FEBRUARY/MARCH 2020 ISSUE#9

THE JESUS FAIRIES RARE INTERVIEW INSIDE COMEDY IN WHAT’S THE PROBLEM? LARRY LIVERMORE THE BIGGER PICTURE JOE GIBB BEEN THERE, DONE THAT

SWANSEA’S PSYCHEDELIC HEART Hobos Swansea A4 Advert.qxp_Layout 1 21/09/2018 13:37 Page 1

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hobo's Swansea hobos_swansea SOUNDBOARD MAGAZINE • ISSUE 9 • FEBRUARY/MARCH 2020 INSIDE... THE LOAD-IN...... 4

QUICK INTERVIEW – THE JESUS FAIRIES ...... 5

RISING STARS – GG FEARN...... 5

THE BIG READ – JOE GIBB ...... 7

CLASSIC WELSH ALBUM – BADFINGER . . . . . 10

ARTIST IN RESIDENCE – JANE SIMPSON. . . . . 11 COMEDY...... 12 SOUNDWIRE COVER STORY – SOUNDWIRE ...... 14 PAGE 14 JACK SOUNDS...... 16 RECORD REVIEWS...... 18 Here are some of the places where you can pick up your copy: LIVE REVIEWS ...... 21 Derrick’s Music Square Peg Copper Bar NIGE ...... 22 Psicon Music Viva La Frida Noah’s Sin City Hen Dderwen Swansea Print Shop OH PEDRO ...... 22 Cinema & Co. Cadno Music Hoogah’s STUDENT LIFE...... 23 Nat.Waterfront Museum Elysium bar The Bunkhouse Hobo’s The Garage Records GIG GUIDE – FEBRUARY & MARCH...... 24 Cover To Cover Uplands Tavern The Brunswick PSSSSTT!!! ...... 25 If you would like to consider supporting us by advertising, and stocking the magazine (you’ll get lots of people come to your place looking for it), CLOSE TO HOME – SWANSEA ON TOUR ...... 26 please contact [email protected].

THE BIGGER PICTURE – LARRY LIVERMORE. . . . 27 ISSUE #10 ADVERTISING DEADLINE: ADVERTISING ROBOSCOPES...... 30 13TH MARCH 2020 @SOUNDBOARDMAGAZINE THE LOAD-OUT ...... 31 FOR PUBLICATION: APRIL 1ST .CO.UK

FEBRUARY/MARCH 2020 ISSUE#9 PUBLISHED BY EDITORIAL CONTRIBUTORS If you would like to stock SOUNDBOARD MAGAZINE LTD & REVIEWERS SOUNDBOARD MAGAZINE 28 Rosehill Terrace, Swansea SA1 6JN Flipsy McCaw / Sarah Birch, Joel Morgan, please get in touch . Graham Morse, Jack Sounds, Tansy Rees, CO-EDITORS Rosie Scribblah, Keith Williams, No part of this magazine may be repro- Damian Harris, Paul Dennis, duced in any form without the written FLIPSY MCCAW,

PAUL GRACE : PAUL Zachary Aaron, Rob Nelmes, permission of the Editorial Team . Personal JOEL MORGAN, Natalie O’Shea, Mike Kennedy . views expressed in SOUNDBOARD are not nec- GRAHAM MORSE essarily those of the publisher . Whilst every PHOTOGRAPHY care is taken, we cannot take responsibility editor@soundboardmagazine .co uk. for unsolicited manuscripts or photographs, THE JESUS FAIRIES Paul Grace, RARE INTERVIEW INSIDE or the late appearance of any bass player . COMEDY IN SWANSEA Helen Louise Banham, WHAT’S THE PROBLEM? LARRY LIVERMORE THE BIGGER PICTURE DESIGN & SUB EDITING Graham Morse, Shutterstock JOE GIBB © 2020 SOUNDBOARD MAGAZINE LTD BEEN THERE, DONE THAT GRAHAM MORSE design@soundboardmagazine co. .uk ADVERTISING advertising@ soundboardmagazine .co .uk SWANSEA’S PSYCHEDELIC HEART CHIEF CULTURAL CORRESPONDENT JACK SOUNDS ORIGINAL COVER PHOTOGRAPHY

WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND? THINK YOU CAN DO BETTER? SoundBoardMagazineUK We want to hear from you. Send us your submissions. Email us. Please and thank you. [email protected] THE LOAD-IN SOUNDBOARD • FEBRUARY/MARCH 2020

AS WE PLUNGE HEADLONG INTO THE INKY DEPTHS OF A NEW DECADE, OUR HEADS HELD UP HIGH AND OUR SPIRITS SINGING SLICES OF UNHOLY HYMNALS: THE CHRISTMAS HANGOVER IS LONG FORGOTTEN, THE DECADE IS FRESH (WE’RE IN THE ‘20S FOLKS), HUMANITY IS STILL HERE AND IT APPEARS THAT YOU ARE COMING ALONG FOR THE RIDE. WELCOME TO SOUNDBOARD MAGAZINE ISSUE #9

GREETINGS AND SALUTATIONS, DEAR FRIENDS AND So here we are, twenty-odd years on from the last sav- NEIGHBOURS! FIRSTLY, LET ME TAKE THIS OPPORTU- age incursion of Welsh art and culture into the howling NITY TO WISH A HAPPY, PEACEFUL AND PROSPEROUS morass of the mainstream, we’re still here (yma o hyd) NEW YEAR TO EVERY SINGLE ONE OF OUR READERS, still banging the drum (er gwaetha pawb a phopeth) for a ADVERTISERS, DOUBTERS, CRITICS, DEFENDERS AND truth that we still hold to be self-evident: that there really CHEERLEADERS; without your continued motivating ac- is a whole lot of marvellous stuff going on round here, tions and support, we’d very probably just disappear in a mind. You should wade in with an open mind and both puff of smoke (“Poof! Et voila!” – SBM French Interjections feet facing forward. Dept.) leaving behind only confusing memories, a nagging This issue we’ve an extensive (and, probably, quite dis- sense of loss and the faint aroma of burnt toast. So, you cursive) interview with sonic magician, studio-whisperer know, keep it up. and all-round production guru, Joe Gibb; a cheerful and We’d also like to say a great, big Soundboard hello to our approachable man whose many and varied production growing, rabid and relentlessly expansionist internation- credits include gigs working with Catatonia, Funeral For al following: without your positive energy, bags of loose A Friend, Leftfield and some chancer called ‘David Bowie’, change and gifts of preserved fruits, some of us might nev- conducted with gentle insistence by our very own Sarah er have had a Christmas at all. Gods bless you, Henrik, you Birch. Happily, to compliment this journalistic and cul- fine and noble man; we only hope that you and Claudia tural coup (that probably cost us no less than three, whole find your way back to the hidden forest soon; little Klaus beers) another of our writers and righteous outliers, Da- must be missing you, and the kingdom won’t survive for mian Harris, came out of nowhere with an interview he’d much longer without the Crystals of Power. grabbed with another musician/producer/journalist of in- Yes, folks, after that brief foray into the usual absurdities ternational renown, Larry Livermore, who is perhaps one (this time fuelled by waking up from a feverish cheese- of the most qualified people in the world to talk to about dream and swallowing down with a whole pot of coffee in music scenes, having signed and been right one bitter, jittery swoop before 7am) let’s get this ship back there in the eye of the hurricane when the Berkeley/Gil- on course, because we really haven’t any time to waste. It’s man Street punk scene went supernova in the early 90’s. that time again, you see, when they’ve asked me if I want Yes, so we sorted all that business out, and then we add- to write the editorial, and I’ve lied and said: “Why yes, of ed all the usual pieces of the SoundBoard smorgasboard to course; I’d love to.”, and then time passes, and they ask me the table, mixed in a few secret herbs and illicit spices, lit how it’s going, and I lie again and say: “Swimmingly! All on the fuse and stood well back. And, yes, the next few min- time and all in line.” utes were a very crowded time, folks. When the echoes And then even more time passes, and the voices grow had faded away, and we could see clearly again through clamorous and become a multitude, and eventually even the clouds of billowing smoke, I stood up, shielded my my missus gets in on the act, and then one of the team eyes and caught a fleeting glimpse of what appeared to be (amicably) quits (for pastures new) about two weeks before the tail of a sonic boom, rippling across the rolling waters the deadline, and I SHALL OF COURSE PREVAIL. What do of Swansea bay, heading straight for the Devon coast and you think you’re reading now? A damned shopping list? making a sound like a swarm of angry pterodactyls. No, ‘seurs et ‘dames, this is quality (impressionistic) jour- For that reason I’d like to dedicate this issue to the mem- nalism. Accept no substitute, and disregard the latecomers ory of our collective eyebrows, and to end this editorial and the bandwagon-jumpers; after all, it’s easy to criticise with a heartfelt apology to the people of Ilfracombe, both the blazers of a trail from the comfort of your own home, for the sonic boom and also for that time on The Waverley but as soon as you get on that ol’ road you’re going to be in 2006. Swansea loves you. JM swallowing dust.

SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL SCENE, AND HELP US TO KEEP PRODUCING SOUNDBOARD MAGAZINE. ADVERTISE YOUR music / gig / shop / venue HERE [email protected]

4 QUICK INTERVIEW SOUNDBOARD • FEBRUARY/MARCH 2020

RISING THE STARS JESUS IIIII FAIRIES MIKE KENNEDY CAUGHT UP WITH STARMAN FROM THE JESUS FAIRIES AHEAD OF THEIR FIRST RELEASE OF STUDIO MATERIAL IN 15 YEARS. IN THIS RARE INTERVIEW THERE ARE HINTS OF MORE MUSIC TO COME AND MAYBE A TOUR FROM THE JESUS FAIRIES’ ONLY WELSH MEMBER. MK So where have you been recently? involved in the Mahatma Cort cult GG S Well, after the last German tour, thing. It went a bit weird for a while. some of us decided to stay near Ber- But we recovered. lin, it’s an amazingly creative place, MK Tell me about your new music. FEARN and hang out with some arty types S It’s really pushing things, but then and musicians, and experiment and wouldn’t you expect that from us? WHILST SEARCHING THE INTER- record. We do a few small gigs, but Pushing boundaries. That’s what we NET AND TRYING TO KEEP MY don’t want to advertise them particu- like to do. People never know what to EAR TO THE GROUND (TRICKY larly. They are intimate, experimental expect. We might be doing Singing in WHEN YOU’RE TALL) I CAME happening’s. Great fun. the Rain or something. We’re not, by ACROSS A YOUNG SINGER WHO: MK Is Joy still in the band? the way. But prepare to be shocked to 1. Impressed me with catchy, S Oh, yes. But she spends a lot of time the bottom of your bottom. interesting (and very now) songs. in California. She has a bloke and a We’ve tried to talk about the nature 2. Anyone who’s under 16 and dog. But she’s always in contact, and of time and human presence in this into the Billy Eilish’s of this world we have some cool ideas for the future. latest work. There’s no real ‘songs’ as may like. Alt pop it’s called. MK Are you planning to play in the such, just a kind of flow of things fea- I was also very much taken UK, or even soon? turing J Edna Mae & Toshani Doshi. with the influences that she writes S Yes, we have some things lined up. Some of us have been reading Henri about, not so distant from my very We’ll let you know what’s what. Bergson, he said that reality was better own musically (Eagles, Fleetwood MK Where’s your music heading? expressed in melody than in words. I Mac). See how good music stands S We always loved the naivety and think he was right. the test of time and inspires gen- expression of the 60s and 70s and al- MK Who’s your biggest influence? erations? Good innit? ways tried to emulate that. I think it’s S Apart from the spiritual leaders I’ve With no time to get a hold of only recently that we’ve come close. had in the past, musically, the usual. her I pilfered a bit from her online They were genius days, the 60s and You know, The Beatles, David Bowie, biography just to give you a bit of 70s. I suppose after the Second World Joni Mitchell and the Canadian Bruce info and a vibe: War, the world needed a bit of a break. Cockburn is a genius. All the greats. “GG is a 19 year old singer-song- MK So thinking back to your heyday... If I can get in any way close to these, writer from . She first S Heyday! Our best days are yet to come. then I will die a happy bunny. I insist began to write songs when she was MK What were your favourite gigs? on poetry in the songs, and the greats nine and has developed this talent to S Well, working with Frank Zappa had poetry, and a lot more, in their create a welcome bag of catchy pop was cool, and hanging around that songs. It’s amazing to see songs with hints of folk, indie, and whole American psycho-under- mature into a ‘proper’ artform. alternative hip hop”. ground thing was amazing. Playing MK What’s your favourite colour? With her EP Black Mirror avail- The Village in New York was awe- S Pink. able for streaming, she has played some. We had some great times with MK Who, out of all of history, would around the UK, most memorably the New York dudes. you like to sit down to a meal with? at the famous Cavern in Liverpool. And then we did some stuff on the S I would like to sit down with some- GG also enjoys modern alt. West Coast. We just loved the San one who would pay the bill. pop artists like Melanie Martinez Fran scene. Mind expanding. MK Where do you see yourself in five and Marina and the Diamonds. The album that really set us apart years’ time? Her shebang of dark pop delights in those days was Infinite GoGo. We S This sounds like a job interview. Oh, is original and fresh without the did this with David Byrne during I don’t know, in a nursing home, but shackles of expectation. our time in San Francisco. It was a rocking the place silly! I think you’ll like it. FM time I think when we blended so well, musically and spiritually, that The Two Chairs / Dwy Gadair EP will www.georgiafearnmusic.co.uk we kinda sounded like the same be released on SWND in March and and you can also find her on all those person. Like the same entity, you will be available on-line and from all social medias know? That’s when some of us got good record shops.

5

THE BIG READ SOUNDBOARD • FEBRUARY/MARCH 2020 BEEN THERE, DONE THAT, GOT THE T-SHIRT. THE CAREER OF JOE GIBB Part One, by Flipsy McCaw Joe Gibb is a formidable music producer, originally from Newport, currently residing in our fair city of Swansea . With an engineering and producing career from the eighties to the current day, Joe has worked with some of the very biggest names in music, including many Welsh bands, some more local than you’d think . He has worked in some of the most respected studios such as Rockfield, Konk, The Astoria (Dave Gilmore’s studio on a boat in Hampton Court) and of course closer to home Mwnci and Monnow Valley . There are not enough words or space in the next five editions of the magazine to truly depict the life and career of this man . I bring forth a mere slice of some of the stories he offered up to me when I met with him recently .

JOE WAS BORN IN NEWPORT, ENDED of a sudden this guy Chris Pete was our did some great stuff but we never made any UP IN SCHOOL IN WATFORD, BEFORE manager and we were recording in all sorts money and the drummer was like ‘I really RETURNING TO SCHOOL IN CWM- different places.” think I should get a job’ and I think that BRAN; GROWING UP IN THE 60’S “We were no longer ‘The Bank Clerks’ was the vibe. I was 25 at the time.” WITH HIS SISTER AND PARENTS WHO then, we’d changed our name to ‘The Re- LISTENED TO MUSIC A LOT. freshers’ – what a stupid fucking name – *** “My dad used to come home from work where we started trying to be more commer- put on his slippers, smoke a pipe and listen cial. Live the dream and become famous, “We were all pretty lost; well I felt pretty to classical musical and military march- you know; The streets are paved lost. The band had split up but we’d moved ing bands on an old Pye Black Box (record with gold!” to London and I loved living in London but player). What that instilled in me from an “We put an advert out for another singer I had no job, no focus but I knew, I knew I early age was a sense of rhythm and mu- and Denise (Dennis) ended up joining. She loved studios and I knew I loved recording sicality.” Joe learnt the trumpet and in looked like ‘The Bangles.’” so I thought I’d better get a job too.” about 1975 at the age of 15 he was asked [Lap top comes out to prove the state- “I got the phone book out and I started at to join a band. ment. She does]. ‘A’. Of course back then there was no emails “So I bunked off to the Earlbury Hall “She was really well connected, her boy- or mobile phones so I wrote letters and for a rehearsal and I ended up joining. We friend was the drummer in ‘’, made phone calls; I went to the phone box, called ourselves ‘The Bank Clerks.’ So it’s remember them?” pushed 2p into the slot and phoned every- about 1976, this is the beginnings of punk [Flipsy is none the wiser. Joe starts to one. I had The Studio Directory of London, and I joined this band, we were like a punk sing ‘Swords of a thousand men’. This it listed all the studios and I went through band. We were into Eric Von Daniken, he occurs a lot throughout the interview]. them all, it took me weeks. I eventually got wrote about god being an astronaut, you “No? Anyway, her mate was a guy called to ‘F’ and ended up getting an interview at know ‘The Chariots of the gods’. We used Joss Holloway and he became our manager a place called ‘Falconer’ in Camden where to do gigs around Newport and and we decided then to change our name to I got the job.” and about 1979 somebody said – and I re- ‘Yes Lets!’ – a stupider fucking name – and “I soon realised that my dream of work- member it like it was yesterday – that we we ended up with a publishing deal with ing in a studio was a bit shit because they should move to London. Within 24 hours Virgin, signed to and toured got me sitting around and cleaning toilets. we were living in London. It was that easy. with Level 42. It was Mint.” However, I’d also got to ‘K’ and I found this I think we knew we’d exhausted all avenues “We decided to do an album and got sent place called ‘KONK’ where I was offered an in Newport and Cardiff and I had a friend to the studio with a producer called Steve interview. The studio Manager didn’t want who lived in Swiss Cottage. It was so much Hillage, guitarist with seminal space fusion to give me a job but the engineer there liked easier then to just go up and just sign on. band ‘Gong’ amongst others. We turned me and I knew one of the producers working We just rocked up you know like that song up to the studio one day though and Steve downstairs who put in a good word for me. I UB40 by…what are they called? [We rack Hillage turned up and he said ‘we’d better got the job. This is the heyday of the 80’s re- our brains] It was the early 80’s. It was go for a cup of tea lads, we’ll have a chat’. ally, about 1986. What I didn’t know was fucking brilliant!” So we’re in the cafe next door to the studio. this was The Kinks’ Studio. “We ended up being quite well connected. ‘I’m really sorry he said, we can’t record to- “So I start my first day and I’m told that We met somebody who knew this guy called day because I haven’t been paid and I think we’ll be working in the SSL room (Solid Bill Gill who was a recording engineer and there’s trouble at the . The re- State Logic) with its huge mixing desk that he used get us free time in ‘Olympic’ Stu- cord label had gone bust, so our album was weekend. I had to go and read the book on dios in Barnes. It’s no longer there. It was shelved. We were left high and dry, they how to use it, real fucking quick, for a band like Abbey Road, it’s where they did all pulled the plug on it. There was no home called Jesus Jones.” The Rolling Stones records; they did loads recording, we weren’t doing it ourselves, you SSL was as big as the fucking room and of stuff. We got free recording time, I don’t relied on the studios. This was about 1985. was what you used to mix on. It had a com- know how really, it was mates of mates. Anyway that was the last straw because puter in it, it had automation so you could Then we ended up knowing this guy from we’d had a couple of knock backs before move or fade and it would remember it. This Wales who knew this other guy called Chris and been promised stuff that never hap- is way before Pro Tools and before computers Pete who worked at Chrysalis Records. All pened. We also never made any money. We and plug-ins. When you were doing a mix

7 THE BIG READ

everybody was there doing their bit in the “Next day set them up, start recording. ble, we had to break them with a hammer, mix and putting the faders up and down, but Perry Farrell, who is a really nice guy, is smash them up in front of her to prove that this desk would remember it. It was really about to do vocals and he’s got this really we’d done it.” high end. They’re still going today.” shitty mic, mangled up cables, in a bag. It’s “It was after a couple of days actually I emptied out on the table, all coiled up shit *** found out it was the Kinks’ studio. So you attached to a pedal and this Yamaha ef- imagine now, They’re coming every couple fects thing. He’s like ‘see man this is what The Bee Gees wanted a mix of ‘You Should of days because they’re still on tour in Eu- I use’. I set him up with the really pukka Be Dancing’ [Obvious Bee Gees impres- rope and America. They are setting up in studio mics instead but it’s not happening, sion]. They sent the tape the day before ‘cos the big recording room and I have to mic he can’t deal with it and can’t get the vibe this American producer guy called Bruce them up and record their rehearsal. They’re on it. So he says: ‘I really wanna use my Forrest was coming in to do the mix. He was doing ‘You really got me’, ‘Ape Man’ and mic man’, so I set it up for him and all of a a wanker really. I’ve got the tape, I’ve had ‘Lola’, ‘Thank You For The Days’, all the sudden, he starts to sing through this pedal. no sleep for like, three years and its covered hits. It was great.” This pedal, with a curly lead and the battery in dust. Tapes are always stored tail out so “Also because it was such a good studio hanging out of it and it sounds amazing.” when you put them on you have to rewind and it was commercial, you’d have bands them and the reason they’re stored tail out like Depeche Mode coming in to record, *** is to stop print through. It’s its all a lost art Erasure, erm fucking David Cassidy! Re- really, and this is what I grew up learning member him? All he wanted to do was bet “Michael Jackson was an interesting ses- and knowing about. I put this tape on the on the horses. He’d spend all afternoon on sion. We mixed the Michael Jackson Wem- machine and start to rewind it and it starts Racing, looking at the horses. I bley Concert, Bad tour, the audio for the to fly apart in the air, it’s what’s called shed- recorded fucking everybody. Lisa Stansfield, video. It was just another days work hon- ding, all bits of iron oxide and shit so I had [sings ‘been around the world and I, I estly. The opening track was ‘You wanna to rewind it and send it off to be baked. ,I…] but at the time it was just like, oh, just be starting something’ [Joe singing again] You’ve got a Bee Gees tape with ‘You Should another session.” Be Dancing’ on “I had no time I think I’m really lucky because I was born in the 60’s. being baked in an off either. It was oven.” so busy in those I remember the moon landing, we had a day off school. I “Two days later days in the studio, “ they sent a copy remember the newspapers coming out in colour, I was there I worked fucking of the tape back seven days a week, for the 70’s, I was there for disco, I remember disco, I used and we started to I worked at eleven to love disco; I remember Michael Jackson’s albums coming do this mix and in the morning ‘til we did it but at four in the morn- out and dancing at the clubs drinking cider. I was there for the end of every ing for weeks on punk, and I was there for the beginning of the 80’s and the session at night end, for months.” when Bruce had When I went New Romantics. I was in London with Spandau’ and fucking gone home I had to freelance, some of Depeche Mode, I was there for The Prodigy, the 90’s, 2000’s. write down every the other studios, box in the studio, fuck, I got really I’ve been there for all those different genres and saw real where the leads fucked up. Like changes. I was there. I think I was really lucky. were plugged in, when I was work- where the knobs ing with Leftfield [Platinum Disc] we used and that track starts with a Moog doing were. On a computer you’d just press save to start at lunchtime. They’d wander in and the bass line. In between the sound check and go back” to it in the morning but not so you might start work at about four o’ clock and the gig the synthesiser had gone flat, back then. It took two hours to do it, write it in the afternoon. By about midnight they because Moogs used to go out of tune. No all on a big sheet and that would be called might have started to warm up. I used to computers, there’s no plug ins, there’s no the recall. But at the end of that session I come out of there at about eight in the morn- auto tune, it hadn’t been invented, so they was too knackered and I thought fuck I cant ing, in the summer to London rush hour. It hired this thing called an AMS Audio File. do it, I just want to go home, he’s never go- was like, fuck! What the fuck! I was a walk- It’s this gigantic thing that cost hundreds ing to come back, it’s sounding great, he ing zombie. I was stressed, I was anxious. It of pounds to hire. They wheeled it in, and wont recall it.” ruined my relationship.” recorded the Moog part into this machine. It “Another two days later: ‘Bruce is coming looked like a Dr Who set accessory and we on Friday he wants the recall of the sessions. I have only been sitting with Joe for an spent all day fucking about with it, trying He wants to make an adjustment’, I’m like hour and he’s already name dropped a to pitch it up and stretch it. Because you oh my fucking God! So Friday comes, I’m million people that you’d like to meet could pitch stuff up but it would be out of there in the morning, spliff, coffee. I can or work with. It’s impossible to prioritise time and then fly it back in, it took all day. just about remember how things were but it here which are more worthy of being told. Now you press a few buttons and it’s done.” sounds like a mess and I’m bluffing it, I’m That evening I’m in the studio. Every- blagging it. Then my heart starts going. It’s “Anyway, one day, Sarah Lockwood, Konk one’s gone home and I’m there with the not going well and he starts freaking ‘cos studio manager, said there’s this band com- Michael Jackson tapes from fucking Wem- it doesn’t sound the same, it sounds like a ing in from America, they’re going to arrive bley so I’m like, I’m going to get some sam- bag of monkeys peanuts and I start having at lunchtime. Can you let them in, set them ples. [Another impression ensues]. All a panic attack and I don’t come down from up and then we’re going to start recording his fucking vocal shit. The other engineer this panic attack for about six months.” Monday or whatever. I’d never heard of comes in we start nicking bits off the multi I got really ill and the only person them. I’m sat there at about one o’clock on a track. Two days later studio manageress who saw my side of the story and took Sunday waiting for ‘Janes Addiction’ to turn Sarah Lockwood gets wind that we’ve got pity on me was Ray Davies, of The Kinks. up and they don’t fucking show. Five o’clock digital audio tape of Michael Jackson’s vo- no show, Seven o’clock no show. I wait til cals and she fucking went mental. ‘Do you *** one in the morning for these fuckers. Even- know what will happen if they find out tually they arrive at one in the morning from we’ve been nicking his vocals, they’ll put us “I worked at Konk til about 1989, 1990. I Heathrow. ‘Hey man, may name is Perry, out of business!’, so we had to break up the used to work a lot with a guy called Mark how you doing? [Joe does an impression]. tapes in front of her face on the office ta- Saunders, he used to come in and doing a

8 SOUNDBOARD • FEBRUARY/MARCH 2020

lot of Depeche Mode, Erasure and the Cure. off and done on my own which I didn’t do, could have done my own thing but because He used to like me so he would ask to work mainly because I was booked to do some- I was doing a lot of stuff with TommyD, he with me when he came into the studio and thing else with TommyD and be somebody was only booking me when he was working. in the end he persuaded me to go freelance else’s…what’s the word… [I offer up the I do feel like TommyD kind of used me, used with him and leave the studio. The first word ‘assistant’]...er bitch.” Oh. my talents if you like, because he wasn’t album that we did together was with Ian “In about 1993 I started working with an engineer. He was a good producer but he McCulloch from Echo and the Bunnymen.” Leftfield a lot. I ended up doing the Leftfield wasn’t an engineer and so when he wasn’t “I had been on really good money but album and then in 1993 on the 20th June working, I wasn’t working. It got to the point going freelance in those days money was we want do this track with John Lydon, in 2000 where he wasn’t working anymore better. In those days I was on about £300 a which was ‘Open Up’. [sings] I On that oc- really at all and I ended up working for a day. It was a fucking lot of money. I didn’t casion couldn’t do it because my mrs had company in town selling gear for studios.” have time to spend it. I saved up enough to just had a baby. They mixed that record on “They thought I’d be good because I knew buy a house. It’s different now of course.” the day my son was born. They got some- what I was talking about – which I did – “So we did Ian McCulloch’s solo album one else to do that and they’ve been working but I wasn’t very good at lying and telling and then went to Herefordshire to work with him ever since.” customers they should buy ‘this’ because we worth The Mission. They were massive.” The album that Joe was involved with sell it. Instead I’d be like go and buy ‘that’ however went platinum, recorded at a because it’s better… but we don’t sell it.” We have a goth conversation for a bit, we studio in Kilburn. We digress and dis- “What had started of course was the in- Google stuff, we go through the list of cuss our mutual haunts in north Lon- ternet; online sales, and we were being un- people on his website that Joe has worked don around the same period. dercut and the company went bust about a with. There is much exclaiming and year later. Whilst I was there I met a guy WTF’s. I ask him about Bootsy Collins. *** who was selling gear to a fella in Swansea

“Bootsa Bubba. He was nuts! He must have Joe’s work with Welsh songsters Cata- who was setting up a studio and they said been about 70. He turns up to the studio tonia may me more well known to our talk to him, you’re one of them.” with his wife, he’s got this bass, this star- local readers. shaped bass, fucking hell! It had four jack “The outstanding thing about Catatonia Which leads us to the next chapter in plugs into a pedal board four times the size is it that Cerys Matthews can really sing the tale: Joe Gibb in Swansea, and the of this [large] table because each string had like demon. At the time I was engineering infamous, reputable and sorely missed its own jack lead that went into this pedal for them, they were relatively unknown. Mighty Atom Studios. That’s for Part Two. board and what he wanted to do was just We went to Monnow Valley Studio to do Joe could talk for hours about all play distorted fucking rubbish. He’d lost the the album. We recorded International Vel- this. Not just the people and artists he’s plot. Look at him.” vet, which included the singles Road Rage, worked with, the scrapes he’s got into or [Google again. Joe finds the bass Mulder and Scully, and I Am The Mob.” the personal journey he’s been on, but he’s talking about. Bootsy is wearing a white “What I remember most about recording also the ins and outs of the process. The and gold jump suit. Because you would.] that album was Cerys belting out her vocals lost art of analogue recording, the pick- “He played nonsense all afternoon. I was and all the needles and dials and everything ing apart and putting back together, the sitting there just pressing record. I didn’t re- flying about and going into the red and me knowledge and understanding of using ally realise at the time how brilliant it was desperately trying to control the levels. On gear that required time, effort and the to be sat recording Bootsy Collins.” the track Strange Glue, she belted out this reading of manuals. “At this point I’d hooked up with a guy vocal as a guide, it was actually used as a He’s incredibly proud of all he’s done, in- called TommyD, who worked with Right final vocal it was so good. I never thought credibly grateful and still incredibly good at Said Fred, of all people. All of a sudden he I’d hear much of it ever again after leaving what he does. That’s why he still does it, and puts this beat on and Bootsy Collins drops the studio. Like a lot of great stuff you do, why he still loves it but also why he can be all the fucking shit and just starts to play you don’t hear it ever again, but the next choosy about what he takes on to produce. bass; and it is the funkiest bass I’ve ever thing I know, is this album is number one.” heard. He really played bass, I’ve got a re- “OH SHIT, I DIDN’T TELL YOU ABOUT cording of it somewhere. He was just groov- *** MADONNA… or when Phil Collins hugged ing. It was the funkiest thing you’ve ever me in Frankfurt...” heard [Joe does an impression]. “Work had started to drop off after that, “There’s a lot of things I should have gone I was mooching about but the truth is, I Find out more: www.joegibb.co.uk

9 FROM THE PAST CLASSIC WELSH ALBUM

I THINK ABOUT THE MUSIC OF BAD- least, it wasn’t held to compare favourably FINGER IN BROADLY THE SAME WAY to its predecessor, at least not by the mu- I THINK ABOUT THE LIFE OF (CARDIFF sic press, who considered it to be unduly CITY FOOTBALLER) ROBIN FRIDAY influenced byThe Beatles, only without AND THE WRITINGS OF (SWANSEA The Beatles’ ethereal charm. It’s birth was JOURNALIST/POET/MAN OF LET- a difficult one too, with three different TERS) HARRI WEBB: THINGS THAT, producers being handed the reins of the ALL BEING RIGHT IN THE WORLD, project in quick succession; some critics I WOULD RATHER HAVE BEEN EX- also argued that the band had abandoned POSED TO MUCH, MUCH EARLIER ON. their rock roots to cynically embrace a Interestingly, the reasons why I was more commercial sound. such a latecomer to these respective par- These people, as usual, turned out to be ties are quite similar, drawing variously wrong, and the acclaim and appreciation from the murky waters of parochialism surrounding Straight Up has grown stead- and the prevailing sentiments of the time ily over the years, with significant reissues one grows up in; the fact is, when I was of the album coming in 1993 and 2010, coming of apparent age at the turn of the both leaning heavily on the original Geoff century, Badfinger were a bunch of blokes Emerick mix and restoring the lush orches- from the 70’s with dodgy haircuts. I didn’t Badfinger trated parts, originally arranged by George even know they were from Swansea, if I’m Martin, that were largely missing from the honest, and I certainly didn’t know that 1970 version. Then, in 2013, a whole new some bloke from my town had won a STRAIGHT UP 21st century audience was introduced to grammy for writing the enormous world- APPLE – 1970 the band when the Pete Ham-penned sin- wide hit ballad, Without You, that I’d heard gle, Baby Blue, taken from Straight Up was Mariah Carey howling on the radio every viously unspeakable practice of wearing used to soundtrack the finale of the crit- 28 minutes or so for most of the 90’s. double denim) have undergone a critical ically-acclaimed TV series, Breaking Bad. Now, I’ve made my peace with the reappraisal in recent years, and the mod- Today, Straight Up stands as a master- younger and stupider person I was, way ern consensus is that Straight Up is a piece piece of the era: a shiny and glossy collec- back when I held these views, and I’d of sheer genius guitar-pop craftsmanship tion of perfectly polished and beautifully love it if you could find it in your heart that has aged by not one day, and which performed guitar-pop songs that, despite to forgive him, too. Dumb as a brick, he further cements Badfinger’s reputation as their apparent accessibility and easy-lis- was. And, as with everything, fashion of the very highest order. tening nature, really reward repeated lis- moves in slow circles; Badfinger, like a lot Straight Up was released in 1970 as a tens. I’m a flat-out convert now, so if by of classic rock from the period (ditto the follow-up to the commercially successful some mad chance you’ve never heard this haircuts; and, to a lesser degree, the pre- and well-received No Dice, but, initially at album, get on it immediately. JM Hen Dderwen Sketty Park Drive, Sketty, Swansea SA2 8JH Tel: 01792 203631 Your favourite local pub that is proud to bring you quality traditional pub meals, exciting daily offers and unbeatable value! New Daily Deals: MONDAY – 50% off our Real Pub Favourites menu, 12pm - 5pm TOP-IT TUESDAY – Any topped salad for £5.99 WEDNESDAY – Kids eat for £1 with any adult main meal bought THURSDAY – 2 loaded burgers for £15 after 5pm FRIDAY – 2 grills and 2 drinks for £20 after 5pm SATURDAY & SUNDAY – Weekend wallet saver, 2 courses for £9.99 We now offer a Senior Selection for £4.99 each ARTIST IN RESIDENCE – ROSIE SCRIBBLAH SOUNDBOARD • FEBRUARY/MARCH 2020 From Swansea to London and back again via the Old Corsetry Shop A Spotlight on Jane Simpson When I was a lass, my Mam used to take me to Madam Foner’s corsetry shop in Swansea’s High Street. We were both on the buxom side of well-padded, and dainty lacy brassieres from department stores were never sturdy enough for us. So off to Madame Foner’s we went, ing her doors to the local community ally helpful set up, where young artists to be fitted with the lingerie equiva- and over the next few years, her vi- can put down roots and use the gallery lent of a hang glider. I used to love sion developed organically. She estab- as a resource for artistic development.” that building, it looks like a Swiss lished an intern scheme with Swansea The early residencies at Galerie chalet that’s been stretched up to School of Art giving exhibition oppor- Simpson have expanded into an ‘Art- three stories and crammed into a tunities and constant mentoring, in ist At Work’ scheme, an open ended skinny space. Madam Foner moved, exchange for help running the gallery. residency, with no strings attached the High Street fell into disrepair and She says: “It’s less of a scheme and that acknowledges the difficulty for the lovely skinny Swiss Chalet was more like more an association or resource professional artists to experiment on battered and neglected. Until 2014 that has no time limit.” a larger scale. when the old building rose again to Jane also started offering support But what about Jane’s personal art its former glory, resplendent with a to professional artists by letting them practice? She’s been very busy since nice new paint job, a gorgeous inte- take over Galerie Simpson between ex- coming back to Swansea, develop- rior and loads of people spilling out hibitions for a residency. I was one of ing the galleries and maintaining her onto the street at it’s opening exhi- the fortunate artists that took up the print publishing business. But now bition. Artist and sculptor Jane Simp- opportunity. It was great to have the it’s time to resume her creative output son was back in town. space to work on something complete- as a sculptor. Jane was born and raised in Swan- ly new, with Jane’s expertise and gen- “It would be good to think about my sea, moved to London in the 1980s tle encouragement in the background. practice in terms of now, having had a to study sculpture at Chelsea School But she doesn’t stand still and in break. I’m in the situation where with of Art and the Royal Academy, and order to develop, the gallery grew sculpture I’m seriously rethinking how to stayed put, becoming known for organically into a different incarna- approach making it again and thinking sculptures made from rubber, ice tion, taking premises further up High about a more sustainable practice.” and refrigeration units, with shows Street and establishing a new not-for- Jane thinks it’s important to find a around the world. Her work featured profit arts collective, GS Artists. Five balance between life and work, as be- in Damien Hirst’s curated show, Some of the interns who originally came ing an artist can be emotionally chal- Went Mad, Some Ran Away, and the across from Swansea College of Art lenging and can make people vulner- controversial Sensation exhibition in now form the backbone of directors able, so she loves living locally and 1997, and she’s in many collections. of the new organisation. walking her dogs, Betty and Sunny. She also lectured and developed a According to Jane: “Our program has She’s also qualified as a yoga teacher print publishing business, with work evolved to suit our audience. Primarily and after many years as a practitioner, from artists like Sir Peter Blake, Rachel focusing on creating unexpectedly high she established The Yoga Collective, Whitehead and Gavin Turk, and par- quality exhibitions, we are hugely pas- teaching out of the gallery and with tied at The Groucho Club. sionate about our locality, in a recog- Hot Pod Yoga. But despite all of this, Jane felt like nised area of deprivation.” It’s great having an artist with such a bit of an outsider in the art world, GS Artists is a central part of Coast- fantastic international experience that she didn’t share the same pri- al Housing’s Urban Village develop- here in Swansea, moving and shaking orities and also that she: “had a very ment, breathing life into the High and having the confidence to break Welsh lack of self-confidence”. Street, and has been working with out of the London-centric arts estab- So she came back after 27 years, many partners to reach people who lishment to create something so ex- to open her own Galerie Simpson in wouldn’t normally go into a gallery. citing and innovative here. London’s Swansea’s run-down High Street, one Their 9to90 Creative Community loss is Swansea’s gain and next up is a of the first glimmerings of a cultural initiative recently employed artists solo show, Dragons Revenge by Jamie and economic Renaissance in the area. to run workshops open to anybody, Reid, iconoclast, anarchist and punk, Her new gallery was a breath of fresh creating collaged portraits of Michael infamously connected with the Sex air, alternating between exhibitions Sheen and designing a new Coat of Pistols. It runs until March 1st. RS of internationally renowned contem- Arms for the City. These went into porary artists with the best that the an Open Exhibition at the end of last Swansea art scene had to offer. Jane year and there’ll be plenty more of GS Artists says: “I was so excited by the standards, that in the future. 217, High Street, Swansea SA1 1PE energy and freshness of the art scene in And not forgetting the artists, Jane www.galeriesimpsonswansea.com Wales, it was easy to move back.” explains: “The gallery focuses on longer Jane was also committed to open- term relationships to offer a real and re- www.scribblah.co.uk

11 COMEDY

WHY ARE THERE NO BIG COMEDY CLUBS IN SWANSEA, AND WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO ABOUT IT? A GLEE, LOVELY TOWN? Paul Dennis

IT’S BEEN A STRANGE WINTER SEA- People like to laugh, but £15-20 is a venue. Dressing up and really feeling SON IN THE WORLD O