Thanks so much to Brian Price for the great and thorough answers! It’s indeed a treat that Peru are back, and hopefully I will catch them live soon. If you have never heard them, definitely be on the lookout for their split 7″ with Mary Queen of Scots on ebay or, just go ahead and buy their new retrospective compilation “Across Blue Skies” from Jigsaw Records. I recommend it dearly.

++ Hi Brian! I heard the Peru show at Big Pink Cake Weekender was a nice surprise for the attendees. How did you enjoy it? Any future shows planned?

It was very enjoyable and we received some really nice, positive feedback about the performance which is very reassuring. I was quite nervous as it was the first time I’d performed as a ‘frontman’ for 18 years but, all in all, I was very happy with how things went and the reaction we’ve received.

As for the future, we’re keen do more shows wherever we’re wanted and there are a couple of shows lined up already – we’re playing in Cambridge on April 2 and we’re very excited to be heading over to Limoges in France to play at the annual Popfest there on July 9. Hopefully, we’ll be adding more dates in the coming months…

++ So what made you have a comeback with your old band? It’s different people in the band now, right?

I hadn’t listened to, or played, any of the songs for a good few years but, inspired by watching lots of live indiepop bands at Bristol’s excellent Big Pink Cake club nights over the past few years, I picked up my guitar again and started playing again with a sort of vague dream that I might perform again in public and maybe even record some new Peru songs.

I didn’t think it would actually happen though and I was certain no one really cared about the songs we had recorded back in the 1990s.Then, in early 2010, a couple of things happened that inspired me to turn the dream into something concrete.

The first was at a Big Pink Cake night where I was introduced to Marianthi who told me that she had loved our song ‘World of Jason’ which appears on the first Shelflife Records release ‘Whirlwheels’ for many years and she knew nothing else about Peru. So she was surprised to meet the person who wrote the song and equally I was amazed someone I had met in Bristol had heard the song, never mind liked it!

The same night, a certain DJ/record label owner from Peru was playing at Big Pink Cake and he told me he had bought our debut 7” purely because the band was named after his home country!

Around the same time as that, I received an email out of the blue from Chris McFarlane of Jigsaw Records saying he’d collected up all the tracks we’d released on various ‘90s cassette compilations, as well as our 7” on Waaaaahhh! and the track which Shelflife used. Chris asked if I would be interested in him releasing them as an album on Jigsaw?

All of this made me think ‘maybe now is the time to get Peru back up and running!’ I then asked Matthew of Big Pink Cake if he would let a reformed Peru play at the forthcoming Big Pink Cake weekender in Bristol. He said yes – so I thought, shit, I’d better contact my old bandmates and see if they’re up for it!! Initially, the plan was to have guitarist Steve Woodward and bass player Chris Smith on board. Both were both keen to do it but a number of events transpired against us and we weren’t able to make it happen, so Thom and Jim – guitarist and bass player from Bristol band The Kick Inside – stepped in late in the day and did a brilliant job. The great news is they’re happy to continue and we now also have The Kick Inside’s drummer, Alex, on board too.

++ Are you planning to record new songs?

Absolutely! I’ve been busy writing some new songs since the Big Pink Cake weekender and once The Kick Inside boys clear a few other commitments they currently have, we’ll be getting together to rehearse and then record those.

In the meantime, there’s talk of a 4 or 5-track EP of 1990s Peru songs which didn’t make it on to the Jigsaw album possibly coming out on Dufflecoat label… If that happens, that will draw a line under the ‘90s stuff I deem suitable enough for release, and I’ll then concentrate on new stuff, with hopefully a 7” or EP of new stuff to follow the Dufflecoat release. If no one else wants to put any new stuff out, then I’ll look at doing it myself.

++ So, Peru started in Derby right? How come you are in Bristol nowadays?

My parents and I moved from Glasgow to Derbyshire in 1985, when I was 13, and I lived there for 10 years before moving to Edinburgh to study Journalism in 1995. After that, I worked on a newspaper in Devon before moving to a paper in Bristol in 2002. I’ve been here ever since.

++ Alright, let’s go back in time? How did Peru start? Who were the original members? How did you know each other?

At the start of the 1990s, I was playing drums in The Millers which was a noisier band with influences such as Fugazi, Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr, Husker Du etc. However, I’ve always had a pretty wide taste in music and was quite immersed in the whole C86, Sarah Records, fanzine-type scene, collecting 45s and buying fanzines and tapes.

My friends and I used to go to a brilliant indie night at Rock City in Nottingham and beforehand, we’d generally meet at my place, drink a few beers and listen to records in my bedroom before heading to Rock City. Chris Smith, my best mate from school, and John Coolin, who we met at a party and knew from an indie band he played in called Kim’s Balloon, jokingly said one such drunken night that we should start an indiepop/Sarah Records-style band.

At that stage, I had only ever played drums but wanted to do something different in this new band, so I said I’d play guitar and sing. Chris, who didn’t play any instruments, said he would learn bass and we both hoped John – a real musician – would keep the whole thing together!

So I acquired an acoustic guitar, learned a few basic chords and attempted to write some songs. Chris got a bass and picked it up pretty quickly and off we went! It really was as simple as that. A little while later, in early ’92, Zoe Head joined on keyboards but left in November ’92. Her sister Kay also joined us for one recording session and one gig. John left sometime in 1993 and Steve Woodward – who was in my other band The Millers – teamed up with Chris and I. That final line up of Steve, Chris and I proved to be the most productive and was responsible for some of the better Peru material, in my opinion.

++ You know I’m from Peru, so the first time I read that there was a band called Peru I was thrilled. I wondered  why would anyone name the band with my country’s name. What was the reason?

Chris and I are massive football fans and when we were thinking up ideas for possible band names, we came up with Cubillas and Chumpitaz, the surnames of two Peruvian footballers we remembered from 1970s Panini sticker albums we bought as kids. We almost went for Cubillas but decided it was a bit too obscure, so we somehow settled on Peru instead – plus we also loved the famous 1970s Peru kit with the red diagonal band on the white shirt.

++ And who had the idea to have a Peruvian flag as an insert of the split 7″ with Mary Queen of Scots? That was such a treat for me!

These were, of course, the days before the internet/photoshop etc, and everything we did was very, very DIY, mainly due to lack of resources and money. It was established the sleeve for the 7” would be fairly plain but each band would have an insert to put their contact details etc on. We initially wanted to have a photo of Cubillas photocopied from a Panini album, but we needed to keep some white space free to stick down some contact details/info and it wouldn’t have worked. So we found a photo of a Peru flag instead, photocopied that and put the info onto the white spaces.

++ Alright, talking about that split 7″, that was the only proper release, right? Of course, until now that we have the Jigsaw CD. But why? Why didn’t you get to release more stuff during the nineties?

We had put some stuff out via the usual tried and tested method of the compilation tape and the next obvious step was to do a 7”. Richard at Waaahhh wrote saying he was starting a 7” Singles Club and asked if we wanted to be on the first one. As money was short and we couldn’t really afford to self-finance a release, we said yes and Richard paired us up with Mary Queen of Scots. We already knew Chris Lam from MQOS via correspondence from compilation tapes/fanzines etc, and we both like each other’s songs, so we went ahead with it.

Unfortunately, we didn’t do a great job of recording the two songs which appeared on the record – it sounds really muffled. We had to do it very quickly and only had a borrowed 4-track recorder and I think we just tried to cram too much on to it. Plus, John (who was in his final days with the band) badgered us into putting a brand new song he’d written called ‘Down’ onto the record when he’d originally planned to use ‘Oasis’ and ‘Kim’s Balloon’. It meant we had to learn ‘Down’ immediately and record it there and then, without any rehearsal or work on arranging it etc. Listening to it, you can really tell!!!

After that, we were supposed to release Roundabout as a 7” single on the German label Meller Welle. In true Peru fashion, we somehow didn’t get around to recording it in time or something, and the label ended up getting fed up waiting and released the songs we eventually sent them as a split cassette with a band called Lament.

The only other thing released ‘properly’ was the aforementioned ‘World of Jason’ on Shelflife’s ‘Whirlwheels’ compilation CD in around ‘95/’96.

++ You did appear on many compilations though, do you remember on which and what songs? I don’t mind you sharing the whole discography here!

Er, I don’t remember how many tapes we appeared on, but there were many! I started my own fanzine, Long Live Vinyl, mainly as a vehicle to promote Peru and get the name out in the open – again, for younger readers, this was what you did pre-You Tube/Myspace/Facebook etc etc. I also compiled tapes to release with Long Live Vinyl – the first being a split tape featuring, unsurprisingly, my two bands at the time, Peru and The Millers!

Other ones I remember us appearing on included C92, which featured a song called ‘Wonderful’ and one other, I think? Also – Kim who did the Bliss/Aquamarine fanzine/tape series put quite a few of our songs on those, as did David McLaughlin (aka DMCL) who ran the Fluff label which released early Boyracer/Hood output.

I reckon Chris McFarlane could be your best bet for a definitive cassette compilation discography! He even has versions of Peru songs I don’t even remember recording, never mind sending out to anyone!

++ What about gigs? You played lots? Which ones do you remember the most and why?

No, we only did a handful of gigs – all of them in 1992. The first was with The Marmite Sisters at the Princess Charlotte in Leicester. The rest were either in Derby or Nottingham and included supporting Heavenly at The Dial in Derby.

We also played a few gigs with the great Derby indiepop band The Almanacs which were probably the ones I remember most fondly. To be honest, we weren’t very good as a live unit at that stage. It was only 6 months or so earlier that I had first picked up a guitar and sang in front of anyone else – singing or playing guitar weren’t my natural ‘instruments’ and I found it too difficult/stressful to do.

So Peru became a ‘bedroom only’ band after our final gig in November 1992. (Playing drums was a different matter – I loved every minute of that!)

++ Was Peru your first band by the way? How involved were you in the indie/guitar pop scene of those days? I mean, I assume that being in Waaaaaah! made you a cutie? Or I’m wrong?

No, as I mentioned earlier, I played drums in The Millers, who grew out of an earlier band called Spacerat. Once Peru began, I was fairly involved in the indie/guitar pop scene, I guess, as I was running my fanzine and issuing tapes, as well as playing gigs with Peru and The Millers and going to see lots of bands.

On reflection, it was a great time for music – particularly in Derby which had a great little venue called The Dial where we saw the likes of The Sea Urchins, Brighter, The Orchids, The Field Mice, The Telescopes, Ride, Teenage Fanclub and even Primal Scream (in their leather-clad Ivy Ivy Ivy phase)!!

There was also a Sarah Records package tour with Another Sunny Day/St Christopher/The Field Mice on the same bill – but there were only about 20 people maximum there as it was close to Christmas and most of the students had gone home!

Over in Nottingham, there seemed to be far less going on than in Derby – although we did often see The Fat Tulips play or bump into Mark, Paul or Sheggi and gigs we went to.

We also followed a Brighter/Blueboy joint tour around the country thanks to our friend Lisa having a car and being willing to go to silly locations!

Whether all of that confirms me as a cutie or not, I don’t know. But there was a sort of indie scene, I guess, and you would tend to meet the same faces at the same gigs and club nights.

++ What about fanzines? did you have any favourites back then?

I used to buy any I could get my hands on, or swap for copies of Long Live Vinyl. As for favourites, I can’t really remember, sorry!

++ How did that release happen by the way? Did you know Richard?

The Waaahhh single?? I only knew Richard though writing to each other to swap fanzines/flyers etc. He just asked if we wanted to do the split 45 and we were happy to do it.

++ So who is Jason from “World of Jason” and “Sammy”? And Kim from “Kim’s Balloon”? What are the stories behind these songs?

Jason is an old school friend I haven’t seen or heard from for about 20 years. The song ‘Sammy’ isn’t technically a Peru song. My brother, Mark, and I were recording a batch of his songs (Marcus) which I went on to release as a split cassette with Johnny Domino (another of Steve Woodward’s projects) through Long Live Vinyl, and I was just jamming the two chords which make up the song. Mark began jamming along and we recorded the guitar parts. He didn’t want it to be an instrumental so I quickly scribbled down some words and recorded a vocal part and he then added the harmony vocal.

It needed a title so we went for ‘Sammy’ which was the name of our old red setter dog. The irony is that Chris McFarlane at Jigsaw said it was his favourite ‘Peru’ song and wanted it on the album – so there you go!

‘Kim’s Balloon’ was named after John Coolin’s former band, which he had named after his niece, Kim.

++ Why and when did you split?

As is often the case, we never officially split. The difficulty we had – and I guess the reason why we didn’t release much stuff back then – was that we were rarely in the same place at the same time. John went off to study in Manchester while he was still in the band, then after he left and Steve joined, Steve went off to study in Sheffield. Things slowed right down when I left for Edinburgh. We did record a few songs when I came back during holidays, but it was getting more and more difficult to carry on so it just fizzled out…

Chris and Steve did record a few songs together in my absence – one of which, Horror Story, appears on the Jigsaw album.

++ What happened after? Were you involved in other bands?

While Peru was still stumbling along, my other band The Millers fizzled out, too, and Steve and Giles from the Millers started Johnny Domino – a kind of lo-fi / alt-country combo.

Some time in ’94, I joined a new band called Boy Scout which featured Marc Elston from Bulldozer Crash, Nick Glyn-Davies, who was in the original White Town line-up, and Rob Fleay who played bass in The Almanacs and was involved in loads of other things too. This quickly became quite a serious band and we courted some major label interest for a while. Unfortunately, it coincided with me being accepted for a place on a Journalism degree course in Edinburgh which I started in ’95. We tried to keep it going with rehearsals and shows during holidays but I felt I couldn’t properly commit to a band based in Derby while studying in Scotland so, after summer ’96, I reluctantly left Boy Scout.

While studying in Edinburgh, I played drums in my brother’s Mark’s band – a little ramshackle, country-pop outfit that has had a residency in a Glasgow bar for the last 20 years or so!! It was always great fun and involved lots of drinking as well as playing and singing! That ended when I moved to Devon in 1999 but I’m happy to say the band is still going and I always join in for a few songs every time I visit Glasgow.

++ Fast forward, 2011. I have in my hands the “Across Blue Skies” CD, a compilation of your recorded output on Jigsaw Records. But it was missing the song “Cubillas”, right? But hey, Cubillas star in the cover. What a player he was! What do you remember about him?

As I said earlier, we were huge footy fans and we remembered Cubillas and his teammates from the old Panini sticker books. Also, as a Scotsman, I have always had a bit of love-hate relationship with him as I have nothing but admiration for his play and the two great goals he scored against Scotland in the 1978 World Cup in Argentina – but he also broke our nation’s heart as his goals effectively made it impossible for us to qualify to the next stage of that tournament! After we named the band Peru, I was determined to have a song called Cubillas – so I wrote a little instrumental and named it after him. For some reason, Chris McFarlane didn’t want it on the album, but it will get included in something soon, maybe on the Dufflecoat Records EP?

++ And hey, tell me about this CD, how come Chris find out about you? And what do the people that have never listened to Peru can expect from it?

He somehow got a hold of my email address and just wrote out of the blue in early 2010. He said in the email that he didn’t think I’d be interested in releasing stuff and probably didn’t want to look back or think about the band, but he was wrong and I was delighted to hear from someone in the US who knew as much about the band as I did!! I’m grateful to him for getting the CD together so quickly and for his support. What can people expect? Some honest, from-the-heart melodic and mainly melancholic indiepop songs recorded between 1992 and 1996.

++ Let’s wrap it here, see you in London Popfest? We have to continue the beer drinking but no soul club this time!

Yes, I look forward to catching up for another beer or two at the London Popfest – maybe not as many as last time, though. ☺

++ Alright, thanks again Brian, anything else you’d like to add?

Thank you! And thanks to everyone who has bought the album, downloaded tracks, helped, encouraged and given words of support so far!

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Listen
Peru – World of Jason

(Some beautiful jangly guitars)
“We are going to have a party next Saturday night, if you feel alright, come tonight…”

Can you guess this song is from Germany? I didn’t. I remember the first time I heard it back in October 2009. I had just arrived to Hamburg after some days in Essen visiting my mother. It was quite a special occasion in Hamburg, it was the 30th birthday of one of my dear friends. Also that weekend, as documented in the blog, was one of the best ever, with the legendary Sunny Street gig at the Hasenschaukel. But the first day I arrived, not many were around. I came a bit too early. So that afternoon Andreas and me went over so many records. We started with a collection of all Nine Steps to Ugly recordings. Later on a similar collection by Grab Grab the Haddock. While the music played I went over his boxes of old 80s tapes, filled with demos and rare compilations, among them his own Everlasting Happiness. Then sitting on the comfy couch and flipping through his fanzine collection. Suddenly some jangly guitars coming from the turntable caught my attention. The girl singing could have been the cutest ever, her voice I immediately adored. Who the heck are this? “This is from 1986”, Andreas tells me, “And they are from here, from Germany”. I was thrilled!

I would have loved to be in this small town party the vocalist invites us all listeners. Wonder in which small town of Germany she lived. Then Andreas wisely skipped many songs, and turned around the 12″. On the other side a dreamy “You Didn’t See” makes me melt. “They are the Love Set, but this is seems to be all they recorded” he shrugs with a smile. What a shame I think, they deserved a record deal, an album, some singles, some EPs, some flexis, some maxis, a DVD even! This is jangly guitar pop at it’s finest, innocent, fragile, but with lots of nerve, and feelings, and hope. And this is from 1986!! Love Set were on par with their English counterparts, even ahead I believe. This sound didn’t  happen until 88 or so with The Fat Tulips I think. Anyways, it doesn’t really matter who came in first, does it?

This two songs appear on a compilation called “Beat All the Tambourines” released by the eponymous label and published by Constrictor. As far as I know, this was their only release. It was distributed by another German label, Pastell. Most of the songs, including the two Love Set tracks, were recorded at Fright Train Studio in Duisburg, making me think that it must have been a small town in the Ruhr region. Funny, as that’s the area in Germany I’ve visited most places and small towns. Maybe I’ve passed by their old house or their old hang-out walking one day. Also on this record there are appearances by the well known and great Most Wanted Men and many unknown names for me like Montgomerys or Xavier Says No. This bunch of unknown bands, not really up my street though.

After coming back to the US, some months later, I receive a package from the great Jörg Winzer, great friend and indiepop know-it-all. It was a copy of the 12″. I was the happiest, even took a a photo of me holding it. It was such a surprise. He remembered that during the next days in that holy Hamburg weekend, I often put the record at Andreas turntable. First thing I did upon getting it was ripping the songs out from the vinyl and playing them many many times. Second step was to try to get in touch with the band, you know, detective work. So the research started.

The only names to appear on the record are those of M. Gülicher and T. Shock. It wasn’t that hard to find that it was Mattias Gülicher and even found a website he owned, a distribution company called “Grand Harbour”. Sadly there was no reply after my email asking to do an interview. He also seem to have played on Fenton Weills who will soon have a 3″CD on our dear Werner’s own Edition 59 record label out of Berlin. Also I could find that Mattias is from Cologne, but that’s not a small town. Perhaps, they liked leaving Cologne for some small town parties on the weekend in 86? Could be.

Now it seems that T. Shock was really a Katrin Shock, a K. Shock. She was the girl that sung so beautiful, and what a beautiful name she had, Katrin. Ah! And she also wrote the lyrics. What a talent! Wonder if she ever got to sing again in a band. Wonder if there are more recordings by Love Set. Wonder if I will ever hear from Mattias. Wonder if someone would finally do a compilation of the great guitar pop that happened in Germany during the late 80s and early 90s, some sort of Leamington Spa series, but of Germany. There are so many great songs and bands. It would be so good.

Anyways, enjoy! And let’s hope next Saturday we are invited to a small town party.

Oh! and a “love set” is a set in tennis in which the loser wins no games.

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Listen
Love Set – Small Town Parties

Thanks so much to Richard Lane firstly for getting in touch after reading my previous post of Snog6 and confirming me that they didn’t snog each other. And secondly, for this great interview telling us a bit more about his old band. What a great track is Misery! Enjoy once more.

++ Hello Richard! First of all, thanks so much for getting in touch! How are you? You were telling me that Snog 6 were based in Sheffield? Do you still live there? How are the preparations for holidays going on?

Life’s pretty good cheers. Snog6 were a Sheffield band but i have moved around the country a fair bit since then. We started in 1992 and finished in 1993 so it all seems a very long time ago!! Holiday preparations are still not really going but it has snowed so we might get a white Christmas,

++ So let’s go back in time, when did Snog started out? Because that was your first name right? without the 6? And who were the members?

Snog6 met in a basement in Sheffield. It started out with Reg (bass), Al (rhythm) and myself (jangly indie) with Kate (vocals) and Nigel (drums) soon joining. In true spinal tap style Nigel changed to Andy – a rock god of a drummer.

++ How did you all knew each other? Was it easy to get together the band?

We all loosely knew each other and when we got a few songs behind us it kind of all fitted together. We practiced twice a week for a few hours and then started gigging.

++ Was Snog your first band? Were you always into guitar pop by the way?

Snog was my first band apart form the odd jam. For most of us it was our first and last taste of fame except for Kate who got onto top of the pops (it was the English pop music programme of the time MTV for the early nineties 😉 )

++ So what happened, why the name change? What were the threats of the original Snog band?

Snog threatened court action so as we all lived in the postal code area s6 it seemed a sensible change of name. I always hated it though I wanted us to be “Goodnight Mr President” Monroe’s last words

++ Who were these other Snog by the way? I have never heard about them!

Neither has we until the letter popped onto our door mat!!! 🙂

++ So alright, you made two demo tapes. Do you remember the tracklist of them? Was that all you ever recorded?

The first demo was “Truth” and “Close Your Eyes”. The second was “Misery”, “Truth” and I can’t remember the last song, sorry.

++What do you remember of those recording sessions? Any anecdotes you could share?

Rushed would be the word. We recorded each song in 3 hrs as we had only 6hrs time in the studio. We used the Sunday morning slot as it was cheapest. And I had to go and watch a football match for the second session. I wasn’t popular but at least we won!!!

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

We played about 8 gigs. the best by far was for a student battle of the bands. Really good set up, good lights and pa and the crowd loved us. It was from there that we were offered a single on the “Does Your Dog Moult EP”.

++ How did Misery appeared on the 7″ compilation “Does Your Dog Moult?”? Do you remember?

They saw us at the band competition. John Peel played the single a couple of times (the best British DJ ever just ask anyone who knows!!!)

++ Looking back in time, what do you think was the highlight of Snog 6?

John Peel, playing live and recently finding out that 20 years later we had gone worldwide!!

++ So why call it a day? What happened after? Did you make music?

I still make music but only as a hobby. I’m a head teacher now. We split up due to artistic differences or the fact we couldn’t stand Kate. You decide 😉

++ And what about these days? When was the last time you picked up your guitar?

I play the guitar most days, record a little on garage bands and still occasionally play live with friends. i was the band at my own wedding.

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

Happy days will do it for me!!!

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Listen
Snog 6 – Misery

Thanks so much to Fabien Garcia for this interview about the beloved French band Caramel who released on Marsh-Marigold, Harriet and Aquavinyle! Here we talk about Caramel, the Limoges Popfest that he organizes and sheep testicles with garlic and parsley. Great interview! Hope you enjoy 🙂 You can check more songs of them on their myspace here.

++ Hi Fabien! How are you doing? I hear you are already planning the next Limoges Popfest for 2011! Anything you can reveal about it yet?

Hi Roque ! Yes, we (the « Anorak Team ») are already thinking and working on our next Limoges Popfest. The second one, in last month of July was so cool, welcoming and enjoying bands like Northern Portrait or The Electric Pop Group, that we want the next one to be great too ! It should happen the second weekend of July 2011. What can we reveal about it ? At the moment, we’re thinking about which bands we would like to welcome. Some of them could possibly come, others not… Anyway, one band is sure for the moment to come and play here : Peru, from Bristol. We met Brian at the last Big Pink Cake Weekender in Bristol. He’s a very kind guy and he automatically answered « Yes! » when we asked him if he would like to come and play here in France for our Popfest.

++ You know the other day I was looking at the photos of the 2010 edition of the festival, and saw that grill with lots of meat, looked so tasty!! I thought: “that is a proper indiepop festival! Not just silly tofu but proper food for the crowd. How can people expect to party with a weak stomach? We need some proper food! French people do know how to eat.” What other highlights did you have from this year’s edition?

« How can people expect to party with a weak stomach? We need some proper food! ». That’s what we believe. And we don’t want people to starve if we want them to party during all the night. Well, we always wanted to organize the popfest in a very friendly way. People pay 15 euros and that’s all. Then, everything is free during all the weekend : the food, the drinks, the concerts, the fun. Cos’ yes, fun, fun, fun, that’s what we want. We want people to feel good. So there’s good food, as specialties from our region that people can discover, good drinks, as some beers from our region (yes, here we have great beers ! Hé hé), and good concerts. What can people expect more from a Popfest ?

The highlights from the 2010 edition of the festival ? First of all the Northern Portrait concert which was absolutely fantastic. One of the best concert I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen many. Then, The Electric Pop Group gig which was also excellent. Then, all the people dancing behind the two bands. I also remember how much the guys from Northern Portrait and The Electric Pop Group are really kind people. It was great to meet them. The French Defence concert, which came from England and is an Anorak Records’ band, was also a great moment. And finally, I must note the concert from my own band, Pale Blue Eyes which was a good moment. So my girlfriend, who doesn’t like indiepop, came to me and said : « I thought your music will be boring but your concert was great. And your songs are really jangly ! ». These were some of the highlights of last Popfest. But there were many others.

++ So yes, as you said, we’ve done an interview before, one about Anorak Records, that sadly disappeared when my old blog was hacked. Ah! Shame! But now let’s talk about Caramel, one of the greatest indiepop bands ever born in France. How did it come to be? How did you all get to know each other?

Caramel… Hey, very old memories… This was so long ago. Well, the band started in 1992. First of all, the band consisted of Denis (bass and vocals), Isabelle (vocals and tambourine) and me (guitar). I met Isabelle because at the time she was… my girlfriend. I met Denis one day in a record shop here in Limoges. I was buying a Saint Christopher 7 inch and he was buying a Field Mice 7 inch. Both were Sarah Records ! I told him : « This is a great record and I love the Field Mice ». He replied to me : « I love the Field Mice too and I love Sarah Records ». A friendship was born. We met again and he told me he would like to start a band. We did that. During a few rehearsals, a friend of Denis played drums with us. Then, the guy had to left the town for his studies. So we decided to ask a good friend of mine who knew how to play drums, Stéphane, that I knew when we were in high school, to come and play with us. He said yes. We played in this four people line-up during a few months, and starting to record a demo on a 4-tracks tape. Olivier Roussilhe, from the band Lol (later Verdurin) recorded it for us. We decided to send the demo to some labels we liked, only a few ones first : Sarah Records, Siesta Records and Marsh-Marigold Records. Three days after we sent the tapes, Oliver Goetzl, from Marsh-Marigold Records, phoned to me and asked : « Do you want to release a record through my label ? » We automatically said « Yes! ». He asked then another question : « Do you want to come and play for the Marsh- Marigold Christmas party ? » We replied « Yes ! » too. We were in November and the concert was one month after. We had never played live… And we needed another guitar player… Well, during these days, I’ve met Guillaume. I was in the street, wearing a Fat Tulips tee-shirt and this guy came and talked to me : « I love the Fat Tulips ! And Brighter is my favourite band ! » Then he told me he was playing guitar and had a demo tape. He asked me if Anorak Records would be interested in releasing some songs from his band (who will become Doggy). After listening to his songs, Denis, Isabelle, Stéphane and me thought it would be great if he could join Caramel. He said « Ok ! ». He did one practice with us and then directly came and played with us in Hamburg for the Marsh-Marigold popfest. A great one, including also Acid House Kings, Red Letter Day, Poprace, Die Fünf Freunde and Red Sleeping Beauty. A few months later, Olivier came with us to play keyboards. He played on our first mini LP. Then, for our second LP, Mike, from They Go Boom !!, came to play keyboards with us instead of Olivier. This is the short story of the beginnings of Caramel.

++ Was Caramel your first band by the way? How did you learn to play bass? Do you play any other instruments?

No, Caramel wasn’t my first band. Before that, I’ve been playing with some friends in bands called My Crystal Chamber and Poppin’ Candy. But nothing remains from them… Hopefully. I’ve never learned to play bass because I play guitar. Anyway, I’ve never learned to play guitar too. I don’t know the music. No one ever teached it to me. I’ve been starting playing all by myself. Trying to find cool tunes. Other instruments ? I know how to play the kazoo. But they never want me to play it… I don’t know why… hé hé… It seems I like the buzzing sound of this instrument and many people don’t. Which is a shame, I believe.

++ So okay, why did you choose the name Caramel? Do you like caramel flavoured stuff by any chance? haha

Well, we decided to choose this name as it was sweet and as we needed to find one quickly because of the deal with Marsh-Marigold. We wanted a name that was both French and international, that anyone could understand. And Caramel is the same in French and in English. And yes, we liked caramel, candies, lollipops and things like that.

++ I’m curious, was there any other indiepop band in Limoges then aside from you? Where were most of the popkids  based in France back in the early nineties?

When we started Caramel, we were the only indiepop band in Limoges. Here, at the time, everyone was listening and playing in punk or hardcore bands… That was quite difficult to find some gigs and venues in our town. Anyway, we didn’t care. But at the time, we also had a radio show, on a local radio, here in Limoges. It was called first « Drinking gazoline » and then « Pop corn ». By the way, we manage to get in touch with some popkids here. And some of them started bands. A few years after Caramel started to play, there were some other bands in Limoges : Dale, Shag, Blooming Park, etc.

In the early nineties, there were popkids everywhere in France : Rennes, Brest, Nantes, Bordeaux, Toulouse, Montauban, Strasbourg, Paris, Lille, Marseille, Nice, Montpellier, Lyon, Clermont-Ferrand… and many many more. Most of them great people and, unfortunately, some really bad ones… Anyway, it was really exciting. Cos’ there were a lot of fanzines, labels, bands.

++ So how did you end up releasing in a German label, Marsh-Marigold, and not in a French label, considering during those years there were plenty of cool French indiepop labels?!

As I told before, Marsh-Marigold was the first label to ask us to release something. We immediately accepted because it was, after Sarah Records, our favourite label. After that, we didn’t had to search for another label. At the time, Marsh-Marigold Records was already some kind of « cult » label. Really adored by the popkids… Which made some bands and people in France jealous from the fact we were on this great label.

++ Did you get to play shows in Germany because of this relationship? Did you play in any other countries?

Yes, we went to Germany to play shows because of the relationship with Marsh-Marigold Records. Oliver offered us the opportunity to play there and it was always great concerts, and now great memories. Yes, at the time, we also played in Belgium and of course in France.

++ What was the best show that Caramel played ever? What anecdotes do you remember about it?

Our best show… I think in fact of two particuliar shows : one was in Bordeaux and it was very powerful. There were not a lot of people in the audience but they really seemed to enjoy it and danced a lot. The second one was our last show ever, in Hamburg, Germany, for the Marsh-Marigold Christmas party of 1996. We played fast and it was really jangly and fun. The sound was fuzzy and we enjoyed it a lot.

++ What were you listening during those days? Did you consider yourselves Poppunkgaragemods? That’s quite a term!

We were listening to all the great bands there were at the time. Our main influences were the bands from the C-86 so called scene, mostly The Pastels and The Housemartins, and some early punk bands like The Undertones or The Buzzcocks… There were also bands like Talulah Gosh, The Fat Tulips, Strawberry Story or Heavenly that influenced us a lot. And we also loved bands from Sarah Records, Bus Stop Label, Heaven Records, A Turntable Friend Records, Summershine Records, K Records, etc. No, we didn’t consider ourselves as « poppunkgaragemods ». It was a kind of private joke. We were indiepop kids !!!

++ What about ¡Olé Zamora!, why that name? What’s the story behind that? Anything to do with Zamora Football Club?

The name of the CD « ¡Olé Zamora! » was just another joke for us. Zamora is the name of Olivier, our first keyboards’ player. As I do, he’s got Spanish origins. When we were recording the first mini LP, we thought it was fun to use his name. So no, nothing to do with Zamora FC.

++ Eventually you did release on a French label, on Aquavinyle. Did you ever get to meet them? How did you end up signing with them and not continuing with Marsh-Marigold? Tell me a bit about this label as I don’t know much.

Yes we released a 7 inch on Aquavinyle. It was a label ruled by Thomas, a friend of us who was living in Bordeaux. So yes, we often met him. He also used to organize some concerts for us in Bordeaux. Through Aquavinyle, he also released 7 inches from Blueboy, Bouquet and a few other records. Well, we didn’t properly « sign » something with Aquavinyle. Oliver, from Marsh-Marigold Records, always let us do what we wanted and release records with labels who wanted to. But most of our songs were recorded for Marsh-Marigold, of course. Oh, and at the time, we also contributed to many many compilations tapes for labels and fanzines around the world : England, USA, France, Japan…

++ So this 7″ was the great Johanna. Let me guess, one of you guys had a crush on a Johanna?

No, no one of us knew a girl called Johanna. It was just another joke about a character from a french TV soap called « Hélène et les garçons » who was very popular at the time in France. This girl, named Johanna, was absolutely stupid…

++ And the last release was a 7″ in the great Harriet Records. You did release only on cool labels! How did you end up signing to a label across the Atlantic? And why didn’t you get to play here in the US?

About the record with Harriet, it’s Tim Alborn who used to get in touch with Denis. He just asked to him if he wanted to release a 7 inch through his label and, of course, we accepted his offer. For us, it was an honour to release a record with such a great label. It was one of our favourite at the time and we were pleased to release that last record with him. Why didn’t we get to play to the USA ? No one ever asked us too. And just after the 7″ with Harriet, we decided to stop the band. Anyway, I must say that at the time, things were not so easy as they are nowadays. So, going to play in the US was just a dream.

++ Looking back, which of your releases was your favourite? Do you have any favourite song?

I think my favourite release was the « Triangle » 7″ released through Marsh-Marigold. Picking up just one song from us would be difficult… Maybe « Pas tous les jours dimanche ».

++ What about telling us something about Caramel that no one knows about?

We recorded our songs in a wine cellar. And this is absolutely true. Isabelle’s grandfather used to be a wine merchant. He lived in a small village in the countryside near Limoges. When we wanted to do some recordings, we all went to her grandparents’ house and stayed there during the days we needed to do the recordings. And the first time we did that, he told us it would be great to record the songs in the wine cellar. We thought it was a good idea. So we did most of our recordings there. Maybe the wine barrels who were there also had a great influence on us…

++ You also recorded a video for “L’ete ‘en Ville”, one of my fave of yours! Any anecdotes you could share about the video? Seems like it was fun to record!

Yes, it was real good fun to record it too. The father from of a friend of us was the director from a psychiatric hospital in Limoges. We needed a big room all painted in white. He told us : « There’s one in the hospital, I’ll ask to my father ». And his father agreed. So we all went there, with one camera and many many friends. Xavier and Sylvain, two friend of us who were students, told us they could record it. Xavier was studying cinema in a school in Angoulême. The recordings were done in two hours. Then, he went to do an internship for the Scottish TV. The guys there helped him to do all the film editing. Now, Xavier is working for the local TV here in Limoges. Sylvain is working in a TV in Paris. It was their first filming experience.

++ After listening one more time to your songs, I wonder, are there still any other songs that never got properly released?

I think all our songs were released. I can’t remember one that was not. But it’s so long ago that I’m not sure about it.

++ So when and why did you call it a day? What did you all do after? Still in touch with everyone?

The band stopped just after our last concert in Hamburg. It was in the beginning of 1997. We had to stop because Denis went to study and live in Wales, Isabelle went to live in Paris and Stéphane went to live in Toulouse. After that, Guillaume and me started another band called Corner Kick. We did some great concerts here in France but we never released any record. Guillaume also kept on doing his songs with Doggy, his solo project. Now, Stéphane also plays with him and he also plays with my new band, Pale Blue Eyes. Denis played in several bands in Cardiff and then in England where he’s living now. We’re still all in touch except Isabelle who’s now in Paris which is not so far away… So maybe, Caramel will play again one day… Why not for a future popfest in Limoges ? Who knows ? 😉

++ Ah! I could continue with more questions, there’s lots to ask. But let’s wrap it here. Again with a food question, what’s Limoges specialty? Can you cook it? 😉

Limoges food specialties ? There are so many ! My favourite one is the limousine hotpot. It’s not made with a big car. This name is because « Limousin » is the name of the region where we live. It’s made with salted pork (legs and flat ribs) and a big chitterlings sausage, cabbages, leeks, carrots, turnips, potatoes, two cloves of garlic, an onion studded with cloves, a “bouquet garni”, pepper. I know how to cook it and I like it a lot. One other very typical is the sheep testicles with garlic and parsley. But I don’t know how to cook it and I don’t like it a lot.

++ Thanks Fabien! Anything else you’d like to add? See you in London Popfest?

Thanks Roque for the interest in Caramel !!! Will I go to London Popfest ? I really hope so but I don’t know it yet as I’ll maybe working when it’ll happen. Anyway, I look forward to go and see you there !

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Listen
Caramel – L’été En Ville

Thanks so much to John Martin for the great interview and the exclusive mp3 for the blog. The Hermit Crabs were a great band that released a split flexi with the 14 Iced Bears and a 12″ on Thunderball Records. Enjoy!

++ Hi John! Thanks so much for doing this interview. So first things first, how come you are both J. Martin & Greg Waverley as you told me on the comments section of my Hermit Crabs post?!

Hi there Roque, the reason for the two names is quite simple: Greg Waverley was the nom de guerre I went under as a Hermit Crab. But when it came down to writing credits I felt it best I use my real name in case we made any money from the songs, which we didn’t!

++ So how did the Hermit Crabs came to life? Who were the members and how did you all met each other?

The members were myself on vocals, Marky Hellings on guitar, Peter Hunt (Malibu Mo) on bass and Steve Perry (Bam Bam Baruso) on drums. We lived in a small town, so you tended to gravitate towards the people who were into the things as you, and with us it was music, so there was a network of people who would hang out. Marky and Mo had played in bands together and Steve had been in a band with another friend of mine. Me and Marky started messing around making music in 1985 with Marky singing and guitar and me on bass. At first we were doing odd soundscapes with echo machines and effects pedals, but the music started to take on more structure and Marky wrote some lyrics to them. We played a gig as The Deckchairs and we got Steve to play drums on the night even though had never rehearsed with us! I remember it as a great gig. We were all big fans of the Velvet Underground, so in my mind it was a beautiful cacophony though the audience may have begged to differ! Anyway, after that, I packed the bass away and we continued to rehearse in Marky’s bedroom and write lyrics together. The songs sounded quite summery and upbeat so we hit on the surf theme and carried it on into the look of the band and that’s what became the Hermit Crabs.
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++ Were in the UK were you based by the way?

We all lived in Harlow, Essex, which a town roughly 25 miles from London.

++ What about the band’s name? Why did you choose it?
I think Marky came up with the name. Because of the surf punk thing we were doing, it seemed quite apt, seeing as hermit crabs lived near the beach and were a bit odd, not having there own shell and being a bit scuzzy!

++ Was The Hermit Crabs your first band?

Other than The Deckchairs and a million other bands that were nothing more than a name on a piece of paper, yes!

++ Let’s talk about releases. So Surfin’ Vietnam appeared on the “Let’s Try Another Ideal Guest House” compilation among many other well known bands. How did you end up in this fund-raising release?

Graeme Sinclair, who was affectionately known as Beer Monster used to come to our gigs and after a while we got chatting. He was in the process of putting Thunderball Records together but was also involved in compiling “Let Try Another Ideal Guest House” and he asked us if we had anything to put on it. We had recorded a demo after winning some studio time in a local rock contest and the strongest song was “Surfin Vietnam”, so we gave him that.

++ You seem to have had a close relationship with 14 Iced Bears, releasing the split flexi, and also your 12” on Thunderball Records, being labelmates with them. Were you all friends? How did this relationship happen? did you play gigs together?

The connection was more to do with Graeme as he was friends with Rob (14 Iced Bears). Although we played a few gigs together, we didn’t have anything to do with them socially as they were from Brighton, which was 90 miles away.

++ Talking about gigs, did you gig a lot? Any gigs in particular that you remember?

As far as I can remember we gigged quite a lot! The ones I remember normally ended in chaos. On one occasion we were supporting a band called The Wigs at The Clarendon, which was quite big on the psychobilly scene, so it was always quite edgy to play there. Anyway, one of our fans mysteriously known as the Blue Nosed Crab Crazies decided to set fire to The Wigs backdrop in the middle of our set which neither impressed band or management and we were promptly told we would never play the venue again! And on another similar occasion, an A&R from RCA records organised a gig for us supporting a band made up of all the uninteresting ones from Adam & The Ants. The A&R man was in the audience with a couple of other chaps from the label to check out his new wards with a view to make a smash hit! Also in the audience, however, were the Blue Nosed Crab Crazies, whose only intention was to shower the Hermit Crabs in beer, invade the stage and have a laugh. Being of a similar mindset, we joined in with the Crazies and reciprocated the beer thowing with great gusto. This didn’t go down well with the management and they pulled the plug on us about three songs into our set, creating our own mini riot. We thought this was brilliant and incredibly punk rock, but unfortunately Mr RCA a didn’t share the same view, and decided not to pursue us any longer, a classic case of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory!

++ Alright, let’s not get off the track, back to discography, so the 12”, I’ve never seen it. Care to tell me a bit about it? Which songs appeared there? Any anecdotes about recording it? How did you sign to Thunderball?

The 12” was recorded in 1988 at Electro Rythym Studios in North London. Graeme Sinclair was keen on getting something out on Thunderball as were we, so he paid for the pressing and printing and we paid for the studio time, there was no signing to the label as such. The tracks were Yeah!, Octopus Love, Surfer Girl Metallica, I Think We’re Alone Now and Yeah! (Cake Mix). I can’t remember how we chose what songs to record other than they were the strongest ones from our set, but I remember recording I Think We’re Alone Now had a bit of kitsch value as Tiffany had a version out at about the same time and we thought we might get a bit of airplay! As far as anecdotes are concerned, I remember that we drank quite a lot so by the time it came to mixing, we were off our heads and our audial faculties were’nt up to much. Needless to say the songs sounded terrible and we had to pay for anothers day’s studio time to get them remixed!

++ Did you have any more songs? Maybe you released demo tapes?

There were quite a few more songs all based around the surf genre but I can’t for the life of me remember all the titles and that goes for the other songs on the demo we recorded, which is long lost.

++ And so, what’s with all the Surf references? Surfin’ Vietnam and Surfing Mice?

As I mentioned earlier, it came from the sound of the music we were making, so we took it a stage further and built a whole ethos around the band. It also allowed us to create our own alter egos and write some pretty daft songs without getting too precious about it!

++ How do you remember those days? There were plenty of great bands! Did you feel the scene was very supportive? Any favourite bands or people related to the scene that you liked?

In all honesty, we didn’t feel like part of any scene. The “twee” scene was more Graeme’s thing and although we got associated with it through the label, in our minds, it wasn’t what were doing, we thought we were Rock Gods!

++ In a nutshell, what was the biggest highlight of The Hermit Crabs?

Bringing out the 12” and getting “Single Of The Week” in the N.M.E. which was and still is a very influential music weekly.

++ When and why did you call it a day? Were you involved with music after?

After the 12” came out, we felt we had achieved everything we had wanted to and in all honesty the fun had started to go out of it which was the the only reason we were to doing it in the first place. There was no game plan and we had no ambition other than to have a good time all the time, so we called it quits! As for carrying on with music, Marky, Mo and myself didn’t, but Steve played on in various bands. I never considered myself a musician anyway, I was more of a gobby show-off with access to a microphone!

++ Are you still in touch with the rest of The Hermit Crabs? What are you all up to now?

I am still in contact with Marky who still lives in Harlow and works in accountancy. Mo moved to New Zealand and now makes furniture and I have no idea what Steve does for a living, but I know he is a grandad which makes me feel quite old! I work in advertising now but my alter ego Greg fell in with a bunch of Hell’s Angels whose need for self expression led them to form a traveling circus act which was considered outré, even by Jim Rose standards. Greg’s act was best described as a variant of the trapeze idom. Unfortunately, a diet of mescaline shot straight into the eyeball and absinthe played havoc with his balance and he was last seen shouting at cars from a pimped up bath chair in the South London!

++ Thanks so much John! I think you’ve solved many mysteries now! I’m wondering though how you’d definite The Hermit Crabs? Indiepop? Punkpop? or just pop?

Surfpunk Rock Gods!!

++ One last question, do you know anyone that has a hermit crab as a pet? 😉

Not that I’m aware of!

++ Anything else you’d like to add?

Just to say thanks for helping me recall all the stuff!

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Listen
The Hermit Crabs – I Think We Are Alone (taken from the radio)

Thanks so much to the great Peter Hahndorf for being up for this interview. It is an honor to finally interview one of the nicest friends I’ve met through indiepop. So if you don’t know who he is, well, probably you are reading the wrong blog. Peter is the biggest indiepop activist on Earth!!

++ Hallo Pete! It was so nice to see you again in Berlin, and Indietracks! How does it feel to be back in Bremen after so much traveling?

It’s quite weird; my life style here is so different compared to the last two years on the road in Latin America. I spend most of time working in computers which is fine, I did miss that, but otherwise life is very uneventful and trips like the ones to IndieTracks and the popfests in Berlin are a welcome change. I am already looking forward to my next big trip.

++ Talking about Indietracks, why do you think nothing like this happened back in the late 80s or early 90s, they heyday of indiepop?

I think IndieTracks is a unique event, the location is terrific and it’s great that people with such fantastic taste in music are willing to do the organising. There were the large festivals in the 80s like Glastonbury and Reading where the bigger bands played. And also some smaller one-day festivals usually put on by a label. I guess email and the internet also makes it much easier to organise these things and publicise it with a much smaller budget.

++ What were your highlights of the festival? Do you still insist that that Madonna song is the twee-est of all time?

I thought the Pains were fantastic, it was also great to see The Pooh Sticks, Primitives and Orchids again and they all showed they are still up for it. Of the new bands, I enjoyed The Felt Tips the most. I did miss Allo Darling but saw them later in Berlin and they were so amazing and are currently my favourites.

Madonna’s “Dear Jessie” is certainly HER twee-est, I usually don’t use the word ‘twee’ to describe any music, but here it comes to mind, maybe it is because of the video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Mx7nUDx3dQ)

++ By the way, did you get to take some of your records from London to Bremen this time?

I actually did ship my London record collection to Germany before I headed out to Latin America back in 2008. Storage was expensive and I couldn’t find a safe and cheap place in London. It’s nice to have the two collections together for once, I also found quite a few doubles.

++ So let’s go back in time. First thing that I come to wonder, someone so involved with indiepop, and you never got or tried to have band. Or you did?

No never, I guess the closest I got was playing tambourine on some recordings with friends. I just never got around to learning an instrument. I guess I am just a fan and help out in the indiepop community with the things I am better at.

++ How was the scene in Bremen? Where there any good indiepop bands there?

Nope, no good bands. No good places to go to either. For a while we had a great radio station and fantastic gigs in the nearby small town of Oldenburg, but otherwise we always had to travel to Hamburg for gigs and clubs. I met some other indiepop fans through my fanzines but overall Bremen never was a good place for indiepop.

++ Your brother had an indiepop label though, right? Did he discovered this music first? Or how was it? For some reason I picture you two listening to John Peel all the time together haha

I am five years older than my brother and I guess you can say I had a strong influence on his musical taste. He was in “Die Moosblüten” and released a few singles and a tape on his label “Steinpilz Tonträger”. I don’t think he listened to John Peel much, except when his band was played. The shows were on late, around midnight or so, and I would usually tape the whole thing and then copy the good songs over to another tape the next morning. That way I could fast forward through a lot of the things I didn’t like. Then I would double-check with my friends who would do the same to make sure I didn’t miss anything. My brother would then get a filtered version of the shows.

++ And then, John Peel thanked you on his show, Peter from Bremen, that must have been quite a highlight for you! What do you think is his importance for indiepop?

I guess he mentioned me quite often as I did send him German records all the time. I think the highlight was when he called me on my birthday to ask whether he could play some songs from my “Mind The Gap” compilation tape on his BBC show and read out my address so people could order it. When I got back to my birthday party nobody believed it when I said “that was John Peel on the phone!”.

I met him several times in London and also had the pleasure to stay at Peel Acres and look through his collection. He was just very important for so many musical genres. For indiepop in particular I think it was significant for a new band to be played by him, as it was one of the few ways to get heard by a national or even international audience. He helped me to discover many new bands, but I don’t think indiepop as a whole would be very different without him. It was just a nice and easy way to discover new music through the radio. I haven’t done this for a long time.

++ Most people know you because of Twee.net, the indiepop dictionary. Something that I really enjoy is that there are more biographies showing up and articles. But I know you plan in making it grow, make it more interactive as well. What updates or new additions are you planning for it? Maybe that crazy idea we talked about in Hamburg many years ago, have it have it’s own social network?!

To be honest I don’t have any big plans for it. I would love to have more content and more people writing and contributing to it. The idea of a social network was there in 1995-96 with the “who is who” list (now the indiepop directory) but I guess that was too early. In the times of FaceBook, MySpace and last.fm I don’t think there is a need for anything else. How many more social networks do you need? With the Indiepop list and the Anorak Forum and especially Facebook there is enough “social networking” out there.

I use the TweeNet Content Management System (which is used to manage the pages on twee.net) to try out new technologies that I can use in my job. I don’t spend much time on the content/public site but I am always open to ideas and suggestions.

++ You also run Clarendon Records, part responsible of the Leamington Spa releases, and also the Siddeleys and Hey Paulette compilations. Are there any other plans in releasing records? And how much of a saying you have on the releases? Oh? And why the name of the label?

Except for more volumes of Leamington Spa, I don’t have any imminent plans. I would have loved to have done the Bodines compilation, but Cherry Red is doing a good job with all these re-releases. With all my traveling going on I am not so involved with the Leamington Spa compilations either. When I lived in London I was the UK part of our collaboration and tried to find contact details for the bands and met up with them. Nowadays we get most contacts online when people are searching for their old band name.

Clarendon was the name of a venue in Hammersmith, West London in the eighties. Bands played both upstairs and in the basement of The Clarendon Hotel, which is no longer there, now a shopping mall and bus station. Many indiepop bands played there at the time including the Siddeleys who played their first ever gig there. So when I was thinking about a new name for my label before the Siddeleys album came out, this came to mind.

++ Don’t get angry with this question! But what do we do with the indiepop list and all these silly kids posting nonsense? When you go to the archive, you notice so many great discussions and interesting information. Perhaps, now the real “indiepop-list” is really on facebook or twitter?

Well, I’ve been on the list since the first day in 1994 and for quite a long time now I only follow it very sporadically. But once in while there is still an interesting discussion. Back in the day it was the only place online to find indiepop information. Now there is so much competition and in many respects Facebook and Twitter have taken over. Also, many people spend a lot of time on blogs, so Roque, rather than writing all these great blog posts on your site, you could just post them to the list, right? If everybody would do that rather than blogging, it would be a quite an interesting place again.

++ You made some fanzines, that now you can check online, even though they are in German! What happened to the writer Peter? It would be so great if you blogged or something. I know you have many stories! Why don’t give it a shot?

If you could read German, you would know that I am not much of a writer. Back then I was naive and it was okay to do a fanzine. It’s a bit similar with my traveling, I wrote quite a bit on my travelog when I was in Asia, but hardly anything when in Latin America. Maybe I just got lazy, if people want to hear stories, they have to meet me.

++ Also you started the Mind the Gap mailorder and then you let Jörg run it, right? Why the change? And why did it stopped working?

It is a lot of work to run a mail order business, and most people who do it by themselves only do so for a few years. I loved it, because I met many people through it. I was a student at the time and rather than going to university I spent my time on Mind The Gap. Eventually I decided I wanted to finish my studies and get a degree, and Mind The Gap had to go. I was lucky that Jörg took over and he did a great job with it for much longer than I did. I guess eventually he got tired of it too, or at least needed a break and like many others now sells stuff online.

++ I was impressed by your collection, and how organized you have it, even ordered with alphabetically separators. A collection of t-shirts, of pins, of flyers, of everything really. I’m wondering what are your most precious pieces in that collection and why?

Hmm, I am not really much of an obsessive collector type, I just have the advantage of having enough space, so I don’t have to throw away or sell things. But I do like organizing things. I guess I have some rare records, but the items that come to mind are usually the ones that have a story attached to it. The ones that you didn’t get in the mail or bought at the local record store. I remember staying at Tim Gane’s house and he told me about the plans for his new band, and I said “Stereolab” would be an awful name. A year later I was back and helped with cutting the sleeves for their first 10”, so that record is both very rare and has some memories attached to it. Other examples are when I was looking for something for a very long time. When I was in Melbourne in 2008 I finally found a copy of the MacGuffins 7” which I was looking for since 1991. I found it for $1 in an old record store – those are moments of joy. Or the first edition of Eggstone’s ‘Shooting Time EP’, a friend in Sweden had just bought it and it was so good that he just had to buy more copies and send them to some friends.

++ After so much traveling around the world, where were you most surprised to see indiepop fans?

In most cases I wasn’t surprised at all, because I already knew they were there. I mean, even in Indonesia it is not that you meet people with Tullycraft T-Shirts on the street. All the people I met around the “third” world are people I was already in touch with. Sure in the US and Japan, you meet people at shows and in record stores, but that is expected. It is usually nice to get introduced into a local scene and see how many people are involved. This was great in Bandung in Indonesia or in Manila for example. The indiepop moments in Latin America were limited to places like Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires or your old stomping grounds in Lima. I was surprised to meet some people in Bogota, Colombia because I did not know about them and they got in touch with me because they read I was coming to town. I remember having a long chat with the guy behind a pharmacy counter in Christchurch, New Zealand about the Bats and the Chills. But for him they were local bands from his university times and he didn’t really know any indiepop bands from abroad.

++ Tell me what has been the best gig you’ve ever attended in Germany and in UK. And why?

Gosh, that is hard to tell, so many. I would throw in the Close Lobsters in April 1988 in Oldenburg, so much energy both on stage and in the audience. I would also mention the Field Mice as a two-piece in May 1989 in Hanau, at that time I got really into the Sarah stuff and that was the perfect example. For this year I have to say ‘Mighty Mighty’ in Berlin. There were many great ones in the UK and if I had to pick one, maybe The June Brides, again the energy on stage was unbelievable. Not that I only enjoy the old bands, but I guess they still stand out. Best of the 90s would be Magnetic Fields and Belle and Sebastian on a square in the old town in Barcelona in 1997. Beautiful location, two amazing performances, much better than any other time I have seen them.

++ Now, without giving it too much thought, 5 obscure indiepop releases that you’d recommend.

I guess there is not much obscurity out there anymore but here goes: Johnny Rasheed: Inspiration CD; The Whipper Snappers – You never look back 7”; The Sandkings – Rain 12”, The Mandelbrot Set – A Place Called Kansas CD; Ornamental – Crystal Nights 7”

++ How do you see indiepop 10 years from now? Do you think there are still things to fight for? Are we in the right track?

On the right track to where? I think indiepop will live on and will be around in 10 years. There will always be ups and downs. I mean right now I walk into HMV in London and they have The Pains and Allo Darlin as released by Fortuna Pop, that’s great. There will always be fantastic new bands that get me excited; I don’t see that stopping any time soon. The internet brought the community much closer together, but I hope we can keep physical labels and records alive, it would be a shame to lose that. It seems there are always new young enthusiastic people like yourself or the Berlin pop crowd that bring in new energy. We have too much of a good thing to let it go.

++ And last question, what has indiepop given to you?

Many, many very good friends.

++ Oh okay, now seriously, one last question, are you still up for making the indiepop museum in London? 😉

I’d love to, my records are collecting dust at my parent’s house and with me traveling around the world most of the time, it would be nice to put them to a better use. The problem of course is money and a place to put a museum. So if anybody in London has a nice big room, let me know. I think it would be enough to open one evening a week. The idea is to have not only all records browsable, but also fanzines, flyers, T-Shirts, badges etc. and to be able to listen to any indiepop through some listening stations. Next time I live in London I will look around, rent is just bloody expensive there. I would also need donations from other people, as my collection is nowhere near complete.

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Listen
The Whipper Snappers – You Never Look

Florida was once a state that had some cool indiepop bands. One of the first was Crush 22, who only released their songs in different compilations and only lately compiled on a 3″ CD here on Cloudberry. A great CD if I may say so. Their story after Crush 22 is much more known, as they became Brittle Stars and released one perfect album. But this time we are going to their early days, to their Crush 22 days! Thanks so much to Josh, Mario, Estelle and Roy! You can befriend them at their myspace too.

++ Thanks so much for being up for the interview, and for the little 3″CD we made a while back. I think the songs are fantastic, I think I’ve told you that before. But for those that never have heard Crush 22, and should buy the CD, what can they expect from it?

Joshua: Short and sweet indie pop songs.

++ Let’s do the biography part first, so how did you all meet? At University of Florida perhaps? Were you students there? And how did the band start?

Mario: I was a student there. Josh and Estelle too. Roy is from a nearby town. I don’t remember if he was a student there. I do remember being at a house show or party. I had been talking to Roy and Estelle. We somehow began talking about being in a band together. Josh overheard us and jumped right in. I WANNA PLAY DRUMS! I’LL PLAY THE DRUMS! That’s how I remember it. If it isn’t the way it started, then my brain needs some fixing.

Joshua: I believe we all met through Mario. I had had a musical crush on Mario since I first laid eyes on him. I had seen Estelle and Roy at shows but hadn’t really met them before Mario brought us all together. Estelle, Mario and I were students at UF but in completely different worlds on campus (because of differing majors).

++ What was that that inspired you to start the band? Was this your first time in a band?

Estelle: It was my first band ever.

Roy: it was also my first band. Actually I think it was the first time I really ever picked up the bass that was sitting in the corner of my room…

Mario: Why not. We all really liked pop music. We could.

Joshua: This wasn’t my first time in a band. I had been in four or five terrible bands by this point. I had never really played drums before this band though. I had moved to Gainesville for the D.i.Y. punk scene because I had booked a bunch of the bands in Daytona when I lived there. I’ve never aspired to make a living as a musician but I like to play music with my friends.

++ Why the name Crush 22?

Estelle: It’s a mashup of a catch 22 & crush… seemed relevant at the time.

Mario: Hmmm. We used to practice at the first Claire De Leon / Pop Shop store that Josh and Dan Sostrom ran. They shared it with some other vendor, and it was that other vendor’s space that we practiced in. I distinctly recall discussing Crush 22 as a band name there. That’s all I can remember.

Joshua: The name came from Estelle’s sister, Shena (she’s in Citra Super). Something about every crush being a “catch 22.” I remember I wanted to name it Brittle Stars but was vetoed.

++ How did you like Gainesville? Is there any advantage to be a band in a college town?

Estelle: Yeah, all your college friends combined make for a never-empty audience.

Roy: I have many fond memories of Gainesville- it’s a great town.

Mario: I liked Gainesville. Still do. I think Gainesville is too well known for being a punk rock town, though. It has been and still is a great indie-pop town. Easy place to start a band. Easy place to get a show. We played the famous Hardback Cafe.

Joshua: Gainesville was really supportive at that time. For a while we practiced at the Hardback Cafe (famous punk rock club) before Strikeforce Diablo, who were completely different than us but who I was into. But….we were just becoming musicians at that point and I think some of the bands thought of us as “amateurs” because we were amateurish. We made mistakes and wrote simple songs. We weren’t going to be Tortoise. A college town (like Gainesville) is a great place to start a band because it’s cheap to live and practice space is usually cheap. I’ve had band practice in my house for the sixteen years that I’ve lived here.

++ You only recorded 6 songs, but was that your whole set? Did you have any other songs? Perhaps a cover?

Estelle: 6? I thought it was 4. Or maybe 4 was the number of total shows we played.

Roy: no covers. there were a couple of songs that we played but never recorded- i’m not sure how many. i remember one specific song that mario sang and was really jangly.

Mario: We didn’t have much time to be a band. We broke up pretty quickly. I had some chords and melodies that I was about to introduce to the band, but nope. No covers either.

Joshua: We didn’t do any covers because I wasn’t a musician and couldn’t learn any other songs, I don’t think we even attempted a cover. We had maybe 10 songs but I’ve lost the practice tapes that had copies of the other songs. The song named “Anne Murray” was something that was recorded in the studio between other songs, so it really wasn’t a song. Estelle was working on it but neither Roy and I liked it and that’s why it was derisively called Anne Murray because we thought it was schmaltzy.

++ Actually, if you were to play a cover song, which one would you like to do?

Estelle: Meh, I’m not into covering songs.

Roy: I agree with estelle. but if i was really pressed, I’ve always been curious about covering either “Regress no way” or “We’re gonna fight” by 7 seconds.

Joshua: I remember at that time I was super into Northern Picture Library and would have loved to have done “Dear Faraway Friend” but we would have had to shorten it by 8 minutes or more…ha. “Wrapped Around” was covered by Vetran (Bren of Masters of the Hemisphere and Still Flyin’) for a Kindercore comp.

++ So who wrote the songs? How did the creative process work for you?

Estelle: Hmm… guys, do you remember? Pure jamming I think: maybe we started with a guitar jingle or a base note, drums came in, I’d start a keyboard line, then I’d add some vocal melodies and lyrics using teenage-love-like poems I was writing about boys at the time.

Roy: yeah- the songs all came together in practice. everybody contributed.

Mario: I remember us being pretty collaborative. We jammed.

Joshua: I remember that somebody would come up with a melody or something and we’d start fooling around with it until it became a song. I have this theory that if you don’t write a song at the first practice the band is going to fail. We wrote “If it wasn’t for this,” at our first practice.

++ You played 4 or 5 gigs only. Who did you play with? And is there any anecdotes you could share from them?

Roy: wow. this is really hard to remember… I think I still have a flier from when we played with Lenola at the hardback (i think that was our first show?). I also remember that we played with Masters of the Hemisphere and Neutral Milk Hotel at the Tallahassee Popfest. or at least i think we played with them.

Mario: I know our final show was at the Florida Pop Fest in Tallahassee. I forget exactly who was on the bill the night we played, but Neutral Milk Hotel, Of Montreal and the Mountain Goats played the fest too. That was an awesome festival!

Joshua: That was thirteen years ago. I don’t remember any of the shows being particularly memorable except for the Florida Pop Fest. I remember when we played the Florida Pop Fest we stayed at the same place as John from the Mountain Goats and he made some really terrible home made bread that everyone pretended like they liked. He also took a three hour bath and no one could use the bathroom as there was only one bathroom and we had to go down the street to use the bathroom. He shushed us while he was watching the “Pam and Tommy Lee” tape that was in the apartment, which I found hilarious.

++ Tell me a bit about Florida Popfest 1998, how was it? Who played? Who organized it?

Mario: I believe the Florida Pop Fest was organized by the Underwood Brothers, Mike Wilkerson, Larry Bonk and others. Someone correct me if any of that is wrong. It was a BLAST! Also, for Crush 22, it was kinda emotional. It was our last show and it felt terrible to have it end.

Joshua: If I remember correctly I believe it was thrown by some of the guys who would make up Plastic Mastery (Nick Underwood, Lawrence Bonk) and their friends. Information on who played it is located here: http://www.kickbrightzine.com/shows/FLPopfest/ . As you can see we played with Neutral Milk Hotel, who I wasn’t really into at the time but love now. I was one of the organizers for PopMayhem! and we wanted to make it the same spirit of the Florida Pop Fest (ie, awesome pop music, cheap and in Florida). I remember I had a great time, Dan (from Brittle Stars) and I had a mail order at that time and we sold so much music at the fest that we put out a compilation LP with the proceeds.

++ So when and why did you call it a day?

Joshua: It’s funny, because I didn’t learn the reasons for the break up until years later. I just know that when we went into the studio to record in January 1998 there were weird inter-personal issues that were going on behind the scenes. We tried to see if we could work it out by adding another member but that only lasted a few practices and then we decided we’d play the pop fest as our last show. I think the band existed for the perfect length of time though. We didn’t stay together long enough to get stale.

++ What would you say were the main differences between Crush 22 and Brittle Stars?

Estelle: The guitarist & the bass player. Also, I think BS was our “more mature” band. We had grown up ever so slightly from Crush 22 (just slightly though).

Mario: One wildly huge difference is that I wasn’t much of a guitarist. I tried my hardest just to be melodic within means. I was confident enough on keyboard. Still, by nature, it was always simple. I sang back-up. So, boy vocals. Josh always said the band was fragile. I think he got it right. The Brittle Stars made some proper sounding recordings. The musicianship was a notch above. Crush 22 didn’t come close to that. We were 4 people learning how to make a simple song. No next level.

Joshua: It was a different band? Seriously, Steve Clay (from Brittle Stars) is probably the most brilliant musician I’ve ever met and his guitar playing (and Dan is secretly a great musician too) make the band a different beast. Estelle and I were definitely more sure of our selves and confident in Brittle Stars than Crush 22. Crush 22 to me has got a different kind of charm and innocence, especially when Mario sings.

++ But also many of you went to form other bands that are much more known like Mahoganny, Human Television, Elephant Parade, Nervous Systems, and more. But how important was Crush 22 for you? What were your highlights of being in this band?

Estelle: Crush 22 formed some of the best times of my life. Music (creating it, listening to it, dancing to it) always played a huge part in my life and when Josh came to me and asked me if I wanted to play in a band, it was the beginning of an amazing and fun creative adventure for me. Highlights? Playing the Tallahassee Pop Fest! Jeez, you’ve got me feeling all nostalgic now.

Roy: i went on to be in many bands, most notably Brasilia and mahogany. and while Crush 22 wasn’t the most prolific band, it was very important to me. it’s where I learned how to play an instrument and write songs within a band context. i learned how personalities work within the creative process. it was the first time I’d ever played a show and recorded. Crush 22 was full of many firsts for me.

Mario: Crush 22 was my first band in a personal sense. I had been playing with my brother a bunch, but I got to reach out to others for the first time musically. It was really exciting. It was different. I met some other really great bands because of it. I remember riding my bike and coming up with my back-up lyrics. Sitting on top of the jungle gym while we took a break from recording. I didn’t know of another band in Gainesville that played in our style. I thought we were pretty unique.

Joshua: Crush 22 was incredibly important to me because I was in the midst of the breakup of my marriage and it was an outlet for me. I can still remember the first practice in the back of a vintage shop called “the Pop Shop.” Hearing Mario, Roy and Estelle write such great songs and getting to be a part of it was amazing to me. It’s funny, the practices are more memorable to me then the shows were.

++ What are you up to now? Any new musical adventures of yours that we should be looking forward in the near future?

Estelle: We just released Elephant Parade’s 2nd album. We (my husband and I) created and recorded the songs while living abroad in Israel. Those years were an interesting, strange & well, difficult time for me. The album is appropriately called, “Home.” (We’re back in Brooklyn now.)

Roy: I’m currently doing a project called Ice Orgy. it’s kinda cold ambient drone with beats. there’s and LP coming out soon. I’m also playing in an unnamed gothy/deathrock band… nothing very poppy to look forward to…

Mario: My first ever Slavagoh 7″ disc on Needless Records will be out soon. I helped Elephant Parade out recently. I played drums on one of their new songs. Grand Opening. It’s on their new album. I even added a melodic keyboard line during the chorus. I play drums for Ape School from time to time. I’m also trying to put together a proper live band version for Slavagoh.

Joshua: I’ve been in the indie rock band Nervous Systems with my friends (and wife) for six years now. We’ve recorded an album and are about to release a 7”.

++ And tell me something about you that not many know? Any secret hobbies perhaps? Guilty pleasures? 🙂

Roy: maybe not a secret, but i’m really into printing… I’m a letterpress printer by trade. it’s funny how things can become an obsession (it includes printing, typography, design) . I’m also into cycling and sports like football and basketball. i never thought I’d be into sports…

Joshua: I’ve played on No Idea F.C. (sponsored by No Idea Records) for 11 years. I like to work out with friends, play video games, and hang out with my wife. I’m boring and old.

++ Let’s wrap it here! anything else you’d like to add?

Mario: You got me all thinking about Crush 22 again. Maybe I’ll listen to those recordings tonight.

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Listen
Crush 22 – These Feelings

Thanks so much to Jim Shepherd for this fabulous interview! Don’t think The Jasmine Minks need any introduction, do they? Though, many of you won’t know that they have a new EP out that you can and should order from Oatcake Records!

++ So let’s get into interview mode. So there are already a couple of great interviews online to the ‘Minks (Caught in the Carousel, Creation Records) , I’m going to try not to repeat any questions, and make you repeat your answers! So let’s go. First off, where does the name The Jasmine Minks comes from?

The name Jasmine Minks means a lot to me – the word mink or minker is a poor or ragged person in the north-east of Scotland where I come from. And, although it was never intended from the start, the word Jasmine is a street I used to live in Aberdeen, Jasmine Terrace.

++ The lineup. I’m wondering how did the band came together, how did you all meet? How did you all knew each other? Was this your first time in a band?

The first line up to record was with Martin Keena, who was a London-Irish fella. The rest of the original group, Adam, Tom and I were all from Aberdeen and were in a few bands before, mostly to do with the punk scene and then the post-punk scene. We did audition Harry Howard for bass but Martin was the one for us. Martin was also in a punk band, Premature Ejaculation (great name!) We did go on to use quite a lot of different musicians and have enjoyed the variety of musicians we have been lucky enough to have in the band over the years. There have been many other people too who have been hard working for the Minks over the years, including Mark Allan, Chris Narayan, Kevin Pearce and Nick Jones to name a few.

++ Most of your discography came under McGee’s label, but there was this one odd 7″ on Esurient Records. Was Alan McGee okay with it? How was your relationship with Kevin Pearce? How did this 7″ came about?

Cut Me Deep was the impetus for the live ep from Esurient. We had recorded the song for Creation and we went a bit over the top taking two weeks in the studio with the oine song, trying to make it a really big production with synths and drum machines and everything. Alan didn’t like it, so although we used an early, more ‘live band’ type recording for the Another Age album it still had the stigma of the time when we tried to make it a big production. So Kevin Pearce decided to start Esurient and to have an older live version of Cut Me Deep and 3 other songs on it too. The best things about the Esurient ep were mastering it (from a caassette) at Abbey Road studios and also the groovy gold and red picture cover. The recording is quite poor quality.

++ Thinking about the last question, I feel during the 80s most bands stuck to one label, whereas nowadays, bands jump from label to another label. Do you think there are any pros or cons to this?

Maybe groups are more promiscuous nowadays. It was nice to be able to stay with one label for a long time and develop a relationship with people and get to know then well enough that we could take the piss out of each other. I always wanted to stay with Creation but we ran out of fans really and people just stopped coming to see us. If we had moved to another country or maybe just even another record label I’m sure we could have built up a following again. So there may be times when it is an advantage to move to another labe .

++ Dan Treacy  when interviewed on a fanzine, back in the day, when asked about the early Creation bands, once said: “The Jasmine Minks are the only sort of serious band. They’re the only ones who’ll make it”. Sadly you didn’t get a true breakthrough, though you did deserve it. You had SONGS!! Why do you think it didn’t happen?

We were pretty amateurish really and that probably came through in our sound and in our image. Our songs were good and, with a bit more hard work, could have reached a bigger audience. But we were probably too eager to move on to our next lot of songs and didn’t like the amount of time it took to actually get a record released from writing it and rehearsing it to getting it into the shops. Quite often we were fed up of the songs by then and we wouldn’t play them live, not a great way to make fans!

++ How was the experience of being managed by Simon Down from the Pink Label? Any anecdotes you could share?

Simon did manage us briefly but we didn’t really have a good relationship. He wasn’t as sharp as Alan McGee by any stretch of the imagination and perhaps after McGee managing us we expected a lot more. He did well with Pink of course and I’m sure he came skinny-dipping with us once!

++ I’m curious about the name of a couple of songs. Who were Veronica, Johnny Eve and Marcella?

Veronica was a fictional old maid who had grown up being scared of the world and continued to hide away from it as much as possible rather than accept the ugliness (and perhaps the beauty too) around. Johnny Eye was one of Adam’s wonderful song titles and I truly believe that he is one of the most overlooked lyric writers of those times. There are only one or two lyric writers I would actually say compare to him and that is saying something!

Marcella is a very special song to me. Marcella was Bobby Sands’ pen name when he was in prison and the name he used to wrote poetry and other stuff to the outside world whilst there. I was fascinated by the human side of the troubles in Northern Ireland and he was a particularly interesting character who died for what he believed in.

++ You said that “Ghost Of A Young Man” is your favourite ‘Minks song, and indeed, it’s such a GREAT song. Can you tell me the story behind it?

Another Adam Sanderson lyric and what an amazing lyric it is too. I can only say I wrote the tune so it’s difficult for me assess the words. But they are wonderful nevertheless and tell the story of growing up and coming to terms with changes in life. I often sing this song and did so at a gig last year 25 years after it was written and it still affects me. This song was recorded for a demo for London Records and they had a wonderful organ with a leslie cabinet in the studio there at Denmark Street in London’d West End. McGee famously stole the tape and put it out on Creation, hee hee hee!

++ What about gigs? Did you play outside of the UK? Which were your favourite gigs you played? why?

Jasmine Minks played in Germany, France, Holland, Switzerland and Belgium. We’d have loved to have played the USA too – maybe one day we will! Gigs often were a different experience for the audience as they were for the group. I remember getting an amazing reaction in Greenock at Subterraneans but not really feeling we played any different than normal. Sometimes we did go a bit crazy and make up long jams for an encore but it depended on how we felt. I remember playing at Woods in Plymouth and getting in a few skirmishes with the audience, including me punching a member of the audience and Chris, our roadie, casually returning glass bottles to skinheads at the back of the room. The club owner thought we were great and expected us to be the next Jam!

++ How was your relationship with fanzines back then? What are your take on them? Were the ‘Minks showcased a lot on them? And do you believe blogs can capture the magic of the printed fanzine?

I read quite a few fanzines, both musical and political ones, and enjoyed people’s individual approaches to writing them. Some fanzines mixed writing on music with an almost philosophical approach. Just like blogs nowadays. They were way ahead of their time!

++ This year you released a new EP on your own label, right? The “Poppy White EP”, with songs recorded in 1992. Why did it take 18 years for them to get released? And can you tell me a bit about the songs included?

Creation knocked us back on the songs. I think Dick Green such said it wasn’t what he was looking for.(I think he went off us after Scratch The Surface album.) We paid for the recordings ourselves at a studio in West Ham in London. The songs were written around 91/92 and we had many more ready to go if we had the go-ahead for an album. It was very different for me as I had only written one of the four songs, having been used to writing all of the songs for years so I took on more of a production role working on arrangements and sounds much more than I had done for years. Tom and Foosky (a replacement for Tom on one tour when he he broke his leg and, eventually guitarist and singer) wrote three of the songs. They have strong melodies and some nice individual lyrics. But more than anything they remind me of Foosky and Mark (roadie for years) who both passed on recently. It is a good tribute to both of them. They both played big parts in the group!

++ Bob Stanley wrote once “Like far-left factions, groups that had much in common built up petty rivalries. The June Brides and the Jasmine Minks were the biggest names at Alan McGee’s Living Room club and couldn’t stand the sight of each other.” How much of this is true Jim? Were there any other rivalries going on?

I was definitely not interested in many of the bands around at the time. I really liked The Television Personalities and Primal Scream both bands with strong melodies. I had gone off the post-punk scratchy guitar sound heading more towards a rock/pop sound. I had nothing against any of the other guys personally. I had my own agenda and they did not figure in it. There were a few bands that I really did not like around the scene but The June Brides were okay in my books and I particularly liked Phil Wilson’s songs when he signed to Creation.

++ What happened after Soul Station? Why didn’t you continue releasing music during the nineties?

If we had the audience we would have I’m sure. No one was really interested as far as we could see and the rave scene was not the kind of thing that we could tap into. I did get into a lot of different kinds of music as a result of not being on the indie scene any more so it did open up my eyes to dance/ electronic music and classical music too. I carried on writing and playing occasionally and we never really recorded properly as The Jasmine Minks until 1999 when we did 3 tracks which eventually came out as a CD single called I Heard I Wish It Would Rain for Bus Stop Records in the USA.

++ What do you think of the new Creation movie?

I haven’t seen it. I did support the majority of what McGee did with Creation and it was a huge force in the 90’s so they deserve a movie! I wonder if there will be any Jasmine Minks mentions on it?

++ If the ‘Minks had started this decade, how do you think you would have sounded like?

I think we would have been an alt-folk group just like the one my niece, Hannah, is in (Withered Hand.) I love the mix of folk and pop and it allows for decent lyrics and a few sing-along tunes too. I would sign my own youthful group up to my new label Oatcake Records of Scotland  www.oatcakerecords.co.uk I’m sure!

++ There are reissues of some of the singles on Vollwert, and then the “best of” compilation on Cherry Red, but are there any plans to reissue the albums one day?

Werner in Berlin and Cherry Red have been brilliant at keeping some Jasmine Minks records available. I may release more myself if there is any demand for them. Some of the albums are better as complete albums and could do with being heard that way (1234567 All Good Preachers Go To Heaven, Another Age, Scratch The Surface, Pop Art Glory) even though I think less people actually listen to albums, preferring playlists a bit like the old cassette mixes we used to do – hee hee.

++ What is left to come from the ‘Minks? Any plans for the future?

I have hoped for a get-together with Adam as he and I had the best songs together and I don’t think either of us wrote as well separately – that would be interesting! We will play again in some form very soon I’m sure – there are a few things coming up which mean that, sooner or later, we will make an appearance or two. I’d like to release a new Jasmine Minks single on vinyl on Oatcake Records. I have loads and loads of songs and a few sound to me like the Minks could do them justice!

++ One last question, what makes an Aberdonian  different to the rest of the Scots? 😉

We can be a forthright bunch with little grace and a very down to earth attitude, maybe that sums up The Jasmine Minks! I have been working with a few Aberdonians, apb, on a new single for Oatcake called Jaguar and that will be out soon and there is a classic rock/pop single called The Fire all ready to go on Oatcake too, a song written by me and the Beat Hotel so there is a lot happening and, for me, these are very exciting times!

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

I would like to add to all your readers that I welcome anyone who wants to to get in touch with me if they want any more information about Jasmine Minks news or Oatcake Records of Scotland at info@oatcakerecords.co.uk

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Listen
The Jasmine Minks – Ghost of a Young Man

Thanks so much to Karin Reilly for the interview, and scanning some photos for me!  Celestial Daffodils were an indiepop band from Germany from the early nineties that sadly didn’t get any proper releases but did appear in a couple of cool compilations. They later became Sugareen and nowadays they are called Telesushi. Enjoy!

++ Hi Karin! How are you? I see your new band is split between New York and Göttingen, where in the world are you nowadays?

Hi Roque! I am just fine, thank you! All members of my new band t e l e s u s h i live here in Göttingen, Germany, but since I am originally from New York, we decided to emphasize that interesting piece of information to make us more exotic than the rest.

++ This new band is called Telesushi and you’ve just released a 10″ record. Care to tell me a bit about this new project of yours?

The band includes Olaf, our guitarist, Daniel our drummer and myself: the 3 pillars from the Celestial Daffodils. We then became Sugareen and now we are in our new band t e l e s u s h i. Our bass player Robert, the youngest in our band, was really gung-ho on getting our 6 latest songs on vinyl. Our first 11 songs are on CD, but CDs are so common nowadays, so we went for vinyl (each record comes with a download code to access the MP3s – we know not everyone has a record player – neither do I! But the record looks great on the shelf!). Robert also did the art work for the lovely cover. We still hope to do a video.

++ So let’s go back to the early 90s, that’s when Celestial Daffodils were formed, right? Was this your first band ever?

It was my first band ever and fulfilled a dream I had always had of singing in one. They were looking for a new singer. A friend of mine “auditioned” and I was really in awe of her courage. She returned saying that the music was not quite her thing, but she was convinced it was mine. I just laughed and pooh-poohed the idea. But she was really convinced of this and despite my resistance, she pushed me into singing for them: she gave me their demo tape, arranged a rehearsal time and even picked me up from the café I was waitressing at to take me to the rehearsal! And from then on, I was in.

++ Who were Celestial Daffodils? Where were you based? And how did you know each other?

The original constellation was Olaf/guitar, Carmen/drums, Jan/guitar, Alyiar/keyboard, Michi/bass. I was their 3rd singer who had joined them after they had been together for 2 years. They were school friends who decided to form a band and basically learned to play their instruments in this formation.

++ Why the name Celestial Daffodils?

Due to the Brit-poppiness of the music, a happy name in English was opted for Olaf told me that the name “Poppyfield Smile” was also in the running.

++ I know about some compilation appearances from your band, but were there any proper releases? Maybe demo tapes or something?

We had three full-fledged tapes: A red one entitled Simple, A blue one Different Facial Creams, and a green one Waiting for a Call.

++ Ok, so help me about your compilation appearances, I know the “Everything Went Pop” one with two songs, then on “Fieberkurve Vol. 3” and on the “Hopping Hobgoblin” tape. Any other that I’m forgetting?

We also had the original version of our song “It’s hard” on a Fieberkurve sampler tape, we were written up in a fanzine called Time Thief from Bremen, and we were told by friends that we were also on an Italian fanzine sampler tape, but we don’t know the name of it.

++ Which was your favourite Celestial Daffodils song? How did the creative process work for the band?

Favorite song? Can’t answer that one, sorry! We had so many wonderful songs! Simple? It’s Hard? Agent Dan? Breakfast Special? Nowhere To go? The creative process was usually based on a guitar riff someone had in mind and we jammed and improvised from there, filtering until the parts crystallized and pleased us.

++ Who were you listening to at the time? What were the bands you’d say influenced you?

I always loved and always will love Blondie, Kim Wilde, The Bangles and Depeche Mode. Olaf listened to lots of stuff from Sarah Records (Bristol), Heavenly, Talula Gosh and all the other bands that Amelia Fletcher sang in. Daniel is very 60’s-infuenced.

++ And what about the German guitar pop bands? Were there any that you liked and you’d recommend me?

Olaf mentioned Blochin 81, 5 Freunde, Jesterbells and other Marsh Marigold bands (that’s a label in Hamburg).

++ Did you play many gigs? Are there any you remember? Any anecdotes to share?

On the whole we played many gigs, although we never counted. Averaged per year, however, it wasn’t that many compared with other hobby bands. Some of them I remember, but sometimes Olaf will mention something I have no idea what he is talking about. You must realize that 15 years have passed since I started out with the Celestial Daffodils! Olaf likes to reminisce about when our temporary drummer Kai vomited over a clothes drying rack in the apartment we stayed in after a gig in Dresden. I prefer to reminisce about a gig we had in Bodenwerder in the woods when the young audience totally flipped out to our music and interrupted our songs to buy our tape!

++ When and why did you call it a day with the band?

That was my wish. I had two young children for whom I wanted to be there in the evenings more often. I felt exhausted and did not have any creative energy and suffered from a bad conscience of feeling like the others in the band were waiting for me to come around. The positive things we had working for us as Sugareen to move us from a hobby level to a more serious level had dissipated and I did not feel motivated. The last straw was a gig we had in a neighboring city: we were on the go for 13 hours in total to play in front of 200 people in a bar who were not the least bit interested in us. Then it was clear to me that I would rather do other things with my time. Our good-bye concert on Göttingen was absolutely wonderful. If more gigs had been like that, I wouldn’t have stopped. Afterwards, I greatly regretted the decision and greatly missed the musical creativity, but in the meantime I am very happy with
t e l e s u s h i and having reached an internal peace of not trying to impress anybody but myself.

++ Looking back in perspective, what were the best moments of being part of the band?

One highlight was when we placed 4th out of 5 bands in a band contest, but were nevertheless contacted a few days later by Enola Records, a small label in Hannover, who had been there and loved us, believed in us and wanted to cooperate. It showed how subjective music taste is and that there is a musical place for everyone. We were also always thrilled about being on samplers. The Sugareen song Black and Blue was even on a New Music Express sampler and we our video to that song was in rotation on VH-1.

++ How different was Sugareen from Celestial Daffodils?

Sugareen was a step toward professionalization. We had a record contract to make a CD and video and were optimistic we would rise above the hobby level. Regarding the band name, our experience had made it clear that no one here in Germany could either understand, spell or remember “Celestial Daffodils” so we changed it to something sweet and sugary for the CD: Sugareen. Our songwriting had matured over the years, we all had become better musicians and the best songs were selected for our CD “Ready, Steady, Go!” and produced by a producer who even strongly suggested things we almost broke up over.

++ What other things do you enjoy doing when you are not making music?

I love spending time with my kids, cooking and painting old furniture with pastel colors – that’s my “homey” side. In addition to t e l e s u s h i, I have a duo with Daniel: he plays the ukulele and I sing and we only cover songs from the 80’s. We are called l’uke and you can find us on myspace (if you look hard) and on youtube under “ukuleighties”. This quirky project really interests a lot of people. I often say “but, but, but actually we have a really great band with our own songs!” And then there’s theatre: 3 years ago I discovered an incredible and creative amateur theatre scene here in Göttingen that I have since then been acting and active in, sometimes in English, sometimes in German.

++ And this I always ask my German friends, because I love a good German hefeweizen, what is your favourite beer? 🙂

I’m not a beer freak, but I am happy drinking Becks. I never took a liking to hefeweizen. Olaf’s favourite beer is Uslarer Altstadt Dunkel.

++ Thanks again Karin! Anything else you’d like to say?

Yes! It was so nice to be contacted by you all the way from Miami! Thanks so much for your interest in the Celestial Daffodils/Sugareen/Telesushi and we hope this interview has sparked the interest of your readers as well! Please contact us! We’d love to play in Miami and we would love to be on a compilation again!

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Listen 
Celestial Daffodils – Stay

This is a very special interview with my friend Olaf. Milchblumen FC were Olaf and Jan during those early 90s in Berlin. They were also making music under the name Abramczyk and Going Down With Brilliance. Later Jan would start Firestation Records with Uwe. Then he’d leave Firestation Records! And who joined Uwe this time was Olaf. I have just saw both of them in Berlin a month ago, and it was great fun. And in between jokes, talking about this blog interviewing bands that are so obscure and that the interviews are too long, I told Olaf, “be prepared that you are next”. And he said, “bring it on!!” And here it is! Hope you enjoy! Thanks so much Olaf!!

++ Hallo Olaf! Thanks for doing this interview of course. It was nice to see you at Indie Pop Days Berlin, how did you like it? Who were your favourite bands?

Hi Roque, it´s an honour for me being interviewed by my favourite blog. Thank you very much for your interest in my music career. Okay, the Indie Pop Days. I really enjoyed those days very much, have seen brilliant bands and met old and new friends. Apart from many other bands I personally preferred Lucky Soul and Allo Darlin´. First for Ali´s amazing presence on stage and their professional set which I enjoyed pretty much during three days of pure Indie-Pop. Second because of their zest for life and playing. I mean, look at Bill Botting on stage… Further highlights were Zipper, who woke me up on Sunday afternoon, Lisa Bouvoirs version of “Thunder Road” and those four minutes of pure pop magic of The Pocketbook´s “Fleeting Moments”. Also my DJ set with Kitten on Fire was fun, we both would have liked to dance to it.

++ Do you think Milchblumen FC would have fit just fine with the lineup of this festival? Were there any festivals along these lines going on back when you were playing?

I think so. We had been pure Indie-Pop. Yes, there have been a couple of small festivals, but for German bands only and mostly just for one or two days. I like to remember the Marsh Marigold Weekender in Dresden, truly funny days with little sleep with the complete Hamburg popgang. Great was also a festival in Darmstadt, where I witnessed the only gig of Wind In Den Weiden and met personally pen pals (for the younger readers: that had been something like Facebook) like Andreas Knauf, Olaf Grossigk or Frischluft-Krischan.

We played at the Harmony Beat Festival in the Dresden Starclub together with Fünf Freunde, Blinzelbeeren, Ein Warmer Sommermorgen (both Blam-a-Bit) and the Noise-Poppers Honeyloops from Worms. This festival had been organised by our friends from Dresden Trixi and Susi, real Indie-Pop pioneers in Eastern Germany. Memories come up on Rock `N Roll Lifestyle including stage invasion, bloody hands from excessive tambourine playing and Frank Kabs – singer of Twee-Pop-Punks Ein Warmer Sommermorgen – who had fallen asleep amongst beer, potatoe chips and I-do-not-want-to-know-what-else.

++ So let’s go back in time. Who were Milchblumen FC? What did each of you played? How did you all meet?

Milchblumen FC were Jan Kühn (guitar), Birgit Peters (guitar), Alexander Freyer (bass) and me (vocals and drum computer). When Uwe and I wrote our first fanzine in 1991 we also received some orders from Berlin. Curious for the people behind the addresses we met Jan at a Pariahs gig. We noticed him at various other gigs before because of his Clint Boon memorial haircut. Jan and I were on the same wavelength immediately and soon after a long night out clubbing we decided to record a dance version of “Please Rain Fall”. Well, not really successful, but that weekend we recorded four Low-Fi songs. We knew Birgit and Alex from the Indieclub Dogwash and after some talking both were very much interested in joining. Birgit took quickly some guitar lessons and we started…

++ Why the name Milchblumen FC?

We wanted a slightly ironical Twee band name, therefore Blumen (flowers). FC has got to do with our enthusiasm for football and also because we all were fans of Teenage Fanclub. Because I have the Berlin typical articulation weakness in the different pronunciation of “ch” and “sch” this was included jokingly by the word Milch (milk). Of course, altogether the bands name does not make sense at all.

++ Was this your first band? Which other bands were you involved with?

Yes, that was my first band apart from the badminton racket guitar band with our gig at the age of six. Milchblumen FC was an incarnation of our music creation. We played and recorded under various band names such as Jetstream (our shoegaze outfit), Going Down With Brilliance, Snowblind, Abramczyk (named after a German football star of the 1970ies), Northbound and I am sure various others. Some of these “projects” were duos or trios but Jan and I were always part of it.

++ The only song I know by you is “Auf Dem Halensee” that appeared on the 16 Goldene Hits CD. Were there any other songs released?

On „19 Goldene Hits“ were also „Grungemädchen“ (Abramczyk) and „Only Place“ (Going Down With Brilliance with Jans vocals) included. The tape compilation “It´s All About Love” included our first two demo recordings.

++ You were telling me you will digitise many tapes full of songs by the band. So when will that be?! 😀 and more or less how many songs did you had?

As soon as I have the technical equipment, but I am not a freak for technology. All in all it should be about 30 tracks. Amongst them cover versions of Depeche Modes “What´s Your Name”, Aspidistras “Sunrise”, Eternals “Breathe” and “Nothing Much To Loose” from My Bloody Valentine in a folk version. I heard my favourite song of us “Wir Sind Nur ´Ne Neue Krachpop-Band” (We Are Just Another Noisepop-Band) only once because later I lent the master to somebody and never got it back.

++ Why didn’t you get to do a proper release?

I don´t know. I wanted to produce a flexi single but the only pressing plant was in England. Including import tax it would have been too expensive. It was pretty difficult to arrange a proper release on a different label in the mid 1990ies as the number of Indiepop Labels reduced rapidly. The only considerable label would have been Marsh Marigold but I am sure we would have been too bad for Olivers expectations.

++ What about gigs? Where was the farthest from Berlin that you played? And which were your favourite gigs and why?

We did it for the gigs! Between 1992 and 1995 we had some gigs but outside of Berlin one only but that one was very special. A huge club, stage light like at Pink Floyd, a nice accommodation and we even got money for it! Weekenders are the funniest anyway. The record release party of “19 Goldene Hits” was also good although the CD wasn´t finalised yet. Almost 300 guests watched apart from us and various other bands also Groovy Cellar, Westway (Pre-Blochin 81 / Lato) and the only gig of Uwes band Thorn (Fallin´from stage, loosing his t-shirt and breaking young girls hearts) at the “Insel der Jugend” club.

++ Which other bands from the period did you like? Was there a scene in Berlin?

There was only a small scene in Berlin, just like today. Also the bands from “19 Goldene Hits” were mainly from the sixties scene and their members were mostly a bit older than us. Indiepop took rather place in Hamburg where I spent almost every second weekend in the early 1990ies. Great time. In fact I liked all early Marsh Marigold bands very much, especially the Fünf Freunde and The Legendary Bang. Their gigs were always very very funny. I remember how we entered a local posh disco in a noble suburb of Hamburg after one of their concerts. We shocked the local rich youth with a wild dance style and a lot of spraying beer. Within minutes the dance floor was flooded. I´ll never forget their faces in my whole life. Marsh Marigold boss Oliver Goetzel is the best dancer I know till today. Besides of Marsh Marigold bands I loved the products of Frischluft for their style, bands like The Sheets or Ein Warmer Sommermorgen and especially Germanys best band Merricks…

For international bands of that time there is not enough space here, there has been too much of good music at that time just like today. It is striking that so many come from Glasgow, therefore I name as a representative for all great ones my eternal hero Roddy Frame. Nobody manages to publish only two bad songs in thirty years.

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

We were quite frustrated, meant not to be good enough. After Birgit moved to Lübeck in late 1994 we split up more or less. We tried some rehearsals with Anja but because of new hobbies and interests the band project simply paused. I personally got lost in my enthusiasm for football since mid 1990ies, visited almost every match – also away matches – for many years, so in weekends I had almost no time for the band.

++ Are you still in touch with the other members of Milchblumen FC? What happened after you split up?

Jan is one of my best friends until today and was my predecessor at Firestation Records. We still meet regularly. He´s becoming father soon. I have not been in contact with Birgit and Alex for a couple of years and honestly said I don’t know what they are doing today but I believe they made their career.

In the mid 1990ies I had a weekly radio show called “Radio Heaven – International Pop Underground” with my friend from Hamburg Martin Fuchs which was big fun. I still need to laugh today when I occasionally listen to old recorded programmes. We did 48 programmes in total amongst which there were specials like “Flexi only” and “Tape only” or specials about Edward Ball (The Times etc.) or German Indie Pop. Later I wrote some Pop-/Football fanzines and worked occasionally for my football clubs magazine. Around the year 2000 Jan and I got back to enjoying making music again. We recorded a few good demos with our friend Guido, a very talented guitar player, who a short time later became seriously ill. This is a very sad story.

++ Be nostalgic now, what are the best anecdotes of being part of the band? What were the best moments of being part of Milchblumen FC?

The concerts of course! At least I had little stage fright, amazing. Just this: When we recorded some songs in Hamburg I squeezed by accident the bass guitarist Alex´ thumb between the door of the car and the frame. I think that was the reason why our producer Gerrit Herlyn (Red Letter Day) commented Alex´ bass play as terribly ungroovy that night… At our last gig in May 1995 we replaced the band WESTWAY in last minute. They had had a terrible argument because of their “victory trophy” in a band competition so they broke up two days before the concert. Jan and I had to replace a contracted 45 minute gig, otherwise the promoter (Ship Shape Club) would have had to pay a penalty payment. Because we hadn´t practised rehearsals for about two months and had lost our guitarist and bass guitarist, our repertory consisted of six songs only. The other 25 minutes we tried to compensate with bad jokes. The 200 guests who had come to see WESTWAY were not really pleased…

Personally my highlight was to read my lyrics of “Grungemädchen” on the way to work in Berlin’s biggest city magazine. I´ve rarely been that proud ever.

++ So aside from music, you love Tennis Borussia Berlin. Why do you like such a small team?! Is that why you are not very good at table football? 🙂

The same what I like about the Indiepop scene, to be part of a small rather informal group of people. At Tennis Borussia grew a feeling of belonging together in the 1990ies when we were attacked verbally and physically in Eastern Germany. We were judged as a pretty wealthy football club from West-Berlin. But it was rather exciting to sing with 50 people in the stadiums guest area against 8.000 fans from Dresden. At the moment the clubs situation is very bad, we are last in 5^th league, there come hardly 400 fans, but I still cannot let my club.

++ Haha, okay, so what other things do you like doing?

So many. people say that without a job they would be bored. This does not apply to me. Amongst other things I ride racing bike since a few years with a lot of enthusiasm (no, I do not dope) which is a kind of midlife crisis thing ;-). I am very much interested into science fiction literature including secondary literature, like to travel mainly to Spain and go hiking there. Although my job is pretty interesting (organising and working at fun fairs and christmas markets) I like to change in future. Unfortunately you cannot pay your rent from music business.

++ Tell me about Berlin, it seems I’m going too often, but you still haven’t shown me your favourite restaurant or your favourite German beer! Or your favourite hang out places!

You should not hang around with the pretty girls only! I like to eat sushi and Berlin seems to be the cheapest city for this kind of food. Almost all sushi restaurants have long term offers. The “Kuchi” in the Kantstraße seems to be the only full price restaurant but there you get the best sushi in town. Furthermore I love the “El Borriquito” in the Wielandstraße, original Spanish cuisine and live music until 5 o’clock in the morning. That’s why you meet weird people there. Is it coincidence that my new flat is in just five minutes walking distance from both restaurants? With the beers I prefer the Bavarian “Hell”, especially those brewed for the Oktoberfest, alternatively I like Czech beer very much. As an original West-Berliner I love the Grunewald forest and the river Havel where my racing bike training area is situated. On a tour through the Grunewald I can let my thoughts flow.

++ So now you are part of Firestation Records. Is it easy to work with Uwe? What are your favourite things about running a label?

It´s so easy to work with Uwe as we are best friends. Although he seems to be confused somehow, at the label he works more accurately and punctually than I do. Both we are 50% shareholders so that each of us has the power of veto. We never had to use it so far as we work on the same wave length with regard to music and other objectives of the label. My highlight in two years at FST was the release of the album of Der Englische Garten which was a special pleasure for me as a big fan of the Merricks. The cooperation with Bernd, Alex and the other members of the band was big fun, also because I was responsible for the promotion work for the first time. The CD is selling pretty well. Although I hope a big label will be interested into the band, I would like to release their next album.

As a teenager I dreamed about a career at a music label and always had great visions about the big music business. Now we work from an old sofa and a store room…

++ Tell us a bit of the future plans, 6 projects in the pipeline right?

Yes there are various things in the pipeline. We will start our autumn / winter offensive with a compilation of the first three records of The Cherry Orchard whose song “So Blind” is one of my favourites. We will proceed with the debut of The Soulboy Collective. “Clique Tragedy” contains 11 wonderful songs between Northern Soul and Indie-Pop. The guys of Mighty Mighty and the Orchids were very pleased by the songs and judged it big hit potential. Furthermore we are looking forward to the compilation of the Indie-Jazz-Pop-Outfit Playing For Time. Those who know the single “With My Heart” only will be surprised and should discover various interesting songs. A never ending story is the release of the 7^th Leamington Spa sampler. Repeated we had some problems with the artwork, some of it got lost by computer trouble, but we almost finalised it now. For me the best edition, honestly! Amongst other it will contain Ala Pana Fuzo, The Gits, The Dadas or Penelope’s Web among others.

Next year, with a delay of ca. 23 years, the second album of our heroes Mighty Mighty will be released, what a pleasure. We also thought about releasing some vinyl again, amongst others a Super-Sound-12’’-Maxi single.

++ And not so long ago you organized Popfest Berlin! How was that?!

Wow, what a night! The Indie Pop Days were great but that night was much better. All bands were wonderful, starting with the very charming Paisley and Charlie, the totally groovy live experience of Der Englische Garten, the very short but impressive gig of The Soulboy Collective, the concert causing goose picket by the Orchids (Whooooo needs tomorrow…) and the absolutely party atmosphere by Mighty Mighty. We had no problems with time or the technical equipment, the bands and the audience enjoyed themselves obviously. I was locked in the heat of the Bang Bang Club from 2 p.m. till 6. a.m. and do not want to miss a single minute of that experience. It was overwhelming to walk in the morning to my living room after 90 minutes of sleep and see Hugh of Mighty Mighty ironing his shirt. In boxershorts! What a view! What a popstar!

We plan the next Popfest in March 2011, again with a warm up party. One or two old heroes will pretty likely join, wait for the surprise.

++ Thanks again so much, next time I interview you in person, anything else you’d like to add?

Yeah, hope to see you at London Popfest. I would like to thank you for the interview, now I am in a line with many of my old heroes and idols. I would like to  ask for an interview with Bernd Hartwich about the Merricks and Der Englische Garten.

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Listen 
Milchblumen FC – Auf Dem Halensee
Abramczyk – Grungemädchen