumentation it provides a lot of scope for their songs to be re-interpreted. I thought “Cry for a Shadow” was a great song to cover that a lot of people had overlooked in favour of “Indian Summer” or “Cast a Shadow”. Pam is also probably as big if not a bigger fan of Beat Happening than me. I picked The Shirelles as i think I was trying to evoke a sort of 60’s brill building vibe. Pam picked cut and “Bright Coloured Lights” by Crash. I think in hindsight we should have only released “Cry for a Shadow”.

++ And how did the creative process work to write the 9 original songs you penned with The Shapiros? Did the lyrics just came naturally while recording, or maybe you had them ready before coming to the US?

No, all the songs were written while I was in DC. Before I left we had discussed recording a single together so i had tried to write some songs in Australia but hadn’t come up with anything. I’d just finished recording “A Gentle Hand…” by Pencil Tin and “How did Everything Get so Fucked Up” by the Cat’s Miaow so the song “Cupboard” was well and truly bare. I did write “Smitten” in my head on the bus between Portland and Olympia which the Cat’s Miaow latter recorded. I don’t know why the Shapiros didn’t do it, it would have suited them perfectly, I cant even remember showing it to them.

Most of the Shapiros original songs could have a writing credit of words Pam, music Bart. Pam wrote the words and music to “Makes Me Smile” and “Cross your Mind”. I wrote the words and music to when I was Howard Hughes. It has been the only time I’ve written songs with someone and they’ve been sitting there in the room at the same time. Usually it’s been one person writing a finished piece of music and it gets handed over to write some words later on. I don’t remember us spending a lot of time writing songs. I do remember a lot of thrift store shopping, Ethiopian restaurants and hanging out with Pam’s friends.

++ So alright, what is your favourite song of them all?

Any of the first 4 on the CD i m still really proud of. The cover of “Cry for a Shadow” I really enjoy. The guitars at the start of “Gone by Fall” are probably the best guitar sound I’ve ever got so I still enjoy that a lot. When Pam and I played in London last year we did “Cry for a Shadow” and “Month of Days”. The Shapiros are only a relatively small part of my back catalogue but it comprises a high proportion of my personal favourites

++ What about releasing with Fantastic Records and Popfactory? How did these releases happen?

Pam organised these, I think it was bit of word of mouth mostly. We were talking to Popfactory while I was still in DC. The original idea had been to record a single and it just kept growing. I don’t think we viewed the songs as an album that couldn’t be broken up so we were quite happy to have the songs spread across what ended being 5 different releases.

++ I know you’ve recorded some more songs with Pam, as Bart & Friends, but that was not so long ago. Is it silly to ask why it didn’t happen before?

We were living on opposite sides of the planet and the technology of the day didn’t really lend itself to long distance recording. We did record one song around 1999, another version of Blue Moon which ended up as a bside to a Japanese single that Bart & Friends did and then after that I stopped playing music for about 10 years. We are talking about recording some more songs later this year. It’s pretty cool to write a song and think “this would sound great if Pam Berry sang it” and be able to make that a reality.

++ So Bart, what other hobbies do you have aside making brilliant songs? Do you collect anything in particular maybe?

Between my family and work I’ve barely got time to squeeze in writing songs (I try to spend at least 15 minutes each day writing). Does watching the History Channel count as a hobby? I’m into very nerdy things like megalithic sites, ancient Rome, electronic music from the 50’s & 60’s, The Wire, Deadwood…the winter evenings just fly by in our house.

++ Thanks again Bart, looking forward to our next interview! Any other anecdote about The Shapiros you’d like to share?

I got a tattoo of the guitar on Beat Happening’s dreamy album while i was in The Shapiros. it still hasn’t washed off

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Listen
The Shapiros – Gone By Fall

Thanks a lot to Simon Court for the interview! A couple of months ago I interviewed Peter Stone from The Sweetest Ache but there were many gaps that needed to be filled in. Thankfully Simon got in touch not so long ago offering to fill in some of these gaps. So here it is! Also I’m very happy to learn that their will be Sweetest Ache reissues!

++ Hi Simon! Thanks for getting in touch and willing to fill in the gaps of the previous Sweetest Ache interview I did with Peter Stone. My first question is of course, whereabouts in the UK are you and if you are still making music?

I am still based in Swansea , South Wales. I am still making music

++ I remember asking Peter about The Spirals and him telling me straight away that I had to ask that question only to you. So care telling me about The Spirals? Who were they? Did you record any tracks? Do you remember the names? Any chance we get to listen to them? What about gigs?

The Spirals were Myself , Staurt Vincent, Mike Alman, Mark Box & Paul (who later joined the pooh sticks). We never got into the studio but recorded several 8 track home demos. As most kids starting out we mainly played covers at first. Spacemen 3 (od catastrophe) , Stooges (I wanna be your dog), Vaselines (teenage jesus superstar) & Loop (head on) were amongst the ones I remember. We did a few of our own , Something’s got to break & Come together were a couple I recall. We mainly played locally but did branch out to Cardiff & Bristol. In fact our first gig was In Cardiff at a place called the square club.

++ So what happened, why did you change the name to become The Sweetest Ache?

It wasn’t really a name change , more a band change. Stu & Paul joined Pooh Sticks & things just drifted after that. Stu got together with some mutual friends in summer ‘89 to form The Sweetest Ache. Staurt – vocals & guitar , Leigh – guitar , Dai – bass & Luke – drums. They played a couple of gigs , but I think Stu felt uneasy up front & initially just called it a day. After a month or so He got Dai back in to play bass , recruited a guy he worked with , called Rik & then approached me to sing. We recorded a few demos using drum machines , these were the same demos we sent to Sara with tracks like tell me how it feels & If I could Shine . of course , we could play live with a drum machine , so we needed a drummer. Not sure where we Found Geraint, it was Stu that knew him , anyway that was that & he rest is history.

++ And why did you chose the name The Sweetest Ache? Where does it come from?

It was chosen By Stu, it’s origins are unknown but I think it refers to the bitter- sweet nature of love.

++ Some of you went to the same school, right? Were you all in the same class? Do you have good memories of those years?

As far as I know Only Stuart & David when to the same school & as there is a 3 year age difference , they wouldn’t have been in the same class.

++ What about that rumour about you being part of Inspiral Carpets? Is it true?

That was something we told a local newspaper who were running an article. we were mocking them a bit but it stayed on the rumour mill.

++ How was the Swansea scene back then? Did you like any other bands from town? What were your favourite spots there?

The Swansea scene was rather rock & punk orientated . We were somewhat unique in some respects as Swansea’s only resident indie band.

++ I have to ask this question again too, what’s the story behind: “If I Could Shine”? That song is a classic!

It was one of only two songs I didn’t have any part in writing so I can’t answer that , really . I agree , that it is a top tune & most peoples favourite track by us

++ Also I was very curious about why you called one of your songs and first album as Jaguar, why was that?

Again , it was us being a little bit cheeky. Our songs weren’t exactly Screaming rawk tunes , so we decided on an ironic rock sounding title for a bit of a laugh really . We almost called it “Straight Outta Uplands” in mock reference to “Straight Outta Compton” by NWA

++ When and why did you leave The Sweetest Ache? And why didn’t the band split then?

I left the band in late 1992 after Stu’s song writing had taken a very different direction. I didn’t like the music so I walked. The band continued as we were under contract to Vinyl Japan to produce an album

++ What happened with you after that? Were you involved with music?

In musical terms I did nothing for quite a number of years . In 2000 I got together with Stuart to release an EP for American label Sunday Records under the name Mumbles. I have been in a band called Shooter for about nine years& Stu is part of the current line up . We have released a couple EPs for Northern Star Records. We are currently recording an album which is being produced by Tim Holmes from Death In Vegas. We have some tunes up on myspace , it’s very different to Sweetest Ache , but have a listen.

++ In retrospective, what was the best of being part of The Sweetest Ache?

Getting signed to the legendary Sarah Records was quite special.

++ Was there something you wanted to do or achieve with The Sweetest Ache that never got to be done?

Would have loved to have recorded another album , c’est la Vie.

++ And what are the songs you are most proud of? and why?

For the ones I co wrote , “Tell me how it feels” & “Capo” are my favourites

++ Best Sweetest Ache gig?

The Adelphi in Hull was the one I enjoyed most. The Swansea gig we did at the end of our tour was the one I feel we performed best.

++ The past years most of the Sarah bands have re-issued their songs. Will The Sweetest Ache do that?

We have been approached by two record labels & are currently in negotiation with Cherry Red Records , so yes.

++ So one final question, the not-so-serious one, can you make laverbread? Who was the best cook in The Sweetest Ache?

I believe it is simply flat seaweed , washed chopped then boiled. lightly seasoned with salt & pepper. Heat in a frying pan & serve with cubes of fried bread & bacon . Yum

++ Thanks Simon, anything else you’d like to add?

Only thanks for liking our music, please listen to our new stuff as Shooter & do buy the compilation when it comes out.

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Listen
The Sweetest Ache – Tell Me How it Feels

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