Sinister: pre-B&S/the formation of the band

[david kitchen - jeepster]

Mick McMick wrote:

>  Also, all of this is just what I read, so a good deal of it may be
> false. If you know it to be, please let me know that too. Honey said
> he'd like to put it on the website as well. Well, probably.

well, here we are, correcting things already !
as for the site thing, it already exists on the jeepster site at
http://www.jeepster.co.uk/belleandsebastian/faq/biography.htm

and i can simply update the relevant parts if someone discovers something new :)

the biog (which is effectively what this is!) was originally written by katrina
when we were all writing bits for hopeful inclusion in a 'rough guide' type book
on music.

>         Firstly by now we've probably all heard that Stuart Murdoch wrote
> rather a lot of songs on his own. Apparently he searched to be in a band
> for a while. He made some cassette tapes, at least two, and gave them to
> various people. I heard from a friend that he visited America for a
> time, and brought some demos with him. Supposedly he "jammed" with my
> friend's friends in Portland, but we'll never know the truth to that.

that bit is unfounded, we'll ask stuart m when he settles down, though i'm pretty
sure there are a lot of people who can lay claim to similiar things due to
stuart's passionate search for band members.

> Suffice it to say he wrote some of his own songs, that's all that's
> important. One of the demos, supposedly the first, was released in '94
> and entitled Le Pastie de la Bourgeosie, and apparently featured the
> song of the same name. Another was perhaps entitled Lisa Helps the
> Blind. No idea on song titles, number of songs, etc.

possibly also contained the first versions of 'sleep the clock...' and 'electronic
ren...'

>         Stuart recorded the vaguely known Stow demos ("Pocketbook Angel,"
> "London Has Let Me Down Again," "Hurley's Having Dreams,") at Stow
> College, alone (unless you count the drum machine).

note, he was NOT on the stow college project, i actually think these demo's were
recorded in 'beat box' and not stow.

>         Stuarts Murdoch and David met through a government program and
> collaborated as Rhode Island, sending Jeepster a demo with Dog on
> Wheels, the State That I Am in, Belle and Sebastian, and My Wandering
> Days Are Over.

this is false, they did collaborate and record the demo, but the route to jeepster
was via neil robertson who was doing the stow college music course with stuart
david (not stuart m). neil hadn't sent a tape in for a while and mark jones (one
of the jeepster bosses) asked neil to send him whatever he had, neil the sent a
tape down with lots of stuff on it, 'rhode island' were just one of the bands on
that tape, i think there were 2 or 3 songs on that tape, one of which was 'the
state i am in'.

> They did some bedroom gigs, as well as Glasgow radio
> session. No word on the songs, though. Rhode Island recorded the Dog on
> Wheels EP with Mick Cooke and various studio musicians, I guess for
> release on Jeepster? Not sure about that.

nope, just original demos'. jeepster released them after mark jones and stuart m
had a talk, jeepster felt the recordings were important and shouldn't be shelved,
stuart m agreed and the demo's formed the ep.

>         For reasons unknown to me, they formed the band from people met at the
> Grosvenor (sp?) Cafe in Glasgow. I don't know if these were random or
> auditions, but I suppose auditions. Richard Colburn was living in a flat
> with Stuart David (I think). This was in January of 1996.

roughly right. they were spending all their time in the café at that time, i think
it was just a case of approaching everyone or being approached. at that time it
appears that if you could play something no-one else could play and they liked
you, then you were in the band!

> Not sure as to why "Modern Rock Song," only mentions certain members of
> the band. Perhaps they had an early incarnation as the Stuarts + Richard
> and...did they mention Stevie in Modern Rock Song? My memory's gone
> fuzzy and I'm too lazy to go listen to my session.

we're unsure of this as well. one idea is that 'modern rock' was written in an
early rehearsal/jam and that whoever was present and consented managed to get
written into the song. it's clear that sarah wasn't in the band at that time, but
everyone else was. mick was still a friend/session musician, he joined a lot later
but was there for this.

>         They played an early gig in a bedroom in Glasgow, probably some days
> after forming, on the 13th of January. The lineup consisted only of
> Stuart M, Richard, and possibly Isobel. Here's what they played:
> 
> Mary Jo
> Expectations
> My Wandering Days Are Over
> You're Just A Baby
> Your Idea of Fun*
> I Don't Love Anyone
> The State I Am In

which i guess you've discovered from the old flyer that advertised it. the set
list was announced on the flyer as a 'programme'.

>         Then they recorded Tigermilk at Stow, added Sarah somewhere after that,
> then signed to Jeepster in August 1st '96. Mick played with them on
> various recordings, but didn't become an official member of the band
> until...I think just before 3...6...9

you can fill the rest in using the biog we already have, i hope you don't mind if
the timeline jumps a bit now so that i can include that biog for you...

--

biography

Belle and Sebastian were formed in an all-night café in Glasgow, January 1996.
Stuart Murdoch (singer/songwriter) and Stuart David (bass
guitar) met on a government training scheme and recorded some demos, which were
picked up by a Jeepster scout who was taking part in the
Stow College Music Business Course. The course, run by ex-Associate Alan Rankine,
produces and releases one record every year on the
college label Electric Honey Records, usually a single. Homever in the case of
Belle and Sebastian they had enough songs to record a whole
album, and so the elusive Tigermilk was born. Recorded in three days and one
thousand copies released on vinyl only, it now changes hands for up to £400 per
copy.

Belle and Sebastian then signed to Jeepster in August and the critically acclaimed
LP "If You're Feeling Sinister" (JPRCD/LP/MC001) was
released November 18TH. The Support slot for the Tindersticks ICA Gigs, Followed
by a headline show at the Borderline in early November
brought the joys of Belle and Sebastian live to the south for the first time. The
band then set about with the plan of spending the summer of 1997 releasing EP's,
the first of these being "Dog On Wheels" on 28TH April. This release contained
early demos of the band, previous to all the current members joining, including
the demo version of "The State I Am In". Mark Radcliffe had played the mastered
Tigermilk version of this track relentlessly and for those without a copy of the
vinyl masterpiece, the Dog EP (JPRCDS/12/7001) appeased the fans thirst enough to
put the single in at Number 59 on the singles chart.

The second EP "Lazy Line Painter Jane", was released on July 28th, the Week of the
seminal Union Chapel gig in Islington, London. Despite the poor sound, the band
had the crowd dancing in the aisles (and pews) of the chapel. For most, this gig
was their first B&S gig and a religious experience was shared by all. The "Lazy
Jane" EP narrowly missed the top 40, crashing in at number 41, much to Chris
Geddes (keyboards) amusement, as he had made bets with Jeepster boss Mark Jones
that it would not get in. The band played two more gigs on their mini tour of the
south-west in Oxford and Colchester, preparing them for their American debut.

The "Sinister" LP had been licensed in north America by virgin subsidiary label
the enclave since February. Belle and Sebastian journeyed over to New York in
September to take part in the CMJ (College Music Journal) festival. They played
two gigs at the Angel Oransanz Foundation Centre For The Arts, an old chapel in
Greenwich Village. The excitement levels were so high, parts of the ceiling
decided to join the band onstage, as Belle and Sebastian - literally - brought the
house down.

The band were also invited to play at the Barcelona BAM festival in late
September. This time their venue was an ancient courtyard at the
Plaza Del Rai, and under a starry moonlit sky, beneath the gaze of a thousand
gargoyles they captivated, yet again, another audience.

"3..6..9 Seconds Of Light" was the last of the summer EP's released on October
13th, and the music press finally realised just how important B&S are, when both
the Melody Maker and the NME made it their single of the Week. Despite the lack of
radio play, it became the bands' first top 40 hit, debuting at number 32 on the
charts.

Belle and Sebastian spent the end of 1997 recording their third LP and rehearsing
for the Christmas gigs at the Manchester town hall on the 27th and 28th of
December.

The late summer of 1998 will see them release their third album and with it,
whether they want it or not, they're almost guaranteed of being heralded as one of
the most important bands of our time. 

>         I think that should bring things to a point where most of you know
> everything. Anyway, send me suggestions...

which does now bring us up to date minus the past two months.

if anyone wants to revise the biog to include the earlier info, then let me know
and i'll update the site.

on the site front, i think that a lot of you may not be aware of just how much
info sits there, if you want to take a peek and see what's changed recently you
should take a peek at http://www.jeepster.co.uk/belleandsebastian/main/index.html

cheers 

david kitchen

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