Hope all is good. Today is a bit quiet for me but I do have a few great finds to share.

Doggy: the wonderful French band is back with a new album on the top Spanish label Kocliko Records! Wow! It will be out on March 8th and it will be titled “Radio TP”. On Soundcloud there are 9 songs to enjoy on repeat because they are really really good. We need more Doggy in this world!

The BV’s: next Thursday we will see the release of the wonderful new album by our friends Josh and Fred. Last post I recommended their new video for “Charlie, I Don’t Know Who You Are!” and today I will tell you to check their Bandcamp, because they have another song there that will be included in the album, “Porth Sawsen”. And that is more than enough for me to tell you to head there.

Astragal: just a week ago I was recommending the digital single “Moderne Luxury’ by the Houston, Texas, band. Well today I noticed that the band has released a four track EP on 7”, so my wishes have come true! The A side has the song “Bloomer” while the B side is their older first EP. Interesting choices!! On their Bandcamp, “Bloomer” is part of their second EP which includes three other songs. This second EP will be released in tape pretty soon.

Hobby Club: I really like this band. I think it is superb. I believe they will be releasing a record soon. Not sure which label but from what I know a local one, meaning English. That’s what they told me when I got in touch to express how much I liked their sound. Now they have a new song called “Bedroom” which once again takes cues from the heyday of indiepop, sounding pretty c86 to me.

Apple Orchard: lastly there is this collection of covers, unreleased tracks and demos by the wonderful California by way of the Philippines band. Ryan and Dale crafted pretty bedroom pop songs during the noughties and here are 10 songs that are rare and all but document and show what Apple Orchard were at the time. Top stuff.

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A bunch of young people with a shared love of great pop music who coalesced around singer and songwriter Andy Fitzpatrick, The Dadas came along to brighten up the lives of Dubliners in the early 90’s.
Leaving behind a classic double A-side 12″ single, “Skyscrapers”/”Mercy, Mercy” on the Mickey Rourke’s Fridge label, and memories of some stunning live shows The Dadas parted company in 1993.
Band members: Andy Fitzpatrick (vocals & guitar), Gráinne Tiernan (backing vocals), Maelíosa Tiernan (backing vocals), Brian O’Connor (keyboards), Dan Stuttard (bass), Ciarán Lally (drums).
Recorded at Windmill Lane Studios, Dublin, January/February 1992. Engineered and mixed by Aidan McGovern, Ciarán Byrne and Willie Mannion at Windmill Lane Studios, Dublin, March 1992. Produced by The Dadas, Aidan McGovern and Ciarán Byrne.

That’s the information that appears on the Leamington Spa compilation that was included within the “Still Mad at Me?” boxset that celebrated the 15 years of Firestation Records from Berlin, Germany (FST 100). The song that The Dadas contributed to it was “Mercy Mercy”, one of the B sides of their one and only release.

This release was a 12″ single that was released by the fantastic Mickey Rourke’s Fridge (MRF 006). If you remember there’s an interview with Seán from the label on the blog. I do think though that the version that was included in the Firestation comp might be different as in the booklet it mentions that it was recorded at Windmill Lane Studios. On Discogs, the info for the 12″ says that the songs were recorded at Rockgarden Dublin in June 23rd 1992. The songs being of course “Skyscrapers (Don’t Go Jumping From)” on the A side and “Mercy Mercy” and “Maybe” on the B side.

I believe this single was also released on tape. And even a better find is that there is a video for “Skyscrapers” which you can check on Youtube! This video was produced by the band, Ciarán Byrne and Aidan McGovern. It was made on location at Windmill Lane Recording Studios on March 4th 1992.

Aside from the Firestation boxset there is another compilation appearance for the band. They contributed the song “Dandruff” to the tape compilation “My Favourite Things” (MRF 11) that was put out in 1993 by Mickey Rourke’s Fridge.

I keep looking for more information about them. The great resource that is the blog Fanning Sessions deliver again. They have a session available to stream with the songs “Dandruff”, “Early Days”, “Good to be Happy” and “Mercy Mercy”.  Here there’s a mention about Andy Fitzpatrick involvement as a long-standing member of The Harvest Ministers. He also has a solo career releasing several albums and EPs, his most recent being “Antoinette Plaza” from 2017. He now lives in New York City. Wow. I could have crossed paths with him, maybe being the same subway car. Who knows.

There is a cool article on the Blackpool Sentinel about The Rock Garden venue in Dublin. There is a whole paragraph about The Dadas which I copy here:
I had a real soft spot for The Dadas, a Northside combo led by Andy Fitzpatrick, who later went on to buttress William Merriman’s excellent Harvest Ministers ;- I honestly thought that The Dadas’ honey-coated canon had a real sparkle to it. After they attracted less than a score of paying punters into what could often be an unforgiving old cavern, Fursty took off on one in the offices upstairs. Like Brian Blessed in leather biker’s keks, he upped the ante and the volume ;- ‘The Dodos [sic]’, he drawled, ‘will never be booked here again’. An arrangement that, I suspect, suited the band as much as it suited the venue.

Not much more on the web about them. I’m looking for a copy of the record too of course. No luck as of yet. Also if there are more songs that they recorded would be great to know. Everything I’ve heard sounded great. Would love to know more about this terrific Irish band. Anyone remember them?

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Listen
The Dadas – Skyscrapers (Don’t Go Jumping From)

Thanks a thousand to Seán McDermott for this thorough interview! Mickey Rourke’s Fride was the Irish label that released the beloved Hey Paulette back in the 80s. But those weren’t their only releases. There were a few compilations where one could discover the great sounds of The Skips or Dale Arden and the Claymen. The label was to reappear, under the name Disques Fridge, in the noughties releasing some fine releases like Crumb or Aeromodeller’s albums worth checking out if you haven’t yet. On this interview Seán was kind enough to tell me a bit about almost every band involved in the label, the label itself and Dublin of course. Now sit back and enjoy.

++ Hi Seán! Thanks so much for being up for this interview! We got in touch thanks to my post about Feargal is the Applejack here on the blog. So far I haven’t been able to find any other information about this band, but maybe you can help? Like do you remember what years they were active? Who were the band members? And what did they do afterwards?

I was out on the town with Colm from Hey Paulette. The Underground in Dame Street was the centre of the Dublin scene back then, and we fancied a beer there, but we didn’t want to pay in or anything, so we introduced ourselves at the door as the guys from Mickey Rourkes Fridge + blagged our way in for free, not really caring who was playing, which was Feargal is the Applejack.

They turned out to be a great band! We got talking afterwards, they were nice guys as well as talented, so they ended up on our 1st compilation ‘DOSTOEVESKY..?’ + then on the follow-up, ‘MY FAVOURITE THINGS’.

They broke up about 1994 or 5. I think. We kept in touch for a while, then we didn’t. I don’t think any more music followed from any of the guys.

++ I think most people will know your label thanks to Hey Paulette who are a beloved band for the indiepop crowd. You released two records by them. The first release on the label was their 7″. How did you know them? And how did you convince them to be your first release ever on the label?

I knew Éamonn from Secondary School (High School to you!)+ Derrick had been in a band with me: uptight!, Dublin’s only No Wave band, as far as we know.

I had also been the stand-up drummer in the 1st HP line-up, with Éamonn on bass, then I became their ‘manager’, kinda, or ‘5th Beatle’, as it were.

We wanted to make a record, + we figured no one else was going to give us money, so we did it ourselves. That was the ‘Commonplace’ 7”.

++ Before that release, had you had any experience working in a label? Or perhaps putting out any releases?

No, the only experience any of us had of records before then was listening to them.

++ What inspired you to start a label? Would you say there were any other labels influence in Mickey Rourke’s Fridge?

Like I said up above, we wanted to make a record + DIY was the only way we could see that happening. Everything else spiralled out from there.

Label influences were Motown, Sun + Rough Trade, of course, Fast Product/Pop:Aural + Factory a bit…

the BIG one was always Postcard; I’m sure you can tell!

++ And yeah, why the name of the label? It is definitely original!

NOT from ‘9½ Weeks’, which you might think, but from two earlier movies.

In two consecutive flicks, Mickey beats up the fridge when he gets bad news: In ‘The Pope of Greenwich Village’, when his girlfriend leaves him; in ‘The Year of the Dragon’, when his girlfriend gets killed.

An NME review of ‘Dragon’ pointed this out + said it must be in his contract. He’s my favourite actor, then + now, + that line stuck with me + sounded like a good name for a label when the time came a few years later.

++ If you were to pick a Mickey Rourke movie, which would that be?

‘Rumble Fish’ fer shure, but ’Angel Heart’ not far behind.

++ You were based in Dublin then, and I wonder if you are originally from there? And how was the scene in the late 80s there? What were the venues where you would go check out bands, or the neighborhoods you would hang out?

We’re all from Dublin, south of the river, near the canal, originally: Bluebell, Ballyfermot, Inchicore. The Underground on Dame Street was the centre of the scene, also The Baggot Inn, + bars like The Clarendon, Bartley Dunne’s, The (old) Pygmalion, all near the city centre.

++ What about the artwork for the label? Did you take care of that part as well?

I did most of it, with a little help from my friends in Saatchi & Saatchi, an ad agency where I worked at the time, but we all pitched in ideas.

++ And was it easy to distribute your records? Did you manage to create interest abroad?

We found distribution OK in Ireland. In the UK, we were lucky enough to catch the attention of Keith Cullen from Setanta Records, who helped with the logistics, + John Peel + the music press, who created some level of interest.

++ Did you ever work with artists that weren’t Irish?

Well, some of our wider circle, including me, have English blood to go along with our Irish hearts, + there was a stray Scotsman, Harry McNamara, on DOSTOEVESKY, as well as a Detroit band called Icehead, featuring ex-pat Cormac Wright, who was part of a very early version of Something Happens!

++ Your second release was a 7″ compilation where you actually are part of it as a musician with the Wayfaring Strangers. Tell me a bit about your music. What are your releases? What instruments do you play? Have you been in other bands? What about your musical influences?

On that record, the band was me + Hey Paulette, with Hugh on fiddle, harmonies from Peigí + Nicola, + Helen on tambourine. Another line up of the Wayfs recorded an album in the early 90’s but the tapes went missing + only re-surfaced a short while ago. I’d like to release that in the next while.

Grievous Angels was a band name I made up for the ‘jesus + jack daniels’ Country House remix on DOSTOEVESKY. When Dave Fanning’s producer, Ian Wilson rang up + asked if we had more like this, I immediately said yes – tho’ of course we didn’t – then recorded some home demos which turned into a Dave Fanning Session. The other Angels were Peigí + Nicola from the Wayfs + Pat + Martin from Fréres Jackman.

Years later, I put together a band called $1,000 wedding, with an album ‘exile on dame street’ that marked the emergence of Disques Fridge.

I mostly sing + play guitar, a little mandolin with the Wayfs. I’ve also been known to play bass + keyboards, + I can get sounds out of the ukulele + harmonica, tho’ not at the same time!

++ On this same compilation there’s a band I really like and that I know about nothing, that I was actually planning to write about them, Dale Arden and The Claymen. Who were they? And how come they never released a record with you?

The Claymen were HP again, under assumed names, again. Dale is a mysterious shantooze who goes by the name of John Healy during the hours of daylight. John was also in High School with Éamonn + me, then later my right hand man in MRF, from DOSTOEVESKY till the end of Phase II, mid-90’s.

Dale guested in concert with 16 again, an acoustical sideline of mine, + with Fréres Jackman, + emerges from time to time, when the occasion arises. No further recordings exist!

++ There’s also The Twigs in this compilation, another band I had never heard before. How did you pick the bands for this compilation?

Guess who? Derrick sang this one, while Éamonn rested his voice. As you’ll have noticed by now, the ‘bands’ were all Hey Paulette, with a different singer on each track, so the only ‘picking’ was on the guitars.

++ Then you were to release some more compilations, now on cassettes. Why the change of format? And what would you say is your all-time favourite format for music?

That was all about the Benjamins, as they say in Baltimore. Cassettes were cheap, + CD’s hadn’t taken over the words back then (sic transit…).

Vinyl was my first love, + it will be my last.

++ I have to ask about the name of the compilation where Feargal is the Applejack appear. Why was it titled “Dostoevesky lose its flavour on the bedpost overnight?”?

That name came about during another drunken night, when a bar game that involved making up literary songs titles was invented.

I kicked things off with ‘Your cheatin Sartre’ + “ My Beckett’s got a hole in it’. Poet Patrick Chapman was the clear winner with ‘Dostoevsky lose its flavour on the bedpost overnight?’

1st prize was to name our tape years later, tho’ we didn’t know at the time. Patrick got proper credit of the tape cover, of course, + appeared on it too. 2nd prize? A set of steak knives,

++ On that same compilation I discovered the marvelous The Skips. I read about the sad departure of Derrick Dalton. I’m sure that must have been hard for you and all the Dublin scene as he was part of so many bands. How important do you think was his figure for Irish guitar pop do you think?

Derrick was a major figure in Irish guitar pop, from his days as a ’teenage art terrorist’ with me in uptight! right though to stepping up to the mic with Crumb, then back again with Aeromodeller.

That was never reflected in fame or fortune, alas.

++ After that tape compilation you went to work with The Dadas, The Quack Squad and Fréres Jackman & The International Elevators. Care telling me a bit about these bands as I know nothing really about them?

The Dadas were a great pop group, led by Andy Fitzpatrick who now operates out of NYC, solo + helping out The Hatvest Ministers.

Fréres Jackman also played great pop, up to & including ska & reggae. The brothers still play live every now & then.

The Quack Squad were a comedy double act who wanted to make a Christmas record with us. ‘Why not? ’ I said.

++ And if you were to chose any Irish band that you like, which one would you have loved to have had in your catalogue? And why?

Micodisney + The Stars of Heaven. Why? Just listen…

Three of the Stars have appeared under our imprint, + Cathal from Microdisney (+ The Fatima Mansions) recorded his 1st solo track for us. We haven’t been able to release that one… yet.

++ There was an unreleased CD EP by a band called The Castanedas on your catalogue. What happened with this release?

The EP was at the pressing plant when the band broke up.

We cancelled everything just in time. Very discouraging, contributed to our lost decade.

++ Then there’s a gap of about 10 years with no releases. The label resurfaces with the $1,000 Wedding album “Exile on Dame Street” in 2002. What happened during that time? Why was the label so quiet?

Stuff happened, we grew up a bit, we felt like we were going nowhere…and not in a good way.

++ There would be a bunch of releases during the new century. I’m only familiar with the Crumb and Aeromodeller releases, which are ace. But again there are bands that only arouse my curiosity, as I have never heard before, like the aforementioned $1,000 Wedding, Villa R, Grievous Angels, Acton Bell or Éamonn Dowd. If you don’t mind, care to tell me a bit about each one on a line or two? Like what sort of music they played and what is your favourite song of theirs?

$1,000 wedding is a country-ish band I pit together with some of the usual suspects. The original concept was ‘Gram + Emmylou singing in front of Dinosaur Jr’ tho’ our songs led us off in a different direction, one that we liked better.

Villa R was Eoin from The Deportees with various Hey Paulettes. Grievous Angels we discussed earlier. Acton Bell is a solo project from Dez Foley of The Sewing Room/The Drays.

Éamonn Dowd is an old friend. We talked about doing an album together years ago, but nothing came of it. Late last year he approached me again with a new album he was preparing.

It sounded great, so I was happy to see it as a fridge disque, in partnership with Éamonn + his own label, Spellbound Records.

++ The last two releases of the label date of 2017, this year, so the label is totally going strong. I wonder then if there are more releases scheduled for this year? And how does the future looks for Mickey Rourke’s Fridge?

Well, we’re mostly making Our Back Pages readily available. When we come across something new + great – like the Éamonn Dowd album – we’ll put that out too.

++ Also I noticed that two of your releases were only released digitally. I would love to know your take about the digital vs. physical argument.

Money talks… + no argument! Going digital is practically free, which is important when you’re mostly giving stuff away. But it’s great to have a disque + a cover, 5” 7” or 12”, to hold in your hand…

++ Probably the question most people are asking by now is where can they get your available releases?

Right now, there’s stuff all over the place on iTunes, soundcloud, bandcamp, youtube… occasionally in stores too.

I’ve just set up a disques fridge Facebook page + where, over time, I’ll be curating + collating the catalogue…

+ you can get Éamonn Dowd’s CD on www.eamonndowd.com

++ Also just to make sure, is the label now called Disques Fridge?

Oh yes. Mickey Rourke’s Fridge was a 20th century thing, When we started up again in 2002, Disques name was a good way to say this is something new, following on from what went before. +we still use MRF catalogue numbers.

++ Did the label get much support from the Irish press or radio?

‘Can’t complain’ as we say over here. We got a fair amount of support from the media… more than we ever did from the public.

++ And during all these years, what would you say was the biggest highlight for Mickey Rourke’s Fridge?

Hearing the one + only live performance of the Stars of Heaven classic ‘Before Holyhead’ by Stephen Ryan at the DOSTOEVESKY launch…

+ the fact that ‘exile on dame street’ exists.

++ I think this has been a long interview already Seán! I could probably keep asking questions but let’s wrap it here. Just one more question, as I’ve never been to Dublin, or Ireland for that matter, what shouldn’t I miss to see, eat or drink when I visit?

Call me when you get here!

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

Books, movies, TV, art… + current events, as a spectator… + people.

++ Anything else you’d like to add?

THIS SUMMER…
watch out for a free release of a project we’ve been working on for over 20 years…

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Listen
Hey Paulette – Commonplace

There’s been a bunch of interesting news this week! So I can do two posts this week!

Firstly let me start with the most important news according to me, the one that involves the label. That is that finally I can announce the 9th Cloudberry Cake Kitchen release: The Potting Sheds!!!!! Right now I have uploaded a taster for you all on Soundcloud. That is the song “Take it Away (quickly)” that you can start sharing and loving all around! The album contains 20 songs and it is your classic Cake Kitchen custom made digipak, meaning it comes with our classic indiepop fanzine design plus full liner notes. More info and pre-order button very soon on the website. The album will be out this summer, hopefully early July. I’ll keep you informed here!

Stephen Lawson from the band Bluenose B who I was in touch and interviewed just some weeks ago has two new solo songs on Youtube. They sound fresh as a lettuce and you can check them both if you click the links for “Summer Girl” and “Marianne“. Very nice videos indeed, DIY style, with cool images of Stephen on about town.

The Legendary Hearts, who I interviewed as well, have two new singles out. Both have their accompanying videos on Youtube. You can check out the jangly goodness of “Faded by the Sun” and “Make a Home” if you click on the links. Really nice stuff!

John Douglass and Steve Hogg from Kid Sinister, another band I interviewed some years ago, have a new album titled “September Song” out on July 6th. That same day they will be performing a launch gig at The Cube Cinema in Bristol if you are around. You can listen to two tracks from the album on their Soundcloud. I link them here: “The Devil I Know” and “Blues in the Morning“. I especially like the poppier “The Devil I Know”. It is great to see both John and Steve back in action!

Thanks to the Sugarfrost Records Facebook page I got to know about some cool live recordings from B-flower. There is a very nice cover of The Smiths’ “This Charming Man” dating from November 1990 in Kyoto. Then from the same year there’s covers of Felt’s “Rain of Crystal Spires” and “Don’t Die on My Doorstep“. And later from 1991 another Smith’s cover for “You Just Haven’t Earned it yet Baby“. And that’s not all, there’s an 1988 live cover of The Smiths’ “Asleep“. That’s very early B-flower!

Two other classic bands have new releases coming up on Elefant Records. I’m talking about The Primitives and the BMX Bandits. The Primitives are at the moment promoting their new single “New Thrills” with the song “Oh Honey Sweet” which I suppose is the B side as Tracy Tracy is not singing! The BMX Bandits, on the other hand, are releasing an album titled “Forever”. The song “It’s In Her Eyes (With Dr Cosmo’s Tape Lab)” is the song the band and the label are using to promote it. Good to know that both bands are still going strong!

And last but not least, in this recap of classic band news, it seems the Scottish documentary about post-punk (1979-1985), Big Gold Dream, is available on Youtube now. I ordered the DVD and I’m happy to have supported this effort as I hope there will be more documentaries where indiepop/c86 is covered.  (Not anymore, seems because of copyright, it has been taken down)

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Applejack is a strong apple-flavored alcoholic beverage produced from apples, popular in the American colonial period. The name derives from “jacking”, a term for “increasing” (alcohol content) and specifically for “freeze distilling”, the traditional method of producing the drink.

I’m going to guess that the band, being Irish, named themselves after Feargal Sharkey. For those unaware Feargal Sharkey was the vocalist of The Undertones! A little bio coming from Wikipedia too:
Seán Feargal Sharkey (born 13 August 1958) is a singer from Northern Ireland most widely known as the lead vocalist of pop punk band The Undertones in the 1970s and 1980s, and also for solo works in the 1980s and 1990s. His 1985 solo single “A Good Heart” was an international success. After becoming less musically active in the early 1990s, he has performed various roles supporting the UK’s commercial music industry, winning several awards and honours for his work in that area.

Or perhaps, the vocalist of Feargal is the Applejack was actually called Feargal? Could be too, no?

It is definitely a disappointment that Discogs doesn’t have Feargal is the Applejack in its database. This will complicate our detective work. Where to start? As last week I decided to check on the website Irish Rock. Yes, even though I’m not sure where in Ireland they were from, I’m 100% sure that they were Irish.

Irishrock.org doesn’t have them in their database either. But they do have a compilation on there that Feargal is the Applejack contributed to. Titled “My Favourite Things”, this tape compilation was released by the label Mickey Rourke’s Fridge in 1993. The catalog was MRF11. This label does appear on Discogs, it was the label that released the classic (and favourite band of mine) Hey Paulette.

On “My Favourite Things” the band Feargal is the Applejack appears on the B side with the song “Come On Home”. I look forward to hearing this song sometime. Other bands that appear on the compilation were The Dadas, The River Babies, The Wiporwills, Eilleen Gogan & Niall O’Sullivan, 16 Again, Freres Jackman, Interference, The Quack Squad, Revenants, Hank Halfhead & the Rambling Turkeys, Rapture, The Deportees, Sean Foy, Sean A. McDermott & The Wayfaring Strangers. Aside from The Dadas  I’m not familiar with any of them!

Then I stumble upon Boards.ie, an Irish message board. On a post dating from September 18, 2008, a user remembers Feargal is the Applejack:
Feargal Is The Applejack – a small Dublin band which sounded very like the realism of Whipping boy and the spoken word type vocals of Fearghal McKee.

So the band must have been from Dublin. A quick googling tells me that Feargal McKee was part of the band Whipping Boy. Honestly I’m not familiar with this band and I believe there is no connection between them. From some of the songs I hear on Youtube, they sound much rockier, 90s alternative sounding.

The one song I do know from Feargal is the Applejack is titled “Talking to Yourself”, and what a song it is. I love the vocals, the guitar, the melodies, the vibe. Top song. This song seems that came from another Mickey Rourke’s Fridge compilation, one titled “Dostoevesky Lose Its Flavour on the Bedpost Overnight?”. This compilation is available in its entirety on Youtube. It was released in 1992 and was the fourth release on the label, catalog MRF 004. The other bands to appear were Freres Jackman, The Skips, Hey Paulette, Icehead and Grievous Angels. The compilation was compiled by Seán McDermott.

The last mention I find on the web about Feargal is the Applejack comes from a PDF thanks to the Westland Library. It is a scan of the Westland Observer from Westland, Michigan in the US. Strange, no? How did the tape “Dostoevesky Lose Its Flavour on the Bedpost Overnight?” gets a review in such  a place? Who knows! But there it is on the June 22nd, 1992, edition of the paper. It says:
…Side two stays more’with convention, albeit damn fine sounding. An Irish ska band? “Limbo Police” by Freres Jack-man deftly captures a bit of the blue beat spirit while; Feargal is the Applejack’s ‘Talking to Yourself is sugary pop gloriously doused with arsenic….

I also could find an abandoned Myspace for the band, one where the songs don’t stream anymore. At least I could find out that the band recorded some more songs. From the same demo tape as “Come On Home” and “Talking to Yourself” come the songs “You” and “Fire Alarm”. There were also live recordings for the songs “Beautiful (Gerry)” and “Talking to Yourself”. There are also a bunch of press photos available.

Then there is also the connection with the band Cliff Edge Panic. As I wrote about them in my previous post, after this short-lived band split, some members went to Feargal is the Applejack.

Not much more on the web. I would love to know who where the band members. Would love to listen to their other songs. If they had more recordings other than the demo tape. If they played many gigs. What did they do after. So many questions. Maybe someone remembers them? In the meantime I’ll enjoy this song and maybe discover some more Irish indiepop on the “Dostoevesky Lose Its Flavour on the Bedpost Overnight?” tape on Youtube.

EDIT 22/04/17: Seán McDermott from Disques Fridge reminded me that there was a promo video for Talking to Yourself. I had seen it on Youtube and thought I talked about it on the post, but seems it totally slipped from me! If you hadn’t seen it yet, please check here.

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Listen
Feargal is the Applejack -Talking to Yourself

This is a very special interview with my friend Olaf. Milchblumen FC were Olaf and Jan during those early 90s in Berlin. They were also making music under the name Abramczyk and Going Down With Brilliance. Later Jan would start Firestation Records with Uwe. Then he’d leave Firestation Records! And who joined Uwe this time was Olaf. I have just saw both of them in Berlin a month ago, and it was great fun. And in between jokes, talking about this blog interviewing bands that are so obscure and that the interviews are too long, I told Olaf, “be prepared that you are next”. And he said, “bring it on!!” And here it is! Hope you enjoy! Thanks so much Olaf!!

++ Hallo Olaf! Thanks for doing this interview of course. It was nice to see you at Indie Pop Days Berlin, how did you like it? Who were your favourite bands?

Hi Roque, it´s an honour for me being interviewed by my favourite blog. Thank you very much for your interest in my music career. Okay, the Indie Pop Days. I really enjoyed those days very much, have seen brilliant bands and met old and new friends. Apart from many other bands I personally preferred Lucky Soul and Allo Darlin´. First for Ali´s amazing presence on stage and their professional set which I enjoyed pretty much during three days of pure Indie-Pop. Second because of their zest for life and playing. I mean, look at Bill Botting on stage… Further highlights were Zipper, who woke me up on Sunday afternoon, Lisa Bouvoirs version of “Thunder Road” and those four minutes of pure pop magic of The Pocketbook´s “Fleeting Moments”. Also my DJ set with Kitten on Fire was fun, we both would have liked to dance to it.

++ Do you think Milchblumen FC would have fit just fine with the lineup of this festival? Were there any festivals along these lines going on back when you were playing?

I think so. We had been pure Indie-Pop. Yes, there have been a couple of small festivals, but for German bands only and mostly just for one or two days. I like to remember the Marsh Marigold Weekender in Dresden, truly funny days with little sleep with the complete Hamburg popgang. Great was also a festival in Darmstadt, where I witnessed the only gig of Wind In Den Weiden and met personally pen pals (for the younger readers: that had been something like Facebook) like Andreas Knauf, Olaf Grossigk or Frischluft-Krischan.

We played at the Harmony Beat Festival in the Dresden Starclub together with Fünf Freunde, Blinzelbeeren, Ein Warmer Sommermorgen (both Blam-a-Bit) and the Noise-Poppers Honeyloops from Worms. This festival had been organised by our friends from Dresden Trixi and Susi, real Indie-Pop pioneers in Eastern Germany. Memories come up on Rock `N Roll Lifestyle including stage invasion, bloody hands from excessive tambourine playing and Frank Kabs – singer of Twee-Pop-Punks Ein Warmer Sommermorgen – who had fallen asleep amongst beer, potatoe chips and I-do-not-want-to-know-what-else.

++ So let’s go back in time. Who were Milchblumen FC? What did each of you played? How did you all meet?

Milchblumen FC were Jan Kühn (guitar), Birgit Peters (guitar), Alexander Freyer (bass) and me (vocals and drum computer). When Uwe and I wrote our first fanzine in 1991 we also received some orders from Berlin. Curious for the people behind the addresses we met Jan at a Pariahs gig. We noticed him at various other gigs before because of his Clint Boon memorial haircut. Jan and I were on the same wavelength immediately and soon after a long night out clubbing we decided to record a dance version of “Please Rain Fall”. Well, not really successful, but that weekend we recorded four Low-Fi songs. We knew Birgit and Alex from the Indieclub Dogwash and after some talking both were very much interested in joining. Birgit took quickly some guitar lessons and we started…

++ Why the name Milchblumen FC?

We wanted a slightly ironical Twee band name, therefore Blumen (flowers). FC has got to do with our enthusiasm for football and also because we all were fans of Teenage Fanclub. Because I have the Berlin typical articulation weakness in the different pronunciation of “ch” and “sch” this was included jokingly by the word Milch (milk). Of course, altogether the bands name does not make sense at all.

++ Was this your first band? Which other bands were you involved with?

Yes, that was my first band apart from the badminton racket guitar band with our gig at the age of six. Milchblumen FC was an incarnation of our music creation. We played and recorded under various band names such as Jetstream (our shoegaze outfit), Going Down With Brilliance, Snowblind, Abramczyk (named after a German football star of the 1970ies), Northbound and I am sure various others. Some of these “projects” were duos or trios but Jan and I were always part of it.

++ The only song I know by you is “Auf Dem Halensee” that appeared on the 16 Goldene Hits CD. Were there any other songs released?

On „19 Goldene Hits“ were also „Grungemädchen“ (Abramczyk) and „Only Place“ (Going Down With Brilliance with Jans vocals) included. The tape compilation “It´s All About Love” included our first two demo recordings.

++ You were telling me you will digitise many tapes full of songs by the band. So when will that be?! 😀 and more or less how many songs did you had?

As soon as I have the technical equipment, but I am not a freak for technology. All in all it should be about 30 tracks. Amongst them cover versions of Depeche Modes “What´s Your Name”, Aspidistras “Sunrise”, Eternals “Breathe” and “Nothing Much To Loose” from My Bloody Valentine in a folk version. I heard my favourite song of us “Wir Sind Nur ´Ne Neue Krachpop-Band” (We Are Just Another Noisepop-Band) only once because later I lent the master to somebody and never got it back.

++ Why didn’t you get to do a proper release?

I don´t know. I wanted to produce a flexi single but the only pressing plant was in England. Including import tax it would have been too expensive. It was pretty difficult to arrange a proper release on a different label in the mid 1990ies as the number of Indiepop Labels reduced rapidly. The only considerable label would have been Marsh Marigold but I am sure we would have been too bad for Olivers expectations.

++ What about gigs? Where was the farthest from Berlin that you played? And which were your favourite gigs and why?

We did it for the gigs! Between 1992 and 1995 we had some gigs but outside of Berlin one only but that one was very special. A huge club, stage light like at Pink Floyd, a nice accommodation and we even got money for it! Weekenders are the funniest anyway. The record release party of “19 Goldene Hits” was also good although the CD wasn´t finalised yet. Almost 300 guests watched apart from us and various other bands also Groovy Cellar, Westway (Pre-Blochin 81 / Lato) and the only gig of Uwes band Thorn (Fallin´from stage, loosing his t-shirt and breaking young girls hearts) at the “Insel der Jugend” club.

++ Which other bands from the period did you like? Was there a scene in Berlin?

There was only a small scene in Berlin, just like today. Also the bands from “19 Goldene Hits” were mainly from the sixties scene and their members were mostly a bit older than us. Indiepop took rather place in Hamburg where I spent almost every second weekend in the early 1990ies. Great time. In fact I liked all early Marsh Marigold bands very much, especially the Fünf Freunde and The Legendary Bang. Their gigs were always very very funny. I remember how we entered a local posh disco in a noble suburb of Hamburg after one of their concerts. We shocked the local rich youth with a wild dance style and a lot of spraying beer. Within minutes the dance floor was flooded. I´ll never forget their faces in my whole life. Marsh Marigold boss Oliver Goetzel is the best dancer I know till today. Besides of Marsh Marigold bands I loved the products of Frischluft for their style, bands like The Sheets or Ein Warmer Sommermorgen and especially Germanys best band Merricks…

For international bands of that time there is not enough space here, there has been too much of good music at that time just like today. It is striking that so many come from Glasgow, therefore I name as a representative for all great ones my eternal hero Roddy Frame. Nobody manages to publish only two bad songs in thirty years.

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

We were quite frustrated, meant not to be good enough. After Birgit moved to Lübeck in late 1994 we split up more or less. We tried some rehearsals with Anja but because of new hobbies and interests the band project simply paused. I personally got lost in my enthusiasm for football since mid 1990ies, visited almost every match – also away matches – for many years, so in weekends I had almost no time for the band.

++ Are you still in touch with the other members of Milchblumen FC? What happened after you split up?

Jan is one of my best friends until today and was my predecessor at Firestation Records. We still meet regularly. He´s becoming father soon. I have not been in contact with Birgit and Alex for a couple of years and honestly said I don’t know what they are doing today but I believe they made their career.

In the mid 1990ies I had a weekly radio show called “Radio Heaven – International Pop Underground” with my friend from Hamburg Martin Fuchs which was big fun. I still need to laugh today when I occasionally listen to old recorded programmes. We did 48 programmes in total amongst which there were specials like “Flexi only” and “Tape only” or specials about Edward Ball (The Times etc.) or German Indie Pop. Later I wrote some Pop-/Football fanzines and worked occasionally for my football clubs magazine. Around the year 2000 Jan and I got back to enjoying making music again. We recorded a few good demos with our friend Guido, a very talented guitar player, who a short time later became seriously ill. This is a very sad story.

++ Be nostalgic now, what are the best anecdotes of being part of the band? What were the best moments of being part of Milchblumen FC?

The concerts of course! At least I had little stage fright, amazing. Just this: When we recorded some songs in Hamburg I squeezed by accident the bass guitarist Alex´ thumb between the door of the car and the frame. I think that was the reason why our producer Gerrit Herlyn (Red Letter Day) commented Alex´ bass play as terribly ungroovy that night… At our last gig in May 1995 we replaced the band WESTWAY in last minute. They had had a terrible argument because of their “victory trophy” in a band competition so they broke up two days before the concert. Jan and I had to replace a contracted 45 minute gig, otherwise the promoter (Ship Shape Club) would have had to pay a penalty payment. Because we hadn´t practised rehearsals for about two months and had lost our guitarist and bass guitarist, our repertory consisted of six songs only. The other 25 minutes we tried to compensate with bad jokes. The 200 guests who had come to see WESTWAY were not really pleased…

Personally my highlight was to read my lyrics of “Grungemädchen” on the way to work in Berlin’s biggest city magazine. I´ve rarely been that proud ever.

++ So aside from music, you love Tennis Borussia Berlin. Why do you like such a small team?! Is that why you are not very good at table football? 🙂

The same what I like about the Indiepop scene, to be part of a small rather informal group of people. At Tennis Borussia grew a feeling of belonging together in the 1990ies when we were attacked verbally and physically in Eastern Germany. We were judged as a pretty wealthy football club from West-Berlin. But it was rather exciting to sing with 50 people in the stadiums guest area against 8.000 fans from Dresden. At the moment the clubs situation is very bad, we are last in 5^th league, there come hardly 400 fans, but I still cannot let my club.

++ Haha, okay, so what other things do you like doing?

So many. people say that without a job they would be bored. This does not apply to me. Amongst other things I ride racing bike since a few years with a lot of enthusiasm (no, I do not dope) which is a kind of midlife crisis thing ;-). I am very much interested into science fiction literature including secondary literature, like to travel mainly to Spain and go hiking there. Although my job is pretty interesting (organising and working at fun fairs and christmas markets) I like to change in future. Unfortunately you cannot pay your rent from music business.

++ Tell me about Berlin, it seems I’m going too often, but you still haven’t shown me your favourite restaurant or your favourite German beer! Or your favourite hang out places!

You should not hang around with the pretty girls only! I like to eat sushi and Berlin seems to be the cheapest city for this kind of food. Almost all sushi restaurants have long term offers. The “Kuchi” in the Kantstraße seems to be the only full price restaurant but there you get the best sushi in town. Furthermore I love the “El Borriquito” in the Wielandstraße, original Spanish cuisine and live music until 5 o’clock in the morning. That’s why you meet weird people there. Is it coincidence that my new flat is in just five minutes walking distance from both restaurants? With the beers I prefer the Bavarian “Hell”, especially those brewed for the Oktoberfest, alternatively I like Czech beer very much. As an original West-Berliner I love the Grunewald forest and the river Havel where my racing bike training area is situated. On a tour through the Grunewald I can let my thoughts flow.

++ So now you are part of Firestation Records. Is it easy to work with Uwe? What are your favourite things about running a label?

It´s so easy to work with Uwe as we are best friends. Although he seems to be confused somehow, at the label he works more accurately and punctually than I do. Both we are 50% shareholders so that each of us has the power of veto. We never had to use it so far as we work on the same wave length with regard to music and other objectives of the label. My highlight in two years at FST was the release of the album of Der Englische Garten which was a special pleasure for me as a big fan of the Merricks. The cooperation with Bernd, Alex and the other members of the band was big fun, also because I was responsible for the promotion work for the first time. The CD is selling pretty well. Although I hope a big label will be interested into the band, I would like to release their next album.

As a teenager I dreamed about a career at a music label and always had great visions about the big music business. Now we work from an old sofa and a store room…

++ Tell us a bit of the future plans, 6 projects in the pipeline right?

Yes there are various things in the pipeline. We will start our autumn / winter offensive with a compilation of the first three records of The Cherry Orchard whose song “So Blind” is one of my favourites. We will proceed with the debut of The Soulboy Collective. “Clique Tragedy” contains 11 wonderful songs between Northern Soul and Indie-Pop. The guys of Mighty Mighty and the Orchids were very pleased by the songs and judged it big hit potential. Furthermore we are looking forward to the compilation of the Indie-Jazz-Pop-Outfit Playing For Time. Those who know the single “With My Heart” only will be surprised and should discover various interesting songs. A never ending story is the release of the 7^th Leamington Spa sampler. Repeated we had some problems with the artwork, some of it got lost by computer trouble, but we almost finalised it now. For me the best edition, honestly! Amongst other it will contain Ala Pana Fuzo, The Gits, The Dadas or Penelope’s Web among others.

Next year, with a delay of ca. 23 years, the second album of our heroes Mighty Mighty will be released, what a pleasure. We also thought about releasing some vinyl again, amongst others a Super-Sound-12’’-Maxi single.

++ And not so long ago you organized Popfest Berlin! How was that?!

Wow, what a night! The Indie Pop Days were great but that night was much better. All bands were wonderful, starting with the very charming Paisley and Charlie, the totally groovy live experience of Der Englische Garten, the very short but impressive gig of The Soulboy Collective, the concert causing goose picket by the Orchids (Whooooo needs tomorrow…) and the absolutely party atmosphere by Mighty Mighty. We had no problems with time or the technical equipment, the bands and the audience enjoyed themselves obviously. I was locked in the heat of the Bang Bang Club from 2 p.m. till 6. a.m. and do not want to miss a single minute of that experience. It was overwhelming to walk in the morning to my living room after 90 minutes of sleep and see Hugh of Mighty Mighty ironing his shirt. In boxershorts! What a view! What a popstar!

We plan the next Popfest in March 2011, again with a warm up party. One or two old heroes will pretty likely join, wait for the surprise.

++ Thanks again so much, next time I interview you in person, anything else you’d like to add?

Yeah, hope to see you at London Popfest. I would like to thank you for the interview, now I am in a line with many of my old heroes and idols. I would like to  ask for an interview with Bernd Hartwich about the Merricks and Der Englische Garten.

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Listen 
Milchblumen FC – Auf Dem Halensee
Abramczyk – Grungemädchen

Put your seatbelts on. Be prepared! The new volume of the fantastic series will be out in around a month! Again, after almost ten years of the first volume, we’ll have a new chance to listen and discover some fantastic pop slices from the heyday of indiepop. It’s all thanks to the lovely and friendly people from Firestation Records in Berlin. They, together with Clarendon Records and Billbery Records, have compiled a twenty one track CD that no one should miss.

Some familiar faces of this blog, as our pop trobadour Kevin McGrother, the Wee Cherubs and their magic, Mighty Mighty and that elegant jangly (who are announced to play at Indietracks festival!) and Home and Abroad’s introspective and classic indiepop. Opening the CD is Ala Pana Fuzo who I have interviewed and will be on the blog soon. A great band who I can’t wait to learn more. The Ferrymen is another band that will soon show up on this blog, especially as they have also just released a retrospective album titled “Tunes for Saturday Boys” on the Firestation label too. I recommend this one too, of course. And there are some new names for me as Huge Big Massive, Screaming Silence and Feline Jive to name a few.  But better look yourself what treats will show up on volume number seven.

01. Ala Pana Fuzo – Friend
02. Huge Big Massive – Here To Stay
03. Whirlpool Guest House – The Plumber’s Daughter
04. Screaming Silence – Same Old Story
05. Wee Cherubs – Dreaming
06. Endless Bob Brown – Be Good To Your Blood
07. Mighty Mighty – Emile
08. Home & Abroad – Back Were I Belong
09. Fire Hydrant Men – Baby I’m A U-Boat
10. The Dadas – Mercy Mercy
11. Irony Board – No Ties
12. The Gits – JK Rent
13. Reflection AOB – Only In My Dreams
14. Borgnine – Everything You Need
15. Hookling & Silverfish – Christine
16. Feline Jive – Blue Dawn
17. The Ferrymen – Summertime
18. Don’t Feed The Animals – Wealthy Man
19. Penelope’s Web – The Gap
20. Elephant Noise – New Town Tom
21. Kevin McGrother – You’ll Never Know

Looks great doesn’t it? And Uwe doesn’t stop, he is already working on Volume 8!

I’ll share with you another track by The Irony Board, an early nineties band, were Charlie Big Time’s Matthew and Broken Down Lorry’s Jon played. Hopefully an interview to them soon!

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Listen
The Irony Board – Gullible’s Travel

Thanks so much to Johnny Dutton for the interview! I had written about A Month of Sundays time ago and was hoping to learn more details about the band. I had tried interviewing Neil Preston but I guess live got in the way and never got a chance to hear his insights. Happily Johnny, who was early on on A Month of Sundays, was able to share some interesting stories about the band! Also he has shared a photo of the band playing in 1998 and a press clipping from 1989! Enjoy!

++ Were you or any of the members involved in other bands before being in A Month of Sundays?

Terry, Neil and myself all went to St Mark’s College together. At the age of 14 we decided to put together a band when we realised we all played an instrument. In fact looking at a interview with a magazine in 1989, Terry says “Neil and I were jamming one day when John rode past and heard us. It was just me on drums and Neil on guitar. John rolled up and he came in and started playing scales.  I thought, wow man, scales, this is where rock ‘n’ roll begins and ends.”

We then recruited another friend from school, Neil Magro and he played synthesizer. We started playing school dances and parties as Mirror Images (we thought that was a fitting name because of Neil and Terry being twins). Somewhere between 1985 and 1987 Mark (who also went to St Mark’s but was a year older than us) joined the band and on Wed 2nd March 1988 we played our first pub gig at the Fitzgerald Hotel.

So yeah, to answer your question, none of us had been in other bands before AMOS.

++ Were you all originally from Perth?

Neil, Terry and Mark were living in Morley and I was living in Dianella (neighbouring suburbs east of Perth City) and we’d all head to the back shed at Neil and Terry’s place nearly every Sunday to jam.

++ How was your city at the time? Were there any bands that you liked? What were the good record stores? Or what about the pubs or venues to go check out up and coming bands?

DaDa Records and 78s were the best. We even did a live performance at DaDas once in their basement.

The Old Melbourne put on a lot of good days and really tired to help out the local bands. The Shenton park Hotel and the Seaview Tavern were also really great places to play as well as check out other up and coming bands.

++ Were there any lineup changes?

After I left the band they brought in Caleb Merry and after Caleb they brought in Grant Fersat. I believe (and I could be wrong so you might want to check with the boys) that after Grant they decided to perform as a three piece. To be honest, they have always had a big sound so they really didn’t need an extra guitarist.

++ What’s the story behind the name A Month of Sundays?

This is a quote from Neil taken from an interview in 1989 “We actually went up to the state library and took out a book on colloquialisms, and after picking a few terms, decided on that one”.

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

In the shed behind Neil and Terry’s parents’ place. After many years of doing that we started hiring a studio in East Perth. In fact it was right near the Claisebrook Station where the cover of Bell Book and Candle was taken (if my memory serves me correctly).

++ You were around in the late 80s and early 90s and I feel there were lots of great Australian guitar pop bands at the time. Did you feel part of a scene at all? What were your favourite Aussie bands then?

The Stems

++ And who would you say were influences in the sound of the band?

It started with The Smiths, The Church, REM, Big Star, Matthew Sweet and other jangly pop bands then moved onto more heavier guitar bands like The Replacements.

++ Your first release as far as I know was “Bell, Book and Candle” a 6-track tape. I suppose this was a self-release, but I wonder because of the format if this was a proper release or more of a demo?

From memory it was a “proper” release. I think that format was all a bunch of young kids could afford at the time. Any money we made from gigs went into a kitty for recording or gig related expenses. I never saw a cent from this band, but that’s the way we wanted to do it.

++ “Faithfully Patient” 7″ was next. This one was released by Amos. Who were they? Who was behind this label and how did you end up signing with them?

AMOS = A Month Of Sundays. So, self released basically.

++ I really love the A side, “Faithfully Patient”, and was wondering if you could tell me the story behind this song? What inspired it?

Neil will have to answer this. He wrote the song. In fact I think he wrote all the songs and brought them to us to mould into the AMOS sound.

++ “Seesaw Child” was your next record and on this one Dom Mariani guest appeared! How cool! Were you friends? Or how did this collaboration come to be?

Dom was a friend of the band. I think Neil and Dom got to talking and arranged for Dom to co-produce.

++ “Idiot Star” came out in 1994 and something that always caught my attention from this release is the art, the photos on it.  Who is the kid in the photos?

I believe that’s an old photo of Neil. (But I could be wrong) I know the single cover for Faithfully Patient is Neil’s legs.

++ You also appeared on a few compilations. For example on the classic “Out of the Woodwork” that featured many of the best Australian bands at the time. Do you remember how you end up there?

I can only remember the studio session. Not sure how we came to do it or who asked us to get involved.

++ If you were to choose your favourite A Month of Sundays’ song, which one would that be and why?

Any of the ones I recorded with the band. ha ha  I really enjoyed all the songs Neil wrote during my time in the band. He’s one very talented songwriter.

++ Was there ever interest by other music labels? Perhaps big ones?

Not that I know of. We were hoping the momentum would keep going after our Eastern States tour but it all kind of seemed to slow down a bit and that’s when I started contemplating leaving the band.

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

One of my personal favourites was supporting Spy vs Spy at Curtain Uni on 9th Sept 1988. I was a big fan of that band at the time so they were rock Gods to me.

++ What about the rest of the band, had they been in other bands?

Once I left AMOS I started up a band called Cartoon Horrors for a few years and then got into Rockabilly in a big way. I form a Rockabilly outfit called Johnny Law & The Pistol Packin’ Daddies and released 4 full length albums and 1 single. We’ve played in places like Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Seattle, Germany, Netherlands, Italy, France etc. As of Dec last year the band has been performing for 20 years.

A few years ago I also started up another band called Atomic Stagecoach where we take 1980s songs and tweak them to sound like they may have been written and recorded in the 1950s. It’s a really fun band.

++ Has there ever been a reunion? Or talks of playing again together?

Not with me there hasn’t.  I turn up to their shows when I can. Sometimes Neil even gives me a shout out from the stage. ha ha

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

E-press magazine loved the band. I have all the articles ever written about the band while I was with them.

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

For me it was working with legends like Dom Mariani, Errol Tout and Greg Dear.

Winning a West Coast Rock award for Most Popular WA Cassette.

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Listen

A Month of Sundays – Faithfully Patient

Day 460

Lentillas de Colores: just a month ago I was recommending a CD release by the León, Spain. Well, it didn’t take long for them to announce a new vinyl release! It is coming out on July 19 and includes 4 songs! You can preview all four songs on Bandcamp as well as grab some lovely merch like totebags and t-shirts!

The Goon Sax: after the announcement of their upcoming album “Mirror II”, the Brisbane-trio has released a video for the song “Psychic”! Great video, great song. Can’t wait for the album.

Jilted Jonas: oh! It’s been a while since we heard from the Swede based in Berlin. Well, the wait is over and there’s a new catchy indiepop track called “Silent Kisses”. It is a fine slice of lo-fi indiepop. Perfect for this sunny weekend!

Pelopincho: one of our favourite Latin American bands, the Buenos Aires combo has released a new video for their song “Tijeras Oxidadas” which was released on June 10th. The album is “Loop Adolecente” and will be available digitally.

Skiftande Enheter: oh, I feel bad for having missed this 7″. I only discovered it the other day. It came out on a label I was not aware of, Chunklet Industries from Atlanta. The 7″ which is now sold out included two songs, “Lögn” and “Bättre Förr”. The band is very Flying Nun sounding, that’s a good thing. The songs are really good. So yeah, let’s listen to them on Bandcamp. 50 copies are too little…

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A few days ago I got a request to look into this US band. I must say I have never heard of them before so that picked my curiosity. On top of that, the one song I was able to listen on the web, “Space of Ten Days”, sounded like candy to my ears. So I couldn’t say no, and I am here doing some detective work on the blog.

The song I mentioned was included in an 8-song album called “Priests & Poets” that was released by S.H.C. Records (002A) in 1987. I would guess that this was the band’s own label as both releases listed are by the same band.

Indeed, the other release, a 7″ with two songs, “All the Guns” on the A side and “Conversation” on the B side, was released in 1986 by the same label (001A). I am checking the back of the jacket and I find some information that may help us find out more about them.

To start the two songs were produced by Chan Poling and thee band. The first song, “All the Guns”, was engineered by D. Goulet while the B side was engineered by M. Owens and K. Glynn. Sadly there are no first names anywhere but on the sleeve design credits, John Myron Hansen.

One thing though is that the label has an address in Minneapolis. And the contact person of the label is not one of the band members. We see this name, S. Koebel Price. Maybe then, the band and the label were two different entities?

Oh! And yes, of course, the band members appear here too. Michael Jacobson on words and guitars, Davids Sarma on guitar, D. Moriarty on bass and Mike Padilla on drums and percussion.

Now let’s get back to the 1987 album. I mentioned 8 songs. These were “Daylight”, “25th Year”, “Martyr” and “In this Life” on the A side and “Grayed Expectations”, “Space of Ten Days”, “Until You Smile” and “Drop the Ball” on the B side. All songs were recorded at Nicollet Studios which was based in Minneapolis. I feel by this point we can safely assume that the band hailed from there.

I also notice some changes in the band. I don’t see a D. Moriarty but a Ben Peters on bass and vocals. Davids Sarma is now credited on cello as well. The producers for this record was Chris Osgood (from Buzz Barker & the Atomic Bums, L73 and The Suicide Commandos) and the band. The engineeer was Steve Fjelstad (who had done some remixes for R.E.M. and was part of L73, Fingerprints and Figures). The art is credited again to John Myron Hansen.

I don’t see on Discogs any compilation appearances. I don’t see any other bands they might have been involved with.

I look for them. I find that Davids Sarma was once part of the Tau Beta Pi and graduated cum laude at the University of Minnesota in 1994. It proves a bit harder to track the other band members as their names are a bit more common.

And that’s really it. I couldn’t find any more info. But I hope some of the readers from Minneapolis can help with more details!

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Listen
Circle of Eyes – Space of Ten Days