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Archive self-indulgence #3

The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu

‘The History Of The JAMs
‘Kylie Said To Jason’

The JAMs ‘The History Of The JAMs’

I was a massive fan of The JAMs (see blog post The KLF – Part 1’) when I worked at Virgin Records in Portsmouth who were introduced to me by my mate John Carter via James Brown at the NME. When I joined The Cartel/Rough Trade in 1987 we were selling in JAMS/Disco 2000/The KLF records on telesales and we were getting the test pressings and promos up front. When I moved to Rough Trade in Collier Street in 1989 I was responsible for selling in all the key singles and albums to the major chains. This included The KLF What Time Is Love?’, ‘3 A.M. Eternal’, ‘Last Train To Transcentral’, ‘America: What Time Is Love?’ and ‘Justified & Ancient’. All were Top 5 singles and ‘3 A.M. Eternal’ made it to #1. It was a great learning curve for me dealing with such huge singles and trying to coordinate everything with the label to maintain the stock levels. It also turned me into a really cocky 24-year-old git which I arguably haven’t managed to shrug off since! To be involved with it was just exhilarating and showed the industry that you could have consistent top 10 singles and albums and remain independent. The band and especially Sallie Fellowes at the label (KLF Communications) were game changers. Still relevant 30+ years later.

K.L.F. ‘Kylie Said To Jason’

]

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Archive self-indulgence #2

Tales from the personal archive

Tibetan Freedom Concert
13th June 1999
Amsterdam, Tokyo, Chicago & Sydney

I had a discussion with Adam Yauch in Cologne at a Beastie Boys show in April 99 about getting involved with the TFC. Adam asked me to work on the Amsterdam show with Milarepa and Mojo Concerts so off to Amsterdam I popped. On the day we had performances from Blur, Radiohead (Thom & Jonny), Alanis Morissette, Joe Strummer, Garbage, and Ben Harper. RATM were scheduled to play but flipped it to Chicago at the last minute.

The highlight of the day (and arguably one of the highlights of my career) was to look after Joe Strummer for a couple of hours. We ate together and then Joe was good enough to do some press interviews for us to help highlight the plight of the Tibetan people. Once that was done we went back to Joe’s dressing room and had the following conversation:

JS – “Dave”

DC – “Yes Joe”

JS – “What’s different about this dressing room to normal ones?”

DC – “I don’t know Joe”

JS – “It has no ceiling” (the rooms were just partitioned off with curtains)

DC – “Duly noted Joe”

JS – “and Dave. What’s that over there?”

DC – “It’s a bowl of fruit Joe”

JS – “That is correct Dave. If I was to throw the fruit into the other dressing rooms would you have any objections”

DC – “Of course not Joe. Crack on my friend!”

Joe Strummer, punk rock warlord, then proceeded to throw fruit into Radiohead, Blur and Garbages dressing rooms and was laughing his head off for a good length of time”. So lucky to have been there to witness it.

Extremely proud to have been involved with Yauch’s vision and to have worked closely with Milarepa, His Holiness, and the Tibetan Embassy. #FreeTibet

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Archive self-indulgence #1

Tales from the personal archive

WARNING: my archive is out so be prepared for lots of self-indulgent memories over the next few days/weeks.

Exhibit #1 – setlist and ticket(s) from the last London show by At The Drive-In for the NME Brat Awards tour 02/02/2001 before their ‘indefinite hiatus’ – support from My Vitriol and Terris. Cedric put the base of a mic stand into a guitar cab as he walked off stage which was hired backline!

The end was nigh at this point. One of the best live bands I’ve had the privilege to work with in my career.

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At The Drive-In and the video for ‘Invalid Litter Dept.’

The rejected video directed by Anton Corbijn

After I returned to the UK after living in Brussels, I was offered the role of running the UK/European office for Grand Royal Records/Beastie Boys in London from 1998 to 2001. During that time we signed At The Drive-In and the band released ‘Relationship of Command’ to global critical acclaim. For my personal career it was a life-changing experience that took up every minute of the day across a twelve-month plus period. On really busy days, I used to have to sleep in the office on a huge backdrop that the BBC made for us for the ‘Later…..with Jools Holland’ performance! Vek Maguire was my best-friend and work buddy during this time and he tried to keep me, and my huge ego, on the rails when the workload alongside the alcohol and drugs became too much at times.

To put a few things into context about the band and the campaign:
* we signed the band after I saw them play The Joiners Arms in Southampton on 7th April 2000 (promoted by Ian Binnington).
* the album first broke in the UK, followed by Europe before making an impact in the US.
* Within a few weeks from its release, ‘One Armed Scissor’ was single of the week in; NME, Sounds, Melody Maker, Kerrang! and most of the metal press. We also received huge support from Steve Lamacq (Radio 1) and Zane Lowe (XFM)
* between the single being released and the album coming out our independent distribution deal with Vital (and key European partners) was switched to a licensing deal with Virgin Records. In hindsight, this move did not meet the band’s, or the label’s, DIY attitude to the industry being handled by the same team that were also looking after Mariah Carey! Saying that, the individuals and team that we worked with at Virgin were hard-working, extremely dedicated and we made some lifelong friends during this time.
* in an extremely short space of time from the release of ‘One Armed Scissor’, the band started to sell out the venues that were booked for them across the UK and Europe. In London this grew from The Falcon > Underworld > Electric Ballroom > Astoria within a 15 month period.
* the band worked incredibly hard and their intense schedule contributed to their collective and individual wellbeing. We, as the label, must take a big slice of the blame for that.
* we built an incredible team around the band in the UK that supported the band and the label. This included Bad Moon Publicity (Anton, Sally, Sarah, Paddy & John), AJPR (Stuart), ITB Agency (Martin Horn), Virgin Records (Special Projects – Gavin, Lisa, Sarah, Lucie, Steve, Glenn, John, Orla & Paul).
* the band wanted the video to highlight the plight of the hundreds of people who had disappeared from Ciudad Juárez in Mexico over a seven-year period who were labelled as ‘The Disappeared’.

My opportunity to soundcheck and camera check on Jools Holland before the ‘Robbie incident’!

The UK team were allowed to lead with the singles after ‘One Armed Scissor’ and we decided to go with ‘Rolodex Propaganda (feat. Iggy Pop)’, followed by ‘Invalid Litter Dept.’ which was the standout choice of the critics. The band made a DIY video for ‘One Armed Scissor’ but a hectic schedule prevented us from making one for ‘Rolodex Propaganda’. When it came to ‘Invalid Litter Dept.’ we were at a key point of the campaign where it could go to the next level for the band’s profile. This included front covers for the NME and Kerrang!, a booking for Jools Holland and TFI Friday and a commitment from the BBC to do Top of the Pops. The band really didn’t want to make a video for the song but eventually relented after pressure from the US. Anton Corbijn was unanimously chosen to direct the video which I was personally really excited about. I was lucky enough to work on the Depeche Mode ‘Violator’ campaign (1990) when I was at Rough Trade Distribution and Anton had turned in some fabulous videos especially for ‘Personal Jesus’ and ‘Enjoy The Silence’. Obviously, beyond this Anton was globally renowned for his genius work as a photographer including the front cover for U2‘s ‘The Joshua Tree’ and was intrinsic to establishing the visual image of Joy Division.

The video itself was shot in Juárez in Mexico and everybody seemed to be happy with the results of the filming at the time. The video was edited and graded in post and was delivered to the band/management, US label and ourselves. Right from the start the band really didn’t like the video and the direction that Anton had taken it. They simply didn’t want it out there. After numerous calls with them trying to change their minds, the decision was made to reject this version of the video. Understandably, this didn’t go down well with Anton when we spoke with him. Later down the line, the band did use some of the footage from the video shoot to create their own edit which was used commercially. All of this happened as the band were in the throws of splitting up on the road, so the pressure was incalculable from all sides across a hectic touring itinerary, band fatigue and a heavy promo schedule. The band eventually split in Groningen in the Netherlands and we managed to get the band back to London and straight home to El Paso within 24 hours. The last time we saw the band all together, after the split, was at Jim Ward’s wedding in El Paso. Grand Royal didn’t last too long after this (Aug, 2001) but this band and album campaign had been a genuine highlight for me and my future career. I am so proud of what we achieved in such a short period of time.

The VHS tape for the video

We’re currently in the process of moving house and whilst I have been packing a lot of my archive I came across the original VHS tape of the rejected video and an MP4 file. I believe that it needs to be seen 25 years later. There is a very good chance that they’ll be a take down issued on this post, but this is a never before seen Anton Corbijn video that is part of a cultural legacy for many fans of the band. I hope that you like it and that the band (Cedric, Omar, Jim, Tony and Paul) can tolerate it being out there.

Feel free to add comments to this post to let me know what you think of the video.

Office & Jools photos by Vek Maguire
Editing pointers from Hardeep Phull

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Order the Donner Party album

2xLP / CD / Hi-Res Download – available to order on Bandcamp.

Order on Bandcamp – 2XLP/CD/DL

Fabled San Francisco–based indie rock band – Donner Party – will be re-releasing their coveted debut album ‘The Donner Party’ this Autumn.
Out of print since its landmark release in 1987, the cult record will be available once more nearly four decades later on LP, CD and digitally.
Featuring the full album, lovingly remastered by Mikey Young, the vinyl release will also be available with a special bonus 12” of demos and rarities.
Donner Party were formed in San Francisco in 1983 by Sam Coomes and two friends from his local school. While Coomes remained a constant in the band with his contributions to guitar/violin/banjo, between 1986 and 1989 personnel changes would see the enlisting of Melanie Clarin (also of The Cat Heads/Harm Farm) on drums/accordion and Reinhold Johnson on bass, to complete the band’s classic line-up.
At the peak of their powers Donner Party would release two self-titled albums in 1987 (via Cryptovision Records), and 1988 (via Camper Van Beethoven‘s Pitch-A-Tent label), attracting a cult audience for their jangling college-rock melodies, uplifting harmonies, and wryly dark sense of humour.
Named after a group of 19th-century American travelers who turned cannibals while stranded, true to their moniker, Donner Party’s songs prominently satirised themes of death, anxiety, and the occult. Making waves with their penchant for an unusual subject matter, on their 1987 debut tracks like “When You Die Your Eyes Pop Out“, “John Wilkes Booth“, “The Ghost“, and “Godlike Porpoise Head of Blue-Eyed Mary” were certainly a case in point.

Donner Party (L-R): Reinhold Johnson, Melanie Clarin & Sam Coomes

“I really had no aspirations to be a singer or songwriter – but a band needs songs & they don’t write themselves” says Coomes of the songs on ‘The Donner Party’. “I had taken an art history class in school & was introduced to some of the concepts behind surrealism. Stream of consciousness – that’s t! You don’t need ideas – just go with whatever pops into your head – there’s your song! That was pretty much my method. But luckily rock n roll isn’t really about the song: it’s about the energy, the feeling, the style, the sound, the spirit…if you happen to have excellent songs, great, but they won’t mean much without all those intangibles.”
Recorded at the intimate Lowdown studios (which is now buried under the San Francisco Giants baseball stadium), the tracks of ‘The Donner Party’ were thrashed out as-live, with that palpable sense of urgency still evident in the recordings.
“We bashed out the songs on our first record live in the studio, vocals and all, as if we were playing a gig. We mixed the songs in another studio, which I believe was eventually razed to build a freeway onramp, then sent the tapes off to Cryptovision, who duly released the record a few weeks later.”
Flying out NYC for the first time to promote the release, word about the Donner Party was beginning to spread with prominent gig offers, support slots with well-known touring acts, and even a “ridiculous Mafia run cocaine party at former church The Limelight” all head-hunting a band discernibly on the rise.

But despite a growing audience and the release of a warmly received second album in 1988, Donner Party would part ways the following year, collectively feeling they had “hit our ceiling as a band”.
With both Clarin and Reinhold opting to hold down the comfortable jobs that had “pretty much kept the band afloat” thus far, Coomes would go on to play in Heatmiser and later form Motorgoat and Quasi with his ex-wife, Janet Weiss.
“There was no way they were gonna leave their legit jobs to struggle & toil for peanuts in scummy punk rock clubs across the USA, as I was itching to do. So the band called it a day & we all moved on” says Coomes.
With no bad blood having ever come between them, all of their original members reformed for a one-off reunion show at Slim’s in San Francisco in 2000. Buoyed by its success, the band added a ‘Complete Recordings 1987–1989’ retrospective to their discography the same year, which comprised their first two albums, plus an unreleased third album and live tracks, in one package released on Innerstate Records.
Marking the band’s first activity in the 25 years since, in 2025 Donner Party will re-issue their debut album ‘The Donner Party’ via the Trussed Recordings label.
Reflecting on the legacy of Donner Party all these years later, their achievements, and their place in the San Francisco scene, Coomes adds:
“We three were excited to be in a band, having fun, carving out a place for ourselves in the weird underground scene that was the post punk rock world of San Francisco at that time. And though we were never more than a completely obscure band, we possessed enough of those intangibles that the music can still resonate with people who have an ear for that, despite the many years & millions of bands which have come & gone between our time & now. Nothing to sneeze at.”

Order on Bandcamp – 2XLP/CD/DL

Donner Party s/t – 2XLP + insert + postcard + hi-res download – SHIP TO UK

Double vinyl + insert + postcard + hi-res download (sent via email) £24 + £5 P+P (TRACKED 24) ***shipping for multiple copies will be calculated and any excess charges will be refunded via PayPal***

£29.00

Donner Party s/t – 2XLP + insert + postcard + hi-res download – SHIP TO EUROPE

Double vinyl + insert + postcard + hi-res download (sent via email) €29 + €10 P+P (TRACKED 24) ***shipping for multiple copies will be calculated and any excess charges will be refunded via PayPal***

€39.00

Donner Party s/t – 2XLP + insert + postcard + hi-res download – SHIP TO US/ROW

Donner Party s/t – 2XLP + insert + postcard + hi-res download – SHIP TO US/ROW US$28 + US$21 P+P (International Tracked) ***shipping for multiple copies will be calculated and any excess charges will be refunded via PayPal***

$49.00

Sam Coomes

For press enquiries contact: rob@sonicpr.co.uk

 

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Daniel Johnston ‘Love Lives Forever (BBC Sessions 2003-11)’ – Red Vinyl

2xLP / CD / Hi-Res Download – Available Now

Daniel Johnston ‘Love Lives Forever (BBC Sessions 2003-11)’ – 2XLP (RED VINYL) – SHIP TO UK

Double vinyl + 8 page booklet + hi-res download (sent via email) Limited edition of 500 numbered copies £25 + £5 P+P (Tracked 24) ***shipping for multiple copies will be calculated and any excess charges will be refunded via PayPal***

£30.00

Daniel Johnston ‘Love Lives Forever (BBC Sessions 2003-11)’ – 2XLP (RED VINYL) – EUROPE

Double vinyl + 8 page booklet + hi-res download (sent via email) Limited edition of 500 numbered copies €30 + €10 P&P (International Tracked) ***shipping for multiple copies will be calculated and any excess charges will be refunded via PayPal***

€40.00

Daniel Johnston ‘Love Lives Forever (BBC Sessions 2003-11)’ – 2XLP (RED VINYL) – US/ROW

Double vinyl + 8 page booklet + hi-res download (sent via email) Limited edition of 500 numbered copies US$29 + US$21 P&P (International Tracked) ***shipping for multiple copies will be calculated and any excess charges will be refunded via PayPal***

$50.00

Daniel Johnston’s legacy is legendary. The quintessential DIY artist started his career in Austin, TX whilst hawking cassettes from his day job at McDonald’s. The rest, as they say, is history and fans of US alternative music from the 1980s onwards know about his work and the people he went on to inspire. 

This, however, is not a biography; it’s a simple piece of communication to let people know that all of Daniel’s radio sessions recorded for the BBC have, at long last, seen the light of day as a double album entitled ‘Love Lives Forever (BBC Sessions 2003-11)’. A project inspired by BBC Radio 6 Music’s Marc Riley, the tracks have been licensed from the BBC and approved by Daniel’s family, management, and charity. 

The sessions were spread across an eight-year period with two sessions for Rob Da Bank and three with Marc Riley (both of whom are executive producers of this album). A few bootleg recordings of these sessions have been available across the years but now they have been lovingly mastered and cut by Frank Arkwright at Abbey Road Studios in London. Daniel was a lifelong fan of The Beatles and the overwhelming consensus from those who knew him was that he would be so proud and excited to have his music mastered above the legendary Studio 2 at Abbey Road. 

The album is now on its second pressing and available as a double vinyl (red vinyl), CD, and hi-res download with the artwork being Daniel’s own work. The vinyl and CD come with an 8-page and 12-page booklet respectively featuring photos taken at Daniel’s house in Waller, TX.  

This project’s objective is to celebrate Daniel’s musical legacy, rather than explore further his well-documented mental health problems. However, profits from the album will go to Daniel’s Hi, How Are You Project based in Austin.

Side A Track 1 / CD Track 1                                2:22

‘Mountain Top (Rob da Bank Session 2008)’

Side A Track 2 / CD Track 2                                3:13

‘Fish (Rob da Bank Session 2008)’

Side A Track 3 / CD Track 3                                2:55

‘Walking The Cow (Rob da Bank Session 2008)’

Side A Track 4 / CD Track 4                                1:45 

‘Casper The Friendly Ghost (Rob da Bank Session 2008)’

Side A Track 5 / CD Track 5                                4:17

‘Go (Rob da Bank Session 2008)’

Side A Track 6 / CD Track 6                                3:35 

‘Love Enchanted (Rob da Bank Session 2008)’

Side B Track 1 / CD Track 7                                2:43

‘Hey Joe (Rob da Bank Session 2008)’

Side B Track 2 / CD Track 8                                5:05

‘Rock ‘N’ Roll / EGA (Rob da Bank Session 2008)’

Side B Track 3 / CD Track 9                                3:21 

‘Speeding Motorcycle (Rob da Bank Session 2008)’

Side B Track 4 / CD Track 10                              1:54

‘True Love Will Find You In The End (Rob da Bank Session 2008)’

Side B Track 5 / CD Track 11                              1:30 

‘Devil Town (Rob da Bank Session 2008)’

Side C Track 1 / CD Track 12                              1:56 

‘True Love Will Find You In The End (Marc Riley Session 2008)’

Side C Track 2 / CD Track 13                              4:10                 

‘Go (Marc Riley Session 2008)’

Side C Track 3 / CD Track 14                              3:12 

‘Life In Vain (Marc Riley Session 2009)’

Side C Track 4 / CD Track 15                              2:25

‘Living Life (Marc Riley Session 2009)’

Side C Track 5 / CD Track 16                              3:09 

‘Speeding Motorcycle (Marc Riley Session 2011)’

Side C Track 6 / CD Track 17                              7:18 

‘Rock This Town (Marc Riley Session 2011)’

Side D Track 1 / CD Track 18                              4:03                 

‘Love Enchanted (The Blue Room 2003)’

Side D Track 2 / CD Track 19                              4:01 

‘Forever Your Love (The Blue Room 2003)’

Side D Track 3 / CD Track 20                              1:37 

‘Mountain Top (The Blue Room 2003)’

For more information contact: trussed@trustmanagement.co.uk

 

The Johnston family grave – Katy, TX – June 2022

Label: Trussed Recordings

Cat. No. CASPER001LP/CD

Bandcamp: https://trussedrecordings.bandcamp.com/

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Cheap Feel ‘Good Grace’ EP

Debut EP is released on Bandcamp & streaming platforms

The debut Cheap Feel EP Good Grace is now available to download or stream on Bandcamp. The EP includes the two singles Martin Scorsese and Sean Briggs (Is A Real Yes Man).

Cheap Feel are a new band hailing from London, born out of the ashes of Wesley Gonzalez & Wild Garlic, primary songwriter Wesley Gonzalez has released 3 solo records and during the touring of his 3rd album Wax Limousine put together a backing band consisting of Jack Blenkinsop on Drums, Callum Duffy on Keyboards, Jenny Green on Guitar/Vocals and Gwen Reed on Bass/Vocals. Throughout the touring cycle the assembled band grew tighter as musicians and closer as friends, they started to feel more like a
legitimate band rather than a solo artist’s backing band. Wesley Gonzalez Explains “After leaving my first band in my 20’s I swore I’d never enter into that dynamic again due to infighting and dysfunction, but whilst touring my 3rd solo album I felt I was starting to struggle with the idea of being a solo performer. I felt so close with my band, who at the time was going under the name Wild Garlic, and realised the wealth of talent I was lucky enough to be touring with. I felt that the next project should reflect that, leading to the birth of Cheap Feel”.

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Nigel Templeman: a tribute

We lost our ‘Uncle Nige’ in April and here are some beautiful tributes to him.

Uncle Nige was my soul brother, my best friend, and my business partner for over 10 years. We named our company Trust Management and wanted our relationship with our artists and each other to be built on that. Within that time, Nige taught me the following important lessons:

  • To swear less at people from major record companies because some of them were decent people and kind human beings. Nige was right!
  • He instigated ‘do nothing’ days at Trust where we would literally do nothing for the duration of the day. When we measured the results at the end of the day we realised that we were more productive on these days compared to our ‘do something’ days. Nige was right!
  • Nige taught me not to be two-faced in the music industry. He pushed me to the limit with my training and I eventually became five-faced. Nige was right!
  • We met Lana Del Ray in the early days before her record deal and I was trying to focus on the Pompey v Wolfsburg game at the time but did comment that I thought she was a bit wet. Nige thought that she had the potential to be a global superstar. Nige was right!

The only time when Nige was consistently wrong was always around August each year when he predicted big things for Arsenal in the new season!

Nige was responsible for introducing me to the majority of the people within the music industry including the hundreds of people who have sent the sweetest messages about him over the past few weeks. I will always be grateful for his kindness, time, patience, and energetic spirit across our work relationship and our friendship. God bless you matos!

Dave Cronen / Trust Management

Photo: Nick Lawrence

2005 was the start of my 7-year adventure as an assistant at SuperVision Artist Management. Very quickly the company expanded from 3 managers to 16. Suddenly, we had people arriving from all over the British Isles. Needless to say, it was an eclectic mix of personalities, tastes, and artists. Vying for festival slots, support tours, column inches, playlists… and, of course, time on the office stereo.

Luckily for us, Nige wasn’t just an artist manager — he quickly became the heart of SuperVision. The calm and light in the chaos. He could lift the mood of the office just by walking into the room.

Working with him didn’t feel like work — it was fun. It felt like family. The good kind. The kind with hilarious tales of the old days, and emotional rescue missions with cups of tea at the local greasy spoon.

He wasn’t just a colleague; he was a friend. Somehow, he always seemed to know what you needed — a sounding board, a bit of wisdom, a bloody good laugh, or one of his epic hugs. And sometimes, when stress levels were high or things got tense — which, let’s be honest, in music management, was quite often — I’d look across the office at Nige. He’d simply offer a mischievous grin and a reassuring wink — and somehow, that was enough.

He made you feel seen, and valued — whether you were the intern or the biggest artist on the roster. His ability to be genuinely interested in people, to care, and to show up with kindness — that was rare. And we knew it.

And though I am devastated by his loss — and utterly heartbroken for his family and friends — I’m also so grateful. Grateful that I got to know him, learn from him and laugh with him for 20 years.

Nige, you were awesome. One of the good ones. One of the best ones.  Thank you for everything.

Rhian Dunkley

Photo: Nicola ‘Wrighty’ Wright

The first time I met Nige was in a big bar in West London near Notting Hill. I was there to meet my future managers. He and Dave were sat at a long wooden table. Nige somehow made the table, and the entire place, feel small as he stood up, smile of warmth on his face, arms outstretched. ‘Hello dear chap’ he boomed, and whether we shook hands or hugged I can’t recall (we’d only just met), but it was always a massive hug to me. He could do that. Make you feel embraced just by looking at you. And with Nige’s brand of presence, everybody around us got the memo I’d arrived too. So we all exchanged greetings and sat together at the end of the table. 

The pints flowed and so did the conversation. We all exchanged our stories. Nige had such a sky wide story to tell of the sizzling blizzard of the music industry and his journey through it, whilst enthusiastically smoking all my cigarettes. 

What a connector, what a bonder, a builder upper, a big hearted, bear hugging, magic bringer, who’d stride into rooms and say yes. He’d take out that black-backed moleskin and pen, hone our vision, and write plans of who we should win over, who to turn his oceanic smile and his contagious belief and enthusiasm towards next. 

It was only weeks back that we found ourselves on the phone, hatching new plans, talking with pride and joy about our beautiful kids. Nige was belly laughing because my email had, in true style, got the day wrong for the call. ‘How had we managed to actually speak?’ he pondered amongst giggles, and should he arrange our next meeting on a Thursday, to make sure we met on Wednesday? We laughed and laughed, taking big gulps of air. Around Nige it was impossible to keep it in. 

I hope somewhere you see and know how missed you are big lovely man.

Iain Archer 

Photo: Dean Marsh

It was never a bad day when you were due to see Nige. I would actually look forward to going to the office knowing I was lucky enough to be seeing him that day. We didn’t see each other that often, maybe once every 2 months, but I cared deeply about him and I hope he felt the same way. Whenever he reached out to schedule a meeting my assistant would ask “30mins or an hour?” For Nige it was always at least 2 and we would tell each other stories for most of that time. I last met with him on April 8th and he gleefully told me stories of Coldcut & Jazz Summers, London Records and Arista. As usual, I was enthralled. He was the best company, the best storyteller, and the most kind and generous person you are ever likely to have met.

Ian Dutt

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Cheap Feel

Cheap Feel: Wesley Gonzalez (Vocals/Guitar), Jenny Green (Vocals/Guitar), Callum Duffy (Synthesizer/Piano),Gwen Reed (Vocals/Bass), Jack Blenkinsop (Drums/Percussion)

Cheap Feel are a new band hailing from London, born out of the ashes of Wesley Gonzalez & Wild Garlic, primary songwriter Wesley Gonzalez has released 3 solo records and during the touring of his 3rd album Wax
Limousine put together a backing band consisting of Jack Blenkinsop on Drums, Callum Duffy on Keyboards, Jenny Green on Guitar/Vocals and Gwen Reed on Bass/Vocals. Throughout the touring cycle the assembled band grew tighter as musicians and closer as friends, they started to feel more like a
legitimate band rather than a solo artist’s backing band. Wesley Gonzalez Explains “After leaving my first band in my 20’s I swore I’d never enter into that dynamic again due to infighting and dysfunction, but whilst
touring my 3rd solo album I felt I was starting to struggle with the idea of being a solo performer. I felt so close with my band, who at the time was going under the name Wild Garlic, and realised the wealth of talent I was
lucky enough to be touring with. I felt that the next project should reflect that, leading to the birth of Cheap Feel”.

Cheap Feel started recording in a renovated church studio in Ramsgate with Producers Jamie Neville and Ben Romans-Hopcraft at the helm. Taking influence from 1980s sophisti-pop such as Prefab Sprout & XTC,
1970s New wave from the likes of Devo & the B52s and a host of other influences ranging from King Crimson to Aretha Franklin the songs differed from Gonzalez’s solo work after taking a new approach.
Gonzalez Explains “ I feel the main difference between what I was doing on my own and now with Cheap Feel is the songs aren’t from my own point of view, of course some of my thoughts and feelings seep through but the majority of this new work with Cheap Feel is written under the guise of different characters, which also lends itself far better to having both Jenny and Gwen take the helm as the lead singers over myself”. The recordings were finished off with Saxophone and Flute being provided by Fat White Family’s Alex White. The Lyrics take on modern day capitalism, struggling in a world that has priced the younger generations out, leading to the name Cheap Feel “the state of the current climate means you often feel cheap” explains
Gonzalez “and the most you can hope for in this day and age is a Cheap Feel” other subjects tackled in the new songs Cheap Feel were working on include the January 6th storming of the capital, esteemed 1970s Film Directors, SSRI medications and competitive couples comparing Honeymoons.

https://widgetv3.bandsintown.com/main.min.js

Bandcamp: https://cheapfeel.bandcamp.com/

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The Bug Club – Live on KEXP

Recorded in Seattle in October 2024

On 25th October we rocked up to KEXP in Seattle with The Bug Club and I had the privilege to watch them record a six-track session for them which is now available to watch.

Thanks to everybody at Sub Pop Records for making this happen and to everyone at KEXP for having us. As you can see, we are working hard to work on the sponsorship deal with Newport County AFC!

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Jeffrey Lewis ‘Revelations in the Wink of an Eye’

Book + postcard available now and shipped from the UK

‘Revelations in the Wink of an Eye’ – SHIP WITHIN THE UK

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Revelations in the Wink of an Eye: My Insane Musings on Watchmen, from Conspiracies to Stupidities by Jeffrey Lewis

140 pages, full color

The long-awaited complete and completely mind-blowing Jeffrey Lewis analysis of Watchmen is finally here, in a fully revised 2024 edition! 

Watchmen is one of the most critically-acclaimed graphic novels of all time (possibly surpassed only by Maus), in addition to being one of the best-selling. The twelve-issue series by writer Alan Moore and artist Dave Gibbons, originally published in 1986-1987, famously went on to become the only comic book included on Time magazine’s list of the 100 greatest novels since 1923. Despite such levels of popular and critical success, and a number of published biographies and assessments of its author, up till now nobody has published a fully comprehensive analysis of Watchmen itself. Performer/writer/artist Jeffrey Lewis has been writing and lecturing on Watchmen since 1997, giving popular talks on the subject in America, Europe, England and Australia; now he collects this work into one digestible, enlightening and entertaining volume, including all the necessary illustrative quotes of images from the source material.

Sample Page

Jeffrey Lewis has written for History, the New York Times, the Guardian (UK) and other notable institutions (and was awarded a Webby for Best Writing on the Internet in 2010), in addition to doing writing/illustration/comic book work for projects published by Verso, Hill and Wang, For Beginners and others. Featured a number of times on NPR, Jeffrey has released many albums of his own songs on record labels like Rough Trade Records, Moshi Moshi and Don Giovanni Records. He tours the world with his band Jeffrey Lewis & The Voltage, as well as writing, drawing and publishing his own comic books, including the recent series Statics.

Contents

Praise for the Jeffrey Lewis Watchmen Lecture

“The [Watchmen] movie… does not even compare to the experience I had at [Jeffrey Lewis’s] lecture… Warner Bros should have given [Lewis] a hundred million dollars instead. Where the movie didn’t add a single thing to my experience of Watchmen, [the lecture] blew my mind and captured my attention and imagination.” —Jason Leivian, Floating World USA

“I thought I knew Watchmen inside out. Jeffrey… is in a different league… He had astonishingly detailed insights into the complex symbolism of the book, many of which had never occurred to me… If you get a chance to see him talk about Watchmen again, I’d urge you to go.” Word Magazine UK

Thank you to Jeffrey for making this all happen.

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