Thanks so much to Akiko for this interview. Sugarfrost Records is one of those labels that truly inspired me to start Cloudberry. The aesthetics, the great taste for picking their releases, and their just phenomenal packaging, was something I have wanted to emulate. Sugarfrost released records by many great bands, from Graeme Elston’s Pure and Eva Luna to Japan’s Nelories and b-flower among others. These days Akiko is a bit disconnected from indiepop but she still has stock of Sugarfrost Records and I totally recommend you ordering some of this stuff from her, it’s just fantastic indiepop!
Now Sugarfrost have a facebook page!

++ Hi Akiko! First of all I want to tell you that your label is a big inspiration to me and my own label. Thanks for what you’ve done. You also started small with The Boshi label releasing zines and flexis before moving to CDs and 7″s. What made possible this change?

My first UK trip was in, inevitably, 1986. After a month of absorbing all indie stuff, back home to Japan and I started writing fanzines, organising indie clubs and gigs. It was primarily just myself at Boshi Label. But with Sugarfrost, it is me and John. You can do more when there’s two of you. The move to 7″s was natural course of evolution. 7″s was the indie medium and it was also “real”, I suppose. That is when compared with cassettes and flexis. Such was the days then.

++ I’d love to do an interview about what you did with The Boshi Label later, as there’s so much to cover about Sugarfrost, hope that’s ok! So it was 1991 when you started Sugarfrost. How was the infrastructure then for the label?

What do you mean by ‘infrastructure’? Such a long word feels too much for us! We were just one of those ‘bedroom’ indie labels. No office, daytime job and stuff, not very much money, just the two of us.

++ Why did you name the label Sugarfrost?

Certain cereal company sold nice sugary stuff (those days in Japan they were marketed as kids snack, not breakfast) called Sugar Frost in Japan. After we nicked the name, somehow they changed the name to… Frosties.

++ I always wondered how you ended up in UK being from Japan, and how did you get into indiepop?

My keen interest in UK indie music has really started when I made good friends at Aztec Camera fan club in Japan when I was at high school. I was already deeply into ‘neo-aco’ by that time, which was an on-going movement. I quickly dug into the indie scene and within a few years I was writing to all sorts of fanzine writers and indiepop bands. After a couple of UK trips while at uni, I was determined to move and to study at Glasgow School of Art.

++ What about the aesthetics and artwork of the label, who took care of that? Something that always strike me is the “extra” that you put on each record, like those booklets included in many of the 7″s for example. How did that came about?

I did first few very home-made ones, design and photos. Stay Still cover boy is my brother so really should’ve given my mum a credit! Then, apart from Razorblade Smile and Evelyn Tremble, all others by Paradiso – our friend Jon Parker, who was co-writing Paradiso fanzine with Eddie (of our own Evelyn Tremble). Somehow Mike from They Go Boom! was doing the typeset for our booklet releases (and messed up a bit!). As most of our bunch were fanzine writers, there was no shortage of volunteers for stories. I think it was because we loved what we did and it was the whole package not just the record that mattered to us. There was no pushing schedule or anything, we only produced what we loved and cared.

++ Also something that impresses me is that you released many Japanese bands for the English market like Nelories, B-Flower or White Kam Kam. How were these received by the brits? Must have been something totally new!

Some people had already heard about Shonen Knife by then. Can’t remember who else, but we weren’t the first anyway. Still unusual it was, though. We got some good reviews and Nelories even had a John Peel session. Music papers praised B-Flower most because of singing straight in Japanese.

++ First release was the fantastic Pure 7″. You already had worked with Graeme on a flexi and would later keep releasing his music. It feels you were his biggest fan! I just met him some weeks ago in London, great guy. How was your relationship with him? Did you ever meet? Any anecdotes you could share?

Did we ever meet? He almost lived with us! ^_^  We met that often, almost like a family. Graeme moved to Liverpool for uni, where we were. Then we just got on so well. But we didn’t release so many of his stuff just because we were mates. From beginning to the end, we liked his music, we had respect for his musical talent. Ah, we had some good laugh – us, Graeme and the Paradiso boys!

++ The second release of Sugarfrost is monumental I think. The compilation “The Birth of the True” should be considered a classic and also an introduction to indiepop. What’s the story behind this compilation? How did you choose the bands and what does the name “The Birth of the True” means?

Again, I can’t recall who came up with the title. There is an Aztec Camera song of the same title actually (as referred in Hachino B-Flower’s interview), but can’t remember if we had that in mind or not. The compilation idea came from Japan side, the label which had all the Japanese bands. It was to be something half the scale but ended up a full LP. We chose UK half of the tracks. One of the things that was special about the compilation was, it was a Japan-UK compilation without any bands from Tokyo and London. You don’t have to be from the big city to be a great artist.

++ You then released White Come Come (or White Kam Kam? it seems they wrote their name in different ways), Nelories, and B-Flower. These Japanese bands are fantastic. How did you discover them? Did you go to Japan often during those years? Did you ever catch them playing live?

I knew Jun from Nelories while she was still at high school, I at uni. Eventually they signed to a label in Tokyo, who had other bands. After the release of the LP, we took Eva Luna to Japan for the Birth of the True showcase tour organised by the label. It was a grand tour of 7 cities from north to south. A great experience, including one-day recording! Tired-looking photo of Eva Luna on the stairs outside the studio can be seen on the back of their Kick Out single on Turntable Friend. Who played where are all blurred now, but it was great to be able to play with the Japanese bands.

As for the spelling of WCC, for the LP we insisted WCC to use Ks instead of Cs for obvious reason. However they then insisted to spell it with Cs for the 12″. I think if they had a better name, would have sold more – we had to throw boxes of them away when we moved, which was painful – but who knows?

++ Even though you mostly released pure pop you also released the very noisy Razorblade Smile. I guess your taste was quite varied! I wonder then which other bands from the period would you have wanted to release? And also, if maybe there were any releases on the pipeline that for one or another reason didn’t get released?

To answer this question, I must explain that we are JAMC (Jesus And Mary Chain, early Creation band from Glasgow) generation. Pop doesn’t have to take just one form. I don’t see Razorblade Smile as a different kind of music, we still hear pure pop in them, in essence. And they were cool!

Other bands that we would have liked to release – is a difficult question. Is even more difficult now that I don’t listen to those music from the era any more. Oh, just remembered there was a talk about releasing the unreleased (then) second album by Fantastic Something! We knew someone in Greece who knew them. But they needed some money for some studio work and we couldn’t afford it. Not much money now but was for us then.

As for our unreleased, there were actually a couple that didn’t happen: one more single by Eva Luna, also an LP by B-Flower.

++ I still haven’t been able to find or listen the Evelyn Tremble 7″. So I’m very curious about this one. Care to tell me a bit about it? Like who were they and how did they sound like?

They are from Hull, England. As I mentioned before, we knew Eddie as a fanzine writer before this band came up. They are like a bunch of boys grew up together, and very funny bunch as well! Musically, kind of like Pale Fountains with a dark side? The booklet sleeve was designed and printed in LA, and just at the time of the big earthquake, too! So it was delayed by some 8 months or so, I seem to remember.

++ You also released Fugu, whose records have become quite difficult to track down. How did you find him? Did you usually get lots of demos from bands by the way? Or what was the usual way for you to find bands for the label?

Fugu has sent us a demo. Ours was his first release, he came over to Liverpool for the recording. And yes, we used to receive lots of demo tapes. Fugu is the only one that we did purely because of the demo, he was virtually unknown to us (ie wasn’t a fanzine writer, and was French).

++ And last but not least, Eva Luna. They released many records with you. I’m wondering, if you were to pick a song penned by Graeme Elston, which one would be your favourite? And what about your favourite song from the whole Sugarfrost discography?

Hmmm, a difficult question! Again, it’s not all about the song, the whole situation adds to the feel of each releases. The first Pure single was the first recording I had ever attended. I also did the photograph of Graeme (in the cathedral yard in Liverpool) and the Pure handwriting on sleeve. Still remember the wow it was when we finally got distribution for the single, thanks to Martin Whitehead (of Subway Organisation and The Flatmates) at Revolver whom I knew then. So all that makes the first single sound special to me.

++ So when and why did you decide to stop releasing records? And what did you do after? Where you still involved with music?

We just drifted off. No definite end. There had never been any money in it. John got busier at work, Graeme moved to London. Times have changed. Also the whole ‘indie’ situation changed about the time of our last releases.

So I was a secondhand vinyl buyer for Japanese shops for a while, then dealing them myself running a regular catalogue for Japanese customers. Which was a lot more profitable than doing Sugarfrost! But after a while, the Japanese ‘guitar pop’ scene also died out and no one was buying those records. So that also drifted off.

++ Nowadays you live in New Zealand, how much different is live over there? How do you like it and what do you do in your spare time? I see you have a page where you sell posters?

Life in New Zealand is 100 times better than the UK. We actually have LIFE here!  I can go on and on about life here. It’s that good. For us, anyway. We are not materialistic. We live close to nature. Back to basics, kind of thing. Which is good when you are not so young but not so old.

After the vinyl sale died out, I moved on to selling Japanese “chirashi” movie promo posters. It is so small, hardly takes any space unlike 1000 vinyl records!  That was the  initial thought, but I got quite into collecting them myself now. It really is a joy. I have an eBay shop (http://stores.ebay.co.uk/puppetonachain-chirashi-shop) and also own website (puppetonachain.com), dealing mainly arthouse, world cinema, cult, independent and anime film posters.

++ Do you miss anything from the UK?

Only miss those lovely hand-pulled pints of real ale from north of England.

++ One last question, my Japanese friends keep telling me I have to try Okonomiyaki. Would you recommend me the same? Or which dishes from Japan are your favourites?

You are talking to a girl from Hiroshima! (Well, I lived mostly in Nara but Hiroshima is my birthtown.) There are 2 sorts of Okonomiyaki: Hiroshima or not Hiroshima. Non-Hiroshima sorts are still yummy but you can make it at home. What you get in Japanese restaurants abroad are non-Hiroshima variation. (You have to be careful not to go to somewhere that serves one from freezer! ) For Hiroshima ‘Okonomi’, you need to go there. There is a real Okonomi culture in Hiroshima. It’s casual, not gourmet. And it’s everywhere.

So Okonomi is one thing I won’t miss if I visit Hiroshima. Food in Japan is so good, I always put on weight when I go back! As I eat almost anything, list of favourite would be so long – too long probably for an interview on music 😛

++ Thanks again a lot Akiko! Hopefully talk soon! Anything else you’d like to add?

It is amazing how we can’t remember some details of what we did. Since junior high school, music had been my whole life and Sugarfrost was, kind of, the baby of my obsession. However, or rather because of it, I now seem to have cut myself from it all mentally. It takes something to bring myself to listen or think about those things. It mattered so much to me… when I see any records I so loved from the era, what I see isn’t just a recorded medium. I see myself there, as I was 15, 18, 21, you know, ‘when I was young’? Somehow it’s hard. Strange it is, isn’t it?

Limited number of back catalogue still available – please refer to:
http://www.puppetonachain.com/sugarfrost/About_Sugarfrost.html

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Listen
Pure – Aspidistra (FROSTY 01)

Thanks again to Richard Farnell for another interview. After being part of The Suncharms in Sheffield, Richard moved to Manchester and eventually joined a band that will become the great Screen Prints. If you’ve never head about them, try to grab the “Perfect City” compilation as it will be a great introduction! While they were around they released on great labels like Earworm or Motorway and left behind a legacy of 20+ songs that I still listen often at home. You can listen to more stuff on their myspace too! Great stuff!

++ I’ve just put on the “Perfect City” compilation. 20 songs on it. But I know from your Myspace that there were more songs. Why weren’t they included here?

The fact was that those tracks were recorded afterwards…the Perfect City compilation was more of a summing up of where we were up to at the time and compiled various singles into one convenient package. The intention was then to keep recording songs for further releases.

++ So you were only around for only 3 years according to this CD? From 98 to 2000?

The use of ‘1998-2000’ in the title of the compilation was in some ways misleading because it implies that the band only existed for that time but in truth we never really broke up – in fact Justin and Declan were recording some basic tracks last weekend!. Sadly fewer songs after 2000 were actually released so 98-2000 was the most prolific period for actual physical releases.

++ How did the band start? How did you all know each other?

Declan and Justin were school friends in Derby who then moved up to Manchester to study psychiatric nursing.  I recall them saying they played  together in bands in Derby for a while but I can’t recall any names – I think they just played a handful of gigs and then moved on.

At work I noticed an advert asking for band members to join an as yet un-named group influenced by The Pastels, Orange Juice, The Go-Betweens , Teenage Fanclub etc. Given that my last band had split up I decided to give music another go and called the phone number.  We then met up at the trainee nurses accommodation which was part of Trafford General Hospital and it was quite surreal walking around hospital grounds with a bass guitar!. They had recorded quite a lot of tracks over a couple of years that formed the bulk of a demo tape, which was given to me at our first rehearsal together.  I was really impressed with the quality of the songs and the production was great considering it was all done on a four-track.

Declan and Justin are natural songwriters and they both have the knack of coming up with an idea for a song from a simple idea or hummed melody and then working out guitar parts, vocal harmonies or even orchestral parts.

Screen Prints has never been a ‘band’ in the normal sense – rehearsals, gigs etc but was always more of a D.I.Y studio project focusing on writing and recording songs and using a wide variety of instruments with an ever changing line up of guest musicians or enthusiastic friends.

++ By now you were not in Sheffield anymore but in Manchester. How do you like it there? Better than Sheffield? Were there any other exciting bands in Manchester at the time?

Manchester has been good to me but Sheffield will always feel like home – Manchester has a ‘harder’ feel than Sheffield which is a much more friendly city.  Manchester sometimes has that cocky arrogance you might associate with London or New York…however that’s obviously not true of everyone – there’s good and bad in every town. There weren’t many exciting bands in Manchester back then – the big news at the time I suppose was the enormous success of Oasis but that didn’t really excite me much.

++ Oh! And are you a United or a City fan?

I completely and utterly hate football but if I was forced at gunpoint to support a team it would be Sheffield UTD.

++ Let me get back on track! Why the name Screen Prints? Do any of you do screen printing actually?

I did some screen-printing back in art college but that’s just coincidence. We decided upon the name after going through long lists of suggestions and it was one we all liked the sound of.

++ And what about influences? I know you loved C86 kind of stuff, but what about the rest of the band? Was it easy to agree with them?

We generally liked the same sort of stuff – indie mostly – but Declan was also keen on Northern Soul, Psych-folk and 60’s harmony pop and some electronica.  Justin liked this stuff too but was equally enthusiastic about food as you can hear in many of his lyrics!

++ How did the creative process work for you all? I see on the liner notes that there was a core band, but there also a lot of other musicians collaborating.

After a while we felt we needed another guitarist so brought in Al who was already a good friend and had been coming to rehearsals and going to the pub with us. In fact pretty much all the later band meetings/rehearsals would end up in the pub and it’s noticeable that the amount of actual finished product began to decline around this time!  We would use friends and girlfriends to contribute in doing handclaps, percussion, backing vocals etc and when the CD was pressed they all got a credit.

++ I find very funny that comment on your Myspace were they say that you butchered Donovan’s “Celeste”. How do you feel about that? And how come did you end up on that tribute album?

Well we though it was funny which is why we posted it on the Myspace page.

He does have a point though! – it’s not our best effort but as big Donovan fans we wanted to contribute to the compilation.  I just loved his phrase – ‘’my shit list of bands to avoid’’- genius! Darla records had simply emailed and asked if we wanted to be involved so we went for it.

++ Prior to the compilation CD all of your releases were on vinyl. Of course I have to ask, which format do you prefer? And why?

I prefer vinyl on the whole but to be honest I probably play more on CD

++ Most of your releases were on Earworm Records, a label that was eclectic and all but deserves more recognition I’d say, how did you end up signing with them?

Someone Al knew called Dave Skinner was a friend of Dominic at Earworm and he played him an early demo. It seems he was suitably impressed so he got in touch to arrange releasing some singles.

++ One of your 7″s, “Her Name I Don’t Remember”, is one of my favourite songs of yours. Care to tell me the story behind it?

This is a Justin scenario! – Him and Declan many years before had been out in Derby and met a red headed Irish girl whom Justin took a shine to.  In the taxi back home Justin swapped details with the girl and some time later sent her a mix tape – the classic courtship ritual of the lovesick indie kid!.

Unfortunately Justin then heard she had a fiance who had promptly glassed some poor bloke-also called Justin-in a local nightclub!

At the time I’m sure he was upset but as the song suggests – he couldn’t even remember her name!.  Lucky escape if you ask me.

++  Another 7″ came out but this time on Track & Field Records: “Same Time Next Year”. I really love the B side on this one, “Missed”. How did you end up releasing with them? How was your relationship with them? They become quite big after, right?

Once again Track and Field had heard a demo and got in touch and we were always happy to say yes if it meant releasing another 7” single.  I too am a fan of ‘’Missed’’ and it possibly has the most painfully loud cymbal crash of any record I can think of! – listen with caution if on headphones!

++ Then there was the 7″ on one of my favourite labels, Motorway Records from Japan. How did you end up releasing a record so far away?

The Motorway Records connection came through Dominic Earworm so I guess it was mostly arranged by him.

++ Also who is Tony Race from the song “Ballad of Tony Race”? Is it based on a real person?

Tony Race was Felt’s first drummer and was sacked by Lawrence for ‘having curly hair’.  Many years later I had the good fortune to meet my musical hero Lawrence and I told him about our track and asked him if this story was true – he said he only hired him in the first place because he looked like Billy Ficca of Television but on second thoughts decided he looked more like Kevin Keegan!..his days were numbered.

We felt that the song had a similar feel to some of the Felt instrumentals so we called the song after this obscure tale as a nod to one of our favourite bands.

++ Then a 10″! How cool is that. You were only missing a 12″ release, huh? But maybe you didn’t consider yourselves an album band? Do you think there are any advantages in releasing in “smaller” formats?

It would have been great to release a 12” or an album but we slowed down in productivity so much over the last few years that it might be a long time coming! I wouldn’t say there’s an advantage to releasing in smaller formats but when in a band you tend to want to release as many things as possible whenever the opportunity arises.

++ And then back to the compilation CD. Why do it that soon? Most bands wait like 10, 20 years to put all their stuff together? Nothing wrong with it, just curious 🙂

We thought it would be good to look back at the stuff we’d recorded and put it all together before moving on to other things. Maybe we had in mind that it was easier for fans to get hold of older stuff on a CD compilation instead of tracking down individual singles. Something like The Smiths ‘Hatful Of Hollow’ or The Wedding Present’s ‘Tommy’ compilations.

++ So, 2 London labels, and 1 Chiba (Japan) label, no Manchester labels interested in releasing your stuff?

I don’t recall any Manchester labels sniffing around but there was not really a healthy indie scene here at the time.

++ What about gigs? Did you play a lot live? How were your gigs by the way, you don’t seem to be too loud…

Our big regret is that we never played one gig…not even a one-off.

We were once offered a chance to play in Denmark at an indie festival but just didn’t get organised in time and the opportunity passed us by. It’s a shame but the fact is that in many ways we were never a proper ‘band’ in that we were more of a recording project – using various additional musicians to record parts as needed. To play live we’d have had a logistical nightmare to recreate the sound.  However what we should have done is a short stripped down set of the songs that we could have played as a four-piece.

++ So what happened? When did you split and why?

We’ve all been busy with other things –having babies, buying and running a record shop and working in psychiatric hospitals..which as I’m sure you can imagine is all either quite stressful or time consuming!

However we’ve never actually split up just been semi-active…well if it’s good enough for Kevin Shields!

++ Having a glance to the past, what would you say were the best moments of being in Screen Prints?

There were many good times – some things that spring to mind are being played by John Peel – twice! , renting a cottage in North Yorkshire to record tracks –( though actually more time was spent watching Declan set up microphones and plug in cables!), Justin getting up at 4am to drive across fields in search of a Viking burial site – only Justin would do this.

We were all at a gig at The Roadhouse and the DJ played ‘’Missed’’ which was nice to hear over the club sound system.

A lot of time spent drinking in ‘The Bar’ or ‘The Trevor’ pub in Chorlton Manchester…actually much more time doing this than making music if truth be told!

++ I was in Manchester just a couple of months ago, had a really nice good time there but didn’t get to see much aside from the Northern Quarter and some good record shops. What would you recommend me to see there next time?

I would recommend that you come and buy lots of records from Vinyl Exchange!

++ And is there any sort of Manchester dish? I was wondering about that and a friend told me about some deep fried egg?

Deep fried egg? ?– that’s news to me. Maybe they meant fried egg as found in a good old English breakfast?. Either way I’m not sure about a Manchester dish – probably best to stick with the Yorkshire puddings and stay loyal to the right side of the Pennines!

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

If I think of something I’ll let you know and if you do come to Manchester again do get in touch.

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Listen
Screen Prints – Missed

Thanks again to Bart for another fantastic interview! Please do order his latest record, I recommend it highly. You can do so from the Lost & Lonesome page. If you want to check prior interviews with him, just click: The Cat’s Miaow, Girl of the World, The Shapiros and Pencil Tin. Now sit back, and enjoy!

++ Hello Bart! How are you doing? Summer coming soon in Australia, any special plans?

Doing well. No special plans, not unless you call sitting in the shade with a long cool drink special.

++ So you just released a new album called “Stories with the Endings Changed”. Why the name of the album? And what can we expect on this album different from previous Bart Cummings offerings? 🙂

The title is a line from one of the songs “Cast of Half Forgotten Names”. It could apply to a band of has-beens who take small parts of peoples’ lives, and then change them around a bit to make songs. But it doesn’t. The main difference on the new CD is we’ve bought Scott and Irene in from the Summer Cats to play on half the songs.

++ How did the collaborations on this album came about?

Scott came in because there was a song that didn’t suit my voice that i thought would work well with his. After he finished recording his part, he goes “I can hear organ riffs and backing vocals, is it ok if i ask Irene along”. So it just sort of goes viral until i step in and say “no cowbell!!”. Pretty much every musician in Melbourne is one degree of separation from Mark, we’ve got a fairly large pool to draw on.

++ I see that two tracks on the album weren’t written exclusively by you. So that makes me wonder how does the process for Bart & Friends work out with so many people collaborating?

The 2 that I co-wrote with Scott follow a pretty straight forward process. the music is written first and Scott gets a copy of the guitar track to write the words to, he emails me a rough copy of him singing over the top when he’s done (just to make sure I’m happy with it, I always am) then we record it with everyone. Mark and Louis come up with their own parts and have quite a large input into the recording rather than the writing. It’s Mark that always says, lets do another take, we can do it better.

++ What would you say are the main differences between The Cat’s Miaow and Bart & Friends?

The Cat’s Miaow was my main priority above all else in my life at that point in time. For the bulk of the band’s existence, I shared a flat with Andrew and we recorded at home, so in some regards you could say the we operated the band 24/7.

This incarnation of Bart & friends is an excuse to go to Melbourne and hang with friends every few months, something to talk about with people online. Some men my age play golf, I write pop songs. It’s still very important to me and everyone else involved, we’re in no way half-arsed about it, but it’s not the main thing in our lives.

++Let’s go back in time, it was 1998 when Bart & Friends started more or less, right? What was the main reason to work this way, collaborating with other talented musicians and not having a regular lineup, and how hard was it to come up with the name for the “band”?

The main reason for the collaborations on the first album was that i had songs with no lyrics, so writing with other people was part fun/part necessity. I think doing just one song in an afternoon kept it fresh and exciting, it prevented it getting boring. And I seriously doubt that any of the people I collaborated with on “Car & Girls” would have been interested in forming a band with me, but were fine to do one song. I think the first one we did was “Are You Guys into Wings” with the meadows brothers.

The purpose of the name is to indicate that it’s me and some other people. It’s a pretty crap name, but I think people more readily accept the floating lineup concept with a name like that. The band name is a bit of a joke as well, I’m hardly a social butterfly.

The songs were recorded over quite a long period, quite possibly 18 months if not longer. “10 Songs About Cars & Girls” was released in 1998 but we may have started work on it as early as 1996. I know the B&F versions of “Crying” and “Don’t Worry, This Isn’t About You” were recorded before The Cat’s Miaow versions, but were released later.

++ Amazingly, with this “band” you’ve managed to play gigs! Is it easy to rehearse with everyone? How does that work?

There was the 3-piece line up of the band in 2000, with Andrew, Mark and myself that played a handful of shows and even did a couple in Sydney. “I was lonely ’til i found you” is sort of a document of that lineup

The 2011 incarnation has only managed to play live once and had one full band rehearsal the afternoon of the show. Getting us all together at the same time is quite a challenge. Luckily we’re a bunch of old pro’s and i think we sounded pretty confident on the night. Scott and Louis in particular are keen to play again, it’s just a matter of finding time when everyone is free.

++ And I know you don’t like playing live that much, so from the few Bart & Friends gigs, which have been your favourite and why?

One of the good things about interviews is that it makes you re-examine things about yourself.
I actually quite like playing live but i really hate
1 Organising shows
2 Singing, especially live

Whenever I play solo I’ve generally got a little loop going in my head “Bart, you sound like SHIT and you have all the stage presence of a wet dishcloth. Who do you think you’re kidding” and that generally continues until I finish. So the performance is generally a bit tense and I don’t exactly sit back and revel in the moment, but afterwords I get to have a few drinks, usually see a band I like and chat to nice people, so it evens out.

If I’m playing and Pam or Scott (or Kerrie back in the day) are singing the loop is generally “this sounds so cool, we’re fucking untouchable” and its all quite enjoyable. On re-reading this it sounds like I’m either suffering from bi-polar or schizophrenia and I’ll just stress I don’t hear voices in my head at any other time.

I think the last 3 shows I’ve played have been some of my favourites of all time:
London, not me solo, I was dreadful, but with Pam was great. We hadn’t played together in 15 years and it was just too easy
Berlin, solo, not the greatest performance, but I got swept along by the loveliest of audiences.
Melbourne, with Bart & Friends, first public outing with this line-up and it was just the best fun. We’d all been wanting to do this a while.

++ How did your relationship with Lost & Lonesome start? I thought no one in Australia knew about Bart Cummings 😉

Well prior to being on Lost & Lonesome no-one did, now I’m even getting played in the cafe around the corner from where we record. Out of everything I’ve ever done, the releases on Lost & Lonesome have probably been the ones that have reached the highest public profile for me in Australia. The benchmark wasn’t that high.

We’d pretty much finished mixing “Make you Blush” before I came around to the idea of releasing the songs on CD at all. My original intention was to have them as free downloads on last fm. Mark had been offering to release them on Lost & Lonesome almost from the get go but I didn’t think it would sell more than 20 copies and I had visions of it getting awkward between us when the CD flopped so I had been reluctant to agree. Uts working out ok so far tho.

In some ways it was inevitable that the CD would come out on Lost & Lonesome, pretty much everyone that plays on “Make you Blush” are in other bands that are also on Lost & Lonesome.

++ But first release was “10 Songs About Cars And Girls”on Drive-In who you had collaborated earlier with The Cat’s Miaow. Funny thing is that there are 12 songs, and then lots of “hidden” songs in this CD. Why is this? The title is really deceiving!

One of the few regrets I have is that we didn’t do a full color sleeve for “Cars n Girls”, the car was a lovely shade of red, matched the model’s lipstick…. yes, the title, I can be quite a smart arse at times, I think it was as simple as “10 songs” sounded better to me than “12 songs”. I definitely didn’t want the 20 bonus Cat’s Miaow songs listed on the back , as I did want them to be a surprise and not a reason to buy the CD. I rationalised that it was only Cat’s Miaow fans that would buy it so it would almost be like getting a free CD worth of songs

++ Second release was “I Was Lonely ‘Til I Found You” with a Penguin Books kind of cover. I read that after this release you had a lack of creative momentum. Why was that?

Probably down to a lot of things. From memory I was working in a job that was quite time consuming and generally left me feeling fairly tired and stressed. My dad had died. I’d bought a house. On the plus side I was in a relationship and that was taking up a lot of time but in a good way.

There was probably a bit of self imposed early retirement going on there as well “you’re 35, stop embarrassing yourself”. But having said that, the songs I was writing then were crap and the break has done me the world of good.

++ Then, 9 years after, you released “Make Me Blush” were you collaborated again with Pam Berry. How did the recording process work for this record? Was it any different from the previous ones?

In some ways its still the same, I write a song and we record it in someone’s house. The difference now is the standard home recording equipment these days is pro-tools and not a 4 track portastudio so it sounds pretty swish. The internet has made working with Pam overseas a lot easier. Not as easy as if we were in the same city but definitely made it a viable option.

The sessions for “Make you Blush” were quite odd for me as I hadn’t played music with anyone for nearly 10 years. The others hadn’t heard the songs before we started recording them (which is something that still happens now) but we’ve got into a routine of me bringing the chords, a vocal melody if I’ve written the words, an arrangement and tempo and the others fill in the gaps arrange the core structure. It seems to work ok. there’s probably thousands of bands that operate in an identical way except most don’t record the song 15 minutes later.

++ And we end up again on your last release, “Stories with The Endings Changed”. Something I find interesting is that for this release and the previous you had two indiepop fans, who are bloggers, and graphic designers as well, to work on the artwork. How did that happen? And how do you see this new up and coming generation of indiepop fans?

I had been reading their blogs for the musical content and admiring the look of the blogs as well. Krister and probably Matt had also been customers of Library mail order, tho I don’t think I initially joined all the dots until much later. I think with both of them doing blogs, I had a fair idea of what they were capable of and I also felt confident that they would know what I’d like as well.

Regarding the new generation? same as the old but younger??? what I do find interesting about it all is that it is much more international and interconnected and multifaceted. It is rare to find someone who is “just” a fan. Not that there’s anything wrong with that but it seems everyone does something whether it’s play in a band, organise shows, do a club night, a blog, design sleeves, run a label, take photos and usually a combination of several.

++ And what about the newer bands? Like any?

Yes, Sunny Street, Motifs, Days, Middle Ones, Fireflies/Very Truly Yours have all produced gobsmackingly beautiful music. I don’t spend a lot of time searching out new music, apart from reading a few blogs . You could drive trucks through the gaps in my musical knowledge regarding new bands.

++ On the Lost & Lonesome site it says “A new Bart & Friends EP is planned for release in early-2012”. Have you already recorded these songs? Care to tell me more about this upcoming EP? What else is in store for the band?

We started recording last weekend and I must say I think its sounding really good so far. Its got a kinda late 50s/early 60s sort of feel. The usual star studded line-up with Pam and Scott handling all the lead vocals. There’s a couple of covers and Scott wrote the lyrics to one which is shaping up to be the pick of the bunch. Oh and a couple of them are over 3 minutes which is unheard of for us.

There’s no real long term plan or goal for B&F. We’re trying not to over-think things and are basically just a bunch of grumpy old men doing the things that we enjoy for no other reason than the enjoyment that doing them brings.

That said, we’ve started talking about the next session being a bit more keyboard orientated and there’s a couple of songs written for that already and I’ve started writing another one tonight

++ I also want to thank you for the mini CD we put together, I was wondering if you could do some shameless promotion for it here. Maybe explain why the tracks run in increasing order if you check the minutes?

I think the EP really sums up a lot of what I’ve tried to do musically. It’s not exactly a best of but it does have a lot of my personal favourites on it to answer your next question.

The songs are arranged in reverse chronological order, ie: from newest to oldest. And it was only after I did this that I noticed that with the exception of the first song, there was a pattern of the songs getting shorter as they got newer. As to the why I’m not really sure but I kinda get the mental image of a spinning top going in ever smaller circles as it slows down.

++ So which would you say are your favourite Bart & Friends songs? And why?

“CBGBs” is possibly my favourite song I’ve written in any band, not just B&F. Both the music and the lyrics are concise, simple, melodic. Its got a dreamy quality to it that works in with the lyrics. Its just a little snapshot of a moment and is probably the best example of the type of song I always try to write.

“How Can You Tell Me You Love Me” is another personal favorite. Anytime I record a song that has what I tend to think of as a “50’s feel”, traditional arrangement, minor chords with a lot of spring reverb, i’m happy

++ Alright, so I was thinking, you as a librarian you must have some favourite books to recommend, right? What have you been reading and enjoying lately?

What I mostly read these days are picture books to my kids. A couple of my favourites have been Oliver Jeffers “The great paper caper” and “It’s a book” by Lane Smith. Even for people who don’t have kids I’d still recommend both these books

++ When I was in the UK they were closing lots of libraries and lots were complaining about it. With the imminent grow of the e-books and digital files in general, how do you think libraries will survive?

That’s a good question. From the articles I was reading online in the UK newspapers you did get a recurring train of thought that was loosely “libraries = books. Books are on the way out, so libraries are redundant”. Whereas I tend to advocate “libraries = access to information, irrespective of the format it’s stored in”. I think the key to libraries surviving is staying relevant/essential to your community, and being able to demonstrate this to your funding bodies. It’s not an easy call by any means especially when your funding body has its own agenda which I think was the case in the UK.

++ One last question, see you at Indietracks next year? Hopefully performing?

Yes, I’ll be the one yelling at his kids to get off the llamas. There’s a good chance I’ll be over that way mid year, but my attending will mainly depend on when it’s on, But i’d love to go. Performing? I’d say it would be near impossible to get all B&F there, (or anywhere really on the same day) but maybe me & Pam. If team Indietracks would have us we’d love to!!!

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

Thanks again for showing an interest

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Listen
Bart & Friends – These Words Are Too Small

October. Now this blog has 4 years! I didn’t expect to write or interview bands this long to be honest. It’s funny, Emma, who pushed me to blog again, and helped me back in the day coming up with questions for the interviews, has been back in my life this week after a whole year of silence. Don’t know if that means anything, but it’s something really nice. She is one of my dearest friends and I had missed her during all this time. It’s true that she is out of the loop now when it comes to indiepop (she is into Beyoncé and that kind of things), and long are the days when we would talk about friends like The Pinefox, love_tropicana or the “sad girl”. Those were the early days of this blog. I remember many of the great questions she came up with for my interviews, some that I wouldn’t have even thought about asking! Like, when she asked if the Pink Noise’s vocalist hair was real blonde or not (!).

Also since August I have a new great friend, Yuiko, who has been pushing me even further, in making more and more interviews. Sometimes I feel I just blog for her. And I enjoy that idea. She was the one who has made the b-flower interview possible, first by translating my questions to Japanese, and then translating Hideshi’s answers to English. Lots of work, and just for the love of indiepop. Also she was the one who asked me to do interviews with The Thieves, Episode Four and East Village. On the pipeline there are other interviews she has requested like the one with Newsflash or Sugarfrost Records’ Akiko. Hopefully those will be up soon. And you know what’s funny, I’ve never met Yuiko, but before emailing, in July, we both attended the same Jasmine Minks gig in London. Who would have known. Small world.

So yes, I’m thanking those who have kept me blogging as you can already tell. I do blog for my own entertainment to be honest, as I’m a terribly curious person, and need to know the story behind the records and songs I have. It’s all like a big jigsaw for me, trying always to put the pieces together. But, there are people that share that same passion and that have given me feedback and inspiration for keeping this blog alive, even when there were catastrophic moments here earlier this year, and made me wonder if indiepop was dead or not. I figured out this month that indiepop has a chronic disease too, sometimes it feels great, vibrant, but sometimes it gets really ill.

Another person I want to thank is Bart Cummings for talking about every single band he has been in and always having the most interesting answers, he knows what I want to read! And yes, there’s a Bart & Friends interview coming up too these days. What is left? Hydroplane?

Helping me get in touch with bands both Uwe and Jessel have been fantastic through the years.

Also I want to thank Phil Ball for his support and all the great chats about lost bands. Someday I know he’ll digitise his tapes and lots of great obscure bands will be re-discovered. Same goes to my dear friend Andreas that really needs to fix his tape player! One of the few that I know that has the blog on an RSS reader 🙂

Thanks to William Jones from Friends & Summerhouse Records for being an inspiration. Always spaghetti carbonara with him.

Last but not least, to Jennifer for being such a big supporter through all these years. I know she prefers my blog posts to be shorter, but well, I can’t help it. One day I promise that I will retake the book idea for compiling interviews from the blog, so you can all read them just before going to sleep just like I do with my Tintins, comfortably in bed.

I know this blog won’t be as popular as those who offer the whole record for download. People enjoy the easiest route always, one click. Aside from those blogs making music throwaway, making these great songs have no value whatsoever, I believe in the challenge of finding out for yourself, going through the depths of ebay, musicstack, record stores, gemm, discogs, and the entire whole wide web trying to find a record. That’s way more rewarding than one click. So to all the readers who have stuck around, a big THANK YOU. And especially, those that leave comments, you make my day.

And to those that think that I steal their “finds”. Just a couple of words, grow up.

Moving on…

The CDs that have been played at home this week were:
1. The Haywains – A37 Revisited (Cider City)
2. Various Artists – The Legendary B Sides (Richmond)
3. The Ethnobabes – Thoughts on Barbecuing (Perfect Pop)
4. Blackberry Wine – Modern Living in a Survival Handbook (Pony Proof)
5. Sambassadeur – Coastal Affairs (Labrador)
6. Paisley & Charlie – Songs in Black and White (Pebble)

And listening to the Legendary B Sides of what was  él Records, I was struck on track number 14 of the second CD, repeating it over and over. I’d say it’s a very Cloudberry song, if that’s a thing you could say. The track was “Valediction” by a band called Ambassador 277. Immediately I started to google about them, to find out who made such a catchy and nostalgic song at the same time. Sad and upbeat. I wanted to know who was singing with breezy vocals, who was the girl that was doing such delicious backing vocals, and who came up with all these great different instrument arrangements all over the song. It’s just a perfect song!

First things first. What’s a valediction? A valediction (derivation from Latin vale dicere, ‘to say farewell’), or complimentary close in American English, is an expression used to say farewell, especially a word or phrase used to end a letter or message, or the act of saying parting words- whether brief, or extensive.

And to make things even more clear, an ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization. But what about the number 277? Is it a secret code?

I wasn’t surprised to find absolutely nothing about them. That’s the story of my life, haha. According to Twee.net and the liner notes of the B sides compilation CD, there was just one release. A 10″ that had on the A side the song “Pop Up Man” and on the B side this new favourite of mine, “Valediction”. I wonder why the 10″ format for just two songs. Could be one of Mike Alway eccentricities? From what I’ve read on many liner notes, él always was usually short on money, so they could have saved some pounds if this was released on 7″, right? But I’m sure there was a reason to do it on a 10″. If there was a label that had reasons to do something for aesthetic purposes and leave the economic reasons behind, that was él.

So now I’m listening to the “Pop Up Man” and it sounds very familiar to me. A little research and I figure out why. This song was covered by the great Minneapolis band Ninian Hawick on the “All Done with Mirrors” compilation released on Le Grand Magistery. It’s a very strange version of the song though, very eclectic. For starters it’s all electronic and has a dancey feel. Not really my thing. And it’s sung in French. I usually skipped this song when playing that compilation.

On the other hand, the original “Pop Up Man” is great, it has a sixties feel with it’s guitar riffs and soft trumpets in the chorus. Just so you know, don’t be deceived by the Minnesota version!  In any case,  for me, the winner on the record, is “Valediction”. That’s my song. I still don’t have this record, and I haven’t had the chance to see the sleeve. It’s not even listed on Discogs. I wonder if on the sleeve there are more details about this band. Probably. At least some last names.

The band did appear on many compilations usually with “Pop Up Man”. You can check many of these compilation albums here.

And that’s about all I could gather about them. I guess they were long forgotten, hard to compete in a label catalog that included the likes of The Monochrome Set, Momus, The Would Be Goods or Louis Philippe. If you happen to know anything else about them, or if you know what the 277 number means, please leave a nice comment down below. You’ll make my day!

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Listen
Ambassador 277 – Valediction

Thanks so much to Daniel Wylie for the interview. The Thieves were a Scottish band that released 4 singles during the late 80s before splitting. After his adventure with The Thieves, Daniel made it much bigger with the Cosmic Rough Riders. Please also check his latest solo stuff on his myspace. And now sit down and enjoy!

++ Thanks so much for being up for the interview Daniel. So The Thieves were based in Castlemilk. First time I hear about that place. How was growing up there? Was there any sort of scene? Where would you hang out and go see bands?

The Thieves were from Cumbernauld, 16 miles outside Glasgow. I was the only member of the band that lived in Castlemilk. Castlemilk is a council housing estate and had no music scene. There were band members that came from Castlemilk, for example; James Grant (Love and Money/Friends Again) and I’m sure one of Simple Mins was originally from Castlemilk and one of the guys from 80’s electro duo Bronski Beat. Oh yeah and the girl singer from a short lived duo called Banderas.

++ And of course, being close to Glasgow was an advantage as during those late 80s there were so many great bands there. Did you have any favourites?

Glasgow has always had lots of great music venues so yes, it’s a great city to live in. I loved Orange Juice, especially their second album, Rip It Up. Also Aztec Camera. I always had time to listen to Scottish bands. I bought a lot of their records as I wanted to support them and help them make it. It’s always great for a city/country when it has successful bands.

++ So let’s talk about the band. how did it start? How was the recruiting process? There’s that story of the music advert at a Glasgow music store, which store was that?

Yeah, I answered an advert in McCormack’s music store in Glasgow. They were looking for a singer and I’d just left a band called Pioneers West. I arranged to meet the band at a rehearsal space in Cumbernauld. My girlfriend at the time (now my wife) and I went along and I didn’t like their music. They played me some really bad instrumentals. One was a ska tune and was terrible. But they were good players. I borrowed a guitar from them and offered to play them some of my own songs and they liked them. So I was in.

++ Were you involved in bands before The Thieves? Or was this your first experience?

Yeah, I was in a few little bands. Cubic Zirconia were a covers band. We played two gigs then the keyboard player and myself formed Transaction. After that it was Pioneers West and then for about two weeks I was in a band called India. Then I joined The Thieves.

++ Why the name The Thieves?

We were called The Bicycle Thieves but then found out someone else had that name so shortened it to The Thieves.

++ How does the creative process work for you? What comes first, music or lyrics? Do you usually get inspired by anything in particular?

Vocal melodies come first 90% of the time. Other times I might just be strumming the guitar and a tune will pop into my head. Lyrics are much more difficult. I wrote some of The Thieves songs on a Casio keyboard.

++ How many guitars do you have? And do you have a favourite?

A. I have two cheap acoustics. One I wrote all the Cosmic Rough Riders songs on which I no longer use. I keep it as a relic from my past in remembrance of a really creative period in my life. My son plays guitar (and he’s great) and he has another three guitars. We only have one electric in the house. A Fender Telecaster. A white one that I bought my son for Christmas a few years ago.

++ How about gigging? Did you gig a lot? What are your favourite Thieves’ gigs? And why?

The Thieves played a lot of gigs and recorded a lot of songs. Mostly demos but there’s an unreleased album we recorded at a studio called Shabby Road, which was owned at the time by The Trash Can Sinatras. One gig I enjoyed was at Kelvingrove Bandstand. My friends, The River Detectives were also playing that day and it was broadcast on Radio Clyde. I also loved supporting The La’s in Edinburgh.

++ Your first release “Talk Your Head Off” was recorded at Park Lane Studios in Glasgow. How do you remember those recording sessions? I read that Trevor was only 15 back then!

Yeah, Trevor was still at School. The sessions were pretty terrible. The engineer totally messed it up and the mix was shocking. The mastering at Abbey Road was even worse. We still had a lot to learn 🙂

++ You formed a label to release this single, Planetarium Records. How did you like doing label stuff? Did you find it easy to do promo and distro back then?

A. We had no distribution for the first single and ended up giving most of them away to people attending a gig we did at Barrowlands supporting Simple Minds. We got it sorted after that. We did almost all of our promo ourselves, learning from our mistakes as we went along.

++ What about your appearance on Famous For 15 Minutes. How did that happen? How was the experience of being on TV?

We had recorded some 4 track demos with Jim Brady (who helped us out on keyboards). We heard about the TV people looking for demos and sent off three songs. I had just written Star Spangled Banner the week before we did the demo. My Girlfriend (now wife) had just gone to work in America for three months and it was a funny look at me missing her. There were 12,000 entrants and the guys chose us because they loved Star Spangled Banner the first time they heard it. The other songs on the demo were Stranger Today and Silver Rain. Being on TV was strange and we became instantly recognised around town. It’s a bit creepy when people you don’t know think they know you. 🙂

++ And how was the experience working with Harry Enfield?

I didn’t even know who he was at the time but the other guys in the band knew his TV comedy. He was lovely. Genuinely a nice person. He would sit with us for lunch and ask us all about our music and what life was like living and working in Glasgow. He kept re-writing his script and would learn his lines in minutes. He’s a bit of a genius to be honest and a very nice man. Geoff Wonfor, who directed Famous For 15 Minutes, went on to direct The Beatles Anthology documentaries. He also worked on music show The Tube.

++ This appearance makes me wonder. It feels you were on the verge of something bigger, was there no interest from bigger labels? Why do you think it didn’t happen?

Labels would come up and see us but would never commit. We were doing well on our own so didn’t really care. We were selling 4,000 copies of our singles (ep’s) and selling out The Mayfair (now The Garage). We were getting good support shows at the Barrowlands and around the country and we’d been on TV and built up our own following. We were our own little gang with our own record label.

++ You released, after the 7″, a string of three 12″ singles. Which song of your repertoire would you say is your favourite? And why?

From The Thieves repertoir? I like a couple of the B Sides. Calling All Stations and And Then He Died. I preferred the direction we were taking by the third ep and I like the song Paper from the Rain ep.

++ For me it is, “And Then He Died” is such a fantastic song, it stands up clearly on the Leamington Spa Vol.5 compilation. I was wondering what’s the story behind the song?

I wrote the lyrics and the melody to a chord structure Tom McGarrigle was playing one day. It’s about suicide. A friend of mine commited suicide by hanging himself but I didn’t want the song to be graphically about his suicide. So I generalised it by turning it into a story of a body being found and a suspected suicide. I also wanted to keep the song upbeat and angry, not melancholic and depressing. You get angry when someone that matters to you like a good friend ends it all.

++ I still haven’t been able to get around to have your releases, and online there is no tracklist for the 12″s, would you mind writing that down for me?

The first three are on Planetarium Discs and the fourth is on Limo Records.

Theft 1. Talk Your Head Off/The Party
Theft 2. Soul Thief/And Then He Died/Souvenir Of 1969
Theft 3. September Rain/Anxious Moments/Calling All Stations/The Splendid Gift
Limo 1. Rain (Beatles cover)/Paper/Can’t Hold Back/Sound Of Music

++ And what about compiling all your releases on some sort of retrospective album, have you ever thought about doing that? Is there more unreleased material?

I haven’t thought about it. There’s a lot of material. Lots of demos and unreleased songs. It would be difficult to source the masters and a lot of stuff is on cassette and DAT. There’s about two or three albums worth of songs.

++ When and why did you split? What did you all do after?

Trevor the Drummer was first to leave. We replaced him with Stevie Boyd and I thought we improved but then Trevor’s brother Mark (guitarist) left. He wanted to go explore the world and wasn’t getting to see much of it being in our band. The Thieves morphed into a band called Rise and we almost got signed by EMI but it didn’t work out and people were getting into different kinds of music. At the time I thought it was a mistake to break up but of course, I went on to make solo records under the name Cosmic Rough Riders and managed some success. I got signed by Alan McGee had a couple of top 40 singles and sold over 100,000 albums. 🙂 Tom McGarrigle from The Thieves still plays on some of my records.

++ And what are you up these days? Still making music?

Yes. I’ve released over 100 songs over the last 11 years. Nine albums counting Cosmic Rough Riders and solo releases. I have a new album finished but haven’t found a label yet. Check out some tunes from it at; www.myspace.com/danielwylie
The Thieves was my apprenticeship before I got much better.

++ I’ve been a couple of times to Glasgow now, and I’ve learned to enjoy the city and the haggis and the Irn Bru. I was wondering if you’d recommend me your favourite sights in town, restaurants, and perhaps any particular Scottish dish that you like?

I never eat out. I’m a choosy eater. I don’t like haggis and I don’t drink Irn Bru. I love the Transport Museum. In fact, I love all our museums and there are plenty of venues to watch bands. My current favourite is the 02ABC. Did you know it’s free to get into any museum in Glasgow?

++ One last question, I interviewed Neil Sturgeon not so long ago and I’ve seen you have played together with him live. How did this collaboration happen? And what does Neil bring to the table? I can see that you have similar musical taste, no?

Neil is a great friend. He plays guitar on my last two albums, Car Guitar Star and the (as yet) unreleased new album, Fake Your Own Death. I’ve known him for years. Since I was in The Thieves. I’ve demoed my last two albums at Neil’s house. I just turn up with my acoustic, he sticks a mic in front of me and I play him 16 or 17 new songs I’ve written. Once I decide which ones are being recorded, Neil will learn them too. He’s a great songwriter himself and I would say we’re big fans of each other’s music. He also toured Spain with me as part of my band and also played some solo sets on the tour. He’s one of life’s good guys and is massively talented. I would urge everyone reading to check out his music.

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

The Thieves interest from around the world astounds me in a nice way. When I look back, we weren’t as good as I thought we were at the time but it’s still nice to have some starting point to remind me of where I began to get my act together as a songwriter. Needless to say, in my opinion, I got so much better and looking back reminds me of just how much. 🙂

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Listen
The Thieves – And Then He Died

Thanks so much to Hideshi Hachino for this fantastic interview. b-flower was part of that amazing generation of pop bands that appeared in Japan during the late 80s and early 90s, releasing a couple of singles on Sugarfrost, gaining recognition by the likes of the NME, signing for a big label like Toshiba in Japan, releasing many albums and gone on hiatus in the late 90s. Fantastic pop that transcended the barrier of language. Please enjoy, and if you understand Japanese (or want to use Google translate) please visit his blog too!

++ Hello Hachino-san! Thanks so much for being up for an interview.  It’s hard to cover your huge discography, but let’s take it as an introduction to your music. Alright! I hear you have a new band called Livingston Daisy. Are there any releases coming out? Care to tell me a bit about this new project of yours?

Nice meeting you, Roque-san.  So flattered that you’re interested in a band which has barely been active.  Thanks for asking me for an interview – Yoroshiku.
Yes, I’ve just resumed releasing songs with a band called Livingstone Daisy – for the first time in just about a decade.
It’s a three-piece band.  I’m with Sakana Hosomi, who co-produced b-flower albums and did gigs together from 1995 or so and has been active on his own as keyboardist, arranger, producer and ambient musician under such monikers as ‘hosomi’ and ‘maju.’   The other member is Okabe from b-flower.
We’ve digitally released “Tokyo Snowscape” in October 2010, “This World of Sorrow” in February 2011 and “June Song” in September, and are currently planning to put out an album as CD before too long.

++ So let’s talk b-flower. First thing I want to know, as I’ve been curious about it for years. What does the name mean?

My favourite American poet Richard Brautigan once wrote a beautiful poem in which he likened roadside drunks to flowers of foreign origins, which inspired “Brautigan-Flower” developing into “b-flower.”

++ Back in time. When did the band start? And how did you all knew each other and decided to start a band?
In 1984 or 85, I believe.
We started in strong sympathy with the sound of bands which belonged to such UK independent labels as Rough Trade and Cherry Red.  The other members were my uni friends, save guitarist Suzuki who came to an audition we held at a studio where we practised.

++ Was b-flower your first band?

From 1980 or so I went through a real trial-and-error period in search for the best style of vocals to express myself, by following various vocalists in various copy bands, ranging from one copying The Crash and The Jam, another The Rolling Stones to one doing Roxy Music and Duran Duran.

++ On myspace I see some demos from way back, from 1986. What’s the story behind them? These are fantastic gems that I guess never saw the light. Are there more of these? Have you ever thought releasing them at some point?

It was around the time when cassette 4-track MTRs became abound and we recorded those demos just eager to see how they would shape up.  None of them are of quality decent enough to be heard, but I decided to upload them on my Myspace in line with what I’ve been putting out in my blog, which I call my music chronicle.
There’s loads of unreleased songs in which I sang nonsense as they were yet to have proper lyrics in Japanese… yes, it might be fun to release them one day.

++ Your first release was “Nichiyo-bi no Mitsubachi” and it was self-released. How was that experience? And how different was it compared to working with Toshiba EMI for example later?

The first release was all handmade and loads of fun.  But we were way too inexperienced in playing, singing, sound making, recording and mixing down to achieve the sound that we were aiming for.  Based on that experience we decided to hire a producer at Toshiba EMI, by which we gained some and lost some, but the very experience is now a truly great asset.

++ Did you ever consider singing in English as many other Japanese bands did?
I would have tried writing lyric if I had had a command of English good enough to express my emotions and landscapes on my mind exactly as I wished.  Having said that, as I believe the Japanese language is very fit for expressions of nuance and subtlety, I might as well use it as a main vehicle even if I could speak English well.

++ I know your band from the Sugarfrost singles, one of my favourite labels ever. I have both your singles with them of course. I wanted to ask how did you end up in that label and if you ever got to meet Akiko-san? And if you did, how was that?

So glad to hear that you have those singles, thanks!  At the start of 1990’s we self-released an EP “日曜日のミツバチ (Nichiyo-bi no mitsubachi or, Nothing On Sunday)” and I took its copies to Django in Osaka (now in Nara), a record shop dedicated to UK/US indiepop – such a rarity those days – and asked them to sell on our behalf (I discovered later that Nelories too had their cassettes on sale there).  The staff of Django and Akiko-san knew each other and that’s how she came to know and took to b-flower, as I understand.  She later asked us in for a compilation album she was making at Sugarfrost.

Akiko-san is an amazing woman, equipped with tremendous power and will to get things done, whilst blessed with a great deal of good common touch.  I went to Liverpool to see Akiko-san and John when they lived there.  This year too I met her once in Kyoto when she came to Japan.

++ The NME praised your single “Stay Still” in 1993 comparing you to REM and Nico. That must have been on of b-flower’s biggest highlights? A Japanese band, singing in Japanese transcending frontiers. How did that feel like? I do think though thhttp://www.cloudberryrecords.com/blog/wp-admin/post-new.phpat your influences were much broader than REM or Nico, right? More neo-aco stuff?

If honest, I was taken aback by the reactions in the UK.  Upon the UK release Akiko-san and John maintained, “Language makes no barrier,” whilst in Japan what we were often hearing was, “This kind of music should sound better when performed in English.”  It was more so than not that our standing was that of an outsider from the small circle of Japanese indiepop.  That’s why it meant loads to us when the Brits appreciated our sound, the music per se, all the more they spoke a different language.  Truly grateful to Akiko-san and John for backing us up on the release.
My main influences are the UK/US rock, pop and folk in general from the 60’s to 90’s.  I was also inspired by the pop and rock in Japan, including Kayou-kyoku (standard or Showa-era Japanese pop), which themselves have taken inspirations from their western counterparts.

++ And how did you get into the indiepop/neo-aco stuff? Did you ever go to the UK to see bands?

Thanks so much to Andrea Reid for the interview. I’m really thrilled to at last be in touch with The Wilderness Children as ALL their records are among my favourites. It all happened thanks to David McLeish who put me in touch with her after he had uploaded some videos by the band including a live performance!! After that The Wilderness Children have also set up a facebook page with lots of photos and memorabilia, so you should all become fans! And now just enjoy the interview!

++ Hi Andrea, how are things going? I see some Wilderness Children videos have been unearthed and are already on Youtube! How did this come about? I’ve been looking for more stuff from you for ages!

I’m kind of bemused to see Wilderness Children videos on Youtube. Someone from Dundee who runs a club, had been collecting bits and pieces over the past year and found the videos, talked to Phil the drummer and stuck stuff on Youtube. It turns out he lives near our old house in Dundee and had been intrigued when he bought a single off a website to see the address on it. Kind of a walking the same streets thing….. It’s been really nice to see the stuff again and also pretty funny as I’m not sure anyone else even knew we existed at the time never mind now!

++ So let’s go back in time. Was The Wilderness Children your first band? How did the band start? How did you all knew each other?

We had all done different bits and pieces with other people before. I remember Fraser getting in touch with the Wildhouse (another band from Dundee) – Fraser then met up with Ian and Billy, John Weir was involved at points, Peter Moog and Susan Henderson.
We finished up with Phil on drums, me singing, Fraser alternating on guitar and bass (bass live) and Mike Kane on guitar.
Lots of people were involved in different ways, at different times. Laura Walker for instance doing art work, back drops, posters and things, or Sandy who did videos, another guy organized slides and film stuff we projected when we were playing, others did photos, we had a guy who drew cartoons for us. Then we had people like Joe driving us around, or others who just turned up and contributed just by being who they were!
In some ways when I think back it was more about having something to do and people to be with who knew they wanted to do something creative with their time. None of us had any money and so I think what we did was create our own entertainment out of nothing. There were places that we could use to do this like the Grey Lodge or the DRCU where we could go, practice, put on gigs.

++ And what influenced you or sparked you to start a band? Did you have any music heroes then?

We all liked music that’s pretty much why we played, and we didn’t see why we couldn’t do something good – it didn’t really matter to us if anyone else liked it or not as long as we did. We all had different bands, musicians we liked – pretty varied I guess – I seem to remember I was pretty obsessed by the Jesus and Mary Chain around then. I think me Mike and Fraser agreed we all liked My Bloody Valentine. I couldn’t speak for the others on musical tastes.

++ Where does the name of the band come from?

Was never greatly keen on the name but at the time it was the only one we had and I guess we were all too lazy to think of something else. Billy came up with it from a song.

++ How was Dundee back then? Where did you usually hang out? What other like minded bands were around? I think you and The Wildhouse are
the only bands I’ve ever heard from your town!

I think I usually hung out at home…. We practiced in the Grey Lodge, went to the DRCU, drunk in nearby pubs but didn’t have much money to do much more… We didn’t get on very well with some of the other bands in Dundee… We all had hugely exaggerated opinions of ourselves and spent a lot of our time thinking up stuff to say about each other. People would then write stuff up in a fanzine, which would set off another round of outrage.

++ What about gigs? Did you play many? Any favorites?

We constantly gigged. We played Dundee, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, London etc etc. We played anywhere we could which sometimes pissed Mike off to be honest. I seem to remember playing at the end of a jumble sale somewhere, there was still bric a brac lying about when we were setting up.
Favourite gigs – as a highlight playing with Strummer was something as he was a hero of mine. Really enjoyed when we played in Ayr at different points and anytime we played with Blam Blam YC who liked a drink too. Also we supported Dinosaur Jr – it was a plus as they gave me a couple of t-shirts. I really enjoyed when Phil’s brother drove us round England.

++ Most of your releases appeared on a label called Doss Records. Who were they? Care to tell me a bit about it?

We just put the records out ourselves and that was the name we called our pretend label!

++ And what about Magic Bus Records?

Magic Bus was Andy Wood who was one of the few people who clapped enthusiastically at any gigs we played He also did a lot of fanzine writing and helped organize gigs, flyers and the like.

++ First I want to ask you about the only release I’m missing from you, the flexi. As I have never heard it before and it was your first release, I was wondering how different does it sounds from the rest and if you could tell me the story behind it, how was that experience of recording your first single?

I think we might have recorded that under the floor in our flat in Dundee, we cut a hole and made a basement practice area. I’m not entirely sure though.

++ After that you released the fantastic 7″ “We’re A Council House Punk Rock Band”. I like the title a lot. But it makes me wonder, did you feel closer to punk than to pop? And also, who is this Mrs. Susan Spence you sing about?

Pop wasn’t really part of my life.
Mrs Susan Spence was a dentist who nearly murdered Fraser when taking out his wisdom teeth. The song wasn’t about that but we her name was good.

++ Next release was even more fabulous, the “If You Love Him, Let Him Go” 7″. By now I start wondering, was there any major label interest at some point? And what’s the story behind this great song?

We were from Dundee, no-one knew we existed! Any bands at that time that sounded a bit noisy with a female singer weren’t exactly in high demand!
The song was about depression and arguments. Life wasn’t a bed of roses for any of us.

++ And then the last 7″ is an indiepop classic for me, “Plastic Bag From Tescos”. Is that your favourite place to shop Andrea? And again, please, tell me the story about this song. This should have been a hit I think!

Tesco isn’t my favourite place to shop, in fact I pretty much avoid it!
Fraser had a plastic bag from tescos with cards and stuff from a previous girlfriend in his Mum’s shed. I told him to toss it. That’s what the song was about!

++ I was checking that you recorded your stuff in Edinburgh, at Chamber Studios. That city I do know and I really liked it. How do you like it in Edinburgh? And why did you have to go all the way there to record?

We went there to record with a guy called Jamie as he had a good reputation and it wasn’t too expensive. We had very little money so that was always pretty important. Edinburgh isn’t all that far from Dundee.

++ And then one last release. A 12″ at last. It’s the “Paint For Me a Picture” EP. And that was your goodbye. I was wondering, have you ever thought in putting all your releases together on some sort of retrospective album?

I’m intrigued that anyone now has even heard of us! So the answer would be we’d given that no thought!

++ And what about unreleased tracks? Are there still more songs by The Wilderness Children waiting to see the light of day?

We had a whole lot other songs, probably tapes of bits are mouldering away in our attics

++ Well, so 1990, last release. And then what happened? When and why did you split?

Last release. Fraser and I moved to another town. We all did other bits, People like Mike have been doing loads of stuff in other bands etc. Jobs, lives, children… the usual things!

++ Were you involved with music after?

Yep did other recording with other people. Mike has been done a lot of stuff – just works away at it.

++ Are you all still in touch? If so, what are The Wilderness Children up to these days?

We talk over facebook, and have been laughing and thinking recently since these videos were unearthed. Last time I saw Mike and John was at Fraser’s funeral so its been nice to get out old photos and things at a happier point now.

++ I do have to ask you, in general Scotland produces so much great music. Why do you think that is?

No idea!

++ Looking back in retrospect. What were the best moments for you with the band? Any anecdotes you’d like to share?

The best moments were when we played gigs. It was just good fun – lots of drinking, laughing and arguing.

++ One last question, tell me about Dundee, I’d love to visit some time. What are the sights to see? And is there any particular Dundee dish you can’t miss?

Sights in Dundee – well I’m thinking you’d just wander and see where it took you. New V&A museum opening there soon. Visit the Rep Theatre.
Food – who knows what’s a speciality in Dundee – Dundee Cake…. All I know is I miss white pudding suppers as I can’t get them where I stay now (some kind of greasy oatmeal thing with chips and lots of vinegar).

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Listen
The Wilderness Children – Plastic Bag From Tescos

A week that things have had a normal flow. Any worries or doubts concerning the past weeks are left behind. I feel that what’s coming up is really exciting. Can’t believe than in a mere 5 months Cloudberry will be 5 years old, and that next month this blog will be 4 years old. That’s more or less what my old blog lasted before it was hacked. Hopefully this one doesn’t get hacked. I save a copy of every post these days, and it also gets copied to the Cloudberry facebook page. So I think it’s safe.

I had plans for traveling next month to Europe, but for one reason or another I couldn’t make it. So next stop for me will be Toronto in November. Hopefully it won’t be too cold and I can make it all the way to Niagara Falls. I’d love that. As for Europe goes, I’ll make sure to go to Madrid Popfest and travel around Spain. For sure I’d love to go to Toledo and Segovia. I might be there for a week there and another in Sweden, hopefully this time going to Goteborg at last. That’s what I’m planning.

As for Cloudberry news, the Youngfuck 7″ has a release date now: October 10th. So pre-order now! Sadly the pressing plant has raised the price of making vinyl and I believe this Youngfuck 7″ will be the last that will be 4 dollars plus postage (domestic =$7, international =$10). The next 7″s will be a bit more expensive, probably around 50 cents more. I wish I didn’t have to raise the prices but at least I have to break even. But for now, let’s not worry about it. Just giving the heads up.

Now we have Japanese illustrator Reiko Kimura working on the Cassolette artwork and it’s looking great. Hopefully this one will be out by the end of the year. Also keep your eyes peeled for the Nixon 7″ which now counts with the fantastic vocals of Christin from The Garlands on one of the tracks.

On the new Cloudberry Cake series of retrospective releases, we have some fantastic news concerning some great bands from the 80s. But for now let’s keep all our attention on the Feverfew release. We are looking into a November release. Masters are ready. Now it’s just a matter to get everything else sorted out. I think during this week there will be a pre-order button for the album!

Among non Cloudberry news, for me the best thing was that at last the Pushy Parents single was unveiled. I’ve been loving and listening this song for many months now but I had promised to keep it as a secret, it was hard as it was so good! Anyhow, happy to let you know that it is released on Elefant Records and it’s the new project by dear Amanda and Roger. Please check it out here on this video (note: these people on the video are NOT them, just actors!). The release date for the single is October 3rd.

And before moving on to our obscure band, here’s what I’ve been listening on the CD player this week:
1. The Relict – Tomorrow is Again (Vegas Morn)
2. The Vaselines – Sex with an X (Sub Pop)
3. Various Artists – Abracadabra (Richmond)
4. The Incredible Blondes – Where do I Stand? (No Strings)
5. Playing For Time – The Unreleased Sessions 1984-1989 (Firestation)

Wise: having or showing the ability to make good judgments, based on a deep understanding and experience of life

Acre: One acre comprises 4,840 square yards, 43,560 square feet or about 4,050 square metres (0.405 hectares). The acre is often used to express areas of land in the U.S and in countries where the Imperial System is still in use. As of 2010, the acre is not used officially in the United Kingdom. In the metric system, the hectare is commonly used for the same purpose. An acre is approximately 40% of a hectare.

Put that together and that’s The Wise Acres? Not so sure. The name doesn’t make much sense but I feel it’s a good band name. Maybe it means something totally different, maybe they were quoting something. No clue. The information about them is absolutely none on the internet. We only know there was one 7″ released by Cherry Red on 1986 and that’s about it. So let’s grab that record and see what else we can find.

First mystery for me. There’s a big butterfly as the cover artwork. Or is it a moth? I don’t know. If it’s one or another, what species is it?

The catalog number is Cherry 095 and as far as I can tell there was no 12″ version for this EP that included 4 fantastic songs. On the A side we find “So Finally Sweet” and “One Day” and on the B Side “Stay” and “Glow”. Simple names for the songs, they don’t tell us much. The record was released on the heyday of indiepop, 1986. The four members of the band are listed but doesn’t say what they play on the band. The names are John White, Sharon Bain, Robert Mitchell and Margo Strachan. We know that John White wrote the songs, so most probably he was the guitar player.

The songs are a bit like the Shop Assistants or The Vultures, maybe a bit rockier than them on “Stay” though, but great still. Catchy. The guitars usually have some exciting distortion that would make the hipsters today love them. On the other hand “Glow” is the melancholic piece, and it’s just precious.

A friend told me about two other songs “David” and “Cuts Me Deep”, but I’m not sure where he has listened to them. Were they on another release? Or maybe on a compilation? Don’t know. It is fair to think there were more songs than those 4 on the 7″, at least on demo form I’m sure. I wonder where they were based, if they played live often, and why did they break up. Also I come to think, how come there is nothing on the web about them,  aside from Bruce including them on his podcasts back in 2008!

So if you know anything else about them, please give me a shout! I’d love to learn more about them!

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Listen
The Wise Acres – One Day

Thanks so much to Richard Farnell for getting in touch and for the interview! I blogged just some weeks ago about them and you can read that here and also make sure to check the comments as the Peel Session plus some demos are available to download thanks to the band. In this interview Richard clears up some questions and mistakes on the write-up I did. Enjoy!

++ Hi Richard! Thanks so much for getting in touch! So you were telling me you were from Stocksbridge and not from Huddersfield. Do you still live there? Was there any kind of scene there back then?

++ And two of the other Suncharms lived in different cities, right? Which makes me wonder, how did you get to meet each other? And was it easy for you all to practice?

Marcus and myself were in Stocksbridge. The other members lived in other districts of Sheffield whilst John the guitarist was based in Bamford which is a small village just outside Sheffield-a mere 30 minute drive out of town-in the peak district national park. We mostly practiced in his attic – but early on in Marcus’ garage.

++ So the band started under the name The Eunuchs. Was this your first band? And how do you remember that chance encounter with David Gedge when he told you to change the name?

Yes – this was our first band..we chose the name partly as a response to the ‘cock rock’ posturing of a lot of the bands around in the eighties and Marcus and me were big fans of The Dead Kennedys and McCarthy who promoted a strong left wing/pro feminist political stance. I suppose looking back it was a ‘punk’ name but punk was one of our early influences…Pistols / Buzzcocks / D.K’s / Husker Du in particular.  It was Marcus and Matt who met with David Gedge…I’m pretty sure they just gave him a copy of our first demo tape and he said something like – ‘You might need to change that name lads!” – maybe Marcus will remember but I wasn’t there myself.

++ Did you record or release anything under that name? I do know you released a song under the name Charming Seed, why didn’t you stick to that name?

We released nothing as the Eunuchs. The reason we used ‘Charming Seed’ was that the bloke who released a Sheffield bands compilation called ‘Rubberoid’ took so long about it that by the time this early song appeared we felt like we’d moved on. We changed the name to hint that it was The Suncharms but that it was a ‘secret’ track almost. I actually like the song now but at the time it felt like old news.

++ I’ve never tasted the Sun Charm soda, how does it taste? Is it your favourite soda?

It’s well over 20 years since I tasted it but I recall it being pretty cheap and nasty!..a bit like ‘Panda Pops’ which your British readers will probably know!.

++ You were around in the early 90s, just after the big wave of guitar pop bands in the UK, the so called C86. How much did that influence you?

We were hugely influenced by C86 – that compilation turned us on to loads of favourites. Marcus and myself in particular bonded over the sounds of such bands as The Pastels, Sea Urchins, Field Mice, Wolfhounds, McCarthy etc whilst newer bands such as Pale Saints and My Bloody Valentine were coming through and exciting us. Many hours were spent in Marcus’ bedroom listening to indie-pop records – he was also a big collector of Sarah records too.

++ So how did you end up signing with Wilde Club Records? Was there interest from other labels as well? Any majors?

We were hugely naive in this respect – a thing common to most indie bands of the 80’s/90’s We sent out several copies of our first demo tape and kept our fingers crossed! – a good friend from Stocksbridge called Daniel had recently bought the first Catherine Wheel single and noted the address on the sleeve-he was tasked with the job of sending out the tapes and to be honest Wilde Club were the first to ring up!. They wanted to release our demo as it was-with no re-recording or overdubs so we just thought – “great – we’ll be able to have a 12″ EP out without much effort”.  There was no major label interest but we were so fiercely indie that we’d probably not have signed with a major anyway. Major labels had a terrible reputation and I do remember being shocked when The Wedding Present signed to RCA.

In around 1992 Slumberland records from the U.S wrote to ask if we had a track they could release but due to our own disorganisation it never happened – we still regret this as it would have been great to get a record out in the States.

++ You recorded a Peel Session. I always wondered how the process for it worked. Did they call you on the phone or what? And then what happened? Any anecdotes you could share?

To be honest doing the Peel session was both a thrill and a disappointment-here’s why:-

I think a BBC researcher phoned us up to say they wanted us to do a session – obviously we were thrilled and began to rehearse for the recording-I think we got a couple of weeks notice. On the way down the motorway our van broke down for a couple of hours so we had a real panic that we would miss our session – however thanks to Matt’s driving skills and Chris’s map reading we made it to the famous Maida Vale studios. I’d been listening to the John Peel show for years and I always assumed that he was in the studio whilst the bands played live but I was disappointed to find that the tracks were recorded live in the afternoon and mixed by an engineer for broadcast the following week!.  I do have fond memories of the studio itself – a large room with a grand piano in the corner and wires, amps, mics and headphones everywhere. It was great to be recorded live but it was a shame we couldn’t meet the great man himself.

In the Peel Sessions books we are annoyingly listed as The ”Sunchalms” and my name is mis-spelt too so our brush with broadcasting fame was rather frustrating in some ways!

++ First release included the fabulous Sparkle. This song is big! Care to tell me how this song came about? What’s the story behind it?

I don’t remember too much about the writing process of this one but I think it was a catchy riff that Matt came up with that we then fleshed out in rehearsals.

++ And what about the creative process for The Suncharms? How did it usually work?

Marcus would scribble away with his note pad and craft the lyrics whilst we worked out the tune…we often only heard the full words at a much later date as his vocals were often buried in the mix as was the style of the day I suppose.

++ Then there was another EP, the one that included Space Ship. For this song you even recorded a promo video. How was that experience? Why did you choose this song?

I suspect we chose to do the video for ”Spaceship” as I think we felt it a stronger song than ”Tranquil Day”. I do know that Matt was studying film at college in Batley – (near Leeds and Bradford)-so we filmed it at the student house he was renting and any visual effects were added later..he would tell you more I’m sure but I think it was a case of him learning camera techniques for his course and making a pop video was a good way to learn whilst being a good experience for the band. He directed it himself and had a friend on camera duty.

++ You also played many gigs, especially after the first EP. Which were your favourite gigs and why?

Early favourites (as The Eunuchs) were supporting The Brilliant Corners as I was a big fan and also a support slot on a Sarah records acts night with The Orchids and St.Christopher.

One gig which I remember with both joy and horror was when we supported the mighty Television Personalities at Nottingham Kool Kat club-which was a thrill as me and Marcus are big fans. The TVP’s wanted to borrow our drumkit which we were more than happy with but we hadn’t bargained on them playing an inspired but sprawling set which lasted about 2 hours! – the problem was we’d organised a bus load of our Sheffield fans to come down and everyone had to wait with us whilst we waited for the drums…that in itself was fine but my girlfriend at the time was drinking all night and proceeded to throw up all over the walls of the venue and then collapsed!…by about 1am I just wanted to go home.

++ And how was the Sound City festival gig? Did you play any other festivals?

I can barely remember this festival except that we played the Leadmill – (where I worked on the bar) and PULP played it too-though possibly the next night. We were also featured in the NME in a souvenir pull out page to promote the festival.  This might have been the gig when our lead guitarist John nearly died on stage with a serious kidney complaint and as soon as he played the last note of the gig he was taken to the hospital by ambulance. I’d been so concerned before the gig as he looked so ill that I got blind drunk and walked on stage to promptly fall backwards over my amp – it made a great noise though!.

++ In 1993 you started recording tracks for an album. Was it for Wilde Club? Why didn’t it get released?

The recordings were to be for an album but our relationship with Wilde Club had ended by this point.  The only tracks I can now recall were those featured on the Peel Session..”Magic Carpet” etc. We started to record some tracks in a studio near Bramhall Lane (the Sheffield UTD football ground) but I honestly don’t know if we did more than two or three rough sketches of songs.

it was never released because it barely even got started!.

++ And what happened to those songs? Are there many unreleased tracks? Have you ever thought putting together some sort of retrospective release?

I don’t know of any unreleased tracks – there was a live video of a full gig at Sheffield’s Library theatre -(some of which formed the basis for the Sparkle video now on you-tube) but sadly none of us have seen it since and as far as I know no copies have survived. I’d love to see a retrospective compilation but I don’t know if there’s enough interest out there..hello Cherry Red?!

++ So what happened with The Suncharms? Why did you split? Were you all involved with music after?

I sadly can’t recall why it all came to an end – I think it just fizzled out during 1993 with band members moving town, changing careers, getting married etc and maybe we all started hanging round with different groups of friends not connected to the band. I suppose with no record label and no-one but ourselves to push us along we just gave up the ghost.

The good news is Marcus and myself remain best friends and we see Matt and Chris occasionally for birthdays or whatever-so we’re mostly all in touch. but I’ve not seen John since we had a reuinion in a pub 10 years ago…so if you read this John – hope you are well and do try to get in touch!.

++ What are you doing these days? Do you still pick up your bass?

In 1995 I moved to Manchester to work in Vinyl Exchange records which I now co-own

In 1998 I joined Screen Prints after answering an advert on the shop notice board which mentioned my all time favourite band FELT…one mention of them and I just had to join the band.  We released several 7″ singles but then around 2001 this band too seemed to call it a day – though happily we too are all still good friends. I do still pick up my bass but not often enough – I tend to play along to old 80’s indie videos on You-tube..this is terribly sad isn’t it?

++ Looking back in time, what was the best moment of being part of The Suncharms? Will you do it all the same way again?

The best part was the comeraderie of being in a band with close friends and playing gigs with some of our favourite groups…if I could go back in time I’d rehearse more, play more gigs and hold out for Creation records to sign us!!

++ One last question. I’ve never been to Sheffield, so I was wondering, when I go, what would you recommend seeing or doing there?

Go up the arts tower, drink in the Washington pub and put some Henderson’s relish on your fish n’ chips!…(Anyone from Sheffield will relate to that)

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

Just thanks for the opportunity to ramble on and if you want any more info don’t hesitate to ask.

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Listen
The Suncharms – Sparkle

The days of youth are over. Forgive the lack of updates on the blog on the last couple of weeks. After coming back from a great Labour Day weekend traveling around Seattle, Vancouver and Victoria, I ended up at the hospital. I was diagnosed a chronic disease. After five days I was discharged and started adapting to a new routine. I’m not ready yet though; I had to cancel a New York flight that I had scheduled this weekend, but I feel more comfortable each day that passes. I will be fine, and I look positively to what comes ahead. But I can’t deny that time has been a bit of a luxury this past week. Anyways, the world won’t halt its spinning for me, and nothing can make my projects and dreams crumble. So let’s make some good use of our time, let’s continue celebrating the music we love! Let’s keep up the fight! Nothing can stop indiepop!

As expected I haven’t listened to many CDs in these two weeks. These are the ones that have been on rotation at home:
1. Amor de Días – Street of the Love of Days (Merge)
2. Various Artists – Too Good To Be True: The Very Best of El Records 1985-1988 (Cherry Red)
3. The Cherry Orchard – These Restless Days (Firestation)
4. The What Gives – Up All Night With the What Gives (Bus Stop)
5. The Mondo Crescendo – Young, Naked and Happy With It (Blackbean and Placenta Tape Club)
6. The Kick Inside – Ever the Optimist (Promo CD)

Now onto some Cloudberry news. I have started working on the artwork for the Feverfew reissue. I feel a great excitement to work on a new format. The release will be part of a new series of records that I hope turn to be a success. Probably on next weekend’s post I’ll have the cover artwork and the tracklist to show. We are hoping for a November release. I’ll be keeping you updated. On the 7″ front the Youngfuck test pressings should be arriving this week. We are on schedule. Also artwork has been started for both upcoming 7″s by Nixon and Cassolette. And that’s it for now. Starting this week things will start moving faster again.

Many moons ago when I was in university I had to put together a portfolio with my work to graduate. As many as you know I was studying graphic design and ended up, trying to be overtly creative, a huge Victorian tin cookie box as my portfolio. It looked great and classy. It looked more like a treasure box than anything else. In there. I glued a folder binder onto the back side of the top flap and set up my printed works on there. Inside, as there was so much space in it, I could also transport the magazines, brochures, CDs, and more. It was perfect. Every time I went to an interview with it, the interviewer was fascinated about it. It felt good, nonetheless these days, I would rather just show a website with my work instead of carrying this huge box around! So I have my huge Victorian tin stored in one of my closets alongside scarfs and jackets that barely see the day of light in humid Miami.

Today I look tanned. Swimming in the Atlantic alongside some jellyfish has been my kind of fun this weekend . Lonely days ahead as my father has just left today after being with me for the past week. During the afternoons it always changes. Around 6pm it becomes rainy weather. It pours and the stray cats hide under the cars. These are the days of youth, my last ones. But I’m sure I’ll always be young at heart. And now I daydream of moving to Sweden in a year or two. And that’s where the obscure band of the week comes from, from that great country of lingonberry and pancakes.

Victorian Tin were from Karlstad, Sweden. A city that derives its name from the King Charles IX, and that lies on the river delta of Sweden’s longest river, Klarälven, which runs into Sweden’s largest lake, Vänern. It was a two piece formed by Erik Bergqvist and Christian Gustafsson. There were no proper releases but a 7 song tape that was distributed by Everlasting Records from Cambridge, UK, the same label that released the likes of Emily or A Riot of Colour. The story says that the band sent them a demo tape and the label suggested them to put a tape together with their best songs. There was a catalog number for it, “Bait2”. I wonder what was “Bait1”.  This may also mean that there were more recordings than these seven songs. And that would be great news!

The songs on the tape were: “Agony Flower”, “Alienation”, “Lonely Days”, “Fragments of Roses”, “Silvery Mouths”, “In My Rainy Weather”, “The Days of Youth”. And I believe this tape was put out at some point in 1990. The guys will later get involved with a band called “Searching for Beatrice” which you can listen on myspace. Other bands they were involved with were Scapegoat Palace, Phone a fish, Popetree, Stoker, Recidius Catonium, Emelies Garden, Baren med Vin & Josefin, and The Wonder Boys. I can only hope, feeling very curious, that they they continued making great jangle pop in the same tradition as Victorian Tin.

The last news from the guys were from 1999 when they formed Ephemeron. They have a myspace set up for this band as well but they haven’t logged in a couple of months. Who can blame them. Myspace is the messiest mess.

Supposedly there was a couple of years ago a Swedish fanzine that interviewed them. I believe the name of the zine was Billig Underhållning. If anyone has a copy of the interview and would be kind to translate to English, please do! I’m sure I’m not the only one interested in it.

And that’s about it. Six great songs, and one fantastic song that should have been an A side of a 7″ back in the day: “The Days of Youth”. Perhaps listening it many times works as the fountain of youth or something. I feel great when the first chords start chiming, a big smile on my face, and I think, nothing is lost, there’s so much to hope still.

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Listen
Victorian Tin – The Days of Youth