After Tim Headman told me a bit more about the Watt Government not so long ago, Steve Nash, who played acoustic guitar and vocals, was very nice to give me an interview about their band! Thanks so much to both for getting in touch and sharing all these stories! Again, please check videos from their diverse projects here!

++ Hi again! Thanks so much for doing the interview! I was very curious about your band and you got in touch, out of the blue! How are all you doing today?

Right now it’s Halloween and I have just been out with my nine year old son been really busy with my job (I work freelance in health and social care) Curtis and his friend Owen, trick or treating. This is still a fairly low key thing in the UK, compared to how I think it is in the states. I have but I am excited about the new band I am getting together called ‘Arthur 2 Stroke, WM7 and Big Black Bomb’

++ I know some of you were already playing together in Arthur 2 Stroke and the Chart Commandos before joining the Watt Government. Care telling me a bit more about this band? What is the discography of this band? And how did you all meet in the first place

In 1978 in Newcastle it seemed like everybody was in a band. As a result spending the summer acting in a Walt Disney film shot in Alnwick Castle (Where they later did Robin Hood Prince of Thieves with Kevin Costner) I got to know a few people who had started a regular scene playing in a pub every week, promoting events, and gathering like-minded souls around a concept called Anti Pop. Arthur 2 Stroke was initially the main creative force behind this scene and he also fronted one of the bands that played every week, but never with the same musicians. I liked his humour and style of music and so I approached him and we started playing together regularly, two electric guitars and a drummer, and he christened me WM7. Over the next few months the band grew – I knew Tim from college and he joined on bass initially, but moved on to guitar. The Chart Commandos had evolved into a proper seven piece backing band for Arthur by 79/80, as a result of
recruiting different people in different ways as we went along. We were influenced by Geno Washington and the Ram Jam Band, Ian Dury and the Blockheads, Dexie’s Midnight Runners, Madness and a love for TV theme tunes and Northern Soul. By this time, I had moved on to trumpet…

A2S and the CCs sort of fizzled out in 1983. We had played hundreds of gigs and had an amazing following in the North East of England BUT we never managed to match our live success with any really decent recording, and eventually we all needed to move on.

++ What happened in the time between Arthur 2 Stroke and the Chart Commandos and the Watt Government?

As I remember it when the Chart Commandos split up, we all went our separate ways for a while. Tim continued writing and recording some songs, using us lot in the studio, Pat (keyboards) rejoined Archie Brown and the Young Bucks and released a great album called ‘Bring me the head of Jerry Garcia’; Davey, Ian and Grahame and Ross (Drums and Bass and Sax and trumpet) joined our ex roadie to form a new band whose very 80s name escapes me…and Stevie our percussionist I were recruited on trumpet to another new Newcastle band called ‘The Pressgang’

This was quite a diverse but ultimately doomed outfit, with a Jamaican drummer and a Malaysian keyboard player, a brilliant but mentally troubled guy on sax, and two black British female singers, one who was an ‘exotic dancer’ in the clubs around Tyneside, and the other was Debbie – who became my girlfriend and subsequently my wife. The Pressgang had self imploded after a few short months, a year tops, when one day I took a phone call for my flatmate Andy Pop, who had been the other half of the driving force behind Anti Pop (the business side)

Andy still promoted various gigs and events in Newcastle at that time (1983/84) and on the other end of the phone was an agent who needed a ‘jazz duo’ to support Alexi Sayle at his gig in Middlesbrough in a few night’s time. I suddenly got this idea that Tim and Debbie and I could put something together so I told the agent that I knew this band, and luckily Tim and Debbie were up for it! Tim had already thought of the name Watt Government, so we threw a bizarre mix of country and western and home-made topical reggae tunes together, and went down so well were offered three more dates. We played as a three piece for a while, then as the five piece you see on the The Tube video, and then finally poached back the rest of the Chart Commandos – the rest is history!

++ You also said to me that you were influenced by a lot of African music. Was it easy to have access to it? What about UK music, was there anything you enjoyed at the time?

Now we are moving into the early 80s, and the birth of Watt Government out of the ashes of the Chart Commandos in 83/84. Here and there in Newcastle and the rest of the UK people were picking up on ‘World Music’ especially (in my case) African musicians like King Sunny Ade, Fela Kuti, Hugh Masekela, The Bhundu Boys (although perhaps they came later!). As I remember it was not so hard to access, but I guess there was nowhere near the variety and choice that is available now.

In terms of other bands, I seem to remember that we had quite lot of time for all kinds of music – we were big fans of Gil Scott Heron and Curtis Mayfield who were overtly political in their lyrics, and in the UK at the
time people like Elvis Costello, Billy Bragg, The Style Council, The Clash, (and many more I can’t remember!) were all doing political/social commentary but we were into all sorts of other things, Stax, Tamla, Talking Heads, Grace Jones, early rap like Grandmaster Flash and Run DMC, lots of reggae, contemporary and old style Trojan…and good pop music, we were all always partial to good pop music

++ What do you think about being categorized as neo-aco?

Sounds good! One of the problems we had at the time was that we played lots of different styles live and this made us hard to categorise, so it’s interesting to finally be located in a genre – albeit on the basis of one
single!

++ From what you told me, your songs were quite political. But how involved were you in politics?

Tim and I were working in the ‘public sector’ health and education respectively, and all of us were very aware of the way Margaret Thatcher’s policies (she was the prime minister of quite a right wing government) were
adversely affecting the most vulnerable people in our society at that time. In the North East the miner’s strike was very significant, due to the importance of coal mining to the history and economy and culture of the area, and there was a lot of anger and hardship about the decimation of the coal industry by Thatcher’s government. We played a number of benefit gigs, and some people in the band knew activists and people who were undergoing real hardship, but at a personal level I have never really been much of a political activist. To me, Tim and Davey (the drummer) always seemed much better informed and aware. Tim tended to write most of the words and most of the time they were about the things in the news, and the way government decisions and actions affected ordinary people

++ How do you feel about Gordon Brown then?

Hey now Roque, far too many column inches have been spent on this subject already. I guess I see him as a nearly man, I don’t think he is particularly a bad prime minister, but having to follow Tony Blair, who was much more charismatic, and then being hit by the global recession, and domestic twaddle like expenses scandals, meant that he never really stood much of a chance. I also think these things go in cycles, and the same party that was welcomed into office by dancing in the streets 10 years ago has now become tired and ineffective and full of infighting. What depresses me most is that the whole game has shifted to the right in this country, the amount of people we lock up, the way we treat asylum seekers, the pressure on single mums and other ‘unemployed’ groups, negative images of young people, it’s all a very depressing if you let it get to you

++ What are your memories of recording the single? Any anecdotes you could share?

We seemed to record so many versions of it! In fact there were only two proper gos at it – the one with the Kane Gang, which I still have somewhere, and then the one we did ourselves when that got lost – Tim has told you about this already. The Kane Gang experience was very interesting to me because it was the one time we actually worked with producers. Mostly we just depended on the engineer and our own judgement. One thing I do remember is that one time we went into the studio (called Lynx, it’s just been demolished to make way for a ’student village’) and Hugh Masekela was in there finishing off recording a session for the Tube. I was in awe, and wanted to speak to him but came over all clumsy. The amazing thing was he
just said hello and set about moving his stuff so that we could sit down. He was so humble warm and friendly. But I still didn’t know what to say to the man!

++ Why didn’t Kitchenware want to release the single anymore? Ok, the master tapes were stolen, but that’s not a good reason at all, especially for such a nice single! How come Volume Records came to rescue you and release the 7″?

I guess it all comes down to money in the end – there was only so much money they were prepared to invest, and when that was spent, that was it. Also I don’t think they were really committed to the idea that we could be successful. I can’t remember how Volume got involved, but Tim can tell you more about that, he was always the mover and the shaker!

++ What happened to the song “Watt Government”? Why didn’t it get released as a single as you expected?

Technically it was never did get very far as a single. We all loved the song (and I still do, I do an acoustic version with some friends of mine currently, although we have yet to perform it publicly). As I recall, we got
some studio time booked up one time after Tim had left and gone to Vancouver, we timed this to coincide with when he was back in the UK on a visit. Maybe 87 or 88? It was never properly mixed or finished off, and the band had split by then so there was no real focus to do anything with it. These days it’s all a bit easier I think – I mean it doesn’t matter if you don’t have a band as such, but in those days the the band was the thing. The version that exists has a certain magic though, and I can send it to you sometime to see what you think if you like

++ You also appeared in a couple of TV shows doing live performances. How was that experience? Is it much different than playing live at a club? How did you get into the TV shows by the way? Today guitar pop bands don’t get invited that often to TV shows!

TV was always fascinating – everything gets focused on a few minutes performance, and it can be much more intense and difficult than playing a whole set for an hour or more, when you can work with the crowd and build up some excitement. It’s a bit like recording in that I think it requires its own set of skills and just because you can play in a band and write good songs doesn’t mean you can come over well on tv. I can’t comment on what it’s like for bands these days

++ How was the scene in Newcastle back then? Any good bands from the time that deserve to be remembered?

Crikey that’s a hard one. Like I said above, there were loads of bands, but to be honest I can’t remember too many of them now. Some friends of ours were in The Hostages, and they did ok for a while, got a deal and released a single ‘Pretend you’re American’ but it didn’t go far. Maybe Tim can remember some of the others….

++ What about gigs? Did you gig a lot? Any in particular that you remember fondly?

Gigs were always hard work – often we had to promote them ourselves and do all of the organising. Personally my favourite was our second gig at The Crucible in Sheffield. We were supporting Alexi Sayle who was at that time a stand up comedian, one of the then new breed of ‘alternative’ comics. At that point it was me and Tim on guitar and backing vocals and Debbie singing. We were in danger of becoming a musical comedy act perhaps but I quite liked it and we went down very well with the crowd that had come to see Alexi Sayle. We had worked out a whole little routine in no time at all and it felt edgy and fresh. That would be a personal favourite!

++ When and why did the Watt Government called it a day? Were you all involved with music after?

Now then, I think I am going to have to cite the usual ‘musical differences’ here. There was some personal relationship stuff in the band but mainly my take on it would be that Tim had worked very hard to try and make something happen with Working My Fingers and when that didn’t happen he wanted to withdraw and reflect for a while. Then he decided to move to Canada and I didn’t have anyone else to write songs with!

Tim went on to do a lot of music in Vancouver, which he can tell you about. Ian our bass player went to California to work with Sid Griffin and the Coal Porters. Stevie our percussionist has never stopped playing the working men’s clubs in the North East. For a few years I didn’t do much at all but now I am musician for a theatre company, I play in a community band of horns and steel pans that gigs in Newcastle, and I have just started to get a new band together with Arthur 2 Stroke which is huge fun

++ Why do you think the Watt Government didn’t get more popular? What was for you the highlight of the band?

Hard to say. I think success as a band is partly about luck but also partly about simply sticking with it, year after year, and we didn’t really have either of these things. Plus there was probably too many of us, and inevitably different people want different things. And then important things like children came along!

++ Are you still all in touch? What are the Watt Government members doing nowadays?

I still see Ian (bass) and Graham (sax) and Davey (drums) from time to time as we all still live in the area. Debbie is the mother of my children and so we are still very connected even though we split up amicably two years ago. Tim is in Vancouver but email and the occasional trip home mean that he never feels too far away really. Sort of fallen out of contact with Ross (Trumpet) and Stevie (percussion)

As far as I know we are all working but not so much involved with music these days. Just proper grown up jobs to pay the bills! I do play for Archie Brown and the Young Bucks (they are on You Tube), along with Ian and Grahame every Christmas, and Davey is the manager of the music venue at Newcastle University, but Tim has probably tried hardest to keep connected with the spirit of rock and roll…or should I say neo acoustic?

++ Thanks so much! anything you’d like to add?

No, I think I have gone on long enough, I just hope there is something here that is of interest to you. I am confident that Tim will have stuff to add, especially now I have prompted him!

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Listen
Watt Government – Working My Fingers to the Bone

I got the chance to talk again with Carl Green, the mastermind behind The Whirlpool Guest House, about The Close-Ups, a short lived but fantastic cartoon band that came to life out of his imagination. And for those wondering, you can still get the CD album here. Thanks again Carl for the great interview!

++ Hi again Carl! What have you been doing since our last interview?!

Travelling mainly, to places beginning with V- Vienna and Vegas! I tried to find culture in Vegas and strippers in Vienna. I wasn’t especially successful on either count.

++ I guess the idea of a cartoon band comes after what you were doing on the “live” gigs with The Whirlpool Guest House, but in between there was Shandy Wildtyme, so how come you decided going back to this format?

I’d always wanted to do it on a grander scale, but I was pretty broke in the 80’s. Everything was done on the cheap with Whirlpool Guest House, which was great fun but at the same time frustrating. With The Close-Ups I’d enough resources to do things on a different level, and the time seemed right to try and fulfill a long held dream of mine- namely, create my own fully animated cartoon band. Gorillaz were doing the business back then too, and I thought they could use a little competition!

++ Did you create the characters and all? Did each one had some special trait or personality?

I created the concept, look and individual personalities for the four band members, but I didn’t do the artwork. Can’t really draw! That was done by a brilliant artist from Manchester called Jez Hall. I outlined what I wanted and then “auditioned” his creations. Abby and Rake were taken on straight away, whereas the original Zack and Newt were sent back to the drawing board a couple of times!

++ One of the characters is called Newton Aycliffe, is this place important to you?

How on earth do you know about Newton Aycliffe?! It’s a wholly unremarkable new town about 15 miles from where I live and is barely known locally, let alone in Miami! Anyway, I chose the name to reflect the band’s North East roots, and hopefully get a few wry smiles.

++ Was it for The Close-Ups that you created the Northern Round Square Records label? Was it easy to set it up and distribute your releases? How was this experience?

Yeah, totally for The Close-Ups. It’s a low key affair really, with distribution via the internet and key record shops in the UK like Rough Trade, Piccadilly and Norman. I enjoy running it, but it’s the quickest way I know to lose lots of money. And friends. Still, it’s worth it when people get in touch to say how happy they are with the records and stuff- that’s the real and best reason for doing it. I’ve just re-activated it recently for our next release, the debut album by Head Of Light Entertainment.

++ So how did this band starts? How did you know Abby Connor? What is she doing nowadays?

I needed a certain voice to make the whole concept come alive- an understated vocal style with a girl-next-door vibe, with no affectations or guile. Abby was the 15 year old daughter of one of our friends, and although reluctant at first, she really got into character and lent an innocence and sense of wonder to the project it really needed. I love her voice! We named Abby Kirkella (the cartoon lead singer) after the real Abby- blurring the lines and all that nonsense!
Abby Connor is now 21 and studying art at University. A couple of bands have approached her, but she’s not really on that path anymore- painting and design is her real passion.

++ How did the recordings for what was mainly a duo happen? Was it an easy thing to do? I notice you also had many friends helping you.

The music was put together over a three year period (2002-2005), starting with the first single “I’m On My Way” in 2004, through to the album “2am In Flat 3b” released in summer 2006. I recorded the guitar and bass parts, did a guide vocal, then brought in some friends Paul and Adam to play the drums and keyboards respectively. Abby did her vocal at the end, once the full track was in place.

++ The sound of The Close-Ups is very different to your previous projects, this is not really C-86 stuff but closer to bubblegum pop. Was it because of what you were listening at the time? Or maybe you wanted to try something new?

To me it’s all just pop. Different strands but definitely still pop. It has got an intentional bubblegum skin but it’s an indie-pop heart that beats underneath. It’s still rough and sweet and skewed. The idea was to try and create an indie-pop Archies for the internet generation and I like to think we got pretty close.

++ Three vinyl singles and 1 album in around 2 years. That is quite prolific! But what is your favourite format? the Cd or the 7″ single? and why?

I love the pop aspect of the classic 7″ single- it has a magical mythical quality that CD’s just don’t have. Having said that, I do like clarity and convenience, so I suppose my CD’s do have a vital role to fulfill!

++ Why did you dedicate a song to Jean Shrimpton? Was she your first crush maybe?

I think Jean Shrimpton is one of the most beautiful women to ever walks God’s earth. A true mesmeriser!

++ Out of curiosity, Mike McGrother, who plays the fiddle on Jean Shrimpton, does he have anything to do with the great Kevin McGrother?

Yes, it’s Kevin’s brother. He’s a brilliant fiddle player and fronts his own Poguesy type band The Wildcats Of Kilkenny. They’re big news round our way!

++ And what about Mascara Dave? What’s the story behind him?

Mascara Dave is a fictional goth character, and a friend of Abby. It’s a love song to cheap make-up and those brave enough to wear it round Stockton!

++ On “Come on Home” you invite all your favourite people to visit you. Among them you invite Ferdinand and Scholes… and even Cantona, so I guess you are a Manchester United fan? You do know they are not a favourite team for popkids? Who do you think will win the Premier League this year then?

Ferdinand and Scholes get a name check as they played together for England. Cantona is an enigma first and a footballer second- it’s the enigma that intrigues me. The Man Utd connection isn’t relevant. To be honest, I’m not a massive footie fan these days. Money has ruined the game and sucked all the goodness out. Who’ll win the title? Any of the usual suspects- it’s all so terribly predictable.

++ And, what about Louis Theroux?!

Another of life’s oddballs. I’m drawn to them every time.

++ It seems you had a great time with this band, so why didn’t you continue with the Close-Ups?

You’ve probably gathered by now Roque, I’m rather restless musically! There wasn’t anything left to do with The Close-Ups, and besides, I was ready to go live again. Hence what I’m doing now- Head Of Light Entertainment.
www.myspace.com/headoflightentertainment

++ Anything else you’d like to say?

Yeah, please buy the debut Head Of Light Entertainment album “I Am Liberated” on Northern Round Square Records, out in November! It brings the Whirlpool Guest House, Shandy Wildtyme and Close-Ups story bang up to date! Thanks Roque.
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Listen
The Close-Ups – 20,000 Groups

Tim Readman from the Watt Government just got in touch! He wrote me a bit more about the band and it’s quite interesting, so please have a read! Also you can find a live video for the song Working My Fingers to the Bone here! And while there please check a video of their previous band Arthur 2 Stroke and The Chart Commandos! Tim confirmed me there was only one single released but that there were many recordings made. Hope I get to hear them soon!

Watt Government were originally formed to do some opening spots on comedian Alexei Sayle’s tour of England in around 1982. At that time the band was me on electric guitar and vocals, Debbie Byron on lead vocals, and Steve Nash on acoustic guitar and vocals. Over time the band was reinforced by members of a band Steve and Tim previously played in called Arthur 2 Stroke and the Chart Commandos – Ian Thompson on bass, Graham Easthope on sax, Ross Winning on trumpet, Stevie Lee on percussionist and Davey Bruce on drums.

The name Watt Government comes from a few different places. First it is a play on words because it sounds like what government? That was a question we were asking a lot in the early 8o’s during Thatcher’s reign.

We wrote a song called What Government which dealt with the actions of police outside the Orgreave Colliery during the historic coal miner’s strike of the 1984-5. Orgreave was a coal mine situated adjacent to the main line of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway about 5 miles south east of Sheffield. A widely reported clash during the strike took place at the Orgreave Coking Plant near Rotherham on 18 June 1984. This confrontation between striking miners and police, around 10,000 on each side, was dubbed ‘The Battle of Orgreave’. Violence flared after police on horse-back charged the miners with truncheons drawn and inflicted serious injuries upon several individuals. In 1991, the South Yorkshire Police were forced to pay out £425,000 to thirty-nine miners who were arrested in the events at the incident.

Watt also refers to Watt Tyler – Watt Tyler was one of the leaders of the 1381 Peasants’ Revolt. He was a slain by the King’s supporters after drinking a jug of beer “in a very rude and disgusting fashion before the King’s face.”

Watt also refers to the Watts riots – The term Watts Riots of 1965 refers to a large-scale race riot which lasted 6 days in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, in August 1965. It was a landmark event during the development of the Human Rights movement.

I think by now you will be getting the point!

Waiting for a Phone Call is a song about an imaginary phone conversation between Thatcher and Ronald Reagan.

Working My Fingers to the Bone is a song about not being able to switch off after work. It was inspired musically by African music- stuff like King Sunny Ade, Rochereau, Manu Dibango, The Super Rail Band and Fela Kuti.

Martin Brammer and Dave Brewis are school friends of mine who had success with The Kane Gang. Martin is from my home town of Seaham and Dave is from Whitburn, just north of Sunderland. They produced the first version of the song, which was originally to be released on the Kitchenware label. It was sent to be manufactured to our publisher, Hugh Phillimore, in London. His BMW was stolen with the master tape in the boot and never recovered so we had to re-record it. I had to talk the guys at Volume records in Newcastle into giving us the dough to re-record and release it.

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Listen
Watt Government – Working My Fingers to the Bone

Thanks so much to Nick Fuller for the great interview! Please be sure to check the I Think of the Sea compilation that includes most of the recorded output by Almost Charlotte. You can get it at the Moments of Pleasure website.

++ Almost Charlotte starts as a three-piece and then later it expands to a full five-piece. How did you all meet? And how did this change in the line-up affected the band? Were the songs very different now? I ask especially because Matthew came in to add vocals and guitars! That must have changed a lot what Ian, Anthony and Bill were doing, right?

The original three piece (Ian Phillipson, Anthony Squires and Bill Russell) had all known each other for ages but they were looking to bring in a singer and they met Matthew through work. They were then looking for a drummer and, I think, advertised locally; I’d just moved to Brighton and replied to the ad. I think that Matthew joining certainly changed things because it gave us two quite different writers (Matthew and Ian). They were looking for a drummer to replace the machine that they were using in order to add some ‘light and shade’ so I hope that both additions moved things on. Certainly when we started to introduce more of Matthew’s songs the band’s overall sound changed quite a lot; the best period was really when we had a good mix of both writers’ stuff because I think that they were both strong in different ways.

++ Where does the name Almost Charlotte comes from?

Good question. I always took it to be a reference to The Cure’s ‘Charlotte Sometimes’ but I asked when I joined and I’m not sure I ever got a definitive answer!

++ Why did you decide to self-release your single? Was it easy to set up the Moments of Pleasure label?

I think we all believed in the indie ethic (and still do.) If the truth be told too we probably felt that we were only likely to sell a modest number locally and at our gigs so we didn’t really need to go cap in hand to a label especially as they were likely to tell us to get lost! It was pretty straightforward to set it up as long as you accepted that there wouldn’t be any national distribution and you were happy to do the leg work of pestering people to stock it/play it. We did both.

++ You recorded the single with Terry Popple from Van Morrison. How was working with him? What do you remember from this recording session? Any anecdotes you can share with me?

Terry was a good bloke and had a succession of Brighton bands in his studio at that time. We used to laugh that he was quite diplomatic in that, after a certain take, he’d say ‘that’s good – we’ll use it’ when he clearly meant ‘that’s as good as it’s going to get given that you lot can only just play your instruments!’ Diplomacy at its best. We weren’t offended. I’m not sure how his personal taste was but I’ve always been fascinated by the fact that people in the music biz (studio’s , promoters, labels) all have to sometimes work on such a range of stuff that they almost have to put their tastes aside. At that time there were a few C86 type bands around Brighton but there was also a thrash scene beginning to emerge so I’m sure that he’d have had his share of that stuff too which was hardly Van The Man.

++ I read on the Leamington Spa compilation that there were a couple of major label conversations after the single was released. What happened with that? Why didn’t that come through?

Text book stories really. We had a call from Chrysalis records once saying that they really liked the single and inviting us to go and see them with some other material. When we got there they didn’t really know who we were and weren’t much interested in our new stuff. That was a good example of how it was – and probably still is.

++ Why do you think the “break” never happened?

We were just one of a million bands really. We weren’t consistent enough and I do think that we changed so much in a short time that we’d have been a bit of a nightmare for anyone to catgeorise. The shift in people inside the band just meant that the songs changed – after Bill Russell left we had two other guitarists come and go and both (particularly Gwyn Carwardine) were very different. It was a bit unrealistic for us to expect the audience to change with us especially when some of the later developments were – er – pretty bad! I don’t get much pride from listening to the last stuff we did before calling it a day – it sounds directionless which it was.

++ On the “I Think of the Sea” compilation, you include 8 songs from your repertoire. One of them appeared on the single. What about the other 7? When and where were these recorded? Are these, plus the single, all the songs ever recorded by the band, or are there any more demo tapes lying around?

ITOTS is a compilation of the stuff that I thought represented what we did most accurately. It’s not necessarily always the best but it does sum up the band overall. For instance there are some live tracks on there that were very roughly recorded by hanging a mic off the ceiling above the stage; these were from the first gig I ever played with the band and I didn’t know the songs so I kept playing v steady (rather like the drum machine I was supposed to be replacing) so that I didn’t do something ambitious in the wrong place! Nevertheless those songs – warts and all – are a pretty good reflection of what the band was like live then. I clearly remember my first gig with them in a really crowded pub with people dancing on the tables to this pretty messy noise that we were making – it was great. ‘Sleep’ was chosen as the single because we all thought that it was an example of the next chapter – as a song it was a lot more complete and structured than most and we felt that it was a sign of where we were going. Most of the studio stuff was recorded with Terry Popple although we did do a session with the legendary Grant @ La Di Da. There are other demo’s on tape that haven’t been digitised – they’re of variable quality both in terms of the strength of the songs and the recording process.

++ Did you gig a lot? What gigs do you remember the most and why?

A fair amount. There was a kind of hierarchy then and we were always some way down it. The Popguns were at the top – quite rightly as they were brilliant. We weren’t seen as being in their league so we played lesser venues but, for all that, we enjoyed it and had a consistent following whose support we always appreciated. London gigs always gave us a bit of a boost but far and away the best for me was a support slot to The Band of Holy Joy. At the time they were the darlings of the indie press so getting the slot – and at the Escape club which was one of the best – was a result in itself. On the night we were desperate to put on a good show as it was a big crowd most of which didn’t know us. We played really well and came off the stage feeling great. A few people came up and said how much they liked it and asked us when we were playing next as they’d definitely come. The next gig though was that same old crowd. This again is a standard story for so many bands. It’s so hard to build momentum. I’m not complaining though – it was a great night and I’m still listening to Holy Joy’s stuff today.

++ Your single seems very rare, hard to come by. So I’m wondering how many copies were pressed? I really hope finding one soon!

I think we did 1000. As I said we never expected to sell them outside of gigs and local shops. We certainly didn’t sell the lot at the time and until a couple of years ago I still had some old copies in my loft. What happened though was that, somehow, it got picked up by some indie fans in Japan and became collectible which is why people now know about it. Two of the three tracks are now available on CD (one on Leamington Spa and one on I Think Of The Sea) but I doubt that any more copies of the original single will surface.

++ Among the titles of your songs I find “Moments of Pleasure” and “Too Cold for Comfort”, two titles that kind of antagonize each other. Then there’s “Hope” and “Sleep”, so I have to ask, what was the inspiration and creative process for Almost Charlotte?

That’s not easy to answer. Ian’s early songs were certainly melancholic and Matthew’s often had a more jangly pop angle although not lyrically. The route of our problem was probably that we weren’t very good at melding the two together so instead of taking the best of both we sometimes ended up clashing in the middle. In some bands that friction is really productive but in many it isn’t and I don’t think it ultimately was with us. I think that Ian wrote some really good stuff and was more accomplished than he gave himself credit for and I’ve always liked Matthew’s stuff – I’m still writing with him today.

++ Why did you call it a day with Almost Charlotte?

A collective tiredness really. We’d changed so much in three years and felt that we’d improved, become more ambitious and worthy of attention. We didn’t get any though; we felt that we’d not really seen any progress in terms of gigs/audiences/interest so I don’t think we had the appetite for anymore. A pretty familiar story.

++ What do you think was the biggest highlight of the band?

For me it was The Band Of Holy Joy gig and the day that I saw our single in the window of the legendary Rounder Records shop in Brighton! It is though undeniably nice to still know that people have an interest in us for a single that came out 20 years ago.

++ What did you do after Almost Charlotte? Are you still in touch with the other Almost Charlotte members? What do you dedicate your time nowadays aside from music?

Matthew and I got together with another couple of Brighton musicians to form Bluff which ran for a couple of years and ten of its songs also appear on I Think Of The Sea. Nowadays, Matthew and I still do some sporadic stuff as Rogue Beauty (www.wwwroguebeautycom.moonfruit.com) and I write too (I’ve done a couple of books including www.callmebud.com) I think that Ian is playing and writing music too. Some of us are still in touch occasionally through the magic of Facebook (!) but it’s been a very long time since we all met up.

++ Do you still live in Brighton? Has it changed much? What were your favourite Brighton bands from back in the day? oh! and which is your favourite beach in Brighton?

I don’t but I still get back there. It has changed a lot but it’s still a very vibrant place for all of the arts including music so it’s always great to go back there. Brighton band #1 has to be The Popguns but I also liked HBM5. As for beaches there’s really only one and it’s OK but the best thing about the place is more the vibe than the pebbles!

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Listen

Almost Charlotte – Frustration

Thanks so much to Krischan for the extensive, exteeeeeeeeeensive, interview. It was a pleasure to know a bit more from the seminal German pop Frischluft! label. Hope you enjoy!

++ Hi Krischan! How is everything going? Any plans for the weekend?

I’m fine, but feel flattered about your interest in Frischluft! It’s weekend! I went for shopping on Friday (fruits, salad, chocolate…), skipped through some Doo Wop-compilations from Ace this afternoon, met my neighbours for supper and will look for a nice and sunny place in the countryside for reading tomorrow.

++ I have to start the interview asking what does the name Krischan means haha

It’s simply a nickname from Northern Germany. Rumours that I would be Chinese haven’t been confirmed yet. Although I could have created a nice él-type monarch founding on that (maybe Kris-Chan – The Emperor Of Oranges…)

++ When and why did you decide to start a label in Germany? Could it be considered that Frischluft was the first indiepop label in your country?

After the demise of Die Fahrraddiebe (named after the De Sica-classic I’ve never seen – the TV guide showed a still from the film with some Pale Fountains-styled kids – short trousers, slipovers, shaved backs) the Honigritter took over the torch. Still at academic high school we had romantic ideals and were longing for the definite pop statement: a 7“ record. Inspired by labels like Subway, él and Ata-Tak the summer and autumn of 1987 Matn, Sirken Sikora and me spent all our afternoons on creating every little detail of the Frischluft!-world snitching the Spectorian Wall Of Sound, the aesthetics and diction of Wirtschaftswunder-era Germany, the D.I.Y.-ethos of (post) punk and the enticing artificiality of Mike Always stable of Would-Be-Reals. Frischluft! aimed at being a wondrous world leaving the visitor with tears of joy. Finally a few days before Christmas 1987 we received the desired pieces of wax and sat the whole afternoon in my parent’s living room listening to the Chesterfields and some early Sixties German Schlager sticking together the Honigritter sleeves. In the evening nearly the whole edition was sold at the Christmas party at school. The Discjockey was spinning US sixties garage psych. We felt like pop stars!

++ Why the name Frischluft? And how easy was back then to press records in Germany? And what about to sell them? Was there a big crowd? I ask this because all of your releases are from bands singing in German, but maybe there was an international crowd for them as well?!

Listening to pop music should be like breathing fresh air (= Frischluft!)! I enjoy staying in the woods during holidays catching cool breezes of fresh air. It keeps me alive!

Ewald, our agent from the pressing plant, mainly was dealing with licensing 50s Jazz and Be Bop. So we were trying to show our Beatnik aspects although I’m not sure if he classified our psychedelic patterned anoraks as existentialist. He was living in the Taunus mountains (which were later sung about by Der Wind In Den Weiden) with his mother. One day we arrived just in time for plum jelly for afters. He didn’t get what we were all about, but I guess he had a soft spot for us…

Besides my home town Friedberg there were some very small focal points for guitar pop like Worms, Seeheim-Jugenheim or Hamburg linked by some few pop-kids swapping self-made records and fanzines. Apart from gemm.com

Hamburg all of these towns were small towns. Crowds seems to be a euphemistic term in this context. Everyone went for the Groove Farm’s maxime „Make a record for your friends to play“. The first to break into this secret circle were the Japanese. In the Beikoku Ongaku magazine I saw a photo of Hideki Kaji surrounded by his record collection with the Der Wind In Den Weiden and the Purzelbaum Im Badeschaum-7“s lurking out of his shelf.

++ Did you press many copies? Your records seem so hard to come by!

We had runs of 100 up to 1000 copies. The Honigritter “Kellergeister in unserem Haus” and the “Durch’s Schlüsselloch in des Mondgärtners Sternenhain” retrospective albums were limited to 10 copies each. Most records ended up in our friend’s collections, some were sold by Rough Trade in London, some by generous European patrons like Thierry in Belgium. All the remains were loaded cargo from little Friedberg’s train station directly heading for Shibuya.

++ The artwork from Frischluft is up my alley, the aesthetics of the label are so pretty. Was the presentation very important for you? How careful were you with the design of it? Who designed all of the catalogue by the way?

Frischluft! was following the ideal of L’Art Pour L’Art oscillating between German 1920s Dada non-sense and an elaborate corporate identity as with the semi hit factories of visionaries like Tot Taylor, Alan Horne or Patrick Moore. Before even writing songs or piecing together a band every release went through all stages of intellectual pregnancy summoning in the birth of a brain child. All the sleeves were designed by Matn, the Honigritter’s trumpet player often spotted wearing his white sailor suit, and me. Our treasure chests were small flea markets, our parent’s lofts and cellars. Scissors, glue sticks and pencils were our weapons when we took over the local copy shop. The lady watching over the place earned a living from our endless conceiving and rejecting ideas. In the evening we literally fell asleep between the Xerox machines kept warm by the machines still working.

++ Which labels inspired you to create Frischluft? Do you think there’s any label or band that carries that same spirit and feel of yours nowadays?

Postcard, él, Subway, Pink, Ata Tak, 53rd & 3rd, Respond, Creation, Operation Twilight, Compact, Whaaam!, Countdown…

Cats On Fire (for the boy scout-look and jangly sound), Cause-Commotion (for the shambly sound and beautiful hand-printed sleeves), Skint & Demoralised (for the passion and soul without being pathetic), Voluntary Butler Scheme (for the desire to sound huge with little means), Cave Weddings (for the punk-spirit resulting in pure pop)

++ So let’s talk about the releases. The one I’m most curious about is the Pfadfindertreffen Auf Immenhof 7″ compilation. Why have Edwyn Collins in the cover? And what about the bands that appear on this record? Could you give me a bit of a background on them?

The idea behind this release was to create a singing contest at a boy scout jamboree at Grandmother Jansen’s paddock. Oma Jansen was the legendary landowner lady from the 60s german screwball-comedy-like Immenhof-series. Edwyn in his shirt and scarf seemed to be the perfect virtual patron saint for that imaginary extravaganza. By the way, I never spoke with his lawyer…

++ What about finding the bands? How did you end up signing them? Did they send demos to you? Were they friends? How did that work for Frischluft?

On an early flyer we had Hanna-Barbera’s 60s character Wolfie stepping into the office of a friendly manager wearing shirt and tie. We challanged anyone fitting within the categories Beat, Pop or Psychedelia to follow Wolfie’s example. (This was decades before Stuart Murdock invited people to step into his office.) This request was repeated on local radio as well.

++ Once I read from Peter Hahndorf that the Frischluft bands were “The Sound of Young Germany”, would you agree?

“The Sound Of Young America” (Motown), “The Sound Of Young Scotland” (Postcard), “The Sound Of Young Wimbledon” (Compact). So it had to wind down one more step

++ One of the most known bands in your label were Die Merricks, who had many releases after leaving your label. Why do you think they were that successful? What were the strengths of the band? Did you expect them to have a career that spanned more than a decade?

I knew the Merricks from their debut release on the Augsburgian Two-By-Art label, who were the first to release a bunch of Honigritter songs prior to the single release as well. I got to know the Merricks’ mastermind Bernd through Mission Impossible – a Merricks offshoot by their singer Günther. Attracted by their Mod name I visited a concert of the latter. Bernd was also there. I was wearing a Mighty Mighty-T-Shirt and Bernd approached me with the words „great band“. So we started talking about C86 and the mid-eighties-Mod-Scene until we found out, that he even had the Honigritter-7“. I told him about our plans to release a compilation album and we came across that Die Merricks and Mission Impossible both would contribute two songs each very quickly.

The Merricks were a band with huge musical talent on from the early days reminding massively of Dexy’s, Jim Jiminee and the likes. Bernd added his visions of the perfect pop song. I see these two points as the basis of their success. Furthermore they always were able to reinvent themselves while the musical world was ever changing. Just think of „The Sound Of Munich“ perfectly fitting with that mid-nineties Easy Listening and club pop-hype. I always thought in a better world they would have been destined for greater success. I strongly recommend Bernd’s latest project Der Englische Garten, where he returns to our beloved 7“ format.

++ Maybe my favourite band in your label is Die Honigritter, but then, I barely know anything about them! Care to tell me a bit about them?

In this very moment you’re talking to their founder and singer. Being a hopeless and sentimental pop addict I dreamt of a band combining everything I loved to create the perfect pop: Andreas Dorau’s lyrics, Talulah Gosh’s innocence, Wirtschaftswunder-Schlager, the DIY-ethos and xerox-aesthetics of punk-fanzines, the fascinating faked world of él, 50s and 60s picture books for children, American pop culture just before the British Invasion swept over it, psychedelic without the drugs and of course the strength of the straight forward 2-minute pop song. I could go on forever. The slide shows on our MySpace-site will give you a more detailed idea. My basic idea of art in general is to quote extracts from one’s favourite influences, then to reassemble these to create something new. I cannot be convinced by the denying of pigeonholing favoured by many bands. Be true to your school as Brian Wilson once put it!

The “Im Sommer…”-single was sold with a numbered leaflet you could send to us to obtain your copy of the Honigritter-Fibel (=spelling book). Finally only 5 copies were printed in green, red and black. The Fibel is presented in it’s whole extent on our MySpace-site.

++ Then let’s jump to the “Mit Sonnenschirmen fingen wir den Blütenzauber” compilation! Here there’s one UK band: Jane From Occupied Europe. I tried to get in touch with them not so long ago, but no luck. They are not that very well known, so I’m wondering how did they end up in this LP?!

We were writing to the address on the Bubblegum Splash-single trying to obtain a song by them just to learn they were no more. The Bubblegum’s flavour may have been gone, but they didn’t throw it away (as Mighty Mighty once claimed) but re-put it into shape that was Jane From Occupied Europe.

++ On this same compilation there are some bands that I’ve never heard before like The Sheets, Mission Impossible, or Painting by Numbers! Care to tell me a bit about each band on this compilation if that’s not much to ask?!

We thought of the Sheets as our ace in the hole. Successfully recreating the second generation Sound Of Young Scotland as accomplished by Lloyd Cole, The Bluebells, Bourgie Bourgie or „Knife“-era Aztec Camera soon they were tracked down by Polydor’s talent scouts. But then the major label’s (groovy) train (sic!) headed towards baggy and scally Madchester rather than Glasgow leaving the Sheets with a rumoured to exist „lost album“.

Painting By Numbers were the definite (P)Op-Art affair with black and white polka dots and floppy fringes all over the place chasing The Revolving Paint Dream back into thee cave. Their first demo was pure Psychocandy as played by The Strawberry Alarm Clock. Frank – a deadringer for Bobby Gillespie – later moved to Hamburg to join Die Fünf Freunde.

++ Another 7″ you put out was the “Thymian & Prinzengold” by Der Wind in den Weiden. Any anecdotes you can share about this band? Did you ever get to meet any of your bands? What about going to a gig of theirs?

Der Wind In Den Weiden was inspired by Kenneth Grahame’s children novel from 1908 and were meant as Frischluft!’s teen folk loner nodding into the direction of “See Emily Play” seen through the eyes of “Mummy You’re not Watching Me”-era Dan Treacy. Their only live appearance was fortified with psychedelic lidquid wheel effects, tape loops, backwards guitar and reverrrrrrb all way through. A visitor who saw the mindblowers in action said he felt like „set the controls for the heart of the sun“ taking off at the Roundhouse in ‘67.

++ I found on a web page that the Purzelbaum im Badeschaum record came with a fanzine? What was this fanzine about? Did you do any other zines?

Your source is reliable. Included was the R-fanzine, which was working in a dialectic call-and-response manner with the legendary P-fanzine run by three young pop-kids from Seeheim-Jugenheim. The R-fanzine was our Xerox-overpoke with function following form. It was intentionally put together as a final statement on a scene who once rode on the strength of post punk and was watered down by twee for twee’s sake bands in the sequel of Sarah records and the likes. You may call the 7″/fanzine package Frischluft!’s swan song… I once saw the record in the “Industrial” section of a record shop

++ I can’t find any information about the “Mit Sonneschirmen Fingen Wir Den Blütenzauber” record, what was included on this one?

The “Mit Sonnenschirmen…”-LP was conceived to mark the status quo of the scene. It featured one or two songs each by Waldmeisterträume, Merricks, Honigritter, The Sheets, Painting By Numbers, Die Fahrraddiebe, Mission Impossible and a mystery track. As most of our other releases the album was presented by Radio Luxemburg DJ Camillo Felgen besides others. I doubt that he ever came across enjoying and appreciating this homage.

According to customs the LP came with a comprehensive bundle of flyers and memorabilia following the tradition of the early Compact compilation LPs. Featured was a small mailorder leaflet offering the Painting By Numbers-demo-tape, the “Radio Tannhäuser”-compilation or a large Waldmeisterträume-art print (ltd. to 3 copies) to name but a few.

++ What about the Himbeerbubis and Tobi? Who were they and why did you release this split flexi?

Die Himbeerbubis (= The Raspberry Young Lads) should have been our label’s own Hunky Dory. They recorded only one song. The tape is lost and even the “Durch’s Schlüsselloch…”“-compilation only features the instrumental version that survived somehow. Tobi was Frischluft!’s twisted mind heavily taking on the NDW-style of Der Plan, Erste Weibliche Fleischergesellin nach 1945 or Speck Nußeck with his “Gemüselied”. The flexi was conceived as a quote of the “Klingende Post”-7″-series. Each volume featured some sound snippets of freshly released records linked by some suave boy-girl-talking flirting and praising the new hope-to-be-hits and was given away for free in german record shops during the sixties.

++ Was there any record that you wanted to release but never happened?

Five records never exceeded the status of a droll idea.

First of all we wanted to release a 7″ by The Shampoo Tears, who were the most convincing German answer to the crooning of “Rip it Up”-era Orange Juice.

Next we found a lonely chanteuse with a jazz guitar singing in the streets of the autumnal Frankfurt. We imagined her as Frischluft’s Tracey Thorn/Marine Girls/Grab Grab The Haddock.

Then there were some street musicians playing Eastern European folklore dressed with the most beautiful traditional semi-uniforms and blue Russian boots. These should have been our él band. We were afraid they themselves never heard of neither the London Pavilion nor The King Of Luxembourg. So we didn’t dare to ask them to mime and pose on the sleeve in a Nick Wesolowski manner.

The Worms scene spawned a hauntingly beautiful boy/girl-duo called Celestial. Their „the man who lived in his dreams“ should have been a one-sided single with etching on the flip we wanted the duo’s girl singer to do, who lived in the most beautiful painted room with light-blue and white bordure in an antique Roman villa-style.

Last but not least Frischluft!’s own Waldmeisterträume intended to do a double-7″ to be played in sequence on two turntables with sides one and three on one single and sides two and four on the other and successive sides overlapping enabling the listener to mix them seamlessly. Musically this should have been our “The Piper at the Gates of Dawn”. Matn had recorded some turn-of-the-century poems from pre-psych-head Arno Holz’s “Phantasus”-cycle spoken through a hosepipe directly into an aquarium to give it the otherworldly treatment. The double single was conceived as a “From Birth to Death”-story snitching the idea from The Pretty Things 1968 epos “S.F. sorrow”. The bubbling poems should mark the beginning of the protagonist still swimming in the amniotic fluid. Furthermore we intended to work with samples of obscure erotic records trying to cash in on the success of “Je t’aime” circa 1970 (Christine Lamour, Marianne, Michelle Et David, Er & Sie et al.) This idea was partly realised some years later with Miss Soixante-Dix. We bought some corduroy jackets and wanted to stitch an amorphous mushroom on the back to stress on that 60s garage psych „band as a gang“-tradition.

++ What are the correct ingredients for a perfect pop song? What term do you prefer to call our music? twee, C86 or indiepop? why?

Most importantly you have to be a visionary. A good pop song for me is a highly artificial and constructed thing successfully pretending to be the most normal thing. I always would favour a imaginative and rich production over so-called “honest” (=boring) music. Simple but highly memorable melodies or a short guitar solo relying on one string will stick in your head and persuade you to listen to the song over and over again. Basically it’s everything major labels are trying to achieve but missing the aspect of the visionary. There have been periods where all of these issues have been considered resulting in great and(!) good selling pop artifacts (sic!) like The Beatles mid-period catalogue, ABC’s “The Lexicon of Love“ or Haircut 100’s “Pelican West”.

I see twee and C86 as two completely different things. C86 was a European thing drawing it’s influences from (post) punk and/or the UK- and US-sixties. When “indie pop” turned into “indiepop” during the early nineties it turned into an American thing shaking off completely that Thatcherite oppression, Red Wedge Movement, “kick a ball or play a guitar”, red brickstone houses, anorak/black 501s/Clarks desert boots etc.-image in favour of Hello Kitty, trainers and other bubblegum devotionals. But the most important difference for me was the absence of the punk spirit! In my opinion a lot of twee/indiepop bands (I’d take these for synonyms) lack of pop-historical and contextual awareness stressing too much on the fey and innocent aspects.

I saw that awareness creeping back in in the mid-nineties with the massive aspect of retro-culture/easy listening hype on “our music” resulting in magna opi like “algebra spaghetti”, The Legendary Jim Ruiz groups “sniff” or Belle & Sebastian’s “The Life Pursuit”. The internet en passent helped to connect local scenes spread all over the world making it a truly global and vitalized scene again, which offers so much to detect!

++ Why did you stop releasing records? Were you involved with any music activities after?

The end of Frischluft! went along with my diminished interest in a scene which had lost it’s original peppiness and it’s visionaries. I was involved with one-off Miss Soixante-Dix in the early nineties (rising from the ashes of Karl Kaiser und die Halbstarken Todesfahrer) examining the seeds sown with records like The Times “Et Dieu Crea la Femme” or The Teenage Filmstars “Star”, but rather concentrated on record collecting than producing them. Thus I consciously closed a chapter, which was running on my heart’s blood whilst being opened!

++ What does Krischan do nowadays? Are you passionate about other things aside from music?

I’m a teacher for mentally handicapped children in a little village in the countryside.

I’m passionate about a lot of things besides music: I like going to flea markets, swimming, riding my bike, graphic design, wandering through the woods, confectionery, spooky fairytales, German everyday culture from the late fifties to late sixties, potatoes whatsoever, sentimental American films from the late 60s, the books of Otfried Preußler…

++ Thanks for the extensive interview, hope it wasn’t too much! Anything else you’d like to add?

I’m the one who has to thank!

To dive deeper into the world of Frischluft! feel free to visit www.myspace.com/frischlufttontraeger

Add some music to your day!

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Honigritter – Bittere Pillen

A “complain” from a friend persuaded me to book a flight to Stockholm. I really didn’t need much convincing to visit Stockholm though as I’ve been meaning to visit indiepopland for years now. I was going to be quite close, in Germany, and I first thought about taking a bus and visiting the south of Sweden, Lund and Malmö. I had time to do some little tourism around, I was going to be two weeks in Europe, it made sense. As soon as my plans to visit Malmö were unveiled, I was demanded to go to Stockholm instead. And I think it was the right decision: immediately I got offered to play some records at Debaser, Slussen. So thanks K for drilling it in my head that Stockholm was where I had to go! And on top of that, the Ryanair 10 euro flights sweetened the deal. The only bad thing, having to travel Saturday morning after a big party in Berlin. But for 10 euros I shouldn’t complain! Well, I still have to figure out how much will they charge for my luggage!

So that’s the plan, arriving on October 10th at Skavsta airport, then a bus all the way to Stockholm. Then lunch – I hope! I will be starving by then. Would be nice to see what’s typical Swedish food. I heard about a steak cooked over some wood? Sounds delicious to me. Later, this same day, I’ll head to the Fritz’s Corner club that takes place in the Debaser, Slussen, venue. There will be two bands playing, one that I really don’t know and seems to be the BIG act that night. Their name is Kap Bambino. I think this band will have the big stage while the Cloudberry people, humble indiepop people, will enjoy the cosiness of the Franska Bukten, which is, as far as I know, a small section of the huge venue. And. if things go as planned, I will share the DJ deck with a star: Tommy Gunnarsson. Do you remember that fantastic label called Heavenly Pop Hits that put releases out by Hormones in Abundance or Nixon and many more? Well, he was the guy behind it! He was also behind a band called The Gentle Smiles, which is as brilliant, but that will deserve a post later next year because there’s plans for something that is still a secret!

But the highlight of the night will be the other band playing that night: The Andersen Tapes. This will be their first gig ever! I’m so thankful and thrilled to attend this! Amanda Aldervall, who once was part of that marvelous, cult band, Free Loan Investments, and is one of the nicest and coolest celebrity in the pop-world, started The Andersen Tapes as a solo project. Last year, we put out a 3″ CD single that included three fantastic tracks that were well received by the indiepop community, getting glowing reviews and selling out quickly! As of today, I do know she is working on an album, but I’m not sure I can reveal more information about it! But be on the lookout, it’s supposed to come out on one of my favourite Swedish labels. And hopefully, I’ll be able to put a 7″ with The Andersen Tapes in the future too. That I’d love! And back to the gig. I think Amanda is getting together a full band for it! Isn’t that sweet? I wonder who she is recruiting! I bet there must be a big list (and a line) of people wanting and waiting to be part of the band. If I just knew how to play an instrument…

I already shipped some records to Stockholm and, even though I don’t know if there will be a merch table, I’ll be sure to bring them with me if you’d like to buy some and save on postage. And last, but not least, I want to thank a lot to Anders Thorell for booking this gig, for being enthusiastic about it and for making it happen. This will be a night to remember! See you all there!!

PS. There’s a piece written on the Debaser page, but I won’t hold responsible for what it says Also there’s more information there, but my Swedish skills are worst than what I think they are.

Cloudberry Records presents The Andersen Tapes
Escaping from the drowsiness of the warm Miami Beach breeze, the hollowness of neon lights streets and a broken-heart, Cloudberry started in 2007 determined to unite all bed-sitters around the world. Taste and aesthetics, hand-to-hand, a careful design, and lots of love are the foundation. On top of it, the main goal, purvey the sound of jangly guitars. Though, some distortion was going to be welcome. Carrying the indiepop flag on a hyperactive 100 singles series released in less than two years including legends St. Christopher and media darlings The Pains of Being Pure at Heart. Sold-out releases, sold-out gigs, four fierce fanzines, a DIY attitude fighting those who are boycotting our dreams, and bringing together those scattered lurkers from every corner of the world. No surprise that Cloudberry is a lively splinter cell of the international pop underground supporting bands from far away Hong Kong, all the way to the American West Coast and then to the Scottish moors. Sweden has had a deep impact in the label as many bands have participated with passion, with love. Among those bands there is today’s The Andersen Tapes, Twig, The Garlands, The Faintest Ideas, Blind Terry, Japan Air, Hari and Aino, The Bridal Shop, The Mare and more. And the tradition will continue with slated 7″ records by up-and-coming bands. With no doubts there’s an inherent link between Cloudberry and Sweden, and it goes further than cloudberry jam and pancakes. Popkids of the world unite!

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The Andersen Tapes – Turn to Speak

Even though at the moment I’m swamped with work, duties, and life (because life is voracious), I really wanted to update the blog. One of these duties that keep piling, that I should be working on, is that of making a small fanzine about German pop. I’ll be in Berlin in less than a month and Luise and me are trying to do a little zine to celebrate the scene that is happening right now as well as some old favourite records from the past. There seems to be a healthy scene happening in Germany overall, with new-ish clubs as Adventure Playground, Hit the North, the Pop Kombinat! and the Pop Assistants. And I really believe they deserve some praise. So hopefully for the evening of the 9th, we’ll have these available. That night I’ll be at a small club called the Schwalbe djing, alongside with Uwe Firestation and Andy Pop Assistants, some favourite tunes. Really looking forward to that. If you happen to be in Berlin, please come by. I’ll post a flyer as soon as I finish that too (another thing to get done!).

While going through the German pop records I have, checking which ones would be best to recommend on the zine, I ended up with pulling out of my boxes a She Splinters Mortar 7″. But this one couldn’t wait. I had to play it immediately. While the record spinning dizzily on the turntable, I keep getting flashbacks of what I have to do. There’s a couple of interviews to do, there’s a release today on the Cloudberry Classics by Kosmonaut, the band from Stephen Almighty Pop! after Bulldozer Crash, there’s getting together some CDs to DJ later in Berlin, Stockholm and Hamburg, there’s writing the new Cloudberry zine, there’s artwork to be done for Plastilina releases, and there seems that the etcetera keeps growing as well. The horoscope witch said that September was going to be a tough month, a busy month, and she seems right. She says among other things: “These are nerve wrecking, draining aspects and you must do all you can to protect your health. Life events may wear you down, and should you feel overwhelmed, call a friend or a therapist, and do all you can to get more rest. ” Tough luck for me, seems resting is not an option. She does splinter mortar.

The 7″s continues to play. 2 songs on each side. I was recommended this 7″ by Uwe a long time ago. I haven’t played it for months and it sounds as fresh as the first time. On the A side you find “Straight From Her Heart” and “Goldmine”. On the B side there’s “All Comes Out” and “Bird of Prey”. The music, the nerve, the style, the way the guitars chime, they sound as if they were part of the Leamington Spa series! Immediately, for some reason, I’m reminded to the Reserve while listening to “Goldmine”, and perhaps to The Visitors too… but then maybe I’m just thinking of similar song titles? The bass line is great on this tune, which I think it’s my favourite. “All Comes Out” Is also really nice! This one has jangly, clean guitars, very similar to the Desert Wolves guitar textures. So who are these She Splinters Mortar? There’s a mysterious name on the record labels. It says: Harald Dawo. A quick google search says that Harald Dawo is a car photographer based in Cologne. Could that be him? I wonder so. The record was indeed recorded in Cologne, which is quite a hint to believe it could be him. It was recorded in September 1987 at the Whitehouse Studios. There are some other names, the sound technician was Detlev Schmitz, who also did the production and mixing, and Bernd Bodtländer, who took the photos of the band for the sleeve. Also this is the first release on the Die Schwarze Sieben label, which was based in Wiesbaden.

There seems to be at least another 7″ by the band with the A side “Distress”. Never heard this one. Also there is an album called “Jaguar” which was released in 87 as well. Never seen this one either. Also Twee.net lists a tape called “Rund Um Die Welt” were the song “Mind Cries Mary” was included.

And that’s about all the information there is available I think. And of course, if you are up to solving the mystery about this really nice band, do it! Any anecdotes or information is always welcome! And now I should go get some more stuff done, but first, I have to give the record another spin.

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She Splinters Mortar – Goldmine

Love the sight and love the sound / I wish that I could stick around / Berlin

A night to remember, that’s what I hope this one will be. I don’t plan sleeping after this one. I’m taking a plane to Stockholm after. At 8am. I don’t know if I’m too old for this, but I’ll give it a try! I feel great and I’m so looking forward to party every night. So far the schedule looks crammed with beer, dancing and good music. Arriving the 8th, getting to see Camera Obscura with Berlin hipsters (I wonder how they dress), then attending the after-party at King Kong club organized by the Pop Assistants where the Wayward Girl will DJ for the second time (good luck at it!), the 9th is this DJ gig at the Schwalbe (see the flyer?), the 10th DJing in Stockhom, and Sunday the 11 probably I’ll suffer a surmenage and faint. Fair enough, as we say in Peru, “sarna con gusto no pica” (let me try a loose translation: scabies you like, don’t rash).

The Schwalbe is where the Ship Shape Club has been happening. That’s Uwe Firestation club! So you can expect only quality songs from him. The other day I was very happy when on an email he told me: “… the Boy Least Likely whose singles sounds like an horror to me. Brrrr !”. That totally reaffirmed my trust on his music taste! Not that I ever had any doubts about them. So, of course, I’m very honored that he organized this gig, and on top of that, that we’ll share the DJ deck! That’s thrilling. Even though he wouldn’t like me to say, he is one of the most prominent figures of German indiepop ever, from his SMUF fanzines and tapes to what Firestation has achieved with such a large catalogue. The Schwalbe is mostly a football bar I believe, and that makes a lot of sense to me. I love football and Uwe loves football. We both cheer for HSV Hamburg. Uwe must have his reasons, as he is from Berlin (yup, he doesn’t like Hertha). A bit odd maybe. But that’s ok as I cheer for the same team. But for the past two games it’s not looking that good for us, as we are missing our striker Paolo Guerrero. He got injured while defending the Peruvian national team against Venezuela. He’ll miss the rest of the season! I really like how this kid plays, but it sucks that he is so prone to injuries! If he just played a whole season, I bet he’d be transfered immediately to the Premier League. Class player.

The gig will happen at the second floor of the bar, where more or less 100 people can fit. So all of you Berliners come please! We’ll get some beers and we’ll dance to some fantastic indiepop tunes, both classic and new. And before you ask me why on the flyer it says Twee. Well, why not. Most people that read me ( and me included) don’t like this term. But I won’t mind if some twee-lover arrives at the club to listen to good music. It’s not worth to fight over a word I think. Unless it comes from those dumbasses talking nonsense on that Youtube documentary.

Also djing with us will be our good friend Andi Jenner from the Pop Assistants, who has been booking some fantastic bands in Berlin. Just a week ago he had one of my favourite bands, and future Cloudberry 7″, Bonne Idée playing. So, if you don’t really trust my music taste, and you already know Andi in Berlin, you can just come to the Schwalbe for him. He won’t disappoint!

I’ll have some 7″s for sale this day if you are wondering about that because you hate paying postage. But I won’t bring that many. I still need to grow some biceps for carrying heavier weighs on my luggage.

This will be a fun evening! I’ll see you there, right? And it’s Oktober, in Germany, you know what that means: beer!

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Kirsty MacColl – Berlin

Thanks so much to Andy Sandom for this exclusive interview!

++ When and how did Red Harvest start? Where in England were you based? How did you knew each other? Who were the members?

Red Harvest formed at university in Norwich, not sure exactly when, but probably late 1985. The original members were Steve Morris (vocals), Tony Barnard (Bass Guitar), Mark Huggett (Drums), Christine Ellis (Keyboards) and Phil Martin (Guitar). They all moved to London after university, and that was when I joined the band as a harmonica player. Steve Morris was a work colleague of mine at the time. I was playing in a psychobilly band called Saddlewhores at the Clarendon in Hammersmith and Steve came along to see us one night. After the gig, he invited me to a reheasal session with his band, Red Harvest, and I became a permanent member after that.

++ Do you know if the band members being involved in other bands before or after Red Harvest?

I know Mark Huggett is still playing drums, and has been very successful on the jazz circuit. You can google his name and find out plenty of info about him. I really don’t know about the others, I’ve lost touch after all the years. As for myself, I was the guitarist in a punk band called Chaos around 1979, and then took a rest from playing music, other than the occasional jam, and concentrated more on getting drunk instead! I joined Saddlewhores around 1986 and played with them for a while, recorded a demo session which was my first recording experience.

++ Why did you choose the name Red Harvest?

I’m not entirely sure, I wasn’t involved in that process as it was before my time. As far as I remember, it was chosen as it was the title of one of Dashiell Hammet’s most famous novels.

++ At the end of the “Strange” LP, which is the only one I own and it’s brilliant, there someone talking, telling this was the first album by Red Harvest. Who is this? and why did you include this nice little footnote?

That was Phil Martin, the guitarist. Someone had the idea (probably Phil!) to have a BBC style monologue at the end of the LP, and then blend it into a spoof shipping forecast. It was a just a bit of fun, there were a few seconds on that side of the LP that needed filling up!

++ Also this record was produced by Adrian Borland of The Sound fame. How was working with him? Any anecdotes you could share?

Adrian was absolutely fantastic to work with. He had so many ideas and so much talent, and was always full of enthusiasm. He played additional guitar on quite a few of our tracks, the most prominent was the slide guitar on ‘Runaway’. Around 1979/1980, I regularly used to see his band, The Sound, play live. I thought they were awesome, so much better than Echo & The Bunnymen and A Teardrop Explodes, who were around at the same time and similar in style. So, he was kinda a hero and it was a real honour for me to be working so close to him a few years later. I was absolutely stunned when I heard about his passing away. So sad.

++ And what about the song “Heaven”, produced by Pete Shelley! How did this go? How did you get so many renown people working with you?

Heaven was one of the album tracks from our first LP, but that’s all the info I can give you on this one I’m afraid! I never got to meet Pete Shelley, he produced the track after we had recorded it. Shame, it would have been nice to have met him. I really can’t remember how he came to be involved, I’m sure Steve would know.

++ I only know the “Strange” LP and the “Saved” LP, what’s the full discography of Red Harvest including compilation tracks and demo tapes? I ask because I want to hunt these gems on eBay!

I’ve just updated the full Red Harvest discography at Discogs.com, you can view it at: http://www.discogs.com/artist/Red+Harvest+(2)
We also recorded a few demos, and a BBC session for Janice Long. Oh, and I’ve got a live tape buried somewhere in one of my cupboards!

++ Can you tell me a bit about the Aftermath label and the Public Domain label who released your records?

Sorry, Can’t tell you anything really about those labels. They were both indie labels, with whom Steve had had sorted out a deal. I know an Elvis Presley picture disc was released on Public Domain, so it’s a privilege to be on the same label as an Elvis release!

++ Was there any interest from major labels? Why didn’t you get more popular you think?

We had a lot of interest from Beserkley at one point, but that never got off the ground. I think our big problem was doing everything ouselves and not having a proper manager. Still, I guess that’s true indie spirit isn’t it?

++ You’ve put up on Youtube the promo video for the “World Won’t Listen” single. Care to tell me a bit about the video? Where was it shot? what do you remember from recording it? any other anecdotes?

The video was very exciting to do. It was shot in Paris by a British director and cameraman, who’s names I just cannot remember at all. That’s really embarassing, especially as I work in the film industry myself these days! One thing I do remember about the shoot was the football. I remember England were playing Cameroon one evening while we were in Paris, it was the World Cup quarter-finals on 1st July 1990. We cheered like mad when England scored, and the whole bar went quiet and turned to stare at us. It was like that scene in ‘An American Werewolf In London’, know what I mean? Anyway, Cameroon scored next, and the whole bar cheered and gave us the finger! There was no violence or anything, but it did make us feel vulnerable! What a great match – 3:2 to England in the end.

++ What were your favourite Red Harvest songs?

All the tracks which featured harmonica the most! Ha ha ha! No seriously, it’s hard to put a finger on any songs really. I was particularly fond of Murder as that was the very first track I recorded with Red Harvest, I think we ended up recording that at least 3 times, the single version, the album version, and I’m sure we must have done a demo as well. There was a track we recorded in our final demo session which I really did like, I cannot remember what it was called though, but I’ve still got the tape.

++ Any particular gigs you remember and why?

I remember the Marquee gigs the most clearly I suppose. We played the old Marquee down Wardour Street, and the new Marquee in Charing Cross Road. The Old Marquee was my favourite, it was just such a prestigious venue. I had seen so many bands there myself in the punk days, it was a real privilege to have been on the same stage as many of my idols.

++ When and why did Red Harvest split? What happened after with you all? Any clues where are the other members or what are they doing?

We split not long after the 2nd album was released, not really sure why. It all just sort of fizzled out I guess. The original guitarist and drummer had left, and it just felt different after that. As far as I know, the only original member still playing music is the drummer, Mark.

++ Anything else you’d like to add?

It really was great fun at the time, and it’s fantastic that there’s still some interest in our music! Thanks so much!

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Red Harvest – Heaven

I feel happy inside! Happy! gravity just fade away!

I’ll be back in Hamburg in less than a month! I’m very excited, thrilled, and giggling while posting this flyer here. There will be some more flyers on the blog soon because I’ll be DJing in Berlin and Stockholm as well. But more details on those nights soon. In the case you want to mark them on your calendar, because you are in town and you want to listen to some good music, I’ll be in Berlin on the 9th and in Stockholm on the 10th (with the live debut of The Andersen Tapes!). But let’s get back to Hamburg!

I believe the flyer says more than any words could say. Of course, DJette did a lovely work designing it. And she did use some obscure imagery for it. Can you point out where the photo comes from?

It’s quite exciting that this evening I’ll be meeting at last The Sunny Street! I love their music so much, and had the chance to put out the “Insull Memorial” 3″ CD last year. I’m still fascinated how they achieved making a cheesy song sound classy and elegant when covering Haddaway’s “What Is Love?”. Now I just hope a 7″ by The Sunny Street happens in the future. Wouldn’t that be sweet? But sweeter is meeting for the first time Rémi and Delphine. They are coming with two other friends, so it’s not more a duo but a proper band! Christos and Ian are joining. Ian is quite famous because he plays in Pocketbooks and was organizing with Marianthi the Spiral Scratch nights. And Christos? Well, Christos is Christos! Nicest Greek guy in the whole galaxy. Christos if you are reading this, you know how thankful I am for that One Night Suzan record? I met Christos in New York last year. That was a good evening, wasn’t it? I clearly remember dancing with Marianthi, Christos and Pete B. to The Field Mice just before Cats on Fire fired up their arsenal at Don Hills.

In a nutshell: First show of The Sunny Street in Hamburg, you can’t miss it.

Also DJing at this special night is Matthew from Big Pink Cake! We did a little thing together when the “Where are the Supremes Tonight” 3″ CD was given away for free at his club in Bristol. So now we’ll be sharing DJ duties! That’s kind of a scary thought though. Imagine this situation: I’m just an amateur, and he seems such a professional at it! And we’ll be drinking beer German style. I can’t do any ridiculous mistakes at the deck! I’ll be booed! Can’t allow that to happen! But if that’s not making it difficult for me to play records, with such high standards to beat, I’ll have to deal with the fantastic taste of DJ Selfish, Herr Winzer from the defunct but historic Mind the Gap mailorder. I bet he is going to spin the best indiepop hits. Can’t wait to see him dancing again though. I insist, there’s no one that could dance better than Jörg Winzer.

And last, but not least: Djette. That’s Nana, one of my dearest friends, my German road-movie friend, the cheerful Astra drinker, the best photographer I know. I can’t wait to see you Nana! And we’ll blow the candles together on the 16th!

In a nutshell: I promise you’ll get some great music to dance.

What a weekend that will be. If you are in town, please come by! It will be jede Menge Spaß! Now it’s time for Hamburg’s finest: The Legendary Bang! Yes! It makes me so HAPPY to be back in Hamburg!

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The Legendary Bang – Happy