Spike's Space

I first started writing with Alison Statton in the summer of 1981. That material ended up on Weekend recordings.

Following Weekend, we both ended up back in Cardiff. We assumed it would be fairly easy to get our next record deal but we were wrong. In fairness, we didn't try that hard. Neither of us ever had (or wanted) a manager and I was no businessman. We recorded a rough demo (though no rougher than Weekend's) that included the track Tidal Blues and when that was rejected, I guess I must have thought 'sod it'. I was back in Splott and, ever the anarchist, decided I really didn't like record companies at all, even so called 'independent' record companies. I set up Bomb & Dagger with Debbie Debris (Alison and Phil Moxham were in the original line up) and did that for the next 6 years.

I don't know why Alison and I didn't get any music done over that 6 years - my life did get exceedingly and time-consumingly complicated in the very incestuous Cardiff scene in the early 80s... Oh, when I think of the complex inter-weaving of the various relationships and affairs of those days... it really makes me blush.

Anyway, it took me moving to London to get the ball moving again. A visit to Geoff Travis, founder of Rough Trade, got us the funds to record another demo, ostensibly for Blanco Y Negro. We recorded the demo in 1991 in Tony Dallas' studio in Cardiff. This later became Weekend In Wales EP, released by Vinyl Japan in 1993. They also commissioned an album, Tidal Blues, which was recorded at home and released in 1994. We played concerts in London (Jazz Cafe), Tokyo (Shinjuku Loft) and Osaka to promote the album.

Here, things got complicated (again). I got involved with Louis Philippe through Stuart Moxham. Louis was at the first Weekend concert in Europe, in the Bains Douches, Paris, 1982. I ended up playing in his band and doing a studio session for a project he was working on with a novice Moroccan singer, Leila Amezian. The album, Initial, had been commissioned by a Belgian label, Pretty Inside. The label approached me about a possible experimental album with Alison, we agreed, money was exchanged. Alison and I produced a handful of recordings which were, in my opinion, the best we've done to date. Typically, the record company had their own 'creative' ideas which Alison and I found utterly baffling. We started using some very odd recording techniques that involved none of the musicians meeting or playing together. To complicate matters further, my indie/folk/punk band, Blackwood, was just starting to cause a bit of a stir.

We decide to sell the small heap of rejected off-cuts from the Belgian project to Vinyl Japan - the material was experimental and still in a chaotic state when they bought it - none of us knew how it would turn out. It was quite amusing, presenting the assembled jigsaw to the contributors who had heard nothing but strange, sketchy snippets of backing tracks. I guess, for a singer, especially, it must have been weird. In many cases, Alison didn't hear how her voice fitted with the rest of the music until I'd mixed the trakcs. The album, The Shady Tree was released in 1997.

We played concerts in Chapter Atrs Centre, Cardiff and The Jazz Cafe, Camden Town, to promote the album. The latter was a real marathon for me - Alison and I (joined by Rachel Byrt, Andrew & Phil Moxham, Lol Coxhil, Harry Beckett and Carlos Gonzales) shared the bill with Blackwood and Louis Philippe so I was playing in every line-up. Within a couple of weeks of this gig, the Blackwood vocalist, Liam McKahey, announced that he was quitting the band to focus on his other project, Cousteau. I was gutted. I'd decide that this band was going to be my last attempt at continuing a mediocre musical career. I didn't play another gig for 10 years.

I recently made a guest appearance with Simon Charterton and his band Nitwood in October. Check his site on myspace for details. Dates are being scheduled for more gigs in London and a new album.

PS Since deciding to re-launch Z Block records, things have taken a number of interesting twists. My debut solo album will be released on Z Block under the name 'Evocoteur' hopefully later this year. I am currently mastering recordings of a Live Alison Statton & Spike gig from the Jazz Cafe (circa 1997), a Bomb & Dagger CD, The Pepper Trees plus a collection of material for a Z Block compilation. Check the Z Block Records site for details.

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