A couple of weeks ago, just before leaving on vacation, I took on the book description for Twee: The Gentle Revolution book. People agreed and disagreed with me and that was alright. It’s great to have a discussion. On that same post I promised going over the Salon Magazine article that was written by the author of the book were he talks a bit more in depth about it. So let me do this exercise and see if the description was just written to sell the book and there are many differences between what the publisher promotes and what the author really believes. Of course, we are still waiting for the book to be published as it will hit bookstores on June 3rd. But in the meantime…

But Twees were not Hipsters.  Hipsters went out and did drugs and wore white belts. Twees, as I idealized, stayed in and wrote in their diaries (or on their blogs) and wore cardigans and listened to the Zombies, the Go-Betweens and Galaxie 500. They weren’t scruffy.

When I read this I got very optimistic. This sounded right to me. Maybe a bit of a stereotype, but in general lines indiepop people could fall into this description. But then he affirms that twees are hated more than hipsters and I’m not sure what does that mean. I feel that, for the normal people out, there they won’t be able to differentiate a hipster and a twee. They would be all the same. So then you might ask if a hipster hates a twee, or a twee hates a hipster. But that’s a very pointless question. Hipsters abound whereas the twee people are a minuscule group. Tiny. So no, I really not believe anyone hates the indiepop people. Nobody actually CARES about them really. And that’s totally fine. But I think the author has totally confused hipsters and twees. Even though he claims they are different groups then he is pretty sure to point out “Sure, they all moved to Brooklyn and ruined it“. As I said last time on the blog, there are a few indiepop people there, as there are a few too in Manhattan and Queens. So the question is, who really moved to Brooklyn? Well, it was mostly the hipsters, that’s pretty obvious. So he is mixing them up. Maybe he just hates hipsters.

And that’s more understandable. Hating hipsters is really easy. But that’s another conversation. Later on the article the author talks about a sameness that exists between songs and movies between many decades, even going further to the 1930s (!). This is something I’ve fought against a lot. That sort of idea that all indiepop is the same, that all of it comes from the same influences, wearing the same sort of uniform, etc etc. I found that this line of thought is very common to those that are alien to indiepop. In truth, for most people that are not knowledgeable about a specific music genre, when looking it from outside, it will usually sound and look the same. For a book like this though it’s pretty useful for the author to reduce it to sameness. It means less work, less research. It’s an easier way to prove his thesis. It’s wrong though because he is a music writer and he should know better. It’s pretty interesting that he mentions that “twees, as I saw them, were souls with an almost incapacitating awareness of darkness, death and cruelty, who made the personal choice to focus on essential goodness and sweetness“. Clearly he hasn’t got knee-deep in our beloved music. Even when listening to The Smiths you can tell that this belief of his is totally far off.

He also says that by 2012 there was some sort of explosion of twee entertainment. New Girl, Girls and Portlandia were the prime examples. Why are they twee? I don’t know. He mentions that Girls is a smart and feminist show. Does that make it twee? Sure indiepop people in it’s great majority are smart and feminist. But those are not exclusive traits of this scene. At this point I start to believe that for the author Twee just means quirky, witty and cute. It doesn’t mean anything else other than that. That the music is just an accessory, something that we all know that is not the case. It’s the music what we wear on our sleeves. It’s what defines us the mostly, our love for bands that go from yes, the Go-Betweens to more obscure bands like The Someloves. Indiepop is not defined for owning a kitty, for going to feminist rallies, or for watching these TV shows.

So he got it all wrong. What does this mean? In the situation that the book turns out to be popular (hopefully not), this may redefine the meaning of twee. It will be taken away from indiepop and become a more universal term. Who knows, twee.net will start getting a thousand hits then and possibly a proper twee scene will appear, all listening to She & Him and that sort of bands.

In a way that could be good, we’ve all preferred, for a long time, the term indiepop over twee. Perhaps after this we won’t use the word twee anymore. But it could happen the worst case scenario too. That where we’ll get pigeonholed into the sort of stereotype this guy is creating. It will be pretty uncomfortable if that happens.

The fact is, if there are people to blame for this whole situation, it’s us. Indiepop has been going for almost  30 years and only as of late some books are being written about it though mostly about specific topics like Sarah Records or Postcard Records. But a book encompassing the whole indiepop history, a book to understand twee and indiepop,  properly reserached, well, we never produced it. It was just a matter of time then that someone outside the scene would see the opportunity and write something about it. Now we can only hope it doesn’t make a awful caricature of all of us. Let’s wait and see.

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I believe I know about the Subtonics from the future Leamington Spa list that was once listed on Twee.net. I was glad that during that same date I stumbled upon a copy of their 7″ on eBay and bought it blindly. It must have been 4 years ago. The cover art of the record was definitely not very indiepop-ish, but I gave it a try. If Uwe had listed it, then it was probably good.

As far as I know they only released one 7”. It was back in 1987 in Erdington, Birmingham, when the band put together these two songs, “Take it Easy Florence” on the A side and “Nothing to Lose” on the B side, and released them on vinyl.

The band was formed by:

Backing Vocals – Melanie Paige-Gibbins
Bass – Paul Kelly
Drums – Paul Comaskey
Fiddle – Aiden Forde
Saxophone – Nick Smith
Vocals, Guitar – John McElwee

And the record was produced by Subtonics. The sound engineer was Phil Savage and the recordings were made at Outlaw Sound Birmingham. The cover artwork was done by Annie Healy. The label that put the record out was Life of Man Records. Catalog was  LOM 001 / 002. Perhaps a catalog number for each song? All songs were copyrighted to John McElwee.

The music is a bit folky, (I’m not a folk hater!), but it has a good indiepop element in it that makes both songs quite fun, especially the A side, with it’s classic chorus that sounds taken out from the mid 80s, reminding me of bands like The Rain or Home and Abroad. Of course, with the fiddle addition!

Included in the record there’s an insert written by a Richard V. Frank. He mentions that he was in Austin, Texas in 1985, and he was awaken by the music of Subtonics. Seems they were playing around the US. I wonder where else they played. On this same insert it says that in 1986 the band was deported from the US when it was discovered that they had been staying here as illegal aliens! Wow! Upon returning to Birmingham, Richard decided he loved so much the band that he paid for the record. What happened after? That part I don’t know. They split for sure.

The only other information I could track online was that the drummer, Paul Comaskey now actually lives in the US, in the North East and he still makes music as you can see in his bandcamp and soundcloud. In his bandcamp bio he doesn’t mention the Subtonics though. But it must be him as he comes from Erdington, Birmingham, right? He mentions that he has played in many bands like The Nervous Kind, The Music Lovers, The Sunshine Club and Richard Buckner.

What happened to the other band members? There is a John McElwee that is part of the New Yorker now. But is it the same one?

Does anyone remember this Birmingham band from back in the day? Did they release anything else? Did they record any more songs? Let’s solve the mystery!

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Listen
Subtonics – Take it Easy Florence

Well vacations are over. Back to the drill. To the routine of work, Netflix, indiepop, subway rides and take-out dinners. On the bright side around the corner there’s NYC Popfest and we all know how brilliant it is. And now it’s even more exciting as the The Hidden Cameras have been replaced by one of the best bands from the C86 period, The Popguns. At least for me, this is a step up for the festival! But then of course this makes my trip to Indietracks not as worthy as The Popguns were the main draw for me at the Derbyshire festival. It’s almost the same lineup! Don’t know exactly WHY this has happened, but it has. Usually some bands were repeated in both festivals but not in the same quantity as this year.

Sure of course some bitter people have commented before that they can’t afford going to both festivals and so it’s great for them to see the bands. And that’s totally fair. But really it isn’t fantastic news for me! I want to spend my vacations at Indietracks, a festival I love, and I will do so this year. But if the trend continues perhaps I should skip next year. The whole beauty for me, aside from seeing friends and the warm beer (not), was to get to see bands that I wouldn’t have a chance to see her in the US. Like when I saw The Brilliant Corners, or Helen Love. Those were fabulous treats! I feel at least this year this is really not the case. BUT of course I can keep positive as there are 20 or so more announcements to be made by team Indietracks and hopefully a handful of proper electric guitar indiepop bands will be booked! Enough of the hippie folky stuff! Come on, it’s an indiepop festival!

Also upon my return I was attacked on some comments by an English person calling me racist and prejudiced. Sometimes I don’t understand people and their ignorance. Just because I don’t agree with them, or because they have some sort of guilt trip, they assume I’m the same as them. I’m not a saint but thinking and believing hip hop is a culture that doesn’t add anything to our civilization doesn’t make me racist. That’s damn stupid. I believe surfer culture doesn’t add anything either, or what about the candy kids culture. What makes me then if I don’t like these things? A monster? Come on. That’s just plain stupidity, to insult me just because I have a strong personal view about these things. But forgiveness and turning the page, right?

So yeah, I’m in a good mood. Just received the new The Haywains 7″ sleeves. Now just waiting for the vinyl records that should be arriving next week. Then cutting the inserts, putting them in the sleeves and then the sleeves in the polybags. Right when all of this is done all pre-orders will be mailed. So luckily you’ll have your Haywains 7″ just before the official release date by the end of the month when the play NYC Popfest.

On more Cloudberry news the fanzine is shaping nicely. Crossing fingers that it will be ready by Indietracks time.

Also the My Favorite reissue for Love at Absolute Zero should be ready by NYC Popfest time. So keep your eyes peeled for that one.

So that’s what NYC had awaiting for me. Also of course a bit colder here than Spain, Norway or Sweden. I know I promised the post about the Salon article about the Twee book. I’ll get on that next week. I will also like to go through about my vacation, but in due honesty there was very little indiepop so it might not be of much interest. I only got to catch one gig, and it was a very small one. It was free and at a bookshop in Seville. The band that was playing was The Royal Landscaping Society, a fantastic and jangly new band formed by Cristóbal (Shizuka, La Chufa Lisérgica, Sundae), Fran (Papel Pintado), David (Los Catarros) and Maria (Wasabi Monster) joins them too, though she didnt at the gig at the bookshop. I think this was their second ever gig, and right now they should have already played Birmingham Popfest this weekend, making it their 3rd ever gig!

I would definitely like to seem them play at a bigger stage, the sound and the setting aside from being cozy, was not the best for them. But even like that they managed to sound really nice, with bright and luminous guitars, full of arpeggios, bringing to mind Harper Lee, Brighter, The Field Mice. That kind of very Sarah Records kind of sound. Just precious little songs. I really hope I get to see them grow more known and also to release their first proper record. I know right now they are selling their demo, and I wish I get my hands on it soon. So far they only had one song released on a compilation on Little Treasure Records. What about them being part of those 20 bands that still need to be announced at Indietracks? I think it would make sense. Just a tip if you haven’t heard them!

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And now let’s move to some obscure indiepop from 1989, the Gordon Jackson Five.

Gordon Cameron Jackson, OBE (19 December 1923 – 15 January 1990) was a Scottish Emmy Award-winning actor best remembered for his roles as the butler Angus Hudson in Upstairs, Downstairs and as George Cowley, the head of CI5, in The Professionals.

So that might be the Gordon Jackson they named the band after. And of course I think we all know who the Jackson Five were, right?

Don’t know how rare their one and only 7″ is. It seems if you look in the right places you might find it. I still don’t have it though, and I’m kind of in saving mode now, trying not to spend too much money on records. But if you see it, buy it. Especially for the A side, the well-titled “Beers”. The b side is alright too, and it’s called “Look at Me!”.

The record was released by Flatbat Yahoo, catalogue number FBY 1. Safe to think that this was a self-release.

Luckily for all of us, indiepop detectives and researches (ha!), there’s a small bio on Last.fm. It reads:

Wood Green, London, United Kingdon (1987 – 1990)
The Gordon Jackson 5 was an alternative, indie pop four piece band that formed in Wood Green, London, United Kingdon in 1986 under the original name The Backwater Squares, but decided to changed it to The Gordon Jackson 5 in 1987. The band released their 7” single Beers in 1989, but split not long after, in late 1990.

Members were: Paul (George) on Guitar, vocals, songwriter; Mick (Baurice) on Bass and b. vocals; Beamish (Roy) on drums and b. vocals; and Chris Alletson (Ira) on keyboards and b. vocals.

From there I could find out that Chris Alletson has been involved with other bands as there is also a small bio about him:

Chris is a musician from Leicester, United Kingdom. A keyboard player, he has collaborated with various artists since the early ‘80’s, (for example: The Attitude in 1981) until his move to London in 1985, where he took part in verious music projects, notably the Progressive Soul Program, The Gordon Jackson 5 and the Worry Dolls, which earned some ‘John Peel’ time. He relocated to West Yorkshire and was involved in an experimental/synth/drum and bass outfit called JumpCut.

He has performed with Kelvin Cartwright (Kelv), Dave Brown (Dan) of Likemind fame, whom Chris teamed up with to be keyboardist with The Attitude in 1981. Chris and Dan were part of a motown/Stax/70’s/rock cover band Friday Street in and around the East Midlands until 2011.

Cool to see he had been part of the Worry Dolls, a band that I’ve mentioned in the blog before. Sadly though the link to the Soundcloud that also appears on the last.fm page of him doesn’t seem to be working anymore. But you can listen to some of his own recordings here.

That’s more or less all I could find about them or related to them. But maybe someone out there can help? I’m sure someone in London or Leicester has seen them play? Or what about more recordings? I mean, it can’t be that they only left us with two songs, right?!  Use the comment box wisely 😉

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Listen
Gordon Jackson Five – Beers

Thanks again to Andy and Neal for yet another interview. Some time ago I interviewed them about their most known band Hellfire Sermons. Today we go a bit further back in time to their adventure with Swim Naked. You can also find more about them on their Facebook page. Hope you enjoy reading this!

++ Hi again Andy and Neal! How are you doing!? Once again another interview, now about an earlier project, Swim Naked. Formed in 1982, right? Was this your first band with your longtime friend Neal Carr? And what kind of music were you into at this time?

Neal: We were discovering lots of music together at the time, the band was an extension of that. I was into the likes of Orange Juice, Joy Division, Gang Of Four, The Cure, Teardop and The Bunnymen when I first met Andy and Chent. We were all exploring the likes of The Velvet Underground, The Doors, Tamla Motown, Love, The Creation, The Action, Thirteenth Floor Elevators but also Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Ennio Moricone before and during the time of the band. Joy Division / Warsaw were also a big influence. We actually formed in 1981.
Punk had set this Year Zero thing, which I for one had bought into, and the music press didn’t really cover the past.. so for me, meeting Andy who had already started buying reissued singles by The Creation and Elevators, plus some Motown,, it opened a whole world to me. But we all kind of influenced each other with what we were reading and listening to. Chent was a year older than us and had read quite a bit more it seemed.

Andy: I was a punk when I lived in London into the Cure, Buzzcocks, Vibrators, UK Subs, Gang of Four etc. then the mod revival gave us the chance to listen to the Who (feedback!), Small Faces, soul music, then the US garage bands, the Doors and Velvet Underground. At that time me and Chent listened to ‘Sister Ray’ at least once a day. Chent had done a lot of English classic poetry – John Donne etc, so his lyrics had a literary side.

++ The band as really a trio with the inclusion of Chent Goss. How did you three knew each other?

Neal: We met at Uni. Andy walked up to me with my Cure badge and said “so you like the Cure” – haha. We later found we both know Chent independently. Chent wrote lyrics and one time, I think it was his idea, I put some music to one song. It seems crazy looking back that it took so long,,, I played guitar, Andy bass, and Chent wrote stuff… I don’t understand why no one suggested it.

Andy: Chent appealed to me as a rebel and well read thoughtful character. He had been at quite an eminent private school but had pushed against the conformity and pushiness you find in these places. He got ne onto good writers like Gogol and Kafka, and I got him onto punk music and 60s beat groups and primitive garage bands. He wrote lyrics with no band to play them, but they were good, I could tell.
As Neal says I was so pleased to meet someone else who liked The Cure. We used to listen to records together and talk about them endlessly. We still have one debate from those days – is one band better than another or is it all subjective. I feel that the Velvet Underground are superior to the spice Girls but Neal says that I can’t prove it lol. The argument continues. We have been very good friends and collaborators now for 32 years!

++ Was this your first band experience?

Neal: No, I’d been in a couple of bands at school. Fun, but I have no decent tapes. I certainly cringe at the lyrics I wrote back then.

Andy: it was my first band. I did have a bass and had done lessons, but Neal had hold the music together – but we learnt fast – and some of those limitations actually helped.

++ On Facebook it says that you had a label called Hidden Heartbeat. So, who were they? And how come there are no releases?

Neal: Luminous Crocodile was on Hidden Heartbeat

++ There is a song that counts with vocals by Clare Millington. Who was she? And why wasn’t she full-time on the band?

Neal: The three of us had been the core of the band, but we’d had a drummer (darn it, his name escapes me.. second name Wilson ?) Unfortunately he left Liverpool , but in our final year Clare and another guy (Chis..?) joined to sing and play keyboards respectively. We also borrowed Adam from Where’s The Beach to drum sometimes before Tom Gent (later of Decemberists) joined.
So it was simply that people came and went – and we had two very different singers at one point, which was hard to juggle.

Andy: I liked that about Swim Naked – the songs were very diverse, from violent jams based on the Velvets, to pop or folky things. ‘Logical Silence’ was brought to us by Chris Wilkinson from a Preston band called Horrorshow and its quite a typical student song about difficulty in expression, loneliness, I like our treatment of it. Neal’s guitar is based on the sound of The Misunderstood – bendy chords, the bass and keyboard are maybe like he Sound or Chameleons.

++ Did you play many gigs with Swim Naked? Do you remember any?

Neal: 2 I think… one at a Uni Hall.. and one at The Left Bank Bistro in Liverpool . This was the 6 piece band. We were all terribly nervous, so I don’t think much fun was had.

Andy: That was the two. We had an idea that over-rehearsing would “kill the magic” so it was a bit hot and miss, and didn’t help the nerves!

++ Where does the name Swim Naked come from?

Neal: I think it was Chent’s idea – but I can’t remember where it came from. I always think it was to symbolise freedom and risk in creativity.

Andy: It was about absolute freedom. Funny thin is lots of people like us on Facebook just because of the name – they have interests like ‘nudity’ and ‘hot chicks’

++ On the Facebook page there are some of your recordings. I’m loving “The King of Love and Sex”, “Girlfriend” and “Logical Silence”. Was wondering if you could tell me a little bit of the story behind each song?

Neal: I’d say all our best lyrics were from Chent (KoL&S and GF were him). Some of it was about using our current obsessions with the likes of Kafka or JG Ballard out there… some of it was more personal to Chent. I’m afraid I don’t remember much about these two. Girlfriend was lift from some lyrics Chent had already written,, I think KoL&S was a germ of an idea that crystalised as we wrote the music. I think it may have been a skit on the Doors.
Logical Silence was from a band called Horrorshow (?) that keyboardist Chris was in.. he brought that with him and we re-arranged it. He had a tape of a drum pattern that we all played along to.

Andy: The King of Li=ove and Sex was ironic piss take of macho boasting, its supposed to be over the top. We had a drummer at one time (Lou) who was going through a sex change and he left because the lyrics were offensive – but it was supposed to be funny!
I do like ‘Girlfriend’ – it is quite a good look at a relationship and pregnancy (“her body’s white and leaping, and you lie there shivering in the wind, with an empty mind”), the heavy feet of pregnancy, and Neal’s guitar part rocks, good melody.
Logical Silence was the best song we got from Chris, we completely re-arranged it, and it worked well. Claire’s singing is nice as not trained – its a little bit hesitant. There’s a lot more with her – I think ‘Won’t We’ is good for her voice.

++ There are two other songs, “The Storm” and “The Love Bog”, way less poppy, more experimental I’d say. So you had these two sort of sides in Swim Naked. Throughout your career you always had a more poppier side I’d say, so I’m quite surprised by these two songs. Care to tell me what were they about?

Neal: I think Chent had the biggest hand in the music and lyrics of The Love Bog, We set out to create something very extreme with the music – the weird effects are created by the dischords between the notes on the two vl-tones. It used to freak out our cats. I’m not sure what it is about, I originally thought it was linking love with a sort of stifling torpor, but listening again, it seems more optimistic than I thought.

Andy: The ‘Love Bog’ is off the scale, its based on a dream but sounds more like a night mare, .ore unusual lyrics – “You’re thinking of the smell of meat” and “Fireflies buzzing in the air, of oozing wine, there is no time, no warning sign”. And the discords did used to frighten my cat. The horrific discord comes in on the offbeat, its more like a fire alarm than a song. The Casio VL Tone gave the song its sound. A bit of that dischord effect can be heard in the intro to the Hellfire’s song Sarasine’
‘The Storm’ was written after Neal left to do a side project with Claire called The Lids’. The drummer was really angry at the time and we just poured out the song. I like its atmosphere.

++ From all the Swim Naked songs, which was your favourite and why?

Neal: I very much liked “Alone”, which is about walking alone in a city at night in fear… excellent lyrics from Chent and I think we nailed the music – sort of Joy Division-like. I originally sang it, but Clare did a much better job.
The songs I most associate with the band are Drive, The Venus Men and Dance of My Mother. They were all composed with the three of us plugging away over many months of change – it’s that evolution that I liked. The first two are kind of Velvets/Doors soundtracks to Crash by JG Ballard … the latter is kind of unclassifiable, based on a bass riff Andy had that I couldn’t fathom at first.
Nowadays I feel like The Doors and especially Jim Morrison are overrated.

Andy: I like ‘Dance of my Mother’ which is about a birth, and the closest I have ever heard to it is maybe Sonic Youth, but with better lyrics.
‘Girlfriend’ I love for the catcy repetition of the keyboard set against Neal’s chords.
And ‘Flashing Red and Orange’ is a kind of violent Cramps thing written about some disturbed events at Chent’s house

++ Did you ever rerecorded any Swim Naked songs for your later projects?

Neal: I “borrowed” some of the acoustic/strummy songs for my next band with Clare (The Lids). Otherwise, I think we have just lifted bits now and then,

Andy: The Lids was fantastic, a bit folky, nicely played with Clare singing, many indie fans would love it.

++ Are there any more recordings by the band?

Neal: Yes, as you probably get from the above, there is plenty more.

Andy: About 20 songs looking for a release,

++ Ever thought of putting together some sort of compilation of these songs? Perhaps adding the Jenny Lind and Decemberists songs? It would be a hit I think!

Neal: Andy is very keen.. I guess we never get the momentum between us.

Andy: We should do a compilation. I would have 2 or 3 Swim Naked songs, 2 from The Lids, 2 from Swim Naked after Neal left, 2 from the Decemberists, 2 from Jenny Lind, then 2 from Hellfire Sermos before Neal came in, and then some Hellfire stuff. We should do it

++ How was the recording sessions for Swim Naked? And how do you think these songs have aged?

Neal: A lot of what you hear are practice tapes, and they were great for us… though I do wonder why the neighbours put up with us!
In summer 1982 we recorded in a small studio in London , KoL&S is from that session. It came out quite well, but Drive and Venus Men sounded neutered even back then. We just didn’t have the nous then (or for many years) to get what we wanted from a studio. I think the instruments were recorded well enough, but we needed to be able to take charge of the end result and we couldn’t,
The practice tapes still sound quite exciting to me. I feel we have since learned more about how to arrange a song, get good and repeatable sounds, keep it interesting etc, but these songs are largely driven by enthusiasm and our interactions and experimentation – and it shows to me in a way that still makes me happy. In addition, the condenser mics that tape recorders had compress the sound in a way I’ve always liked.

Andy: It was all bad experiences in studios back then because no-one really bothered to help us get the sound right. The practice tapes are way better. But then, pre-internet, you couldn’t release your music unless a record company would do it, and so you needed a demo to play to them. But now we should release the good practice tapes – they have the sound and the dynamics.

++ Liverpool during those early 80s had a very exciting scene. How did you enjoy it and how do you think you fit in it?

Neal: At the time of Swim Naked, we didn’t really fit in. The scene was between the whole Teardops / Bunnymen thing that had just gone national and before the likes of Icicle Works and Pale Fountains.
The only band I remember mixing with was Where’s The Beach. It wasn’t until later with Decemberists / Jenny Lind that I felt we were part of a bigger scene… but even then, we would be playing with a lot of bands who clearly wanted to be the next Duran Duran – not our thing at all.

Andy: Then we just went to see the bands, and maybe saw them in the Everyman. When we practiced at Dock Road we were part of a scene with Half Man Half Biscuit, the Jactars, DaVincis, Jenny Lind, The Room, and that was good. Then in Hellfire Sermons we were part of a national scene via Kevin Pearce of The Claim, Jasmine Minks, Emily and briefly the very early Manic Street Preachers

++ And then when and why did you call it a day for Swim Naked?

Neal: I quit the band in 1983. I was a bit frustrated with Chent never doing the same thing twice in a row – which at other times I thought was a great advantage, but if you do something good and never do it again it’s a recipe for disaster with me. Clare seemed to provide an opportunity to do something more songwriterly which I also felt frustrated we could not do enough (though I think that was a daft idea of mine nowadays – I would never dream of presenting a written song to the band, it takes out all the fun).

Andy: I was sorry Neal left, but I think he had to because the load on him was so great – tuning, arranging, working out at what point the chorus would come. An Chent just couldn’t reproduce the musical or vocal parts so they were either great or terrible and you couldn’t control which. When it was good it was mind bending but then if you could never do it again, was it music?

++ What did you all do music-wise immediately after? Did you take a break?

Neal: I went on to The Lids with Clare. Although we did some good stuff, she was not really committed the way I was. We joined with three other guys in a band that never did get a name. I got more back to a poppier sound, but was also frustrated because there was less full-on collaboration. I split in the end because not enough writing or practicing was happening for me (no gigs ever played). I put up an advert and after a couple of false starts with others, formed Jenny Lind with Ken.

Andy: We found Colin Pennington and played him the demo of ‘Flashing Red and Orange’. He thought it was strange but had potential. So we formed The Decemberists and set about being a hard working Liverpool band, loads of gigs, postering the town, and actually built a local following, which we only realised when we played The Neptune Theatre in support of the Liverpool socialist council and a huge cheer went up when we started ‘The Gift Horse’. The two bands – Decemberists and Jenny Lind ran in parallel for a couple if years – I shared a flat with Neal at that time – and eventually the time was right and Neal came across to the Hellfire Sermons

++ What would you say was the best moment, the highlight, for Swim Naked?

Neal: Playing the Left Bank Bistro was a highlight, but the best memories are of writing songs at weekends in Andy and Chent’s house – evolving songs out of ideas

Andy: The best times were playing together, trying things,learning things, finding you could do anything, whatever you wanted in music, and learning to write expressive songs. The strength of Swim naked was that the songs were never written to be successful or even liked by other people – it was just us enjoying the moment.

++ We can wrap it here, short and sweet, but one last question, were these songs distributed in any way? Perhaps as demo tapes or something? Or have they only been for rediscovering since the digital era when you uploaded them to soundcloud?

Andy: Never distributed! A few are up on the internet – Soundcloud and Facebook. maybe we will relaease one more to go with this interview and go on your site?

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

Neal: Thanks for the opportunity to think about this again Roque

Andy: No that’s it, but keep doing what you’re doing Roque.

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Listen
Swim Naked – Logical Silence

Thanks so much to Madelaine and Sarah for this interview! Some years ago I wrote a post about Fibi Frap and through many different channels eventually got in touch with them. You can’t imagine how happy I was! I always loved this band, since the first time I heard them, and I’m not exaggerating when I say they were among my favourites of that time period. And then I was even happier when they were up for doing this interview! It’s great to know a bit more about Fibi Frap, to give some context to the music, to the songs, especially after such great answers both Madelaine and Sarah have given me! Anyhow, please enjoy and discover (or rediscover) the fantastic Fibi Frap!

++ Hi there! Thanks so much for being up for the interview! Whereabouts in Sweden are you now? And are you still making music?

Madelaine: I live in Umeå, it’s about half way between Stockholm and Kiruna (650 km home, 650 km to stockholm). I am doing a master in fine art but, yeah I just started a new band before Christmas, we’re called Thir and I hope something can pop up soon, on the net, to be listened to. it’s a rock pop grunge noise thing 🙂

Sarah: I still live in Göteborg, where I have lived for the past 12 years. I am still making music, I’ve recorded a bunch of songs together with various friends ever since Fibi Frap ceased to exist. I’ve gone by a few different names; Iluvsera, Saragasso etc. I still make pop music, but a bit more lo-fi I guess. The latest recordings were inspired by Blade Runner though, one of my all-time favourite movies, so a lot of synthesizers.

++ How did you two meet? Was it immediate friendship? And when did you decide it was time to make music together?

Madelaine: Nah, we met at school, we went i guess for five years just as classmates but then finally we realized we needed each other, we wanted badly to play in a band I guess and we had a common reference: smashing pumpkins. I was really competitive at the time and i did everything i could to collect more EPs and singles and releases from them than Sarah had. I don’t think Sarah really cared. Anyway she tried to introduce me to Neil Young at the time, but I was really in to Swedish indie and didn’t understand this old man cowboy thing. took about ten years i guess, but now i love him more then most music. we tried different constellations with guys, never really worked out so we just decided to do a duo. much better, immediate success 🙂

Sarah: I think we must have been about 10 or something when we met for the first time. We were in the same class at school but never really started hanging out until in the 8th grade or so. And then it wasn’t until we were 15 or 16 that we really became good friends and started making music together. Both of us were into music and wanted to be in a band but couldn’t quite figure out how this was done, so we decided to start a band together. Our first songs were about an old boyfriend of mine that had continued on to wooing a friend, so I wrote songs about what an asshole he was. Great inspiration for punk music.

++ What instruments do each of you play?

Madelaine: synth, guitar, bass, stuff, and now I play the drums.

Sarah: I play guitar, bass, some synthesizer and you know, things I find. I wish I could play the drums but nah, I’m really not good at it.

++ Was Fibi Frap your first music adventure?

Madelaine: Nah, it came out of trying different constellations with guys, always me and Sarah and a guy, usually flirts/boyfriends to play the drums or solo guitar, but they were always so difficult to work with. idiots really, hehe. best band name was ‘Cat Woman Aid’, my boyfriend at the time Ralf Rotmalm always comes up with awesome band names, still.

Sarah: Yeah, we played a lot of music but it wasn’t until we had fired all out male friends from our bands that Fibi Frap was formed. And I think we were tired of being in a band with people who didn’t really care. So we decided that we were going to be the only members.

++ Where does the name of the band come from? Does it come from an encyclopaedia volume as I thought it does?

Madelaine: Yup. My next project was gonna be coco dies, also a band in the same encyclopedia.

Sarah: And I also wrote a song called Coco dies, which didn’t become a Fibi song but it had potential! Maybe we should record it? It’s a good song!

++ You listed a long list of influences in your old mypace: manga, picknix, Boris Vian, Paul Auster, Maurice Blanchot, Magnetic Fields, Will Oldham, Morrissey, Computer Vikings, Oski, Lifli, Brendan Perry, Neil Young and the guys, The Cure, Alma Cogan, Nina Simone and looove. This list makes me happy, I can only say great taste. But can I ask then, what were your favourite mangas?

Madelaine: This list of influences that you refer to, we were probably having some beers and having fun. Don’t remember so much Manga, me an Tobias was at one point looking at Chobits. Otherwhise I mostly liked Anime, but I think I didn’t know about the difference at the time. I like Miyazaki, and some other stuff but I’m not a fanatic.

Sarah: I am not a manga fan, that was never my thing. And so we just wrote down our favourite authors, philosophers, bands, friends etc. I still love Neil Young, Nina Simone, the Cure and Alma Cogan. I grew tired of Paul Auster constantly repeating himself, forgot about Magnetic Fields and Will Oldham. Still like the Brendan Perry album though.

++ You were from the northern part of Sweden, how is it there? But afterwards you were in between Stockholm and Göteborg. Is it much different? And where there any like-minded bands in town that you liked?

Madelaine: Kiruna is far from everything. But it’s weird and beautiful and our home. 20 000 people. When we grew up there was a real dystopian feeling in town. The future didn’t look good at all, it was said the mine was gonna close down in a few years and the military base where a lot of people worked closed down, and there were no jobs. People left their flats, keys on the kitchen table. Houses were being closed down, turned of the heating, left to rot. So the feeling was that of: get the hell outta here as soon as you can. Now, 15 years later, they found more ore, and the area is the strongest growing economical area in Europe kinda Klondike. Gold rush kinda situation. There is nowhere to live, and lot’s of jobs! Now they have to move the whole city because it’s slowly falling down in the mine hole. So it’s the last few years to see our home town as it was…

Sarah: But I still liked growing up in Kiruna because it was such a small town. However, when I was about 15 years old I started growing restless. I wanted to do stuff, see the world and discover new things (and meet new people!). But the atmosphere with the sun shining 24/7 during the summer and the constant darkness during the winter sort of form my music, and I still think that that sadness can be traced back to growing up in Kiruna. There were, however, no like-minded bands in Kiruna. At the beginning we were frowned upon, since there were no girls playing music in a band back then. But we decided to continue on and then we were accepted, I think. But not everyone liked Fibi Frap, some people thought it was just silly music for silly people. Being in a band meant that there was a bass player, a guitar player and a drummer of course. Otherwise it was just weird. And so we were weird. And we didn’t care.

Madelaine: Stockholm and Gothenburg is real towns. Lots of people, and stress, and stuff going on in every corner. We did not hang out with other bands. We didn’t really identify with them and didn’t really listen to that kind of music. I don’t know why we were invited to play all those gigs in those gangs. Maybe it was the synthesiser we used and the fact that we were two cute girls from the north making strange music. We listened more to rock and stuff I think.

Sarah: Yeah, we were always outsiders I think. Everyone was really nice to us and we got to play with a lot of band with great people, but it was never the kind of music we listened to. We grew up listening to Smashing Pumpkins and Neil Young and Van Morrison (I like older men apparently), or rock. It just wasn’t our kind of music, although I can see why other appreciated these bands.

++ And what were the places you loved to hang out in town?

Madelaine: In Kiruna? We sat at the café most of the days after school I think. Safari it’s called. The first café to serve sandwiches, rest of the world style, the founder was from Tunis. I guess we spent a lot of time studying too. I studied science and Sarah studied Humanistic studies.

Sarah: I don’t know if it was the first café to serve sandwiches, but it was a café that was famous for its sandwiches since they were huge. I didn’t study as much as I should have, although I still managed to have good grades. I preferred sitting at the café drinking tea or coffee and smoking way too much. There was always someone there who you knew, otherwise you’d just bring a book.

++ Did you play many gigs? Which would you say were your favourites and why?

Madelaine: A few actually. one of my favourites were at LAVA, in Stockholm, because it was the first time we had a female sound technician, she actually listened to us and did not pat us on our heads, like all guys always did when we were a duo of two really young (cute) girls. and she was impressed on how quick we were at setting up. other gig was at monsters of indie at Debaser, Slussen, in Stockholm. it was just so cool to get to play there. and at the festival Popaganda, in Stockholm too. but actually i have such fucking stage fright, so all gigs were really horrible for me actually. i was always shivering like a leaf and pale as a ghost and Sarah always tried really hard not to look at me at stage because then she became nervous too.

Sarah: We played at Lava twice, the first time was amazing, the second time was not. One of my favourite gigs was the second to last one, at Underjorden, in Göteborg. It was just around the corner from my apartment and a lot of people and a lot of friends showed up, plus we connected with the audience and yeah, I really felt present during that gig. In my mind that was our farewell gig, since the last gig was one of the worst ones we’ve played. It was at Join our Club in Göteborg and we hadn’t seen each other for some time and during the whole show, a drunk girl was standing right by the scene, telling (screaming) the person she was talking to on the phone that she was listening to the worst band ever. I really didn’t want to play and I think Madelaine felt the same way.

++ I want to ask about the Starke Adolf gig. How was that? I have this very idealized view of that club!

Madelaine: We tried to talk about this gig and no one of us remember anything. But we remember a friendly and nice feeling.

Sarah: Yeah, I hardly remember anything. I remember that a lot of friends were there and that it was really fun playing. People really seemed to appreciate us. But apart from that I don’t remember much. It was the only time I went to Starke Adolf.

++ And what about playing a festival such as Popganda?! That must have been quite big?

Madelaine: I was part of the group who arranged the festival and the rest of the group really liked fibi frap and wanted us to play, I have never been so nervous my whole life, I don’t remember anything.

Sarah: I really liked playing at Popaganda. I was so nervous before we entered the stage but after a song or two it felt better and it was really fun. But it was strange as well since we were used to playing on smaller stages.

++ At that time there were many fantastic indiepop bands throughout all Sweden. It was like a explosion of very underground but very creative bands. Did you feel there was some sort of scene, or you always felt like outsiders?

Madelaine: I dunno, Kiruna is so far from everything, and there people either played Metallica – music or in cover bands. oh, but that’s not true. there were many bands experimenting, sometimes towards the verge of performance art, and having fun, but almost always guys. I guess that’s where the outsider feeling came from. Most of them were quite a bit older too, I never dared to talk to them because I thought they were so smart and cool. little did I know. I know some of them now as we have grown up, and they are all rather humble and not too cool for school at all. The rest of the indie or twee scene I was not very familiar too before we came to play in the south of Sweden. And by then we had already our own sound. There was a scene I guess, but in the south everything was so intimidating, everyone had such cool clothes and sun glasses, and i guess i just got really nervous. But we came to know a band called Laakso and or Pello Revolvers and that made it all a bit less scary. They were a bunch of really nice guys. (still no girls though). But then I got to know of bands like first floor power and honey is cool, and finally there were some women to have as role models.

Sarah: Well, I don’t think there were so many bands that were experimental, there was this one band that was some kind of performance thing but it wasn’t that serious. I don’t think I thought anyone was cool in Kiruna. I always thought I was way cooler than anyone (the mind of a teenager), so I didn’t really care for impressing people or found things intimidating (and if I did I would never have admitted it). Laakso and Pello were friends of ours so they weren’t scary at all. Still, there was apparently a twee scene in Sweden where some people thought we belonged (we didn’t, though). In Göteborg I listened to the bands I liked, but it wasn’t pop music. However, they were really creative. So I think we bonded with creative people but not people belong to a certain kind of scene.

++ Were you involved during those years then in anything other than making music? Like, fanzines? radio? gig organizing?

Madelaine: I worked for four years with the popaganda festival, it was cool, got a really nice insight in the music world, and the dirt:
“The music business is a cruel and shallow money 
trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and 
pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. 
There’s also a negative side.” (hunter s thompson)
and I also totally lost the wall between me and other artists, the magic was lost in a way, in a good way, and if I see a gig or meet an artist I can talk to that person freely no matter how much I love that persons work.

Sarah: I wasn’t really involved in other things during those years, I was a part of Union, a community where a lot of musicians and other creative people were involved; selling records, setting up a Union festival in Göteborg and so on. But that didn’t last that long, and then I just focused on the music.

++ Your first EP was released in 2002. What do you remember from the recordings session? Where did they happen?

Madelaine: They were really fun. took place at Tobias Asplunds flat, he had recording devices and he was a real friend. I don’t remember much other that it was completely without pressure.

Sarah: The sessions were wonderful. I remember them quite clearly. We recorded the songs at Tobias’s apartment in Kiruna, spending long days and nights at his place writing, playing, laughing…. I really did appreciate those days since it was so much fun and it was just about the three of us hanging out and being creative. And I think that comes through in the EP, you can hear us laughing in the background, cracking up due to our incapability of clapping our hands at the same time. We were both 20 years old, not knowing where our lives would take us and where we would end up. This was in March I think and we knew that after the summer we would leave Kiruna and move to Linköping and Stockholm. So those recordings meant, and means, a lot to me and I still enjoy listening to those songs.

++ After this first EP you appeared at P3Pop radio. How did that happen and how was that experience with Hanna Fahl?

Madelaine: Hanna Fahl was so warm and friendly, such a genuine music lover. It was fun!

Sarah: She was great, she was really enthusiastic and kind. I listened to the recording the other day and apparently the studio technician was the one who decided that “Longing” was going to be called…. “Longing”.

++ You also contributed some songs to the Alltid Hela Tiden label in Sweden, Robots and Electronic Brains in UK, as well as Popgun in the US. Did you contribute to any other compilations?

Madelaine: Oh, I don’t recognize half of those 🙂 I remember ‘My secret garden’ it was a label and Martin released some compilations.

Sarah: Nope, I think that’s it!

++ “How Fast is Your Heart Beating”, your second EP, was released by My Secret Garden Recordings. I interviewed Martin who ran the label not so long ago, and I feel he had a great ethos for running the label. How was your experience with him? And how did you ended up releasing this EP with him?

Madelaine: I don’t remember how we came to work with him. but he was really trust worthy and nice to us. also a real music lover.

Sarah: Well, I guess he contacted us since he wanted to release some of our songs, and we did, and he was a great guy.

++ What about the “Remember Being Born” release? I’ve never seen it. What was included in it?

Sarah: Well, those songs were never released, that’s why you’ve never seen it. We recorded the songs in Göteborg, just the two of us, and just “released” them at myspace. We thought about making an actual record but we never found the time. One of my favourite songs, “White beast”, is one of the “Remember Being Born” songs.

++ Are there any unreleased songs by Fibi Frap still?

Madelaine: I think there might be some, maybe Sarah knows more. there was a song called parking lot, wonder where that went!?

Sarah: Yeah, “Parking lot”! It was Madelaine’s song that we recorded in Stockholm with Johan, I think it was the same session when we recorded “Where’d you learn to kiss that way”. It’s a fun song about an ex-boyfriend of Madelaine’s. We also recorded one of my songs, which didn’t have a name, that was really catchy.

++ And among all of your songs which would you say are your favourite? And why?

Madelaine: Hollywood or Catherine. Sarah was so good at writing and it always get’s boring with your own stuff after a while. we wrote half of the material each.

Sarah: I like “Longing”. A lot. I like the way it was produced, leading up to a crescendo. And “To Make You Happy”, which is an oldie but a favourite. I always liked the way we wrote songs. I would come to Madelaine with a sketch for a song and say that it was missing something. She would come up with this great harmony and it would just be the missing piece I had been searching for. And the other way around. We completed each other’s skills in song writing, and we’d just get each other and know where the other person was going with her song.

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

Madelaine: I don’t know, did we really? I guess. I moved to Umeå because of love, it was too far. I am still here but love is no more. I guess I’ll be moving south again in a year or two. Malmö or Stockholm or even Gothenburg. If close to Sarah I’d say we’d probably play together again. I love her and our voices go well together.

Sarah: I’d say it started before Madelaine move to Umeå, I think the distance created problems for us since it was difficult and expensive (we were both students back then) to travel back and forth and it was also difficult to find the time. We would only meet when we were playing somewhere and that just wasn’t fun anymore. I hope Madelaine comes to Göteborg so we can play together again, I really miss that and I miss her.

++ Aside from music, what other hobbies do you enjoy doing?

Madelaine: I don’t have hobbies. I work. I work with Art and Music. I also work at a pub/club called Scharinska here in Umeå, it’s a great place. On my spare time, I travel and watch series and drink beer. I also love to go to my brothers cabin in Abisko, it’s in a national park called Sarek and I just sit there, and look in to the fire or walk in the mountains.

Sarah: I was going to say exactly the same thing: I don’t have hobbies, I work. But that sounds so depressing. I’m a high school teacher, which takes up a lot of my time but it’s also very rewarding. There’s a wrestling club in Göteborg called Gbg Wrestling and so I’ve become a wrestling fan. Other than that: writing music, go to clubs to watch bands play, drink beer and watch TV-series. I bought a nice camera a couple of years ago and really enjoy taking pictures. My father was a photographer and I’d like to think that I’ve inherited that part of him.

++ I’m going to be in three weeks or so in both Göteborg and Stockholm visiting. Can I ask for some tips? Maybe your favourite bars, or restaurants? If there’s any areas or sights that you like too?

Madelaine: I didn’t live in Stockholm for a long time now (8 years), but I go to Magasin 3, and Bonniers Konsthall to look at art or to the moderna museet. and I go to copacobana to have a snack. I want to eat at lao wai at some point because everyone talks about it. there was a great restaurant at the etnografiska museet a couple of years ago, but I don’t know if it is still there. I always went to debaser slussen but I have heard rumors about it moving now to Strand. Strand always have good gigs, saw buil to spill there in the autumn.

Sarah: In Stockholm I would go to Fotografiska (museum of photography) which is great, and maybe eat lunch at the nearby vegetarian restaurant Hermans.I would go to the pub Akkurat to drink beer and maybe even go to Boulebar and play some boule. The nicest area is still Söder, but anywhere near the water is great. And I would go to Grand Hotel to eat expensive but oh so delicious brunch. In Göteborg I would go to Haket Bar, The Rover, Tre små rum to drink beer. Haket is wonderful since the staff is really friendly (and they have the best sushi in town), Tre små rum is small but very cosy, and The Rover is easy going. Though, I suggest that you only go to Tre små rum if you’re really into beer since no Carlsberg is allowed (they actually have a sign that says so) and if you try to order it the bartender will give you the stink eye. I would try to stay near the water; buy some coffee and just look at the ducks and at people. There’s a great coffee bar called Bar Centro behind Nordiska Kompaniet (department store) and a restaurant called Dubbel Dubbel, where you can find great dumplings, that I would recommend. If you’re interested in gigs I would check out Skjul Fyra Sex or Koloni. Although these places could be hard to find and requires a bus ride.

++ One last question, will there be any chance in the future for a reunion gig?

Madelaine: I dunno, I could do it, I don’t now about Sarah.

Sarah: I wouldn’t say no, if we felt like it and felt that our music was still relevant and if we’d have fun playing together, then sure! And, of course, if anyone would be interested to come to that reunion gig (except our mothers and boyfriends).

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

Sarah: Nope!

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Listen
Fibi Frap – Sadeyes

Last week an unprecedented pike of messages in the indiepop-list happened. You know, it’s usually so quiet. Nothing ever happens there. An email conversation going by the subject “Anyone up for a book burning?” had everyone giving their opinion about the announcement of a new book called: “Twee: The Gentle Revolution”.

99% of the people were totally up for the book burning. No one felt that this was going to be a good book. The other 1% were either cowardly asking not to have ‘bad’ feelings about it and instead think of other things that can give you “good” feelings, or asked to wait until we get the chance to read the book.

The book is not out yet. It will be out on June 3rd. So we are mostly supposing things at the moment, but we can figure a thing or two from the book description at the publisher’s Harper and Collins site:

New York Times, Spin, and Vanity Fair contributor Marc Spitz explores the first great cultural movement since Hip Hop: an old-fashioned and yet highly modern aesthetic that’s embraced internationally by teens, twenty and thirty-somethings and even some Baby Boomers; creating hybrid generation known as Twee. Via exclusive interviews and years of research, Spitz traces Generation Twee’s roots from the Post War 50s to its dominance in popular culture today.

Vampire Weekend, Garden State, Miranda July, Belle and Sebastian, Wes Anderson, Mumblecore, McSweeney’s, Morrissey, beards, artisanal pickles, food trucks, crocheted owls on Etsy, ukuleles, kittens and Zooey Deschanel—all are examples of a cultural aesthetic of calculated precocity known as Twee.

In Twee, journalist and cultural observer Marc Spitz surveys the rising Twee movement in music, art, film, fashion, food and politics and examines the cross-pollinated generation that embodies it—from aging hipsters to nerd girls, indie snobs to idealistic industrialists. Spitz outlines the history of twee—the first strong, diverse, and wildly influential youth movement since Punk in the ’70s and Hip Hop in the ’80s—showing how awkward glamour and fierce independence has become part of the zeitgeist.

Focusing on its origins and hallmarks, he charts the rise of this trend from its forefathers like Disney, Salinger, Plath, Seuss, Sendak, Blume and Jonathan Richman to its underground roots in the post-punk United Kingdom, through the late’80s and early ’90s of K Records, Whit Stillman, Nirvana, Wes Anderson, Pitchfork, This American Life, and Belle and Sebastian, to the current (and sometimes polarizing) appeal of Girls, Arcade Fire, Rookie magazine, and hellogiggles.com.

Revealing a movement defined by passionate fandom, bespoke tastes, a rebellious lack of irony or swagger, the championing of the underdog, and the vanquishing of bullies, Spitz uncovers the secrets of modern youth culture: how Twee became pervasive, why it has so many haters and where, in a post-Portlandia world, can it go from here?

The author of the book is called Mark Spitz. I haven’t read anything by him so I have no clue if he is a good writer or a bad writer. A bad researcher he definitely is though and I will tell you why (especially after this feature in Salon magazine).

But let me stop here first. What about the term Twee. Sure I hate it. I’ve never liked as it entails making indiepop a synonym of the word inoffensive. I truly don’t believe that. BUT at the same time I understand and accept that it’s a term that for most of us, Twee.net might be the best example, that twee in the end means indiepop, C86, p!o!p!, neo-aco, or however you want to call it. We all know, even if we don’t like the word, that twee is indiepop. Or at least, a sort of sub-category within indiepop. Can we agree on that?

Sure the term has been in existence longer than indiepop has existed. But it’s use was also almost non-existent in the English language. Maybe they used it to name Tweety bird. Who knows. But I can’t think of many examples. It’s rise as a word to describe something has to do with our music in the late 80s. It was mostly a term to dismiss the cutesy bands of the indiepop spectrum. I believe it was after 1994, when the Sha La La list was functioning and Twee.net was already established that the word gained power. And it was especially used to tag those small bands that were appearing in the US in the mid 90s like say The Receptionists or even Tullycraft, bands that had a sweeter, funnier, and cheekier approach.

So explain me then what does Arcade Fire has to do with anything of this? Sure they had one release in Asaurus, but that wasn’t a proper indiepop record. They released some, but in general it was pretty eclectic. What does Nirvana has to do with it? They championed The Vaselines, but does they make them a big part? Maybe a little footnote perhaps, and even so.

It’s mentioned that it’s the first great cultural movement since hip hop. This might not be liked by many that read me, but I don’t think hip hop has anything to add to culture. If there’s a culture surrounding it, it’s a terrible culture and I feel uneasy with even mentioning hip hop and twee in the same paragraph. There’s no comparison of the values of one and the other music genres.

Generation Twee has it’s roots in the 50s. That’s a very strange claim. I guess I’ll wait for the book to read what’s his point about this. But it does seem farfetched. I can see some late 70s groups influences in it, like The Buzzcocks, but all the way from the 50s? Perhaps some sort of aesthetics? Morrissey’s quiff? It feels like he is just inventing something here that has nothing to do with our beloved indiepop.

I love this phrase: an old-fashioned and yet highly modern aesthetic that’s embraced internationally by teens, twenty and thirty-somethings and even some Baby Boomers. I love it especially because I have no clue what they are trying to say. Should we be surprised that people in general, no matter the age, like some sort of music? Is our indiepop that terrible? Or what? I don’t get it.

Then there’s that list of “influences” or perhaps “examples of what Twee is. From that list I only like Morrissey and a bit of Belle & Sebastian. Zooey Deschanel can be pretty ok. But that does make her indiepop? That’s really stupid. I like one movie by Mirand July, her latest was very mediocre, but were her movies indiepop? No. Wes Anderson is very overrated. I think he is among the most pretentious and vacuous directors out there, but who cares what I think, are his movies indiepop? Do they show indiepop values? Again, no. I really don’t have to deal with Vampire Weekend, or even beards, right? I don’t remember Edwyn Collins sporting a beard. Or Davey Woodward doing so. Which indiepop stalwart sported a beard? Maybe he is confusing lumberjacks with musicians. Poor research. Again.

Then of course there’s the issue of ukuleles and kittens. This requires a long post. I dislike both. But a big part of the indiepop fandom loves them. So I’ll leave it like that for now. I guess he has a point about this. I can understand kittens in a way, they’ve been in so many jacket sleeves, but ukuleles? That’s only for the most terrible bands out there and thankfully I can only count with my fingers the bands that say make indiepop with an ukulele. Etsy, crocheted owls, food trucks, artisanal pickles, McSweeney’s, honestly I don’t see any connection at all. Maybe he is playing a game of six degrees of separation?

Twee movement in music, art, film, fashion, food and politics. Damn. I WISH! I dream of someone making an indiepop film. I know the Sarah documentary is coming up, and there has been a couple too like BMX Bandits documentary or the great Dolly Mixture one. But not really a feature film yet. That’d be something. Indiepop music sure. Indiepop politics. Yeah that exists too. Indiepop art? Mmm if you consider the art of the records, perhaps, I can be ok with saying that that exists. Indiepop fashion? I guess there are sort of looks people go for. Though I tell you, I’ve seen some people with mohawks or piercings all over their body following indiepop concerts and not missing any day of an indiepop festival. But I can see someone saying there’s a sort of fashion. But what about saying that there’s indiepop influence in food. You have to be quite stupid to make such a claim. What’s an indiepop food? Marmite because there was a band called The Marmite Sisters? Doesn’t make any sense.

And then they say: and examines the cross-pollinated generation that embodies it—from aging hipsters to nerd girls, indie snobs to idealistic industrialists. Really? Again? Do we need to break down people this way? Clearly he hasn’t gotten what indiepop is. Indiepop is not like this. We are all equal. Bands can be fans, and fans can be bands. Fanzine writers can run a label, a label person can write a fanzine. Everyone does everything, it’s all about democracy and equality. And we don’t like hipsters or snobs or yuppies. Just for your information Harper and Collins.

Then they tell us that Disney and Dr Seuss are origins of indiepop/twee. It’s the twilight zone, isn’t it? I start to worry if the book will really be exactly what this book description is. What will happen to those reading this book and have really no clue what indiepop is. This is creating a caricature of all of us, and a bad one, one that is not close to reality. The only right part of it is a line that says “to its underground roots in the post-punk United Kingdom“. But one line among a lot of crap? Even mentioned my favourite Whit Stillman doesn’t help. I love his films, and I hold them dear, but to say he is indiepop! Or what about mentioning Pitchfork? For f*ck sake, they are all that indiepop isn’t!!! Its’s like the nemesis! They champion everything else but indiepop. They do it all for money, not for the kids, even less for the music. And indiepop is not about the money. Anyone involved in it knows that. If we break even we are already more than happy.

Then the last paragraph is a bit more accurate when they mention: “Revealing a movement defined by passionate fandom, bespoke tastes, a rebellious lack of irony or swagger, the championing of the underdog, and the vanquishing of bullies“, though I strongly disagree when they say there’s a lack of irony. That’s tremendously wrong. I think there’s so much irony, so much wit in indiepop, that we could give away to other genres that lack of intelligence. Perhaps these people don’t care about lyrics. I’ve met some like that in my life. Boring and uninteresting people.

Twee became pervasive? Not really. It’s a very small scene. A little pocket that no one really cares about, only us in it care about it. It has many haters? I haven’t met any. I only meet people that have no clue what indiepop is and give me a hard time explaining them what it is. So yeah, all wrong.

Then there’s this on the Salon feature:
“Tweens?”
“No. Twee.”
“I don’t know what that is.”
“You know! Everything happening in Brooklyn.”
“Hipsters?”
“No, Twees. It’s a movement!”

I go to Brooklyn often for drinks, to party, etc. I have never met anyone that knows about indiepop or twee. I’ve never seen anyone sporting an indiepop badge/pin. Or even a t-shirt. I believe the author lives in NYC, somewhere in the five boroughs, most possibly Brooklyn. I’m very surprised he would make this claim. Because even a The Smiths t-shirt is kind of rare in Brooklyn. I think the ones I see the most these days are Black Flag t-shirts if you are wondering. And yes, Im very observant.

Anyhow, to dissect that interview would maybe require another post, as it is a big joke to twee/indiepop. So I’ll get on that on my next post, on part 2.

The question for now is, if this is just a book description to catch people’s attention, to get sales, or is the book really like this? That’s the answer I’m looking for. I guess we’ll have to wait until it’s published! Let’s see how much it will be hurting our indiepop scene,how many will jump in the bandwagon, and how many ‘haters’ (at last) it will create of indiepop?

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Now into the obscure band of the week: The Clamber. Though it’s surprising that someone has uploaded to SoundCloud the song “Choose The Way”.

Clamber: an awkward and laborious climb or movement.

More like a laborious climb to find out who this band was!

That song was the A side of their one and only 7″ released sometime during the mid 80s. A British band most definitely as on the back sleeve we can clearly read Basildon, Essex. The only other information on the back is that the record was produced by both The Clamber and D.J.M. entertainment. The sleeve was designed by Mark Molloy.

Aside from those credits we do know that the B side was “Everywhere You Go” and that the release was the first one in the catalog of Clamber Records. So definitely a private release. Some descriptions I found online of previous listings on eBay say: “Somewhere between Friday Club, early Style Council, Ala Pana Fuzo and Where The Hell Does Jane Smith Think She Is.” Definitely on the right track. I can guess that this description must have written by the great Uwe at Firestation Records! The only other clue we get is from the center label of the record. It credits both songs to a K. Boardman.

Aside from that, there’s nothing else online about the band. Listening to “Choose The Way” one ends up wanting to know more, to research them properly, find out what happened to the band, who were the members, and how can one find a copy of it, with a sleeve (as it seems the sleeves are rare too!). It’s a great track obviously. The trumpets. How can I be won by trumpets!!! Catchy, classy, elegant. The kind of record I love! Check it out!

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Listen
The Clamber – Choose The Way

Thanks so much to Klaus Cornfield for the great interview! Throw that Beat in the Garbagecan! is one of my favourite bands ever, so it was quite thrilling to receive these answers! On top of it all this year the band is reuniting for a one off gig in Berlin and I’m so planning to go. I already have a concert ticket! Just missing the plane ticket! But yeah, it’s so exciting! There is more information about the event here if you are wondering. And you can buy the tickets here! Throw that Beat had a wonderful career, with many albums, EPs and singles, all of them packed with hit-songs, and many indiepop classics in my book. If you haven’t heard about them yet, well, maybe it’s time for you to discover them, and if you are a fan like me, I hope you learn a thing or two, or just enjoy the interview! Happiness!

++ Hi Klaus! Thanks so much for being up for an interview. First of all I have to say that I’m so very happy that you are reuniting for this one gig in September. Why did you decide to come back? And will there be more concerts or this is just a one-off?

I was about to become 50 years old and decided to ask Oli, Lotsi, Iwie, Alex and Ray to play once more, just for the fun of it. They jumped on the train all together quite happily – and it grew fast from the idea to play “a bunch” of songs to a whole 90 Minute Rock show. But we decided also to keep it cool. One big evening! No further promises or expectations.

++ I have never seen you live before, so for me this is going to be a great first time, so looking forward to it. Many German friends have told me that your gigs were so much fun back in the day. What can I expect in this gig? Is it going to be the full lineup of the band? Are there any unreleased songs that you’ll play? How many songs will you play? Bringing any special merch? Any little gossip will do!

Of course we printed a new poster and we will sell a few leftover XXXL shirts that were stored in my parents cellar for quiet a long time. Some rare records from another ancient box will be also waiting for our meanwhile loaded and grey haired fan people at our merch stand, along with our iconic merchandise girl Soosoo Sunbeam. We are very happy to announce that Lotsi will be back for this concert, which for me is the very exciting element in this whole enterprise. The fun will be there i suppose, the awkward announcements, Iwie’s silly hat, me stepping on guitar cables and falling over…I don`t think anything can change that in us…

++ So going back in time, and I know most of your German fans will know all these answers, but I think the English-speaking won’t, I want to ask about the early days in Nuremberg. How was it? Was Throw That Beat your first band experience? And if there were any bands in town that you liked at the time?

No, there was not one band in town that we liked when we got started. There were 3! The shiny Gnomes, the Truffauts and the Gostenhof Giants. Along with some other fine talent like the Kern brothers or Albi Illegal and his psychedelic hardrock group the Illegal State of Mind. And we had the Zabo Linde, a club in the south part of Nuremberg which introduced us to great small indie bands in the eighties, like the Feelies, the Go-Betweens, the Milkshakes, the Wedding present, the Television Personalities and many more. We were all the musical children of one man. Michael Demmler, who owned a small alternative record store and gave me my first very good record. My first buy was the Television Personalities live bootleg “live at Forum Enger” and “Jonathan sings” from Jonathan Richman. That was a new world.

++ And talking about cities, now you live in Berlin, and the gig will be happening in Berlin. When did you move? And whereabouts in Germany would you say you have the biggest fanbase?

I moved to Berlin 10 years ago. I don’t want to say it is the perfect place to be automatically, but for me it was. It’s a little bit like Piccadilly Circus in London. Everyone comes here once in a while. Some old friends who I know from all over Germany moved to Berlin as well. Since we used to play so many shows all over the land, we have a good chance to find many of our audience in the biggest and dirtiest city that’s available. Berlin. Anyway, no matter where we would do the concert, there will be a lot of people that have to travel for it. I only worry a little bit about the CO2 that will be released only for this one concert….ayayay…what a shame…

++ You took the name of the band from a B-52s song, but the whole band had great stage names, I always wondered where those names came from. For example, the Cornfield part. What’s the story behind that?

Lotsi Lapislazuli and Iwie Candy XO7 and their sister Soosoo Sunbeam. They invented fake names for themselves that were so funny that i got jealous and begged them to make one up for me. So they stuck their heads together for a minute and came up with “Kalle Cornfield”. Which i liked, except that i kept the Klaus from my real name. Oli changed to Polli, when we watched too much Monty Python sketches with dead birds. Pollunder means Pullover in German- Oli’s favorite winter clothing, So that resulted in Polli Pollunder. Lord Ray was always Lord Ray, don’t even know where that came from. When we looked out for a band name in 1986, we liked the words “beat” and “garbage” very much, and we decided to use the longest band name of all the bands on the planet.

++ Also by the end of Throw That Beat in the Garbagecan’s run as a band you shortened the name of the band to just Throw That Beat. Why was that?

After a few years the joke was used up and the records became CD’s and there was no way to print such a long name on those crappy tiny plastic things. We also thought that shortening the name would sound fresh and could help the audience to see us in a new light. Did it help? No.

++ You played so many gigs back in the day. What would you say were the best and why?

Brixton University, CBG`S, Open air in Barcelona, Heidelberg, Kotbus, Roskilde Green Stage, Tokio, somewhere in Shibuya on the 8th floor, Transfer in Erlangen, all those and many other concerts were just perfect moments for us i think. It really doesn’t matter so much how big the crowd was, but on those occasions I remember that it was packed and hot and I even remember that I collapsed once in Cologne, because I wore a fake fur hat on stage.

++ And how was the visit of The Fat Tulips to play with you in Germany? Any anecdotes you could share?

They loved to play the blues in the backstage room.They were just so adorable, and they let us stay at their homes when we toured in England.

++ Do tell me how did the first contact happen with them and Heaven Records? How did this friendship start?

That is so long ago, I can’t recall how and why we met them. I guess that someone wrote letters and then picked up the phone. Maybe a fax here and there…those were undigital times…yes…fax…can you believe it?

++ My first encounter with your records was here in the US, through Spinart. How did you end up signing with them? And why only two of your albums came out with them?

Spin Art did very good work. They discovered us a little bit too late to start releasing our records from A to Z, so they decided to make their own compilation. That went up to number 49 in the College Radio Charts, so don’t say we did not make it big in the USA. We saw the effort behind it and for a week we even experienced some kind of hype, especially when we played at the CBGB’s. The room was crowded only when we were on stage, I swear! It was almost frightening…maybe they were crowding up to beat us up…but no. They loved it as if the other bands were Poison and we were The Cure.

++ Most of your records came out on Electrola though. Who were they? And how was your relationship with them?

Robert Wolf and Monika Markowitz wanted to try something new and with us they did. After we got guaranteed in the contract that we would play the music the way we wanted to, we were very surprised, but we liked it!

++ You have so many fantastic songs, but can I pick two and you can tell me the story behind them? What about “A Choclatbar for Breakfast” and “Little Red Go-Cart”

When i was a kid I woke up early in the morning on the week ends and sneaked into the living room where my parents were hiding the chocolate bars. The song seems to use this picture to tell us something about a lost feeling that the author wishes to come back again. I wish I knew what I was really thinking…still. Little red go-cart was Lotsi’s idea while she heard me playing D A G A very fast on my old red Astro guitar. I adore the line “submarines just run ashore, people cry and go to war”.

++ And if you were to pick your two favourite songs from your repertoire, which would they be? And why?

“I dedicate my life to you” is my all time favorite. Its impossible to tell the second one, I think I love them all the same, but the one I call “my song” is the mentioned. First I was singing it to someone else, till I recognized is really about me – which made me cry a little bit, because suddenly it became so sad and still sounds happy.

++ You recorded also a bunch of videos. How was that experience? Who came up with the ideas for them? What was more fun, recording at the studio or filming videos?

For the videos we threw all our ideas together and Iwie would take care of the rest. Hiring a camera and sound man and editing. She still is working in that field and saved our tiny butts from looking stupid with her editing work. A kiss for Iwie! Recording music was a 10 to 20:00 job mostly. Later we recorded in huge studios, where Suzie Quatro recorded some hits and was reported to have thrown a cake on the ceiling. The cleaning woman told us this story from the seventies when she saw how well we behaved – except for the last day. I remember getting very drunk at least once when we finished the record and listened to the pre-mixes. Sooo drunk, I climbed on a lamp…and on a few other things I can’t remember properly. Recording new songs was one of my favorite parts of being in a band. Along with most of the concerts.

++ Something I also love about your records is the artwork, the photos you used, the imagery. Who was in charge of that?

We were lucky to have some talented friends who helped us with the photos, Billy & Hells for example, who I hung out with when we started. We even got Jürgen Teller for a shooting, because he knew Iwie from school. As a cartoonist I supplied a few comic strips, but the beautiful artworks of the albums and singles are made by Lotsi. You can’t beat Lotsi’s stuff.

++ About your songs, they are quite unique, so I always have wondered where did you get inspiration and who had influenced you to pen such songs? Also if you ever considered doing German songs for Throw That Beat?

We wrote one German song! “007 Sehen”. Iwie sings it. Kind of a test balloon. We loved it and were about to do at least one or two more. But we took so much inspiration (that’s how you call it) from English and American music, comics, films and TV shows, (not to mention Mr Kurt Vonnegut) that it felt very natural to us to use English. Gladly English lyrics by German bands were awfully dull in the eighties. And the rest of the world did not so much better with a few exceptions. All these boring clichés that were used made me sick, so we were proud do it a little bit funnier than the rest. We spit on the radio broadcasting and pressed things like “fuck” and other beep words on vinyl…just because we liked it better that way. The trick was to stay open for any subject to sing about. It may be a very small object that makes big sense. Once when we waited for Iwie to show up for our rehearsal and she did not show up, we wrote a song about waiting for Iwie. As simple as that. It ends with a long keyboard solo by Iwie, because she might have been late, but finally she came. It`s still one of my favorites. It seems to say so much more than it really does. The minor chords gives it such a sad and beautiful meaning. But there are a few crappy lyrics as well by me from the very first beginnings. I had to learn the hard way myself.

++ So when and why did you all decided to call it a day? What did you do all after?

That was after our last tour in 1997 I think. There was not much despair or anything. The end faded in very gently when when we drove over a dark autobahn from Switzerland to Nürnberg listening to “My name is Jonas” from Weezer. The workers are going home…that was my feeling.

++ Something I’ve always wondered is if there are still any unreleased songs by Throw That Beat? And if there are plans for any sort of reissues or new releases in the future?

There is a very charming and trashy fanclub tape that waits to get digitalized, and a few very rare covers and B-sides. We will make it available on our homepage soon.

++ And looking back to those days, what would you say was the biggest highlight of the band?

Our very own red Throw That Beat in the Garbagecan! Viewmaster with 3D Bandportraits that EMI made as a promotion gadget for the Cool Album.

++ I’ve been to Berlin before, but as you are a local now maybe you can give me some tips! What are your favourite areas to go for a walk? favourite German dish that I should try? And what about beer?!

Beerlin! If you like Beer, you will find enough variations – If you ask me, try Egernseer. Its hardcore. And eat currywurst, if you can find one. They died out almost in the last 10 years. They are even more hardcore. The best food will be Turkish food in Kreuzberg. Miammiau

++ Ah! and before I forget, favourite chocolate bar?

Ritter Sport Alpenmilch

++ And one last question, how many guitars do you own?

3 Guitars. A small acoustic nylon string from the thirties made out of maple wood and a red 1964 Astro (Instrumentenbau Stromer halfacoustic) and a 1974 Gibson Halfacoustic.

++ Thanks again so much Klaus, anything else you’d like to add?

Thank you for your patience! Feel free to correct my words in spelling and commas and dots and stuff. make me sound like i know what i`m doing please:-)

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Listen
Throw that Beat in the Garbagecan! – A Choclatbar for Breakfast

Not many things to review this week. No more festival announcements. For now.

This weekend though was terribly busy for me. I didn’t end up going to Chickfactor (I felt lazy as it was too far, and Amor de Días were playing a bit too early and I was going to miss them, plus the tickets were pricey) but ended up seeing a fantastic Barcelona band on Friday called Univers. They played at Cake Shop, sandwiched in between some not very good bands (with members of some renowned NYC bands), around 10 pm that night. The quartet was in reality incomplete as their original guitar player wasn’t allowed to enter the US because of some visa issue. So the bassist played guitar and their label/manager learned hastily the songs on bass so they could complete the gigs in their US tour after visiting Mexico.

I had been in touch with Aitor, the drummer, thanks to our mutual friend Toni Poni. He was kind enough to bring me all the records they had put out so far. I completed my collection at the end with their setlist. The music was exciting, fuzzy, poppy, with great energy. Even though they sang in Catalan, that didn’t stopped me from tapping my feet while enjoying a cheap pint of Genessee. They were really good! Though they did promise me they are even better when they have the full lineup. That should be very true, so I can’t wait to see them like that. They seemed a bit disappointed and that was understandable, but I think the whole crowd enjoyed the gig. We all look at things through  a different lens.

Next day I would see them again, this time at Shea Stadium. Not a venue I enjoy going. Definitely not. Quite far and in a deserted area. But well, let’s catch them for a bit I thought. They were playing early and then I had the rest of the night. They were great again but the crowd had changed. The old NYC indie scenesters weren’t around anymore. Instead all these strange hipsters, big beards, beanies, and so on. I didn’t catch the other bands though, but it’s a safe bet they were terrible (?). Again Univers were thrilling. While I was watching them I had this feeling of seeing a young Wedding Present doing their first steps. Must have been the fast guitars, blazing guitars that furiously created melodies. Yes, these things can go hand in hand.

Sunday more people from Spain arrived, this time to my home. Lost Tapes, after touring the West Coast and then later SXSW, Nashville and Athens, GA, they ended up in New York for one last show at the Cake Shop. We took the subway with all the instruments. We carried guitars and equipment We transferred to the F train. We got to Lower East Side early and it was all happiness. Suddenly Pau noticed his pedals were missing. There was barely an hour and a half for the concert. They could have played an acoustic concert you’d think, but a friend of the band was going to make some shots for an upcoming video. They needed the pedals. A quick decision was made. Take a cab to my place and back. We should make it in less than an hour. And so that’s how we rolled.

As soon as Pau and me got at the Cake Shop, when we were getting off the yellow taxi, Raúl was calling me asking where the hell were we. We were just outside! The sound guy was asking for the band, it was their turn, and we had just made it on time. Stress went away, and the band played a short but sweet set. They were dreamy at moments, jangly and quite danceable at others. Raúl was the energy, jumping and strumming his guitar with true excitement, and at the same time singing softly in true indiepop fashion. Pau, on the other hand, was the elegant one, playing a twelve-string with dexterity, creating jingle jangly arpeggios that made the songs shine. It was pretty nice, though they plan to “upgrade” their live set for their NYC comeback, for Popfest time. Could be interesting! For now, you should definitely catch them at the Copenhagen Popfest if you go! And in London too where they will be playing along the Wolfhounds and 14 Iced Bears more next weekend at the Northern Star festival.

Now I’m exhausted. Looking forward to a more laid-back kind of time for this coming weekend. Though I have to say that I’ve already started drafting the new fanzine. Those on Facebook might have already seen the cover for it, sporting The Haywains circa 1989. Bands that will be interviewed in the fanzine so far include The Haywains, Don’t Cry Shopgirl, Lost Tapes, Boyish and The Occasional Flickers. And on the 3″ CD that will be included we’ll be having The Haywains (with an old demo from the vaults!), Lost Tapes, Wallflower, Alpaca Sports (in a way), and The Royal Landscaping Society. You won’t want to miss this!

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I admit I can be jealous. Hard not to unless you are Scandinavian I think ha ha. But this band was German, and they seem to have been lost into obscurity for a couple of decades now.

The Jealous Chaps as far as I know only released this one 7″. It’s not on Discogs or 45cat. Only the gold mine that is From a Northern Place blog has it. A friend had sent me both songs on it, the A side, “Boys Are Talking” and the B side, “Sheila”. And when I heard the A side for the first time I just couldn’t believe this song was so unknown. This is classic indiepop!! What the hell!

Self-released in 1988 the record has a very Picasso looking guitar players. They play blue guitars. Actually the artwork looks like something out of this blog. Blue, white and black. Very classy! The A side plays, and what are the boys talking about? Love. Of course.

The back sleeve has thank you notes for Andy Jezussek, Martin Peetz and Anja Beisse. There’s some address for contact information and also some company names. Possibly a distributor? Kitsch and Musik und Fun Fun Fun appear on the lower left side. Whereas on the right side the designer for the artwork is credited as “Artificial, Design & Objekte Juergen J. Burk”. He was based in Nuremberg.

So, would it be a safe bet to think that the band was from Nuremberg? Could be. I’m sure my German friends can help and shed some light about them. I’m sure some must have seen them playing gigs, or maybe this record shows up sometimes at record fairs? I wonder what happened to them. They are probably still making music in a way or another.

I play the songs again, how catchy is that line of “when boys are talking, when boys are talking about love”. I love the simple guitars and the little arrangements after each verse. And the raw drumming! Then “Sheila” comes, with it’s cadence, begging Sheila to be theirs. Who was this Sheila? Maybe The Smiths’ Sheila. Wild guess.

Anyone remember them? Whatever happened to the Jealous Chaps?!

EDIT: Andreas has just pointed me out that the Jealous Chaps released another 7″ on Softwerk records. This one included the songs “It’s Music” and “Venice”. The record was released in 1988 and instead of the blue color on the artwork, the same sleeve was produced but with red color.

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Listen
Jealous Chaps – Boys are Talking

– EDIT –
I’ve just been told that there is no-repeat policy at Indietracks. Later in this blog post I go babbling about it, so forgive me. From Indietracks Twitter I got this: “We don’t have a no-repeat policy, all we say is that we don’t book bands two years in a row :)” . So everyone out there forgive me, I have misunderstood when I go on and on about this policy. I was totally sure it existed, but it’s clear for me now, through official channels even(!) that this rule doesn’t exist.

Hello my dearest indiepop fans of the world. Not the nicest, not the prettiest, not the smartest, but my favourite people nonetheless? haha. After last week review of New York Popfest lineup I think it only makes sense to check out the bands that have been announced to play Indietracks. So let’s do that.

I remember I woke up. Kind of late. 11am. I turn on the computer and I see a friend that has posted the lineup. Then I write a post about it on my facebook. So far, all so natural, right? Thing is, I was leaking the news. I had announced some of the bands 3 or 4 hours before the official announcement. What had happened? It seems people that are involved in press or have a blog (but not me of course) or have a zine (not me either) got the news beforehand. I guess so they could prepare a post or an article for when the time came after the announcements. The news was embargoed until 7:00pm GMT. I guess my friend didn’t notice immediately about this fact and had made it public. Of course he noticed afterwards but it was too late, I had already noticed the whole lineup before he had the chance to delete his post.

My complain was, “Allo Darlin’ again?”. My excitement came for The Popguns! I had wanted to see them last year. I was happy to have met their drummer as he was at Indietracks drumming for his other band, The Fireworks. I took a photo. Good fan. This year it has to be with the whole band of course. But what about Allo Darlin’? Sure, I’m not a fan, but that doesn’t mean that I can be objective and say that Indietracks goers love the band. I understand that. The thing is, Indietracks boasts a no-repeat policy. I know they’ve broken this policy before with The Smittens (who knows why, but they did), and well, they are doing it again. Isn’t this the third time Allo Darlin’ is playing? I don’t know anymore. For me this is a bit annoying because this in fact takes a space that another band, that has never played, could have taken. Right? I’m not into conspiracy theories, but, some people gain benefit by shifting records of their bands at this festival. I leave the thought there…

The March 10th announcement read like this:

Gruff Rhys, Allo Darlin’, Dean Wareham, Rocketship and Withered Hand are among the bands playing this year’s Indietracks Festival, held on 25-27 July at the Midland Railway in Derbyshire.

Also playing Indietracks this year will be Spearmint, The Spook School, The Popguns, Sweet Baboo, Let’s Wrestle, The Very Most, Franny and Zooey, The Wellgreen, Night Flowers, ONSIND, The Blue Minkies, The Yawns, Thee AHs and Lost Tapes.

Cheaper early bird tickets are available until 11 May. There’s full details about today’s announcement here: http://www.indietracks.co.uk/?p=757

I’m feeling quite sick today, sore throat, maybe starting to get a cold, but as I promised last week, I think it’s good time to go through the NYC Popfest lineup. Though before doing that I want to tell that I have started work on the 9th Cloudberry fanzine. I’ve started to contact the bands that will be featured as well as the ones that will contribute tracks for the 3″ CD. Hopefully it will be ready by Indietracks time. I’d love to sell a bunch there! Now let’s start getting excited about NYC Popfest!

I’ll only go through the bands I’m excited to see, in alphabetical order.

The Arctic Flow – I believe they will be playing the free Saturday show at Spike Hill. They will go on first. I don’t seem to find online the schedule for Popfest but I’ve seen some of it on Facebook. The Arctic Flow were invited last year to play but they didn’t come. I think it had to do with playing solo or something like that, I can’t remember. In any case I’m very glad that Brian is coming to play to NYC the beautiful songs that he has been crafting for many years now. I’ve really liked the few things I’ve heard, the EP on Holiday Records and lately the 3″ on Little Treasure. I definitely want to see this band.

Bart & Friends – Of course! I think this is one of the bands I’m looking forward the most. I’m pretty sure they will be playing on Friday at The Knitting Factory. I had the chance to work with Bart on a little 3″ some time ago and later I’ve been enjoying the EPs on both Matinée and Shelflife. Bart is an indiepop hero, The Cat’s Miaow, his previous band, is one of my favourite bands ever. It is no surprise I’ve interviewed Bart in this blog so many times, talking about each of his projects, from Girl of the World to Pencil Tin to Cat’s Miaow and more. I’ve heard some rumors that as many in the band are librarians they will be visiting some of NYC libraries. Exciting! Extra points for the band as I will finally meet Scott Stevens (who is part of the Friends part), an old friend from Summer Cats! So far I had the chance to meet Hugh and the other Scott, Brewer, of the Cats. So this is pretty cool. Also Scott S used to be in The Earthmen who also appeared on an interview in the blog. We have agreed on having some great dinner that Friday before the show! Good times!

Colour Me Wednesday – In due honesty, I haven’t followed them in all these years they’ve been playing gigs. I have always missed their gigs when I’ve been in the UK. Their recordings remind me a bit of a band I used to love in the mid-00s, The Sorayas (from Sweden). This is punky indiepop, but has that Britishness that I like. Not sure what day they’ll be playing, or where, though I’m hoping they are a nice surprise for me.

Don’t Cry Shopgirl – Very VERY excited to see them. It’s been some months since they appeared on Facebook. I remember writing some lines about them here on the blog, and then just after that, hanging out all the time at Indietracks with Astrid and John. Sweet people! It’s interesting how friendship happens! Astrid is perhaps a bit more known as she plays solo with a project called Northern Spies. Under that name I saw her play in a packed wagon at Indietracks while everyone was sweating and then months later here in NYC. Actually she is in NYC now too! The truth is, after listening to their songs for the first time I knew I had to release them. So yes, there will be a Cloudberry 7″ by them this year. We’ve been working on the artwork this week actually! They will also be playing the free show on Saturday and I think this is one that I will say you can’t miss!

The Flatmates – I am going to see them. I’m not sure what to expect. Martin and Rocker are the only original members. I like Brian and Lisa, but I have to say I’m very skeptical after the single they released (mostly due to the artwork being kind of terrible). But The Flatmates are the The Flatmates, a band that I’ve always loved, so I’ll be there front row. Let’s see what happens.

Franny & Zooey – A band I must have seen as many times as Allo’ Darlin haha. I must really love them. I could tell so many anecdotes and stuff about them, but I think it has to wait. I may have seen them around 10 times  play here in NYC and I’m happy to call them my friends. Real friends, the kind you go for beers every single weekend. In the last few years I’ve seen an evolution in their songs that I can assure you that you’ll be surprised by their next release. They’ve gone full indiepop! I believe they’ll be playing Cake Shop on Thursday, hopefully not opening because I may miss them because of work! It’d be a shame because it’s been months since they left NYC and they are coming back especially for this gig, so crossing fingers!

Gingerlys – It was Ed Shelflife that tipped me about them while eating Korean food here in NYC months ago. I think he will be putting out a 7″ by them. I was so surprised that a band this good in NYC hadn’t been under my radar. Then I tipped Maz. Then I’m very happy that they’ll be playing Popfest! May be the best new band in town. One of the bands I look forward to seeing the most. And that’s because I’ve been unable to attend any of their shows yet! Terrible me!

Gold-Bears – Jeremy is back. Who’s coming with him? He always finds the cool musicians, though I must admit I loved the first incarnation the most with Erich and Santiago. Mostly because they were so cool haha. Anyways, the Gold-Bears have a new album coming out and it’s coming in a white and green sleeve that I had to Photoshop some days ago! Energy, excitement, and fast guitars, that’s what they bring. I can see them many times and will never have enough. One of the happiest moments of Cloudberry is indeed when we released their 7″. Now I’m hoping to hear their new song as well as their classics. Can’t wait for my favourite This Poison wannabes 😉

The Haywains – So yes, you know that the Haywains 7″ is coming out on Cloudberry just for NYC Popfest time. What can I say about the legend that The Haywains are? You’d think they’d sound boring and mature after 20 years. But when you listen the 7″ songs that’s not the case. They sound as fresh as ever. Fresh as a lettuce! And what’s even better is that I can assure you that live they are one of the funnest bands I’ve ever seen. Their Madrid Popfest show that I attended last year was glorious. I think this might be one of the gigs of the year for me. They are playing Knitting Factory of Friday too. I believe they are the headliners that night? Anyways, I just can’t wait. Can’t WAIT! Oh! and they will also be appearing on the next Cloudberry zine I was talking about earlier…

Heathers – Because they sound alright on bandcamp, though they are terrible with emails. I’m still waiting for my copy of the 7″ 🙂

Lost Tapes – Our last 7″ we released was by this Spanish band, and what an EP it is. It’s lush. It’s beautiful. Precious even. It’s classy. It can remind you of moments of the 80s, postcards of Brighter and The Field Mice. It’s no surprise they’ve been just touring the West Coast and now they are playing at SXSW. They will be playing next week at Cake Shop too where I’ll meet them in person for the first time. They’ve been invited to Copenhagen Popfest and Indietracks too. It seems this is their year. One of the best new bands around for sure. Quality.

Marine Life – A band I’ve never heard before. But I’m liking what I hear on Bandcamp. It says their debut single will be coming out on Elefant. That’s a big deal isn’t it? Especially as this doesn’t sound like all the 60s influenced bands that Elefant seems to be preferring these days. Marine Life reminds me to many of the American bands from the 90s. #Poundsign# anyone? Worth checking out the live set.

My Favorite – The quintessential NYC indiepop band. The one and only. The first one. My Favorite is back. I could write so much about them because I love them. That’s why I wanted to release The Secret History album last year. That’s why this year I’m teaming up with them for a co-release of a reissue of Love at Absolute Zero on vinyl. Hopefully later this year the Cloudberry Cake Kitchen of their early recordings will be released too. Dream come true. More importantly, seeing them live, after all my Swedish friends always raved and boasted about their tour in their country, with the pinnacle of Hultsfred festival when My Favorite became a cult band, that’s a dream come true.

Pam & Bart perform as THE CAT’S MIAOW & THE SHAPIROS – This might be the intimate moment at Popfest. It may need a lot of beer to keep me going after getting all sentimental by these songs. When it’s the Cat’s Miaow Pam is not Kerrie, but she is still Pam. She has the voice. It will be definitely interesting to hear. The Shapiros? Match made in heaven. Never thought I’d listen to them. Btw, there’s also a Shapiros interview in the blog!

Rocketship – Another classic band. For many indiepop heroes and legends. For me a fabulous, an outstanding band, that in their earlier period released their most magnificent stuff. The 90s were glorious for Rocketship. The 00s not so much. That Garden of Delights album was the biggest letdown. Here I’m hoping then to hear the indiepop songs, the ones that made Rocketship a band loved by everyone! (also playing at indietracks)

Spearmint – This was perhaps the biggest surprise (maybe not much as a surprise now after they’ve also been announced for Indietracks). I didn’t think they were still going you know. The band fronted by Shirley Lee has been a favourite of mine for so many years. I’ve djed many times their songs, and I remember always having this sort of paradigm about loving their song “The Flaming Lips” and hating the band by the same name! In any case, a band that name drops Said Liquidator in a song, or the BMX Bandits in another, well, that’s a band I love. It’s funny that the day they were announced for Popfest I was actually listening to their A Week Away album. Coincidences. Destiny. I don’t know. But it’s great!

The Spook School – Cloudberry graduates with one 7″ two years ago. Time flies! I thought it was just last year. When I saw them play at Indietracks 2012 I knew they could be big. They are so talented. They are so much fun. And Niall, the drummer, is party personified. Last year they released their first album and what a cracker it was. I feel they will be one of the bands New Yorkers will like the most. Funny how when Nye was living here they didn’t play, now that she is gone the whole gang is coming for it. Life has that kind of things. But the timing couldn’t be more perfect! They are such a treat!

Stars in Coma – I saw Stars in Coma in Berlin Indiepop days. At a small venue. It was nice. I saw André once too when I djed at a little venue in Malmö ages ago. Those were the days. There’s a connection of course with Cloudberry. There was a 3″CD very early on when the label was just starting. There was also a CD album that we released through Plastilina. Stars in Coma is so prolific. I’ve lost count how many releases they have now. But what I do know for sure is that there is a whole bunch of fantastic songs that you should start discovering.

The Zebras – I like them though I’ve never been head over heels for them. They make great luminous pop. Classy, smart, elegant. I stopped following them in 2007 or so. Why? I don’t know. I guess it didn’t connect as other bands do. BUT, I’m hoping to get excited by them once again. The song “Chase” on the NYC Popfest page is very STRONG. If they have more like this one, I might fall in love!

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Über obscure band today. Let’s roll back to 1988.

That year sees the release of a 7″ by a band that sounds more 1984 than 1988. They are called Mexico Red. The songs included are “Eternal Flame” and “Follow me to Heaven”. Both of them are beautiful. They were meant to be classics. They should have been in the Leamington Spa compilations that my friend Uwe has stopped releasing.

They have elegance and class. “Eternal Flame” even has trumpets. Oh I melt. The question arises immediately, with a single this strong, that these days is highly sought after, how have they disappeared from the face of the Earth?

Where does the name come from? Definitely they must have liked Mexico or at least Mexican food (can’t blame them). The Red part? Maybe they liked the idea of a communist Mexico? Who knows. The cover art is beautifully illustrated in black and white. A sad looking girl that seems to have a knife in her belt.

The credits on the back sleeve just add more to the mystery. Lyrics and Music by Del Kwai. Who was Del Kwai? It’s enough of a strange name, but google doesn’t really help me find him.

The label that put out the record was Hummingbird Records.  Possibly a self-release.

The 7″ according to Popsike also included an insert. Not so sure what says in it. I sadly don’t own the record. But maybe someone out there does? And can help us with the insert?

Anyone out there remember them? Where in the UK where they from? Did they have more songs? Would love to know a bit more about them! Hopefully someone can help!

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Listen
Mexico Red – Eternal Flame

Thanks so much to Martin Sernestrand for the interview! 2014 marks 10 years since My Secret Garden Recordings started as a label in Goteborg, Sweden. For us nostalgic people seeing the new Facebook page that Martin put together has brought many smiles and memories. You should all make yourselves fans! The label was a true DIY project, small runs of 25 to 50 CD-Rs for every release. All done with passion. Among the releases we remember bands like Evergreen Days, Everyday Sensations, Penny Century or my favourites Fibi Frap. It didn’t live long, but the legacy, at least for me, is really rich. Time for you to discover (or rediscover) this great label from the last golden age of Swedish indiepop!

++ Hi Martin! How are you? First thing first. It’s been already 10 years since My Secret Garden Recordings started. Looking back in time, how do you feel your releases have aged?

Hi! I’m fine, just a little bit cold. But it is getting better day by day. Yes, it is unbelievable. 10 years! Time just seems to fly away. I was actually listening through all the releases the other day. Overall I think they still hold up to the same standard as before. In my opinion they have aged well and are still relevant.

++ Where did the name of My Secret Garden Recordings come from?

It is a Depeche mode song. Taken from the album “A Broken frame”.

++ Was this your first label project? What about music, do you play any instrument, have you been in bands?

Yes, it was my fist label. I had ideas of starting a label before but this was the first time a sat my plans in to reality. I myself don’t play any instrument. But I have been in some bands when I was young. I played bass in a band when I was around 14 years old but when they realized I couldn’t play they made me the singer. But I couldn’t sing either so I got the sack. Lol! Some years ago I did some unlistenable electronic music under the alias J.Fryer (ie John Fryer).

++ What pushed you to start the label? And did you ever consider it doing it with more people, or was it always a one-man project since the start?

It all started with my fanzine No Disco in the early 00’s. Through that I got a lot of contact with bands and one day the idea of starting a label and releasing the music I liked came to me. It’s sort of grew on me. I didn’t thought about it too much. It just came naturally. I have always been a loner so to speak. Not that I don’t have any friends but I like doing things alone and I’m more comfortable doing projects like this alone. Maybe I’m a little bit of a control freak. I don’t know.

++ Most (if not all?) your releases were releases on CDR. Why the format? Did you burn them yourself, one by one?

It’s a perfect format. It’s cheap, fast and you can do almost everything yourself. I did everything together with the artists/bands. Layout, track list and even song titles. It was very diy.

++ Do you remember the sort of “infrastructure” of the label? Was it all bedroom based?

I guess you can call it bedroom based yes. As I said before. I tried to do everything myself but with some help from the artists/bands. The goal was to keep it as cheap and simple as possible. But the end product still should be something that people wanted to have, pay for or steal from me.

++ And who took care of the artwork for the label?

I did almost all the artwork. Sometimes the artists/bands had an idea but it was always I who did (copy and paste) the final product.

++ Are there any labels that you’d say influenced you in starting your own or influenced you in how to shape it?

Yes, of course. There were (and still is) a lot of labels (and people) that I adored back then. None mentioned, none forgotten. The whole diy ethics was very important to me. I wanted to have a close contact with both the artists/bands and the ones who bought the records and listened to the music. A lot of people wrote me letters and e-mails and the whole diy community was very nice and friendly.

++ Where you always based in Gothenburg? I was curious if you ever attended the famous Starke Adolf club and if you could share experiences of those halcyon days?!

I was born in a small town just outside Gothenburg. When I was 12 years old me and my family moved to Borås (about 70 kilometers from Gothenburg). Then in 2003 I moved back to Gothenburg and I still live here now. Of course I attended Starke Adolf. Many times! It was a blast. I look back very nostalgic about those years now. All those people, labels, fanzines and bands. It was fantastic!

++ Have you ever thought about you or anyone else releasing any of the stuff from your catalog? How would you feel about that?

Not at the time. Back then I was very stubborn. A lot of people wanted me to re-release stuff that was sold out but I decided not to do that. For me it was very important. All the stuff was released in 25 or 50 copies. I wanted it to be something…I don’t know…but I wanted it to feel special to have one of those releases. To hold them in your hands. But I know a lot of people, beyond my control, uploaded songs and made it digitally available. Which I always thought was cool.

++ How much of an impact would you say My Secret Garden Recordings had in the Swedish scene? At that time there were many small labels, wondering if at all you feel part of a scene then?

I’m the wrong person to say so or even speak about my own label in that way. But yes, there were a lot of small independent labels in Sweden back then. And still are. It was not only Swedish people I had contact with. I spoked with people all around the world. The diy community was (and is) very big and because of the internet you can very easily stay in contact with people from all different countries. 

++ Are you still in touch with the artists you released back in the day? What are they doing now?

I’m still in contact with some of them via Facebook and other social medias. But less and less over the years. Too bad.

++ There’s really not a full discography online for the label. Would you mind writing it down for me?

I have just posted it on the official My Secret Garden Recordings FB page (https://www.facebook.com/notes/my-secret-garden-recordings/discography/496466800464379?stream_ref=10). I can post here also if you want. Or?

++ Something about the label is how personal it was, there are these sort of pre-raphaelite and art nouveau influences in it. That’s something that caught my attention. How important and how planned was this aesthetic for your label?

Yes, you are very attentive. It was a style (and still are) that I liked a lot. And I think that a lot of the releases, especially the Evergreen days releases, was very well planned. I wanted the music and the lay out to go hand in hand so you can see and feel what it all was about. Me and Emelie Berg (ie Evergreen days) seemed to have the same thought about almost everything (regarding the artistic appearance) without actually talking too much about it.

++ And abroad, outside of Sweden, how was the support for My Secret Garden Recordings?

Really overwhelming actually. I got a lot of feedback and good response from all over the world. Good reviews and a lot of people writing about the label and the artists/bands. Especially in Asia, North America and some parts of South America.

++ How did it work for you to put out a release, from finding a band, releasing their records, organizing gigs, or promoting them? What was the best part of it all?

Most of the time I contacted an artist/band (sometimes the other way around) that I liked and asked if they wanted to release something on My Secret Garden Recordings. If they said yes they sent some songs to me. And then I decided what songs I wanted to release. Either they got an idea for the sleeve art or I made a proposal. After everything was done I pressed the actual release and sold it via my webpage. I never organized any gigs but I got some help promoting my releases via blogs and fanzines all over the world. Also sold some stuff via different online stores like Fraction discs (http://www.fractiondiscs.se) and so on.

++ I think the most regarded releases of yours are the ones by Evergreen Days. How beautiful are the songs. She was also your first release. How did Evergreen Days ended up in My Secret Garden Recordings?

I meet Emelie Berg (ie Evergreen days) through mutual friends and I had since before knew and listen to her other project called The Set Designers. After buying the seven inch single released with The Set Designers Emelie Berg sent me some new songs on cd-r. After hearing these songs I immediately asked if I could release these songs. And so My Secret Garden Recordings had started. 

++ Is there any Swedish band right now that you feel would have fit perfectly in your label? And what about back in the day when you were running the label?

A lot. But if I should mention a few I would say Action Biker, Paddington Distortion Combo, Compute, The Honeydrips and Strawberry fair.

++ I remember you collaborated with some other people like Robots And Electronic Brains. How did these come up?

I can’t remember exactly but I think Jimmy at Robots And Electronic Brains contacted me after hearing about the label. He had reviewed some of the releases and even some issues of my fanzine No disco. He asked me if I wanted to be included on the compilation and I said yes.

++ You were supposed to release one final compilation album if my mind is not playing tricks on me. I think I have good memory. What happened to that compilation and where the songs to be included are still unreleased?

Yes, you are correct. Back in the days I was supposed to release one last compilation called “This Was My Secret Garden”. It was supposed to be released late 2005 or early 2006 I think. But I got tired and lost the motivation to release it so it was never actually released. There are still some unreleased songs yes.

++ When and why did you decide to call it a day? Do you miss running the label?

Late 2005 or early 2006 I think. As I said before I got tired and lost the motivation. Sometimes I miss running the label. Sometimes not. I actually thinking of releasing some stuff for the 10 year celebration later this year.

++ And these days to what do you dedicate your time? Any other hobbies?

I work as a teacher. It takes a lot of my time. I still listen to a lot of music and still buy a lot of records. One of my hobbies is to collect different stuff (Depeche mode records, retro video games, comic books and Star Wars action figures).

++ And do you still follow the indiepop scene these days?

Sorry but no, not that much. Not like 10 or 15 years ago.

++ Looking back in time, is there anything else you’d have liked to do with the label that you didn’t have the chance to? And what would you say was the proudest moment of the label?

I would have loved to have released more stuff. But at the same time I decided to quit because I got tired and lost the motivation so I guess I can’t blame myself too much. It wouldn’t have been right to release stuff I didn’t liked or wanted to release. The proudest moment of the label?! Hmm, holding the first releases in my hands, hearing the songs on the radio, reading about the artists/bands in a fanzine or on a blog, getting hand written letters from people all around the world and so on and so on…

++ As a music person, that was involved in many ways, I want to ask you what’s your take about music in this age? Do you think physical records can survive a little longer?

Oh, I don’t know. But I hope so. I love to buy and listen to music on physical records. Any format is great. I just heard a program (on the Swedish radio P2) about cassettes and that people is starting to buy and listening to music more and more on cassettes. So who knows? But at the same time free digital music maybe would end a lot of unnecessary consumption that in the end isn’t good for the planet.

++ And one last question, what do you think is the most rewarding part of running a label? And if you’d recommend anyone to do something like it?

In my mind it is time well spent. You should know that it takes a lot of time. But it is fun and rewarding. Be sure to release music that you love and don’t care about what other people think or say about it. Unless it is good words, words that will make you feel good!

Peace out!

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Listen
Evergreen Days – Tonight