Sinister: Select article

[poetryplace2]

Well the Select article some of us have been dreading for a while has
finally hit the newstands, and.... well, it's not as bad as you would've
thought. Certainly better than the usual bollocks in this month's Q .

Highlights of the article include a smashing pic of steadymike, pam and the
divine jenn around a glockenspiel. Lowlights include a display quote in big
bold letters misquoting somebody called Honey.

It's quite lengthy, but I thought you'd want to have a gander. I couldnt
scan the first 200 words or so, because they were reversed out of a picture,
and my poor scanner cant deal with it...

legendary camera-shy natures; he was, after all,
in a band with Stuart Murdoch called Deadly
Geometry, a bizarre project whose self-
proclaimed mission - oh, the killing irony -
was to achieve as much publicity as possible
without actually creating any music. The forth-
coming programme, Duglas also reveals, could
well include a cartoon of the band illustrated
in the style of an early '70s Bunty annual.
Pete Waterman was apparently invited
to provide the narration. Again, sadly,
he declined.
 When this backwards-in-coming-
forwards Scottish indie-folk combo
won their Brit in February it was one
of those great happening-without-per-
mission moments that helps make pop
seem like an interesting way of spending
your time: the blank industry stares on
the night, Pete Waterman's tabloid-
backed vote-rigging allegations, the tri-
partite aggression that's recently broken
out from the pop world with Another
Level and Sive coming out on the
side of Steps.
 The meek, it seemed, were ready to
claim back at least part of that long-
promised inheritance. It all amounted to
a hilarious, momentous, unexpectedly
visible demonstration of power from a
group and fanbase that had previously
appeared content to inhabit the margins
of the musical world.

THAT THIS VICTORY OVER PETE
Waterman and the ruffled pop darlings
was achieved largely via the Internet is
only fitting. Cyberspace has always
appealed to those with dispositions of a
closeted, furtive nature: the trademark of
Stuart Murdoch's lyrical drift.
 So, if Belle And Sebastian really are to
the '90s what The Smiths were to the
'80s, this Net connection testifies to how
society has become a rather different place in
the interim. Where Smiths fans came together in
solidarity with some oppositional, confronta-
tional idea of changing the world, Belle And
Sebastian fans - as perfect emblems of the
downsizing generation - are simply seeking a
little piece of independent space that they can
call their own.
 That space usually turns out to be the Sinister
Mailing List - and it is a strange place to be.
Become one of its 900 subscribers and you're let-
ting yourself in for a daily torrent of e-mail mis-
sives that, on any given day, could include every-
thing from earnest discussions on lyrics
to fictional messages from Stuart's mum. Votes
can be cast on your favourite on-line people.
Virtual kisses are exchanged. It's involved stuff,
and the official Belle And Sebastian/Jeepster
Records site gets between 160,000 and
200,000 hits a week.
 "People become mates because they've got
one thing in common," says Papercuts fanzine
editor Stephen Trouss6 of the on-line community.
"But they don't just talk
about that, they
chat about any-
thing. It's like
being down the
pub - except
you're in three dif-
ferent continents."
So what kind of talk
usually occurs in the average
BELLE & SEBASTIAN ~ Belle And Sebastian chatroom?
 "Smut. There's always a lot 01 smut
 Like Stephen, who also organises regular B&S
meetings at Covent Garden's Poetry Caf~, many
admirers seem unwilling to stop at mere hero
worshipping indulgence, preferring instead to
use the music as a jumping-off point for creativ-
ity. Alistair Fitchett, aka The Duke Of Harringay,
has written a series of booklets called Belles
Lettres (in part as homage to the similar Stuart
David booklet Ink Polaroids Of Belle And
Sebastian) in which he's attempted to capture
the spirit of their songs.
 "I made about 50 or so of those and sold them
at the Manchester shows. They sold out really
quickly, actually," says Alistair, a Tiverton art
teacher who forced his reluctant pupils ("They
were all going, 'Oh, who's this, it's rubbish!"') to
design alternative album covers for 'The Boy
With The Arab Strap'. "I have met Stuart and
Isobel and... it was nice, but what I really hate
about pop music generally is this idea that the
people who make the music are somehow differ-
ent. I've met a lot of interesting people through
the fanclub, but I
prefer appreciating
pop music as an
I individual, not being
part of some clique or gang.
The hardcore people who I
feel most in common with
 are those who are doing
things themselves - not just consuming, not just
buying the records and talking endlessly about
what Stuart meant by this or that."
 Following in this vein is one Sean Fleming
who has been partly inspired by Belle And
Sebastian ("everything now is more like a show
and this isn't a show") to become an expression-
ist painter and musician. "You'll probably hear
about me this time next year," he confidently
assures. Is it possible, then, that a-burgeoning
Belle And Sebastian-inspired arty-literary-boho
scene is in waiting, ready to sweep away Cool
Britannia's over-hyped chancers?

TALK TO THE GROUP'S CHIEF FEMALE FIGURE,
Isobel Campbell, and it becomes clear that the
band are, rather than true icons in the Morrissey
mould, simply gifted extensions of the same
quietly non-comformist world their fans occupy.
Softly spoken - at times faltering, at times chatty
- she's obviously strn new to the world of inter-
views. And having only just finished college,
she's no doubt rather taken aback at finding her-
self something of a style guru.
 Like the rest of the group, she's really neither
a complete wide-eyed ingenue nor an utterly



knowing ironist -
goes some
 way to supporting
me idea that their
- non-image's absurd
success falls somewhere
between happy accident

 ~~~and media literate mas-
"I just thought that when I went to university
to study music... All my friends were signing
on, and they were all lovely and things... I
just thought that would happen to me," she
recalls. "Then I joined the band and we were
just suddenly getting all these phone calls
and people asking us would you like to play
here, blah blah blah. It's great and it's not
to be knocked at all but even just the
general business of it all is something to get
used to."
 So does it feel odd to be the subject of a cult?
 "I suppose it is a bit strange. They all sort of
meet and chat to each other... People do write to
us as well, and we always try and reply. We get
quite general ones just to Belle And Sebastian
and a few others to each of us individually, say-
ing things like, you know, how they've been quite
fed up recently, things like that. I suppose it is
quite odd that people write in to people they
don't know. Sometimes people come up to you
and talk to you and you don't think they know
who you are and it turns out they're Belle And
Sebastian fans."
 There's also plenty of unusual - if sort of
appropriate - freebies flying their way "People
send us lots of drawings. There was one time I
got some silver angel wings. That was nice. And
just lots of little gifts. Oh, and I got a dress sent to
me and it fitted me perfectiy. Actually, I don't
even know if it was for me, it just sort
of emerged. There was a note attached saying,
'I wonder if someone in Belle And Sebastian
would like this?' It was blue velvet, sort of
a pinafore thing..
 So are you all quite excited after the Brits?
 "I think our families are a lot more than us.
Everything kind of exploded when it happened.
It was quite touching because of how obviously
all the fans on the Internet had got together and
initiated it all. And it was good to see Mick and
Richard on the telly"
 So are you all getting something of a taste for
the limelight now?
 "I don't know... We're all really, really busy
and we're doing as much as we can manage.
Probably not. Some bands get so over-exposed
because you see their faces on the cover of
everything and you end up quite sick of it really.
You're not going to see our faces splashed all
over the billboards or anything."
BACK IN NEW CROSS,
the mood of enchant-
ment is escalating fast,
thanks in large part to
the airing of huge
chunks from Belle And
Sebastian's canon.
Conversation at the bar
revolves around such top-
ics as whether switching
from four to three-track
singles to become eligible
for charts (as B&S appear
likely to do) constitutes
selling out'. And whether
it's shameful to own up to
only having 'Tigermilk' on
tape. At one point im-
moderate excitement
runs through the assem-
bly at the rumour that Jo,
the cover star of
'Tigermilk' (and Stuart's
ex), is about to appear in
person. She doesn't.
 The question for the
uninitiated remains,
though: just what is this
group's particular appeal?
 "It's because they're
difficult to find out about
in the conventional way,"
reckons 18-year-old
Andrew Farley. "You hear
the name mentioned
around quite a lot and it
stands out as being
unusual. And you think,
'That's strange, I've heard
the name but not their
songs on the radio, why
is that?' You can't just
pick up The Sun or The
Mirror and find out what's
going on. Well, before the
Brits, this is..."
 David and Katrina,
now of the group's record
label Jeepster, but for-
merly humble shop
assistants at Vinyl
Experience in London's
Hanway Street, testify to
the musics strange
incubatory effects. "We
got given the '...Sinister'
album by a rep and filled in the feedback ques-
tionnaire giving it about five out often," confess-
es Katrina. "But then we kept going back toil and
playing it again and again until we had it on
practically all the time. We kept ordering loads of
copies to foist on as many people as possible.
And loads of tourists who came in would go
home with copies.
 "Then we went to their Borderline gig and
David, who'd been doing the Elastica fanclub,
went up to Stuart Murdoch and asked him if he
could do their fanclub. He said fine, so we start-
ed that - organising the picnics and stuff - and
eventually we joined Jeepster as it grew."
 So, now that you're part of the Jeepster
family, are you still fans?
 "Well, Stuart and Isobel come to the office
and afterwards we're going, 'Ooh, wow! They
were here! We spoke to them!' [laughs] Like on
a real high..."
 Such enthusiasm isn't rare. In fact it's com-
mon to find even more extreme reactions on



the Net. Here's 'Guy': "i just want to say how
much i love Belle And Sebastian, and how they
possibly saved my life. At the time when i dis-
covered them, i was going through a hard time in
life, having quite a few problems with nobody to
turn to. The beautiful and meaningful music
they produce is a great antidote to the world we
live in, with its vulgarity and falseness. Belle And
Sebastian have shown me that life can be colour-
ful and beautiful. They give me hope and belief
that things will get better. God bless you Belle
And Sebastian!!!!!!!"
 As it edges towards midnight in New Cross
surprising scenes are taking place on the dance-
floor. The dander B&S tracks (meaning, er, 'Dirty

Dream Number Two', basically) segue into a
rock-out section (including the likes of T Rex's
'Jeepster') which causes what appears to be red-
hot boogie action among the supposedly shrink-
ing violet twee-kids.
 As the throng starts sweating with communal
joy, it's clear that other factors over and above
the love of the band itself bind this clan together.
One unifying characteristic, of course, is a
shared feeling of shyness.
 "Everyone is always rather reticent,"
says the evening's organiser and DJ, Joe
Egg. "I felt rather shy handing out the
flyers for tonight. And a big city -
whether it's London or LA - can be a very
lonely place, it's really hard to meet peo-
ple who think like you. So if you're a
young person who's predisposed to the
Internet and likes the band, it's a good
way of getting to actually meet like-
minded people face-to-face."
 "It's really about people from all over
the world who trust each other," adds
Katrina. "If you say, 'I want to come over to stay',
you'll be put up. It's a friends for life thing. If you
say you're a Belle And Sebastian fan, people
presume that everything else is
similar too."
 "We're all very sad," adds
David. "But we don't care!"

THE BAND'S FAMOUSLY TACI-
TURN habits do appear to have
rubbed off onto their fans.
There's anything but unanimity
even over the wisdom of tonight's
fan convention, with some Net
postings fearing wallflowers-look-
ing-lost scenes reminiscent of '80s
Smiths nights. Alistair, meanwhile, is not attend-
ing the Bowlie Weekender. "I just don't like the
idea of festivals," he says. "I'm not very social.'
And, in connection with this article, the
Sinister mailing list founder, Honey,
says he's "not sure whether I want it publicised
so much as we're a very special tidy little
community!"
 Such awkwardness hints at the whole cult's
current precarious position. According to Andy
Parley, "It is a contradiction. You feel like you're
part of a really select, minority thing. But at the
same time there's a lot of us now. It's like any.
thing, really, when it turns big."
 Maybe this bubble-like community ha~
become about as big as it can get withoul
bursting. There's already signs that a breakawa~
'knew them in the beginning/prefer their old
stuff' movement is rearing its head and, assum-
ing that the group carries on widening it~
musical remit, those who think of Belle And
Sebastian as Their Group could feel increasingl~
marginalised by any forthcoming Brits~
enhanced success. Which, of course, only adds
fittingly melancholic edge to the night's
valedictory celebrations.
 That said, the cult's highpoint is still to arrive
The Bowlie Weekender promises to be a feast oi
chalet-based frolics. That is if everyone behave~
themselves and follows such tips as these fron
the official website: "Bring some pyjamas - aftei
all, most of you are sharing your chalet witi?
people you only loosely know," and "If you'n
driving, check the weather before you leave ant
make sure that you stop off for short break~
during your journey." Above all, however, yoi.
should, "Make sure you've booked the Monda)
off work so you won't get into trouble when yol.
don't turn up."
 It would, after all, be the nice and thoughtfu
thing to do. ^Õ
3d SELECT

+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
   +---+  Brought to you by the reborn Sinister mailing list  +---+
  To send to the list mail "sinister at majordomo.net". To unsubscribe
   send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to
  "majordomo at majordomo.net".  WWW: http://www.majordomo.net/sinister
 +-+  "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" "tech-heads and students" +-+
 +-+  "the cardie wearing biscuit nibbling belle & sebastian list" +-+
 +-+     "nambling pambling rice pudding & crochet holiday camp    +-+
 +-+                   gangwanking whimsy-thon"                    +-+
+----------------------------------------------------------------------+