Wow December again!… As you know due to financial restrictions the ‘In the Club’s universe only revolves around two mags a year at the moment, each defining a very different time - Either the summer hols or Christmas! So being that June saw issue 46... It’s this issue (47’s) turn to send out our annual seasons greetings, peace and love to all of you from all at the POPCO.
To say it’s been a funny year is (as seems to now be the norm) no surprise to anyone?! A ‘push me pull you’ comes to mind when I try and gauge where we are and where we’ve been! Let me try and fill in the gaps since the summer issue.
First to mention is the Farmers Boy. Did we save them? Good question… the answer is a little more vague. Actually about as vague as I felt the day after... But I should say 3 hours...for that is the short amount of time after we finished showering the audience with Jammy Dodgers and Cheese Puffs, I was walking to the station enoute with my daughter to visit the Templehof festival in Berlin!
Anyway I digress. It was a great night at the Farmers. A great set by Los Chico’s Mertos started off proceedings and the TCs brought the house down (almost) with a quick fire 22 tracker!) And in answer to the question Did we save the Farmers?... Here’s Ros the land ladies gofundme.com/f/save-live-music-at-the-farmers-boy
Next up it was the debut of our newest POPCO project Narcotic Hearts at the Bull and Butcher in Milton Keynes. The set went down well despite a string break 2 songs in which resulted in a rather less in tune but well received finale! Always great to get the first one out of the way though. (Big up to Jord… Er Clem Canteen our new sticks man who made his drumming debut no less!)…
Next on the list was the 2nd Narcs show! (Like busses eh!) The gig was performed on the Sunday of August bank hols, this time at the fantastic Hertford Magical Musical Mystery tour festival curated by the marvellous Kev Saunders.
This was then followed by The TCs next show - supporting the Woodentops for the reshuffled Horn date (remember us being powercutted off in March?) Or that’s what it was supposed to be... but with less than 2 weeks to go, with no reason given (to us at least) Woodentops decide to cancel! The first we hear is an email from Luke at the Horn who gives us the option of playing on regardless… by ‘building a show around us’… “Of course” we say... “Yes we’ve been trying to sell the night for weeks so don’t want to disappoint anyone who may have bought a ticket”… No sooner do we accept the challenge... Action stations are invoked POPCO RED ALERT... IT’S TIME TO BREAK OUT THE YOUTH CLUB! And sure enough with barely any notice the ticket sales begin to ramp up and up!
Unfortunately with less than 72 hours to go we learn that there is no show built around us! Do we know anyone we can ask as support?! DO WE KNOW ANYONE... YES WE DO... This the TCs calling... “Will are you receiving over!?”
“Yes TCs I am and Yes I Will!”... says superhero Will otherwise known as the mighty Scant Regard! Thank god and as ever he doesn’t disappoint! Laying the perfect foundations for one of the TCs most memorable Horn shows. With the plaudits split between Mr Crewdson and the previously mentioned youth club! WOWZA folks... (They are a site to behold with the Boo hoo mosh pit an instant legendary event! What a fab night, massive thanks all round! - If only we had Snap Chat and Ticktok accounts we’d be able to share all of the chatter! (We are looking into bringing an interim in the fold to try and avoid any such future disappointments! - Ed)
Next and with barely a two week gap we unbelievably upped the notch to 11 for the magnificent First Annual Perfect Pop Co Review Party. See our special feature for the full fat, but strictly plant based deal on this memorable triple show!
Finally for 2022 and we’re back with the TC’s and a return to The Farmers... Billed as a Halloween extravaganza... One not seen since pre COVID, it was certainly an ‘out there ‘and non conventional show! Sadly dominated by the impact of the complaining neighbours complaints... The usual TCs blitzkrieg was reduced to a very enthusiastic sparkler... Leading indeed to Blairski our drummer requesting that the darts players near the toilets “Please stop throwing your darts so hard into the board, as you’re drowning my kit out!”
In other news. We are hugely excited to have two ‘In the Club’ interviews thanks to our own Rogerio. The first from Bobbie from the amazing Bob Vylan no less and the 2nd from Derek from The Satellites (another of Rogers little ‘sidelines’ while the TCs are in moth balls).
Then we have the intrepid ‘BIG M’ who interviews not one but two local bands one is St Albans 3 piece Brocker and the other the mysterious GAND? Yes he of Faction Structure (fame?!) for his first ever interview and not only that BIG M also reviewing forthcoming FS album Circles too! (busy man that BIG M!)
Added to all of this we have Andreas and The Wolf radio show Christmas special with guest Star the fabulous Hug(h) Davenport! Plus as ever, all possible opportunities to purchase ‘merch’ and other exciting POPCO related stuff! Especially with 4 NEW albums coming out! The Narcotic Hearts debut 16.12.2022. The Tuesday Club - Bootleg!! 30.12. 2022. Then the long awaited Andreas & The Wolf follow up Sci-Fi for your Hi-Fi on 3.2.2023 and next Easter (record store day) The next Limited Edition Faction Structure release! - Circles. BIG thanks as ever to The brilliant Ringmaster Review who has very kindly reviewed all four releases to whet your already rumbling appetites! You can now catch The Ringmaster on Anchor and Spotify, just click his pic on the next page! Before I let you go, here’s my little please subscribe and “TELL YER MATES MANTRA!”
A lot of people say and think they’ve subscribed to ITC, but often unfortunately they don’t finish the subscription by confirming they want to join the list, so please make sure you check your junk and confirm you wanted to join! You guys are the POPCO life blood and we really appreciate your support. So Please DON’T UNSUBSCRIBE. PLEASE TELL YOUR FRIENDS TO SUBSCRIBE and help us keep rockin’…
Finally and it never gets easier. This year we mark 8 years since the passing of our legendary friend and compadre Terry ‘Super’ Cockell. Scarcely a day goes by when you are aren’t foremost in my/our thoughts. Miss you and love forever Superman xx
DATE NIGHT 2022/23
NARCOTIC HEARTS DEBUT ALBUM narotichearts.bandcamp.com
FRIDAY 16 DEC 2022
ANDREAS & THE WOLF
MILTON KEYNES - SOUND OF THE CROWD SUPPORT
FRIDAY 23 DEC 2022
BOOTLEG ALBUM RELEASE
TheTuesdayClub.bandcamp.com
FRIDAY 30 DEC 2022
NARCOTIC HEARTS
KEV SAUNDERS - KEVOLUTION
HERTFORD CLUB
THURS 05 JAN 2023
BOOTLEG ALBUM RELEASE
AndreasAndTheWolf.bandcamp.com
FRIDAY 03 FEB 2023
BOOTLEG ALBUM RELEASE FactionStructure.bandcamp.com
SATURDAY 15 APR 2023
THE PERFECT POP CO REVIEW 2* PRIVATE PARTY: Featuring New & Old PPCO Artists & DJ sets
SAT 14 OCT 2023
to: Design @andy8ecreative Content: Brad Wigglesworth, Andrew Trussler, Denise Parsons, Will Crewdson, David Newbold, Monty Davenport, Dave & Eddie from Empire Records, Steve Honest, Manilla PR, Stephen Manuel, John Viney, Pete Ringmaster, Karen Lui, Roger Millington, The Minx, Kev Saunders, Pete Jones, Andrew Trussler, BIG M, Samantha and Brian Perryman, Pete at Circadisc, Derek from The Satellities, Bobbie from Bob Vylan, Tiggy Pop, Mr B Wolf.
For various reasons The Tuesday Club only managed 5 live shows in 2022. Which were... The last Nambucca, SAVE live-music-at-the-farmers-boy, Balstock Music Festival, The Horn with Scant Regard and the Farmers Halloween special but although there have been limited opportunites these shows have generally been up there with the best of our 11 years of giggage! We put most of this down to the amazing support we’ve had from all of YOU, as we’ve not really done much different tbh! SO THANKS VERY VERY MUCH!!!
The much postponed and moved Gene Loves Jezebel 40th Anniversary show sadly saw the end of Nambucca, but also was the first chance to view the the extatic whirlwind of the TC Youth Club in full effect, they came, they saw, they boogied and they left! Read and see more here... issuu.com/ perfectpopco-op/in-the-club-046-summer-2022
The mighty Balstock festival was a top event once more thanks to all at the Old White Horse and the top top sound guys for a fantastic sound and stage set up and of course the wonderful dancers!. A real pleasure to play, hopefully see you next year. Check Page 6 from some great @bradwiggs pics
In June under the promotionship (is that a word!) of BIG M, we helped raise money for The FIGHT FOR THE FARMERS BOY! A Benefit Gig Featuring The Tuesday Club & Los Chicos Muertos...
See landlady Ros’ video from the night here...
£10
Each
We then had a storming night with FAB guest action from the Brilliant Scant Regard as we more than made the best of a last minute promotion to headliner with an equally thrilling performance and mosh exhibiton from the Youth Club!
Another gig that had been jiggled about like a belly dancers Christmas turkey was our last of the year at The Farmers, due to the ongoing problems with the neighbours this one was defintiely the quietest full band show we’ve ever done! Big thanks particulary to the Hertford Massive and Brad and Big M for coming down and witnessing some very alt versions of TCs classics, some in a jazz stylee no less!
Thanks to Brad (as ever) Samantha and Brian Perryman, plus assorted unknown Youth Clubbers for the snaps over this and the next spread :-)
TRACK LISITING:
Where Am I From? - 2.46
Little Giant - 2.58
Follow Me - 2.58
Easy Thing - 3.38
Figurene Of Glycerine - 1.30
High Heaven - 3.26
Foundations Of Clay - 2.58
Nothing Good - 3.22
ORDER THE ALBUM HERE NOW: narotichearts.bandcamp.com
never seemed to get further than a mention at a curry… the logical solution was to start something new and crack on! So with 10 eclectic shiny new songs and a sound wedging itself somewhere between solo Pete Shelley and the new wave edge
For those in the know they are a familiar quartet, who began life in necessity during the interminable stop/ start of lockdown as the people most available to rehearse! Coupled with the fact that the 4th TCs album
of blur and with 4 shirts to transform any mid January route canal treatment into a Rio Mardi Gras… the newly christened fab four of Cruzglampo, Canteen, Marrrmite and Col Burn are poised to storm the mythical battlements of perfect pop with an idealistic joie de vivre not seen since the heady days of Postcard Records!
From a St Albans, London and Kings Lynn axis spins a new bass driven, postpunk 4s up. Narcotic Hearts are the latest band to appear fully formed from the ever mutating St Albans music label. Perfect Pop Co-Op.
It already seems like months ago and as we go live... It actually is nearly two!... Wow what a great night Saturday 15th October was folks! For those lucky enough to be there, we salute you, for those who couldn’t hopefully these fab pics from Anna, Dan, Samantha and the mighty Brad will hopefully soften the blow a little.
Ambitious, fool hardy or just a bit odd, all of those thoughts went through the POPCO psyche prior to the night, billed as a celebration of all of our current active projects. The debut for one (Andreas & The Wolf) and only the third for Narcotic Hearts.
The Narcs kicked off proceedings with a 10 track set made up of their entire current repertoire!... 8 songs that will feature on the forthcoming self titled debut album (you’ll have already seen it on pages 10-12) and two others the incongruous ‘Summers Coming’ (Johnny
Marrmite - Guitar God) had wanted to change the title to a more seasonal Santa’s coming, but was overuled... Let’s see how bigger hit the summer one is first eh Johnny?... The other track being a cover of The Scratch’s 2009 b-side Narcotic Hearts... hmmm , that’s that mystery solved without even asking!
© Samantha Perryman
© 2022 Brad Wigglesworth
The Narcs are a familiar bunch to most of you... Col Burn (Bass) looks alarmingly similar to Rogerio Marauder... the previously mentioned Johnny M is a dead ringer for Dave Worm. Drummer (which nearly fooled you all) Clem Canteen, has more than a passing resemblance to the front view of J-Rod TC and as for Narc Cruzglampo... Cleverly this strain of the POPCO mainstays lurks beneath dayglo shirts and rigid stage antics, enough for you to see the difference... Don’t take our word for it though! In celebration of the aforementioned debut album the band will be performing live again at the Hetford Hotel on Thursday 5th Jan hopefully supporting the fab Skull Puppets,
courtesy of promoter de rigueur Kev Saunders. (See previous spread for the poster!)
© Brian Perryman
Next up, a double debut... First Andreas & The Wolf, the band who’s launch party this was originally meant to be back in October 2020 before being ravaged like to so much by COVID.
The second, introduces the world to the sultry vocal stylings of Miss Tiggy Pop. Having not only added Miss P to the mix but also the sleek sensation of Dave Beans’ pedal board to bolster and twist the synths. Andreas & The Wolf take their debut with a throbbing aplomb, fusing their debut album (Fountain of Truth) new single ‘Evil Breeze’, melding the Scratch’s classic garage rock debut ‘I Relax to Spiral Scratch’ into a primal fizzer for the rave generation and still having time to morph into the bizarre mask clad claustrophobia of Faction Structure for the two stand out tracks from their debut ‘Buyin Into Fantasy’...
It was a great feeling to finally unleash the Electonic side of the operation in a set (as with all of the bands on the roster) that didn’t fit comfortably into any conventional genre, but as you know, that’s EXACTLY how we like it here at the POPCO!
Thankfully as a great follow up to the performance this won’t be your only chance to see the live show in 2022, as the band have just announced they will be appearing at a special Christmas show on Friday 23rd of December supporting Sound of the Crowd at the Plough in Simpson, Milton Keynes. For more info see the poster on page 19.
THE TUESDAY CLUB 10.30 - 11.15 PM
With the crowd now suitably punch drunk... It was left to The Tuesday Club to deliver the knockout blow... that statement almost proved to be literal as AVBD’s excitement got the better of him post crisps and biscuits as he lept off stage during the finale to Lady Gargar falling straight forward head first over the monitor and smashing his head straight on the concrete floor! Ouch! Ever the true pro though... a quick check for blood (which there wasn’t any) and it was back on with the action!
A rowsing, boozy set was great with the usual Youth Club enthusiasm not least as you’d expect during their adopted anthem Let the Kids Run the Country. What a great end to a great night! Thanks so much to all who attended! We already can’t wait til next years part 2!
© Brian and Samantha Perryman
Bootleg!, the perfect late Christmas treat and ideal soundtrack for your New Year party uproars but more so a record to surely put THE TUESDAY CLUB on more far reaching musical maps.
Assignment 2 - Andreas & the Wolf
Widow - Working Men’s Club
Under the house - Public Image Ltd
Burning Down - Wilko Johnson and the Solid Senders
Young Lover - St Vincent
I’d rather go blind - Chicken Shack
Where am I from - Narcotic Hearts
Love Parasite - Fad Gadget
Play the greatest hits - Wolf Alice
Stop the Cavalry - Jona Lewie
Somethings gone wrong again - Buzzcocks
The Kingdom of Love - The Soft Boys
C U Next Tuesday - Takashi O’Hashi & Kev Saunder
Things Fall Apart - Cristina
Christmas Bop - Marc Bolan and T Rex
Needles in the Camel’s Eye - Brian Eno
Blood Moon Rising - Scant Regard
Complicated - Sink Ya Teeth
Being in Love - Wet Leg
Pilgrims Tale - Automatic Shoes
Harsh Tales of Ancient News (bootleg version) - The Tuesday Club
New Rose - The Damned
It’s Christmas Time - Andreas & the Wolf
Perfect Pop Co Op Radio is back: mixcloud.com/perfectpopcoop
hosted by Andreas & the Wolf, just click, follow and enjoy! Lots of exclusives, oldies and rarities and that’s the music not the band!
Andreas and the Wolf have been making radio shows for over 10 years. Their show is ‘presented’ in their own inimitable and bungled style, and if you love Indie, indie
dance, new wave, post punk, old school punk, vinyl and discovering new music, this has to be the show for you! This is not just an excuse to plunder their own musical heritage though, oh no, this eclectic show comes interspersed with tracks that have influenced them over the years by established artists and also tracks by fellow ‘DIYers’, underground mavericks and tomorrows indie superstars. You gotta click this link and get yourself subscribed. The show comes out once a month and can be found on the: perfectpopco-op.co.uk and mixcloud.com/perfectpopcoop
Follow us!
@andreasandtwolf
instagram.com/andreasandthewolf andreasandthewolf.co.uk
TRACK LISITING:
Evil Breeze - 4.57
Assignment 2 - 6.56
I Never Read Your Books - 5.08
The Void - 6.06
Empothoria - 5.40
Sunshade City - 3.24
VAXX(acidic) - 5.30
Disco Biscuits - 4.32
More faith and less imagination - 3.12
You’re a Cult - 3.10
Is the brand new long awaited (not least by Andreas & The Wolf!) 2nd album by Andreas & The Wolf. Set somewhere in the dystopian 1970s of the nuclear apocalypse, part sapphire and steel, part the survivors which post pandemic feels sadly all too real with echoes of not only our childhood but potentially incredibly our future…
Evil Breeze, Sunshade City, More Faith & Less Imaginatiom and I want to be a Cult like you feature special guest Minki Manzi on backing vocals.
A release wrapped in shadows, emotively and in electronic breath, yet equally the host of tracks which are keenly pop catchy for bodies and dancefloors.
A record aligning 70s sci-fi inspired lyrical contemplation, thoughts set in that time looking forward to the future we have since experienced with a sound merging similarly nostalgic hues from the same seventies/eighties period with the band's individually modern imagination. " "
ringmasterreviewintroduces/andreas-the-wolf-sci-fi-for-your-hi-fi/
ARTIST: FACTION STRUCTURE TITLE: ‘CIRCLES’ LABEL: PERFECT POP CO-OP.
1. What is Faction Structure?
2. Who is/are Faction Structure?
3. Where are Faction Structure?
All good art poses as many questions as it answers. Some questions are simple to answer, some not so simple… I’m going to start with the simple stuff - 3: Faction Structure are currently on my turntable as I write.
This is the second album from the newest act on the legendary independent record label, The Perfect Pop Co-Op. So, I suppose that covers question number 1 off. It’s not an easy album to review as it doesn’t fit comfortably (or even uncomfortably for that matter!) into any one genre or style. It’s a brew of the influences of the mysterious GAND? - who writes, sings all of the songs, and performs the vast majority of the instruments too. (That’s question 2 taken care of).
This review is not going to be a track by track analysis of ‘Circles’ ‘cos:
1) That is fucking boring.
2) I’m not qualified (i.e., I’m not some Guardian reading imbecile, with a degree in Media Studies, who writes for the N.M.E.).
Instead I’m gonna try and give you, in approximately 800 words, some kinda insight of what ‘Circles’ might be about.
This is not an album to listen to whilst doing the housework or while you are on the school run. It requires your attention. You need to listen and invest in ‘Circles’ and if you do you’ll get your perks - you put the effort in and you will be rewarded with good melodies and sometimes surreal lyrics that just feel very appropriate for these bizarre times we are living in.
It’s a soundtrack for the disaffected and those who feel they don’t quite fit in with modern society, people who can’t relate to deceitful political charlatans, senseless wars, the erosion of common decency, and the utter fucking boredom of sanitised, safe modern popular culture and music.
On side 2 the song ‘Soft Focus Hocus-Pocus’ has a guitar riff that would not be out of place on ‘Dirk Wears White Sox’, but the repeated lyric is obscure, vaguely surreal and nonsensical yet it kinda makes sense and fits the song seamlessly.
On the other hand the song ‘Falling Asleep At My Desk’ sounds like it’s almost a mantra from Captain James T. Kirk to Scotty. What this song is about, I could only speculate and I would probably be wrong anyway. So you really need to listen yourself and make your own mind up.
Do you like Kraftwerk-esque synths and early era Adam and The Ants? You can hear those influences loud and clear on ‘Circles’ but this album is not a rehash of 80’s synth-pop and new wave. It takes GANDS? musical influences, shakes them up, mixes them about a bit until something new and fresh emerges. For example, the 2nd track on the album ‘Face You See On Saturdays’ has a great analogue sounding synth line reminiscent of Depeche Mode in their early days, but it’s not some mere throwaway 80’s tribute track.
The track ‘Dependency’ may be a song about drug or booze abuse - alternatively, in these social media obsessed times we live in it could equally be about people who are addicted to, and measure their self worth by, their Twitter friends and likes. On this track GAND?’s delivery sounds something a bit like Adam Ant on the Ant’s first album: maybe Mr Ant IS an influence on GAND? Who can tell for certain? But what is for sure is that while the vocal delivery may be familiar the song most certainly is not.
‘Circles’ is not some ‘fun’, lightweight pop album, it’s dark, cloaked and alternative. But on the title track itself, ’Skin On Skin’ and ‘No One Can Stop You’ there are some nice juxtapositions with some incidental vocals from the enigmatic ‘Tiggy-Pop’ and some tightly grooved bass lines from Dan K. Brown. It’s one of the many clever things about the record: the contributions of Pop and Brown provide a nice counterpoint to GAND?’s stream of dark, disenfranchised consciousness.
‘Circles’ is the second album in a series of five that are all strictly limited to 50 copies. It’s alternative, independent music that flys in the face of popularism with a massive ‘fuck you’. If this review has resonated with you, then maybe you need to obtain a copy of the record-it’s not going to resolve all the World’s problems, but it might make you feel a bit better knowing you are not the only one out there trying to make sense of it all.
*Circles is released on 15.04.2023
** After you have read this review, go to page 34 for an exclusive interview with GAND?
*** If you have a record or a gig you would like reviewed for the next edition of ‘In The Club’ email: perfectpopbigm@gmail.com
I know! I KNOW!!! The first line of the intro to this interview will sound like the opening paragraph of a really badly written, unimaginative, paperback novel. But I like to set the scene before my interviews (and it helps get the word count up too!).
So here we go: It’s a cold, dark, blustery November night as I go to meet GAND? - the driving force behind Faction Structure, the latest band on the eminent, cult record label The Perfect Pop Co-Op.
GAND? Is a mysterious Man, and in line with this, the date and the venue for the interview has changed several times. Eventually we meet in The Crown on Hatfield Road, and sit down and talk about Faction Structure, their upcoming second album ‘Circles’, and as per usual with my interviews, we go off on several tangents and talk about Bowie, the local music scene, the future of music and the A414 (!).
In some ways it’s the most difficult interview I’ve done: YOU try sitting in a busy public house (Spanish Lager for GAND? and Cornish Ale for me. Just in case you ever see either of us in the pub and you’re wondering what to buy us) and conduct an interview with a Man, who as bold as brass, is a wearing a weird mask, like some sorta character from ‘The Mighty Boosh’…
BigM!: Hello, we’ll kick off by you telling me how Faction Structure came into being.
GAND?: Lockdown really, thats how it started. I guess it was having a new way of working alone basically. Other Pop Co stuff like ‘Reverse Family’ started as a solo project which evolved and when that finished, there wasn’t a solo project left. Even though RF and Indeed FS morphed into collaboration…they are essential a solo outlet, for although I’ve gotta couple of other people on the album contributing here and there, generally it’s a solo project, so that’s how it came about: sitting at home, you know-alone…
Big M!: With nothing better to do!?
GAND?: Yeah! And I generally like to write when I’m alone… I used to write a Christmas Album every year, but not of Christmas Songs, I used to do it in December and I used to write an album each year, I guess it was one of those things, where, yeah, work’s over, nothing to do, so start writing, it was just a long period of works over... hence the five albums!
BigM!: So is it like a cathartic process? A positive? One of the very few positives to come out of lockdown?
GAND?: I guess in a way, but as you’ve intimated in the review (ed-see page 38), it’s not necessarily an easy thing to listen to, so not in that way maybe, but it’s… I suppose a way of relieving some of the angst…
BigM: Of course I was lucky enough to read the review too -‘Cos I wrote it! :-) So I think I mentioned in there, how… some art, you know and music is certainly challenging, it’s not disposable... well some of it is and some of it isn’t, but I mean is that deliberate? Or just the way things come out of the process?
GAND?: I think it’s the way… the way I think generally, I mean, I guess, it’s probably the most honest project, in a way of…
BigM!: … Let me rephrase it a little bit then, I mean I write a little bit, a tiny bit, but I could never write anything ‘to order’, you know I just get a moment of inspiration, and if something comes out at the other end, it comes out. So I mean, if somebody came to you and almost gave you a commission; “Could you write a happy tune about Wallpaper or Flower Arranging” could you do that?
GAND?: No…
BigM!: Or would it, ‘cos it’s not from the soul…
GAND?: No!
GAND?: I wouldn’t… I couldn’t… well I guess if I was getting paid to do it, then OK I would do it! But it would NOT be how I work! Generally, it’s writing the words and then the music is totally separate, they don’t come at the same time, so it’s writing lyric books, filling them up with day to day stuff, and then it’s like “Right I’ve got some time, I’m gonna do an album”!
I never write one song, I write ‘em in groups or chunks, and I always write it like an album, to me, even if it’s only eight tracks, which is a bit cheating-but then again ‘Station to Station’ is only six tracks...
BigM!: …Yeah, well I mean…. Kraftwerk, ‘Autobahn’, thats only four tracks and one of them…
GAND?: Yeah, twenty minutes…
BigM!: … takes up all of side 1. So yeah, it’s a cliche, but it’s the
quality not the quantity that counts I guess.
So why then does it sound like, from an outsider’s perspective, that it’s very mapped out-’cos there’s five albums I understand in total, so they’re all written, they’re all ready to go, it’s just a case of releasing them when the time’s right?
GAND?: Yeah! Definitely not ‘mapped out’ though. I literally wrote the songs when the time came available to do them, and then in the end I had enough songs to do five albums-That is what is was-literally there was a big pile of songs and they moved around a little bit-a couple of the tracks on ‘Circles’ weren’t originally going to be on the album…
BigM!: … Right… So why the swap? Why did they end up moving?
GAND?: …Well I’ll tell you, there’s one reason and it’s kinda sad reason of the times, and er… finances basically: Because I wanna put them out on vinyl …and it’s not cheap, I kinda looked at a couple of the tracks: a couple of the more favourite tracks, on maybe the third, fourth, fifth albums, and I thought “Right-OK, I might not be able to afford to put vinyl out for a while-I’m gonna swap a couple round”. So I kinda, definitely picked a couple of tracks from ‘Circles’ from other albums just in case I can’t put anything out for a while.
But yeah, the five albums are all ready, all the artwork is done, but it’s basically…
BigM!: I’m glad you mentioned the artwork…
GAND?: …Costs Man!
BigM!: …’Cos ‘Circles’ Am I right in saying, that’s from one of your bike rides-The North Orbital Road?
GAND?: It is! Yeah!
BigM!: Yeah, I thought I recognised it!
GAND?: And that is…
BigM!: I’m not sure what that says about me actually! That I recognise a strip of urban dual carriageway!
GAND?: Well anyone who lives round here, would recognise that area-they’ve either been stuck in a traffic jam on it or they’ve been cycling up the side of the road or walking up it I suppose.
BigM!: Yeah.
GAND?: ‘Cos in Lockdown, so many more people were doing that. I mean everybody discovered bits of fields and bits of roads and paths and things they never even knew existed.
BigM!: Yeah, I fell into that category.
The actual name ‘Faction Structure’ does that have any significance?
GAND?: No… well… I think if there was an overall influence on all of the music on this project, it’s probably I was listening to a lot of David Bowie… and…it comes from a quote* (see page 34) from David Bowie basically - The Faction Structure title, so yeah, it’s Bowie’s dystopian and ‘Diamond Dogs’ in particular was one of the albums…
BIGM!: Was this just before his Berlin phase? ‘Diamond Dogs’? Wasn’t that just before Berlin?
GAND?: ‘Diamond Dogs’ was before ‘Young Americans’ so it’s before Plastic Soul... everybody talks about ‘Ziggy’ and ‘Aladdin Sane’, but ‘Diamond Dogs’, I think is such an interesting album, ‘cos it was the one that was due to be based on ‘1984’…
BigM!: I got it I think-it’s the one with ‘Warszawa’ the instrumental track on it. I think???
GAND?: No-thats ‘Low’.
BigM!: OK.
GAND?: It’s the one with him basically he’s a Dog on the front…
BigM!: Yep.
GAND?: …and so, he was gonna write, basically a play on ‘1984’ and George Orwell’s wife wouldn’t allow him to do it. So he kinda binned that idea, but carried on with half the concept, and then he took it on tour and it was the most elaborate tour as well. It was kinda like he has this amazing stage set, he used to erect and put down every night, but it was based a little bit on ‘The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari’ I’m not sure if you’re familiar with it? Directed by Robert Wiene...
BigM!: No…
GAND?: It’s a black and white, 1920’s German film, which is like seminal goth, in the same vein as ‘Nosferatu’…
BigM!: And ‘Metropolis’ and all that sort of era?
GAND?: …yeah that kinda stuff.
So it’s an absolutely brilliant film, but anyway Bowie basically based the set a bit on that. So I was really immersed in all that at the time… the lyrics as well… probably… I didn’t write them specifically for this, but then, when I was writing I probably looked through the book and ignored the two lines of happiness and picked like the 500 lines of misery!
BigM!: I think one of the things I like is the fact that to me the lyrics are obscure… and in a way non-sensical but do make sense, I mean more from a vibey, atmospheric point of view. And I think it’s good, to make people think for their selves and not give to much away about what a song is about and let people interpret it in their own way and I think the album certainly gives people lots of scope to do that…
GAND?: Yeah.
Big M!: …And I also think… I don’t know… I like it, it makes me feel slightly uncomfortable, when we’re living in times where everybody expects to be spoon fed stuff…
GAND?: Everything.
BigM!: …everything.
GAND?: I think thats the case with lyrics. I think lyrically, I think things are very much… erm… lowest common denominator these days?. You know, it’s amazing now, people who buy music and who love music don’t really care about the lyrics. See, for me the lyrics are more important than anything-and thats why I love Bowie-you know one of the best lyricists for me ever! And then you mix in with my other hero of that era, Bolan and you’ve got non sensical lyrics mixed with dystopian themes of Bowie and then I guess thats kinda, sorta where you roughly come out with Faction Structure.
BigM!: But the new wave influence is clear on there as well. I think.
GAND?: I think, musically definitely. And I guess lyrically the New Wave/ Post Punk era was my first experience of music that was outwardly challenging things...
BigM!: Yeah…again I think Bowie, his influence reaches far and wide-all those New Wave bands they were all I think very influenced by Bowie as well.
GAND?: Oh yeah…
BigM!: It’s almost like a lineage is there, almost a generational thing. So I know the album and the previous album ‘Buyin’ Into Fantasy’ was available on vinyl…
GAND?: Yep.
BigM!: …50 copies each. Will people be able to buy it by downloading it, if they want to?
GAND?: Well yeah, downloading, you’ll be able to do that.
BigM!: Where will that be available?
GAND?: Bandcamp- FactionStructure.Bandcamp.com Where you can get ‘Buyin’ Into Fantasy’, that way now, and yeah, ‘Circles’ will be available there (15th April 2023). And then in the future, possibly, I’ll do CD’s , but then again that will be limited. Nobody really buys CD’s anymore, not that I know anyway!
BigM!: No, they’re like the middle men now CD’s-people have gone back to purchasing vinyl or… I don’t even know if people download so much now… it’s more streaming I believe.
GAND?: Yeah, it’s all streaming I think now from what I hear!
BigM!: Well you don’t ‘hear’ really do ya? Thats the problem! Are there any plans to take Faction Structure out on the road?
GAND?: Well… you may or may not know we kinda did an associated gig at the Perfect Pop Co-Op party-Faction Structure: featured. We did a coupla versions of two of the tracks from ‘Buyin’ Into Fantasy’ I wouldn’t say… Faction Structure is gonna be a full band, live, on their own, but it could well feature with other projects.
BigM!: You could do it as a duo though, couldn’t you? You doing the vocals and someone doing the samples and keys? Maybe?
GAND?: Maybe. There’s a lot more guitars in there I think than, say ‘Andreas And The Wolf’ (Ed.Another act on the Perfect Pop Co-Op label). So yeah… I think to do it justice… It would work, it would be great as a full band, but… I think I’m running out of people, who, you know…
BigM!: Available?
GAND?: (laughs) Available to do it, yeah! I’ll end up with the ‘bare bones’ as Harry Redknapp would say.
BigM!: (laughing) I was gonna say something about tax then. But I won’t on the off chance he might read this article and sue us… So we’ll move swiftly on from good ole’ Harry.
Any information yet on when the new album will be out and where is gonna be available?
GAND?: Yeah we’re gonna do what we did last time: it makes sense to put ‘em out at Empire Records (ed. Fantastic St Albans record shop and good friends of The Perfect Pop Co-Op) I haven’t told them yet! But, they’ll be fine with it…
BigM!: I’m sure they will be fine with it!
GAND?: …15th April is the next record store day, so it makes sense to do that there and, you know, hopefully, if we sell the L.P.’s we’ll be able to put the third album out for the next one after that. So that’s kinda rough idea of scheduling. And I mean we are hoping to put out, it’s been a long time, we’re waiting to get some mixes done for ‘Anxiety’ by Faction Structure as a single, which might be out in time for Christmas. But it might not.
BigM!: O.K. So I guess we’ll wait and see on that one.
GAND?: Yeah. But that will be a download rather than a physical, unfortunately, due to financial restrictions.
BigM!: Yeah. Tell me about it! Erm… like I said, when I wrote the review I liked it… it was a challenge reviewing the album ‘cos it doesn’t fit into any one… for me… but people might listen and disagree with me and that is obviously a good thing, because, er , you know music IS very subjective, but I found it hard to review in the sense I couldn’t pigeonhole it, so if you… and it’s your baby, it’s your creation were coming to the uninitiated how would you... you know I’m gonna put you on the spot here: How would you describe Faction Structure in 5 words?
GAND?: Erm… 5 Words? ‘Personal’, ‘Eclectic’, Hmmm…difficult….
BigM!: Yeah you could describe it as that…
GAND?: Difficult? Yeah! Erm…
BigM!: Can I offer a suggestion?
GAND?: Go on…
BigM!: ‘Appropriate’?
GAND?: O.K. What? For the times??
BigM!: Yeah! I think so. You know, I think it would be really good if we could live in times where we were inspired to write, really happy, you know… almost like Hippy ‘Peace and Love’ stuff. But the environment doesn’t allow …
GAND?: No…
BigM!: …that at the moment.
GAND?: No. ‘Educational’ then let’s say (chuckling).
BigM!: Interesting…. I coulda been horrible and difficult and said 5 words begining with ‘C’ or something like that, but that would have been a bit cruel…
GAND?: Yeah..
BigM!: …and we’ve not had that much beer yet!
GAND?: Laughs.
BigM!: So, how did Tiggy-Pop come to be involved? I mean
I know who Tiggy-Pop is, but you might wanna continue the mystery on who they are. Did they almost badger you for a cameo to appear on the album?
GAND?: No, not really, no-I thought it would be a nice thing to do really. Just try something new… I mean I’ve been working on a separate project with Tiggy-Pop, apart form Andreas and The Wolf as well ‘cos I’m thinking she might be able to do quite well with her own solo album at some point…
BigM!: Are you producing that?
GAND?: Yeah… I’ll be…
BigM!: ‘Creative Consultant’?
GAND?: … I’ll certainly be…yeah… I’ll probably be writing it! (Laughs).
BigM!: (laughing) I hope you get the royalties!
GAND?: In terms of mixing, we’ll get The Beautiful Wolf involved as well… ‘cos obviously with Pop Co it’s very much ‘keeping it in the family’ - literally in that instance, but yeah, I think all of the projects have differences enough… I don’t know if you’ve listened to Kev Saunders ‘365’ on Uneasy Listening and Mix Cloud? He played 4 tracks from the Pop Co in a row on his show last week: Andreas and The Wolf, Faction Structure, The Tuesday Club and Narcotic Hearts…
BigM!: O.K.
GAND?: … I think, if you know they all come from the same… lineage… they’ve still all got their own distinct…
BigM!: I think you can tell…
GAND?: …sound.
BigM!: They’re siblings basically, all with their own similarities, but all with their unique character, if you like. Thats the way I look at it. Sometimes I’ve heard a Perfect Pop Co song for the fist time… I think it was ‘The Dodo’, and I recognised the drumming straight away. You know… so again, it was familiar but different if that makes sense?
So that was quite interesting, and I think it would be also be interesting if you could do some sorta ‘blind’ listening challenge to see if you could…
GAND?: Yeah, I’m with you on what you’re saying…
BigM!: … In fact, I think I might try that on somebody I know… I might play a Perfect Pop Co sampler to her and see if she can identify which band is which!
GAND?: (laughs) It would be good if she can tell if there is more than one band anyway!
BigM!: Yeah… I think she could… I hope she could, otherwise there’s gonna be trouble!
So, I think this is the third in a series of interviews I’ve done for ‘In The Club’ and I like to talk about the wider… erm… music scene, ‘cos I think it’s really important to get input and perspective from the people who are actually in it…
GAND?: Yeah…
BigM!: … So, you know, the Hertfordshire… and I’ve covered this before… the Hertfordshire scene is non existent… to a certain extent… do you see any bright future? Any shoots of greenery on the horizon for getting a decent scene back? Particularly in St. Albans, I mean obviously you have the Balstock Festival in Baldock which is absolutely fucking brilliant and the Magical Mystery Tour in Hertford - Brilliant! And I think to myself, why can’t we have this…
GAND:? Yeah… and Croxfest…
BigM!: … Yeah… Croxfest… why can’t we have this in St.Albans? Do you see any prospect for that kinda stuff?
GAND?: It certainly wouldn’t come from what’s there at the moment I don’t think. I don’t think anyone is busting a gut to do anything like that, I mean it’s all corporate ‘pub in the park’ type things, that’s what St Albans does really… I mean, St Albans Arts do their best, but they don’t have any funding… for instance, Hertford Magical Mystery Tour, Kev Saunders, you know he really has to work hard, to get everybody in the community involved. I don’t know… I don’t know if St. Albans is kinda too big… or too affluent or whether they think they don’t need it… I just don’t know.
BigM!: I thought the same, but then I compared Hertford to St. Albans and they’re fairly similar in terms of size and socioeconomic standing… there’s a lot of affluence in Hertford…
GAND?: I mean, I don’t really know what venues there are in Hertford. I’ve not been to Hertford in terms of gigging for a while. I mean I know The Corn Exchange is now doing gigs again… there’s a lot of places in St.Albans that do duo’s, but there’s not a lot of places that do bands.
BigM!: No, thats the other thing, the other problem with St. Albans: there aren’t many venues, where you can physically get a full band inside.
GAND?: Yeah, and also, there’s only really, obviously you’ve got the City Hall and places like that, but The Horn is the only place thats really purpose built…
BigM!: Yeah.
GAND?: … otherwise the Farmers, we both know, or places like The Lower Red, you get problems with the neighbours, thats the thing. I mean there’s Club 85 in Hitchin, there’s a few places round Hertfordshire that are really geared up to do music, but they’re all separate scenes, thats the thing.
BigM!: Hnmm…
GAND?: I mean we’ve done some gigs with The Metatrons who are from that way and now we’ve got to know Kev Saunders, so some of the guys in the bands in Hertford come and see The Tuesday Club and other bands, so I guess there’s something kinda gradually growing, but I don’t know about young bands… you know, Kick Pistol are about the only young band in St. Albans I could tell you. BigM!: There’s a good young band, St Watson from Harpenden, I saw them once at The Horn - a lot of energy… had a good little turn out. I felt a bit old-I was probably the oldest one there, but yeah a good turn out, some good tunes… but I’ve heard nothing about them since, and I wonder is that due to the band… you
know what it’s like in bands… sometimes you have members with different levels of commitment and it’s difficult to get things together or is it they just don’t have a platform to do their stuff?
GAND?: Well, I don’t know what their expectations are? It’s not like it was when I was a kid, you know… music was EVERYTHING… it was the way you dressed, it was where you went…
BigM!: It was spending your all your pocket money on a cassette or an album…
GAND?: Yeah. You saved up to do that. You literally wore your look on your sleeve, and you went out to the places likeminded people went, but you know, I honestly don’t know where… that culture has kinda gone, and you know, retro is always eating it’s self in the sense it’s constantly regurgitating the same thing now. I don’t know… I don’t know what the kids do-I mean there aren’t the tribes there used to be, there’s none of that kinda thing.
BigM!: Do you think that’s because they can stay at home and produce?
GAND?: Yeah! Exactly! It’s stuff like the internet too? I’m reading a book on the Beastie Boys at the moment, and you know, people look at The Beastie Boys in two ways, one they were the ‘Fight For Your Right’ nutters, you know, young blokes, kinda doing the wrong thing… misogynistic… you know… and then thoroughly regretted it and after that time they came back as a real creative and cultural force…
Big M!: ‘Pauls Boutique’ is a FANTASTIC album…
GAND?: Yeah! You know, reading this book, the way they set up, the things they did… the magazine… is very much like what we do with Perfect Pop Co, you know clothing labels… all that kinda stuff, they were a whole creative unit… and, I dunno… there are obviously things around here, but I don’t know where they are and what they do, you know.
I think, we kinda do what we do in our own Universe and if nobody else is dipping into that, well thats up to them... it’s NEVER gonna make us stop doing what we do. Thats the thing.
BigM!: No, and I think thats one of the admirable things… you know… it’s not down to court favour…
GAND?: We’re not interested… No… we’re not influenced by that…
BigM!: You wanna do it ‘cos it’s obviously a passion and it’s a valid form of expression.
But do you think what I was saying about locally, that applies nationally as well? ‘Cos, I tell you why I ask the question: Punk, when it came out for an example was a rebellion against all that Prog Rock stuff, you know Rock Opera’s… concept albums etc etc… you know ‘Synthesiser On Ice’ bollocks…
GAND?: And it was a way of expressing, dissatisfaction with the times, but yeah… I think that’s what music used to be… that’s the thing.
BigM!: But that’s the point I’m making, you know… we are living in times right now where there is plenty to be dissatisfied about, but nobody seems to be kicking back against it or rebelling against it!
And thats a mystery to me… I’m too old, you know what I mean, to be leading a revolution! But it’s a mystery to me, why there aren’t younger people coming through and kicking back …
GAND?: Yeah.
BigM!: … and protesting or being more vocal…
GAND?: It is strange… I dunno why everybody is so comfortable with it. Maybe it’s something to do with Social Media… keeping them tied down… there’s definitely not that ‘rebellioness’ there used to be…
BigM!: Do you ever see, like a Sex Pistols coming through again and releasing something like… I mean I wasn’t around when the Pistols brought out ‘God Save The Queen’ but I spoke to Stuart Maconie about it and he was trying to explain to me how shocking it was: To speak about the Royal Family with anything less than complete reverence was really really shocking…
GAND?: well yeah…
BigM!: … but unless you were there, you couldn’t appreciate it.
GAND?: … I think the thing with punk… the legacy of punk is… that most of the taboos have gone. That’s the thing, you know? And now it’s… it’s very hard to shock people I think.
BigM!: Yeah.
GAND?: So… Yeah… I can’t really see it happening with music. I don’t know what, I really don’t know, where it’s gonna go. I think… until they start… paying bands properly on streaming services and things like that… you know, it’s not a career for people… in the old days you used to get blokes who would form bands from school or they’d form bands from work ‘cos they had nothing else to do kinda thing. Whereas the only kids who seem to form bands are from Brit School or they go and get a degree in writing songs?!…
BigM!: Yeah… they’ve been to Brighton College of Music…
GAND?: Or something like that. I don’t know if it’s more round here or national… I couldn’t say… I’m not living everywhere in the country!
BigM!: Now you’ve mentioned it, I think it is more national… it does come across with people like… erm… Coldplay and erm… Keane… I mean I don’t know them, I’m sure they’re very very nice people, but they seem to be very middle class… comfortable people who maybe haven’t got anything to rebel against… and it really comes across in their music.
GAND?: Well I think also… with music, in the old days used to be the thing people did to go and kick back from the week… they’d go out on the weekend or go out in the week… they’ve had a crap time, so go out and see a band … have a dance or whatever or you know… or a fight!… but now people have got 24/7 movies at home, they’ve got 85,000 channels and the internet they’ve got all sorts of other things to do! There’s too many distractions now. You know I think that’s the problem…
BigM!: Yeah… But then again, I think you’re right… the thing I liked was my Mum & Dad hated it! Which made me wanna do it more and listen to it more… so again there was that slightly rebellious thing going on… I could feel the tension building…
I’d be up in me bedroom and Mum would be downstairs in the kitchen getting the tea ready and I’d be listening to Iron Maiden or whatever and I could feel her tension levels rising until she screamed at me “Turn that fucking rubbish off!”…
GAND?: Yeah yeah…
Big M!: … and it made me wanna do it more you know?
GAND?: No, I can totally relate to that, yeah I mean, I think that was then… I don’t see it now… I’m not saying there aren’t people who do it, but that was in every other bedroom in the country I think! Any teenager was doing that, now they’re not… they’re doing other things… there’s so many other things for them to do. So I dunno… maybe they go on Twitter and slate people on there or whatever… rather than going out?!
BigM!: Yeah, I think from observing Twitter, people think that by tweeting something or somebody, they’re gonna change the world. But I don’t think thats a realistic expectation. Let’s get back on track with Faction Structure, bearing in mind what we’ve discussed, what are you expectations for the project? Obviously - you aren’t gonna sell a million ‘cos there is only 250 albums!
GAND?: Well really obviously what I’d like is for people, like you said with the review, make their own mind up what they are. They’re entertainment at the end of the day. That’s the thing. They’re for people to think about and… you know, that’s why we do it on vinyl as well… ‘cos how many hours can you spend looking at the back of a vinyl L.P. sleeve? I mean I could spend hours just looking at the back of an L.P.! I think it’s about the art of it, it’s about the… I dunno… the collectibility I guess as well. The bands you love, you wanna have that material and the fact it’s a set of 5… hopefully that’s gonna be interesting.
BigM!: Well, we’ll watch that space regarding Faction Structure, I know you’ve always got your finger in a project pie or two so to speak…I know there is more stuff in the Perfect Pop Co-Op pipeline and maybe we can have a chat about that in the future…
GAND?: Yeah, yeah, definitely!
BigM!: For the readers who might be coming to this mag for the first time, how can they find out more about Faction Structure ?
GAND:? FactionStructure.co.uk and you can actually see the artworks for all 5 albums on there. Bandcamp is where you can buy it or from Empire Records… and that’s the only places you can really buy it! We’re keeping it as exclusive as we can as well really. And the Perfect Pop Co website - perfectpopco-op.co.uk will probably have the latest info and other social medias! Just so check that out really!
BigM!: Brilliant! I think I’m done. Anything else you wanna add, before we knock off?
GAND?: No, I think that’s it… we’ve covered it enough to hopefully make it intriguing… which is what you need to do!
To find out more about Faction Structure and their work check out FactionStructure.co.uk perfectpopco-op.co.uk
... a collection of imagination spun incitements dipping an inquisitive and exploratory finger into an extensive palette of styles and flavours to create uniqueness.
Though only two albums in, the five album cycle that Circles continues feels a journey and adventure of sound which will persistently spring surprising propositions and surprising reactions, and taking FACTION STRUCTURE'S new album as a thick marker, rich pleasure.
ringmasterreviewintroduces/faction-structure-circles
For this months ‘In the Club’ we are very excited to welcome Bobbie one half of the electrifying Bob Vylan to the mag. So who are Bob Vylan?! Bob Vylan are the band who won both Kerrang!!! and Mobo Awards this year and have taken their totally independent album into the top 20! (See more in the Empire Records top albums of 2022 on page 57)
1. We’re sitting in the cyber pub doing this interview and it’s our round. What would you like to drink? Becks Blue
2. What was the last thing you heard or watched that was so good you had to tell someone about it? Not a watch but an activity. Rock Climbing! I got into it about 2 years ago and now I’m constantly dragging people to the gym. I can’t even remember how many people I’ve introduced, well into double digits.
3. What does Punk Rock mean to you? Punk to me is an attitude more than anything. It’s doing things your own way even if that means going against the grain.
4. Who was the first artist you paid to see? A local hardcore band called ‘Your People Versus Ours’ at a small pub I think in Chadwell Heath or Ilford
friends and most of us were too young to be there :-)
5. Who is the most influential person in your life? There isn’t one, I take a lot of influence from the individual strengths of my family members, mostly informing how I navigate life and be the person I want to be.
6. Which song do you wish you had written? There’s a million but I’d have to say “All I Want For Christmas Is You” Mariah can just sit at home and every Christmas that song generates enough money to fund a small town for a year!
7. What would you older self tell your 16 year old self? 1st - Keep doing what you’re doing cause it all works out how you planned. 2nd - Stop leaving lights on when you’re not in the room, IT’S EXPENSIVE! (sorry
8. Is the internet a help or hindrance to a) new acts. b) established acts? A help to both, there are definitely pitfalls but if you can navigate it well it offers a type of freedom
never before known in the industry. True independence is now possible for anyone who desires it.
9. What four things would you put in a time capsule? A link to WorldstarHipHop, a newspaper from the day, one of our albums and a menu from The Cheese Cake Factory. I want whoever dug it up to have a good idea of how wild the world was at this time.
10. If you had a time machine and could go back to any year(s) in music, what would it be and why? I wouldn’t go back, I’d go forward a few hundred years, I’d like to see how music evolves.
11. If you could be any character in a film, what film and who would it be? This is hard cause most of the films I watch don’t have particularly happy or likeable characters! I’ll go with the Flash, I’ve never seen the film but he seems relatively unproblematic and speed is always a great attribute.
12. You are now In The Club, but which club do you actually wish it was? Printworks (London), I’ve been to a lot of raves at a lot of venues but never there. I heard they’re closing it soon.
13. Who’d be in your 4 piece fantasy band. Guitar, Bass, Drums and Vocals? (Although you don’t have to restrict it to a 4 piece, or those instruments)
Stevie Wonder (vox & keys), Nile Rodgers (guitar), Thundercat (Bass), Me (Drums) can’t have all of them together and not get involved!
14. What question haven’t we asked you that you wish we had? I wished you’d asked “If you could choose a football team for the reader of this to support who would you pick” and I would’ve said “Arsenal!” :-)
Find out more about Bob Vylan here...
bobvylan.com/ facebook.com/BobVylan/ @bobbyvylan
06 Jul Upcote Farm
Cheltenham, United Kingdom
Haha, somehow Rog you’ve managed to get another Arsenal mention in the mag... we’ll beg to differ on that last bit, but say a BIG thanks to Bobbie for taking the time to answer our questions, top man! (Ed) :-)
Pics by Roger MillingtonWelcome to our Annual ‘Best Records of the year’ roundup from those top geezers Dave and Eddie at our fave record shop Empire Records. All of these albums can be bought or ordered from Empire so we thought it a ‘perfect’ opportunity to let the experts help you choose your Christmas presents this year!!!
An epic and sometimes challenging journey, this album has exceptional playing from Brad and others, and a few fun prog adaptations thrown in for good measure.
Actually originally released in very small numbers last year, but it was this year’s reissue in February that brought it to most people’s attention, including mine. Beautiful, lush, ambient chill vibes, perfect for late night listening.
WMC have equalled their debut with this second outing, full of hooks and danceable electro riffs. A lot of fun.
A (happy) surprise find, PVA’s debut had me hooked on first listen, with its infectiously moody postpunk/electro sound. Best thing I’ve heard come out of Ninja Tune for a while.
5.
Does what it says on the tin. An absolute sonic assault from the word go that does not let up! Not one for background listening...
We purposely didn’t include links to these so you need to go to the shop or get in touch in person via social media or email... all links on next page...
1. Brad Mehldau - Jacob’s Ladder
2. Nala Sinephro - Space 1.8
3. Working Men’s Club - Fear Fear
And here are Dave’s top tips!
1. Yeah Yeah Yeahs Cool it Down
Dave’s a man of less words than Eddie ;-)
2. Gilla Band
Most Normal
3. The Smile
A light for Attracting Attention
5. Bob Vylan
Bob Vylan Presents
The Price of Life (We welcome Bobbie ‘In the Club’ in this issue)
BIG thanks to the guys who both picked 5 but with one that they both chosem which is now the...
OFFICIAL EMPIRE ALBUM OF THE YEAR!!!
4.Kid Kapichi Here’s What you Could Have Won - features a great collab with Bob Vylan... ‘New England’ (Ed recommends)
1. The Comet Is Coming - Hyper-Dimensional Expansion Beam Beautifully clean production, and LOUD, in my opinion this is TCIC at their finest. Cosmic jazz with its feet firmly on the dancefloor.
EMPIRE RECORDS OPENING TIMES
Weekdays 11.00am - 5.30pm
Saturdays 10.00 - 5.30pm
Sundays 12.00pm - 4.00pm
and if you can’t get in for whatever reason contact the chaps here!
21 Heritage Close, St Albans, AL3 4EB
sales@empirestalbans.com
Tel: 01727 860890 empirestalbans.com
But don’t just take our word for it... Listen to Kev’s show and make your own minds up!
We first came across Kev as the promoter of The Hertford Marquee back in 2008 with The Scratch and were impressed then by the set up and general vibe of the place. Our next encounter was 2018 when Reverse Family AND The Tuesday Club played the brilliant Hertford Magical Musical Mystery Tour for the first time, but it wasn’t until this year, when the fest returned from it’s COVID Hiatus that we finally properly connected with Kev, after he’d booked Narcotic Hearts for The Hertford House Hotel.
Since then as you will hear on both his fantastic Uneasy listening show (click the link and scroll to find kev... here’s a link to subscribe: patreon.com/365Sounds/membership and select KEVOLUTION as your chosen tier to follow) and The Andreas & The Wolf Radio, we’ve been exchanging music in a frenzied Panini style sticker frenzy resulting in a shared comradeship and awareness of how close both of our venture and general ethos have been to the alluring flame of fame over the last few decades!
Kev is a true champion of new, original and live music, as we’ve said on many occasions you’ll find it hard to come across a better run, more inclusive festival than the HMMT so we urge any aspiring acts or music fans to keep an eye out for anything Kev promotes. Not only this but Kev also runs a regular live event @TheHertfordClub on Thursday evenings, which Narcotic Hearts are lucky enough to have been asked to play on 5th January 2023.
facebook.com/kevinsaunders33
Over the years, as a singer/writer (and occasionally guitarist), Kev Saunders has featured on loads of international record releases with, among others:
Acid Jazz/Trip Hop pioneers Marden Hill (Mo Wax/On Delancey Street), Portuguese Acid Jazzers After Dark (BMG records), blunted beat specialists SLY, The Dissent (Ramrock Records UK), Big Beat instigators Beamish & Fly (On Delancey Street), chillout groovers Spacehoppa (HedKandi), Japanese hard rock guitar hero Takashi ’Jail’ O’Hashi (Takashi O’Hashi Project (EMI Japan) and Los Ladrones del Amor… Oh yeah and he’s the ‘Strummer’ in The Trash, the only Clash tribute band that matters. Acid Jazz records re-released Marden Hill’s hugely influential1994 album Blown Away (featuring Kev as vocalist/ co-writer, as well as the late Viv Stanshall of Bonzo Dog DooDah Band fame) earlier this year – and with SLY, Kev recently remixed a track on
Asian Dub Foundation frontman Ghetto Priest’s new solo EP on Ramrock Records SNAPSHOT OF REALITY.
Kev’s also author of a couple of Film Councilcommissioned screenplays and a novel called Wotcha – to which he’s currently failing dismally to write a sequel. Although royalties do trickle in once in a while, he mainly makes a living as a freelance copywriter/editor while running Hertford Music Festival’s annual Musical Mystery Tour, Rock at the Castle and a fortnightly live music club in Hertford called THE KEVOLUTION. He was also founder of the acclaimed Hertford Marquee rock venue, organiser of countless charity benefit gigs and promoter/DJ for many other live music projects, starting with his first club nights (and some illicit all-nighters) in the early 80s).
Presumably because of all this random activity, 365radio asked him to join them as a presenter a year ago – and he’s been umming and erring, mumbling and bumbling his way through his weekly UNEASY LISTENING WITH KEV SAUNDERS show ever since. (Every Thursday 11pm – 1am at 365radio.co)
“Tailor Scant to your own needs. I will record a Scant Regard style cover version of your choice and send you the only existing audio file of it in the known Scantaverse.”
If I dig the song enough I will play it live at one or more of my upcoming shows and dedicate it to you. This will be the only other way anyone will be able to hear your request unless you want to post it or release it yourself. I won’t do anything with it except possibly play it live.
Please allow a week for recording and mixing. If I think it will need more time I’ll let you know. I reserve the right to refuse a request so please don’t ask for Coldplay!
Contact me before you purchase and we can work it out.
scantregard.com/coveroffer
It’s another grim November evening… yet another pub… this time it’s The Mermaid on Hatfield Road… and it’s another probing for another great St. Albans ‘Punk & Roll’ band: Brocker.
I’m meeting singer/guitarist Pako and his brother, drummer Janchi, both fantastic, passionate musicians and two of the nicest, most genuine geezers you could hope to meet. (He probably
BigM!: Hey fellas! Let’s start off by you telling us what you’ve been up to since Lockdown ended, how the band’s going… and then let’s talk about this big upcoming hometown gig at The Horn… Who wants to kick off?
Janchi: He can kick off…
Pako: During lockdown we didn’t do much to be honest. I was away in Spain for 11 months anyway, but then after that, Ky our bass player decided to leave the band…
BigM!: Was that a shock? I mean you guys had been together for a long time!
Janchi: Yeah… 8 or 9 years
Pako: We’d toured the UK with him… we toured Europe with him… we’d done EVERYTHING with him.
BigM!: The thing is when you are a 3 piece as you guys are, you can’t really have any room for passengers, you’ve all gotta be really, really good musicians, and he was a very good bass player…
Janchi: Oh Yeah… he was an amazing bass player…
Pako: It’s a shame, ‘cos he knew many instruments…
BigM!: So yeah, I understand that was a shock, but just as a matter of interest did you get much new material written during lockdown?
Pako: Yeah… and before Spain as well, and my brother wrote stuff as well… loads of new songs… new lyrics, but we haven’t got it together yet.
Janchi: We haven’t even got them down recorded on our phone yet. We haven’t even really talked yet about going into a studio.
We talk about what the band have been up to since the dreaded ‘L’ word ended… their new Bassist, and their upcoming, hometown gig on 13th December at The Horn on Victoria Street, supporting fellow St. Albans legends The Zipheads. Two of the greatest live bands around sharing the same stage - I can barely contain my excitement!
Big M!: I’m glad you mentioned it: Do you two both come up with songs for the band?
Janchi: Not really… he does… Pako… he writes most of the songs, but we kinda develop stuff…
Pako: I come up with the structure of the song, and Janchi might come up with an amazing backing vocal and Ky might have come up with a incredible bass part and then we fix it all together and it’s amazing.
Big M!: As an ex drummer I think the drummer’s contribution is very underrated!
Janchi: (Laughs.) It depends… sometimes…
BigM!: Your brother is staying very quiet on this!
Pako: Drummers! (Laughing) I love ‘em!
Janchi: … it’s just really weird: some songs develop in one way and others in a different way.
Pako: I’ll have a song in my head and then I’ll play with Janchi and it’s like… “Wow!” This is so much better.
Big M!: So how did you acquire, for want of a better expression your new bass player?
Janchi: It’s Chris Aldridge, he’s played in such bands like Silo 18 based in Hemel, and erm… we’d known him for a long time… and then we told a mutual friend about what had happened with Ky and all that… and he said “ask Chris-‘cos I don’t think he’s doing much at the moment”.
So I messaged him and he was like “Yeah, let’s have a go!”
Big M!: So he came down and had a jam and it gelled?
Janchi: Yeah.
Pako: Straight away! I didn’t have to look to my left or to my right, he was spot on… it just sounded very good.
Big M!: I’ve known you guys on a personal level for a few years now, I know quite a bit of your material and I’ve been lucky to come to some of your gigs, I hear a strong Green Day influence in your music, but when you were growing up what other bands were you into? And do you think that comes out in Brocker’s music?
Janchi: I think so.
Pako: It depends on where we play! A lot of guys say “you sound like the The Living End”… or Rancid here and there…
Janchi: The Wildhearts…
Pako: Yeah… and even Motörhead. Some people say our song ‘Gimme Gimme Rock n Roll’ sounds like them!
BigM!: Now… I love that song and I love Motörhead but I would say that songs nothing like Motörhead!
Pako: Yeah! Exactly! But I think it’s like people’s perception of music kinda affects what we sound like.
Janchi: Yeah, we compare it to things we know.
BigM: Your most recent album ‘Shambolic’ Hows that going? Selling well?
Janchi: The problem is we recorded it in…
Pako: 2017.
Janchi: …2017…
Pako: In Seville.
Janchi: We got given the final master a year and a half later… and then… that kinda killed the momentum kinda alot, and then we kinda released it…
Pako: And it was going really well, every time we played a gig we’d sell like a lot of CD’s and a lot of merchandise as well.
Janchi: Yeah.
BigM: But it is available on a physical copy?
Pako: And available online as well.
BigM!: So if somebody want’s a copy how
do they go about it?
Pako: They can go on the website. Big M!: It’s on your website yeah? We’ll put the links in at the end of the interview, so people who read this know where they can get hold of your music.
Lets move on to a gig I’m really looking forward to: Two of my favourite… two of the best live bands in St.Albans: Brocker and The Zipheads at The Horn! You must be looking forward to it.
Pako: When we play with The Zipheads it’s something special!
Janchi: And it hasn’t happened for a long time!
Big M!: I saw ‘em in town last Sunday and they sounded like they were on good form. You guys go back a long, long way right?
Janchi: Yeah.
Pako: 2010 or something? The first time we played with them they were called ‘The Runaway Boys’ which comes from The Stray Cats kinda thing.
Jacnhi: We’ve known them for a long time, we’ve toured… a mini tour with them in Europe as well and that was like super fun!
Will, the drummer has often said to me “Mate! We need to do that again!”
BigM!: Yeah… he’s another very good drummer. Sooo professional too! I saw him at a gig once… warming up… doing stretches and flexing his hands…
Janchi: (laughing) maybe he’s getting old! ‘Cos I do the same!
Pako: Especially when it’s cold!
BigM!: So tickets selling well for it?
Pako: Apparently yes! I think so! I think it’s gonna be a sold out gig!
BigM! So thats a hint: I must get my ticket! But for the purpose of this interview, how do people get tickets for this?
Janchi: They can go obviously to The Horns website (Ed. thehorn.co.uk/fulllistings/Zipheads) On all our socials… on our instagram… I think it’s like 13 quid to get in.
BigM!: I know times are tough for a lot of people, but 13 quid for two great live bands… I mean that is a fucking bargain!
It’s the 13th of December isn’t it?
Janchi: Yeah.
Pako: Yes.
Big M!: So if you are reading this interview and you’ve got nothing better to do on December 13th, you need to get yourself down to The Horn and see two great bands! And also, do your bit to support local, independent music.
Pako: Yeah… so important these days… so important.
BigM!: So, ‘Shambolic’ was quite a long, drawn out process ‘cos of the reasons you’ve just mentioned. But is there any new material in the pipeline?
Pako: Loads! We’re just trying to get together, put our heads down and I’d like to be really positive, and next year we’ll go into the studio.
Janchi: The thing is as well, is Chris ‘cos he’s just started, he’s been in the process of learning the current songs before we start new ones.
BigM!: Well… Janchi… Pako… fella’s..thats something else we’ve got to look forward to. Thank you both so much for your time, and if I don’t see you before I’ll see you December 13th at The Horn. Cheers!
Janchi: Thank you.
Pako: Cheers!
To find our more about Brocker, check out: brocker.band instagram: @brockermusic
For this months ‘In the Club Part 2’ we are very excited to welcome our 2nd special guest, in the shape of Derek Gibbs of The Satellites. The Satellites are a punk rock band from Acton, West London. They played their first gig in 1977 supporting Tubeway Army (Rog and Blair are VERY jealous!) They also supported Adam & The Ants (Andreas and Minx are also VERY jealous!), The Ruts and The Lurkers to name a few. Fast Forward to 2022, The Satellites are still going and singer Derek Gibbs joins us here now!
1. We’re sitting in the cyber pub doing this interview and it’s our round. What would you like to drink? I’ll have a Stella Artois please, with a Bushmills Black Bush, just to be sociable. But if it’s my birthday that I share with Robert Burns, I’ll have a Scotch
2. What was the last thing you heard or watched that was so good you had to tell someone about it? Quatermass And The Pit, The 1957 Sci –Fi/Horror film. I’ve seen it loads of times and I watched it again the other night and I was compelled to write a thesis on it, basically. I posted it on Facebook. I managed to weave in a few tangential aspects of my life That seemed to correspond with the film
3. What does Punk Rock mean to you?
It gave me some focus and shaped my life, and provided the opportunity to express myself and basically show off a bit. Quite a bit actually. A good way to deal with my awkward shyness. I’m so very happy that I’m still doing it and that people seem to like it
4. Who was the first artist you paid to see?
I saw a bit of Pink Floyd in 1967 when I was eight years old. They played at my local park, Acton Green. It was the first Bedford Park Festival and it was opened by Sir John Betjeman. I had seen the local Rock Band Stray rehearsing at my school. The first gig I went to was the 1972 London Rock ‘n’ Roll Show at Wembley Stadium. That was Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bill Haley And The Comets, Bo Diddley plus Billy Fury MC5, Wizzard and a long – haired Dr Feelgood. First gig that I actually paid to see was T.Rex at The Sundown Edmonton in December 1972. I raised the ticket money by delivering leaflets for a local off license!
5. Who is the most influential person in your life? My Dad, Big Dell encouraged me with reading books and comics and writing and drawing myself, plus there was always music in the house. I soon started to love Science Fiction and Horror Films and Dad would read me HP Lovecraft at bedtimes. Then there is Alan Dearling, the Youth club Leader who is now a published writer whose comparisons of Punk and Hippy culture was so encouraging and inspiring when I was doing The Sound Of The Westway Fanzine and forming The Satellites. And speaking of which, our late guitarist and much missed friend Sneak Deacon. He helped me so much with the singing and songwriting. My absolute music hero is Marc Bolan. Music is at the centre of my life and Marc is at the centre of the music
6. Which song do you wish you had written? “Louie, Louie”, The Kingsmen’s version. I actually wrote a song called “I Wish I’d Written Louie, Louie”
7. What would you older self tell your 16 year old self? “Don’t do that, do this”
8. Is the internet a help or hindrance to a) new acts. b) established acts? I think Social Media is an asset for most bands. Mostly. It has really helped in publicising the band and gigs. And I wish I’d had in the 70s and 80s. Most handy indeed
9. What four things would you put in a time capsule? The Satellites first single Urban Gorilla, wrapped in my black and white bandanna that I wear onstage. And a 1960s Marvel Comic, probably The Avengers and a Queens Park Rangers match programme from the 1970s
10. If you had a time machine and could go back to any year(s) in music, what would it be and why? It would be October 16th 1954 for Elvis Presley on the Louisiana Hayride. He did “That’s All Right Mama” and “Blue moon Of Kentucky”. I think that was the Big
Bang that formed Modern Popular Music. Jazz, Blues, Folk and Country coalesced and then evolved
11. If you could be any character in a film, what film and who would it be? It would be two characters that are sort of one. Chas the gangster, played by James Fox and Turner the reclusive Rock Star played by Mick Jagger in the 1970 Nic Roeg film “Performance” set in Notting Hill. I see bits of myself in both of them. (An unseen Mrs Gibbs is the cleaning lady) Plus Peter Sellers as Dr Strangelove of course too!
12. You are now In The Club, but which club do you actually wish it was?
CBGBs in New York in the 1970s. But as Groucho Marx said “I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member”
13. Who’d be in your 4 piece fantasy band. Guitar, Bass, Drums and Vocals? (Although you don’t have to restrict it to a 4 piece, or those instruments)
With me singing, plus Jimi Hendrix (Guitar), Lemmy (Bass), Keith Moon (Drums) and Little Richard (Piano)
14. What question haven’t we asked you that you wish we had? “What is like on your planet and how did you get here?”.
Find out more about The Satellites here...
facebook.com/the.satellites.eeyore1 instagram.com/the_satellites_
BIG thanks to Derek for taking the time to answer our questions
Like with Empire Records (but for even longer), the POPCO and it’s artists have a strong bond with Welwyn Garden City’s Farm Factory Studios. The connection began way back in 1993 when the studios were based in London Colney and Justin Smiley recorded their first eps, closely followed by Mamajamas, then The Scratch, then the Tuesday Club, Reverse Family and now Andreas & The Wolf/Faction Structure and Narcotic Hearts!
The studios and staff particularly Dolly and Try come highly recommended by us at the PPCO, here’s some more info from their website...
Established in 1991 Farm Factory is Hertfordshire’s leading rehearsal and recording facility. A fully equipped complex with the best sounds, acoustics and sound proofing around, Farm Factory has been the “go to” destination for musicians of all levels for almost three decades.
Under new ownership (since April 2015) we are dedicated to maintaining our industry-standard facilities and great customer service.
We have seven rehearsal studios. All rooms are fully fitted with professional sound proofing to give you the best sounds and acoustics possible. All our Rehearsal Studios are equipped with a P.A. system and Vocal Microphones.
Drum kits, Guitar Combos, Heads and Cabs, Bass amps
and Cabs, Guitars & Bass Guitars are available to hire.
As of August 2021, we took over operations for GuitarStrings&Things - an online musical accessory business. Therefore, we keep in stock, a large range of guitar and bass strings, electric, acoustic, twelve string and singles. Also we stock Pro-Mark drum sticks, spare Remo snare heads, plectrums, ear plugs etc.
We have a wide range of refrigerated drinks, coffee, tea, chocolate bars and crisps available.
Click for more info about recording at Farm Factory which Andreas & The Wolf just did!
Another local company we’d like to give a shout out to is Circadisc.com who are based just up the road from us in Markyate.
It’s big thanks to Pete at Circadisc that we still carry cds in our merch box. For too many years we were stuck with minimum run of 500 cds, but not anymore! With Circadisc there is no minimum run as the cds and booklets are handmade/printed and with circadisc also offering badges, they are now the POPCO’s one stop shop for this kind of merch.
For more info, email Pete at: info@circadisc.com
In 2013 as a bristling 8 piece - 2 bass, keys, drums, 3 guitars, 2 vocals and a Minx!... The Tuesday Club released ‘See you next Tuesday’ on an unsuspecting world... “Roxy Music played by The Rocky Horror Show”... here for the first time you can grab for your collection - The Complete sessions... featuring the lost tracks and unreleased material... 5 of which have been released on varying eps and singles, 3 of which have never been released... and now due to loss of the original masters - 1 of which was never and will never be finished! Released on Ltd edition of only 50 cds and a digital download. You’d be a definite SYNT not to want this?!
CD1: Original Album:
Dolly Dynamite
Ain’t Got No Class
Money Means Nothing
Nanananana
She Splayed My Teeth
New Regime (Slow Swing)
Replication and Montage
All You Do Is Wow
New Glamour
Wish My Slate Was Cleaner
Vinyl As a Manifesto
Oh Daddy Please
Little Miss Attitude
Human inhuman being
CD 2:
Previously released Material
True Sex Appeal (Free Xmas single)
These Dogs Bite (B-Side Dolly Dynamite EP)
Old Before Your Time (Original mix)
One Idea and a Lonely Voice
(From Forbidden Kiss EP)
New Regime (Punkd) (B-Side
Ain’t got no Class)
Previously Unreleased Material
Erotism And Machinery
It Ain’t Changed Me Gordon
Curfew (unfinished Mix)
7 years in, album 3 - Art is Magic.
Art Is Magic
Always Taking Things Too Far
Soulless City Syndrome
Fruit Salad Girl
Drowning My Sorrows
It started on 1st January 2015, caused by tragedy in December 2014 and finally ended with a 'closing party' on October 6th 2018. If this is your introduction to the #rf365 you have a lot of catching up to do! The Perfect Pop Co-Op reissued the collection on Bandcamp for the first time in 2019 in conjunction with the posting of 'compilation' videos on youtube. In 2019 Reverse Family were added to the British Libraries' Sound Archive in recognition of the project.
It should’ve been our 10th Anniversary last year, but COVID kinda ruined it... So, and for a bit of fun this yule, we’ve stuck together a montage of antics from the last 10 years. Big thanks to everyone featured, everyone who’s watched, paid for, bought, laughed, cried, got it, didn’t get it but smiled anyway and of course loves crisps and biscuits but not necessarily eating them!
This is for you! #TCsforever
Thanks to archive.org for the music... yes you guessed it, it wasn’t us... this is what it was, long out of copyright, but added the right tone for the visuals!
“Tonbilder“ were a combination of a (silent) movie and a recording, which was played in synchronization with the movie in the cinema. They were made from ca. 1903, had their bloom around 1908 and were out of fashion soon after 1910, when cinemas used to have an organ or a piano player who accompanied the films. Most of the films are lost today. You can see a few Tonbilder at the German Film Museum (links below). The two most important producers were Messter (Deutsche Biophon), who mostly used Gramophone recordings, and Alfred Duske, who often used Homocord/Homophon recordings. Even if most of the early films are lost, some of the recordings (which were in most cases not commercially available) survived in record collections. The records often had a second hole in the label where a pin went through (Duske) or markings with arrows (Messter) to help to sychronisize the recording exactly with the film.
Here’s to the next 10/11 years! Happy Christmas from all at The Tuesday Club and The Perfect Pop Co-Op. Hopefully see you again live in 2023 xx