BLOGGER: charles s bravo
LOCATION: scottish borders
BAND: vacuum spasm babies
LABEL: shark batter records
Kono Michi gig and drummer update
Vacuum Spasm Babies went to see Kono Michi play at Henry’s Cellar Bar in Edinburgh a couple of weeks ago, a great little venue, which as well as hosting the show and giving us the chance to hear Kono Michi live, also acted as a venue for a kind of twisted and accidental convention attended by some of the most creative people I’ve know over the past 20 years.
Some time in the early 1990’s a few guys were playing together in a local band that were actually quite good, a rare thing in the Scottish Borders then. At the same time I was playing records and demos from bands I knew on a local radio station, including those guys, and not long after that a few more people came together to launch a fanzine that eventually mutated into the now cult Scottish publication Sun Zoom Spark. Most of the people who made this amazing and unlikely publication happen were at Henry’s on this night.
The timeline and rock family tree that links the people around Sun Zoom Spark magazine to Sharkbatter Records and then Kono Michi is vast and impossible to record, but this is a starting point.
Simian, Small and Pringle were Crunchy Joseph, Simian, Small, Pringle and Vickers were lots of things and then Dawn of The Replicants. Simian and Vickers were Pluto Monkey, Simian and Jack are the Stark Palace, Small and McAndrew and others are the Stone Ghost Collective, Vickers joined The Leg at the hip, me plus one make Vacuum Spasm Babies. Most of them were Sun Zoom Spark, Small, McAndrew, Jack and Simian run Sharkbatter Records now, many record and release records for the label, and on this night Michi Wiancko brought them all together. Kirk and Coyle were also present, with many others from our neck of the woods who’d played a part. Aitken and McNiven currently overseas were present, at least in our minds.
An amazing show, with Small, Simian, Jack and Coyle backing Michi through a complex and staggeringly impressive range of songs, hell even the man from The Scotsman was impressed. The night was made even better by the chance to catch up with a lot people who I just don’t see enough of, including the previously mentioned Pringle, not just a fine artist, but a superb drummer, who I think we have successfully managed to recruit into the Vacuum Spasm Babies live band, for a short time at least. With Simian and Jack my brother and I have been putting together a live set, with songs from our album Whipping Clowns, and some new songs. The prospect of playing with drums on a backing track isn’t a fun one, and leaves us vulnerable to all kinds of on stage embarrassments, but with a drummer of the calibre of Pringle in the band, there’s less to panic about. All we need to do now is find a rehearsal space where 5 people from 5 different parts of the country can get to without too much trouble.
LOCATION: scottish borders
BAND: vacuum spasm babies
LABEL: shark batter records
Kono Michi gig and drummer update
Vacuum Spasm Babies went to see Kono Michi play at Henry’s Cellar Bar in Edinburgh a couple of weeks ago, a great little venue, which as well as hosting the show and giving us the chance to hear Kono Michi live, also acted as a venue for a kind of twisted and accidental convention attended by some of the most creative people I’ve know over the past 20 years.
Some time in the early 1990’s a few guys were playing together in a local band that were actually quite good, a rare thing in the Scottish Borders then. At the same time I was playing records and demos from bands I knew on a local radio station, including those guys, and not long after that a few more people came together to launch a fanzine that eventually mutated into the now cult Scottish publication Sun Zoom Spark. Most of the people who made this amazing and unlikely publication happen were at Henry’s on this night.
The timeline and rock family tree that links the people around Sun Zoom Spark magazine to Sharkbatter Records and then Kono Michi is vast and impossible to record, but this is a starting point.
Simian, Small and Pringle were Crunchy Joseph, Simian, Small, Pringle and Vickers were lots of things and then Dawn of The Replicants. Simian and Vickers were Pluto Monkey, Simian and Jack are the Stark Palace, Small and McAndrew and others are the Stone Ghost Collective, Vickers joined The Leg at the hip, me plus one make Vacuum Spasm Babies. Most of them were Sun Zoom Spark, Small, McAndrew, Jack and Simian run Sharkbatter Records now, many record and release records for the label, and on this night Michi Wiancko brought them all together. Kirk and Coyle were also present, with many others from our neck of the woods who’d played a part. Aitken and McNiven currently overseas were present, at least in our minds.
An amazing show, with Small, Simian, Jack and Coyle backing Michi through a complex and staggeringly impressive range of songs, hell even the man from The Scotsman was impressed. The night was made even better by the chance to catch up with a lot people who I just don’t see enough of, including the previously mentioned Pringle, not just a fine artist, but a superb drummer, who I think we have successfully managed to recruit into the Vacuum Spasm Babies live band, for a short time at least. With Simian and Jack my brother and I have been putting together a live set, with songs from our album Whipping Clowns, and some new songs. The prospect of playing with drums on a backing track isn’t a fun one, and leaves us vulnerable to all kinds of on stage embarrassments, but with a drummer of the calibre of Pringle in the band, there’s less to panic about. All we need to do now is find a rehearsal space where 5 people from 5 different parts of the country can get to without too much trouble.
