So who doesn’t love badges? I have tons. Talulah Gosh started out thanks to the love of Pastels badges. Flipper’s Guitar were also crazy about their Pastels badge. So why Emma Gibbs can’t be dreaming for a huge collection of badges, the biggest ever seen, a mount Everest of badges. Why not?

Alright. Let’s stop for a moment. Here I come, private eyes. I know a couple of Emmas, my favourite being Dalarna’s Emma (by far!). But I’ve never heard of Emma Gibbs! Who’s Emma Gibbs?!

No clue. If you do a google search, first result is Penthouse pet of the year 2009. I guess that’s not the one we are looking for. I mean, a Penthouse pet doesn’t have anywhere to attach her beloved badges, does her? On to the next result. There seems to be an Emma Gibbs Band. But their music is not something that sounds interesting to me, and I doubt it will interest you. Let’s turn the page, the internet won’t solve this mystery, not yet. Let’s give it another shot. Let’s search name, last name, and profession: “Emma Gibbs Loves Badges”.

First and only stop is the fantastic Tamworth Bands website that has lots of Emma Gibbs Loves Badges’ bobs and pieces from the local Tamworth newspaper, the Tamworth Herald.

Attention: I’ve picked up the most interesting and important pieces and put them together here. But still visit the site as there is a player where you can stream many of the songs from this lost band!

1. The band was formed in 1987 and the lineup included:

• Lee Revelle – Vocals
• Spencer Ireland – Bass Guitar
• Andrew Hyde – Guitar
• Nichola Musgrove – Guitar
• Paul Byrne – Drums

2. Some background information / how they sounded.

Tamworth Herald – 29/05/87
so unique that even their name comes from a ‘Scooper heading!’ Emma Gibbs play modern acoustic pop which owes much to the heritage of Aztec Camera and more modern bands like the Bodines, their sounds is full of curiously, unfolding melodies and very strong lyrics, and if they create the sort of impact they did at their …show, ANYTHING can and probably will happen.

3. Gigs

Among the bands they’ve played one of them is well known to indiepop fans, The Rosehips. Yup! They had a gig together in 1987 at a place called The Rathole. On the same bill were Creation protegés Blow Up as well. On 1990 they would open for a bigger act: Teenage Fanclub. But there are other names I can find on this website that catch my attention, and hopefully cover them sometime soon on the blog: Fetch Eddie, Flowers in the Attic, Catch 23 and more.

4. Releases

From what I could gather, there were 2 releases, one 7″, and one 12″. The 7″ had as an A-Side the track “Patience”, and as a B-Side it had “Assured”. It was released on Utopia Records and was catalog PANTS001. The 12″ had four songs: “Unobtainable”, “What Do You Get When You Fall In Love”, “Garry Bushnell” and “Spin” and was released on the same label but this time the catalog was 1201. I think, but can’t confirm, that there was another 7″, this one including “Second City” as an A-side and “Worship” as the B-Side. If you ever see two copies of any of these releases, keep one for yourself, the other one please send to me. I’ve been looking for them with no luck so far. But let’s continue.

There was also a demo that got reviewed on the same newspaper, the Tamworth Herald:

Emma Gibbs Loves Badges – Circles
Sensitive, almost shy offering which is highly personal and highly impressive. Taken away from the arrogant stage posturings it shows Lee Revelle at his warmest and most musically intelligent and is a perfect if somewhat unexpected accompaniment to the act of verbal love-making. ‘You’ll Enjoy It When you Get There’ is cute and classy but ‘In Circles’ is even better and is dramatically effective in the three forms it is here presented. A major surprise of major standing.

Do you know anything else? Do you have any more information about this great guitar pop band? Do you have any great story to tell? If so, you know what to do: SHARE!

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Listen
Emma Gibbs Loves Badges – Absorb Me

Thanks so much to Jase “Blackie” White for the great great interview! The Dazy Chains are one of my highlights this year, as I only discovered their songs almost twenty years after! But that’s no problem, it has been really worth tracking down some of their stuff! I was very thrilled to get in touch with Jason, who played bass and also did vocals, and even happier that he was willing to do an interview! Please enjoy! And check for more stuff in their myspace!

++ Hi Jase, thanks so much for doing this interview? How are things now? Any big party planned for New Years?

Well to be honest I haven’t thought about it. My partner and I have a 2 month old baby so these things tend to slip off the radar. I’d actually love to get out of the city and hang out by a beach for a few weeks. It’s getting really hot in Melbourne.

++ I’ve been looking for Dazy Chains stuff for so long, once I got from a friend this Australian Pop! compilation he made me and included “Back to Bed” which I totally loved, what a great track, with jangly guitars, with brilliant melodies. But I could never find information online, and I wonder, why a band with such tunes is lurking in obscurity? And where did inspiration came for you?

Glad you like it! I think you have to remember that we were writing that stuff back in the early 90’s and there was no internet. Dazy Chains had a very loyal following but it didn’t really stretch beyond Australia. We were very inspired by Brit Pop and I think Sean’s guitar work was very inspired by Johnny Marr from The Smiths. For the record we have a myspace page now!

++ So let’s do some background information, how did the band start? How did you all know each other?

We were friends at high school. Our first band was Flowers in the Fridge and that kind of became Dazy Chains. We started playing at parties and that just turned into gigs at pubs.

++ I notice there was different lineups, comparing the Daze of Our Lives EP to the myspace, especially on the drums position. What happened, why this revolving door of drummers?

Classic Spinal Tap situation. We did go through plenty of drummers. They were often poached for bigger bands. It was frustrating because we would tour a lot and just get a drummer up to speed then a bigger band would turn up and offer them fame and fortune and off they would go…

We also changed styles through the years and had a kind of folk pop phase where we enlarged the line up to include violins and keyboards.

Eventually we ended up as we started as a really solid rock 3 piece.

++ Why did you choose the name Dazy Chains? Was it easy to name the band?

I bought the name from a friend for half a gin and tonic. I just really liked it and it seems to suit our guitar pop style. About a year after we started using the name another ten bands came along and used Daisy somewhere in their name as well. It was confusing. There was: Daisy Chainsaw, Exploding Daisies…

++ Now you are in Melbourne, but The Dazy Chains were from Sydney/Wollongong, right? I don’t think I know much about the late 80s, early 90s scene there, compared to say Perth or Melbourne. What other bands you enjoyed then and what were your favourite venues?

Well this takes me back. The Sydney scene in particular was thriving until the mid 90’s when a lot of venues closed their doors to live music. We had a major influx of poker machines in clubs and pubs. It kind of killed the scene. I don’t think Sydney ever recovered. We played with plenty of bands: The Templebears, Glide, Rat Cat, Tall Tales and True, The Hummingbirds, The Clouds.

Our favourite venue was the Annandale Hotel. It’s one of the only ones that still survives as a venue today.

++ Did you gig a lot? Are there any particular gigs you remember fondly?

Heaps!! We were on the road all the time and probably pushed it too hard in the end. There is only so much time you can spend together in a mini van but we did have a lot of fun and get to see plenty of Australia.

++ Who were Yellow Music? How did you end up on that label?

Well its easy to see now that they were a record company that didn’t have it’s act together. All the right ideas but no experience and follow through. I think they got stunned by the working costs of record company promotion and publicity. They didn’t last long. They kind of took us down with them.

++ What was the full discography of the band by the way? Would there be some sort of retrospective release someday perhaps? would be fantastic!

A retrospective would be great but I have no idea how to find the masters of some of that later material – particularly the unreleased album. I certainly have access to all the early recordings so we might do something along those lines. Even if it is just a digital release.

1988 – Banana Nightmare -Single (vinyl only)

1990 – Back to Bed/Almost Imperfect – single (vinyl only)

1991 – Daze of Our Lives (EP) CD

1992 – Bite Your Tounge (Single) CD

1993 – If You Go (single) CD

1993 – Who Stole My Bike? (album – Unreleased) CD

++ How were the recording sessions of the Dazy Chains? Were they very strict, let’s record and get it over? Or maybe they were just a big party with beer and pizza? Any anecdotes you could share?

I think they were hard work. We did have fun and there was lots of beer and pizza but I remember there were times when we would sleep under the mixing desk so that we could get straight back into it when we woke up. We had a great producer, Robbie Rowlands who we still use now with car stereo wars. He has always been a very creative thinker. Fun to work with. I remember one night we miked up the table tennis table and rolled billiard balls along it to kind of get this thunder sound.

++ I’m listening right now to Precious Circle, what a great song. But I wonder, which circle is you wanted to get in? Was it some sort of social circle? or what is the song about?

Well this is one of Sean’s songs that I love too. So I can’t really say. I think it was to do with changing social circles. I love that the mandolin solo turns into a full on thrashed out guitar ending. He use to do that live with a mandolin and guitar. Great to see.

++ “Influences: all things guitar pop”. I love that. What are or were your favourite guitar pop bands? How do you feel about the term indiepop?

Well I’m never a fan of pigeonholing anything but we were called jangle pop and guitar pop. What ever works I guess.

Major influences would include: The Smiths, The Cure, Violent Femmes, The Sundays, The Beatles and heaps of local stuff that probably would register with anyone overseas.

++ What was for you the biggest highlight of the Dazy Chains?

I think our last show was pretty great. We had friends jump on stage and a kind of super group formed to play March of the Green Men which was the loudest song we ever played. Usually the best gigs were the little ones in country towns where the audience went bananas!

++ So what happened? Why did the band split up? What did you all do after?

Well classic indie burn out really. Our record company expected us to keep touring interstate and we felt exhausted and wanted to just focus of a few gigs while we wrote new songs. We had toured constantly as I mentioned earlier and it really is a difficult lifestyle to maintain. Eventually there was show down with the record company and they basically pulled the album that was due for release. It crushed us and we just had to stop. We needed to have some time off which is exactly what we did. I did plenty of travelling and moved to Melbourne. Sean kept writing songs and stayed in Sydney for a few more years. We eventually teamed up again in Melbourne with car stereo wars.

++ Nowadays you are in a band called Car Stereo Wars, care to tell me a bit about it? And how much of a departure it is from Dazy Chains?

Yes it’s quite different to Dazy Chains. Car stereo wars are coming more from a studio based experiment. All that touring kind of made playing live not so important. It was just great fun to be writing and recording again. Car stereo wars has a very relaxed feel to the song writing. It’s probably because we grew up and slowed down a bit. Alyssa’s female vocals are another obvious difference. It nice to be in a band and not be the main vocalist.

++ Thanks so much for doing this interview, anything else you’d like to add?

Thanks for caring! Dazy Chains recently played an acoustic show that will probably end up on our myspace page. Keep watching. Also car stereo wars will be touring the US later in 2010. Can and say hi!

Thanks, over and out

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Listen
The Dazy Chains – Back to Bed

Third time lucky! Carl Green, the man behind The Whirlpool Guest House, Shandy Wildtyme and The Close-Ups, has just released a new album! This time he is going solo and calling himself Head of Light Entertainment. So let’s hear a bit about his new work, alright? And please check more tunes on his myspace and buy his new record on CDBaby.

++ Hi Carl, thanks again for another interview. You just released a new album and it’s called “I Am Liberated”. I know there’s a song on the album with the same title, but, does this title carry another meaning?

It does, yes- a musical liberation. It’s the feeling of being free of obligation- to other band members, to my public (should such an entity exist!), and indeed the music scene at large. I’m no longer bewitched or seduced by all that stuff. Quite the opposite actually. I now do exactly what I please. And there’s another kind of liberation at work too- the one of getting older. Age has granted me perspective and with that I can see more clearly than I ever did when I was young.

++ The new album is quite nice. Every song has it’s own mood, it’s own personality. It’s like 11 short stories put together. But I wonder what you think about it, what could the old fans of your music expect? Is there any similarities you think to your other bands?

There are similarities of course- it’s still left field pop music made by a bitter and twisted outsider! The real difference is in approach and subject matter. I’ve things to say and view points to express and I’m doing it directly now, not trying to be overly clever or flowery about things. Also, I’ve stripped the sound right back to guitar, keys and voice so my words take centre stage. Drums and bass are out, used occasionally to emphasize a point or enhance a mood. If that makes the album seem strange and frugal, then good- I’ve achieved my aim.

++ What does the name Head of Light Entertainment means?

Ha ha, I knew you’d ask that! It’s me and my delusions of grandeur. Me imagining myself as a shadowy controller of popular culture, stalking the corridors of pop power. Scary!

++ How long did the album take to shape up and to be recorded? Were there any bumps in the way?

It was recorded over the course of a year- September 2008 to July 2009. The songs came easily and quickly and there’s a lot more where they came from. I’m bursting with ideas right now and it’s been a while since I felt this fruitful! In Spring I begin work on the follow up and I’m raring to go.

++ You did play everything on the record! Do you prefer it that way?

Not quite everything. Me and Neil (the album’s co-producer and engineer) shared the keyboard bits and “unusual” sounds.
I do prefer doing things myself- typical of a loner really. I play the guitar in my own particular way and I wanted to carry that unstylish style over onto other instrumentation.

++ I notice you have some gigs planned out! I thought you didn’t like gigging. Or will this gigs be something totally different to the usual fare?

I’m a fickle sod aren’t I? I don’t like gigging as part of a band but I do enjoy the liberation of being solo and spontaneous on stage. I often change parts, even whole sections, of songs, whilst performing. On a whim, for fun, to see what happens…I am liberated! I couldn’t do this with a band, nor would I want to try.

++ You have this song called “Lady Godiva’s Horse”, and there’s been many songs written about Lady Godiva before, but I’m wondering if your inspiration comes from the old story, the legend. And if so, what other legends do you like? Do you like mythology?

I’m not sure there’s been any songs written about her horse before! No, the song doesn’t deal with the legend, it’s more a musical daydream about being uninhibited and wanting to shock. I’m not a natural exhibitionist but I’d like to give it a go, see how it felt for a day!

++ And also, why dedicate a song to Agyness Deyn? Is she your new muse maybe? :p

Not at all, and the song isn’t about Agyness per se. It’s about the freakish ideals women are subjected to in the 21st century, how it makes them feel and what it does to their self worth. Fashion models, female pop and movie stars, are held up as modern godesses, ikons of impossible perfection, and the media relentlessly taunts and dares women to try and emulate them. Is it any wonder so many women today have eating disorders and low self esteem? It’s a terrible state of affairs.

++ You also wrote a song, “The Face of a Girl”, that has that lovely line “Do you see a whole new world? when you see the face of a girl”. Yes, girls are so so so pretty! And I have had many endless discussions with friends wondering what’s the most important feature in a girl’s face, I’d go for the nose I think, smile will come second. What about you?

It’s the eyes for me, but it’s a subtle combination of features and movement that define the beauty of a female face.

++ You dedicate the CD to pop misfits and lovers everywhere. I love that. I want to hear from you what is a pop misfit though

A pop misfit is someone who has what it takes, but for whom there are no takers.

++ So in the near future, what can we expect from Head of Light Entertainment?

My fondest regards…

++ Christmas is around the corner, are there any preparations being done? maybe a big party? What would you like to get from Santa this year?

I’d like Santa to get me, full stop. I’d like a lot of people in general to “get me”, full stop.

++ One last question, as it’s lunch time here and I can’t decide what to have today, what’s Carl Green’s favourite food? And can you cook it?!

Spicey things all the way! I make a rather tasty chilli-con-carne, lots of mushrooms, peppers and chillis. Good food should always bring on a good sweat I believe!

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

Yes, thank you Roque for your interest in my music past and present. It’s comforting to know that there are people out there on a similar off-kilter pop wavelength. Merry Christmas!

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Listen
Head of Light Entertainment – I Am Liberated

Thanks again to Carl Bedward and Karl Moseley for another interview, this time about their first band Leopold Bloom. Please check the interview with them about their band Where Gardens Fall and listen to some more tunes, from both bands on their myspace.

++ Thanks again Carl and Karl for being up for another interview! How are things now in Birmingham? Any special plans for Christmas? Here in Miami what’s common is that people have pork for dinner, what’s the tradition in your town?

Karl: Nice to speak to you Roque. I’m looking forward to a meat-free Christmas. So, I’ve got salad to look forward to

Carl: Salad. We def wont be spending Xmas lunch together!!!

++ Let’s talk music now, who were Leopold Bloom? And when did you start as a band?

Karl: Leopold Bloom (LB) consisted of myself (Vocals), Carl B.(Guitar), Ian Hough (Bass) and an assortment of drummers. We formed LB, and I might be a year or two out, in 1983/4. I was kinda scratching around as to the first time me and Carl actually picked up a guitar and why we did it. I know everyone gives a typical cliched answer to this, you know “blah blah after seeing so and so at the…etc”, all I remember is playing these massive instrumental pieces on awful cheap guitars and through a single amp, which I remember, having to be glued back together at some point. Our first purchase, not surprisingly, was a guitar tuner

Carl: I first got a (terrible) guitar back in 1980 but couldn’t figure it out so didn’t bother with it until years later and was just as bad then !!!!

++ Was this your first band or where you involved with any other bands before?

Karl: This was our first band.

++ Why did you choose the name Leopold Bloom?

Karl: As you probably know, Leopold Bloom was the centralfigure in the book‘Ulysses’ by James Joyce.
I am sure Carl chose the name and not me…I still thinkit’s of a pretentious name .Though there was a band call Josef K (quite liked them!)

Carl: I honestly don’t recall being responsible for the name but who knows!!

++ On Stephen Cudgels blog he mentions you released at least one song on a compilation? Which compilation and which song was that? Was there any other releases?

Carl: ‘The Convert’ was released on a compilation album released by rhythm recording studios in Leamington Spa entitled ‘The Rhythm method’. the song ‘Myself Willing’ was also released on a compilation album but I have no memory of who/why/where etc I dont even have a copy…maybe Stephen Cudgel could help with this one???

Karl: Likewise, I have no memory of this release.

++ What are the names of those 7 tracks included in your 2 demos? When were they recorded? And will there be a chance for some more of these songs to show up on myspace? Oh! And which is your favourite Leopold Bloom song?

Carl: They were ‘The Convert’ ‘Myself Willing’ ‘Wicked Winter’ (2nd demo)‘Hands & Eyes’ ‘In & Out’ ‘The Contradiction’ ‘Birthplace’(1st demo)
My favourite would prob be either ‘Underwater’ (unrecorded)or ‘The Convert’

Karl: Personally I like the ‘The Convert’ best. With the last note
of this we became Where Gardens Fall.

++ Was there any chance to get a record deal? At least the 2 songs I’ve got the chance to hear, are quite good!

Carl: There was never any record company interest but there were quite a few good songs that were never recorded in a proper studio as we didn’t have the money but these songs gave us a springboardto write the songs we did later with Where Gardens Fall.

++ How about gigging as Leopold Bloom? Any good anecdotes?

Carl: We used to play a local ‘Heavy Rock’ pub called ‘The coach & horses’ in a town called West Bromwich near to where we lived. It was an out and out rock pub which was totally at odds with what we were doing at the time we didnt endear ourselves to the locals very much especially when we did a 10 minute plus version of the Velvet Underground ‘Waiting for the Man’ improvised as ‘Waiting for the bar to close’ at the end of our set as bands had to keep playing until the bar closed.

Karl: I remember the first gig clearly. We played at Rowley Regis Sixth Form College and the set-list included: They Walked in Line, Ice Age and Shadowplay, all by Joy Division and our own songs, The First Man, Do You Remember, Free the Spirit and Going Away. The second gig was at some Roman Catholic community centre…we really shouldn’t have been allowed to play there

++ You mentioned me that it was with “The Convert” song that you saw it was about time to fold Leopold Bloom and start Where Gardens Fall. This song has a very dark vibe though, unlike most of Where Gardens Fall stuff. Where did the inspiration came for it?

Karl: This song was about a woman in pure ‘existential’ crisis. Her religion and her children had left her with no feelings at all. I suppose ‘you never to old to learn’ refrain comes across as very cynical?

++ The other song on myspace, is “Myself Willing”, which is much more of a guitar pop tune, much more upbeat than “The Convert”. I really enjoy this track! What’s the story behind it?

Karl: ‘Myself Willing’, for a change, now seems a lot more optimistic in it’s lyric. I remember that I really wanted to move from this damp ridden flat that should have been condemned years ago but when push came to shove, I had grown very attached to my environment and found that even living in a hovel had its pluses in relation to creativity. I lived in a nice high storey council flat during Where Gardens Fall period. Hence, the quality of the music was a lot better!

++ Also on Stephen’s blog he mentions that you were such a good showman, that you would do a few sort of Morrissey moves crossed with a bit of Michael Stipe! Any comments?

Karl: Certainly dont remember this…but there again

++ Alright, so what was for you the biggest highlight of being in Leopold Bloom?

Karl: This is perhaps the easiest question of all…just playing live and people enjoying it. WGF, tome wasvery grandiose, as near to a work of art that I have got…

++ You mentioned that you were influenced more from books than from music. So I’m wondering what are you reading nowadays? And if you have some sort of favourite book or author? Or a top five?

Karl: Top Five books…
Ulysses by James Joyce
To the LightHouse by Virginia Woolf
Madame Bovary by Flaubert
Ariel by Sylvia Path
And everthing ever written by Ian McEwan (sorry cheated there!)
At the moment I’m reading Graham Swift’s Memoirs but really looking forward to reading a book called ‘Me Cheeta’, check it out onAmazon…

++ Thanks again for this, a second interview! Anything else you’d like to add?

Carl: Leopold Bloom was our first band hence we just recruited ‘mates’ even if they were actually worse players than we were (and we were pretty bad)….that didn’t really workandas time went onso we learnt from that and approached Where Gardens Fall differently which was a much better experience musically.

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Listen
Leopold Bloom – The Convert

From the top of my head, a couple of things I learned in Stockholm.

• My way around town:
  – Walk 2 blocks to Luma tram station.
  – Take the tram towards Alvik
  – Get off at Gullmarsplan
  – Take the subway (tunnelbana) towards the city (or Hässelby strand, Åkeshov)
  – Get off at Slussen or Gamla Stan
• But my favourite way to town was this small ferry that would take us from Hammarby Sjöstad to Södermalm. It even had some pillows for you to sit on and books to read. Sadly the ride takes around 5 minutes.
• The garbage pick-up trucks are little. They look like toys!
• Record stores still exist but most of them carry lots of crap. (which is not exclusive to Sweden, this is the worldwide norm, of course). I was recommended to check out Record Hunter and I couldn’t find anything worth there. But there is one fantastic place for indiepop lovers: Nostalgia Palaset. I found lots of rare gems (a Feverfew flexi, a My Favorite 7″, etc.) there that I bought and some others that I had to hide.
• Delicious Goldfish opens only a couple of days. I wanted to visit that store! Shame.
• That churches should be built on the hilltop. Makes a lot of sense. They look huge that way.
• There are some huge birds around town. Well not huge as a condor or even a pelican, but bigger than your regular pigeon. But they are the size of a chicken even though the idea of making rotisserie from them seems to scare the swedes. I can’t remember the name at the moment of this bird. It had some blue feathers, rings a bell?
• Twenty kronor are, more or less, what a half-liter Coca Cola costs.
• Making the line at the Systembolaget, not being carded.
• To count from 1 to 10 (ett till tio), though my Swedish skills have improved considerably since then. Now I can count till a hundred at least.
• How to order a subway ticket: the famous remsa. Worth for taking only 8 rides, though it has 16 spots to be stamped.
• People prefer texting over calling. Telia was the company giving service to my German sim card this time.
• It’s not unusual to walk around the streets and listen to ABBA. That makes the whole Stockholm experience complete.
• That people can be civilized even though there’s a manifestation/parade asking for Kurdistan’s independence. Hey, no smoke grenades!
• I’m not supposed to eat inside a bus. Had to hide my döner among my records! Still not sure what kind of meat was on it. Didn’t taste like lamb, that’s for sure. But it was quite tasty for a 4am snack.
• Everyone was excited and hopeful about the Sweden – Denmark game. They all came late for the party because of the game. But by then their excitement was gone, Sweden was virtually out of the World Cup (which would be later confirmed). Felt good to at last have some people that share the sorrow of having your national team out of the World Cup. It sucks so much!
• Trying to get the whipped cream to be a bit more dense. Ok. This I didn’t master.
• Pancakes with raspberry jam and cloudberry jam (plus that whipped cream!) are way too sweet! I was full with one! My fantastic host could easily eat 4 and look great still!
• Candy stores are quite common. You can find candies of every colour and sizes. These are Kajsa’s favourite affären, Godis, godis, godis.
• And of course, I learned that kyckling is all I need to know. Kyckling och potatis! Kyckling med curry! Yum!

I miss it. Crossing fingers that I can go again in 2010.

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Listen
The Seashells – Hide in Your Memory

Thanks so much to Pete, Hutch, Mark and Michelle, all four members of The Speedpuppies, for this great interview! They just released on this label (Cloudberry of course!) a retrospective CD that includes their 5 recorded songs and they are so fantastic! The Speedpuppies were a short-lived band from Stoke-on-Trent on the late eighties, and many may know that Pete went to be part of The Rosehips and he is nowadays half of the fantastic duo Horowitz! If you want to listen some more tunes, drop by their myspace!

++How is Stoke this winter? Are you getting ready for Christmas?

Hutch: I’m no longer in Stoke but I was there for last Christmas and loved it. Sub zero temperatures and a warm welcome in the pubs.

Pete: It’s getting colder by the day and there aren’t many leaves left on the trees that grow amid the urban destruction that passes for redevelopment. I’ll be stocking the fridge with beer and checking pub opening times ready for the Christmas break.

Mark: It’s cold and I’m almost done shopping which is a first.

++ How did you all knew each other? How do you remember Stoke’s scene back then?

Hutch: I met Pete through mutual friends probably at one of the local indie nights, or maybe even at the Wayfarer which was this cheesy pub disco in Stone where I lived. We regularly bumped into each other at various gigs. Michelle’s sister was at school with my sister and we probably knew each other through mutual friends around Stone.

Mark: I knew Pete from The Rosehips days and got introduced to Hutch & Michelle through him.

Michelle: I can’t remember how we got together – maybe in the local pub, through friends of friends – but I’m not sure. I do remember practicing at Hutch’s parents’ house and we occasionally used some practice studios in Stoke. We played several gigs around Stoke and recorded the demo. I believe we had a break during the summer of 88, when I went to work on a camp in New York State. We had the gig at “The Zoo” when I came back.

Pete: Hutch, together with our mutual friend Ade Brightmore, started putting on an alternative non-goth nights at Parkers No. 7 in Stone. Back then, it was goth, goth, goth – that was THE alternative – but not at Parkers, where it was the Mary Chain, Primitives, Shop Assistants, Membranes, Age Of Chance et al. The Rosehips spurred me into thinking that I could actually be in a band, rather than just play guitar in my bedroom and that’s where the Speedpuppies began. We were a four piece originally, with Michelle on drums and Liz singing. It rehearsals, Liz in her stripey top and shades, looked like Alex Shop Assistant and really, I just hoped we could do something along Shop Assistant lines. Liz used to take gig photos of lots of 80s indiepop bands – someone should try to coax her to put them online! Anyway, maybe it was shyness or nerves but Liz couldn’t and wouldn’t sing in public and left the band, when we were offered our fist gig. Michelle moved to singing and took to it like a duck to water. Until Mark joined, we used my old Boss DR-110 drum machine at gigs. Without a drummer, we used to practice at Hutch’s parents house – Mrs Hutchinson used to bring us tea and cake in the middle of our practices! I already knew Mark from The Rosehips and when he saw us play with a drum machine, he offered to drum for us.

Before The Speedpuppies formed, I put an advert in the window of a local music shop, along the lines of “Guitarist seeks….influences – The Shop Assistants and Sex Pistols.” Naturally, some goth types answered! We had a few rehearsals in a student living room in Stoke. I borrowed a friend’s electric guitar, which had previously sounded great, but he’d sawn off the top part of the body, to make it look like the one that Pete Shelley used in the Buzzcocks. The guitar now sounded a pale imitation of its former self but nevertheless, we rehearsed Bowie’s Queen Bitch and a few other covers. Richard, who was the singer/non singer (it’s a long story, Roque!), became a good friend and acted as driver (and saviour) when I had to get from Stoke to Plymouth and back in one night to play a Rosehips gig.

++ Which other bands from Stoke you liked?

Hutch: The Rosehips were excellent. There was also a band called Exit Condition who were a three piece with what sounded to me like an early Husker Du.

Pete: There were some great bands in Stoke around that time. The Sainsburys are one of the great long lost indiepop bands. Someone should force Dave Wood to locate the master tapes and get the tracks heard! In fact, I might have another go myself! They were brilliant. Ant and later, Mark from the Sainsburys, were also in The Rosehips. Vicarage Gardens were excellent, like an early REM. Honeycrash were a shambolically and heroically fun and funny live band and made one ace single; The Anythings were a cool Velvets influenced band but they seemed to disappear! We used to go and see Flame On! and Exit Condition who were ferocious bands, very much influenced by 80s American hardcore.

Mark: The punk ones mainly – Adversary, Exit Condition, Reverse – it was quite a close-knit community

++ Why did you decide to change the band name from The Safe Boys to The Speedpuppies?

Mark: You’ll have to ask the others. I just hit the tins at the back.

Hutch: The Safe Boys came from first line of the song Poison of Passion. I’ve always thought coming up with band names is a hundred times harder than actually writing the songs. The name goes on the posters and the record covers. It carries all the power. It should stick with people whether they hear the music or not -whether they like the music or not. Plus finding a name that everyone in the band agrees with is tough. I think we just came to the decision that the Speedpuppies was a better name.

Pete: We couldn’t agree on a name for a long time and it was only when we had our first gig that we had to come up with one – The Safe Boys. I don’t think any of us were ever 100% happy with it but we’d rejected The Night Porters and others and we were desperate! The 1988 live tape was recorded at Hudson’s nightclub (Alan Hudson of Stoke City, Chelsea and England fame!) when we were The Safe Boys.

++ I think the Speedpuppies is a great name! But how did you come up with such a name?

Hutch: It was, I believe, one of Flame On! who came up with the name for themselves (and possibly had rejected it). Ant Rosehip told us about it and I think we grabbed it before somebody else got in there. It’s cheekily ambiguous.

Pete: Yes, it was Flame On! On the day we recorded the demo, we were the Speedpuppies, although the name on the master cassette says Doreen Slater and the Speedpuppies. Glenn Rosehip popped into the recording session and, at the end of the session, persuaded us that Doreen Slater and the Speedpuppies was a vast improvement. Caught up in the moment, we thought it was great and used it on the cover of the cassette but in the cold light of day, it didn’t really suit us, so we shortened it back very quickly! I don’t think Michelle felt comfortable with people thinking she might be Doreen Slater!

++ What about the demo you recorded? There was no interest from labels at that time? It’s strange as it is so good!

Hutch: To be honest we were all pretty new to this and wouldn’t have had a clue how to market ourselves effectively. That said, Pete may have sent it out to a few labels. At this time there were hundreds of bands all over the country. You had to be something pretty special to get industry types to travel out from one of the bigger cities.

Pete: I sent about half a dozen out to “indiepop” labels – sorry Hutch and Michelle; it’s my fault that we never got into the hands of the industry AR men! I sent cassettes to Sarah, Subway, Raving Pop Blast, Sowing Seeds and 53rd and 3rd. Sarah replied to say no thanks, but apart from that, we had no response.

++ How did the songwriting process worked for the band? Did you have more songs that never got the chance to be recorded?

Hutch: I’m sure we had a few other songs. There was certainly a cracking cover of Dolly Parton’s 9 to 5. Michelle liked Dolly and insisted on doing the track and coerced us. I’d thought that C&W was crappy but we really punked it up well and it probably could have been a great single. Everyone cheered when we played it live. The songwriting was usually each of us getting bold enough to bring out little bits of melodies and lyrics and stitching them together. There may have been a few where an individual had a full song and then the rest of us added little bits here and there – like spice to a curry. Before we came to remaster these songs I’d have had a problem remembering much about them. As soon as I heard them little bits do leap out. The Killing Time was definitely Pete’s lyric. I can remember writing elements of Poison of Passion because it was during the initial Aids/HIV hysteria and it was meant to be describing some dystopian love tryst. I think that a few of us were exorcising the demons of failed relationships in those words. Half a Chance has some nasty sentiments. I cringe when I listen to some of those lines. I suspect that there were many more songs that, given time would have surfaced from each of us. Pete would have had several dusty notebooks tucked away within his guitar case. There was still much shyness to overcome before we could confidently express ourselves in front of each other.

Pete: The Dolly Parton cover was one that we used to hammer out. I came up with The Killing Time and part of Poison of Passion and I remember Hutch teaching us Half A Chance. There were a few more that we used to play – The Man You Left Behind, Obvious Clue and The Morning After, which are on a live recording from 1988. There may be a few more half finished ones on the 4 track cassettes.

Michelle: I only wrote one song as far as I can remember “You’ll Never Know” – glad it made it onto the demo tho ; )

++ Which is your favourite song of yours? why?

Hutch: I like Serenade because the arrangements seem the most advanced. Michelle does some great overdubbed vocals and we really got that lift when the chorus kicks in. There’s a nice little guitar riff that I think Pete came up with in the studio at Rugeley.

Pete: At the time, The Killing Time was my favourite. Michelle kept the backing vocals to herself and the first we knew about them was in the studio singing them! Now it’s probably You’ll Never Know or Serenade.

Mark: The Killing Time

++ You played around six gigs in about a year and a half, which is the gig you remember the most and why?

Hutch: We did one of the first in a club up at Newcastle (Under Lyme) when we still had the drum machine and it was a pain in the arse to get the right song going on it. Newcastle had quite a hipster crowd and I can remember feeling nauseous I was so nervous. Michelle suddenly became brilliantly confident in front of an audience. It was very shambolic but I think we made our mark. Somebody chalked some graffiti about us (or Michelle) on one of the underpass walls in town and to me that was a worthy accolade.

Pete: The one at Hudson’s when we were The Safe Boys, was great. Just the feeling of standing in front of a loud guitar amp was a blast! The Rosehips played as well and there was lots of paper confetti around from the travelling Fat Tulips.

++ After the Speedpuppies were over, Mark continued on a band called Flame On! I don’t think I’ve heard about this band, I guess they were fans of The Human Torch? Care to tell me a bit more about it?

Mark: They were a punk band already going. They had a great double bass drum drummer called Rob who used to play in cowboy boots and a guy called Clive on bass! The first band I was in featured Mark & Simon from Flame On! so when Rob and Clive left, Mark shifted across to bass and I jumped in on the kit.

Pete: Flame On! were very much influenced by American hardcore. They used to rehearse every week and seemed to have a batch of new songs for every gig! Mark’s drumming for the Speedpuppies was fantastic and we played together a few years later in Jack In The Green.

Hutch: Mark’s drumming was inspirational. When I heard those tracks again it was the first thing that stood out. You stick it behind a few fledgling tunes and suddenly you have raw adrenalin coursing through them. I think Flame On! got their name from a Birthday Party tune. I can’t remember their tunes too well but they were much heavier than us.

++ What happened with Hutch and Michelle? Were they involved with any other bands after?

Michelle: I still love music but my singing is mostly reserved for bath times, which is probably a good thing!!!! Some of my family still live in Stone which is where we all met, and I go back there a couple of times a year.

Hutch: I’ve been in a few bands over in Sydney but have never released any tunes. I’m one of those blokes that often get credits on CDs for lending the band my amp or something J . I DJ’d (mainly soul music) on BondiFm for a year. I’m not currently playing in any bands but I don’t feel that I’ve yet reached the end of my musical journey – whatever the vehicle may be.

++ Are you The Speedpuppies still in touch? What are you doing nowadays?

Hutch: This project has brought us back in contact. I live in Sydney and travel back infrequently but I hope we all get chance to catch up for a beer when I’m next in England.

Michelle: After “The Speedpuppies” I went off to Manchester University to train to be an Art Teacher, played quite a lot of Volleyball, and tried my hand at DJ ing for a while. I am now living in Oxfordshire, and run a Creative Arts Faculty at a Secondary School in Wiltshire.

Pete: I play in Horowitz and record friends’ bands. The Pete Green and the Corporate Juggernaut LP is partly recorded and is sounding ace. Darren and Caroline from The Blanche Hudson Weekend (ex-Manhattan Love Suicides) recorded 5 tracks here and I’m chuffed to high heaven to have played on a couple of them – they’re fantastic; I’ve been helping out Falling and Laughing, who incorporate elements of indiepop, post-rock and Sonic Youth type guitar noise – Oddbox Records are putting out their single/ep in the new year. And there’s a new Horowitz LP and a few singles to be recorded too!

++ Going back to the Christmas subject, ask Santa for a gift!

Hutch: Stoke City to beat Manchester City 0-4 on Boxing Day. Video footage of Gallagher brothers crying in their seats.

Mark: A time machine.

Pete: I’d be mightily thrilled with a copy of The Electric Pop Group’s new LP.

Michelle: The winning lotto ticket please!

++ Thanks so much for the interview! Anything you’d like to add?

Pete: Thanks so much for the release! It’s brought back great memories and, it’s put us back in touch again after all this time.

Hutch: Of the four people on that record I’m the only one who isn’t teaching in some shape or form. How did that happen and what does it say about my ability to communicate?

Michelle: It’s been great bringing The Speedpuppies back to life – even if it has been a virtual reunion so far. It’s a really good feeling to have the CD released after 25 years – cheers.

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Listen
The Speedpuppies – The Killing Time

Thanks to Peter Stone, by way of Neil Edmunds, for telling me a bit about The Sweetest Ache. I guess it makes sense he didn’t know the answer to some of my most curious questions! I’ll have to bug Simon about them. For now please check Peter and Neil’s new band The Milestone Band.

++ Hi there! Thanks so much for doing this interview! It’s hard to keep it short for blog standards as there is so so so much to cover about The Sweetest Ache! I guess I’ll take the chance to ask what seems to be the most mysterious things about the band! Though I’d love to do a second interview. But let’s rewind. Let’s go to the 80s. The Sweetest Ache started as The Spirals. Why did you change names? Care to tell me a bit about those early days? Are there any recordings from The Spirals by the way?

You would have to ask Simon Court about the Spirals sorry.

++ How did you all knew each other? How did the band come together?

Simon, Dave and Stu were in school together. Jimmy (Geraint Morriss) came for an audition as a drummer and got the job, and Peter was jamming with another band when Stuart asked him to join The Sweetest Ache.

++ Who came up with such a good name: The Sweetest Ache? Where did the inspiration came?

You will have to ask Simon on that one, but there is some truth in it.

++ Most people remember your releases on Sarah Records, so that’s a must-do question. How did you end up signing to the Bristol label? How was your relationship with Matt and Clare?

We made a demo tape in the flat Stuart was living in and sent it to Sarah and they signed us, we then went down the beach to celebrate…

++ It’s said that Simon said once he was a former member of Inspiral Carpets, how true is this?

Sorry again… I will ask him as I see him sometimes around.

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

Swansea was ok, but not as cool as Cardiff. We had lots of metal and punk bands as i recall, the underground dance scene was kicking off and we came then and totally shocked everyone with our mellow sounds at first.

++ On “Briaris”, one of your fans’ favourite songs, there’s a girl singing. Who is she? And how did you decide female vocals for it? And what does “Briaris” mean?

The girl was called Louise and she was Stu’s friends Nathan’s girlfriend and she had a stunning voice so we asked her to sing…there are a few other songs with her on, but unreleased., and the title was named after Phil Briaris another friend of the band..

++ And now I do have to ask you about my favourite song: “If I Could Shine”. Any story behind it?

The best song of the 90s, Simon and Stu wrote it. We recorded it in Vons studio in London and were late as our van caught fire on the way up, but what a song…

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

Pass. Sorry there was a reason but it escapes me. I’m sure Simon or Stu would know…

++ You will later release on what was considered the American Sarah, Sunday Records. But on this single “A New Beginning”, your music had changed quite a lot! What had happened in between? Maybe it was really a new beginning? Where did the jangly guitars go?

We had done all these mellow songs and slowly started listening to Neil Young, Bob Dylan and harder rock. So we just evolved into a heavier direction.

++ And the album that came next, was Grass Roots on Vinyl Japan? How did you end up signing for the English-Japanese label? And is it true that this record sold 10 thousand copies?!

++ So why didn’t you get to be more popular?!

The new album came out very overproduced and polished and the raw sound we had started with in the recording studio was ruined. And i think it sounded too soft rockish and people lost interest. We then reformed under the name of Freedom and made about 7 songs with a great dirty rock sound and we went down well. We then go back together as The Sweetest Ache and started making a 3rd album, but we never finished it due to band commitments, oh well…

++ Looking back in time what was the biggest highlight of The Sweetest Ache?

Playing in the underworld in Camden, London. And playing in the Sarah events. We were a bit naughty but we loved going on tour.

++ Why and when did you call it a day? What do you all do nowadays aside from making music?

Simon, Stretch  and Stu are in Shooter. Jimmy and Dave are in France playing. I’m not sure about the others but me, Rob and Neil are in The Milestone Band.

++ So one final question for now, can you make laverbread? Do you have your own recipe maybe?

Get some seaweed, clean it, cook it with butter and eat up.

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

One day I’m hoping to get the original band back together to tour.

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Listen
The Sweetest Ache – If I Could Shine

Thanks so much to Geoff Suggett for the great interview! It’s brilliant to at last know more about The Lavender Faction!

++ Hi Geoff! Thanks for the interview! So let’s start from the beginning, you were first involved with Bulldozer Clarts right? Was that your first band? And then you left and started the Lavender Faction? Why did you take this decision?

Well actually The Lavender Faction was the third band after “XeX” and Eating Crow.

XeX were post punk and sort of a bit like early Cure and Joy Division recorded demo’s for EMI whose A&R rep Tony O’Conner was trying at the time to sign an unknown Manchester band called” The Smiths”, the history of The Smiths is well documented, XeX were promptly dropped like a hot turd. On the upside though I got to hear The Smiths before they signed to Rough Trade, “bonus”.

Bulldozer Clarts was a side project (to the already up and running Lavender Faction) that me and Stephen ( of This Almighty Pop!) started, he had a four track portastudio and as I was into the DIY ethic and decided to record some stuff together, I think we only recorded one song (”She Walked Away”). I still love that version of “She Walked Away” that we did on the four track.after that steve moved up a notch and got Mark in the band i was kicked out and resigned to being a lavy for the rest of the 80’s +early 90’s.

++ How did The Lavender Faction come together? Who were the bandmembers and how was the recruiting process?

Me and Rick were in a band called Eating crow who were a sort of Orange juice meets Echo and the Bunnymen with a bit of the Fall thrown in for good measure, we did some half decent tunes and once at a gig in Coventry were introduced to Roddy Radiation and Linval from the Specials they took us to a nightclub where we were told to fuck off by the doormen,and everyone went home, so close to fame yet so far away again, “ah well”!

After our brush with infamy rick and me left the band and formed the Lavender Faction who were: Andy Lee (drums), Marc Patterson (bass), Rick (guitars + voc), Geoff suggett (guitars + voc). Marc Patterson left to work as a journalist he was replaced by Richard miyers (bass)

The recruiting process:

As far as I can remember Rick knocked at my door one night and said “I’m leaving the band (Eating Crow) to form a band (The Lavender Faction) I want you to come and play guitar in the band and sing and write with me, that was just what i wanted so now i was in another band, we telephoned our friend Andy who had never been in a band but was a good drummer so now he was in the band, then we contacted a bass player we all knew called Jeff Macallum who also joined the band he was not punctual for rehearsals so he was out of the band I was friends with Marc Patterson he was a great bass player and joined the band.

++ Where does the name The Lavender Faction comes from?

The name comes from the idea that if we had something with a softer feel as in Lavender and something more edgy like faction and put together it seemed to create the feel we wanted to come through our music.

We were originally called The Angel Asylum we played our first gig under this name and then deemed it to be a bit heavy metal so The Lavender Faction it was.

++ Your first single, “Ride”,  is said to have influenced some guys to later name their band “Ride”! Do you know how true or false is this rumour?

This is a falsehood perpetrated by an unscrupulous type for the benefit of self promotion, namely me, after a serious acid session at Stephen Maughan’s bedsit, “what a night that was man”! I was telling Steve about my trip that had somehow traveled through Oxford where I met four guys who had a band and after watching our gig and buying a copy of the single decided to call their band Ride, well Steve was still on the comedown from the acid and believed the story to be true and wrote it up for the fanzine.

++ This single, as well as the other ones, were released on Lust Recordings, the new project of Stephen Woosh. Were you a usual at his Woosh club? How did you end up being signing to his new label?

To be honest at the time I wasn’t aware of the Woosh club ,only the fanzine which was always on sale in my favourite record shop “volume records” in Newcastle and other indie record shops in the city . I never even bought a copy. Then by chance I met Stephen (This Almighty Pop!) who told Steve Woosh about us and sent him a demo tape, Steve liked the songs and came to one of our gigs in Newcastle ,that night he asked us if we would like to release the first single on his new “Lust label” and shortly after that Woosh club became Lust club to which we became regulars whether it was playing gigs at the club or going to see other bands like Feral, The Keatons, The Sunflowers, St James Infirmary and getting off our face, the venue was the legendary but sadly no more Broken Doll .

++ He seems to have disappeared from the face of Earth, do you know where on Earth is he? Any anecdotes you can share about him or the Newcastle scene in general, like who were those people that were always at gigs? Or like the biggest Lavender Faction fans?

I haven’t seen Steve for about 4 years, it was at a Penetration (70’s punk band) gig out of town but we chatted for a good while about what we were both up too, he hasn’t changed much , still a snappy dresser in his white denim jacket and hoopy T-shirt although like me he is a little folically challenged these days but at least the mop top has gone or he would have resembled a Trappist monk, I think he said he was living with his partner, the girl from out of the Sunflowers and they have a child or children, and he works as a full time guitar tech, touring, ect, with major acts although I know he used to roady for My Bloody Valentine. I don’t know if he toured with them when they recently reformed .

++ What about the city in general, do you still live there? If so, has it changed a lot? What were the best venues back in the day for pop music?

Actually none of the band were from Newcastle, we all live about twenty miles south nearer to Durham city but we nearly always went to Newcastle to see bands or buy records, its still a great place for music, art, food etc, there is still a great scene but the venues have all changed, we had The Riverside which got most of the best acts its now a shit rave club, then there was the Mayfair suite, The Broken Doll, the Dog and parrot, The Bunker in Sunderland, etc etc, now there’s “Head of Steam” the Cluny or the Other rooms, not much else really.

++ The sound of the Lavender Faction is a mix of indiepop and shoegaze, what were you listening at that time?

When the band started I would think it was bands like The Wedding Present, The Marychain, Sonic Youth, Public Enemy, M.B.V, Buffalo Tom, Mazzy Star, Pixies, House of Love, Dinosaur Jr, Band of Suzans, Cocteau Twins, Loop, Wire , The Fall, Yellow, Del la soul, Stone Roses, Nwa, Nirvana, Babes in Toyland , Blue Nile , Neil Young , Bob Mould, Grant Heart, Throwing Muses, Spacemen 3, Husker Du, The Sundays, R.E.M, Ride, The Pale Saints, Primal Scream, Red House Painters, Lush , The Edsel Auctioneer, Drive, Swervedriver, Teenage Fanclub, Julian Cope, The Woodentops, St Etienne, Blue Aeroplanes, Chapterhouse , Slowdive, Leatherface, Midway Still, Mercury Rev, Flaming Lips , Spiritualized , The Field Mice, The Pooh Sticks, Stereolab , Curve, Felt,  Sugar, the Lemonheads, Ministry,  Juliana Hatfield, PJ Harvey, Pavement, Belly ,etc, etc, etc, etc.

I think that about covers a lot of it .

++ Your last single was the “Four Riffs for Joe” 12″. What are those four riffs and who is Joe?

Really the “Four Riffs” are the four songs on the 12″ and Joe was Joe Girvan our roady, Rick wanted to call it this as a thank you for Joe’s help while we were on tour with” The Wedding Present” so that was how that came about. .

++ What are your memories of recording all these records? I bet there were also many songs that were left unreleased, will there be any sort of retrospective album some day?

My memories of the recording sessions are mixed ,it was always a laugh and a pain in the arse at the same time.

Although we saw the band as a bit of a democracy the final decisions always came down to me and Rick but many an argument would arise over levels of one instrument or another but in general it was good times and hearing something that was self produced played on John Peel was the best feeling in the world. As far as the band having more material there were a few tracks that never made vinyl but nothing I can remember being outstanding and I don’t own any masters if there actually is one, I haven’t spoken to the other guys in the band for a while but Rick and Andy work together they might be planning a comeback for all i know but don’t hold your breath. No there aren’t any plans for a retrospective .

++ You also released a couple of flexis, the one with Stephen Maughan’s This Almighty Pop Fanzine that included the track Harbour Me, but there is another flexi that is not very well known, one shared with St. James Infirmary. That one had the song “Take Down the Walls”. Care to tell me a bit more about it?

Yeah! The original “Take Down the Walls” was a lot more melodic and we had recorded the tune at one session or another but rick decided he wanted to change the music and made it a lot harder sounding , we used the original lyrics with the new music and the magazine “Paint it Red” which was a free “What’s On” mag for the Newcastle arts scene asked Stephen Lust to provide tracks from bands on the label to go on a Flexi to be given away free with the mag, they did a spread on us and we were on the cover, I think I’ve got a couple tucked away in the attic, funny enough it was one of our favourite recordings by the band although i still prefer the original tune, its on one of our early demos.

++ Did you gig a lot with the band? Any gigs you remember the most?

We toured all over the UK and supported some great bands ,The Wedding Present, Buffalo Tom, Swervedriver, Carter USM , but the best gig of all had to be Liverpool Uni. We were supporting the Wedding Present and they said we could go second on the bill for that gig much to the disgust of the solo acoustic performer and vocalist and bass player in the Chameleons Mark Burgess. He didn’t speak to us after that but we went down a storm with the crowd great memories.

++ Why did you call it a day? What did you all do after?

The Lavender Faction ‘as most bands of the time before the internet’ had to rely on the press (Sounds , N.M.E and Melody Maker) radio airplay, fanzines, and you had to be prepared to gig constantly Rick unfortunately had no stomach for this and decided to call it a day .

Andy and me decided to move on and we formed Montana Hood who released one single.

++ Are you still making music nowadays? What other hobbies does Geoff Suggett has?

I still record stuff at home on my 16 track, and recently got Together with my old friend Stephen Maughan and reformed Kosmonaut for one gig to support White Town in Newcastle . Steve has kindly offered to release a track of my solo stuff “Neon Man” with a future release of his fanzine.

I snowboard when I can ,I walk a lot in the lake district and still get out to see the odd band or two when I can, oh and Ive recently taken up oil painting .

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

Yeah! I would like to take this chance to say thanks to anyone who was a fan of the Lavender Faction , Thanks to you Roque for your interest in the band and especially thanks to Stephen Maughan who’s good friendship gave us the chance to do what we did .
ps. keep off the Acid Steve.

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Listen
The Lavender Faction – Ride

Thanks so much to Karl Moseley and Carl Bedward for the great interview about Where Garden Falls and bit of their previous band Leopold Bloom! Please check more songs by both of their bands on their myspace!

++ The band started after Leopold Bloom -which maybe should be another interview! -was over. What happened? Why did you decide to continue under a different name?

Karl: LB was a band in the purest sense; it relied on the input of four individals to create the sound of the band. However, it became quite obvious as time progressed that the band were increasingly falling back on mine and Carl’s songwriting skills. It was also very apparent that Carl was also doing all the background work for the band such as publicising the band, getting gigs, even ensuring that band members brought their equipment to rehearsals etc. It was also at this point, when we recorded a song called ‘The Convert’. This song was solely penned by Carl and myself as a songwriting duo. I think that this song is very much a hybrid of the LB and WGF sound, and so, together with Carl having to do all the logistical stuff as well, it felt like a good time to wind the band up. There ended LB.
It was very easy to make the transition from LB to WGF. Myself and Carl just reverted to a song writing partnership; I did all the lyrics and he did all the music. We did everything in our way and avoided all the egos etc that go with so called ‘democratic’ bands.

++ I had a German friend who for years asked me and asked me if I knew anything else from your band aside from what we’ve read from the Leamington Spa booklet. Now out of the blue you are on myspace! How did you decide to come to the social network nightmare? And how did you all knew each other?

Karl: WGF are/were just Carl and I. We enlisted help and we had some great musicians and friends to help us. You can see who they are on our MySpace profile.
As to how we came together, that’s not hard to explain, as Carl and I are cousins.
In terms of MySpace etc…someone told us that  there was an in-depth blog about LB penned by Stephen Davies (The Cudgels) that described a gig we played in West Bromwich (just outside of Birmingham). He said some very complimentary things about us and told us we still had an audience of sorts twenty years on. Incredible.

++ Where does the name Where Gardens Fall comes from?

Karl: The name WGF was the title of one of the first LB songs we ever wrote. I can remember a bit of the chorus…
‘Gardens fall without a sound,

I think I was about 16 at the time of writing that lyric/poem!

Carl: I remember a bloke who did a bit of 4 track recording with us commenting that the song sounded a little ‘Rolling Stones’ I was offended and subsequently we never recorded with him again!!! 

++ Why did you decide to self-release your Postcard 12″? And what about the Freak Out label? Why the name? and was this the only release?

Karl: With regard to ‘Postcard’ we did not  see the point of signing to a “little indie label” etc and as all the distribution networks (The then ‘nine mile & the cartel’ took on the distribution) were already in place, we just decided to do it ourselves. The ‘Freak Out’ label, well that was ours. Carl resurrected the label in 1998 for a release by a  band he was managing at the time called ‘Shamefaced’ for their debut single ‘Stereo Sister’(Cat No Freak 2 Postcard by WGF having been Freak 1)

++ I love the song “Search” that you included in the Sound of Leamington Spa compilation! It’s just the perfect mix of guitars, keyboards and passionate vocals. Care to tell me a bit more about this song?

Karl: Yeah, this is a very interesting song and links LB with WGF. The lyrics to the song are very ironic in  type, especially the last verses…
‘Books and records piled on shelves,
Discarded scenes from films
over-spill into my head,
Into everything we did and said…
And all I do is laugh along to the last abstract pop song’
After this song everything was written about charecters and not myself

Carl: I remember just messing around on the guitar one day with the intention of trying to play ‘Cemetary Gates’ by The Smiths and coming up with ‘Search’

++ “The Property Guide to Humanity” is such an intriguing title for a song. What does it mean? And what about the fantastic song that is “A Horse on Fire”?

Karl: ‘The Property Guide to Humanity’ is a song about humility and integrity. Whether you live in an urban slum  or a palatial home you can still lead a honest life. Life is not all about owning things!
‘Horse on Fire’ is possible my favourite WGF song. I read a magazine  article about a guy who’s daughter was abducted in Iran(?). The song is full of anger and self reproach. I think the loss of a son or daughter and not knowing where they are, must be an unbearable burden to carry. Anger is the key to this song.

++ Where did the songwriting inspiration come for you guys?

Karl: I have to start with LB here, who were a post-punk band who were profoundly influenced by the music around them…New Order, James, Julian Cope, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Cure…However, all that stopped with WGF.
I can honestly say that all I/we listened to was WGF. I sold all my records, except for a few Nick Cave and Microdisney albums, I enjoyed our music to the exclusion of all others. But I would say at that point I was more into books…James Joyce (see Postcard), Virginia Woolf, Martin Amis, Will Self, Graham Swift, Ian McEwan, Keats, Auden…too, too, many to mention!

Carl: For me when in LB it was early punk and some of those Karl mentions above..but when we formed  WGF like Karl says above it became the be all and end all and other bands music was of very little influence/importance to us.

++ Also I’m wondering, as you only had one release, and it seems you have a bunch of unreleased tunes, three quick questions: how many songs you recorded? how many demo tapes were there? and will there be any sort of retrospective compilation?

Karl: LB recorded 2 demos containing a total of 7 songs WGF recorded 4 demos containing 12 songs plus a session for the single in which ‘Postcard’ was re-recorded and a a song called ‘Big Night Noise’ which appeared on the single release.
A retrospective compilation has been mentioned on a number of occasions tho that’s a far as it has got so far… I think that we would do it if it was going to be done properly giving the songs a chance to reach a wide audience.

++ I’ve been having a hard time finding this record! From what I’ve listened on last.fm and myspace, it’s really fantastic! No wonder it’s so sought after! How many copies were pressed and how was it received by the music press?

Karl: There were a 1000 copies pressed (Some of which are in my attic!!!) the music press were indifferent as at the time the whole Madchester thing was starting to happen so there wasnt much interest to be honest but we did have a few major record/publishing companies sniffing around but it all came to nothing in the end.

++ The Birmingham scene from the late 80s seems to have been vibrant with some favourite bands of mine like Mighty Mighty, The Sea Urchins, or The Cudgels. How did you enjoy the city back then? What were your favourite venues?

Karl: Yes I remember these bands and others…. we only knew the Cudgels who were based near to ourselves and were very good at what they did..Birmingham itself was a very different city then but we loved it and the few venues that would let us play ..especially ‘Synatras’ where we became good friends with the DJ/Promoter Tony Reynolds who went on to help us quite a bit.

++ Did you gig a lot? Any particular gigs you remember?

Karl: We didn’t gig prolifically but tended to play college shows out of town good ones I can remember are ..Gloucester College of Art & Tech, Luton College of HE, Cheltenham College of St Paul & St Mary..Bath University, University of London Union..the electric brrom cupboard in Sherbourne Somerset

++ What was the highlight of being in Where Gardens Fall?

Karl: Really just seeing these songs being transformed from just acoustic guitar & vocals to being full blown band songs going down well at gigs and being released… and people who didn’t owe us a thing i.e. people we didnt know appreciating them.

++ If I was visiting Birmingham as a tourist, which places would you recommend me to visit? Maybe some of your favourite spots?

Karl: Birmingham today is so different to way back then and is really tourist friendly. a lot of the old band haunts we knew have gone…. maybe in band terms a place like JB’s in the nearby town of Dudley as that is still a place dedicated to live music without ever having  being sanitised by ‘progress’.

++ And what about your favourite balti house?

Karl: Really cant comment too much on this, as far from an expert on such matters more than to say I did spend many an evening in ‘Imrans’ on the Ladypool Rd in the Sparkbrook area of Birmingham.(B’hams balti mile)

++ When and why did you decide to split? Were you involved with bands after?

Karl: We split in April 1990 after a gig in Tamworth in Staffordshire….personnel probs really which should not have been a prob at all considering the way we wrote but we felt we needed a break from it and just never returned to take it further.
No there were no bands after this for either of us.

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

Karl: Just one again thank you for the interest that you have shown in LB & WGF and that over the 2 bands we had some great times and hopefully produced a few songs that people enjoyed.

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Listen
Where Gardens Fall – Search

Thanks so much to Nikki and Marty for the great interview! This was a dream interview as I absolutely LOVE the Splashdown EP! And on top of that, “The 18:10 To Yeovil Junction” is one of my favourite songs EVER. I’m terribly happy to publish this in the blog, hope you enjoy! You can always befriend the band on myspace too

++ Hi Nikki! Hi Marty! I’m so honoured to get the chance to interview you. Bubblegum Splash! symbolizes what indie pop was all about. One perfect 7″ and then the band splits. Do you agree with me on this?

Nikki: Hi Roque I am amazed and touched that after all this time and like you say, one 7”, that anyone (apart from friends and family) remembers Bubblegum Splash! Do I agree with you -yes and no!  Love the Pastels and they have released loads also BMX Bandits etc.

Marty: Yes and no plus the whole B.S thing was not premeditated.

++ So how did you all meet? How did the band start? Have any of you been involved in other bands before? Or maybe at the same time?

Nikki: Jim, Marty, Dave and Alan were all at school together and had written a fanzine so they were all friends. I was in the Star pub in Salisbury one night wearing a Jesus and Mary Chain t-shirt, Jim was impressed by the t-shirt so came up to me and asked if I wanted to be the singer in their band. As I was drunk I said yes. Had I been sober or wearing a different T-shirt……………..!?

No other bands before .Jim and Dave were in Jane From Occupied Europe after.

++ Why the name Bubblegum Splash?

Marty: Random names put together that didn’t mean anything. We didn’t want to be called “the” something or other……

++ You only released 7 songs in total, but did you have more songs? Maybe they are tapes or so?

Marty and Nikki: Yeah there were more on demo and some we did live that not sure were ever recorded. Honeycomb centre was a favourite and our 6 min wigout. We also did a few covers live Swell maps: H.S Art and The Undertones: True Confessions.

++ How did you end up releasing the split flexi (with The Darling Buds) on the So Naive fanzine?

Nikki: I can’t remember how that came about and Marty is laughing and has just informed me that it was because Mike Brunt who wrote the fanzine fancied me. HA! HA! First I’ve heard of it , not sure how true that is.

++ The name of the zine was taken from a Rosehips song… did you like them? What about this, The Darling Buds or The Primitives?

Nikki: Yeah we really liked the Rosehips did a gig with them in Stoke, stayed at Ants house after if I remember rightly,  slept on the dining room floor.

Primitives or Darling Buds? Hard one, cus of flexi and gigs with Darling Buds. Plus bad experience at a Primitives gig in London- vomiting in plastic bags all night as ill.

++ How did the contact from the Subway Organisation happen? How was the relationship with them?

Marty: Martin Whitehead phoned us up-after we had sent them a demo. Good people not really a business relationship.

++ When you got to know the Splashdown EP went to number 15 of the indie charts, what was your reaction?

Marty: I looked in the N.M.E and saw our name, first reaction was disbelief, then amazed and proud.

Nikki: I was amazed. Think I laughed and jumped around the kitchen where I was living at the time. (I didn’t know heard it about third hand after finishing work.)

++ Stephen Pastel once said: ““But on the minus there are groups like Bubblegum Splash! we played with them in Bristol, and they just summed up everything that was wrong in music just now. I mean they had one song that went la-la-la like Primal Scream and another with the bum-de-bum drumbeats a la Shop Assistants. It was just a joke.” What would you answer him?! Why do you think he said so?

Nikki: He has a point. I joined the band knowing I couldn’t really sing, it was good fun, never thought we would gig let alone release anything. I was very shy and nervous. In band practices I used to sing behind a curtain.

Marty: We were all nervous as buggery –not a joke.

++ What’s the story behind “The 18:10 to Yeovil Junction”? It’s such a beautiful song! And why did it was included twice on the Subway compilations?

Nikki: 18.10 is my favourite B.S track it is a lovely tune. Jim wrote it as he did all our songs.

Marty: It’s about “Love, longing and solitary train journeys”. It’s on two because it’s fab.

++ How do you remember the Bubblegum Splash recording sessions? Any anecdotes you could share? How was the creative process for you all?

Nikki: I remember recording sessions as being good fun, a laugh. I probably used to get over excited. Jim was the boss, wrote everything and had to help us all, so was probably stressful for him. We used to drink a hell of a lot of chocolate milk. Band practices were a hoot, we had to get our stuff to the rehearsal room (Britford Village Hall) in a wheelbarrow. Punk Rock!

Marty: I remember recording sessions as frustrating. Splashdown ep was recorded the day Andy Warhol died- led to our 15 mins of fame!

++ What about gigs? Any gigs you remember the most? What were your favourite?

Nikki: My favourite gig was the one with the Pastels, Tallulah Gosh and the Vaselines in Bristol (even though Stephen hated us). It was so exciting playing a gig with bands we loved and admired. Loads of our friends came from Salisbury to see us. FUN! FUN! FUN! Although I also have fond memories of the Tropic Club in Bristol too with the Darling Buds and Flatmates.

Worst one was the one in Stoke the sound was crap ,Alan the drummer stormed off stage through the drum kit then later on me and Alan had a fight, we didn’t like each other very much. I think it actually ended up being our last ever gig.

Marty: Alan crashed the car on the way back from Stoke.

++ Why and when did you call it a day?

Marty: Shortly after the Stoke gig- 13 months as a band 13 gigs and probably 13 songs!

++ Looking back, what was the best moment of being part of the band?

Nikki: I had a great time despite being very shy and nervous. I did quite often sing with my back towards the audience holding my lyrics as I was so scared, also had to have Jim nod me in as I would freeze. Travelling to and from gigs was a riot a great laugh. Obviously hearing us on John Peel was amazing.

Marty: Best moment for me was hearing us being played on John Peel on the car radio  on way back from band practice.

++ Do you follow any indiepop bands now? If so, which ones you like?

Marty: Not really although I still have a soft spot for Scottish bands. At the moment I like Frightened Rabbit and We Were Promised Jetpacks.

Nikki: I still like all the old stuff but I really like The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart.

++ Do you mind some random questions? I was wondering, what secret skills does Nikki Barr has? What’s your favourite dish? who was the coolest personality in those C86 days?

Nikki Barr has no skills secret or not, apart from I am known as the Queen of Burps/Belching in my house!!

Marty and Nikki: Favourite dish: Mussels

Marty: Coolest personality: Harvey from the Darling Buds and Debbie Flatmate.

Nikki: Aggi Pastel.

Nikki: ME.  HA! HA!HA!

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

Thanks hope this has been helpful xxxxx

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Listen
Bubblegum Splash – The 18:10 To Yeovil Junction