Sounds from underground/File N°022

let's back in the '90s. <<1994>> is an English band that just released their first album <<Fuck Off>>. The spirit of the record is great and it's what we need for the upcoming Spring. 
 


0. name of the band.
1994
1. where are you from?
A very small village (a hamlet!) in Devon called Coleford. It is near Crediton. We are essentially a rural concern and we spend most of our time riding bikes, climbing trees and wading through rivers. We enjoy site-specific activities involving rope swings, found objects and liminal interactions with nature.
2. what kind of instruments/equipment you use?
We use a Philips cassette recorder and a really cheap drum-kit. We don't have any microphones or amplification because we can't afford it. Our pocket money is limited. We advise all bands to spend as little money on music as possible.
3. what do you think about the music context nowadays and how you place yourself in? do you feel a part of any scene?
We don't think we are part of a scene at this stage. I think when we made this we were more just enjoying making a noise rather than trying to fit in. There are some really big, emerging scenes/genre tags in the UK at the moment which seem to have been made up by the music press. To us these scenes represent a commercial ideal which values t-shirts with piping on the collar, flared trousers and Adidas sports jackets above musical output. Time will tell, I guess, but at the moment things don't feel as vital as they do in our practice room.
4. which is your method of composition?
Lots of orange squash, biscuits, sunshine and then an intense session of improvisation live to cassette. Shouting gives us power.
5. how is your recording approach? do you use some particular record technique?
Kind of covered it above, but yeah, all live with the vocalist holding the cassette player (which has an inbuilt mic). We like it when the mic on the cassette recorder gets overloaded and we get a bit of distortion.
6. do you play live? how public react to your music?
We consider playing live as being the same as practicing; the audience doesn't really come into it. I think we may have been overheard by neighbours or passing cars. I think we received a noise complaint once.
7. Genesis P-Orridge said "Our records were documents of attitudes and experiences and observations by us and other determinedly individual outsiders. Fashion was an enemy, style irrelevant.". What do your records represent to you?
Our records represent the past to us, so yeah, we are kind of in agreement with Genesis on this one (as usual). These are personal items which sit outside of the present. We don't feel any special attachment to what we do, it's more about living in the moment - which instantly becomes the past - and wondering where that next biscuit, rope swing, makeshift bmx ramp or camping trip is going to come from. School is rubbish.