Thanks so much to Andy Bennette for the interview! I wrote about this great 80s Bedford band some time ago on the blog. Late last year Andy got in touch and was keen to fill in the blanks, tell more details about C-Saim. And I was not going to let that opportunity pass. Now time for you to enjoy this great interview!
Also check out the band’s Facebook page and Instagram account!

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

Hi, it’s always a pleasure.   The last couple of years I have been more musically active but before that I had been exercising my creativity in other ways away from the music industry.

++ Tell me a bit more about your current project Bennette! Where can one listen to the music? And how different or similar would you say is is to C-Saim?

Bennette is a recent project to release a few new songs as well as some older material re-recorded.  Ii’s on the usual streaming platforms for anyone who’s interested and I am hoping to get more content on there later in the year.  In terms of style, I suppose it has similarities to C-Saim but as it’s been written years later and recorded with my added experience in studio production the end result is more dynamic and full.

I always felt the recordings we did as C-Saim were never produced or mixed the way we wanted but as we were young and lacking those skills ourselves we relied on other people to handle that side of the process.  In hindsight perhaps we should have been more argumentative and pushed more for what we wanted.

++ Let’s go back in time. What are your first music memories? Do you remember what your first instrument was? How did you learn to play it? What sort of music did you listen to at home while growing up?

Wow there’s a lot there to pick out.  So for myself, my inspiration growing up as a teen was a lot of British rock but I also loved the ‘glam’ stuff that was going on.  I liked things to be theatrical and a bit escapist.  I wasn’t really into the original punk or new wave music but I think that did influence some of the songwriting with C-Saim.  Bryn and Steve both had different tastes to me but that meant the pushing and pulling kept us from drifting too far in one direction.

My first instrument was a cheap, second hand electric guitar.  My brother was the first to start playing and I picked up a few little starters from him and then learned the rest by playing along with my favorite songs at the time.  Later I got hold of a keyboard and used that a bit for writing although we never used any keys or piano in our recordings except for ‘Night Air’ where we messed about with a piano and it seemed to fit.

++ Had you been in other bands before C-Saim? What about the other band members? Are there any songs recorded?

Before C-Saim I spent a white in a ‘school’ rock band that was more a fun thing than anything serious and there was never anything recorded. But it was a good experience.  It’s been many years since I spoke to any of those guys.

++ Where were you from originally?

We were all Bedford boys. All drifted off to different places over the years but I am now back in my home town.

++ How was Bedford at the time of C-Saim? Were there any bands that you liked? Were there any good record stores? Or what about the pubs or venues to go check out up and coming bands?

Hmm my memory isn’t brilliant but yes I can remember a big live music scene back then in Bedford.  We had a few good venues and some great bands – healthy competition.  The record store then was ‘HMV’ and Andy’s Records – now long gone.

So the good places to see bands would have been ‘The Angel’, also long gone.  A club by the name of Esquires started up not long after C-Saim had dissolved and that is still going now with some great new bands and a few from the past and it has a great vibe.

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

Too many to recall but yes we had a great thing going and a large network of musicians who worked and played together.

++ How was the band put together? How was the recruiting process? You were brothers? related?

How long have you got?   It was really a case of being introduced by friends of friends. Initially we were a 4 piece playing hard rock covers but eventually Bryn, Steve and myself decided we wanted to start writing original material and moving in a different direction. We sacked the bass player and Brun, who was just singing at that point, took up the job of bass player and we became a trio and good friends.

++ Was there any lineup changes?

The three of us worked together without any changes for a few years until the time I left the band to do other things.  Steve and Bryn carried on for a while and added a brass section and keyboards but that version of the band didn’t last very long.

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

There was a well known place in Bedford – the Brickhill Scout Hut – where a lot of local bands would rehearse.  There was no facilities there but it was tucked out of the way and easy to get to – and cheap.  We did have police dropping in now and then about the noise levels.

Most often we would come up with lyrics or music individually and then get together to see what we could do with them.  That meant a lot of diversity in ideas and it kept things fresh and evolving.  I do think quite often, we rushed into finishing songs when they really needed more time and honing but that’s the way it worked. We liked to keep adding new stuff.

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

Not a very deep or complicated meaning there. I think someone spotted a sesame snack in a shop once and we simply took the mispronunciation and turned it into C-Saim. So really its a meaningless name – but distinctive.

++ You only released a 7″ record during your time as a band, the double A sided record that had “Night Air” and “Give and Take”. This record was put out by Summit Records. I was wondering who were they and how did you end up working with them? Did you have a good relationship?

Steve’s brother. Bob, lived down in Brighton and knew the studio – I’m pretty sure that’s how it happened.  Our relationship with the label was fairly  short lived but they were great guys – we had a lot of fun down there.

++ The record was recorded at Wilbury Sound Studios in Hove. You worked with Mike Partridge. How was that experience?

It was a great studio in a cool location.  Hove is pretty much part of Brighton and it’s always been a creative kind of place, even today.  Mike was a nice guy – easy to work with and open to trying things.  When we needed a sax player and a female singer he had the contacts and called them in.

++ Tell me a bit about the artwork of the 7″. Who made it? Was it yourself? What did you wanted to express with it?

Pete Griffiths was a friend of the band and just went off and did the sketches for us.  I had written the lyrics for the songs but hadn’t talked to Pete about the meaning behind them. So he simply listened to the songs and put his own interpretation into the artwork.

++ Before doing this record, you already had experience at recording. Your first demo was recorded at Crypt Studios in Stevenage in 1980. Do you remember what songs were on this tape?

Yes the Crypt was litterelly that – in the basement of an old church. Dark, cold and full of atmosphere.  We were young and naive but enthusiastic.  The first demo was ‘Ever Been Had’ and ‘Caribbean Beach’.

++ The 2nd demo was also recorded at the same place. Again, there is no information online about what songs were recorded. Do you know?

‘Turn Tail and Run’ was one of the tracks but I cant remember what else we did.  These were in the early days where we were writing rather heavy rock tunes.

++ You also recorded at Leyland Farm Studios and Rocksnake Studios. What demos were recorded at these locations?

My memory of these is a bit vague.  I remember we did record ‘Johnny’s Stripey Jumper and ‘Night Air’.  The rest – I need to see if Bryn can remember!

++ Which was your preferred place to record then?

Of all these studios I guess Wilbury Sound in Hove was the best. They had plenty of kit there and knew how to use it.  But it was also a great town to hang out in – and there was a beach to chill when we weren’t working.

++ And speaking of demo tapes. I read that there are more songs like “Johny’s Stripey Jumper” and “Last Time”. How many more songs were recorded by the band? How many demos did the band put together?

Along with the studios previously mentioned, we did a few demo tracks in Watford when we were working with another label but I have no recollection of tracks we recorded there.

++ Is it true though that you have lost the original DAT tapes for your recordings? Are they available in any other format though?

Hmm I’m not sure where the idea of DAT tapes came from as they hadn’t been invented when we were doing our recordings.  I have the original master from the Crypt recordings but that wouldn’t survive being put on a tape machine.  The last time I talked to Bryn he told me he had copies on a tape of everything we ever recorded but I very much doubt anything there would be suitable for public consumption!  It will in interesting to go through the recordings though just to see if there are any songs we can re-work.

++ The band appeared on a couple of compilations. One is called “Lend an Ear 1992” from 1982 and released by Vroom Records. I haven’t been able to find myself a copy, but I know you had two songs on it, “Only Yesterday” and “General Custer”. Wondering what you can tell me about this record. Who were behind this label? Were you familiar with the other bands on it? Why did you contribute those two songs? Were they from your demos?

That was an interesting time where we had entered a ‘battle of bands’ thing and the LP was a compilation of tracks from the finalists – we didn’t win by the way.  But we were never happy with the result.  The comp was run by the record label and we always felt the recording of the LP was rushed.

None of the bands had time to record tracks to the standard we would have liked and we had no hand at all in the production or mixing.  I think the whole project is lacking – the sound is thin and the energy of the bands that was in the live performances was completely lost in the studio.  I have digitised the two tracks we recorded but I’m not sure I want to stream them unless I can somehow do some work on them to ‘beef’ them up a little.  Too much of the original excitement in the songs was lost – totally killed by people who missed the point of what we were doing.

Although it was a useful experience for us, the involvement with that record label caused a lot of friction in the band and things got quite nasty until we decided to walk away from it.

++ The other compilation is “Disco Mix Club – July 1983 – Tape 2”. On this tape you had “Night Air”. I read that this tape was exclusive for the Disco Club members. I don’t know who Disco Club were… so wondering if you can tell me about it?

I know absolutely nothing about that one.  That might be another gap in my memory but I’m afraid I can’t tell you anything about it!

++ I read too that there was a live session recorded at MK Radio in Milton Keynes. Is that available anywhere? What songs did you play for that session?

Again, very early days and it would have been our heavier songs. I can’t recall which ones though.

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

Ah ha!  Well now some songs are complete fiction and others might be based on experiences or by watching other people.  The lyrics for that one were my observations of a relationship of someone I knew. I can’t say any more than that!

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

That’s a tricky one, there are different songs I could pick for different reasons.  I think ‘Night Air’ is probably my favorite in terms of song writing even though the recorded single, in my view, could have been done better.  But C-Saim was always about the live energy so songs like ‘General Custer’ were a lot of fun to play – it’s just a shame Vroom couldn’t capture that raw energy in the studio.

++ What about gigs? Did you play many?

We were a very busy band.  We were all holding down day jobs but still went out and gigged a few times a week.

++ There’s this long list I found of places you played. It includes places like Luton, Leicester, London, and more. There are towns that I have never heard before though like Rushdan, Olney, Bicester, Old Warden and so on… I wonder how big or small were some of these gigs and how were you booked to play in these places?

These venues would have been everything from small bars to bigger clubs and halls.  Most of the time we would chase these gigs ourselves. Having failed to settle with a manager we felt we could work with, we decided to do it all ourselves where we could. So we became quite good as self promotion.

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

Personally, I loved playing places that didn’t require a lot of travel. One of these was a local college (Now Bedford University).  We had started working with some other local bands and we got a bit cheeky with this gig.  I think we had 2 support bands and when it was our turn we only had to play about 20 minutes – but it did go down well.

We played a well known venue in London called the Moonlight Club.  That was an interesting one. A couple of guys came in and were up front fiddling with our cables and mic stands and basically trying to get us wound up.  We found out later they were only in the club hiding from the police. They were a couple of crack heads and one was packing!  

++ And were there any bad ones?

Probably a lot but one tends to block those from memory!

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

Just as we put the single out I was starting to feel the music wasn’t going the way I wanted it to. When I was writing songs I generally had an idea in my head of how it should sound but it never ended up there.  I felt I wanted time out to do other things so I walked away (and felt bad for it).  C-Saim carried on for a while but eventually folded.

We all worked with other musicians on different projects but nothing really came close to the energy and fun that I think we all got from C-Saim.

++ Was there any interest from the radio? TV?

I don’t think we were together long enough to generate much interest there – we probably would have pushed into that if the band had stayed together longer.

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

Quite a bit. We did a few interviews but the interesting thing was, we did a hell of a lot of self promotion which included writing our own articles and reviews under different names. That generated a bit of interest from other places.

++ What about fanzines?

Only a local now but I can’t tell you what that was called now.

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

In retrospect I can honestly say that the whole time together was a highlight, a real blast.  We enjoyed working together. What we really needed was management and record labels that would have got behind us and understood what we were trying to do but that just didn’t happen when we needed it. But I don’t think I could pick out a single event that was better than the whole.

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

Me?  I have done freelance photography, a bit of art work but I still write music even if I don’t actually have a plan for it.

++ I’ve never been to Bedford so I’d love to ask a local. What do you  suggest checking out in your town, like what are the sights one shouldn’t miss? Or the traditional food or drinks that you love that I should try?

Bedford no longer has much of a reputation for anything particularly exciting these days.  It really depends on what you are looking for. We are an arty bunch but you got to look hard to find things worth coming for. We do have a good music store here that is owned by a lovely guy called Bruce Murray who was a school friend of Freddie Mercury’   And a good, organic music venue called Esquires where you can catch all kind of bands in an old style rock and roll environment.

++ Anything else you’d like to add?

It’s great to know there is still a bit of interest in the music C-Saim produced all those years ago.  There may be things happening this year and a new version of C-Saim might materialize  – who knows.  Meantime, ‘Give and Take’ and ‘Night Air’ are now available for streaming in the usual places.

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Listen
C-Saim – Give and Take